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

After relaxing for a minute, and trying to remove the ’lovely’ imagine Kamiko had implanted in her head, Kat realised something. ”Not that this isn’t comfortable but… how long should we rest for?”

”Hmmmm” hummed Kamiko as she thought, ”I don’t really know… I’m not sure it’s really come up before. When I was training with my family I’d just rest when I was told, and even then it probably wasn’t as intensive as those days with Gluttony… this sort of thing isn’t really something I’ve encountered.

​​ ”I bet you’re the same as me, even with two years of Contracts under my belt, I’m pretty much always with weaker sentients so I just rest when they are around and that’s always more than enough to keep healthy…”

Kat let out a huff of air, ”Yeah it’s the same with me. All my missions include them in some fashion and they were always the limiting factor in one way or another. The only time I got taken out first is… well that Contract was a mess. I had to take out the big boss of a whole sect, alongside both his suns AND the person who gave me the damned Contract because he entered some weird feral state.”

Kamiko winced, ”Yeah… that doesn’t sound… representative…”

”Hang on, did you say two years?” asked Kat ”Is that how long you’ve been doing Contracts?”

Kamiko shook her head, ”Yup, I’ve been doing Contracts since I was fourteen. That’s actually a little late for most demons, as we tend to start a bit after puberty. It depends though.”

”Hmm… is that so?” asked Kat rhetorically, ”That does lead me to something I’ve wanted to ask though, how hard is it to Rank up? It didn’t take me all that long I don’t think… but at the same time I don’t have a proper timeline at all…”

Kamiko grinned, ”That’s something I can tell you. It’s covered multiple times. Though… we do get some conflicting information because people don’t quite a agree on a few things. Still because I have Nira for a mother I’ve got more accurate information then most.

”So, to start with, when you get to Rank 1, is… not random per se, but it might as well be. Nobody has ever been able to find evidence to suggest it makes you stronger or weaker to reach Rank 1 early, or late. The only time it matters is if you never make it to Rank 1.

”Everyone will always make Rank 1 before half of their lifespan is up. Most people it’s within the second and third decades of their life, but sometimes it’s later. Once again, it seems like that never matters. Rank 1 is just a starting point and it seems environmental factors play a large part in it.

”For myself, I got to Rank 1 on the early end of the average… if that makes sense. Fourteen isn’t quite early, it’s decently common after all, but fifteen and sixteen are much more common starting ages. Still, it’s not too rare. Our Ice flames are rarer for example.”

*I wonder what it says about me that I started at seventeen? Seems like it’s actually average but I wonder if the average changes for people who aren’t demons? I wish I could ask the system about it… I got used to it not being around in the dream world… and I can get by, but I kinda miss it.* 

Kamiko continued on, unaware of Kat’s thoughts, ”Now, Rank 2 is where it starts to get complicated. More powerful demons either spend really really long on Rank 2, or they knock it out quickly. The average for Rank 2 is about a decade, but that’s a really skewed number. About fifty percent of demons manage it in five years, but if it takes longer than three… then the chances of you getting to Rank 5 drops like a stone.

”I managed to get to Rank 2 in only a year, which is quite early, but not spectacularly so. I think the record for going from Rank 1 to Rank 2 is like… a month?” said Kamiko

Kat thought about that. Hang on… did I beat the record? ”I might have beaten that record. I was only Rank 1 properly for a couple days. I ranked up the very next Contract, though it was a longer one”

Kamiko shook her head with a grin, ”Nah, all the information I’m sharing with you is for people born as demons. Nondems mess with EVERYTHING. Still, I think that might be a record anyway. Depends how they count it, and if you have a weird demonic flame. The weird the flame the faster you’ll rank up as a nondem.”

Kat thought of the fact that her flame was very person shaped and decided that if that didn’t count as a strange flame, nothing did. ”Yeah mine’s… mine’s not normal in the slightest.”

Kamiko nodded, ”See you don’t count. I’m talking good old fashioned demons, and not the crazy nondem stuff. Mum might know about it but it’s not something I cared about before. Nondem are cool don’t get me wrong but… they’re half legends really. They’re like High Elves in some dimensions. Every dimension with Elves in it likes to claim High Elves exist there, but most of them time it’s just a normal elf with good genetics.

”Anyway, I’m losing my train of thought again. So, from their Rank 2 to 3 is normally a minor jump. Most people get that within the year they manage Rank 2. Rank 2 is… it’s more like a holding Rank. It’s exceptionally rare for somebody to be at Rank 2 longer than ten years. It’s weird like that. Unlike other Ranks that go up in difficulty exponentially, Rank 2 just sort of… does whatever it wants really.

”It’s a fast Rank for everyone but the least skilled demons who may never get further than it. Now, once you’re Rank 3, things start to slow down a fair bit. One hundred years is the average to ascend, with twenty five years being considered excellent time.

”That’s nothing compared to Rank 5 though. Most people just… don’t get there. They hit a hard wall at Rank 4. They just never progress. It’s a bit sad sometimes, because for most of the other Ranks, you can tell pretty early if you’ll progress. If you start struggling on Contracts as they ramp up for you, or you’re still really weak compared to where you should be at that Rank, you kinda just… know you’re not getting any further.

”Not Rank 4. It’s known as the Soul Crusher because there seems to be no easy way to tell if you’ll EVER get to Rank 5.” Kamiko shivered. She wasn’t even close to Rank 4, but she feared getting stuck there more than the average demon. Elmony was already there, and one of the hopefuls for Rank 5, her parents were BOTH Rank 5 which was quite rare, and the idea of her being the only one in the family stuck at Rank 4 was a real fear she never properly managed to shake.

Sure Aslena was actually the most likely to stall at any Rank really, because she was more focused on her designs, but Aslena had always shown of how much ’better’ she was then Kamiko so her heart didn’t believe it.

”Now, Rank 6 is different. It tends to take longer then getting to Rank 5 yes, but one of the reasons everyone at Rank 5 is so highly revered is that as long as you don’t die, you’ll get to Rank 6. It’s a bit odd, and can take HUGE amounts of time, but it’s something that was apparently tested rigorously a long time ago. Nobody is ever stuck at Rank 5.”

Kat bit her lip and hmmd ”Really, nobody?” asked Kat

Kamiko smiled back ”Yup! Nobody. Not one demon has ever died of old age at Rank 5. They’ve all either been killed or Ranked up. I don’t really know anything about getting past Rank 6, but yeah, getting to Rank 5 is the real challenge.”

*Interesting. I wonder how quickly I’ll get to Rank 3 then? It seems like it might actually be soon? Or well, I got to Rank 2 so fast and apparently Rank 3 is another fast one, faster for most people, so I should get that upgrade.* 

”Oh, but what was the correlation between speed for the other Ranks?” asked Kat

Kamiko shrugged, ”Honestly… it’s hard to say once you get to Rank 3. Rank 4 and Rank 5 don’t have enough demons to study to get a good study going for them. According to Mum the data suggests that fast Rank 4’s can actually be bad in certain types of demons, but only certain types. She won’t tell me what those are though, apparently it’s classified. They just have a lower rate of getting to Rank 5.”