D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

After that, Uncle’s advice started to get increasingly specific as he focused on each demon individually, and Kat and Kamiko found themselves losing interest fast as the terms being used started to eclipse their admittedly meagre knowledge of combat. Even Rock was freed from her confinement and given a thorough, if scathing review.

This continued for a while, but the succubi pair had no intention to interrupt. They were content to sit down nearby and lean on each other as they meditated. They hadn’t forgotten this was a punishment after all, and were determined to complete it to the best of their abilities even if that meant they had to refrain from doing anything for a while.

Eventually, after the pair had well and truly lost track of time, they felt the others leave and started to gather their minds back up. Kat opened her eyes to see Uncle sitting down across from them with a smile on his face. ”Sorry about that. I had some better plans that needed to be scrapped for your punishment.

”I had planned to dismiss you, then have my talk with the others, before we met up tomorrow early and I’d give you both a small performance review and then set you up with another six challengers if I could manage it.

”Sadly though, I’ve been called to deal with some rather serious matters and I’ll have to scrap both of those plans. Thanks for sticking around. I’ll just take you guys to the gates and see you off. I’ll have to provide you with a stamped note as well to explain why your punishment here ended early. Is that ok?” explained Uncle.

*Well… I’m honestly not that disappointed. I had a good day, and can’t really complain too much about it considering it’s supposed to be a punishment, but I can agree that I don’t think I could do this too often. Honestly, it was less nerve wracking when I’m in live combat during a summon. Here I need to both show my dominance as a Rank 2 without doing permanent damage. At least on a summoning I can run away or tank some hits properly.* 

”That’s fine” said both succubi together and Uncle nodded, before leading them out of the tent.

The trip back was quick, Uncle was writing on a piece of paper as he walked and didn’t seem as interested in the sights. For Kat and Kamiko, even after the meditation they’d just experienced, felt this was a good time to calm down more and spent the walk in silence.

Arriving at the gate Uncle easily pushed open, he promptly handed over the notes and saluted them before taking off. Wait… he’s just going to leave us here? What the heck? Kat heard the door slam shut now that Uncle wasn’t there to hold it and felt the air blowing past her face.

”What just happened?” spoke Kat, not realising she’d actually voiced her thoughts.

”Oh, Mum complains about this sort of thing all the time with Wrath. It’s… well I wouldn’t say it’s common exactly but it happens enough that it isn’t a rare occurrence. Wrath tends to be good at responding to things and not so good with additional planning. If I had to guess, something only a smidge rarer than a ’common occurrence’ happened. Wrath doesn’t exactly keep reserve forces on hand…

”Or maybe you could say everyone is a reserve force? I’m not sure. Basically, whatever it is they are doing, they assign exactly as many people as needed to it, and not a person more. They like the challenge, or so I’ve been told by my Mum during her rants about the subject. This means that when things get bad, they tend to be really really bad. It usually means a team of demons failed at something and need someone a rank or two higher to bail them out.

”Now, that might not sound impressive at Rank 2, but, if you’re not aware, demonic power scales exponentially… sort of. It’s not an exact science but say… and do keep in mind I can’t actually remember what the correct number is, but a Rank 2 might be twice as strong as a Rank 1, while a Rank 3 would be eight times as strong, and then Rank 4 is sixteen.” Said Kamiko jovially as she started heading down the pathway.

Kat followed her, not really knowing what else to do, and said. ”That does seem to compound rather quickly.”

”Yup” confirmed Kamiko. ”It’s why high Rank demons are given so much respect. A couple of Ranks make a big difference. Especially Rank 5. That’s where the difference is most obvious. Like… we can fight on even ish footing with well-trained Rank 1 demons, or very bad Rank 3’s, but a Rank 4 would be lucky to injure a Rank 5.

”Plus, that’s where people tend to get one really really strong ability. Like… um… well arguably regeneration like you have might count, though the Rank 5 equivalent would see you regenerating whole limbs in fractions of a second.

”Or if they had laser eyes like me, they’d be able to slice through mountains with a glance. I mean, maybe not quite that strong, but it’s closer than most people care to admit. Those abilities also tend to define a demon. Like… say you got dream walking at five, you’d probably get a really good version of it, maybe you can take people along, or you already had a bunch of strong abilities relating to dreams and that just topped it off, and now you’re known as ’the dream demon’ or something.

”It really is fascinating to see it happen to people. I mean, we learned a lot about it in school, but I’ve only seen the transformation once. It’s… well it’s something I’ll tell you that. Oh, and Rank 5 is where people can start to hide their demonic features a bit easier. If they want to of course. An enemy trying it will find it just as hard as before.”

*Huh… how do demons learn exactly? I wonder if they have schools like on Earth? What would they even teach though? Translation seems to take care of a lot of things, and history would be kinda redundant because you can just ASK the older demons what happened.* 

”How does schooling work here?” asked Kat, having given up trying to puzzle it out. Kamiko’s obvious joy when providing answers might have swayed her as well.

”So… schooling is, um, well first what is it to you? I think the translation is being a bit weird?” asked Kamiko.

*Hmm, clarification…* ”Well, for us school is a place you go to learn various topics. Mathematics, how to speak and write the language, studying history and a few other things. We get tests for them and assignments that make sure we actually know what we are talking about and teachers to make sure we pass.” said Kat.

”Ok, that makes sense. Well, here in the Hub, it’s very different. The first, and most easily relatable thing is that everyone needs to read and write before you are allowed to accept your flame and become Rank 1. There are buildings for it, and you can send your children there… but normally your parents or older siblings teach you.

”The reason, or so we’ve all been told, is that if you gain your translation ability without knowing how to read and write, you’ll never be able to learn and while you can understand spoken things fine, any form of text you look at will be completely scrambled.” Said Kamiko, shivering at the end and the idea you would be unable to see writing.

*Hmm, I wonder how that applies to me. I know for a fact I had translation magic before I became a Rank 1 demon… but I was also turning into a demon at the same time. Maybe it’s connected to the system that gives it to you? That might be it, Hey D.E.M.O.N.S? Any comment.* 

D.E.M.O.N.S is unable to speak on Demonic Translation. All D.E.M.O.N.S can do is assure User Kat that no mistakes were made during the activation of the ability. 

*Hmm, maybe I’ll treat those early weeks as an extended period of ranking up? That might be easiest to consider. Not sure if it’s right exactly but… at least it would make sense.* 

”So, you’ve never known anyone to have that problem?” asked Kat

Kamiko shook her head said. ”No of course not. Everyone is very particular about things like that. Not only would the demon get fined, so would their family, sometimes family friends, and, if it happens more than once, the Section Overseer might get involved as well if it was really bad.”

*Ok… that sounds pretty serious. A lot worse than just not getting a high school certificate.. I mean sure it’s just for the one subject but they make a huge deal out of it don’t they?* ”So…” Kat drew out the words. ”What exactly is a section overseer?”