Peril's Origin - A Magical Girl Quest [Complete]

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---

It has been two hours since that short battle concluded. You managed to get through the belated panic attack over having faced an honest to god Death Squad by now, Maya and Paoras got a grip on themselves, and Elisabeth showed up to take charge.

After ordering more squads out to keep an eye on the countryside, the bastion commander ordered you and your two friends into her office, where you are still sitting now after recounting the events. With how crystal clear every moment of that fight is in your memory, you could tell her about that in detail.

While you still wonder if Elisabeth's brows are scrunched behind her mask, something snaps into place and your eyes widen. There is now a dark grey shroud surrounding her, with many different colours permeating the whole room. Every single rune on the ground, walls, and ceiling gleams in either this shade of grey or a pure black that almost sizzles where the rest growls.

Next to you, the shroud around Maya is a yellowish red and murmurs gently. Paoras has a calmly thrumming rust colour, though it is currently swirling and seeping into her.

Your gasp is barely audible under all the new sounds, and you hardly feel the hands grabbing you, hands shrouded in colours and noise. "A---h--d?" Every syllable of your name, and you know it is your name, is overlayed by a dull roar and you stare at Elisabeth with wide eyes; little puffs of colour come out of her mouth as she speaks, and some of the other colours her own mostly blots out vanish into it.

You close your eyes and take deep breaths as they lay you on the ground, suddenly aware of how much power floats through it and the room. Then you hold up your hands and force out something like "Give me a moment," though your frayed head probably messed up about it. Maya and Paoras both grab one of your hands each, you can tell from the sounds that are closest; the deep noises that are Elisabeth move around you, each little beat layering over a step she makes.

You groan for a moment as the many new sensations settle into place; not being able to see anything helps with that a lot.

And as you lie, you realise there is one more sound which quickly fades. It sounds like an anime-song, fast paced and with defiance so clearly mixed into it you can not even tell what part of it brought on the feeling. It almost roars as you acknowledge it, but then recedes away like a heartbeat.

"I'm... alright." A faint whistle accompanies your words. Maya and Paoras do not react aside from squeezing a little harder, though Elisabeth stopped walking. You hope they can hear you clearly. "Just asking, but do you guys suddenly see tons of new colours everywhere?"

There is a momentary silence that you use to get used to the noise some more. The swirl of colours is still there when you open your eyes, but less egregious than before. Maya is looking at you and shakes her head, small motes of green swirling around her crimson hair. Paoras' magic calmed down and simmers in place now, though as your eyes adjust, you can see the concern on her face again.

You frown at that and the colours begin to fade out somewhat. They stood out so much because they were new, but you already begin to get used to it. "I think my magic just did something new. Each of you has an aura and I can hear noise from you constantly now."

"An aura, you say?" Elisabeth steps closer and takes a look at you. "In which way? And what about those colours?"

Maya looks as if she wants to shoo her away, but refrains from saying anything when you speak up again. "Hard to describe. There is a layer of colour around each of you... and everywhere else for that matter. Yours is a dark grey, like ash. Maya's is a bright red and Pao's a darker red, and... huh." You just looked aside and found a vaguely red outline moving along the wall; it is clear enough to tell that is a soldier. "And there is someone else in red walking right outside. Then there is motes all around in the air, and I can see every single rune you carved into the stone clearly."

As you made your explanations, you already realised how that sounded and get back up with a sigh. "Chances for all that stuff being mana and magic?"

"Quite good," the older Demon tells you with a wry smile. "Magical Girls are indeed interesting." You just sigh at that, but become attentive again when she turns to the other Demons in the room. "Would you two be so good and take a few deep breaths?"

Maya blinks at her, but is pre-empted from asking questions when Paoras simply does as told. With each breath she also inhales the motes, their place taken by others before those are also breathed in.

"Yup, looks like mana unless there is other stuff in the air that you breathe in." Which, to be fair, could also be oxygen or anything else that is normally in the atmosphere. However, none of that would have so many different colours and also glow around your friends. You blink a few times and massage your temples to alleviate the headache a little.

"There is not, as far as I am aware." Maya gently pulls your hands away and wipes the sweat off of your face while Paoras looks on with a lost expression.

You let her mother do as she pleases and turn your attention to the halfbreed once she speaks to you: "You said you can hear stuff, too?" Her question reminds the other two of that as well and you nod again, happy for the fact magic makes it so you do not need months to get used to those new senses you just spontaneously developed.

"Yeah, it's weird in a different way. I can hear something that sounds like roars from either of those two," you start with a motion toward the older Demons. "Maya's is more like a murmur, but both are pretty deep. You sound a bit more like a drumbeat." Then you recall what you saw earlier and grab for Paoras' face. "Actually, yours was pretty active when this started. Do you feel any different?"

Your friend blinks and feels over her arms and body curiously. Then she clenches her fists a few times. "I feel... stronger, yes. And a lot tougher, actually. Lighter, too?"

You get to your feet and lift the tiny Demon with a grunt, your augmented strength making it not much of a problem. "Nope, still the same weight. If you feel lighter, that's only in your head."

Paoras pouts, much to Maya's and Elisabeth's amusement. Then, to actual chuckles, she wriggles out of your grasp and picks you up in a princess carry without any trouble. Which probably looks more than a little weird, considering how much taller you are.

"Look, I can hold you easily!" She grins and hops a few times, which makes you roll your eyes in turn. You pet her head and she lets you down; by this point, the new layers of your perception have receded into something like an overlay. It is no longer devastating on your senses, but you are still happy that it happened now and not in battle. The sensory overload would have gotten you killed.

"Anyway, I'm back to normal. That will still be weird for a while, but I should get used to it soon enough." You finally notice that the three chairs you were in have been pushed aside without a care, and move to retrieve your own. "We were talking about that Death Squad."

Maya and Paoras follow your lead with little hesitation; the Succubus uses her whispy arms to pick up the pillows she sat on as well. Elisabeth insisted that she sit softly in her state of pregnancy; you are honestly surprised she did not go into labour with today's shocks.

"Indeed we were." Elisabeth returns to her own chair and sighs quietly. "I am afraid things are not well. My apologies for not aiding you immediately, unnecessary as it would have been, but I went to warn our allies on the other continent." Neither of you asks anything just yet, though she gives you a little pause to do so. When everyone stays quiet, she rolls out a map with several towers crossed out in red.

"You probably heard before, but we have erected minor bases on leylines all around the planet. Those bases gather mana and direct it to the focal points in Charon's Keep and Naamah's temple, where it is fed into the main arrays. These not only empower our Gate Demons to improve the defenses of any gate they manage to erect, but also allow us to secure the airspace around both structures against angelic invasions. They are quite crucial to our forward territory's security."

"And also a weakness," you offer, to which she nods.

"Correct. Strike down those bases and we lose our protection. We have smaller arrays against angelic interference up around every single one of them, but the Death Squads deployed much faster than we anticipated."

She taps on one of the crossed out towers. "I managed to warn people in time to save Naamah's Temple, but other squads rained meteors on several other places. Four bases were lost on this continent, five on the other. With exception of the one you fought and half of what attacked the temple, every single one escaped."

You can not help but groan at that; it was almost a perfect victory for the other side; only a moment later do you realise you just got annoyed by the fact the UL won.

Then again, it will not change much in the grand scheme of things, no matter who wins a small engagement.

Elisabeth, not privy to your thoughts, gives you a nod. "It is certainly not good, but not too bad either. Our best guesses for losses are currently around five million, based on how many soldiers were guarding the bases we lost. If this place or the temple had fallen, we would be looking at ten times that."

Five million. That is... a number. It's more than five percent of your home country's population, brushed off in a single sentence. You are not sure what to think about it, but Elisabeth does not leave you the time to sort out your thoughts. "Putting that aside, you have done well in defending the Keep. At this point, we can be certain that your power and potential are genuine."

Your eyes narrow a little, but she does not appear to be bothered by that; her posture remains the same as it was. "Therefore, we decided to give you your own squad; it will still take a few days until everything is finalised, but you more than earned the additional support."

You ignore the quiet roar that tries to distract you and focus on her words. The thought of actually leading anyone never really crossed your mind. "Are you sure I'm the right person for that?"

That little smile she shows may be meant to be reassuring; right now however, it does the opposite. "Do not worry, Adelheid. I understand that actually leading is not something you are used to; as much as it pains me, now that we have reason to believe the Unified Light is aware of our preparations, we will have to forsake the element of surprise and add another three weeks to our timetable. Which means that instead of next week, we are moving on Valhalla around this time next month. You have that much time to get used to your team and work with them. It will be a comparably small squad, so you should be able to get into leadership in that time."

You disagree, but giving up before you even gave it a try is a bigger no than taking charge.

Paoras looks between you and Elisabeth while Maya rubs her belly absentmindedly, which you take to mean neither of them has anything else to say; your, ugh, 'boss' apparently thinks the same thing. "Now then, if you three would excuse me? I need to deal with administrative tasks."

Neither of you speaks as you leave the room, though Paoras takes both of you by the hands on the way out.

However, she lets go in surprise merely a few steps out of the door; you hear another two roars over the sound of heavy steps coming right for you.

Turning quickly, your momentary annoyance turns into surprise when Orux comes your way. He slows a little, but inspects you from head to toes for several seconds; Dragul, having followed behind him, rolls his eyes while his friend gently puts his hand on your shoulders. "We just heard what happened; it's good to see you are alright."

You blink up at him owlishly, wondering if that was actual relief you just heard. It is more difficult to tell with all the noise, though it does make you feel a little more at ease either way.

"He frantically asked around until people started praising you, girl," Dragul comments with a fanged grin. Orux shifts a little and you look between the two friends.

Then you sigh and wrap your arms around his chest as best as you can; he is too big for you to actually embrace. "Yeah, I'm fine." It's nice for someone to worry about you, and you do appreciate the additional comfort after what happened earlier. "Were you on patrol?"

"Quite so." That would explain why it took them so long to find out about it; they probably got the news upon their return. You stay in his arms a little longer before stepping back... and ignoring how Maya is poking your side with her ethereal arms. You do not need to see her to know she is smirking, but at least this seems to have distracted her for a bit.


That evening, sleep does not come easy. You have a lot on your mind, and none of it in any way easy.

On the one hand, Maya is one of the kindest people you ever met; doubly so when considering that she is UD. However, she also made it quite clear she is intending to rape her prisoner; this is wrong. You know it is, and you know you should talk to her about not doing it, but you still do not believe she will change her mind.

Part of you wonders whether this is less because of her being a Demon and more because she is a mother. Losing her son must have hurt her a great deal, and wanting to see the one responsible in pain... well, there would probably be enough human mothers who would agree with that stance. Maybe not the bit about rape, but that is as extreme because she is a Demon.

On the other hand, there is Orux. Your average demonic soldier, yet deeply concerned about your wellbeing, to the point that he panicked when he heard that you were in the fighting. He comforted you and is patient in explaining things to you whenever you ask.

You do not like Maya any less for what she is planning to do and have no idea what that says about you. You like Orux and started to appreciate Dragul at least a bit over the weeks, and even those random Demons you meet on the streets are okay people as long as you do not pick a fight with them.

"Ugh, morals are difficult." You mumble it into your pillow before rolling back onto your other side and kicking your blanket into place.

There are good people on both sides, but even good people can do bad things if pushed far enough. And just as Earth's history shows, war has no winners. Only losers.

Your friends, and you feel right in calling them that, are with the Unified Darkness. Even if you could walk away tomorrow, you do not think you want to. You do not want to risk having to fight any of them.


"So all of a sudden, we said something completely different and another spell came out." You finish your recounting and watch Lu's expression, though it is as unchanging as ever. "Any idea what happened?"

Granted, you heard before that magic sometimes mixed together, but completely forgot until earlier today; there was also not much more than that, you never really looked it up.

"Hm." Your teacher's eyes flick to the side as she thinks it over. "That really only leaves synchronisation for what actually happened." You are still a little distracted by the blanket of transparent darkness lying over everything in all directions; the Angel herself has an aura of burning white, as in literally burning. You have no idea how it can appear as if the actual colour had caught fire, or why black spots constantly flicker through all of it. The muffled screams emanating from her are not helping, either.

You shake off the thoughts and tilt your head at Lu, who continues explaining: "It is a rare process wherein two or more spells are cast at the same time, but join together to form something new. There are also ritual spells that require several casters, like the Fairies' meteor, but those are already established and not up to chance."

She conjures her cross and distracts you for another moment; this time, it is because the weapon has no colour of its own; it looks exactly normal, which is in itself jarring in this sea of colours. Every time a mote of mana gets too close to it, it is extinguished.

"In general, it requires either a matching Affinity in all components, or a similar purpose in the spells themselves." She points her cross at your Handle, which weakly simmers in turquoise light. "To take our weapons for examples, if you look at them, they have similar appearances at the moment. However, mine is dedicated to a style of parrying and counterattacks; yours have a wide variety, which means," she does not even need to pause when you switch to Aetheric Tide, your trusted spear, "exactly. Your spear has quite similar properties. My Affinities are Light and Darkness, incompatible, but these two weapons are quite similar."

You ignore how the shimmering blade seems to snap for surrounding mana before spitting it back out, for lack of a better term.

However, dry theory was never for you and you have the feeling a lot happened with your magic, so you prefer not to dwell at it for too long. "Makes sense. How about we see if we can synchronise anything?"

Lu blinks at that before narrowing her eyes. "None of our spells are similar."

You just shrug. "So what? We can still try, it won't take more than a few minutes." It is a little confusing how Lu blinks, but you decide to ignore it. "I have two and you have one, so it's really only two combinations to try." Well, technically, you have three. But there is no chance in Heaven or Hell that you will cast Voyage here.

Lu sighs and nods before walking to stand next to you. "Very well, we will start with your Conundrum."

So you both cast, but nothing comes of it; with your new sense however, you can actually see Conundrum's shroud much better. It writhes as if alive, repelling even mana from passing through. Lu's Hate's Seal, in turn, is also interesting. You can see that every single of the hundreds of feathers brims with power, which lashes out for a good thirty centimetres in every direction once it impacts a target. From your own experience, you know those shut down the body's ability to move; and with how many there are, dodging them all is nearly impossible. It is both genius and horrifying to consider, especially because she can adjust their trajectory for a few seconds, going by the weak strands of dark mana leading back to her.

"As expected," she tells you once the first attempt failed. "Aim for one of the stone tips." You nod and both of you ready yourselves.

Then...

SH​​A​​AA​​R​​TT​​G​​AE'​​E​​N'S​​N​​ST​​_FS​​S​​OE​​T​​LA​​A​​LL​​R​​Y!​​!​​!

You can hear yourself speak something completely different and become quite satisfied even as black and bright blue rush together, then split off. They form two spheres that still connect to each other with thin strands of mana, crashing into the the stone toward the edge.

(Satan's Folly: 9750 Base Damage, no dice = 9750 Total Damage
Satan's Folly: 9750 Base Heal, no dice = 9750 Total Damage Healed

Structures can not be healed.
Unbreakable Sanctum: Damage nullified)

Even before they impact the stone and are repelled by something innate, the two orbs partly eradicate each other. You eye where your spell ended and exchange a glance with Lu, who shrugs. "Well, I was getting to that. Some of these spells are quite powerful while others are more or less useless. We apparently ended up with something in the latter category."

You both drop the matter there and return to your own magic. Aside from having to figure out how Argent Star works, you also want to take a closer look at the rest of yourself. You snap your weapon into its sword mode, knowing that something changed but unsure what. Actually, Stardust Striker is pretty nice to look at; the magic flowing through its blade looks much calmer.

With no answers coming forth after some swings, you shrug and switch to Stygian Tempest. The scythe appears even more vicious somehow, but produces nothing either. That will probably take a few days.

Then you and Lu consider your lightsaber. It does not look any different, but Reaper's Will definitely changed as well. You already know it can carve through many weapons easily, but now it may have new properties. Seeing that your friend can just resummon her cross, you do not hesitate. "Ready?"

She nods and you charge forward, then slam the blade into her guard. She even suppressed that dispelling field, else it would turn off your sword. There is mana around it now.

You see it an instant before impact; the moment the blade enters the area where Lu's mana dwells, it changes. From one moment to the next, the blue blade carries wisps of black and blue with white specks, and a surge of strength rushes through your arm on impact.

(Reaper's Will: +400 Base Damage, +491 dice, +3000 Superslayer, +1945 Vorpal = 5,836 Total Damage
Block!
Blood Soaked Cross: +5000 Base Damage, +4866 dice, -1000 Unexpected Force, -4,433 Vorpal = 4,433 Total Damage

1,403 difference, Reaper's Will wins!
Blood Soaked Cross broken!

Reaper's Will: +1403 Intercept Damage, +17 dice, +3000 Superslayer, -500 WaitWaitNoStop! = 3,920 Total Damage
Lucifer: +50 Base Resilience, +7067 dice, -50 Lightsaber Beats Dress = 7,067 Total Damage Reduction

Attack Ineffective
Abrade triggers
...
Congratulations. You stripped the fallen Angel. Crys would be proud.)

You both know everything went wrong when instead of stopping a few centimetres into the staff like in the past, your weapon carves right through it without any trouble. You can see that new magical effect practically gnaw it apart in an instant.

With how much force you already committed, you can not stop your swing and she can not step out of it; a moment after you started trying to revert your momentum, the blade impacts her dress and slices right through it without even slowing.

No blood flows, thankfully. You can see dark magic flashing protectively, making the blade stop before it can pierce her skin. This time, whatever happened to your lightsaber does not manage to break through. With your speed however, the swing still goes over her entire torso and clips her chest dead center.

The awkward silence that follows is only broken by the upper half of Lu's dress rustling off.

You take a deep breath and deactivate the blade, then change the mode back to the Handle. Lu does similarly, though she merely dismisses her own weapon and stares down at herself.

"Just so we are absolutely clear here," you start after another moment, "I am not trying to seduce you, that was an accident."

"I am aware." Your friend grabs for the bisected cloth and examines it for a moment. "Sadly, you cut off a little much and I do not have any scraps to bind it with at hand." She notices how you avert your gaze from her and rolls her eyes. The fact she is so tall you will always have her chest in the corner of your eyes when looking at her is not helping the situation any. "You can forego recommending another dress, they all end up like this in the end. The cloth will regrow in a few hours."

When you still do not meet her eyes, she sighs and resummons her cross; it is whole again. "How is it that you still have problems with nudity after more than three months among Demons?"

You shrug and finally turn your attention back to her. "It's less that and more that this is my fault, and that I know you well enough by now. We're not stopping, which means I have to watch your tits wobble for hours because your wardrobe apparently doesn't like bras or bindings."

She blinks at you and actually blushes a little, the colour a stark contrast to her deathly pale skin. Yet it quickly fades, together with your own embarassment. "Quite correct. That was definitely a lot more power than before. Could you gather anything from it?"

You did, and so you explain what you noticed. Your new magic sight is pretty convenient for that.

Slayer Abilities are dedicated destruction. Most are keyed to a single Affinity or a pair of two Affinities. In the former case, if the target has that particular Affinity, the attack deals an additional 500% of damage; the Slayers keying off of two Affinities deal an additional 750%. Both versions bypass defensive Abilities connected to the Affinities they target. Superslayer, being a Super Ability, triggers on every Affinity or combination, though only once. No dedicated Slayer-Ability triggers on more than two Affinities.

There are a few special cases. Demonslayer, for example, adds 50% damage for each morally negative Affinity on the opponent. Prime Evil Slayer deals 700% extra damage if the target has Evil and one other negative Affinity, no matter which. In general, the more specialised the Slayer, the more powerful the boost.

There also exist Slayers that key off of traits instead of Affinities. Humanslayer and Fairyslayer deal 50% bonus damage to Humans and Fairies, for example. Championslayer deals 100% bonus damage against hero units, and so on.


"Oh, by the way, you have to let me touch your wings now."

You just remembered that; with your explanation complete and Lu having told you a few things about the matter, it is time to lighten the mood. Your friend only slightly shifts her posture, so you motion for her still exposed chest. "I did hit you."

"That one does not count." She frowns in response to your own frown. "You are supposed to properly get a hit on me, not with an unexpected growth in power."

You almost, almost pout at that; you have been wondering how angel wings feel like for a while now, so getting your best chance shot down miffs you a little. Then you blink and look down at your weapon. There is something else.

Something that will do the trick, you know it. A moment passes and the weapon changes shape to Aetheric Tide. Lu eyes you critically and steps back, raising her weapon. "Very well. Come."

And so you do.

(Aetheric Tide: Attack Negated
Riposte!
Blood Soaked Cross: Attack Negated
Riposte!
Aetheric Tide: Attack Negated
Riposte!

Stygian Tempest sealed, Defiance's ApT reset

Blood Soaked Cross: Attack Negated
Riposte!
Aetheric Tide: Attack Negated
Riposte!

Reaper's Will sealed, Defiance's ApT reset

Blood Soaked Cross: Attack Negated
Riposte!
Aetheric Tide: Attack Negated
Riposte!

Stardust Striker sealed, Defiance's ApT reset

Wing Punch: Attack Negated
Riposte!

Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +630 dice, +32 Fast Counter = 982 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +630 dice, +32 Fast Counter = 982 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +630 dice, +32 Fast Counter = 982 Total Damage

2,946 Total Damage
Lucifer: +50 49 Base Resilience, +11036 dice, -500 HOW?! = 10,485 Total Damage Reduction

Attack Ineffective)

Your initial strike she slides off on her stave, but you do the exact same thing to her quick counter; it gives you a good position to just attack her again, though a quick wave of magic pushes each hit off-course; they come so fast you could not react to it.

Then, during the moment Lu needs to adjust her grip for a slap with the stave's butt, you seal your scythe. Your weapon shines brightly for an instant and excess power surges through you, together with a boost in speed that lets you deflect her retaliation over your head with the butt of your spear. Lu's eyes widen slightly, but that does not stop her from sidestepping the first third of your counter and flicking the second so far aside with her wing that you do not manage the third in time before the speed boost fades, together with the excess magic that went into your strikes.

Again, it takes her a tiny moment to swing her cross in a wide sweep. Still too fast for you to dodge normally, except... that you seal your lightsaber. The same thing happens again and you easily hop onto the cross mid-swing, grinning at your teacher as you take a single step before lashing out.

Lu grins right back and pushes her weapon backward, catching it at the very end and thus bringing you out of thrusting range. When you see the magic coil around her wing, you quickly seal Stardust Striker for one final boost and bend over backward as it lashes out. Only barely, the sizzling feathers rush over your belly, chest, and face, millimetres from actually brushing them as you lean out of the way.

With your momentum already going, you swing yourself up and close your legs around Lu's wing, then turn around at the waist and stab your spear into her bare belly three times in rapid succession. Her magic surges even stronger this time than earlier, protecting her, but the way she stills tells you she accepted this one.

You remain on her deformed arm for a moment, hanging upside down as she lifts you up to her face. You grin. "Got you."

A sigh is the only answer you get, and all that you really need. Winning feels good.


Lu's feathers are soft, though a little warmer to the touch than you expected. The fact she acted a little embarassed about the whole matter made it kind of weird, but you did not let that stop you. Angelic wings are cozy.

That aside, a good part of the week is spent figuring out how your stuff works and considering what you could do with it. Being able to seal, no, consume separate weapon modes for a speed boost is not useful in prolonged battles, but you can see it giving you the edge you need in a pinch.

Maya has triplets toward the second half of the week; with the surprising number of multiples, someone actually explained to you that this is normal for Elves when you asked. Though Maya herself is no Elf, you easily believe that she has that many due to her nature. She is a Succubus that wants all the children, after all.

Fairies are much like humans in that regard; much to your dismay, you were reminded of the matter when Paoras told you her mother is already pregnant with that prisoner's child or children. From what she told you, her father did not seem to mind at all and even helped take care of the Fairy man. Who, in turn, is unresponsive most of the time.

You push that out of your mind and take a deep breath, trying not to make a face. You are meeting your squad today. They are, in fact, already gathered and waiting for you. Elisabeth just told you that and sent you to see them.

This is not a good thing today. You had wanted to stay inside and do nothing straining in an effort to ignore those period cramps away, but now you have to walk around. But if you are already doing that, you might as well practice with them later; maybe nothing too straining like a force march, but you can do at least practice.

You scowl and take your mind elsewhere. The cramps showed up out of nowhere, and they will vanish just as fast sooner or later. You straighten your posture and round one last corner, entering one of the many training fields; this one is mostly empty, with only a few dozen people on it. You eye them critically and almost heave a sigh.

You expected the three dozen soldiers, naturally. The two Dark Stars are a pleasant surprise, as are the Hell Beasts. Paoras however, riding on Mokutuuk's head, was not among the people you expected.

Your eyes wander over everyone, and the troops quickly stand at attention. Both Hell Beasts watch the proceedings curiously and your friend slides down to join the other Demons. The Dark Stars flank the main force as you take everyone in. No Orux or Dragul, though; you are quite happy about that, as it would be weird for those two to follow your orders.

Silence reigns for several seconds; you know they are waiting for you to say something, but there are no words you can speak. Or rather, you have nothing formal to tell them.

In the end, you decide to throw formality to the wind and push a hand into your side. The pain in your abdomen makes a scowl appear naturally. "Okay, they told me you people will be under my command. I don't care how things are anywhere else in the legions, we are doing this my way. Are we clear about that?"

No reaction, which probably means yes; well, Paoras nods enthusiastically and the unknown Hell Beast is slobbering on the ground. You allow yourself a sigh. "Meaning: if you think I am doing something dumb, you will tell me and tell me why you think so. In addition, we will run drills frequently until it's time to head out. You do not just fight side by side, you fight together."

There is some nervous shifting, but you only grin at them. If you have to suffer training from Hell, uh, Heaven, then so will they. Even if just by proxy. "And that means when we head into battle, you will be able to support each other more than just by hitting the same enemy. We don't have the numbers to do the endless horde thing, so you better make your lives count."

Huh. You never knew you could improvise so well. Going by the feral grins breaking out everywhere, they seem to be happy with what you said.

Now that you met them however, you can choose what to do with your remaining day.

-------------

Pick three:

[] Go back to bed and wait out the cramps

[] See if you can find that Fairy and find out how bad he is

[] Get to know your team and start training
-[] (optional) Write-in what Heidi should practice

[] Hang out with Lucifer

[] Actually, perhaps your base commander would not mind some company?


[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it


+30xp You Are In Charge
+50xp Gained Respect Around The Keep

EXP gained: 80
Total EXP: 316


(Soft Mechanics updated for new entries)