Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

[Rune: Deterring Field Lv.9 equipped]

Since Angelica was already holding the thing, it was enough to give her the info. And damn, it was higher than any of her natural skills. Such was the power of Runestone, she supposed. And that wasn’t all. She was hit with a good chunk of new messages.

[Passive Skill: Runic Artist Lv.1 unlocked. Created Runes have additional potency and durability. Amount increased scales with Skill Level, Competence, and Fabrication Attunement. Growth scales with Creativity]

[Creativity increased]

[Creativity has improved from Ardent to Talented]

[Fabrication Attunement increased]

[Contract complete]

[Summoner Rank: Initiate Lv.14]

A new Skill, a Creativity bump, and two Summoner Ranks?! Apparently making the Rune had been a great feat indeed. It was almost surprising that it didn’t have an Achievement. Also, her Creativity now being labelled as Talented definitely went to her head a bit, feeling recognized, as if Ferrul was praising her directly. And that still wasn’t the end of everything, but the remaining message was more clerical.

[Rune: Deterring Field Lv.9 is unprimed. State who you wish to deter to activate the Rune]

Ah, yes, she had to actually set the limits. What sort of specifics did it need to be? Of course, there was no feedback in that regard, so like most things regarding the DGS, she went with her gut and hoped it worked. Deter anyone who wants to threaten me, my cat, or my home, and also anyone who wants to bother me whom I don’t want to be bothered by.

[Rune: Deterring Field Lv.9 activated]

Immediately, the rock lifted out of her hand and began to shine. It emitted the same strange field that covered Fioso’s manor. Angelica walked outside, checking the range, and it was not nearly as far as her senior Summoner’s. But still, it would do. She went back in, grabbed the stone, and moved it out to the covered walkway between the apartments, hiding it under the overhang. That way it covered the entire building and also most of the parking lot. Sadly, it still probably wouldn’t keep her landlord at bay, but hopefully other annoyances, especially spying Demons, would keep their distance.

Then there was one more thing she wanted to check, activating Scrying Eye on impulse. [Rune: Deterring Field Lv.9 | Repulsing threats and bothersome people | Durability: 99% | Remaining Time: 4 years, 217 days]

Yes, it gave her what she hoped. Looking at other Runes with Scrying Eye gave her nothing whatsoever, at least until she knew what the Rune was. At that point, it gave her just the name and level. But now that she had equipped and activated it, that provided the usage information. And heck yeah, it seemed the oppressive aura would last a good while before she needed to top it off with MP, because creating the damned thing had all but tapped her dry.

Angelica didn’t know if she had enough left to make the remaining Runes. They should be smaller and simpler, but she still suspected it would be right on the line. To check this, she gave herself another Order, telling her to only make them if she had enough MP to do so. Which she apparently did, so it was time to power up the remaining Runestones she’d carved.

For the first two, she imbued them with Hydration. Then with the stones, she dug out a pair of old clip-on earrings she’d gotten some time ago from… Angelica couldn’t remember who they were from, a distant relative probably. But she popped out the faux pearls and chucked them aside, having never worn them because of the gaudiness that didn’t suit a girl like her, but now they would be something with a lot more utility.

After a bit of finagling, the new set was dangle ready, and she clipped them onto her ears.

[Rune: Hydration Lv.3 equipped]

Immediately the vague feeling of thirst in her throat vanished. So she’d really never need to drink with this again, huh? Or at least a far less amount, or only when she felt like it. Probably would be good to do so now and then just to keep her throat and mouth from getting dusty and dry. Hopefully it wouldn’t constantly fill her bladder, or that would suck and probably not be worth it if she had to pee a lot more often.

[Rune: Hydration Lv.4 equipped]

[Rune: Hydration Lv.3 has been surpassed and is now defunct. It has been deactivated]

Drat. She had been hoping for double the bonus if she wore two of the same one, but it appeared that only the highest level of a single Rune type would work. Angelica considered keeping it as is, so that it would stay a matching set, but frugalism won out, and she took off the Lv.4, and the Lv.3 activated again.

She then dismantled the free earring and put the blank Runestone in its place, before attaching it to the side of her head once more. Then, a quick trip to the bathroom to check her work. They looked good overall, a bit amateurish since her chiselling wasn’t super refined, but it made them look more like real stones instead of something pumped out of a factory. The current issue was that they were still clear, which definitely made them feel a bit cheap and tacky. It’d be fine if they looked like diamonds, but no one would believe that just from their size and crystalization.

Sadly, Gelic didn’t have Thalassic Attunement, because that blue would be perfect for them, making them look like solid rain. But along those lines, she tried out Glacial first, attuning the Hydration Rune, hoping for a light blue. What she got was more of a Turquoise. It wasn’t bad, but not quite what she’d been hoping for. And one of her fears was also alleviated. The earring didn’t suddenly become cold, so it really was just the color that the Attunement provided.

She decided to just flip through all of her Attunements to see what they’d be, like it was a color palette. Thankfully, it wasn’t a one time deal, and she could change it as much as she wanted. Destruction was a charcoal gray, so that was an easy pass. Also quick skips were Famine orange and Balletic pink, since they’d blend in too much her hair and Imp eyes. Then there were two shades of green. Gnostic was a strong, fierce green that she honestly liked a lot, currently up there with Glacial for winning, and Fraud was sort of an olive shade, a bit duller. It felt a bit more masculine to her, like something they’d use with camo.

Fabrication was also a pretty good one, a somewhat darker magenta, but that felt like it would suit a bracelet more. And of course, Suffering was blood red as Diamen had mentioned. And last, which she ultimately went with, was Pestilence purple. It was a royal purple, which she found a bit ironic, because killing royals was definitely one of the primary uses of poison throughout history. But they looked really nice, so she’d wear them with glee.

Sadly, when Angelica switched over to puffball mode, the jewelry immediately vanished. They were still there, still clipped to the sides of her heads, but now hidden by her abundance of hair. Probably for the best, given what her Daemon acquaintance had said about not showing her hand, but still. Her hard work wouldn’t be seen by many. Back as a human, she flicked the blank Runestone on the other ear and was pleased that it dyed purple as well, despite not having a Rune yet. She’d use it eventually.

The smart play would be to put Weathering Resistance into it, or even Deterring Field, but the antisocial vibes she put out was enough to detract most random strangers, and she’d feel a bit awkward if people were regularly trying to avoid her on the street, as if she was ultra stinky. Having already experienced that ostracism recently, she’d rather avoid it in the future.

For the less off-putting option, there was the other part of Runecrafting that the gal wanted to experiment with. She once again relied on an Order to find a relic long lost to her, a temporary tattoo kit. It was something she’d bought during college, as a way to get back at her mother when the woman changed Angelica’s courses behind her back, forcing her to take religious studies for longer than needed for credit requirements. Something about how since the parent was paying tuition, they had just as much say in what was being learned. But it hadn’t gone to plan.

Even just showing up during summer break with a fake paw print tattoo on her wrist was enough to send Corticia ballistic. The daughter had just been expecting a lecture about how she was ruining her life and no one would ever hire her, but after revealing that it was temporary, she was forcibly taken to the bathroom and practically had her skin grated off until no trace remained. If that wasn’t the turning point which had led to their inevitable disconnect, the incident was still certainly a milestone.

Past trauma’s aside, Angelica willed away her imaginary transfigured pants and sat down in her chair with one resting over the other, planning to use her inner thigh as a canvas. That was just the easiest place to draw the thing on herself, and since she didn’t care about it being shown off, or even really wanted it to be seen, it was fine to be somewhere mostly hidden.

Other viable options were her stomach, but she’d have to crunch at a weird angle for the duration, and her arm. For that, she wanted to have both hands free for now, just to increase the stability of the process for her first attempt. Plus, Weathering Resistance didn’t really have a cool sigil to show off. She wanted to liken it to a thunder cloud, but that was just hopeful wishing. Really, it just looked like nonsense with no clear pattern or representation of anything in her world. The closest thing in actuality was an ink blot where people would guess what it meant.

[Rune: Weathering Resistance Lv.5 imprinted]

Ah, a new message. Sort of. Barely. Hardly worth mentioning. But from what she’d learned, equipped and imprinted were different in base concept. This would constantly sap her MP instead of having an upfront cost. She sat and watched herself with Scrying Eye for a bit, confirming that her MP regenerated like it usually did. Maybe it was a bit slower than normal, but it was still going up thankfully. Otherwise, it’d be time for another round of skin grating to remove the Rune. She probably should have tested it with something easier to cleanse first, but oh well.

[Runic Artist Lv.2]

[Creativity increased]

[Fabrication Attunement increased]

Gelic briefly turned back to an Imp once more, just to confirm that the Rune stayed, which it did, but she was suspicious due to applying it while Transfigured. Then she wanted to see how it looked on her puffball body. That was definitely an awkward spot to see. Trying to look at the inner thigh equivalent was basically like trying to look at her own butt.

Either way, the sigil was buried underneath all of her hair, so it was effectively invisible. Not that it would really matter if enemies knew she’d be less bothered by the wind and rain. Unless that was their whole offensive strategy, some sort of weather based Demon. Which Gelic almost was, assuming she continued down the Glacial path until she could make blizzards. Okay, maybe it was more useful than she gave it credit for.

With that, her futzing about with Runes had just about come to an end. But there was still one thing left to do. She went and removed Cherub’s collar, giving the fluffmuffin a brief reprieve from his one struggle in life. With a bit of finagling, she attached the remaining Hydration Rune, purposefully giving him the higher levelled one. While she never had any notions of neglecting her pet, this was more of insurance. Just in case she ended up being Summoned, especially Bound, for longer than she hoped, unable to make her way back home.

Angelica went ahead and checked the durability, with the Rune expiring in about three months. So she went ahead and put a reminder in her phone about a week prior for when she’d need to top it off with MP. Now she just needed the food equivalent for him. That was probably something under Famine Attunement, so she may get it someday, but she wasn’t just going to keep buying skills and hope that it appeared. Especially because now that she had some money, she could just buy him an automatic feeder.

Which she did, right then. It still made her twitch a bit spending so frivolously, but since it was for her fur-baby, the annoyance passed quickly. Then, she reattached his collar and altered the color of the gem. Out of pure paranoia, she didn’t go with Pestilence purple for the pet. Just in case that somehow tainted the water he received. Instead, she went with the olive green of Fraud. It went well with his fur, the Runestone almost making him look like he was wearing a tiny tie. “Yes, Cherub, you are a fraud! You don’t belong in this office. You lied on your resume, didn’t you? Fess up!” No response, but the owner had amused herself.

Okay, that was it, she was done. It had been a bit of an unexpected detour, but Angelica had actually accomplished quite a bit that day, even though it was just the early afternoon. Her home was now a lot more defended, neither she nor Cherub would die from dehydration, and, uhh, whatever Weathering Resistance would do for her. Keep her hair and skin from drying out, yeah, that sounded nice.

Of course there was always still more to do, but she was mentally and mana-ly exhausted. Maybe she’d go out and answer more Summons later, but only after her MP had recharged a decent amount, not wanting to make that mistake again. And she was too tired to really do any art, so Angelica decided the best thing for her day was a hearty nap. But a bit of tossing and turning later, she found herself staring at her Skill Weave, curious if there were any new skills tied to Runic Artist. And there was just one, which actually branched Fabrication and Gnostic Attunements.

[Passive Skill: Rune Absorber | Unlock 10 GP | Equipped or imprinted Runes will be absorbed over time through use, unlocking them permanently as Skills. Current Absorbing Limit: 2 Runes at once. Progress toward other Runes will start when the current ones are completed. Limit scales with Skill Level. Rate of Integration scales with Skill Level, Creativity, Competence, Lucidity, Fabrication Attunement, Gnostic Attunement, and Rune complexity. Growth scales with Creativity, Competence, and Lucidity. Additional Unlock Requirements: Embraced Gnostic Attunement and Touched Fabrication Attunement (met)]

Dang it. Another great Skill that she needed. Angelica begrudgingly slumped out of bed and quickly added it to her life plan. Sadly, it would have to wait a bit, which was a shame because she actually met the prerequisite Attunements as of earlier that day. If only it wasn’t so fritsing expensive. But it actually felt justified, since that one-time purchase could theoretically get her all the skills she wanted, assuming that she could find the appropriate Rune. With how cagey others were about sharing them, that was going to be a task indeed, which is why it was a low priority.

For now, the Runes she knew of were accounted for. Maybe when either she hit the limit of what her MP regen could handle, or ran out of space on her body to either attach Rune-laced jewelry or spots on her skin to draw them, then she could really make headway toward obtaining this skill. With curiosity satisfied, Angelica slipped back into bed, and was blessed by kitty snuggles, even while in her human form. Fortunate, because her pitiful MP levels could not handle Transfiguration right now.

Also worth mentioning, there was a new Runes section on her DGS screen, denoting all the ones she knew and was using. There was nothing particularly surprising there, but it would be good to have, just for record keeping.

Angelica began to drift off to sleep with only one thought at the forefront of her mind. Now that this fun little dabble was done, Gelic was ready to recommit. When she could work again, it was time to grind. Sadly her Malignant hunting plans had hit an impasse, so it was going to be Summoning after Summoning with only a few brief artsy reprieves until she hit Imp Rank 20. After she evolved into a Hellion, then she could give herself a proper well deserved break. Not quite the direction in life she imagined, but selling her services as a Demon had already beat nearly starving to death on the regular. So she’d be the best Demon for hire she could be.

Spoiler