A Demon's Core

There are things I would like to know about Coal’s teleportation. What is his range? Can he take objects or other living things with him and if so, what is the limit on that? Does it require mana or is it some kind of inherent physical ability? Though that seems unlikely. How many times can he teleport? Does he even have a limit? He did not seem at all exhausted after that fight in which he teleported several times within a short time period.

At this point, all we have found out is that his clothes will be teleported along with him. It is hard to find out more when we lack an effective means of communication as I cannot easily explain what I want him to do. Violet attempting to mime what was desired is not overly helpful. He understood that she wanted him to teleport, but nothing more than that.

I will have to wait until he learns our language to get most of the answers I seek. Until then, all I can do is observe him. So far they have managed to teach him ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It is not much, but it is a start.

Seeing him teleporting, along with Violet saying she wished she could do it too, did lead me to an idea. If I can target specific traits when summoning, can I take it farther than that and target a specific individual? In particular, one that I have already summoned before. It would not be the same Coal’s teleportation, but it is a similar concept...maybe. She would not be moving under own power and could only go to a single predetermined destination, but it would still be moving from one location to another. Perhaps it is not that similar.

Would you like to help with another experiment? I ask Violet.

“What kind of experiment?”

I want to try summoning you back here from other locations.

“So I will be teleporting, like Coal?” She asks, her eyes lighting up.

If it works, maybe.

“What should I do?”

Just head outside first. You do not need to go too far. Just a little outside my boundary for the first test. If it works then we will try again from further away.

She heads outside and when she is ready I pour some mana into the rift while thinking of Violet, focusing on our connection. After a few seconds of anticipation, Violet appears before me...without any clothes.

“It worked! That was awesome. I can teleport!” She exclaims, then looks down at herself. “My clothes are gone.”

Does this rift have something against clothes? Were her clothes left behind or were they destroyed in transit? Violet can check when she goes out for the next test.

After you have put on some more clothes we can move on.

It did not take as much mana to summon her like this as it does to summon even a normal imp. That could be because of the shorter distance. I do not know where the imps come from, relative to here, but I feel like it is probably quite far. It makes sense that closer things would be easier to summon. Another possibility is her being connected to me already is what makes it cheaper. Violet’s connection to me is stronger than the others so I will have to test it with some of the them.

When Violet has put on some some new clothes I pay close attention to memorizing exactly what she is wearing. If I can clearly picture her clothes when I summon her, maybe she will get to keep them this time.

We are going to try it from further away now. Once you get outside this time, pick a direction and run until I tell you to stop.

‘I found my old clothes. They’re on the floor where I was before.’ Violet says shortly after she leaves again. ‘Should I take them with me?’

There is not much point, they are likely going to get left behind again. I am going to try summoning you with the clothes you are currently wearing this time, I do not know if it will work though.

‘Okay, I’ll leave them here and get them later. I’m running now.’

I let her run for about five minutes before telling her to stop. This time when I summon her, I focus more on summoning her with clothes. Specifically picturing the clothes she was wearing when she left. A yellow t-shirt with a giraffe on it and red shorts that end just above her knees.

This time, when she appears...she has still lost her clothes. I am a little irked by that. Why does the rift not allow clothes? The most plausible explanation I can think of is that I can only summon living things. Which means that weapons and any other items they might be carrying would also be left behind. Making it something that is better reserved as an emergency escape than for general use.

I did not notice any difference in the mana cost this time. The disparity in the distances was probably not enough to have an impact on the cost. If that is actually a factor at all.

Thank you for your help Violet. You can go out and get your clothes back if you want. I still have a few more things to test, but they will require the help of others.

“You don’t need anything else from me?” She sags a little.

Not at the moment, but I still may need your help before this experiment is over. She brightens up and rushes out the door, not even bothering to put on clothes first. I suppose that is fine since she is going out to pick up her clothes anyway, she can just put those on.

Rose, I would like your help with my latest experiment if you are willing.

“Is this the same experiment that lead to Violet appearing naked in the middle of the room multiple times, even though she was definitely wearing clothes when she left?” Rose asks, raising an eyebrow.

Yes, that is the one. It is okay if you would rather not participate.

“No, it’s fine. I’m always happy to help with whatever you need. I just need to make some preparations. How many times will I need to do this?”

Twice should be enough to learn what I need. She fetches two sets of clothes from her wardrobe and places them by the rift.

“I’m ready.”

Excellent, take Noctis with you and head to the floor below. I will try summoning you both back here one at a time first.

I get a sense of inquiry from Noctis when Rose asks her to follow.

It is for an experiment. Please go with her for now. This will not take long, you will be back soon.

They both head down the stairs to the next floor. I can not contact either of them once they are outside of my perception so I just wait for a little while and assume that they are ready.

I summon Rose first. It is harder than it was for Violet. My connection with Violet is much stronger. When I concentrate I can actually feel the tether between us and was able to use that to make it easier. That is not the case for any of the others. While I am still connected to them, I can not consciously feel it.

But soon enough Rose appears at the rift, unclothed as expected. She quickly puts on some of the clothes that she prepared earlier. It actually took a little more mana to summon Rose this time than it did for Violet, though only about half as much as is needed for summoning new imps. This suggests that it is more related to the strength of our connection rather than distance.

Noctis is next. When she appeared, she jumped around the rift a few times. I could feel her excitement. She thought that was fun and wanted to do it again. But it costs too much mana to be something to do just for fun. Summoning Noctis took a little less than half what was required to initially summon the other hellhounds.

If I am right about how the cost is determined, then it might cost a little more to do this with the others. I feel like I have a stronger connection with Noctis than the other Hellhounds. She is the only one who communicates with me the way she does.

The last thing I want to test now is whether I can summon more than one back to me at the same time. I know it is possible to summon multiple new imps at once so this should also work. I tell Rose to go back down a floor and wait for Violet.

There is one last test I want to perform. Rose is waiting for you on the fourth floor. Meet her there and let me know when you arrive. I will try to bring you back together. I tell Violet.

When she lets me know that they are ready I try focusing on both of them as much as I can while pouring mana into the rift. Soon both imps appear, side by side. Violet picks Rose up off the ground in a hug.

“It worked! Now we can all teleport!” She declares.

“Yes. That’s great, but now you need to go collect your clothes.” Rose says. She puts on her second set of prepared clothes when Violet puts her down. “Please get mine too while you are down there.”

Thank you for your help everyone. This has proven to be quite enlightening. I say before Violet slips out the door.

Now I know I can recall my imps and hellhounds if there is an emergency or if they encounter trouble outside. Although the only way I would be able to know if they are in trouble is if Violet is with them. I can not expect them all to never go out unless it is with Violet in case they run into danger. That would not be fair to anyone, least of all Violet. Ideally, I hope I can eventually find a way to communicate with everyone when they are outside my borders. Still, though it is not perfect, it is useful to know that I am capable of recalling them, even if I hope it will not be necessary.

All those tests took up a lot of mana. I will not be able to do much else today. But I think the expenditure was worth it.

Another idea I had after learning of the control I have over summoning is to summon a human. But I am not sure if I want to. It would be the easiest way to capture one alive for interrogation. That would also probably mean I could communicate with them the same way I do with my imps.

The question is what to do with it afterwards. Letting them go might be too dangerous. Even as I interrogate them, they could be learning about us through simple observation. If they take back whatever they learn, they could cause problems for us later. I could keep them prisoner, but that would be a huge hassle that I do not want to deal with. The last option would be to kill them, but I am not entirely comfortable with that. Even if I do not like humans, summoning one only to later kill it seems unfair. I do not mind killing those who are attacking us. But if they are just minding their own business at home, do they really deserve to die just because they accepted a magical summons from an unknown source?

No, I will wait until the next time they attack and capture one the old fashioned way. Summoning a human will be reserved only as a last resort.

I am not the only one who had some new ideas after Coal’s arrival. Ever since their fight, Violet has been paying more attention to how her tail moves. Testing its strength, speed and range of motion. She has even tried swinging it around and hitting things with it, though that sometimes ends with her rubbing her tail with tears in her eyes.

She tries taping a knife to the end of her tail, but it does not work well. She does learn two things from the attempt. First, her tail does not have the strength to swing it around effectively with the weight of a large knife attached to the end of it, though tail strength is possibly something she could work on over time. Second, tape is not an effectual means of securing a knife to her tail.

Still, the idea is not without merit. Based on Coal’s reaction in their fight, opponents may not be expecting her to use her tail as a weapon. It is simply a matter of finding a viable way to do so. If she could find a smaller, lighter blade that will not weigh down her tail so much as well as a more effective method of attaching it, it could still be feasible.

Though it would likely not have the penetrating power to be good for stabbing, it would be useful for slashing. Even if the cuts are only shallow, if her opponent is not expecting it because they are focused on the weapons in her hands, she could use it to great advantage in combat.