[Order Resistance Lv.3]
[Obstinance increased]
As soon as Angelica got that message, the toll of Order Obligation waned, allowing a momentary relief. Then it quickly ramped up again. The agony she felt from her active disobedience didn’t grow at a steady pace. It was exponential, making her skin crawl, her blood boil, the pressure of her existence feeling like it was going to pop at any moment.
[Obstinance increased]
[Obstinance has improved from Pushover to Meek]
Well, that was unexpected, but welcome. It provided a significant decrease in oppression. Sadly, not enough. Gelic had been hoping to hold out until Lv.4, but the tearing at her soul just became too much, and she rolled back into the study, flopping on her back as she groaned and tried to steady her breathing. Once she was well-enough to stand again, out of curiosity, she stepped out of the room once more.
Immediately, she was hit with almost the same level of potency that she’d just escaped from. It had tapered slightly, but not by much. So much for the hope that the punishment would instantly reset after she started following the Order again. It would obviously wane the longer she obeyed, but the last run had been so taxing that she probably wouldn’t try it again for a while, if at all, at least with this Summoner.
When resisting her own Orders, she had never received such a level of intensity. Garvin’s Contract had pressured her with a bit of a firmer hand as well, but that hadn’t been nearly as bad as this. At first, she’d thought it was due to the complexity of the order and the timeframe given. While that could still be a factor, Gelic now had to guess it was primarily due to Lustre’s Summoner Rank. The more powerful the master, the more difficult they would be to disobey. Made sense.
When Angelica finally started feeling well enough to actually address the Order she’d been given, her mighty master returned with several housekeeping supplies. She was given a dusting wand, broom, dustpan, mop, and bucket. They were all, of course, scaled to human proportions, far too big for Gelic’s tiny figure, but she’d make do, happy to have anything at all.
“I’ll be in the next room, working,” Lustre informed her. “Try not to make too much noise so I can focus.”
Angelica watched the older woman go and sit down at another desk in the adjacent room. It could also be called a study, but a more modern one, filled with computers. And her master’s so-called “work” was to slouch in her chair and watch a video of clearly no importance.
Was Angelica looking at her own future in ten years if she also became a powerful Summoner? Conjuring Demons to take care of menial tasks so that she could lounge about all day. It honestly sounded pretty nice. As a Demon herself, the idea of making her kin perform simple tasks that she could do on her own irked her a bit, especially because she could also just give herself Orders, but she supposed that the concept boiled down to employment in general. Humans employed other humans.
The bigger caveat is she’d need Essence to pay them, and since she couldn’t make it herself, she’d have to find a steady source. It was nothing to worry about now, but possibly something to consider in the future, when her time became more valuable than her money. Currently, it had almost no value, or else she wouldn’t be performing unknown tasks for a stranger to get Essence scraps. At least she had to assume it wasn’t a big payout. Plenty for her as she was, but a higher-Ranking demon would probably balk at the amount.
And speaking of her task, it was time to get to work. Order Obligation was once more starting to flare, chastising her for taking so long. She began with the highest shelves on the bookcases, having learned long ago that it was best to work from top to bottom when cleaning. If she swept the floor but then knocked down a bunch of dust, she’d just have to sweep it again.
Yet she quickly grew tired of what should be a simple act. Gelic would need to bounce a few times to get enough momentum and height to even reach the upper shelves. Then she could only wiggle the dusting wand a few times, which took both hands for her to wield properly, before she went flopping back down to the floor. And if she messed up the rebound jump, she’d have to build up the bounciness all over again. There had to be a better way. If only her wings worked properly.
So the servant thought of an idea, not a devilish one, but a human one. She peered into the other room, making sure Lustre was still slacking off with no intent of moving any time soon or had plans to check on her. Yeah, that’s some professional-level slacking. Angelica had a hint of admiration and envy, but mostly relief.
She could use Transfiguration to become human again, making the work far simpler. Should the Summoner happen to see the disguise, surely she wouldn’t recognize the form of Angelica Hallow, some random civilian that the older woman wouldn’t think twice about. And Angelica was a generally forgettable face, not the kind whose appearance really stuck around in anyone’s mind for any specific reason. If Lustre did suspect it was the likeness of another Summoner, Demons undoubtedly went through many masters in their lives, so there was no reason to think it would be the current or even a recent one.
But there was also another problem. Anytime Gelic returned to her original form, she did so in a state of undress. Even if she was on her guard, it still felt too risky. If Lustre spotted a naked woman cleaning her house, it could cause problems, doubly so if she ended up being spotted by the parents her master had mentioned. But maybe…
[Activate Transfiguration]
Angelica looked down at herself with trepidation. It was her first time attempting to become anything besides just her base self, so she was pleased to find herself not in the nude. And she was so excited, in fact, that she grabbed the frilly skirt and began excitedly flapping it around while doing some spins on the spot. She had spawned with a classical maid dress, one a bit out of style by a few hundred years. Was it cliche? Undoubtedly. Degrading and embarrassing? Absolutely. A sprinkle misogynistic? Perhaps.
But Angelica had always thought they looked really cute, often including them in her work. She’d always wanted to try one on, but had never worked up the courage at any of the costume stores that had dressing rooms. Missing from the authenticity, however, were the shoes. She had purposefully left them out, not wanting to raise the slacker’s suspicions by the sudden sounds of clonking about.
One thing she did notice, though, as she flitted about with her stocking-covered feet skirting around silently along the floor, was that her movements were a bit… breezy. In her hands, she could feel the soft fabric, and the rest of her body she could somewhat feel the weight and texture of the garment, but at the same time, it felt like her bare skin was exposed. The outfit was providing no warmth whatsoever in the slightly chilly room, and she was much colder now than when she was a ball of hair.
By her best understanding, it meant the dress was a part of herself. Maybe it could even be called loose skin. For a further test, she attempted to tear the bottom of the skirt. It didn’t rip, or even strain at all. That was good, at least. So Angelica grabbed a letter opener off one of the desks and proceeded to prod her arm. It pushed past the fabric like it wasn’t even there, pricking her limb underneath instantly. Yet when she removed the blade, the dress was mended instantly, though she could still feel the petty injury on her arm.
That led her to the conclusion that any outfits she made through Transfiguration were purely cosmetic. It meant she couldn’t cheat her safety by creating a suit of impervious armor around herself. That must not be the Demon way to do things. If she didn’t want to be cold, she needed to level Cold Resistance. If she wanted more defense, that likely came with enhancing Vigor or through some other Skill she didn’t know about yet.
Gelic still needed to test if she’d get the advantages of other creatures if she turned into them, like the furry warmth and vision of a cat—definitely still top of her list to try. But that had been enough faffing about. She could feel Order Obligation looming, ready to crack the whip if she didn’t get back to work soon.
So the human-maid-disguised Imp buckled down and began cleaning in earnest. Fortunately, thanks to her recent efforts in getting her own life in order, Angelica had become pretty proficient at the labor. Coupled with her greatly extended reach, the bookshelves were dusted in no time. Strangely, though, her Order then pressured her to reorganize the tomes. Perhaps whatever snob was supposed to be judging the state of the cleanliness found their current organization to be an affront to their eyes.
All trash was swiftly disposed of, and Angelica was actually thankful for her Order Obligation in that case. Anytime she attempted to chuck what looked like garbage to her but apparently held value to her master, she got a chastising prick. And when she almost bumped into an expensive-looking vase, her body pulled itself back on its own.
When Gelic got to the point that she needed to organize the papers, many of which were strewn about all over every piece of furniture and the floors, she hit a conundrum. How am I supposed to organize these? She was puzzled as she mentally tried to work out a system of her own. It didn’t help that a good chunk of the words weren’t translated just like her Demon Summoning book.
To her surprise, a voice answered back in her head. “Just stack them by the author.” It was Lustre. Thinking back, Garvin had mentioned that bound Demons could communicate with their masters telepathically. She just hadn’t expected it to be so… invasive. “You should be able to tell by the handwriting. We’re all pretty different,” the Summoner clarified. That was in fact helpful information, but it made Angelica fret with worry.
Had Lustre been able to hear her thoughts from the moment of binding? Had she heard the cheeky comments about her being a lazy slacker? Gelic gasped. Was she hearing the current thoughts about thinking about calling her a lazy slacker in the Demon’s past thoughts? Worse, had she heard everything about changing into her human form. Did she now know one of her Secrets?
Angelica attempted to calm down, desperately trying to stave off a panic attack with rational thoughts. No, that doesn’t make sense. If the Summoner had heard all those random jabberings, she’d certainly have a lot of questions or comments. That, or she was the most apathetic master in the entire world. Most likely, her inquiry about organization had been transmitted solely because it directly related to the Order that had been given. Hopefully, nothing else was leaking out, but she felt a bit bitter. Still, Gelic would do her best to try not to think any incriminating thoughts, if that was even possible.
It didn’t take her too long to complete the paper organization after that, and the rest of the cleaning went smoothly. It still took a few hours in total, eating up the morning, but it was progress she could be proud of. The only hiccup Angelica ran into was the circle that summoned her. No matter how hard she scrubbed with the mop, it wouldn’t vanish. She came to the conclusion that they were impervious, likely vanishing only when the Contract was complete.
[Order complete]
Right when Angelica was deciding what else she could do, she was hit with that message. In a panic, she tossed aside the dusting wand she was holding, having been giving the room a final touch-up. She shrunk down to her Imp body mere moments before her master entered the door. Lustre looked surprised. Her eyes raised and her lips shrugged, struggling to process the room makeover.
“I have finished the cleaning, master.” Angelica despised the cutesy words coming out of her mouth a little bit, but they flowed naturally and shamelessly. “May I have Essence now?”
“Uh, sure.” The Summoner held up her hand and white particulates flowed out of it, straight into the Demon’s body.
[Gained 50 Essence]
Lustre started to inspect the room more thoroughly, making sure that its state wasn’t some sort of illusion. “You’re more capable than I thought,” Angelica thought she heard the woman mutter at one point. “Maybe I should move up my plans.” The Imp probably should have been curious about that last notion, but she was too absorbed in her own dealings.
Gelic had activated Scrying Eye and checked her Essence field.
[Essence: 63 / 28]
As if it knew her current intent, the Demon Growth System then provided the following prompt:
[You have enough Essence to increase your Demon Rank. Would you like to consume 28 Essence to reach Imp Lv.2?]
Yes! Yes! Yes!
A strange feeling washed over Gelic, like all of her senses were alight with pleasure. It was as if she had eaten the most delicious thing in the world, smelled a field of the most decadent flowers, heard a majestic symphony in the distance, stood witness to mind-boggling art, and felt the unbridled warmth of love’s embrace all at the same time. It was all so potent that it made her do little tippy-taps with her non-existent legs. The moment was fleeting, gifting her euphoria she had never known in her life, but it all snapped away a second later, bringing her back to the stagnant reality.
[Demon Rank: Imp Lv.2 | Essence: 35 / 37 | GP: 1]
Just what the hell was that? While she had only tried drugs once in college, that feeling couldn’t even compare. It could so easily become disgustingly addictive. Maybe that was the point; make Demons strive to improve so that they can feel that bliss yet again, even if just for a second. But Angelica didn’t have the care to dive into the ethics of such a tactic, something more important on her mind.
The only real other change to the DGS sheet was her Max MP, now sitting at ninety-nine, quite a good chunk from leveling. Also notably, her Health percentage had gone down slightly from 87% to 85%. She had to assume that was due to a higher cap without it replenishing the difference. And, of course, she was annoyed by her Essence, just two away from having gotten another level. But oh, well, she had her Growth Point, and now it was time to spend it.
Angelica went straight to the secondary screen, which she actually realized this time was called the “Skill Weave.” Her mind parsed through the fog with purpose, honing right into her reward for her hard work, plucking the only card she currently cared about from the deck.
[Spend 1 GP to unlock Poison Eater?]
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!
[Poison Eater Lv.1 unlocked]
[Vigor increased]
[Pestilence Attunement increased]
Huzzah! She had achieved what she’d set out to do. Her pressing problem, which had mostly been caused as a result of her own actions, but was also partially the fault of the DGS, had been solved. Now not only would she actually not kill herself with her own cooking, she also could eat anything rotted, expired, or poisoned by someone else without worry. Assumedly, she could still die from poison afflicted by other means, but that was a problem for another day.
Hell, maybe she would go out to the forest and start eating any mushrooms she came across just because she could. It was a prospect she’d considered back in her starvation days. And while she felt she was pretty good at identifying patterns and colors, there was still an inherent risk she wasn’t comfortable with. But no more!
“So, for the second Order.” The Summoner cut into her plans of indulgence.
Damn! In all her excitement, the Demon had all but forgotten that she still had two more Orders to fulfill. Since the first had been pretty simple, hopefully she didn’t need to be too worried. But still, the anxiety of not knowing still bubbled worry to the surface of her body, making her feel ill all over. Just what would the remaining two Orders be?