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At first, there was pain. A sudden jolt of unmistakable agony traveled through your entire body which, thankfully, only lasted until your head collided with a cold floor, numbing your sensations to a dull throbbing after this unwelcomed brain rattle. ‘’Aah?’’ It was an involuntary moan, one that at least proved your lips were whole, your jaw wasn’t broken and your stomach could expel air; such a rude awakening made something so natural feel reassuring. As air fills your lungs and this fever of suffering lessened enough for your thoughts to clear, your languish limbs struggled to move but the sensation of a cold, slick floor against your palms and face brought a sense of urgency, what the hell is happening? Where are you?

‘’Please hold on!’’ You finally realized that someone had been speaking during your struggle, only now had your mind recovered enough to understand anything. ‘’I can see your bruise from here… I’ll make it all better, okay? Don’t be afraid.’’

It was a gentle voice albeit made nervous by urgency, a tone of concern and fear that birthed similar agitations in your own heart. ‘’W-who?’’ You tried to voice, opening a heavy set of eyelids.

Something warm touched your shoulder. ‘’It’s alright.’’ Said the womanly voice, soothing your urge to crawl deeper into this blurry world, away from this unknown touch, but once this concerned person turned you over and settled you down, her silhouette struck you as extremely odd because… something seemed to be spreading from her shoulders while an unusual light irritated your sensitive eyes, forcing them closed.

Her hand came to rub your forehead. ‘’It’ll be fine, I’ll use magic soothe your pain.’’ She spoke casually, like offering a glass of water as her touch managed to make you feel a little more alive. A fresh sensation expanded from the humid warmth of her palm, cooling your forehead then proceeded to travel into your entire body as if you’ve drunk a stimulant. Headaches, dizziness, panics… that combination of feverish suffering was finally gone.

With your head propped on her thighs, the woman appearance left you speechless enough to forget expressing your gratitude. Her face was one of beauteous youth shrouded in soft colors of vitality: fair-light skin, two brilliant eyes of bluish green, neck-length hair of golden blond reaching for your face in many small pillars as she kept an intense stare, her expression looked pensive, worried but quickly blossomed into a soft, comfortable happiness with a gentle smile when your eyes crossed. Above her head was a shiny halo of gold and your peripheral vision picked a pair of reddish-white appendages, spreading away from her shoulders. That previous ‘’something’’ you saw moments ago turned out to be a pair of wings trying to encircle both of your bodies, her clothes also bore a lively mixture of red and white. ‘’Are you alright? Can you speak?’’

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‘’Yeah’’ Stirred by her gentle voice, you realized that your mouth and throat were painfully dry, your jaw felt dull, your lips had been stuck together so tightly it was akin to tearing up an old piece of fiber.

Your host was immediately worried for her expression shifted into concerns with furrowed eyebrows. ‘’Yeah, Yeah, I am.’’ Your voice felt… odd, an echo without much presence. Only now did you realize that you were somewhere odd.

The room was big, a spacious circular spread of white material with absolutely no furniture, only a big door of metal to the east end. Your angelic nurse had her back almost resting against a large pillar of ashen stone that disappeared upward, hidden by a roof five or so meters above.

‘’Good to hear.’’ Her face eased again, melting into a lovely smile. ‘’I…I didn’t think this ritual would work at all so I’m woefully unprepared to make you comfortable, not even water or spare clothing…’’ Her finger went to enroll itself around one of her longer strand of hair as she looked away sheepishly. ‘’But that’s fine! Holy magic is perfect for healing so you have absolutely nothing to worry about!’’ She winced painfully after that energetic outburst when she tried to ball her hand into a fist, inevitably pulling her hair.

‘’Healing? Ritual?’’ Your confusion was plain, having such a friendly heavenly girl was more than enough to soothe some worries but now that your senses were back, it brought along a disturbing reality; whatever memories you had were scrambled, a confusing mess that only managed to bring a rising headache as you focused on fundamental questions.

No, they weren't scrambled. That implied there was actually something in the first place. Whatever you were doing, whoever you were before this awakening of pain was a void.

Faced by your rising body, the girl promptly leaped to her feet with a flap of wings and a slapping long skirt. ‘’D-don't be afraid now! You um… you don’t have to call me by a title, we don’t need any kind of contract okay?’’ She smiled awkwardly, obviously trying her best to appear reassuring against your diminishing confidence. ‘’It’s fine! I’m Elina! And I’ll make sure to do everything I can to take proper responsibility!’’

No matter how good-hearted she seemed to be, the desperate edge of her tone combined with your absence of memories worked enough to dispel previous good impression. ‘’Then you’re admitting it?’’ You managed to croak through your painfully dry throat, glaring dagger at the blonde angel who shrunk under your stare and took a few steps backs. ‘’You’ve somehow turned me into an amnesiac?’’

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‘’What!? No!’’ She immediately answered, shoving her palm into the middle of her chest while leaning forward in sincere worry while her halo brightened, you didn’t exactly know how you could tell her emotions so clearly; her face was incredibly easy to read, but it shouldn't be enough. ‘’That’s not it at all! I’ve never meant to hurt you, Gardy! I’ve summoned you from there, that pillar.’’

Her wings flapped with her dramatic pointing of that ashen construct. ‘’That’s the Demonic Throne! You were… in there somehow, I don’t know if you were sealed, sleeping, trapped or stuck but you came out of there headfirst after my summoning ritual and made one painful faceplant, you think that somehow caused your amnesia?’’ Whatever anger your previous accusation caused had already vanished midway through her explanation as she turned to observe that… throne?

‘’I don't think so, you also mentioned a Gardy?’’ Talking was painful and your voice felt hollow, foreign… not exactly echo but the tone was flat and artificial; a psychological side effect of hearing your voice for the first time? ‘’You made me come out of that pillar and my name is Gardy?’’

''I'm not so sure...'' Elina turned to face you properly with outstretched wings and her hands held behind her back, her youthful feature graced by a calm smile, almost wise. ‘’Let me explain alright?’’ Her head cocked slightly to the right and she paused with closed eyes and a guilty frown. ‘’Things might sound a little crazy but I’ve got a friend nearby who’ll help us afterward, you should get some bearings first.’’

Try as you might you couldn’t maintain your previous aggression, perhaps it was nothing more than wishful thinking on your parts but this young yet mature angel seemed sincere and you did felt some sparks of guilt over your previous accusation. Your thumping heart and rising panic soon receded to a bearable degree, allowing you to observe and listen with attention; Elina knew exactly when to start.

‘’This thing here.’’ She gestured for that pillar cutting straight in the middle of this circular, sterile room. ‘’Is part of the Demonic Throne, demons have enshrined it inside a 5 floors building. We are standing on its third separations, where low capacity rituals can be done. It’s… well, I’ve broken all kinds of rules to be here but I was still responsible enough to know my limits and avoid the finicky upper floors, those places can only be accessed by Supreme Monsters or some particular demons.’’ Casually, Elina walked toward this obelisk, this supposed throne of demonkind and gave it a kick. Whump.

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‘’I don’t know how you’ve ended up inside. There’s a peculiar legend that seems much more relevant now.’’ Turning back to face you, her pretty face grew distant, yet her gentle smile looked almost nostalgic. This softness in her emotions translated to an equally peaceful voice as she narrated her little tale after this little pause. ‘’In an era far before my time, when history was barely written and this city hadn’t sought refuge in its own dimension… when an unending age of strife brought by numerous gods beset humanity and those in-between, condemning them to a slow extinction, the young goddess of mankind made a wish.’’ Elina paused, her angelic face studying you closely. ‘’A friend. Without a mother, father or family, surrounded by men and women of politics and charged with protecting civilisation, the little lady wished for one true companion; inside a puppet of steel was such a presence born, a soul created by a wish, a wholly artificial being who stood loyal to her, braving rival gods and vanquishing horrors to protect his little lady, even going as far as fighting Mother Earth in stern defiance.’’

An endearing prelude to what is undeniably mythology from long ago, Elina expression was distant, her sharp eyes unfocused yet her smile convinced you that she had been thoroughly charmed by this little tale of skeptical reality.

‘’How exactly could such an entity be imprisoned inside this obelisk, this Demonic Throne?’’ Hard to believe this stone tower was something so dreadful.

‘’While the legend of Stalwart Gardy is common knowledge and -does- ends with him falling inside the Throne after his fight with Mother Earth, I’ve got a friend that allowed me to get some privileged information inside this royal academy.’’ Elina winked while poising her index forward to point at you, halo glowing brighter. ‘’One of the past Demon Lords was known to have made many, many experiments on the obelisk during her short reign and she told her inner circle that she personally saw Gardy body of steel disappear inside this thing, more than a thousand years ago! So, I attempted to make a calling, a ritual of summoners and then out you came! Almost dying of a concussion!’’

Not exactly a compelling memory, despite how your first view of the world has been a gorgeous heavenly girl.

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‘’I wish I could believe you.’’ You answered honestly, scratching your head (realizing that your hair was rather long, going a little past your neck.) ‘’My memories are nothing but a void and your tale didn’t awaken any feelings of familiarity, that was your aim wasn’t it?’’ At your question, Elina nodded with lesser pep. ‘’More than that.’’ You continue, trying your best to offer a friendly smile to the younger girl. ‘’You described Gardy as a puppet of steel but I’m very much flesh and blood.’’ Putting emphasis on your words, you made a wide wave of your arm without anything covering…

Hold on.

A sense of horror took hold of your heart and a cold sweat stiffened your spine while Elina brows furrowed in concern. ‘’Gardy… no I mean, are you okay?’’ She asked as you began to wonder why this girl was so casual about this.

You are a man.

One very much naked inside a room devoid of furniture.

As you crossed eyes with the angel you felt a new jolt of pain in your head; a sudden spark tingled inside your forehead then traveled all the way down your spine and the expression of the angelic girl took a drastic turn. Her cheeks blossomed red, her eyes grew wide, her hands came to clap over her mouth and nose while those gorgeous wings began many nervous flappings. So sudden -and honest- was her emotion that you found yourself dumbstruck, if not a little charmed; though covering yourself was your most important objective now.

‘’O-oh! Huh… You huh… you’re a man…’’ She squeaked, her soft tone carried throughout the room due to its natural echo. Why was something so fundamental only now being realized?

‘’Yeah’’ You answered flatly while hiding your crotch. If someone were to enter now… ‘’And I remember my name. Arawn Loukanos.’’

After the pain was the realization of a tiny bit about yourself. It was as if remembering something from a dream, a hazy and absolute certainty about your identity. Yet you couldn’t rejoice, even when the pain in your throat had mysteriously disappeared.

Didn’t she mention a friend earlier?

Even before you could throw a quick glance eastward for the door, you heard its creaking metal resonate throughout the empty room, an ominous sound that elicited images of a guillotine. One sudden thunk, then came echoing steps while a casual voice spoke.

‘’Elina? You’ve been here far too long, I know you really wanted to make this work but you should accept my help at least.’’It was a lovely tone carried by a woman of breathtaking beauty.

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Long wavy hair of vibrant red surrounded her shapely body akin to an aura of vitality while a pair of thick horns -combining red and dark- protruded out of that sea of silk to make a sharp ninety degrees turn above her forehead as if trying to form a crown. A broad tail of leathery skin with a strangely saw-like tip could be seen swishing behind her in this same combination of color that dominated this woman; a red and black also extended to her clothing.

The signs of guilts on her face had been far too brief for once your eyes crossed with hers, this demonic newcomer turned downright theatrical. ‘’Waaaauugh!? Nudist!? Why is there a nudist near the Throne? Elina what the hell did you do!? How’d you sneak…!?’’ She gaped and stared, with wandering wide eyes only for a blossoming red to color her cheeks. ‘’Erm…’’ Her tail flickered as she made a grand wave-like motion with her arm to create a cascade with her wavy hair as if trying to summon a good deal of charisma. ‘’There’s a good explanation for this right? Who… Why would anybody be naked here? How did you sneak here?’’ Suspicious but not accusing, this demoness seemingly forgot the presence of her angelic friend who summoned enough courage to gently walk beside you.

‘’Your Throne gave birth to him!’’ Elina statement shattered the demoness rebuilt decorum as she gaped soundlessly, you’d probably be doing the same if you could afford to be a little relaxed.

‘’Arawn came out of the obelisk and splatted himself headfirst on the ground, you felt my magic right?’’ As the demoness nodded slowly recovering while you began to ponder if male nudity was the cultural norm. ‘’Poor guy wounded himself, he’s fine and peachy now!’’ Elina continued ignoring your agony with a thumb up. ‘’My ritual worked! I didn’t know it would but this really proves that giving up is never the answer!’’

‘’Giving up while trying to achieve the impossible is considered mature, but goddess… managing to succeed a one in a million-chance set a bad precedent, you're already reckless.’’ The red lady snuck a glance at you, only to clear her throat and make another grand motion with her hair.

Quite shy for a succubus.

‘’You didn’t have any hope for me?’’ Came a soft, hurt answer and a downcast look, Elina wings even folded close to her body, forcing you to take a few forward steps to maintain a civil angle. Though her act was good it didn’t convince you.

‘’Do you think I would have allowed you inside this academy if I didn’t?’’ The demoness answered with a sigh, prompting a giggle out of the smaller winged girl. ‘’I didn’t think Gardy existed, or that he was a man.’’ The dark horned lady threw you a curious glance only to fail an even stare and look away bashfully.

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‘’I don't know about that.’’ You wedged in with a little aggression, cowering as best you could near the angel wing. ‘’And I’d like someplace to be comfortable, it wasn’t my intention to be standing here naked!’’

‘’Y-yes…I’m sorry for being a poor host. Please hold still while I remedy this.’’ You saw the demoness tail straighten. A newfound glare had come to nestle in her red eyes turning her expression serious enough for you to gulp in something other than embarrassment. When she opened her mouth again, something dark crawled it’s way out.

Far from regurgitation, the demoness kept herself wholly composed as a thick, dark, syrupy liquid flowed out of her body to stay afloat in midair. This strange manifestation coalesced into a ball of complete darkness and the woman looked rather displeased after letting out enough volume to rival a closed fist and, with another lazy wave of her hand, she turned to face you once more while that strange ball shifted in its levitation, opening up like a flower.

‘’Don’t be afraid’’ She spoke without any apparent discomfort, one hand on her hip and the other gesturing for you. ‘’This is -indeed- Corruption but I’ve exorcised the sides effects so think of it as physical magic. I’ll use it to give you makeshift clothing.’’ As you rose an eyebrow at her ominous term of Corruption, you braced for whatever was about to happen; that ball of darkness had now morphed into a stretched out, claw-like shape and slowly hovered to touch your body, whereupon the second phase of this spell began swiftly. That murky darkness contact with your skin had it spread up and down your body, feeling strangely warm and… a little coarse?

As if wearing woolen clothing, this physical magical energy spread fast, creating a toga. A thoroughly black, uncomfortable, low-quality one but at least you could finally begin to relax.

‘’Is this fashion in this place?’’ You said, not exactly interested, finding nothing else to break the ice.

‘’Not exactly.’’ The demoness responded, rubbing her throat with a grimace. ‘’I couldn’t think of anything else to help you. It’s easy to create and maintain so you’ll be good until we can find something genuinely tangible.’’ Her tail made a nervous twitch as she cleared her throat. ‘’You don’t know the basic of Corruptions?’’ Her tone had become awkward and both ladies shared a sense of hesitancy.

‘’To be blunt I’ve no clue about any basics. Elina somehow pulled me out of this thing.'' You waved for the obelisk. ''While leaving behind all of my memories, although I managed to remember my name… so my case is hopefully temporary. Arawn Loukanos.’’ It was when you realized you were a man that your name came back with that damnably uncomfortable pain.

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‘’Can't say I feel like Gardy.’’ You wedged in with a little aggression, cowering as best you could near the angel wing. ‘’And I’d like someplace to be comfortable, it wasn’t my intention to be standing here naked!’’

‘’Y-yes…I’m sorry for being a poor host. Please hold still while I remedy this.’’ You saw the demoness tail straighten. A newfound glare had come to nestle in her red eyes turning her expression serious enough for you to gulp in something other than embarrassment. When she opened her mouth again, something dark crawled it’s way out.

Far from regurgitation, the demoness kept herself wholly composed as a thick, dark, syrupy liquid flowed out of her body to stay afloat in midair. This strange manifestation coalesced into a ball of complete darkness and the woman looked rather displeased after letting out enough volume to rival a closed fist and, with another lazy wave of her hand, she turned to face you once more while that strange ball shifted in its levitation, opening up like a flower.

‘’Don’t be afraid’’ She spoke without any apparent discomfort, one hand on her hip and the other gesturing for you. ‘’This is -indeed- Corruption but I’ve exorcised the sides effects so think of it as physical magic. I’ll use it to give you makeshift clothing.’’ As you rose an eyebrow at her ominous term of Corruption, you braced for whatever was about to happen; that ball of darkness had now morphed into a stretched out, claw-like shape and slowly hovered to touch your body, whereupon the second phase of this spell began swiftly. That murky darkness contact with your skin had it spread up and down your body, feeling strangely warm and… a little coarse?

As if wearing woolen clothing, this physical magical energy spread fast, creating a toga. A thoroughly black, uncomfortable, low-quality one but at least you could finally begin to relax.

‘’Is this fashion in this place?’’ You said, not exactly interested, finding nothing else to break the ice.

‘’Not exactly.’’ The demoness responded, rubbing her throat with a grimace. ‘’I couldn’t think of anything else to help you. It’s easy to create and maintain so you’ll be good until we can find something genuinely tangible.’’ Her tail made a nervous twitch as she cleared her throat. ‘’You don’t know the basic of Corruptions?’’ Her tone had become awkward and both ladies shared a sense of hesitancy.

‘’To be blunt I’ve no clue about any basics. Elina somehow pulled me out of this thing.'' You waved for the obelisk. ''While leaving behind all of my memories, although I managed to remember my name, Arawn Loukanos, so my case is hopefully temporary.’’ It was when you realized you were a man that your name came back with a damnably annoying jolt of pain.

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‘’Your name sounds familiar…’’ The red-haired woman spoke softly but glanced away guiltily at your rising hope. ‘’Can’t remember off the top of my head, though some research into the old noble families of the Allied Kingdoms should do the trick, no noble lines of monsters have this family name, maybe if...’’

‘’I think we should ask him how he feels and what he wants to do, Siggy. Also, you really need to introduce yourself. He’s not gonna run away.’’ Having stayed quiet for a while, Elina gentle voice interrupted her demonic friend who cleared her throat in response, her tail making a worrying slap in the air behind her.

‘’Yes, I’m… I’ve delayed that enough.’’ With another imperious swoosh of hair, the succubus finally introduced herself with practiced ease, her tone echoing throughout this empty room. ‘’My name is Sieglinde Jawahir, eldest daughter of Demon Lord Deruella Jawahir. I am a demon of noble blood, a Lilim; something similar to a succubus though the need to debase myself with sex is nothing more than wishful propaganda.’’

‘’Siggy wish to make friends but can’t do it well because of that invisible crown weighing her down. Still, demons are good company, you’ll find out soon enough.’’ Elina seemed to relish the icy glare thrown her way by her friend. ‘’I know it doesn’t look like it from here, but we are inside the demonic capital of Throne Town. The entire city is dwelling inside its own created dimension so things can get a little hectic… though maybe you’ll get used to it fast, I know I did.’’ Elina took a few steps closer, patting your shoulder gently.

‘’If you’re starting an exposition you could also add that we are inside the academy of magic founded by my mother about a decade ago and that your desperate attempts at succeeding in your studies led to Arawn somehow spawning out of the Throne.’’ Sieglinde sharp eyes focused on her angelic friend who twitched awkwardly in response. ‘’There’s something very important we need to establish; this budding relationship isn’t that of the usual summoners.’’

‘’I’ve no intention of having a slave.’’ Elina spokes in mitigated anger, her expressive face turning to stone.

‘’Slave?’’ You had to interject, it wasn’t like you had any compulsion to serve any of them.

‘’Elina is attempting -and failing- to become a summoner.’’ Sieglinde began to explain, her annoyance had already melted, in fact, she was actually smiling. ‘’To keep it short, summoners dominate spirits for their uses, make contracts to keep them obedient and create magical bodies to house them when they need them to manifest in the world. While it’s possible to use sentient entities, doing so is considered extremely dangerous because sentience brings an inherent risk of rebellion.’’

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Sieglinde observed you intensely and, apparently satisfied as you digested her words, turned to look at the angel. ‘’Did you truly try to establish a summoning contract by using the Throne as a nexus?’’

‘’Yeah’’ Elina immediately answered, turning back to look at that polished obelisk. ‘’I… I wished for Gardy to come, for him to help me and then out came Arawn, nearly breaking his neck.’’

‘’Doesn’t make a lick of sense, if he was a genuine summon then he’d be sucking you dry of magic because you’d need to maintain his body…though without some experimentations we won’t get any concrete answers.’’ As Sieglinde mused, you spotted a quiet smile on the usually bright angel. She didn’t try to refute her friend.

‘’Well, for now, that’s not too important. Both of you look healthy and I’ll make sure to keep my schedule open as we figure out Arawn situation. I’d suggest keeping everything that happened here quiet for some time.’’

Figures you’d be in peril from merely existing.

‘’Well, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad with coming forward about this…’’ Sieglinde mused idly playing with her hair. ‘’…guess it depends if both of you want to keep yourselves comfortable for the next few months. You’ve accomplished something tremendous, Elina, extracting someone out of the Throne is unheard of.''

Perhaps... you've been lucky to have awakened with those two girls. Nobody can survive on their own, right?

''Informing my mother won't be putting you in danger, Arawn.'' Sieglinde continued, holding up a finger. ''Things are bound to get a little hectic. Elina homeland will want to understand what happened, so you'll be bound to meet lots of different people.'' Then came a second finger. ''Next will be my sisters who'll want to understand why this magical anomaly happened and how Arawn came to be, they'll likely try to get to know you a little and finally you'll have to undergo a batch of alchemical test to really understand how your body is made, since according to what we -do- know of magic, Elina should be struggling to maintain you. Still, you'll be under the protection of the Demon Lord, so while your existence won't be made public, nobody will try to mess with you.''

Sieglinde let out a sigh and crossed her arms, gaze darting between you and the glowing girl.

''Suppose you could see it as a way to create connections, I'll understand if you want to hold off for a week or so and catch your breath.''

It…was not a bad deal, you’ve certainly a lot to learn: magic, monsters women, Corruption, demonic capital inside its own dimension, summoners... one of your helpers was incredibly well connected and you seem to be tied to an angel.

‘’I think Arawn should do what he thinks best.’’ Elina spoke gently putting her hands behind her back and returning to a more honest smile.

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‘’You say that as if your opinion doesn’t matter.’’ Sieglinde immediately retorted. ‘’You two -are- going to be stuck together, especially if he -is- tied to you as a summon.’’ She put emphasis on two words, her thick tail clapped in the air again, it’s leathery torsion making a worrying sound as it cut the air like a well-aimed blade.

Note to avoid standing behind this Lilim when she’s grumpy, that thing is lethal.

‘’He should still choose, I haven’t exactly been fair to pull him out all of a sudden.’’

Another argument would be that you didn't even exist before crashing on the floor and nearly breaking your neck, her apparent submissiveness gave birth to an awkward feeling in your guts. Gratitude? Frustration? Annoyance? You’ll need to dwell on that.

‘’Aaah… fine.’’ Sieglinde gave her hair another imperious swoosh. ‘’Speak your mind Arawn, even a man without memory shouldn’t commit the sin of indecisiveness.’’

Interesting remark.

>How do you intend to take the next few days?

>Take it slow, get to know this world, research your name, see if you can make friends with those two women?

>Have Sieglinde inform her family, thereby allowing you to quickly meet potentially powerful people?

>[Free Choice] Write-in. Any and all time for decisions where I put greentext are not impositions on my parts, I only put them here to help guide you guys, personalized choice put forth by players is always encouraged. Don't be afraid to ask questions, I believe that worldbuilding work best through character interactions so I'll try my best to answer them with the girls.

>>2154985
We should probably find out what the hell we are. Popping out of a Demonic throne isn't the usual way people are 'born'. And Sieglinde did mention that our name was familiar, no? So, I guess we should stay low, befriend the two and find some info about our history and existence. Also, 10 posts for the intro? Bloody hell OP that's some dedication and I like it.

>>2154985
Wew, that was a long read. Probably turn some voters off, but what can you do?

>Take it slow, get to know this world, research your name, see if you can make friends with those two women?
I don't see any reason to throw ourselves into the thick of things when there's no time pressure to do so. We ought to gather as much intel as we can, and not make any assumptions about this world we find ourselves in, so that we're prepared when we do eventually have to deal with it.

>>2154985
>[Free Choice]
Pet pretty demon horns.

>>2154985
>>Take it slow, get to know this world, research your name, see if you can make friends with those two women?

Oh shit, are you the QM that did Tale of Monsters?
Where have you been man and are you starting a new quest instead of continuing siegfrieds adventure since its been years since you ran?

>>2155148
I am this guy yeah, I had to take a sabbatical because my health tanked pretty hard. I've since learned how to pace myself, so I'll inevitably need to take a few pauses here and there as we delve deeper into this quest.

The way I'm going to operate here is that I'll likely take a Saturday or Sunday as my big weekly day of update while doing one or two posts during the week itself to prevent myself from burning out.

I had to end Siegfried adventures and you'll be able to learn what happened in this quest with our new protagonist, though I'm not making it in a way that reading my previous quest is needed; I've changed quite a few things since then to make the lore simpler and less bloated. Come here with a fresh mind.

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‘’I think… I think holding off on informing your family would be best for my mental health.’’ You could brace yourself for some hectic coming days but, as she put it herself, catching your breath as you step deeper into this… situation would do wonders to alleviate stress.

‘’They’re good people but they can be a tad overwhelming.’’ The demoness remarked gently, with Elina agreeing by emitting a cute ‘’Hun hun’’

‘’You mentioned being familiar with my name, right?’’ The redhead nodded to your question. ‘’Then, I want to make that our objective; it has to mean something if it’s scratching your memory.’’

‘’Sure, we are right in the middle of the afternoon, might as well go right away. The public library of the academy should have our answer.’’ Her speech came to a sudden end as her long finger poked with her chin, red eyes drifting toward Elina who, you noticed gave a silent and vigorous nod. ‘’Alright let’s go, don’t stray from us though, you’ll huh… see there aren’t many men around.’’

Changing scenery from this bleak, bland, sterile nothing was such a tempting prospect that you find your steps to have a little spring. ‘’Lead on’’ You announced, prompting the two women to walk in front of you as you fought an urge to grab one of Sieglinde horns.

That thing looks sharp and she seems a tad bashful; not a healthy combination for your skin.

As you pondered how to survive this increasingly compelling urge (an objective to do later, oh yes), the redhead effortlessly opened that heavy -thick- door of metal, revealing a pretty hallway of vibrant colors with humanoid statues and paintings all over and a ceiling of glass that revealed a bluish red sky.

‘’Is the sun early to set?’’ You had to ask, though as you observed longer you noticed it had a proper shine to it.

‘’Not quite,’’ Elina spoke, prompting you to follow as you noticed a unique woman loitering the grounds; her entire bottom half was that of a snake with inviting purple scales.

‘’This city is inside its own enclosed dimension, though it mimics the real world almost perfectly there are a few obvious reminders that we aren’t in Mother Earth domain, one of them is the sky and the others…’’ she paused and the two friends exchanged a knowing glance, with Sieglinde letting out a giggle. ‘’…are things you’ll find out for yourself soon enough.’’

Great, they’ll obviously take great joy in your coming astonishment or potential agony. Being seeing naked once wasn’t enough?

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The girls were relatively quiet on the way, allowing to observe and take in the surrounding. This shrine was its own external building inside a huge amalgamation of constructions that comprise the whole of this ‘’magical academy’’ with enough space to house a small army, with spots reserved for parks and lake for students to relax. Three main buildings comprised as academic centers that, as Sieglinde explained, were repurposed headquarters of the army requisitioned by her mother a decade ago to be transformed into what you see today; a place of magical learning meant to teach monstergirls how to handle corruption and, above all, exorcise its side effects.

‘’An entire new caste has been created here, we call them Exorcist. Corruption is a useful magic, but it’s been a plague since it’s existence.’’ She briefly turns to observe you, pupils animated by an inviting shine of raw passion. ‘’It’s been a recent discovery too, we’ve spread it as far as we could and managed to open diplomatic talks with other sovereign nations of monsters, though human realms have been… stubborn.’’

‘’Demons were also the ones who spread the knowledge of alchemy far and wide after the Great Crusade,’’ Elina spoke afterward, imitating her friend academic gesture by levering an index. ‘’This new discovery with Corruption was made by one of my friend who’s a teacher here! I’d love for you to meet her!’’

While they spoke, you noticed a rather… worrying trend. Your presence was making -quite- the stir amongst the various people you came across, who shared two very important features. One, they were females. Two, they ogled you with various amount of astonishment, amusement, and passion, making you realize very quickly that without Elina and Sieglinde, you’d be surrounded by people of unique physical features. Snake ladies, harpies, cat women, wolven humanoids… Diverse wasn’t enough to describe them all, so unusual was this splice that you’d stare as much as they did.

‘’Alright, our big library is inside this place, the school of elementalism,’’ Sieglinde announced proudly, opening the set of oaken doors to reveal a calm hallway befitting a studious place, albeit with much less decorum than that shrine protecting the Throne. She proceeded to lead you up a set of stairs that ended directly in front of another set of a closed wooden door that she fearlessly threw open.

Inside was a library alright. A damn big one at that, spiraling a few stories down with enough serpentine hallways to confuse whatever meager sense of orientation you had. ‘’How the hell… Are we going to comb it all?’’

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‘’Nah.’’ Before you even realized it, Sieglinde had walked in front of a desk occupied by another strange lady, this one sporting green scales, and deformed, clawed hands. ‘’Gonna need the Seekers.’’

‘’All of them?’’ The lizard woman asked, golden eyes straying to stare at you.

‘’Half, I need to find something quickly.’’ She obviously knew who Sieglinde was because the librarian made no attempt at arguing and took out five strange balls of white and golden metals about as big as your thumb, which Sieglinde readily took.

You saw her press small dark buttons on the back of those strange object and casually throw them down a ramp before leaning on it, the spheres immediately lit up and levitated in front of the demoness. ‘’Search the family name Loukanos, find any books with information about the name Arawn Loukanos while you’re at it.’’ A bulbous opening projecting a light out of their core acted as acknowledgment and the bussing little sentinels immediately flew up and down this impressive library.

''What...?'' You could only ask while Elina took your hand as Sieglinde loitered on that ramp, observing the work of those things.

''Alchemical constructs, they'll find something relevant I'm sure. Wanna sit?'' She gestured for an empty table, there wasn't anybody inside this grand library outside the lone lizard-woman who was making a great effort to pretend reading a book. ''Wanna ask me anything?''

A few minutes to think about everything wouldn't hurt.

>Would you like to sit with the angel?
>Stay with the demons?
>Ask them both something?
>[Free Choice]

>>2155317
>>Stay with the demons?
And acquire horns.

>>2155317
>Stay with the demons?
And do not rub the horns, alright?

>>2155339
Fluff is for touching and horns are for rubbing.

>>2155317
>[Free Choice]
We're in a library; surely there should be at least one book that can give us a concise rundown on the history of this world. Or at least a grade school history textbook.

Also, continue to resist urge to fondle horns at least until we take her out for dinner.

>>2155317
>>Would you like to sit with the angel?

>>2155350
As this anon >>2155359 said, the rubbing of horns is a very intimate act, especially for a non-succubi. So, fight the urge to rub the horn. Until we earn that right.

>>2155317
Stay with demons, do not touch the horns just yet though we will touch them one day, and find us a basic level history book regarding the modern era.

Also, welcome back you glorious bastard.

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Looking at Sieglinde leisurely leaning on the ramp stirred a certain…primal… part of your brain. Her silhouette was fantastic, tall and curvy clad into form-fitting womanly clothing, long wavy hair of vivacious red almost making knots as it continues in a cascade past her hips. Her long tail lazily swayed back and forth while her butt stuck out almost proudly, seeing her like this was…

A strange sensation jolted in your head, a semi-second painful sensation immediately brought you back to this false earth to a confused Elina who didn’t seem amused. Not that she was any less of a looker.

‘’Huh, I uh. Let’s keep her company’’ What the hell was that…? Why this jolt again? ‘’I’d like to know broader things about the world, maybe find a book or something that could introduce basic things?’’ As you spoke you walked for the ramp, gesturing for Elina to follow and she soundlessly took place at your side.

Gazing down in that sea of spiraling books and hallways, or bridge, cutting incessant back and forth amongst columns of textbooks was more than enough to awe you into a brief silence. You could see the small balls flying around as well, their light scanning books after books, often hovering back for what you assume as an index of sections to scan it, too.

‘’Basic of basic hm?’’ Elina mused while Sieglinde straightened her lazy bones.

‘’Humanity, Monsters and Angels are the three sentients species of the world.’’ Sieglinde melodious voice spoke softly to your ear, prompting a nod from Elina.

‘’And magic is the act of projecting your ego into reality and also use your soul as a weapon; super dangerous stuff.’’

‘’Indeed.’’ Sieglinde had made a full turn now, resting her back on the ramp and lazily craning her neck back while Elina hands were firmly locked with that metallic protection. ‘’Trying to get into details with all that history will have us stuck here until morning, but you do need to know a few important things. Let’s talk magic later, okay Elina?’’

As the soft buzz of the Seekers echoed, the angel nodded silently.

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‘’First, humans and monsters have existed in Mother Earth domain since time immemorial and warred for resources and space well before the existence of the goddess herself. What you’ve seen so far, this splice of humanity and animalistic parts?’’ She made a gesture for the lizard-woman who, by now, looked genuinely interested in her book. ‘’Is only 230 years old. When my mother ascended the Demonic Throne, she made the wish of granting -all- species of monsters humanity and intelligence, thereby removing instinctive aggressions and crippling subservience toward the Demon Lord whims; freeing them from her control. Though, it didn’t exactly work out as planned.’’ A derisive chuckle escaped the redhead as she corrected her stance. ‘’The Throne copied my mother biology and projected it into all species, meaning all of them got a little tiny bit of a succubus influence alongside being naturally pretty, so that means that all monsters are dependent on humans and angels for reproduction; leech is a favorite derogatory term for those winged fellows.’’

So that explains why everyone you’ve seen so far was a woman. Quite the monkey paw, this obelisk.

‘’Angels are kinda hard to explain, I don’t know much about them myself,’’ Elina spoke now, wings flapping gently, as if ready to take off in this big, big place. ‘’I don’t know much about what they’ve done but I can tell you what they are, what I am.’’ Her small fist came to rest on her chest, offering you an inviting smile. ‘’Angels have always stayed recluse inside their own pocket dimension similar to this city, they…we are creatures of souls before body. Think of it like having a perfect balance, we are 50% body and 50% souls, which mean that an angel emotion directly reinforces them whilst doubts and sadness can lead to death, or something close to it.’’

In short, emotions affect their biology.

‘’They are also ungodly strong and absurdly hard to kill since they can, literally, say no to a deadly wound and fight on. Only Humanities heroes and Supreme Monsters have any chances against their elite castes.’’ Sieglinde chained after her friend, turning her head to look at the small angel, forcing you to resist the urge to poke her horn. ‘’Elina is on the weaker but she’s got other qualities that are much better than might.’’

Supreme monsters…?

‘’Come on, Sieg…’’ Clearly embarrassed, the angel halo brightened while she cleared her throat, grasping the ramp. ‘’…this is just the broader stroke of the world, you can think of humans as the template for civilization since monsters have copied almost everything they have after gained true sentience.’’ She was obviously quite eager to move past her friend compliment.

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‘’Yeah… though there’s one very important part of humanity I’ve omitted. Dwarves and Elves, they’ve pretty much always lived in an alliance of necessity with humans.’’ It was obvious to see it was a sensitive subject because Sieglinde good cheer all but melted, her naturally thin eyes narrowed into a worrying brilliant red line.

‘’Siggy…’’ You opted to stay silent, your curiosity was almost overwhelming but… you didn’t have the heart to push on.

‘’Agh it’s fine.’’ Sieglinde suddenly leaned forced, giving her wild red blanket of hair an imperious swoosh. ‘’He deserves to know, everyone does.’’ To which she cleared her throat and reopened her eyes to observe you properly.

‘’130 years ago, dwarves and elves suffered a near total genocide because… well, I’m not sure myself; the truth is buried somewhere but the human church will have you believe that my mother unleashed a devastating plague while spending three decades eroding their cultural values but that’s horseshit.’’

How grim… your mouth grew dry and you felt your hands tighten around the ramp, knuckles whitening. ‘’How… no, how are they today?’’

Learning how was natural but you preferred to move on, something Sieglinde was grateful for because her twisted feature relaxed into a genuine smile. ‘’The only treaty between the church and demons was formed, granting dwarven and elven survivors a protective status; anybody harming them is to be put to death without -any- political immunity. The church began to oversee the survivors and give them lands to settle and prosper in, though you won’t find any public enclaves anywhere.’’

Soft beeping’s resonated afterward, one of the spherical Seekers was hovering above the demoness head with a book levitating in front of its light, surrounded by a gaseous, bluish manifestation. Sieglinde long, almost clawed hand reached for the brown book and the alchemical apparatus flew off toward the counter. ‘’Seem like we got something, records… Hm, the title is too worn to read.’’ Her thumb gently traced the old leather. ‘’Wanna see what we can find in here, or got more questions?’’

>[Free choice]

>>2155601
We'll shelve the history discussion for now - we did come here for this book in the first place after all.

>>2155601
lets check the books out

>>2155601
keep looking I guess

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‘’I’ll want to learn about modern events later, let’s focus on that book.’’ Excitement translated in a few trembling of your limbs and you had to take a few deep breaths to settle down, Elina hand gently tapped your back, crooning a soft ‘’It’s fine, it’s fine’’ that you had to reward with a mocking smile; amnesia or not, you’re no kid.

‘’Alrighty.’’ Using her freed hand to push her hair into what was clearly a hard-wired habit, Sieglinde moved to the nearest table and your small group occupied its chairs, with you in-between angel and demon.

Opening what was clearly approaching to be an artifact in ages, the protective leather creased audibly to Sieglinde deformed fingers and she began to read in a practiced, gallant voice.

‘’Records of journeyman scholar Fuley who was born during the Great Crusade. He adventured all over the Allied Kingdoms, dedicating his life to learning and recording dwarven and elven cultures to help deepen friendship with humans, so let’s see… noble families, the elven capital of Luminaris was known to have a few human and dwarven noble family despite acting as a democratic center.’’

The demoness began to fish through the pages as you joined your hands together, with Elina coming to gently rest one of hers atop them. Your name, your lineage, was a noble one?

‘’Loukanos, Loukanos…Oh.’’ It didn’t take long for the pages to stop flipping after she observed the index, those shining rubies of hers settled on you in clear worry.

‘’I can take it.’’ You spoke without wavering, prompting a nod.

‘’The Loukanos family were the founder of Luminaris, the great elven city-state and were the very first adopter of democracy, often running to become Archon through the years and abdicating after their terms were overs. The Loukanos always acted as an anchor for the elves and a link of governments who managed to smoothen relationships between the elven odd rulership and the surrounding feudalistic kingdoms.’’ Then she turned a few more pages. ‘’There’s a registry here, Arawn Loukanos.’’ An audible tap emerged from the book as she touched it with her sharp fingers.

‘’Firstborn of the Everqueen and Everking. Diseased as an infant.’'

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There it was again, that jolt, that sudden sharp intake of pain that started from your forehead and traveled right into your spine like lightning. ‘’I’m… dead?’’ You had to say it, maybe even acknowledge it and as you looked into Sieglinde pretty face, her previous awkward eyes sharpened into sudden, worrying seriousness.

‘’Your ears just transformed.’’ She murmured, letting the open book down.

‘’Transformed?’’ Your confused mind could only repeat, reaching for the side of your head revealed a pair of sharpened ears; exactly what you’d expect from an elf.

‘’I wouldn’t have missed those ears when I first saw you, Arawn.’’ Sieglinde continued, eyes shifting for the angel. ‘’This isn’t the first time this happened.’’

‘’What? How? I was too confused to understand anything when I woke up.’’ A sense of panic began to seize your heart, the angel palm atop yours strengthened it’s hold, her gorgeous eyes of greenish-blue held nothing but pure, raw concern. It was a soothing warmth invading your chest, extinguishing rising flames of panics.

‘’I think it might be best to let Arawn rest a little.’’ Elina spokes with a similar timbre of voice to her friend. ‘’Truths are often ugly but piling too much at once can be cruel.’’

‘’Hrm…’’ Sieglinde was obviously not convinced. ‘’…well he doesn’t look like a danger to you, suppose I’ll back off.’’

Should she?

>Here is a choice that will impose an important character trait to Arawn
>Swallow your emotions and face all the truths you can, right now. [This will make you naturally composed, able to resist your emotions, bottling them deeply]
>Take a few moments to take center yourself, maybe learn about more recent history before going back to whatever strange happenings your body is subject to. [This will make you a very passionate man, for good and ills.]

>>2155931
>>Swallow your emotions and face all the truths you can, right now. [This will make you naturally composed, able to resist your emotions, bottling them deeply]


are we an angel? Since our emotions and souls seem to be shaping our body?

>>2155931
>Swallow your emotions and face all the truths you can, right now. [This will make you naturally composed, able to resist your emotions, bottling them deeply]
We did just spend like an hour resisting the urge to rub horns.

>>2155931
>>2155959
Git horns.

>>2155931
>>Swallow your emotions and face all the truths you can, right now. [This will make you naturally composed, able to resist your emotions, bottling them deeply]

>>2155931
>Swallow your emotions and face all the truths you can, right now. [This will make you naturally composed, able to resist your emotions, bottling them deeply]

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Calm. Center. Soothe. A newly rekindled fire of near-overwhelming passion caused no end of cold sweat throughout your spine, your hands were balled into fists, perhaps hurting the very first person that welcomed your new existence. Easy, Arawn. Calm. Don’t do anything rash, truths are important, they must be known as soon as you can; you’ve resisted the urge to grasp those lovely horns, you can know whatever truth Elina is hiding.

‘’I can take it.’’ You weren’t perfectly fine and didn’t need to hide it but to call your resolve shaky was an insult and something in Elina agreed after she took her time to look deep into your eyes while both of her hands rubbed your wrists.

‘’Okay. I’m sorry I kept quiet, I honestly didn’t know what to think at all, I didn’t want to scare you two.’’

‘’I’ve pegged him as a good sort.’’ Sieglinde spoke with a smug grin, poking you with her sharp finger. ‘’It’s important to know these things though, changing bodies like that… I don’t think even angels can do that. Undeads can, though, but let’s not assume anything.’’

‘’Right.’’ Elina leaned back, making her chair scratch along the metallic floor as she spread her wings fully, revealing about two entire meters of width full of gorgeous small, pale red soft hair. ‘’When Arawn woke up and came down the Throne, his body was… looking like solid ash.’’

Thank to your emotional bracing, you managed to curb a rising sense of horror growing in your guts.

‘’He was gray. No hair, no mouth, no eyes, absolutely nothing defined his face, he was humanoid in shape and that was it, up until he spoke.’’ There, Elina paused, carefully observing you. By now, you were actually feeling… good. Confronting this head on was giving you some pride. ‘’What I saw was jaw tearing open fabrics from the inside and when he looked at me, his eyes formed like a pit of sad caving it on itself. His voice an echo without identification, a sharp masculine voice with no organic touch. Wholly artificial, kind of like the clicks and whirls of the Seekers.’’

With retreating wings folding around her flank and yours, Elina rested her elbows on the table and joined her hands together in mock prayer. ‘’I stayed composed and silent, pretending everything was fine because… it’s my responsibility as a summoner to take care of my summon, but soon enough Arawn began to change. His skin defined itself to mirror mine.’’ Elina moved closer, gently grabbing your arm and aligned it next to hers, both of your skin had the exact same color; pale white.

‘’When he looked at himself though he huh…’’ Swiftly sitting back and shuffling awkwardly, Elina sheepishly looked away, clearing her throat. ‘’He became a true gentleman.’’

That’s why you were naked and why she only made a fuss later on. This toga sure is comfy.

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‘’Hm, it’s like he…mimicked you,’’ Sieglinde spoke after rubbing her chin, eyes trailing for the book. ‘’However, he remembered the name Arawn Loukanos by himself, so his soul -is- inherently male and undeniably tied to that dead infant somehow.’’

‘’Inherently male?’’ You had to ask, making the demoness eyebrow rises.

‘’Right you wouldn’t know. Souls and bodies are linked but bodies differ in constitution amongst species. Angels are 50-50, humans are 75% body and 25% souls while monsters vary in degrees, even going as far as 85% souls; we call those ghosts. Now, this can lead to all kind of diseases when body and souls are desynchronized, amnesia is one of them. A person sex is the very first object of true identification, a core of their person. Your soul possesses an instinct like your body and it remembered what you were at your core. A man. You were born a man, and so your body adapted itself to accept your soul… it’s good you didn’t try to resist or deny anything that’s been happening to you.’’

‘’I see, it’s heartening to know I have a persisting identity.’’ You gently tapped your chest, imagining you were giving your soul a pat.

‘’Yeah, though what’s worrying is that you seem to be an infant… but maybe these records are wrong, wouldn’t be a first and elves are eternal so it’s entirely possible you survived Luminaris fall only to somehow wind up inside the Throne.’’

A heavy silence fell at the Lilim words, giving you precious minutes to digest everything. Sure, your moment of ‘’birth’’ was rather… no it was definitely extremely strange, but you’ve already figured out precious, precious key parts of yourself thank to these ladies.

‘’To be blunt, I don’t have a clue how to clear up the mystery of your existence,’’ Sieglinde spoke up with an uncomfortable frown. ‘’Trying to go too fast is probably a mistake anyway, it’s impossible for you to be a monster because you are a man, that makes you beyond the machinations of the Throne, at least for this era.’’

‘’In the end, you -do- need to figure out what you want to do, Arawn. We are inside the academy of magic so… maybe you’d like to take a few classes?’’ Elina wiggled in her seat, wings flapping gently, trying her best to conceal an all too obvious excitement.

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‘’We still don’t even know if he’s a mage.’’ Sieglinde retorted to which Elina pouted.

‘’Not important! We can just pretend he is as he learns some basic, we can inform Teruko of his loss of memory, you know she’s trustworthy!’’

‘’Suppose I could tag along, I’ve had enough butting heads with that Javed cunt fo…’’ Realizing her vulgarity and growing an adorable shade of red, Sieglinde cleared her throat and went for another imperious hair swoosh. ‘’Tell us what kind of schedule you want, Arawn. I’ll abuse my position to make everything smooth, tonight we ought to relax a little.’’

Hearing a torsion of leathery skin from her tail, Sieglinde rubbed her deformed hands with a rather… dreadful smile.

‘’Why do you look so scary for?’’ Elina immediately cut into the middle of things.

‘’I’m just imagining that the next few days might finally be good.’’

>{Free Choice} Here is where you consider what you want to do for the next few days, stuff you guys want to learn, what kind of activity you could see yourself doing. Focus on learning history? Magic? Try your athleticism? Go into the city? I can help guide you guys if you want.

>I’ll be stopping here for tonight. With Christmas coming so soon I'll try to be a bit more active during the week, maybe see about making another big update day Tuesday or Wednesday.

Let's try to learn some magic! We can spend some tome with Elina, too. Those wings deserve soft pats.

Good to see you back writing, INH! I read your first story from the beginning to the end, ad it was wonderful!

>>2156380
Thank. I've learned a great deal since then and I'll make sure to make this run a good one, mostly by taking a long and steady road instead of trying to progress too fast.

>>2156247
I say we ought to find out more about ourselves before trying to become anything else. Sieglinde mentioned some tests could be performed on us?

Apart from that, we should learn more about history, as we were looking to do earlier. And some training on etiquette might not go amiss for when we have inevitably to deal with Sieglinde's family.

>>2156247
Learn more about the current state of affairs as well as modern history from the past 200 years.

Also now is a good time to figure out what our body is actually made of, and our ratio of Body/Soul. A followup would be what's the normal ratio for Elves.

And finally, learn some magic. See what this body can do.

>>2156247
So we "transformed" into an elf when we heard about how the name was Elvish? Oh my, that is indeed concerning.

Well, we don't seem to be in need of immediate power leveling (that comes later) so going into the city and gettin' a good lay of the land and culture sounds fun.

Also, if magic works the same as it did in your other works than we're gonna want to at least try to get some entry level magical power. Mentat mode ain't nothin' to fuck with folks.

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‘’Let’s go grab something to eat.’’ An uncomfortable screeching almost screamed out of Sieglinde chair as her tail had wrapped around one of its wooden legs and promptly pushed it away. ‘’We’ll stick here for today, going outside in the city as you are… well, I’ll have better clothing delivered; that toga is far too open.’’

Unpleasant implications. ‘’Okay, that’s a wise logic.’’ You honestly felt like getting a good eye of this capital of Throne Town but you could refrain from today and an annoyingly painful pang in your guts also made the succubus offer inviting. ‘’Could I get another history course then? Knowing what’s happening in this modern era?’’

‘’Sure, let's act as exposition fairies!’’ Elina punctuated her attempt at mirth with a gentle wing flap that, combined with her brightening halo, you could only describe her as precious. ‘’Explaining how the academy work should take us until evening, too.’’

As your little group made its way out of the library, you cast an idle glance for the scaled lady observing your exit, a palm covered in yet more reptilians features swayed sideways as a quiet goodbye.

--

Food procurement consisted of your angelic friend lone quest for hailing an open-air vendor inside the demonic magical academy popular common open ground while Sieglinde hid with you into a deeper patch of vegetations to avoid ‘’annoying popularity’’. Apparently, rumors of a new male had already spread and you began to wonder about your imposed choice of attire.

‘’You won’t be needing to go into the school of Internalization, but it’s inevitable you’ll get stared at no matter what you do. Especially with your ears, men are already rare in these parts; elves would be like seeing a dignitary from the Church.’’ Sieglinde explained her reasoning while your reformed group sat on the dirt, a rising gallant urge within you made you feel briefly inadequate to see the demonic princess stain her skirt and leggings like that…

Yeah, gallant. Elina at least sat on her knees.

Early supper consisted of meat, corn, potatoes and strange purple vegetables that was apparently ‘’homegrown and transformed in-house’’ but delicious and filling enough to not bother about their origin.

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‘’Lesse…’’ Elina spoke after a mouthful, her small portion almost already finished. ‘’This is the demonic Academy of Magic, a rather recent project of the Demon Lord since it’s been established about 10 years ago, right?’’ The angel eyed her friend who nodded silently, clawed fingers peeling off pieces of meats. ‘’Before that, it’s been used as headquarter and center of administration, these buildings served as a way to make magical ritual with the Throne and stationed parts of the army; even before Daiyu reign, previous Demon Lords made it their center of operations. There are several legends about a Demon Lord hidden wonders or curses… kinda similar to Gardy, though much less chivalrous.’’

A twinkle of passion shone inside Elina angelic pale emeralds and, of course, her pale red wings flapped.

‘’You’ve seen the three buildings, right?’’ She asked you, prompting a nod. There were three very distinctive mansions with the middle one being twice, if not thrice, as large compared with the rest. ‘’Big one is almost its own castle, that’s the school of Internalization where monsters learn to deal with Corruptions and that’s also where Exorcist are formed. People tend to come here exclusively for this place alone, that’s why the other two schools are so much smaller.’’

‘’There’s a rather big forest to the east, that’s where you’ll find the wing dedicated to elementals manipulations.’’ Elina gently puts down her empty plate, casting a brief upward glance where the sky was slowly but assuredly darkening. ‘’Only a few species of monsters can actually manipulate stuff like fire and water so that wing is a very secluded place, I don’t know anything about it.’’

‘’It’s a remnant of old, old history,’’ Sieglinde added, lying against a tree with hands behind her head, thoroughly undisturbed by having trapped her hair and already done with her bowl. ‘’Place got its own headmistress and act like an independent scholarly organization, plainly put, it’s politics related to Supreme Monsters.’’ Her eyes opened to stare at you. ‘’We’ll get to that topic later, maybe in a few days. It’s unpleasant.’’

And perhaps a tad touchy, keeping your curiosity in check to avoid angering your new demonic friend would be wise.

‘’Finally, there’s the place I’m going, the school of Summoning!’’ Elina announced with arms and wings outstretched, trying her best to appear grandiose. ‘’It’s always been mastered by monsters outside a few odd humans and elves. My teacher found out how to cure the side effect of Corruption by using summons! It’s where the demonic army find most of its recruits so those who come to study here usually intend to establish a reputation.’’

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So, an academy dedicated to magic with a focus on manipulating this ‘’Corruption’’ force, where monstrous Exorcists are trained with two additional branches of magical manipulation dedicated to older arts. With about three parks, an enclosed forest, and two lakes, this place honestly feel like its own inner city especially since it was surrounded by its own set of walls; you’ve yet to get any look at the capital.

‘’Any monsters can learn to be a summoner, though Elina is doing her best to become the first angel… but let’s move on, it’s getting dark and you’ll be able to get a magical course tomorrow. Recent events you need to know… hmm, give me a minute to think about it.’’ Sieglinde eyes closed as she leaned forward, away from the tree while Elina produced a gourd out of nowhere and filled a new set of three wooden bowls.

‘’I think real changes only began after the Church recent failed crusade.’’ Elina words had lost their excitement as she gently gave her friend refreshment, then did the same for you.

‘’Yeah.’’ Sieglinde finished her beverage in a single gulp, nodding a thank. ‘’12 years ago, the Old Word pope and the matriarch of the Allied Kingdoms declared a crusade upon the sovereign monstrous nation of Zipangu, a fancy way to say purge since they were backed by angels. Things didn’t work out for them at all, though.’’ A scoff escaped the Lilim and her face showed a thin dangerous smile, it was akin to staring at a satisfied predator. ‘’The Old World count three major human nations: The Church forces to the east, guarding a frontline against us demons. A middle nation follows which has since been fractured into 4 separate entities governed by their own city-states and finally the grand kingdom of Gwynedd, which has a long history of conflict with Orders officials.’’

‘’The Order is the armed branch of the religion of Unity, who worship Mother Earth and Father Sky. People just call it the Church, but it’s actually separated into a military and theological branch.’’ Elina added, hands wrapped around her mug.

‘’Clerics are honestly some reasonable bunches.’’ Sieglinde continued, scratching an itch on her cheek with one worrisome claw. ‘’Anyhow, to make a long story short, Gwynedd and Zipangu entered into a secret military alliance that was only announced after attacking the human-angels forces coming to land onto Zipangu shores, a joint land-naval battle ensued and the angelic leader, Orion of Strife, was killed by none other than my own mother.’’

‘’Were you there?’’ You had to ask. Something about her attitude convinced you she had been.

‘’Yeah.’’ Her narrowing eyes drifted away to observe nearby trees. ‘’Explaining the whole situation will take all day though, so let’s move on to the following years.’’

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‘’Before that, we ought to explain what Orion was, your mother effort really can’t be understated.’’ Elina had leaned a little forward, interrupting her friend. ‘’Orion of Strife was called that way because he was the Embodiment of Strife, which is an angelic way to refer to a concept made manifest. In essence, Orion was conflicts in human shape and the last leaders of the angelic race.’’

‘’Bastard put up a hell of a fight, still, it wasn’t like we could afford to respect Zipangu sovereignty in these circumstances, so we acted to help them out despite our previous war.’’ Sieglinde was the first-born daughter of the Demon Lord, only now are you starting to realize what it implies; she’s undeniably old and you could sense a strange rage smoldering inside her, raw passion carefully kept in check churned within those shining red eyes.

‘’Now… the years afterward were one hell of a show. Zipangu and Gwynedd became a commonwealth, joining their economies together while demonic relation with that island-nation became good enough to open an official trade route. King Gil Rosario of Gwynedd did something unthinkable; he had sponsored many exiled clerics and kept their existence hidden to produce a revised version of Unity and officially adopted it as his kingdom state religion, which also happened to Zipangu. His version rejected the existence of Father Sky, patron of angels, and elevated Mother Earth as the sole deity of mankind. He named several saints of monstrous and human origins and affirmed that ancestral worship was another aspect of Mother Earth, a way for her children to be joined in harmony, revoking its heretical practice.’’

Your natural self-control was the only reason why your jaw wasn’t hanging rudely but your expression was an easy read because Sieglinde and Elina chuckled together.

‘’Yeah, it’s been hectic. Thankfully there are no wars between the Commonwealth and the Church since the Order is far too scared of us demons to attempt enforcing their religious rule. As years followed, the Allied Kingdoms has become a hotbed of cultural conflicts since Gwynedd revised religion took some roots, especially in the northernmost guardian-kingdom of Kreszenz, and overall people have been arguing without coming to arms since war amongst human is really, really antithetical to Unity. Us demons have been busy too, but it’s much easier to summarize.’’

Sieglinde reached to pinch a morsel of uneaten meat on your plate and made it dangle over her mouth, tongue dangling out, showing its deep dark organic red color. When she let go, her tongue caught the falling food, almost wrapping around to bring it into her mouth with an audible suckle. You pretended to shift your stare at Elina who was actively glaring at you.

Let’s pretend nothing happened.

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‘’Anyhow, my mother rule had been in decline for a solid 50 years or so but that crusade? Everything changed after that, my estranged family finally came back together and we reaffirmed the Jawahir dynasty authority over demons and got something of a cooperative relationship with Zipangu, so these days we’ve been concentrating on keeping a balance amongst humans and monsters, with tensions so ungodly high a war could erupt at any moment and we have no clues what angels could be trying to pull after Orion demise. Still, this second breath is why this academy exists today, so I’m more than happy to say the last few years were pretty good.’’

‘’I see…’’ You felt lost, even a little overwhelmed. To be speaking with people who lived through such tumultuous events filled you with a mixture of awe and dread but also a certain odd excitement; you’ve lucked out quite a lot.

‘’Without further ado!’’ Sieglinde suddenly jumped on her feet with her tail making a loud ‘’thunk’’ when it skewered itself into a nearby tree. Scary.

‘’Let’s go into Elina dorm, get you a room. It’s getting late, and I remember that I gott- I have to take care of a few things.’’ Sieglinde tried her best to continue appearing imperious with a swoosh of red hair.

‘’Males and females sleep in the same area?’’ You asked as you offered to relieve Elina off the burden of carrying the empty bowls.

‘’There are not enough men to warrant any reserved space, I’ll be fine though.’’ She smiled, nodding gracefully. ‘’Let’s go.’’

--
This dorm consisted of a single claustrophobic hallway of 8 closed doors separated into facing horizontal columns inside an ominous dark corridor of stone, kept alight by three glowing candles of glasses.

‘’Choose yourself a room, I’m gonna make sure nobody raises a fuss,’’ Sieglinde spoke, already turning her back to you and Elina, waving a lazy hand above her head, thick tail curled like a spring. ‘’Get yourself to magic class tomorrow, I’ll see about popping in around midday or early afternoon.’’

She rounded a corner and disappeared deeper inside the labyrinthine mansion of summoners, leaving you alone with Elina for the second time today. ‘’This place is a bit rundown because it houses the incompetent students… though there’s only one other girl here, it won’t get loud or busy.’’ Elina walked and stopped in front of a door – the third one on the left – and produced a small key to open it, revealing a comfortable small room of soft blue walls, a single bed, a bookcase, a desk upon which rested an oil lamp and a chair; everything gently lit by the nearby alchemical candle. She reached for the bookshelf, small fingers running against each book and eventually pulled one off, a small tone wrapped in dark leather.

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''Something for students, it'll teach you deeper details about the world outside, should make for an adequate read if you can't fall asleep.'' She handed you a book, then produced a key out of her skirt pocket. ''Sieglinde gave me one earlier, I know she said you could choose whatever you wanted but it'll only open the room to my left.''

You didn't care to be choosy. Your brain felt hazy from all the information you've absorbed but you had enough presence of mind to gently accept her gift. ''Thank, Elina... for everything.''

Incomprehension subtly flashed on her face before melting into a gentle smile. ''I don't think I deserve that.'' She responded quietly with downcast eyes. ''Make sure to work hard in finding your place, Arawn. I can't begin to imagine your confusion... but it's fine to take your time.'' Wings furled around her small frame, Elina hand idly raised itself to play with her semi-long golden hair. ''I'll wake you up tomorrow morning, okay?''

''Yeah.'' You didn't know what to say or how to react but you decided to put on an honest smile of your own. ''No matter what, it's better being here something instead of being stuck inside that thing, I've got a debt to you and Sieglinde.''

''Friends don't hold favors over each other's heads,'' Elina responded with a coquettish smile, cocking her head slightly to the right as she put a hand on her door. ''See you tomorrow!''

Was it your impression or did Elina seemed dispirited? Perhaps it was fatigue, there's no telling how tiring her summoning had been. ''Good night, Elina.'' With your goodbye, she politely closed her door and you left to enter your room clutching this new book.

Your new habitat was a near mirror of the angel chamber minus a naked bookshelf and, without anything else to do, you opened your lamp and set to reading while your mind slowly drifted in reminiscence of today's events.

The Old World refers to the oldest battlegrounds between mankind and demons with conflicts ranging from the era of Pretenders to today's modern history of humanoid monsters. It was from its shores and lands that humans set out to colonize nearby territories. However, magical catastrophes and wars all but robbed any dreams of sovereignty toward these far-flung colonies that have since become nations in their own right. Today's Gwynedd, the four city-states, and the Church are poor remnants of a glorious past, with Lescaties ruins being a stark remainder the Old World cannot claim to rival its ancestor's glories.

This book obviously preceded the Commonwealth.

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The Allied Kingdoms are directly south of the Cursed Swamp and east of the chains of Everpeaks. Formed from surviving countries of the Great Crusade, this amalgamation of kingdoms operates as separate states that remain joined together in warfare and economy, with every kingdom representing themselves inside the House of Dukes, itself oversaw by the ecclesiarch matriarch. No other civilized nations can hope to match the full might of these kingdoms combined armies and all of them renounced any large scale wars with each-others; always ready to set apart old rivalries and unite against foreign threats, as was seen with the aggressive expansionism of monstrous desert dwellers obeying their false she-god inside the southern desert...

6 countries joined together in an eternal alliance, the great elven city-state of Lumin also dwelled within a magical forest, that has since become a sacred reserve. No wonders demons have been busy in there. What was that about a Cursed Swamp?

Between the sea of Dreams and the impassable chain of Everpeaks is a land corridor of varying length as it has been known to increase and diminished throughout the years. Previously the most important trade route between the two human powers, 300 years ago marked a reality-altering catastrophe. The land was altered into a poisonous, deadly realm that has become a wound inside Mother Earth world. Taming it has proven useless, as any large-scale incursions were met with fierce resistance from denizens beyond our reality, and with contacts cutting off from both powers, mankind was forced to erect guardian-orders of Knights that have endured to this day, generations after generations of stalwart men ready to fight against horrors beyond imaginings.

Scary, what in the world could this ''wound'' look like? Thinking back on Sieglinde briefing, if that barrier wasn't there, wouldn't the crusaders against Zipangu have been reinforced by people from the kingdoms?

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As you lay awake in bed with the dying embers of flames from your lamp slowly extinguishing itself, your mind inevitably reviewed everything you've learned today. What little hints you've uncovered about yourself managed to instill a vital sense of identity but pretending you had any purpose was a plain lie; Elina and Sieglinde had been your links, your saviors, informing you of this strange world politics and events without judging or expecting anything in return, hell you're a complete oddity, yet the Demon Lord eldest daughter was genuinely willing to not treat you like a lab rat.

This issue of...copying Elina skin and then your ears changing from learning of your ancestry was disconcerting, yet there wasn't anything you could do about it. Of course, that doesn't assuage worries but you decided to focus on something else instead of getting swallowed by emotions.

Namely, the angel and the Lilim.

It has only been one day, but these short hours were the sum of your entire existence.

Deep down, Arawn...
>Will you give them your whole trust?
>Keep yourself reserved?
>Try to become independent, see about keeping them at arm's length?
>Or something else? {Free Choice}

Only one update today. Next session day is likely to be Tuesday since I'll probably need to write another big chunk of text to explain magic and there'll be more people to introduce. For now, this choice is about what you guys think of the girls and the attitude you want to have toward them. I also have a twitter here https://twitter.com/TaleOfMonsters

>>2160613
>Tuesday
I meant Thursday. But I'm not unknown to be late by one day either.

>>2160613
>Other
Trust, but verify, and work to be able to do things on our own and be independent.

What that means is that we trust that they want to be good friends and trust that their actions and intentions are good, but distrust everything they say and believe as they may simply be wrong, be misinformed, or remembering incorrectly (deliberately or otherwise). Double-check everything with as much research as we can do in the library.

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>Will you give them your whole trust?

Most of it anyways. Until they prove untrustworthy, let's just consider them our greatest friends and allies.

Things I want to do in the short term future:

* Spend more time in the library, and get to know that lovely lizard girl better.

* Let's see Sieglinde eat more often, maybe treating her to eat, sometime. That tongue technique deserves careful observation. :3

We should skim the book a little bit and fall asleep early. Tomorrow is a big day

>>2160664
this
pretty much

Also, i don't know how i missed years worth of your tweets QM.
You moved to a new site after the last thread on /tg/?
Did Tale of monsters conclude in the new site?

>>2160698
There was an adventure going in 8ch, I seem to recall.

>>2160698
I had to stop ToM because I kept pushing myself too hard, I tried to continue new quests and ignored my failing health which inevitably ended with me taking a long break to recover(general life was also a factor, of course).

My decision to move was not a wise one, ToM didn't conclude anywhere; I tried to run a parallel quest with another protagonist and ultimately ended it, and I ran a sequel as I thought myself adequately prepared, but wasn't.

Ultimately I decided to restart fresh with this protagonist while giving an ending to my previous adventures/attempts in ways that don't impact this story too much. It'll be possible to get into details if you wish, but it's not vital. It's been 12 years, which is a more than adequate time skip. Of course, we'll see old faces again but this sequel is a small reboot too. Zipangu crusade was a very important event but you don't need to know the crisis details, as it stand you can think of it as the birth of Protestantism, that's the kind of cultural effect it had on the world.

You can, of course, go deeper if you want, demons -are- in good relations with them.

>>2160720

So there are details in the canon that may have changed?

For example, I seem to recall Deruella was in the first tale of monsters, a villain, but from here so far, she has been described as a heroine/good ruler? I am not sure if this is part of the reboot or if it is a matter of perspective of her sister, or if it is a plot twist you were planning. Either way, I look forward to see it~

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>>2160731
>So there are details in the canon that may have changed?

Yes, so don't hold too much of the lore credible for now. Of course, some things stayed the same so for people like you, it'll be rethreading old grounds and some events that happened in Siegfried adventure are indeed still affecting people today but you don't need to have been here to solve any future crisis and get a good end.

I'll always provide a fair chance.Deruella is indeed one of Sieglinde sisters, but you should ask her face to face if you want to know more.

Though information is a luxury you won't always be able to afford, for now, were still in the introduction so no need to feel stressed.

>>2160743
As an elf, I want answers. Not Sieglinde’s truth, but objective facts as to what happened to our people and their current disposition.

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I am curious about the new church founded by Gil Rosario. It no longer accepts Father Sky? Rhat seems like declaring war on angels.

Talking about angels, I want to in-character have Arawn consider how come an angel is in so good terms with a high ranking Demon as Sieglinde. One's impression would be that angels and demons would be antagonic, and yet, Sieglinde and Elina seem to get along like bros.

Also, here I am throwig in a little fanart I made of Sieg~

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>>2160799
That's adorable. That's the second fanart I ever had, you made my night.

>>2160809

I remember back in the day, on an earlier adventure, promising to draw some, but things got busy for me, and I lost track of things, and in the end, it slipped out of my mind >w<-

I had been meaning to draw things for Tale of Monsters from much earlier, but didn't get the chance till now.

And, that one pic is amazing. I hope my draws can be as good sometime :3

I cn make no promises, but I will try to draw more for this project of yours. To begin with, I think I will color Sieg. Do I use the same colors of the refference images of her that you have posted so far?

>>2160817
Yeah, she's mostly red and dark, down to her clothes. Doesn't wear jewelry since I haven't described any once.

The character I'm using is Maou Beluzel if you feel like searching.

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>>2160824

Oh, I see! She did seem familiar to me, and I was meaning to ask where she was from. Thanks for the info. Belizel seems to be waifu tier, and I m sure Sieg will be, too!

>>2160613
They get most of our trust. We keep an eye out as you can never trust anyone fully who ain't either your spouse or blood family but until we catch them in a lie or deception I say we believe in em'.

Has this qm ever run a quest before and if so what was it's name?

>>2161777
Yes, It went by Monster Girl Quest

>>2161777
A Tale of Monsters
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Monster%20Girls%20Quest.

>>2161822
There is nothing there

As I have no prior experience with this qm I feel the need to ask certain questions, like will there be gender bending or mind control?

>>2161828
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Monster%20Girls%20Quest

I made a whole lot of mistakes during my run but I'm still proud of my effort.

>>2161837
Porn isn't the main aim of this quest. Monstergirls have succubus influence and are humanoid, and that's where it ends. Mind control is an aspect of magic, gender-bending isn't.

>>2161828
Don't include the period at the end.

>>2161842
Thank you for answering, not really into the whole gender bending stuff.

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>>2161837
This QM is consumed with the need to "REJOICE" and has obvious favorite fictional works like "Muv-Luv", "F/SN", and the Urobutcher's entire catalog.

That ought to clue you in. Once he says the "tutorial" is over we're playing for keeps. Harsh keeps at that. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. Challenge me QM, make me truly *earn* my happy ending!

Wish I was still a NEET like I was before, work will prevent me from foiling you like I dis so often before.

I look forward to participate actively in this, as well. That said, If things get too hectic in RL I won't be able to guarantee frequency in my answers, but I will try!

To be honest, seeing previous fans start to gether here and be ready for more is exciting. I am also ready to REJOICE, hehe~

>>2161860
Its surprisingly tame, lewd wise and serious.
We went like 90 threads before the smut happened so don't worry about this being a magical realm smut quest.

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>>2161894
Like, god damn dude, the feels i got when we learned about the MCs mom in tale of monsters

>>2161894
Like any VN most anime fans ever hear about, ya get ~1-2 hours of porno at most. The other 50+ hours you spent reading it? Plot, world building, character development, they strip out the porn and market it to normies to great success for good reason.

>>2161886
>>2161867
I'm not that good pls
I'm not going to be as active as I was in the past, it's very likely that after we end the first two arcs I've got planned that I'll take as much as a month-long break to replan a few things and just plain rest.

Pacing myself like that will prevent the burnout that happened with ToM 1. And yeah seeing old faces again is heartening, I'm motivated though not as energetic as I was back then.

>>2161906
Do I have to read the previous quest to play this? This looks like a soft reboot or something like it

>>2162137

There is no need to have read the previous one, author has already stated so.

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Given your current lifestyle, everything was subject to change yet as you sat on your desk to begin a deeper examination of Elina geo-political book, you had already neatly resolved all of your doubts.

Elina and Sieglinde are your allies, your friends. The angel somehow pulled you out of non-existence and Sieglinde -the eldest daughter of the Demon Lord- had been frank in what she could do to help you. Both were good company, sharing a strong friendship that isn’t pushing you away. They haven’t tried anything suspicious so far, sticking by you all day, attempting to help you situate yourself. Another argument could be they kept you under guard, but would you honestly be able to make any progress if you were to be so paranoid?

There is one thing you should keep in mind… remaining cautious of what you’ve learned from them. Double checking a few things; they’ve offered a good view of the world, especially as people who lived through the events of Zipangu Crusade, and even as the book corroborated the girls information, there remained one nagging truth you couldn’t look away from.

The near genocide of dwarves and elves had apparently been committed by the Demon Lord by means of cultural infiltration, plagues and a single apocalyptic event that ravaged the city-states of Lumin and Stronghelm, how such a feat was accomplished remained a mystery to this day.

Now here you are, the apparent dead infant prince of Lumin royal family, making merry with those who might have slaughtered your entire people…

You don’t want to be suspicious, you don’t have to be unless the girls give you a reason and perhaps if such an event occur, it could only be a misunderstanding. An objective though, an ambition... Finding the truth of this genocide is what your guts feelings are settling onto; there's no telling how long it'll take, but now's not the time to be afraid of protracted paths. You won't get the truth tomorrow, nor next week, maybe not even next year, but you won't forget about it either.

Thus resolved, finishing the book yielded a deeper understanding of the Allied Kingdoms; an old map with some brief descriptions of its nations allowed you to drift to sleep with something tangible to help distract yourself from sobering thoughts.

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--

Awakening on your second day filled you with a whole lot of mixed feelings because you were absolutely certain you had some vivid dreams, yet couldn’t recall a damn thing. It bothered you well after breakfast with only the new crisis of a total lack of clothing acting as a good distraction. Elina had actually fetched food before waking you up (such a good friend) and you almost rewarded her effort with another full-frontal nudity of yours truly; thankfully sheets make for adequate covers.

‘’Awawa… I’ll, I’ll go get something!’’

Warms eggs, toasty bread, and an embarrassed angel wasn’t such a bad morning. It eventually took Elina an entire hour to return, and the only thing that happened was hearing a door open and close several times somewhere in the small corridor, you had felt almost curious enough to peek out but your state of undress prevented any chances at a good impression.

You’ve already flashed two women yesterday.

--

What passes as classes inside the castle-manor of summoners primarily happened outside and due to your tardiness, activities were well underway, creating a fascinating show. There happened to be a grand courtyard of cobblestone, separated into several small arenas with strange glowing cylindrical pillars that, Elina told you, were full of protective wards. It was a little austere since there weren’t any distractions, making the scenery flat and boring but the fifty or so women present were in the middle of interesting activities.

Occupying the nearest square arena was a group of three identical looking girls that seemed spliced with mantises, overseen by an elder looking woman of short brown hair, two small protrusions on her forehead and a pair of leathery bat-wings emerging out her hips. They were evidently in the middle of something because the young bugs-girls started to poses.

‘’Sei!’’ Mantis A announced, hands behind her back while pushing out a meager chest.
‘’Ki!’’ Mantis B proclaimed, left hand above her chest while her right elbow lied above it, making a painful-looking curve toward her head.
‘’Rei!’’ Mantis C finished right palm above her hand and her second resting near her chin.

An unbelievable manifestation popped into existence with a rising, smoky, foggy darkness that wafted out of the girls. A floating round brown furry… thing without face outside a giant maw opened itself wide enough to try and engulf its entire body, something that prompted panic out of their instructor because.

‘’Stop stop stop!’’ The elder demoness ran, only to be interrupted by a spontaneous dark explosion that immediately lit up invisible walls between the pillars of their small enclosure. Concerts of awkward coughs and angry shouts thankfully dispelled fears of serious injuries.

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The next closest arena seemed more professional. A tall, blond haired demonic woman with a pair of long red horns on her head bending to create a vague crown-like shape faced a brown-haired girl of similar disposition, both ladies garbed in half-plated armors and flanked by pairs of eerie creatures. Short, sexless humanoids of slick bodies completely covered in a shining onyx exoskeleton looked fragile at first glance, but each of them sported 4 long arms that were nothing more than blades and giving their shines, those things were undeniably deadly. A purple scaled lamia whose face was completely concealed inside a big witch hat acted as supervisor and, you noticed, her arm had been held aloft for a time; she brought it down smoothly and the girls creatures charged each-others in a deadly fight as the succubuses threw their arms forward imperiously.

‘’Tutors are genuine summoners and they oversee two to three apprentices; group activities only happen when the army request it.’’ Elina spoke as your eyes cast a wide inspection of this surreal surrounding, women after monstrous women were creating and fighting with extremely odd entities.

‘’I’m…yeah it’s different from yesterday.’’ You had braced yourself to seeing magic, hell you’ve been the recipient of a healing spell, but to witness something so strange, so out of place of what ought to be the natural world… Why did you even impose yourself with standards of normalcy?

‘’Lo! I’ve finally borne witness to the lateness of my students yet again; by your act was I imposed to relinquish my reservation for… Hora, a man? Vilma isn’t with you?’’ An odd tone of voice, someone was trying very hard to avoid mispronouncing words and this new arrival boldly invited herself to stand in front of you and Elina.

It was yet another monstrous woman, this time without demonic heritage; short and pale skinned with long, leg-length hair of pure white cascading down her back and over her shoulders in one smooth motion, a few long strands also rested around a strange pair of horns-like appendages sprouting out the sides of her head to curve forward toward her cheeks. Patches of white scales adorned her chin, neck even a few spots on her nose and forehead with a few patches visible on her hands; the rest of her body was too concealed in clear blue long-sleeved dress to notice any addition, save for a similarly colored reptilian tail with a worrisome -sharp- forked tip peeking from her hips. She also sported a noticeably pregnant belly, easily into the later stage.

She wasn’t the first lizard-woman you’ve seen but something about this woman was…exotic, foreign. Her eyes possessed a natural thinness different from people here, her scales didn’t seem protective unlike that librarian and the blunt horns were plain odd; there were no hints of ears. This woman was undeniably unique in what was an already highly individualistic city.

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‘’Ah, sorry Teruko!’’ Elina bounced away from your side (wings somehow dodging you) to stop before the pregnant woman whose tail swished in response, showing a most worrisome smile. ‘’I…I didn’t see Vilma actually, which is odd.’’ Elina tilted her head while scratching her blond hair, halo flashing.

‘’Ssh… Sheems… Seems our little lady friend has decided to be stubborn again. You’ll be fetching her afore long, might I be graced with the privilege of knowing this…’’ Teruko eyes narrowed into red slits. ‘’pointy gentleman?’’

‘’I’m Arawn Loukanos’’ You step out to stand beside the girl of red wings, reducing your distance with this scaly tutor. ‘’You could say that I’m thoroughly new, I’ve come for a magical lesson.’’

‘’Oh?’’ The small lizard eyes reopened to drift toward Elina. ‘’An elven summoner?’’

‘’Not quite. He’s a newbie, I wanted to excuse myself today to teach him some basics of magic.’’ A revelation delivered with a guilty voice, Elina scratched the back of her head with awkward smile ‘’Think you could do that while I fetch Vilma?’’

Teruko obviously didn’t expect to be put on such a spot. ‘’Huh I um… there’s no sin in teaching and learning.’’ She cast a curious glance your way while one of her small hand went to rub her round stomach. ‘’Tis always the role of elders to guide younger folks. While I’d like to know why an apprentice needs such tutelage, I’m willing to forego my curiosity.’’ Her second hand moved to rest on Elina head, giving it a gentle pat. ‘’Go fetch the lich, I’ll use this time well.’’

‘’Alright’’ Elina stepped away, looking down to hide a strangely sad smile; an expression that barely lasted a second for she put on a polite mask when she looked up to you. ‘’I trust her, she’ll teach you well.’’ Before you could tell her good luck, Elina set out in a run with surprising speed into the mansion, flapping wings almost carrying her off the ground.

‘’Shall we?’’ While the triplet of mantises seemingly succeeded a summon, Teruko outstretched palm pointed to a wooden pavilion standing on a patch of grass a fair distance away from the courtyard. ‘’You truly know nothing of magic?’’ She asked on the way.

‘’I take no pride to admit it, Lady Teruko, but that’s the case.’’ You answered politely, this woman -was- the genius who discovered how to exorcise the side-effects of Corruption. It had been a small remark from Elina yesterday, but you do remember it.

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‘’Odd, but I won’t pry, I’ll only do that if we become friends. My full name is one of Teruko Gunji, do forgive mine faux-pas for forgetting returning it after your own presentation.’’ A soft-hearted chuckle escapes her pale lips as she slowly moved to sit with enough grace to make you momentarily forget her advanced pregnancy. She carried herself with great confidence and pride, yet managed to avoid any veils of arrogance. You moved to sit in front of her, staying silent as you weren't too keen on admitting your amnesia. How to get this lecture underway...?

‘’Allow me to illuminate this cloud of darkness in your mind, witness me young Arawn and do brace yourself for the unexpected.’’ Putting her elbows on the table and interlocking her fingers, Teruko body suddenly lit up without warning.

Lines of brilliant green traveled through every inch of her discovered skin in a beautiful projection of bioluminescence. There weren’t any patterns to these strange lines aside from a complete lack of interconnections, each of these glowing paths on this teacher body was a travel of its own and she observed you silently as you settled back in your seat, now illuminated by her natural projection. ‘’Tis indeed true that you know nothing, you’re a reserved one but thine…your visage remains honest. What ye are wet…witnessing now is the first vital step to creating spells, Focus.’’

‘’None of the students seem to be glowing… are those your body veins?’’ Yes, as you observed longer there was a certain order in these bulging lines on this pregnant woman skin, though not quite enough to be her natural blood vessels.

‘’Yes, to your question. Your remark will be answered thus.’’ Teruko rested her chin on her joined hands, her pale red eyes somehow appearing brilliant within that glowering green. ‘’Summoners use their souls and their body natural Corruption, they need not be mages. This school train people in a more… generalist use of summoning which can be considered magic even if some argue otherwise.’’ A scoff escapes her, followed by a smirk.

‘’That is not what we have to talk about, allow me to explain my body. This is called Focus or Trance; whichever words you prefer is thine own preference. It is a state of mind that can only be reached by those born with magical talents, it cannot be induced artificially. This Trance increase concentration, it allows for high-speed calculations and measurements tied to one owns magical nature. A water mage can efficiently come up with the appropriate volume of liquid for his spell, a talented fire mage instinctively understands the degrees of his flames, an earth mage can measure the hardness of his manipulations… It won’t be of much help for mathematics I’m afraid because everything happens unconsciously despite Focus natural effect of strengthening the mind and weakening emotions to enforce unshakable concentration.’’

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Teruko leaned back, one hand resting on the table while her second one went to rub her belly, shining body extinguishing itself slowly, like a dying candle.

This pause allowed to look away, back toward the courtyard of exercising students. None of them were luminous, there wasn’t any manifestation of powers outside these strange creatures made to fight by their mistresses.

‘’Humanity and monsters are quite different in magical employ. Humans, counting elves like you, can only be born mages. They are able to use a wide variety of elements and concepts, with some bloodlines having a notable affinity to Holy, which is poisonous to monsters in large doses. For us Mamonos, naturally talented species are the only ones able to use magic, with demons marking a notable exception. For example, Gwynedd has a large native population of ice spirits who can use frost, Salamanders can always manipulate fires… and sometimes there are people like me, who are plain odd.’’

‘’What is your talent, if I may ask?’’ Glowing green like that… related to nature?

‘’Healing, specifically, doing so without Holy but this is going past basics. I’ve got more to explain.’’ Gently clearing her throat, the pregnant mage-lady stayed silent for a moment, distracted by all the activity of the arenas.

‘’Magic is fueled by a strange liquid inside a mage body. This glowers of mine? That’s it, it’s the bioenergy that allows me to impose mine ego upon our world, to heal wounds and help out the sick means that I have to spend natural reserves that -are- finite.’’

Teruko put an important emphasis on her last sentence, leaning forward to rest an elbow on the table again and support her chin on a closed fist, second hand protecting her belly. ‘’It’s impossible to know one’s reserve in details, it is something that every wizard need to experiment with for themselves; think of it like your body. Physical exertion cannot be put into numbers, but lift enough furniture and your muscles will start to cramp up. You’ll suffer similar symptoms as a mage; headaches, dizziness, inability to concentrate despite Focus and, inevitably… Overcast.’’

Her voice dropped an octave, forcing her to clear her throat. You’ve begun to lean forward without thinking, locking eyes with hers.

‘’Creating too many spells will force thine bioenergy to mix with your blood, which in turn will boil your body from the inside out. It will not kill you by itself and there is no permanent damage, but this pain, this unbearable sensation of having your organs melts is painful beyond expression. It has often led to poor souls passing away from heart attack.’’ Teruko grimaced, scratching an eyebrow. ‘’Angels, humans, monsters… all of us cannot escape this one rule of magical biology’’

An ominous limit, for now, let's see if you've got everything right...

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''Human can only be born with a certain type of magic. Fire, ice, electric or something esoteric... it is entirely decided by birth.'' Teruko instantly catches on your attempt at summarizing and nods with a smile. ''Focus is how a mage is able to use their bioenergy for spells and again, this amount is decided by birth, running out means suffering Overcast, a potentially deadly side effect. Meaning...'' Your mind works a feverish pace as you run scenarios after scenarios in your head under the proud gaze of Teruko. ''...if two mages were to fight in equal condition, their battle will be decided by who can force the other to spend their reserve.''

''Exactly, being a mage means achieving the most efficient result while spending the smallest amount of resources; not many genuinely subscribe to this philosophy, you have the right mindset, young Arawn.''

Since Teruko hasn't mentioned any souls manipulation, then you could only assume it was unrelated to proper magic.

''How is a spell cast? If I were talented in flames, could I imagine the bushes behind you on fire?''

''You wouldn't be able to.'' Your tutor immediately answers, not even taking a backward glance. ''Because you cannot impose thine will upon Mother Earth realms with anything else but your body.'' Teruko embraced Focus so suddenly you nearly jumped. Her right-hand hovers away from her stomach, glowing a deep, gorgeous emerald from which sparkles flew upward akin to tiny fireflies. They spiraled upward, disappearing as they came in contact with her face.

''Magic means dominating reality, thine body is thine vessel; nothing is more individual, more present inside the world than. Holding out your hand to throw a fireball would work flawlessly for burning these innocents plants, but outright spontaneous combustion? Nay, no. Only angels are known to create spells in our world ethers without aids of specials items.''

Teruko magical manifestation disappeared slowly as she returned her hand to protect her pregnant stomach.

''Magical artifacts could also remove this limitation, but these are far beyond basics. I think you've grasped everything you need to know, young Arawn.''

Spells can only emerge from your body unless you possess some kind of artifacts...

''Thank you for explaining this all to me.'' You voice absentmindedly. ''How is a neophyte supposed to enter Focus for the first time?''

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''It can be very difficult to attain, especially for adults like you.'' Leaning back on the small wooden bench, Teruko gazed toward the surrounding greeneries, pinching her chin and covering her stomach. ''Usually, children naturally awaken to their talents during an emotional moment and can be mentally trained to enter Focus at will after some time. Perhaps you could try meditating, or maybe throwing yourself into some kind of stressful, emotional situations could naturally lead to your magical awakening... but it's also entirely possible that you weren't born with any such talents.''

''Practice make perfects.''

''Quite.'' She smiled at your remark. ''It's why every monster can be a summoner, as it is something that -can- be trained, not everybody will excel of course.'' Teruko gently lets one of her long strand of cloud-colored hair fall off her strange horn.

A comfortable silence fell between the two of you as your mind began to wander again, absorbing all of this information, settling it neatly into your memory... And wondered why Elina was taking so long, you've spent a solid hour hearing out the lizardwoman.

>A deeper understanding of magic might not be helpful without mastering the basics...
>Perhaps you'd like to ask a few questions?
>[Free Choice]

>>2165749
If summoning is not dependent on Focus, can it exceed the limitations of Overcast?
Can Humans learn summoning, or does it require a natural source of Corruption?

What is Corruption, anyway?

>>2165749
Can we learn how to use summoning magic despite not being a monster? I heard about a "Lich" earlier as well. Who is she and what can we expect from her?

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‘’You’ve yet to mention summoning in relation to magic, is it entirely independent? Are summoners untied to Focus rules and its bioenergy?’’

Your question prompted your instructor to lean forward again, one hand resting on the darkwood table.

‘’That is indeed the case, summoning is about manipulating your soul or using wandering spirits for thine own purpose. It means giving an emotion of yours a physical manifestation with Corruption or creating a body for a spirit housed in thine soul. Demons trains their recruit in being entirely self-sufficient, while the country of Zipangu use talisman of papers to unleash their powerful summons; it is a craft tied to souls and Corruption; it is also entirely possible for a mage to be a summoner, enchanting their creations with their natural talent has long been the reason why demons are so feared.’’

‘’Are there no summoners amongst humanity?’’

‘’Only a few were ever recorded.’’ Teruko words stop as she seems momentarily taken aback. ‘’Hm… I can only remember a single one. The elven hero Darm, one of the 13 who brought the Great Crusade to an end was known as a summoner who used his own body to somehow project entities into the world. He wasn’t known to create numerous summons but those he did bring to battle were forces of natures. Humanity souls are generally much too embedded in their bodies to allow such manipulations; mankind realms always concentrate on physical reinforcement for their knights.’’

You had one last question, one that made you hesitate, something that your tutor evidently deduced for her gentle face offered an inviting smile. ‘’I’d like to know one last thing.’’ You cleared your throat, hoping you weren’t being too obvious with your lack of memory. ‘’What is Corruption?’’

‘’Oh?’’ Teruko decorum couldn’t resist her surprise, thin eyes growing wider. ‘’You don’t know?’’ She asked and you shook your head, trying your best to avoid blushing. Corruption was common knowledge here, definitely more so than magic.

‘’Hm… How to clear thine new clouds now… Corruption, Corruption…’’ Perhaps she had yet to even teach its concept to anyone, Teruko fingers gently clacked with the table and her eyes drifted toward the courtyard. ‘’Think of it as a force akin to magic; spells are the impositions of your ego while Corruption is projection your unconscious mind, unfortunately, influenced by the Demonic Throne.’’ She paused, rubbing her stomach. ‘’It is a physical type of magic, able to be wet, hard, rough, sharp… a malleable liquid to be shaped by the monster will and, until recently, possessed nasty side effects that would render Mamonos mad if they didn’t evacuate their surplus. Corruptions always accumulate within us and using it as spells increase its presence in our bodies. Reckless uses mean swallowing our souls into emotions that don’t always belong to us.’’

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‘’It is extremely dangerous to humans that aren’t naturally immune because unlike monsters, people like you cannot manipulate it, for you are beyond the Demon Lord influence. Corruption is a poison of the mind for humanity. It devolves men and women into animalistic thralls tied to the Demon Lord influence; in our case, Daiyu Jawahir is a succubus, so once someone is overwhelmed, they become little more than animals enslaved by their desires. Holy magic has always worked as an efficient way of exorcism before the founding of Internalization.’’

Scary, it’s a good thing this new school exists. As you sat and digested this new information (alongside your newfound vulnerability, all these girls around you could be potential biohazards) the courtyard battles had ceased, all magical arenas turned off as girls and tutors discussed their results. You also spotted a certain glowing girl of red wings emerging out of the mansion big entrance, hand clutching a smaller girl arm concealed inside a dark purplish cloak.

‘’Twould seem she finally found our wayward student; alas far too late for class now.’’

‘’That lich you mentioned?’’ Teruko sudden glare at your word nearly send a chill down your spine but she thankfully immediately relented; her hostility was… protective, she didn’t look insulted.

‘’Quite. An awkward, vulnerable girl chained by the stigma of undead and her natural use of necromancy, don’t be fooled by such odious words, for she is very much alive.’’ Teruko grew silent and smiled widely as the girls made their way into your pavilion, giving them a polite wave while they stopped running behind your bench.

‘’Ah, sorry!’’ Elina spoke without being the littlest bit winded whilst her companion was reduced to a series of heavy breathing. ‘’It took a while I know.’’

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‘’No helping it.’’ Teruko answered with a nod, one long strand of hair falling atop the table. ‘’I wished to attempt something a little different but today was no waste.’’ Her red eyes drifted to you with a smug, satisfied smile. ‘’Come and sit.’’ She gestured for the surrounding bench and Elina deftly moved to sit at your side, while the silent girl trotted like a prisoner and plopped herself a bench away from the teacher and yourself.

One good look at who was under that cloak revealed a genuinely cute girl who seemed completely human aside from odd-looking skin of pale purple. Short messy hair of dirty white fell around her face and head in a messy display of unkept bed hair, her entire body was clad into a heavy garment of dark wool and big boots finished her lazy ensemble as something she must have thrown together right after waking up. Her eyes were also gorgeous; two spots of glowering amethyst almost robbed you a painful truth about her appearance, namely how disheveled and exhausted she appeared to be. Dark rings almost swallowed her entire eyes and what looked like dried tear colored her cheeks red, she kept her firm and undivided attention on the table as the women chatted, Elina wanting to know what you’ve learned and her teacher gladly provided.

Should you try to speak to her? What can you say?
Make small talk with Teruko and Elina? Ask more question about magic? This Vilma girl seems entrenched...

>[Free Choice]

>>2166051
Never been much with words but I wanna try to coax this Vilma out of her shell. Probably can't do it right away but it'd be good to get the process started. She's starting to remind me of a certain unpopular girl...

>>2166051
Ask Teruko if one could change their body (shapeshift/polymorph) with magic. Would it work since you're changing your body?

And then make small talk.

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It was with surprising reluctance that you tore your gaze away from this gloomy girl, her empty gaze seemed thoroughly stuck in its world and a pang of worry squeezed your guts. Could you perhaps be the kind to naturally worry about others?

‘’I understand that’’ Elina spoke with a grimace. ‘’Being a summoner is about domination, being in control of your emotions to give them forms but it’s hard to find the right state of mind.’’

‘’You need to understand that all teachings of summoning are tied with Corruption, for you to attempt doing so as an Angel is honestly extremely odd. It might not even be possible.’’ Teruko was throwing a few glances toward the silent purplish girl.

‘’Yeah, I know.’’ Elina eyes drifted toward you. ‘’I’m not sure if I can make those entities that have been battling today.’’

‘’Ah, Teruko I have another question.’’ You spoke before thinking as you reviewed the information you’ve learned this morning. ‘’Is it possible to shapeshift my body with magic?’’

Your question seems to awaken the lethargy that had engulfed the pavilion, angel, and tutor look to each other in understanding while Vilma seemed to awaken from open-eyed slumber after hearing what was probably something elemental.

‘’Of course, it is possible, changing your body with your magical nature is probably the most efficient way to use magic. An arm of flame, electric hands… summoners cannot do anything like it, but such morphing is easy enough to use.’’

‘’It gets really complicated when you try to use Holy though, it’s impossible to change my entire body into a healing mist,’’ Elina added, and you noticed, that her wings were -phasing- through all the surrounding furniture. She didn’t seem to mind at all.

‘’Thank you both.’’ You retreated on your seat, only to lean toward the stubbornly silent new arrival whose newfound attention had her lock eyes with yours, feature twisted into something like dread. ‘’Vilma right? Could you tell me about yourself?’’ It was a clumsy attempt, perhaps even pathetic, you had no clue how to break the ice or give this scared girl a good impression. ‘’My name is Arawn Loukanos, I’m sort of a new student here.’’ You gesture for Teruko and Elina who were both silently observing; the angel immediately nods after your vague movement while her pregnant teacher held a satisfied grin.

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‘’New? You?’’ Her voice was like a small breeze; refreshing, fragile and quiet enough to be easily forgotten. ‘’An…an elf?’’ She asks tentatively. ‘’Is it… safe for you here?’’

‘’I’ve nothing to fear.’’ You answer while swallowing your urge to frown; shouldn’t it always be safe inside the Demon Lord stronghold? ‘’I’m trying my best to learn basics of basics, I’ve become friend with Elina yesterday.’’

‘’Yeah, it’s why I couldn't be with you, Vilma.’’ The angel winces at her words as she follows on you, magical wings almost disappeared into the wooden walls of the pavilion.

‘’I-it’s fine. You don’t need forgiveness.’’ Vilma's voice was awkward and she made no effort to look up, her large hood was perfect at concealing her face but a tiny, floating remark came out of her, your hearing somehow keen enough to understand ‘’It has no value from me anyway’’ Vilma whispered to herself in an agonizing little tone of self-loathing.

She didn’t try to speak louder, even ignoring Elina thankful answer. It was evident now that your angelic friend was walking on eggshell and something in Teruko gaze was serious -very serious- as she kept her undivided attention on that small purple girl.

Her presence is draining the carefree mood, there’s no denying that.

>[Free Choice]

>Talking is probably the most important part of this quest, feel free to write some dialogues of your own as responses for Arawn, agreeing and disagreeing with each other as you come to a decision.

>>2166349

"So tell me about yourself, Vilma. What made you decide to come here?"

"Also is there any place to eat around here?"

(Let's try and involve Vilma in the conversation)

>>2166349
"Would you and Elina like to join me for dinner? I'm still new here though so I don't know any good places to eat. Got any recommendations?"

Gonna be tough but walking on eggshells all the time isn't gonna get anyone anywhere. Gotta break this gloomy mood!

>>2166349
"So, mamono create Corruption naturally; can mamono mages use their magic on their Corruption, or use Corruption with their magic? And how does Internalization work?"
Keep the conversation to technical matters, since Vilma is interested in them and becomes more interested when they're talked about.

>>2166695

I agree with this, rather than turning the conversation to be about Vilma, we should turn it towards a subject we know she is interested into.

We should also begin to ask, how does one find out what kind of magic they have an affinity towards? In particular, if Arawn is attunned to a particular element or esoteric concept, the sooner we learn about it, the better.

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‘’Teruko?’’ Your words cut straight into the lethargy of your group, prompting a surprised blink out of the tutor while Elina leaned back and twisted her waist to observe the courtyard activity, now diminished into a series of student’s cliques as numbers of trainers walked into the castle-manor. ‘’I have a question about magic again. Can Mamono mages use their magic on their Corruption, or use Corruption with their magic?’’

‘’Nay, no.’’ Teruko gently shook her head while letting out a polite cough, perhaps a sign of thirst? She had been talking for an hour straight… ‘’Corruption cannot be manipulated alongside magic in normal circumstance.’’

‘’I-it is possible.’’ A tiny voice crooned from your right flank, Vilma head barely peeked out of her hood but she at least managed to look at you, though her abused eyes quickly diverted from any direct stares. ‘’R-rituals… yeah, there are a few rituals that can make things work. Creating enclosed workshops... mages pooling resources together, runes that c-can transform Corruption...’’

‘’Hmm, yes although the results are messy. With enough preparation, then it would be possible. I was too fixated on keeping it basic, mages are incredibly spontaneous.’’ An honest smile spread across the white lizard features. ‘’Thank for reminding me.’’

Had she perhaps been wrong on purpose? You couldn’t help a smile of your own as your eyes crossed, her wink convinced your hypothesis as truth.

‘’What about Internalization? How does that work?’’ You’ve yet to step inside the giant castle-manor that made the bulk of this academy, but getting to know how it worked was important, too.

‘’Oh, that,’’ Elina spoke, having returned her attention to the conversation, she had made a quick study of her purple skinned friend and decided to continue speaking. ‘’It trains people to seclude the side effects of their Corruptions and eject it into a vessel; further studies are how Exorcist are formed. These Mamonos will absorb these lumps of side-effects and create summons out of them, who are then slaughtered. Since summons consumes Corruptions as a way to maintain their bodies, killing them in this way allows the poisons to be safely dispersed, leaving only some patch of tar.’’

‘’It is a more elaborate process,’’ Teruko adds while replacing a wild strand of long hair behind her forward horn. ‘’Elina explained the wider process adequately.’’ Her hand went to pat the glowing blond head who winced in response. You decided to turn your attention to the last actor of this conversation, who was staring at the women in gaping silence.

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‘’So, Vilma.’’ She immediately straightened her back and closed her mouth. ‘’Tell me about yourself, why’d you decided to come here?’’ You gestured for the manor and she immediately grimaced while retreating on herself, arms digging the middle of her legs while her shoulders slumped.

‘’I…I came here to be a summoner. To learn…to be better.’’ Her upper mouth bit onto plush bottom lips as she summoned some courage. ‘’W-what about you?’’

It wasn’t easy talking to her, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say you disliked.

‘’I’m here to learn.’’ You announce with a strange hint of pride, you didn’t have any memories but at least you had an objective! ‘’Learn to be better, learn as many things as I can.’’ You winked, hoping you actually had some ounce of charisma but Vilma reactions were worrisome for she went back to cast her gaze on the ground, uttering only a simple ‘’Oh’’ to finalize conversations.

‘’I think we could try something in one of them Arenas…’’ Elina chimed in gently, only for Teruko to shake her head. ‘’Oh? Then maybe you could have us study your unique summon, Teruko? Or maybe we could talk about romantic things? I want to know what you love, teach!’’

This sudden bout of impromptu intimacy left Teruko Gunji adequately stunned while the angel smiled even broader until you cut right into the middle of her little victory. ‘’I’m feeling hungry, is there someplace to eat?’’

‘’Why yes, there is.’’ Teruko immediately answered, leaning forward while protecting her stomach. ‘’We have grand diner room overseen by chefs until evenings, a few vendors from the city also come at random to sell exotic foods and drinks, I believe it’s about time for you two.’’ Her fingers pointed at Elina and Vilma. ‘’To repay me for your tardiness; fetching my food ought to be a good start.’’

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For once, Vilma features gained proper vitality as she and the angel shared a similar guilty grimace.

‘’Well um… it wasn’t because I wanted to be late…’’ The angel stammered, looking to you to find a way to weasel out. ‘’…antediluvian forces behind the veil conspired to force a belated arrival for today’s lecture, milady.’’

Gee, thank Elina. What a wonderful way to avoid seeing you fetched clothes for a man!

‘’My archaic hunger and the new soul in my belly are ordering you to fetch food for me and your gentleman friend who didn’t need to honor any appointments unless of course, he decided to come with you two.’’ Teruko grinned, thoroughly enjoyed her position. Vilma's face was impossible to see by now, her head had sunken low enough to only present her hood…is she sulking? Really, she looked extremely fragile yet now, you could only picture a sulking girl.

‘’Aagh, I don’t have money!’’ Elina joined her hands in prayer while her tutor mercilessly slid forward a handful of golden coins. ‘’Ugh! Fine, I’ll do it.’’
Wings phasing through every obstacle of the Pavilion, their strange foggy-like appearance regained consistency and before her third steps, she began to flap them with enough force to send gusts of wind directly in front of her.

Angels are weird.

Meanwhile, Vilma silently walked the length of the bench and paused before you. ‘’Um… sorry’’ She squawked, unable to get out as you blocked her path, prompting you to move out of the way.

>Will you accompany Elina and Vilma? Ask a few more magical things out of them?
>Or stay here with Teruko?
>[Free Choice] are always a possibility.

As I intend to continue tomorrow, I'll be stopping here for tonight.

I really failed at rereading myself properly this time. Sorry about that folks, time like these make me wish I could edit that stuff

>>2166936
Heh, so Elina can channel Chunis... that may come in handy in social combat down the road.

>>2167177
What would ya change? As in, what traits were you trying to convey about the characters you feel you failed to do? The lich is obviously suffering from an inferiority complex that both her friend and instructor seem to want to cure her of.

Hope we can help without seeming like anyone (including us) pities her. Trust me, once their IQ passes a certain threshold pity does more harm than good in situations like this and Vilma clearly has the grey matter to make us see why if we don't handle this right.

>>2167436
I'm just not happy with how I've written a few sentences. The information is fine, I just feel like this peculiar post was below my usual standard. I get a bit excited while questing and ted to post too fast, it's a bad habit I never broke.

You guys are getting close to being able to unlock magic (if you so chose).

>>2167452
Hope we do unlock it. Just the basic level at first as I'd like to keep our options open Elven Archmage that maybe is the second coming of Darm? Spellsword that gives Elric of Melnibone a run for his money in some way? Siggy 2.0 human A/S-rank elemental lord of his field? Cloak and dagger rogue world weary thief popping out of the darkness to carve up your carotid like a ripe Christmas ham as he acquires a most appalling collection of other people's shit in the process?

Those are all end game aspirations BTW. We won't get to those dazzling heights of power and glory without heavy investment but ya gotta paint possibilities into the heads of the players if ya wanna fun choice... Which way my fellow players?

>>2167498
Don't forget to choose an action. Gonna see about writing as soon as I wake up.

>>2166936
Stay here with Teruko and ask some of the more delicate questions.
“How do Angels and their magic differ from Humans and Mamono?”
“This may be impolite, but how is it that an angel is here inside of the Demon Realm?”
“Vilma mentioned rituals; are they a way of bypassing the Overcast limit by spreading the strain across multiple mages? Or for a single mage to spread the strain across several hours/days rather than all at once?”

leaving with the girls would leave Teruko all lonrly. Let's keep her company and answer any questions she may have for us. She said she'd only start nagging if she nd Arawn became friends, right? Well then, let's become friends proper.

We can also add something to break the aice, like "I want to say, thank you again for dedicating time to explain so many things to me. You've really helped me a lot."

>>2167522
Is old MC (sigurd? been a while) a prominent individual in this setting still or did he get ret-conned some?

Should be interesting to see how things go. Even if we were a sickly infant, that book didnt say we died did it? Or was that just a typo?

I do wonder if we were sacrificed to the throne in some way, to have our soul in there. Not to mention is our form final? we seem to be shaping ourselves after our own self image, so perhaps its possible to influence with some concentration.

>>2167665
I can't believe I wrote diseased instead of deceased, that typo completely flew over my head. That book was supposed to reveal you died as a baby yeah.

Siegfried survived the Crusade and remains in Zipangu, you might be able to see him. Since he' given up his protagonist hat, I had to make a few decisions for him during those 12 years

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‘’Mind bringing back a little something for me?’’ Your words prompt the awkward purple girl to look up at you and you can’t help a guilty smile of your own. ‘’I’ll owe you a favor how about that?’’ You were feeling quite hungry despite having eaten breakfast a few hours ago, you also noticed Vilma gaze following the angel who was slowly but surely going to disappear inside the castle.

‘’Um…um okay, a favor?’’ Her urgency prompted you to let go and Vilma took off in a run, heavy boots squashing the grass then clapped loudly against the cobblestone as she raced for security at her friend side, it had been definitely her you've heard walking around the corridor this morning. Soon enough they disappeared inside, followed by a group of students that consisted of a wildly individual set of people. The three mantises were surrounding the pair of succubus you saw fighting, the blond one being an evident center of attention as other demoness surrounded her in a protective cocoon while she talked with a few folks leisurely, an undeniable show of being the top of a social ladder, though the group promptly stopped in front of a particularly white and tall demoness who emerged out of the school.

‘’That’s our academy ace, Elenore Jucunda.''Teruko motioned at the blonde ''Talented with fire alongside being an excellent summoner, she’s been pestering me to become her personal tutor.’’ Teruko ends while sighing and you move to reseat yourself in the pavilion.

‘’Unpleasant girl?’’ Your question is first answered with a nod.

‘’I’ve made my choice of students and I’m going to stick with it. Elina might be unable to become a summoner and Vilma is struggling so hard, I can’t trust anybody but myself to help her properly.’’

‘’Is it because she’s an undead?’’ Again, Teruko sigh, prompting you to ask another obvious question. ‘’What exactly is an undead?’’

Those small eyes of hers widen slightly upon hearing your growing lack of common knowledge but thankfully she doesn’t ask any question, only pinching her chin in silence as she seems to work out something in her head.

You’re beginning to see why this woman might actually be a great teacher.

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‘’I’m not quite sure how they come to be, it might just be a simple case of them being sub-species of something else but undead as a whole are heavily stigmatized by Mamonos because they are something of a microcosm of our entire race.’’ Her brilliant red eyes settle on yours, serious. ‘’Monster girls need men to reproduce so mankind see us as leeches; undead need to consume something from the living, so that makes them leeches for Mamonos. Vampires drinks blood, liches like Vilma need to consume pieces of souls, Elina is the only one willing to help out my young student.’’ One of her hand left the table to rub her stomach, her face grimacing in guilt. ‘’Glady would I offer mine own but this little one growing inside of me is nurturing her soul, to have a …interference… could be disastrous.’’

You can’t help but cast an idle glance back toward the manor, Vilma had left a vivid memory despite her best attempt to stay diminutive and with this new information… you didn’t quite understand your heart whims. Do you feel pity? Empathy? Concern?

You can always settle on that later.

‘’Could I ask a few more question, lady Teruko?’’ Moving to another subject would be the wisest thing to do for now, she hadn’t been looking pleased since she talked about their ace.

‘’An endless font of curiosity hm? Sure, ask away. It’ll pass time until the girls come back, it might take them a moment.’’ Part of you felt glad you hadn’t accompanied them, it could be unpleasant to fetch food in a crowd, especially given what you are.

‘’You mentioned something about Angels, how does their magic differ?’’ Perhaps it’d be politer to ask Elina, but you are curious.

‘’All Angels are skilled in Holy and can create spells without using their bodies as nexuses, while their wills shape their biology in a way that has only been replicated by a rare few humans and some Supreme Monsters. They are total opposite of us Mamonos in this regard; we use Corruption naturally, while they wield the opposite force of Holy.’’

Interesting, calling them Angels is fitting if all of them can heal people.

‘’This may be impolite but I do have to wonder about Elina presence here in Throne Town…Do you know why she came to reside here?’’ You didn’t like walking on eggshells and it’d probably be best to ask your angelic friend instead, the little glare thrown your way by Teruko confirmed your fears.

‘’She is friend with Sieglinde Jawahir; why she’s here is not something I know either, people rumormonger all the time though but most Mamonos understand to avoid giving her a hard time, given her relationship with a member of the royal family.’’ Her long finger gently taps on the darkwood as a gentle whisper escape. ‘’Most do understand. Most.’’

Better move on. You settle on your seat, giving the near-empty courtyard another glance, noticing the group of demons was gone.

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‘’Vilma mentioned rituals earlier’’ Teruko nodded, regaining her smile. ‘’Is it possible to use them to bypass Overcast? Or to spread the strains of spells across several hours or days?’’

‘’I’m not so sure about the latter but the former is definitely possible, we call this Communion.’’ Teruko gently rub her stomach again idling gaze concentrated on the bushes. ‘’Several mages submit to a Master of Communion and he will use their bioenergy to fuel his spells, it’s a very useful ritual in warfare and has been used since antiquity. Rituals, in general, are very widespread, outside magical forging and healing there is no other way to give your magic permanency. Curses and wards fall under a ritualistic category, necromancy is also considered ritualistic. The largest part of a wizard research would be creating personalized rituals.’’

Moving past basics filled you with a sense of trepidation.

‘’You really are passionate about this subject hm?’’ Teruko asks you softly.

‘’At this point, the only thing I have is wishful thinking.’’ You admit, taking a few breaths to calm down.

‘’Not being a mage doesn’t make you useless, 90% of summoners aren’t magical and they are a vital part of the demonic army.’’ She’s trying to make you feel better, her warm voice prompts an honest grin out of you.

You've really lucked out, awakening here; your lack of memories isn't that big a burden

‘’They are taking a little while…’’ Teruko murmur while observing the entrance. ‘’Still, if you wish to awaken your Focus, you could try hypnosis or some kind of meditation, it's how I did it as a child.’’ Her voice was a little stiff, she showed some impatience with her hunger by tapping on the table while observing you with gentle interest.

>Will you go inside and take a look?
>Stay here and talk some more with Teruko? (Ask personal questions? Yet more things about magic?
>[Free Choice]

Seem like we've hit autosage, I'll be archiving on sup/tg/ once we hit page 7 or so.

>>2168249
>>Will you go inside and take a look?

>>2168249
Stay here and ask about meditation techniques.

I'll wait a little longer for a tiebreaker.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

I'd like to push out one more answer for today so I'll make a roll to decide between those two votes.

1= Going in
2= Staying with Teruko.

I would vote to go after the girls. I have the feeling someone is giving them trouble.

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‘’Dinner time with Mamonos must be hectic.’’ You say, trying your best to assuage your tutor worry as your gaze inevitably followed the white lizard who took some moment to linger, then let out a discouraged flowing sigh, turning her attention back on you.

‘’Mh, yes. Do forgive mine rudeness. I ought to continue answering all of thine interrogations mysir Arawn.’’

‘’I’m honestly in your debt, you’ve been immensely helpful.’’ One thing about a thorough lack of memories is that you don’t have to lie; for her it must be common knowledge but, slowly and surely, she’s been instrumental in helping you situate yourself.

‘’My, my if only everyone had this thirst for knowledge while remaining avid listeners.’’ Her hand comes to rest on her cheek, thin eyes close in self-satisfaction.

‘’I dearly want to find out if I have magical talents.’’ Your words make open her eyes again. ‘’You’ve mentioned something about meditation? Do you think you could talk about it? It sounds like a great method to attain Focus for the first time.’’

‘’Hmm…’’ Her hand falls from her pretty face to rest on her bulging stomach, a quick gust of wind picks up as she finds an interesting spot to stare at on the pavilion roof. ‘’…we could try something.’’

‘’Oh?’’ A wave of excitement tickles your spine.

‘’ There are no real techniques to meditation, it’s something you need to train; some drugs can induce a proper state of mind and while I don’t encourage it, having some help to awaken isn’t a bad thing. My magic…’’ Teruko leans forward to rest both of her hand on the table. ‘’…has a way to defend me, mostly with a special aroma that induces hallucinations. I can cast a tiny spell that will plunge thineself into a trance-like state and, if us two can be lucky, you’ll awaken to Focus. It shouldn’t take too long.’’

Were you a little bit more emotional, you’d probably have grabbed Teruko hands to thank her profusely. Instead, you close your eyes to take a large intake of air, bottling up this excitement to speak frankly. ‘’I’d very much like to try.’’

‘’And I’d very much like to know your relationship with Elina.’’ Teruko voice is a mirror of her smile; mischievous. ‘’But I’ll help you, I like your curiosity mysir Arawn, just… do forgive mine protectiveness.’’

‘’It’s fine.’’ Inward you aren’t so sure. Should anybody else know your current predicament? ‘’I’ll owe you a favor.’’

‘’One to me and Vilma? My, this morning has been one of many debts.’’ Both of you chuckles and Teruko hand reach as far as she can, her belly stopping her to reach your face. ‘’Do lean forward, your face and nose should be close to mine hand.’’

You do as instructed, gently reaching for the pregnant Mamono wrist, almost compelled to give her palm a kiss.

Let's take a deep sniff!

If this tries to stirr up memories, things may get a little weird. I suggest we try to panick, but we probably shoud try warning Teruko that if something out of the ordinary happens (undergoing more random changes, blacking out, charging up magic unexpectedly, etc), she shouldtry to keep calm and let us know calmly, or else we'd panick too.

And we don't want that, right?

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‘’I’ll explain what I’ll do and what you are likely to feel’’ She speaks without emotion, her body alight with its familiar green luster, robbing her of that warm voice you’ve come to genuinely appreciate.

‘’First, it’ll be important to accept it; if you panic, fight off my magic then your ego will easily triumph. You need to trust mineself, after that you’ll fall into a brief period of lucid dreaming, it shouldn’t last more than a few minutes.’’ She clears her throat, extending her palm to you. ‘’During this trance, it shall be up to you to look inward, perhaps remember your childhood, search your memories as they are manifestations of your soul. That’s how I did it, but others find it useful to clear their heads; you’ll have to choose your methods.’’

Small sparkles of lights – fireflies of glittering greens- began to hover above and around Teruko delicate arm, easily phasing through an obstacle, spiraling upward to reach your face. They smell sweet, a little cold… something honeyed. You feel it enter your nose, travels through your body, causing a small tremor in your head as veins throb painfully… you relinquish -reluctantly- your hold on her hand to lean back, closing your eyes, losing your sense of hearing as another breeze pick up, soon enough you don’t feel your moving hair.

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Don’t panic…breathe. You are Arawn Loukanos, you are master of yourself; what memories you possess are nothing but a cloud of darkness, your personality is a gray, thick fog. You cannot look inward because there is nothing to see, what you’ve got is a body. Your heart pumps, fast at first but now thankfully calm, two lungs bring vital air to your organs, blood vessels carry incessant cells in an endless labor to keep yourself alive.

Mages have something else, an invisible path that somehow superposes itself atop those veins, is it the cells? Do they carry power? This Bioenergy shows itself in a glowing luster while pathing itself through those blue, vital vessels; it mixes with blood when you abuse their gift of strength.

Is it the soul? Mages are ego made manifest; this is what a spell is. Souls synchronize with the body, elves like you are made of 25% souls... but does this hold true to what's deeper? A soul is an identity, a soul is memories, a soul is a life.

You are Arawn Loukanos, a man, an elf; you’ve embraced this truth but is there something else, is there a spark, something to light your body in a gorgeous green? There has to be -something- you are good at! A talent! A man with no memory is still someone!

‘’Peace…’’ You hear your own voice.
‘’Do not force yourself to believe the impossible’’ You heard someone else.

You…
>Dearly wish to be a mage. It is as important as your own identity. [Awaken as a Mage]
>Will not force the impossible. You need to find what’s there, not impose it. [You do not possess magical powers]

If you guys decide to be a mage then you will need to choose between these two categories. If Arawn does not have magical talents, then you'll need to explore further options to find what you can do.

>Elemental Nature [Tried and true type of magic, the type most mages are skilled in. While easy to wield, true masteries is incredibly difficult and can surpass esoteric concepts.]

>Esoteric Nature [This is where things get weird, you will need to choose between a few concepts that are inherently dangerous with the potential to break all magical rules. Choose with caution.]

As I intend to make the new thread around Wednesday or Thursday, we should have plenty of time to make an agreement.

>Dearly wish to be a mage. It is as important as your own identity. [Awaken as a Mage]

>Esoteric Nature [This is where things get weird, you will need to choose between a few concepts that are inherently dangerous with the potential to break all magical rules. Choose with caution.]

Ehehe. Let's get weird. I feel we will get to chance to bring out Arawn's true nature and potential with this unpredictable kind of magic!

~~Trace On~~ ;3

>>2169618
If we accept magical power how much will it limit our future choices in how we build our mystery meat "Elf" out? I still kinda wanna go for a stealth build (we've yet to try that route in your quests) but the way you do magic is really fun so I don't much mind if we go full on aspiring archmage mode like we did with dear ol' Siggy either.

If focus still paints a giant target on your ass that every other mage within the city limits can insta-lock onto in most cases that'll influence my decision.

it feels like being non-magical will really gimp our powerlevel, seeing as magic seems to be so important. can warriors and the like with no magic at all even compete with magic users?

I think i'll vote to not do magic and push for something like a rogue or assassin.

We could probably do minor magic to help or use enchanted weapons to even us out.

Oh!
If we do go magic we could try being an enchanter

>>2170151
You'll still be able to branch out as a warrior/summoner/stealth guy but you won't be able to truly excel in those areas. Hybrids work pretty well, as stated by Teruko in relation to the school ace but pure build are the stuff of legends, so being a mage won't allow you to be Guts-elf or a dick ass thief.

Most Esoteric natures work pretty well as multiclass.

Also, magic can only be felt with items now. Those are fairly common, think of them as amulets that light up, swords that glows with magic and some alchemists have been able to create organic radars to spot sneaky mages.

>>2170173
Warriors for the races function similarly but differ in a major area.

Monsters are naturally bred for conflict so the warrior species (Manticore, Minotaurus, big brawny girls) surpass your average man and they reinforce their bodies using Corruption, with the better ones abe to use their souls, too.

Humanity reinforce their bodies with their souls (ie, emotions literally make them stronger) and it takes a whole lot of monk-like training or pure natural talent to achieve the best results. What Humans/Dwarves/Elves excel at is to synchronize themselves with magical items, making them literally able to emulate magic in some case (at, of course, a much-reduced rate).

For example, there's an order of Knights in the allied kingdoms able to forge electric weapons, their combatants are able to throw lightning bolts from their halberds and even jolt their bodies safely if they get grabbed.

Then there's also alchemy, which is the domain of drugs, experimental weapons, and super secretive stuff, people all around the world use alchemy but combat alchemy is some black research stuff.

In term of sneaky stabby are usually mages with peculiar skills

>>2169618
>Dearly wish to be a mage. It is as important as your own identity. [Awaken as a Mage]
>Elemental Nature

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>>2170247
So long as they don't pinpoint your location in any exact fashion we could still work it into being a trick the likes of Garret or Styx has up their sleeve. Like whistling, only it's a dog whistle only said magic detecting wielding fuckwits would ever notice which would, by the way, be a very useful piece of info in a stealth puzzle (i.e. let's make a little mystic whisper and see who the fuck notices).

A hybrid can surpass a pure build in the proper circumstances. Just like how an imitation can surpass the original article...

Still, how much would the other capacity be diminished? I mean, if getting magic costs me not getting beyond the second dot of what amounts to Presence Concealment then you're putting a binary choice on me here.

>>2170334
I haven't thought too much on the sneaky side to be quite honest.

There's not much way to go on without having a specialized magical nature, ie an esoteric of shadow manipulation or void nature could work to keep yourself in the shadows, otherwise, it's pure skill requirement greatly helped by reinforcing your body with your soul to accomplishes impossible feats of athletism. Alchemical gadgets can also be helpful here.

Pure stealth is much more about skills than actual magic.

>A hybrid can surpass a pure build in the proper circumstances. Just like how an imitation can surpass the original article...

Of course, nothing will prevent you from being a Summoner who enchant his minions with ice or making your own flaming weapons as a warrior and being damn good with them.

>>2170334
>Still, how much would the other capacity be diminished?

Forgot to answer that. It'll depend on you guys, once we settle on a magical nature (or you reject magic) you'll be able to choose if you're a hybrid (talented in summoning, warrior, potentially necromancy depending on what happen in the coming updates)

>>2170361
Just to throw it out there but an esoteric nature I'd though of plying you to grant us would be "light" manipulation. Active camo is only the simplest way one could use it. Depending on which way we wanted to go, we could branch out into either illusions (max stealth) or Frickin' Laser Beams (full magus)!

Again, I like to keep my options open :)

>>2170380

I haven't settled on what I want to give you guys yet, but that's not one of them I'm afraid. I'm already swimming in options so I need to make a few cuts to avoid overloading myself.

I want to see if the popular opinion is to be a mage or not first before we really get into it. You've gotten a good idea of magic now and know that you can still be a summoner without it, warriors function similarly.

So far we have two concrete votes.

>>2170283
>>2169695

>>2170401
Well you did just say that the ultimate stealth types are mages with esoteric origins so I'll vote for that concretely.

I do wonder if these new players will pick the one option I'm almost certain you'll hand us if that option wins out. It was pretty cool but did kinda lock us into full mage mode again...

>>2169618
>>Will not force the impossible. You need to find what’s there, not impose it. [You do not possess magical powers]

I have the urge to try something different.
Necromancy sounds cool though, we'd probably get along really well with our new lich friend to

If hybrids are a thing then lets
>Dearly wish to be a mage. It is as important as your own identity. [Awaken as a Mage]
Esoteric Nature [This is where things get weird, you will need to choose between a few concepts that are inherently dangerous with the potential to break all magical rules. Choose with caution.]

>>2169618
>Dearly wish to be a mage. It is as important as your own identity. [Awaken as a Mage]
While being none magical is fine, its magic man, got to play with it if we can.

>Elemental Nature [Tried and true type of magic, the type most mages are skilled in. While easy to wield, true masteries is incredibly difficult and can surpass esoteric concepts.]

Can we have a strange element? It would be interesting to explore.

>>2170694
In this case, it'd be something like fire, earth, frost, wind or lightning. What do you mean by strange?

>>2170694

My guss is that Esoteric Nature IS the non-standerd Elements.

>>2169695
>>2170428
>>2170514

3 Votes for mages, Esoteric.

>>2170283
>>2170694

2 Votes for mages, Elemental

>>2170207
>>2170471
2 Votes for not being a mage.

If I missed any, do remind me. We still got plenty of time but I'll start operating on the assumption that Arawn is an esoteric mage.

Of course, since this is a -very- important vote that'll follow the entire quest, I'm not imposing a timeout.

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The potential in magic is too big to give up on it.
this Demon Lord's place seems to be all about the magic and magic users. If we want to impresspeople and have an easier time befriending everyone, magic seems the right path to follow to me.

I already voted earlier, so this doesn't count as a vote. I guess it is like, a post to argue about the convenience of magic as opposed to warrior builds or pure rogue/assassin builds.

Also, wil lthese adventures be archived?

>>2171130
Got two archives
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Lots%20of%20Dialogues (I feel like slapping myself because I literally forgot to put the Tale of Monsters tag. I'm so bad at this)

I also use archive.is http://archive.is/A4EhS

>>2171069
I just thought of a clarifying question. In your previous major quest Siggy had a "fluid" origin and his dear mother had "heat" origin.

Are those "esoteric" or "elemental"? Just wanna clear it all up for the newbies.

>>2173535
A mix of both, because they were utterly broken. Especially his mother.

I've since ironed out lots of things, in this case, elemental will be stuff like fire and lightning while Esoteric will be a different set of powers.

My previous protagonist had a fluid nature, so I don't want to repeat that, nor will I offer a heat nature because that belonged to a major npc.

>>2173563
Ok then, I already voted but I'm still gonna go for Esoteric magus as you still essentially said that the very best legends of Stealthy Carotid Carving mofos had that background. So if I misread you please tell me now because otherwise that's my final vote. I wanna make Arawn the Master of Shadows. Full stealth supremacy all things considered that'd make him one of the very best Assassin-class servants if this setting ever gets cursed with a grail war system if'n ya catch my meaning.

Also, I get why "heat" and the like is kinda OP so ya obviously don't wanna give us that one Especially considering who exactly had them...

>>2173596
I cannot promise anything

>>2173622
You never do and I love you for it ya suffering addicted... person.

Not changing the vote now because I'm officially morbidly curious as to what esoteric origins you'll give us to pick from...

Which reminds me, the powers the protagonist had in the 8ch quest you made were pretty cool too! They sounded veryunusual and unique. Is Constellation Magic still a thing on this setting?

Regardless of whether we can learn it or not in this one quest, it seemed to have a lot of potential for fun shenanigans.

New thread is here

>>2181961