A Demon's Core

Four days after Igneous caught the first flying lizard, he finds another. Just as William predicted, they are sending more and I doubt this one will be the last. Igneous spends most of his time on the roof now so he can keep an ear out. Now that he knows what they sound like, he is apparently able to detect them from a considerable distance away so it is not especially surprising when he suddenly takes off from his place on the roof and returns with the lizard in his hands.

I have Rose call William again to ask if he wants the camera from this one as well. We do not use the emergency frequency as it does not seem as urgent this time since they have already been made aware that these things are around. It takes a while for him to respond, but he thanks us and says to just hold on to it for now and they will send someone to pick it up later.

‘Later’ ends up being the next day. At around midday, one of the imps on watch came rushing down to inform me that four humans are approaching on foot. I can only feel one human coming up the stairs so I assume the others are waiting in the lobby. The human coming up is moving slowly; while that is the point of my stairs, this one is going even slower than expected and pausing at every landing. Even after reaching the fourth floor, they do not speed up at all, creeping along the wall towards the door to the meeting room.

The human peeks their head around the door frame and seeing the room empty, makes his way in. It is a squirrely looking, well dressed man sending furtive glances all around the room as if he is expecting an attack. His gaze lands on the closed bedroom doors and does not move from there. Without looking away, he finally speaks.

“Uh, Cassandra Thorne sent me here to pick something up.”

Cassandra? He was not sent by William? That is unexpected. Although, now that I think about it, they did say once that gathering information is Cassandra’s job. Keeping apprised of the demon’s movements would fall under her purview then. I think it was also mentioned that Cassandra serves a different boss than William. I wonder if she even works for the DMO or if she comes from a different organisation altogether.

Rose is practising magic in her room again, so rather than disturb her, I ask Violet to bring the camera down, but I warn her to be careful as the guy seems a bit jumpy. While waiting, the human starts speaking again.

“Is anyone actually there? I was told that if I come to this room and speak out loud, someone would be able to hear me. I really hope I’m not just talking to an empty room because that would make me feel like an idiot.”

When Violet enters the room, the man raises his hands in front of him, erecting a mana barrier between them as soon as he notices her. Violet tilts her head and emulates the gesture. When he sees what she is holding in her left hand, he cautiously lowers his arms and the barrier.

“Is that the camera I’m here for?” He asks, pointing at her hand.

Violet looks down at her hand and holds the camera out towards the man. He narrows his eyes and slowly inches towards her. When he is close enough, he carefully reaches out to take it from her, then quickly steps back.

“Uh…thanks? I think. Ms. Thorne also told me to say that if you get any more to let Willaim know and someone will come to collect them.” The man moves towards the door, being careful to give Violet as wide a berth as he can.

She watches him go with a confused frown, turning in place to keep him in her sight until he is out of the room.

“That human was weird. Was he scared of me?” She asks.

Of course he was afraid, facing a terrifying dungeon guardian all alone.

She blinks a few times, then puts her hands on her hips, striking a heroic pose with a wide grin.

“That’s right, I am terrifying. Enemies beware!” She declares.

Once the humans are gone, I turn my attention to Rose. She is sitting on the floor in her bedroom with a cup of water in front of her. Learning to manipulate water was something I suggested we should work on a few days ago. Even though circumstances when it would be applicable could be limited due to not always having a significant quantity of water immediately available, I still believe it is something worth practising.

It adds another skill to our repertoire and you can never really know when something like that could become useful. If nothing else, doing this could help further our understanding of magic and train our mana control.

One of the books that William brought us had sections that contained basic information about water, fluid dynamics and surface tension. I already had at least some understanding of those topics, but it was nice to have the opportunity to further expand my knowledge with more detailed explanations. It was not so easy for Rose though, given that this was all new to her, but we went through it together and I did my best to answer every question she had and explain everything in a way that she would understand.

And now she was trying to put all that new knowledge to use with some practical training. With her hands on either side of the cup before her, she had her eyes closed in concentration. Ripples spread across the surface of the water and it bulged upwards in the centre. A rippling sphere of water rose from the cup, the dampness of the carpet around it indicating that this is not her first attempt, but she has her red metal canister by her side that she filled with water last time she went to the river in case the cup needs to be refilled.

She opens her eyes and gazes at the orb in wonder. Reaching up with one hand, she pokes at the sphere, causing it to destabilise and splash back down into the cup and a little more water ending up on the carpet. She shakes her head and sighs.

That was a good attempt. You are doing well.

“It would have been, if I hadn’t let my concentration falter,” she laments.

It will just take practice, I am sure. Perhaps try something a little different to break up the monotony.

“Something like what?”

Instead of making the water into a ball, try moving the water from one container to another in a stream. Do you remember what I explained about syphoning?

“Yeah, I think so,” she looks down at her cup of water, “I’m going to need another cup.”

It is only three days this time before Igneous finds the next aerial scout sent by the vak, possibly an indication of escalation, so it seems this is going to be an ongoing issue. But I can not even be certain that Igneous is catching all of them. He may have good hearing and be able to notice them from quite a distance, but it is not like he can cover the entire city.

We still do not know what their objective is either. Are they just trying to keep an eye on the humans here or are they actually looking for something specific? The worst case scenario I can think of is that they somehow know about the imps and our dungeon and it is actually us they are looking for. From things William has said, it seems like the vak are just as interested in acquiring dungeon cores as the humans are. I do not know how they would respond to finding imps here, but given the relationship between them, I cannot not imagine anything good.

Even if they do not know we are here yet, they might end up finding out. The imps do travel quite far sometimes when they go out. If one of these scouts does manage to get a picture of some of my imps and Igneous does not catch it before it can return to its own dungeon, the vak will surely recognise the imps for what they are and I doubt it would take an enormous leap for them to realise how they got here.

I will tell my imps to beware of flying lizards when they are out from now on, but even if they do see one, there is likely not much they would be able to do about it other than, hopefully, hiding before its camera can spot them. Rose might be able to take one out, the hellhounds too possibly, if they are not flying too high. Igneous indicated that the ones he has caught so far were only flying high enough to clear the tallest buildings. So If they happen to be in an area of the city where the buildings are not as tall, maybe the creatures will not be flying as high.

Perhaps we should consider performing some aerial reconnaissance of our own. If dungeon creatures always return to their dungeon, then maybe we can capture one alive and, after being divested of its equipment, it can lead Igneous back to its own dungeon. Such a mission could be incredibly dangerous though. Considering the value of dungeons, one that is controlled by the vak will surely be heavily guarded and if they have a similar level of technology to the humans, it would not be surprising if they have weapons capable of shooting down aerial targets.

I am also unable to communicate with Igneous when he is outside the dungeon so if he gets into trouble, there is no way for him to let me know and I will not be able to help.

When I explain my idea to Igneous, I make sure to impress on him how dangerous this could be, far more than anything else I have asked him to do, and that he is not obligated to do this if he does not want to. He takes some time to contemplate the proposal, but eventually agrees.

I explain the plan to Rose and Violet as well in case they can come with any good ideas to contribute or point out anything I might have overlooked.

“How about sending one of us with him? Like when he carried me to the town with all the fruit trees. That way, we can stay in contact,” Violet suggests.

While that would work, I do not think it is a good idea this time.

“Why not?” She asks.

When we were asking everyone what they knew of the vak and the other demons, Igneous indicated that he was not familiar with any of them, so he may be from a place without demons. If that is the case, then maybe the vak do not know about his kind either.

If they do not know what he is, there is a chance they may not immediately identify him as an enemy and try to shoot him down if they happen to see him. But they probably will not react well if they see him carrying an imp. Besides, if they do not already know there are imps here, I would like to keep it that way.

“Oh, so he really has to go alone?”

Unfortunately, yes, I think so.

“What are we going to do about here though?” Rose questions. “We don’t know how long Igneous will be gone for this and I doubt the vak are going to stop sending their scouts while he isn’t here.”

That is a good point. I think it is time to summon another gargoyle to take over for Igneous while he is away.

It is almost time that I was going to summon a new imp anyway, so I will just use the mana set aside for that to summon a gargoyle instead. Though I expect it to require far more mana than imp would, I have enough right now to cover it. I think I will try to summon a female this time, though I do ask Igneous for his thoughts on the matter first. But just like the last time I asked about it, he is still indifferent.

Violet and Igneous wait by the rift while Rose checks the clothes pile in Room 7 for some pants that the new gargoyle will be able to wear, but she soon comes back empty handed.

“I couldn’t find anything that would be the right size,” she says.

That is not entirely surprising. Even when the imps had gathered some adult sized clothes, back before they found the clothes store, it was mostly just shirts. Even if they were too large, with a little adjustment, they could still be worn or they could use the material for other things, like tearing into strips to make bandages, but there was never much use for vastly oversized pants. I was actually a little surprised they had managed to find pants for Igneous the first time. Not that you would know if he was even wearing them most of the time since he is usually curled up as a rock.

Do not worry about it for now then. We can find some later.

When I pour my mana into the rift, a large grey rock soon appears, just like when I fist summoned Igneous, although this one has a lighter colouring. Igneous approaches the rock, then appears to do nothing, just standing in front of it; I assume he is actually communicating with it.

The rock unfolds itself and we soon have two gargoyles standing facing each other and I am shocked by how similar they look. It would seem their species has very little sexual dimorphism, I probably would not even be able to tell that she is female if not for me currently being able to see what is between her legs. They are the same height, have the same build and the same musculature. It looks like she may have slightly wider hips, but it is not easy to see clearly due to their crouching and hunched over posture. She does not appear to have mammaries of any sort, suggesting that their species are not mammals. The only real noticeable differences between them are that she has a narrower face with a pointier chin and a lighter skin tone, but those could just be individual characteristics rather than sexually dimorphic characteristics. I will not know for sure until I have a larger sample size to observe.

The fact that they are the same size does imply that, despite being the first of his kind to be summoned, he did not become a guardian, so maybe my natural limit was two. That is unfortunate; I would not have to feel so nervous about sending him on potentially dangerous missions if I knew he could be resurrected. This means he will just need to be more careful to avoid harm and return safely.

I ask Igneous to show her around and explain what things are like here. They stare at each other silently for a moment before heading out the door and moving towards the stairs, heading up to the roof, I assume. Meanwhile, I instruct Violet to find her some suitable pants to wear.

“I know where to find some. There are still clothes in some of the other rooms that we didn’t take because they obviously weren’t going to fit us,” she says and rushes out of the room, heading for the closest hole to take her down to the next floor.

She returns several minutes later with a selection of pants to choose from. One is a pair of brown pants with large pockets on the sides, another is some much smaller shorts, made of a stretchy black material and the final offering is a pair of shorts made of a light material with a chequered pattern and elastic waistband. Hopefully the new gargoyle will find at least one of those options acceptable.

The two gargoyles are gone for quite a while, taking some time to fly around the area. When they do return, they are followed down from the roof by a group of curious imps who are delighted by ‘another Igneous’. When they enter the room, Violet excitedly rushes over to them with the clothes.

“I found some pants for you,” she declares, holding them out for the gargoyle to see.

A moment later, Violet steps back shaking her head in surprise. She puts a hand on her forehead, dropping some of the pants in the process.

“Is this how Igneous was when he first got here?” She asks, turning to Rose.

“It’s a lot to handle at first. Just give her some time to adjust,” Rose replies with a sympathetic smile.

Igneous puts a hand on the other gargoyle’s shoulder and they share silent communication, while Violet picks up the items she dropped.

“Well, anyway, we have to wear clothes here, so I brought you some.” Violet holds out the pants again and the gargoyle looks down at them, then up slightly to Violet; the imp tilts her head. “Because…uh, we…hmm.” She frowns and looks towards my core. “Why do we have to wear clothes?” She asks.

Because it is impolite to walk around naked all the time. I reply to both Violet and the gargoyle.

Violet seems ready to accept that answer, but the gargoyle sends me a questioning reply and I can sense her lack of understanding, not at the concept of clothes, but at the reason for wearing them.

I realise now that I have never actually given it much thought. Ever since I started summoning imps, I have felt that they should be wearing clothes and even imposed it on Igneous as well, but I never thought about why. I just had this vague feeling that it is not appropriate for people to be naked all the time.

And yet, I have never thought that the hellhounds need to wear clothes. Is it because they are quadrupedal and that would make wearing clothes a lot more complicated? Or maybe because they are already covered in fur? Would I not worry about the others wearing clothes if they also had fur? Well, fur or not, neither Igneous or the imps ever seemed to truly care about wearing clothes before I suggested it, so why should I?

I suppose, if she does not want to wear pants, I will not force the issue. I let them all know.

Violet looks down at the pants in her hands.

“What should I do with these then?” She inquiries.

Just store them with the rest.

Violet shrugs and starts walking towards the cabinet that leads to Room 7, but stops after just a couple of steps.

“Wait…Does that mean we don’t have to wear clothes either?” She questions.

“No. We still need clothes,” Rose retorts.

“But why?” Violet whines.

I would also like to know why? Not that I am questioning your decision. I am merely curious about your reasons.

“I believe imp’s total lack of concern towards nudity is one of the reasons why vukra looked down on us. All the humans we’ve seen were always wearing clothes as well, so they would probably do the same. I’m not telling them what to do,” she gestures to the gargoyles, “because I’m not in charge of them. But all the imps here need to wear clothes if we ever want to be taken seriously.” Rose insists.

“Fine, I guess that makes sense,” Violet agrees.

Both gargoyles are up on the roof, within the area I have claimed up there, which I am slowly increasing. After some discussion, I offered the new gargoyle the name Marble, in keeping with the rock theme and owing to her lighter colouring, which she accepted.

It is another three days from when she was summoned before the next vak scout appears, so they do seem to be establishing a pattern, rather than escalating. Igneous takes off first and Marble follows soon after. When they return, Marble settles back into her place on the roof, but I do not see Igneous until he is back on the fifth floor.

As soon as he steps across the border into the dungeon, I am overcome with a feeling that something is terribly wrong. I know he has the flying creature with him and that it is still alive. My attention is immediately drawn to it and I cannot help but think that this creature is a danger that needs to be eliminated. But I do not think I am the only one who is affected. Igneous stops, tensing up as he looks down at the screeching, struggling reptile that he is holding.

It is not even just him, the hellhounds emerge into the hallway to investigate and start growling when they see the creature in his hands. All the imps on the floor soon follow, weapons drawn and ready for battle.

Everyone stop! Do not attack. We need this creature alive.

I do not understand this reaction, from my creatures or myself. Nothing that I have seen to this point has ever elicited this kind of response. What is it about this creature that made me and everyone in the dungeon immediately want to kill it as soon as it entered? I might have thought that it was because it was a creature from another dungeon if not for the fact that we have had a creature from the river dungeon here previously and it did not have this effect.

Please take it to Room 7. I instruct Igneous.

Imps do not go into that room often since none of them actually live in there, so that is the room it will, hopefully, be least likely to be accidentally eaten. The imps and hellhounds stay on guard and growl or hiss as Igneous walks by, but, as ordered, none of them make any move to attack. I ask Rose to join us and for Violet to make sure everyone else stays out, especially Coal since he is more volatile than the rest of the imps and I do not want to test how well he can control himself right now. Rose scowls when she enters the room.

“What is that thing? Just seeing it makes me want to kill it. Like I have some kind of instinct telling me that it’s a threat.”

That seems to be what everyone is feeling. Have you ever experienced anything like this before?

“No. This is new to me. What are we going to do with it?” She asks and I can see her eye twitch as she peers at the creature.

Originally, I was thinking about observing it for a while to see what we could learn about it before letting it go. But now I think it would be better not to keep it here any longer than necessary.

“If we release it now, do you think it will immediately return to its dungeon, or will it still try to follow whatever instructions it was given first before going back?” Rose ponders.

That is a good question. If Igneous is ready to go now, we can find out.

Rose looks up at him and he nods.

Remember, your safety is the number one priority. If you see any vak, or humans for that matter, do not get too close. We do not know what kind of range they might have on their weapons. And please, if at any point you feel that you are in danger, do not hesitate to abandon the mission and return home.

Rose removes the camera from the creature’s harness as Igneous holds it gently, but firmly, in his grip. Once it has been stripped of its observational device, Igneous carries the creature back out.

Relief washes over me when I can no longer feel it within my domain. But that is not the only thing I feel; I also gain some mana when it crosses the threshold, which is something else that did not happen with the lizard from the river dungeon.

What a strange little creature. It brought quite a few mysteries during its brief visit. If we are lucky, locating where it came from will be the first step to finding some answers. But all we can do now is wait and hope for Igneous’ safety.