A Demon's Core

Now that I think about it, I should also think of something better to call the invisible thing. Referring to it constantly as “the invisible thing” just seems weird, even if it is descriptively accurate. But what is it actually? A spawner? A summoner? A portal of some kind? A rift in the space-time continuum? A tear in the very fabric of reality itself!? Okay, maybe I am getting a little carried away there. Or maybe I am not, who knows? I am certainly not an expert in whatever kind of physics would explain it, nor in any other kind of physics for that matter. I think I will just call it the rift for now. I should probably wait for my imp friend to wake up so I can inform her of my intentions before I actually try anything, in case something goes wrong. When she begins to stir, I reach out to her.

I am going to try to bring another imp here, just like how you came here. I do not know if it will work, or what might happen if it goes wrong, so be prepared.

She looks at me excitedly for a moment then has a more thoughtful expression as she looks around for her bone club. It is better than nothing I suppose. Club in hand, she moves to stand next to the rift. Can she sense it too? Or does she simply remember where she first appeared when she arrived here? She still looks excited, but also seems to understand the potential seriousness of the situation.

As prepared as I can be, I reach out to the rift and start pouring mana into it. I can feel the energy building for about five seconds, then a light appears. It is small at first but quickly grows in size and soon takes the shape of an imp. Then the light dissipates and another imp is standing before me. Before the new arrival even has time to react to her surroundings, she is enveloped in a hug by my first imp who had dropped her club as soon the new imp appeared.

Please find her some clothes. I should have expected that the newcomer would also be naked upon arrival. My first imp drags her over to the corner where she keeps her, now multiple, suitcases full of clothes. As they dig through the clothes I can hear them talking, but the sound is still muffled so I can not make out the words. Presumably they are discussing what kind of clothes she would like. As I watch them I notice the differences between the two.

This new imp is smaller than my first in various ways. She is noticeably shorter, around ten centimeters as best as I can tell, it is hard to be precise without any sort of measuring tools. Ten centimeters does not sound like a lot, but by my estimate, they both look to be less than one meter tall. At that height, ten centimeters is a rather significant difference. And while she certainly appears feminine, she is less voluptuous than my first imp. There is also a significant difference in their tails. While my first imp's tail is around three quarters of her body length, this new imp’s tail does not look to be more than half of her body length. A less impactful difference also being that the new imp has black hair.

I can not help but wonder if one of them is abnormal or if these differences are within normal variation levels for their species. Perhaps the new imp is younger and not quite fully mature yet? Though if there was an age difference between them, that would imply that they are actually being summoned from somewhere rather than just being created by the rift. So many questions, but I will need to see more examples of imps before I can really answer them.

It occurs to me that this new imp cost a lot less mana than the first. It only took a little more than half of my total capacity. Which means I could get another one pretty soon if I wanted to. I think I will wait though. At least give my new imp time to properly settle in before trying to get another. During my musings, my new imp seems to have found some clothes that she likes. An over-sized yellow shirt with a belt securing it around her waist, making it almost look like an actual dress, instead of just a really big shirt.

With clothes sorted, my first imp is showing the new one around. Not that there is really much to show in here. Though she does like showing off all the things she has collected during her scavenging expeditions, especially her prized collection of brooms. The new imp just seems a little confused by them, a reaction I completely understand. My first imp demonstrates not only that they can be used for sweeping, but also tries swinging one around like a weapon, but it is far too large for her to do so effectively and she just ends up knocking all her other brooms over. New imp seems unimpressed and First imp is disappointed that her new friend simply does not get the allure of her magnificent brooms. I do not get it either, so she is not alone there.

Instead, she seems far more interested in the bone pile beneath my chair. After an animated discussion, First imp quickly leads her out into the void. I wonder what that was about. I do not have wonder for very long though, as they soon return with armfuls of bones. After depositing the bones under and around my chair, they immediately leave again, probably to find more. Is it a normal trait for imps to just like collecting random things? Or maybe they think I like the bones.

I guess I do not dislike the bones so I will not tell them to stop for now. They look like they are having fun and they are not hurting anyone so I see no reason to stop them from doing something they enjoy if it is not causing any problems. After several trips they have built a rather respectable bone pile and they seem satisfied with their efforts. It would have taken less trips if First imp had remembered to bring along her backpack.

After taking a break, they grab some weapons and decide to go out again. First imp, of course, taking her bone club and Second imp taking one of the several knives that First imp had previously collected. This time First imp has her backpack. When Second imp sees the backpack she starts saying something while pointing at the bones, probably coming to the same realization that I did. First imp looks at the bones for a while then shrugs. Second imp puts a hand on her face while shaking her head slightly, then they both step into the void once more.

They are gone a bit longer this time. Maybe they are actually looking for useful things this time instead of just more bones. While they are out I decide to examine the bones they brought back, though I do not have a good angle and can not see the ones directly under my chair. From what I can see, they seem to be mostly from the same species, judging by the skulls. They look to have had a similar head shape to my imps, though without horns and mostly rectangular teeth. Humans? Yes. I think these are human skulls. Though I can see one that is different. It looks more like my imps, with horns and pointy teeth. Though the horns are longer and the skull is definitely larger than my imp’s head. So maybe it is not from an imp, but rather a similar, larger species.

I am distracted from my thoughts by a rather strange sight. Up on the ceiling, from the hole with the void, a small reddish-pink hand has emerged and is waving. Is that one of my imps? How did they get up there? I guess if it is all part of the same void it is not unfathomable that they could find their way around to other entrances. I decide it is not worth pondering for too long as any hypothesis I might come up with, I would have no way of verifying.

A little over an hour later, the two return. Second imp only carrying a few items in her hands with her knife tucked into her belt. First imp’s backpack, while not full, was clearly not empty either, so they must have found something of value, at least by their standards. First imp was particularly happy as she, of course, found another broom. I think I might actually have to tell her to stop bringing back brooms soon.

The next couple of days the two spend almost all of their time together. Perhaps imps are naturally social creatures. About the only thing they do not do together is sleep as First imp still likes her nest beside my chair where as Second imp has apparently chosen one of the smaller rooms to be her den. She seems to have settled in well enough now so I decide it is time to get another imp.

I am going to try to bring another imp here. Please prepare a selection of clothes for them. I send to both of them and watch as they bring out clothes in a variety of sizes and styles. That seems good enough. I am sure the new arrival will be able to find something they like from among them. And if not, they can search through the growing clothes pile in the corner to find something themselves.

I should probably have my imps organize those clothes a little better instead of just leaving them in a pile like that, especially if they are going to keep bringing back more. Maybe have them each choose their own personal clothes to keep for themselves instead of just having one large communal clothes pile. Not a big deal with only two imps, but if I continue to get more, things will quickly become quite a chaotic mess.

With clothes prepared and both imps with weapons at their side, just in case, I reach out to the rift again. This time a male imp appears. First is about to step forward to give him a hug when Second stops her. She gestures to the clothes while speaking, instructing him choose some clothes, probably. With the three of them together, it is easy to see that this third imp is about the same height as Second and his tail is roughly the same length. He even has black hair, like Second. This leads me to suspect that First is, in fact, an anomaly among her kind.

The clothes he chooses are some black shorts and a denim jacket that he leaves open at the front. That is good enough I suppose. Like most of the clothes my imps have found, these ones are also incorrectly sized, but they are close enough and the pants have a drawstring so they are not going to fall down. Now that he is clothed, Second does not prevent First from wrapping him in a big hug, which he struggles to get out of, but he can not escape her grip. Perhaps her larger size also grants her greater strength.

Once she does let go they show him around as well as showing off their various collected treasures. First, of course, shows off her brooms again. But much like Second, he shows very little interest in them, much to First’s disappointment. When he starts digging through the bone pile, he is quickly scolded by the other two, leading to an argument in which he is pointing at First’s bone club. I assume he is asking why she gets to have a bone but he does not. After a little more arguing, the three of them go out into the void. I assume so that he can find some bones for himself. It seems to me like First and Second likely already collected the bones nearby so it may take a while.

Eventually they return and I see Third has not one, but two bone clubs like First’s and they even brought a few more back to add to the pile as well. They all seem happy now, so I guess that is problem solved. Later Third selects the room the original bones came from as his own. I tell them all to choose a few outfits each from the clothes pile to keep as their own. While there is a few more arguments over some of the more desirable items, eventually they each have a small pile. Second and Third take their clothes to their respective rooms while First has a single suitcase next to her little nest.

I then instruct them to tidy up and organize the remaining, unwanted clothes. They give it some effort, and while it is certainly an improvement, calling it neat or tidy would be a bit of a stretch. We will work on that later.