You are a very young but powerful demon with an insatiable desire for human souls. Unlike some of your brethren you do not eat the souls of the gullible mortals who are desperate or foolish enough to sign over their souls. Instead you are the type of demon who increases their personal power by owning more souls and making them do your bidding.
Though you are a powerful demon who many demonic beings think will make something of themselves one day you quickly realized you were born with one fatal flaw; you don't actually enjoy the thought of torturing and brutalizing mortal souls. In fact the thought makes you a little sick. Instead you'd rather have a stable full of happy (or at least not suffering) enslaved souls. You mentally smile at the thought. Just because you were born a demon who exists to bring (theoretical) eternal enslavement and subjugation to desperate and foolish mortals souls doesn't mean you have to act like it.
Still you are a demon and that means that some things are inescapable. You still have:
(1) An eternal hunger to enslave mortal souls and increase your personal power.
(2) A desire to fight other demons and assorted "Evil" beings for supremacy. Every demon wants to be top dog. If there's not a satisfactory "Evil" around fighting "Good" or "Grey" forces will do to satisfy your lust for conflict.
(3) A fear and hatred of divine and holy things. They are literally the only thing that might possibly kill you for good. Plus all that 'positive' energy just feels so wrong.
(4) An instinctive drive to be Evil. Even though you want to have good and positive relations with your future slaves as well as take care of them... everyone else isn't quite so lucky.
(5) Eventually you want to rule your own dimension... or two. Or a hundred. As much as you can manage really. However as a young demon your imperative is to travel and increase your fledgling power by acquiring useful souls and servants. Staying in one place for too long goes against your nature.
Abilities:
-Non-corporeal. You do not have a body or a gender. You are a formless spirit of pure evil. Attacks of a purely physical nature are useless against you.
-Shape-shifter. At the beginning you can take the form of anything from a small animal to a moderately enhanced normal sized human. Initially this process is time consuming taking anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. As you gain more mortal souls (and thus power) the extent of this ability will increase. The Old Ones are said to be powerful enough to turn into creatures capable of destroying whole cities in one attack.
-Dimensional Traveler. Demons would never reproduce if they had to share the same world with their children. Once you acquire your first soul you will gain access to the multiverse. However you must enslave at least one soul in any dimension you enter before moving on to the next one.
Demonic Traits - Choose 2
-[X] Mind Arts: Corrupting the vulnerable is much easier when you can read their every thought, fear and insecurity. This trait allows for perfect mind reading on mortals. Unfortunately directly controlling their minds is not possible for you. However you can have mortals experience any hallucination if you wish adding another useful tool in ensuring their corruption. In combat this trait allows you to create illusions by directly implanting them into the minds of your opponents. At the highest levels these illusions become completely indistinguishable from reality making them incredibly dangerous and lethal.
-[X] Awakening Power: What better way to tempt mortals into selling their souls to you than offering them powers far beyond those of ordinary men? This trait allows you to grant a supernatural power to your slaves once they sign over their soul to you by having them take in a bit of your essence into themselves. This power will always have something to do with the reason they sold their souls in the first place. While this trait doesn't give you direct combat skills making your servants stronger more than makes up for that. The stronger you get the stronger the powers of your slaves will become. At the highest levels your servants gain powers on a scale comparable to natural disasters.
-[X] False Messiah: It is very convenient for an Evil demon to be mistaken for a force for good. This trait is designed to 'attract more flies with honey' by giving you an aura that soothes the physical and emotional pain of others. Mortals will feel at ease around you, feel inclined to trust you far more than they really should and your charisma will have any mortal willing to do just about anything you say for the price of a smile. You are maternal, fatherly, powerful, compassionate, whatever you need to be at the time to get what you want. In combat this allows you to strike at enemies where it hurts them the most; at their resolve to fight you in the first place. How will they continue to fight when they realize hearing you speak and just being around you soothes the pain in their soul? At the highest levels even the powerful Angels (your 'Holy' counterparts who are sworn to destroy your kind) can be turned into zealous and enthusiastic servants.
-[X] Dream Walker: People are much more willing to do crazy things in their dreams, even going as far as selling their souls. They always look so surprised when they realize deals made in dreams also translate to real life. This trait allows you to enter the dreams of mortals and completely control what they experience while they sleep. This ability has nearly unlimited range while you are in the same dimension as your target. Those affected will always remember their dreams with perfect clarity. Befriending mortals and getting them under your sway is easy, discreet and safe using this method. Giving someone everything they ever dreamed of in their dreams or having them experience untold horrors are classics. In direct combat this is useless however that does not mean this ability is not dangerous. If you know who you opponent is it will allow you to invade their dreams. Grinding away at their sanity night after night is a sure way to assure victory when the inevitable fight finally occurs. At the highest levels injuries sustained in dreams translate to real life and can easily be deadly giving you a way to strike at your enemies without putting yourself in danger.
-[X] Body Snatcher: People are always more willing to listen to their loved ones. What better way to corrupt and manipulate someone into selling you their soul than to do it in the guise of those they trust most? This trait allows you to body snatch any mortal and seamlessly assume their identity. You know everything they know and are able to imitate them perfectly down to the last detail. Whether you kill the person you possess or not is up to you. In combat this mostly allows you to possess the bodies of powerful mortals and use their abilities to fight. As this ability gains strength you gain the ability to partially shape shift and improve the bodies you possess. At the highest levels you can jump from body to body quickly to decimate your enemies and alter the bodies you possess quickly to the same degree your Shape-Shifter Ability would allow.
PERKS - Choose 4
-[X] Lady Demon: You prefer to assume the female form almost exclusively and shy away from taking a male form unless absolutely necessary. You also prefer to corrupt mostly females though you could make an exception for a particularly captivating male. This perk gives bonuses in corrupting mortals of the female gender and penalties in corrupting male mortals. (This perk cannot be taken in conjunction with Gentleman Demon).
-[X] Gentleman Demon: You prefer to assume the male form almost exclusively and shy away from taking a female form unless absolutely necessary. You also prefer to corrupt mostly males though you could make an exception for a particularly captivating female. This perk gives bonuses in corrupting mortals of the male gender and penalties in corrupting female mortals. (This perk cannot be taken in conjunction with Lady Demon).
-[X] Brainy Demon: You have intelligence above that of your demonic peers. The only drawback is that the extra energy it takes to make you smarter also makes any forms you assume and/or possess physically weaker. This perks allows you to learn science, philosophy, magic, basically anything at all at an accelerated rate. The drawback is that the forms you assume have drastically reduced supernatural strength and endurance making them extremely easy to destroy. (This perk cannot be taken in conjunction with Brawny Demon).
-[X] Brawny Demon: You can assume forms far more powerful than those of your demonic peers. The only drawback is that the extra energy required makes learning new and complex things more challenging. This perk makes it easier to assume the forms of powerful creatures with natural powers and makes all your assumed forms physically stronger and more resilient to damage. The drawback is that learning new forms of science, magic, philosophy and the like becomes more difficult and time consuming. (This perk cannot be taken in conjunction with Brainy Demon).
-[X] Corrupted Servants: Your enslaved souls retain their personality often making them difficult when you give orders like "burn down that orphanage" or "bring me the blood of a hundred virgins". This perk makes your servants wholly amoral and willing to follow any order while changing their core personality as little as possible. The only drawback is that their bodies will begin to change reflecting the evil that lives in their hearts. Eventually they will take on physical demonic traits and will not be able to easily pass themselves off as "normal" mortals.
-[X] Demonic Miasma: Corrupting souls isn't easy. This perk helps you by subtly making any area you reside in fill with desperation, crime, cruelty and just general Evil. Over time this will cause mortals to fall further into Despair and Hopelessness making it much easier for you to convince them to hand over their immortal souls. The drawback is that your Demonic Miasma makes it much more likely that you will draw the attention of the forces of Good and other powerful beings/organizations that will seek to stop you.
-[X] Burny Demon: You are a demon of fire. Taking forms capable of wielding this element is trivial for you and learning magics and science having to do with fire/heat becomes dramatically easier. In combat your first impulse will always be "burn it until it stops bothering me". No one will be able to conjure stronger flames than you. The drawback is that you are vulnerable to ice and water based attacks and at lower levels you cannot conjure flames in the absence of oxygen. Enemies that learn about or figure out these weaknesses will attempt to exploit them.
-[X] Demonic Assistant: You have a minor demon as a servant. He/She/It has the same powers as you but on a dramatically reduced scale. This demon is loyal and can be useful in helping you corrupt souls, managing your fledgling demonic holdings, helping you win fights, etc. Truly very useful to have. The only drawback is that your assistant can be willful and has a mind of His/Her/It's own. Your demonic assistant is prone to taking independent action that you may or may not be pleased with. It pays to keep a close eye on them. At least He/She/It was only trying to help...
-[X] Gallivanting Demon: Normally crossing dimensions is difficult. You need the boost of gaining at least one new enslaved soul and a week long ritual before you can make the jump. With this perk tearing holes in reality is made much easier allowing for instantaneous opening of a portal and granting you two jumps per every new soul you enslave. The drawback is that this process is neither quiet nor subtle and leaves a dimensional disturbance that others might be able to access. Whereas normally it mostly impossible for enemies to follow you across dimensions with this perk they are able to do so if they have sufficiently advanced magic or technology. You might want to be a lot more careful about who you decide to piss off.
-[X] Totally Native Demon: This perk allows you instinctively know how to set yourself up as a legitimate and non-suspicious member of each world you travel to. You will quickly and easily learn the customs, the history, and all the current trends. You will also be able to give yourself a fake identity that will hold up to all but the most thorough high-level scrutiny and make yourself fabulously wealthy with little effort. The drawback is that you have to comport yourself in a socially acceptable manner (where others can see) which can be difficult with all your demonic instincts. You will also have to do things like go to school or do some kind of mortal job to maintain a believable cover. If your potential recruits find out you were a fraud all along it will damage your chances of getting them to sign over their immortal souls. Mostly it ties your hands to an extent as you feel compelled to maintain the masquerade until you leave for a new dimension. Note that you don't have to set yourself up with a fake identity to each world you travel to. It merely becomes an option.
-Non-corporeal. You do not have a body or a gender. You are a formless spirit of pure evil. Attacks of a purely physical nature are useless against you.
-Shape-shifter. At the beginning you can take the form of anything from a small animal to a moderately enhanced normal sized human. Initially this process is time consuming taking anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. As you gain more mortal souls (and thus power) the extent of this ability will increase. The Old Ones are said to be powerful enough to turn into creatures capable of destroying whole cities in one attack.
-Dimensional Traveler. Demons would never reproduce if they had to share the same world with their children. Once you acquire your first soul you will gain access to the multiverse. However you must enslave at least one soul in any dimension you enter before moving on to the next one.
Racial Features
-Truthful Demon. The universe and soul contract laws have certain sticky rules. That is you cannot outright lie to mortals about what will happen if they agree to give you their souls. Doing so will invalidate any contract signed. However that does not mean you cannot distort things to the point where the truth is unrecognizable. Like the Fey you are a master of misleading with the truth.
-Contract Enforcement. Did a mortal agree to sell you their soul if only you did something for them? Oh and now they think they can back out of the deal? Too bad for them. You have great power to enforce any agreements made with mortals with extreme prejudice.
-Demonic Communicator. You are instinctively fluent in all forms of communication. Language is never a barrier for you.
-Demonic Senses. You are able to sense beings and areas of great power over vast distances if you concentrate. This helps you locate tempting powerful mortals or avoid an area if you think you are too weak to handle the beings residing there. Note that these senses are not perfect and some beings or factions (especially those pesky Holy beings) can hide from or fool your senses.
-Demonic Concealment. You have great capacity to hide yourself and your servants from others. The only drawback is that your use of powers is extremely limited if you wish to remain hidden. Even a moderate use of your powers breaks concealment.
Unique Features
-Big-Hearted Slave Master. You are unique in that you have no wish to brutalize or otherwise cause your enslaved souls suffering. Instead you want them to be generally happy or at least not-miserable. This is a horrible shameful defect that you hide from everyone. Maybe over time you'll figure out how to become a proper demon who enjoys spending your free time torturing the souls you have enslaved.
You are before the demon who spawned you. Since it has no gender you refer to this demon as your FaMother. It is old and powerful and rules over it's dimension with an iron fist as is right and proper. You do not love your FaMother. However you do feel a certain amount of healthy respect and gratitude that it did not rip your essence to shreds while you matured.
"You," FaMother said to me in my mind, "the time has come. The portal is ready. You will leave this dimension immediately and never return."
"Of course Master," you say in a subservient tone, "I am ready."
"As of this moment I am no longer your Master," your FaMother said, "if I ever see you again I will do my best to dismember your essence, consume the souls of your servants and trap you in suffering for all eternity."
Sometimes you wondered if your FaMother was too soft. Always teaching you new things and making sure it hurt so you wouldn't forget. Now it was nice enough to warn you so you wouldn't accidentally get hurt. Maybe it was a sign of weakness. If so you really need to come back and rip this dimension out of the grasp of your FaMother when you are strong enough to face it. Easy prey after all.
"I understand," you say deferentially, "thank you for all you've done for me."
"Humph," your FaMother scoffs. With an effort of will a swirling green portal opens up in the air in front of you. Without any warning your FaMother gives you a metaphorical kick to the rear and sends your spirit crashing into the portal.
"And stay the fuck out of my dimension!" you hear as you are sucked into the spiraling portal.
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Your disembodied spirit appears in a new dimension with a jarring surge of power. Shaking your metaphorical head you dust off your metaphorical clothes and take a look at your surroundings. It looks like there is a city in the distance. Good. At least your FaMother was considerate enough to dump you in a world with actual mortal souls to enslave. You half expected to be sent to a dead world where you would spend all eternity angry, frustrated and alone.
Your FaMother really has gone soft. You make a note to invade the dimension it rules as soon as you are ready.
Taking the logical course of action you begin to float towards the city. Before long you arrive and follow some people into what looks like a Bar. They had those in your FaMother's dimension but this one seems much nicer, what with the relative lack of evil and despair hanging in the air. You drift from table to table for a while listening in to conversations. After a short time you get some tid bits about this brand new dimension you find yourself in.
[X] These locals are a strange lot. How do you hide whole villages in leaves or stones?
[X] Apparently you arrived outside of a city called 'Tokyo-3'. You wonder what happened to the first two. Probably a demon.
[X] What is Mako? And what does an avalanche have to do with anything? You haven't even seen any snow!
[X] It's curious, many of these mortals look very different from the ones in FaMother's dimension. Why are so many people talking about a shepherd? And what does it matter that he/she is the first human disembodied shade?
[X] Funny a lot of the 'people' in this bar do not have a soul already. How curious and disappointing. And what exactly is this 'Slayer' they keep going on about? Whatever it is you have to admit it chose a good name.
[X] These locals are a strange lot. How do you hide whole villages in leaves or stones?
You stayed and listened in to conversations all night long. Then you stayed and floated around the city for an entire week trying to learn as much as you could about this new dimension by listening to people talk. Apparently the 'city' you were in was a small settlement name Kiyoko on the border between two countries named 'Rain' and 'Fire'. Odd names but no skin off your nose. However the truly interesting things you learned had to do with the warriors who inhabited this dimension.
The so-called 'ninjas' of this world could apparently use magic to fight. The locals were thin on the details but they all seemed to agree the 'ninja' warriors could move at superhuman speeds, had superhuman strength and could command the very elements. You felt very fortunate to have landed in such a world. Not only could you find slaves who were already formidable in their own right but you yourself could also learn to use ninja-magic. FaMother was an even bigger fool than you thought to send you to a world where you could increase your power to such a degree right off the bat. The dimension ruled by your sire shall definitely be yours one day!
According to the locals a war between nations was just winding down with Fire country and the so-called 'Village Hidden in the Leaves' emerging as the undisputed victors. You were quite displeased to hear that. A large scale war would have made your corrupting influence all the more effective. Well, no matter. From the sound of things with a little work you could whip up another war if you felt such a thing was necessary.
Speaking of your corrupting influence after just a week in Kiyoko you could already see the effects of your Demonic Miasma taking effect. There were many more bar fights, people began looking at each other with suspicion on the streets and someone had just been murdered in their home the night before which you overheard was a rare thing in this village. You were briefly tempted to remain and spread your influence further before dismissing the idea. No need to waste time with ordinary mortals when there was ninja magic to learn and ninja warriors to corrupt.
That only left what to do next. If you wanted to build yourself a body capable of ninja magic you needed to find ninja to study first. Where do you go?
[X] You heard that 'Konoha' has the strongest ninja. The Yellow Flash who is credited with largely ending the war, the supposedly legendary 'Three Ninjas' and a man known as 'The God of Ninja'. It seemed like the best place to acquire powerful servants.
[X] 'Ame' on the other hand was in the middle of a prolonged civil war. This could lead to you finding a lot of desperate ninja to influence. 'Hanzo the Salamander' was also supposedly one of the strongest ninja around. Perhaps he or his opponents would be desperate enough to make an ill-advised deal?
[X] 'Mist' is supposedly well known for their brutal and amoral ninja. Those are your kinds of people. It was also in a country infamous for it's poverty, paranoia and isolationism. You smell both difficulties and opportunity.
[X] 'Mist' is supposedly well known for their brutal and amoral ninja. Those are your kinds of people. It was also in a country infamous for it's poverty, paranoia and isolationism. You smell both difficulties and opportunity.
There are drawbacks and advantages to being a non-corporeal spirit of pure evil. On the one hand dying outright isn't something you normally have to worry about. On the other your maximum traveling speed without a body is about as fast as a brisk walk. Even taking into account that you don't need to rest or sleep it still takes you weeks to reach the Land of Water. Hopefully as your power increases your non-physical traveling speed will get bumped up as well.
You Demonic Senses started picking up ninja in the distance almost as soon as you left Kiyoko. At least you assumed they were ninja unless there were other powerful beings in this dimension. Still none of them had gotten close enough for you to get a good look at them. You're hoping that will change today. Half a mile ahead you sense four strong signatures that have been staying more or less put for the last few hours.
As you drift through the Land of Water you find that what had heard about it was true. The whole country was covered in a thick mist that even seemed to blot out the sun. Everything was wet, grey and somewhat swampy. You hadn't seen any signs of civilization in the Land of Water yet but you were willing to bet any towns would be just as wet and miserable as the landscape. Truly the Land of Water seemed like an ideal hunting ground for a rookie demon such as yourself. You couldn't wait to see the misery that festered in such a depressing place.
A few minutes later your finally came upon the ninja that you had sensed earlier. There were four people, three males and one female. The female and two of the males looked to be in their early teens while the last male was probably in his early twenties. The two younger boys were fighting while the other two stood to the side and watched with detached and clinical looks on their faces.
To your disappointment it quickly became obvious that the two boys were not actually trying to kill each other though you wouldn't know it at first glance by how viciously they were going at each other. You watched with bubbling excitement as you saw the two young males bounce around the wet clearing at high speed surpassing what regular human bodies would have been capable of. They were wielding oddly shaped knives and seemed intent on at least bloodying the other. If you could just have some time to analyze the bodies of these 'ninja' you would be able to build yourself a body capable of doing what they could do.
As you watched one of the boys holstered his knife and made his hands go through a strange set of motions.
"Suiton: Water Bullet!"
The teen took a deep breath and spat out a high pressure stream of water at his opponent. His opponent however dissapeared in a puff of smoke only to be replaced by a soggy rotting log. The stream of water hit the log with a loud crash shattering it to many pieces.
Amazing, you thought with a hungry gaze. You couldn't help but wonder what other things this ninja-magic could do.
The first youth looked like his water attack had taken a lot out of him. He was now breathing hard and sweating. His opponent came out from behind a tree, weird knife in his hand and a cruel smirk on his face. The water-magic using teen looked nervous before pulling out his own knife with a look of determination on his face. After a few beats of silence the two young ninja charged each other.
Predictably the less tired boy won in the end. He ended up stabbing his opponent in the shoulder and knocking him out by hitting him on the side of the head with the hilt of his knife. You were a little disappointed things ended without casualties but it didn't look like the older ninja would have allowed them to kill each other. The man and the girl looked on without a shred of pity as the losing teen crumpled to the ground unconscious. You approved of their attitude. Maybe these ninja had the right mindset after all.
"Get him cleaned up Kenta," the man said to the boy still standing, "he needs to be up and ready to go in ten minutes. We'll push on until nightfall and then rest until dawn. We should be back to the village before noon tomorrow."
Without a word the boy set to bandaging his fallen opponent's injuries roughly but efficiently. The girl watched on with dead brown eyes as the boy worked. The man who you assume was in charge of the younger warriors stood apart and looked at them all with a faint air of disdain. A surprisingly refreshing bunch for mortals really.
The downed boy came to a few minutes later and devoted himself to sending hateful looks at the other three ninja in their group. He was promptly ignored by everyone.
"Let's be off then," the man said before taking off at a run. The others followed without a word.
There was no way you would be able to keep up with them but you made it a point to memorize their individual energy signatures. Following at a slower pace should be easy enough. Now just to wait until they settled down for the night to examine those oh-so-tempting bodies capable of ninja magic.
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It was many hours after sunset when you finally caught up to the ninjas. The one who lost and got stabbed was keeping watch and looking unhappy while the others slept. Occasionally he would glance back at the others in his group and you could tell he was contemplating his odds of killing them in their sleep. What an interesting bunch these Mist ninja were.
You began your examination of their bodies by letting your spirit enter the man in charge of the group. His body shivered involuntarily in his sleep but you ignored this. Instead you used your demonic instincts to map his physical and spiritual form down to the last detail.
After you finished with him you repeated the process with the two other sleeping ninja. You contemplated getting a fourth template from the one standing guard but decided it wasn't worth it. Three was more than enough for you to create a body of your own. You couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect. While a disembodied spirit was your natural form demons quickly came to enjoy inhabiting a physical body.
Shortly after you finished with the last ninja dawn broke and the group quickly rose and prepared to head out. As you watched them running in what was presumably the direction of the Mist ninja village you pondered what to do next.
-[X] You are anxious to try out what you have just learned. It is time to create yourself a human body capable of ninja magic. This will take about two weeks.
-[X] It might be a good time to summon some help. You could take the time to summon your Demonic Servant. The ritual to bring Him/Her/It to you from wherever your servant is will take about three days.
-[X] No need to do anything hasty. Follow the ninja back to their village. Gather more information.
-[X] You have a pretty good idea where the Mist ninja village is now. Instead of heading straight there you could take the time to explore the countryside as a disembodied spirit and become better acquainted with the Land of Water.
[X] No need to do anything hasty. Follow the ninja back to their village. Gather more information.
As anxious as you are to get experimenting with a new ninja body your caution wins out and you decide to gather more information before doing anything else. You begin to follow the group of ninja from earlier back to the Village Hidden in the Mist.
You finally arrive the following afternoon. Kiri is by far the largest city you have seen so far in this new dimension. A lot of it is rather run down and shabby looking though still maintained in good working condition. Near the center of the village stand several tall cylindrical structures that seem to loom over the rest of the city. From a distance you can see the largest structure has the word "Water" on the side of the building. Since the most important people always seemed to set themselves up in the largest buildings you began drifting in that direction.
As you float through the town you note to your disappointment that Kiri is not quite as bad as you had hoped. The civilians seemed wary of the ninja on the streets but did not appear to be frightened of them. The ninja you saw on the street all seemed strictly professional if rather hard and humorless. There was definitely discipline there. That could be both good and bad for you depending how things played out. There was enough movement in the market you passed to make you think the economy was doing at least moderately well. It looked like Mizu had not been completely devastated by the war like (supposedly) the Hidden Stone had been.
You arrived at the largest building and drifted through the walls looking for any important-looking people having important-sounding conversations. It doesn't take you long to find a large office with an impressive desk and banners on the walls proclaiming the importance of the inhabitant. On the wall you see a banner with the words "Water Shadow" written on it.
Ah, you think feeling pleased, the office of the so-called 'Mizukage'. Let us see if we can learn anything of use.
Sitting on the desk you are surprised to see a boy who looks to be fifteen at the oldest wearing white and blue robes and a funny hat with the word "Water" written on it. As you focus on him you wonder how you ever missed the power radiating off him. Strong, very strong. Still... there was something off about his power. It took you a few moments to realize the bulk of his energy wasn't his exactly but was being provided by something else. Curious. You would have to take a closer look but for now the conversation drew you attention.
"I still think we need to have a celebration to commemorate your appointment Mizukage-sama. It could also serve the dual purpose of raising morale. Now that the war is over a celebration would be a good way to transition out of our war footing," a thin middle aged ninja with a short beard said to the boy sitting on the desk.
"Perhaps..." the boy muttered, sounding unconvinced and looking lost in thought.
"I disagree Mizukage-sama," said another middle aged man with a sword strapped to his back, "the war cost us a lot of business. It will take some time before things go back to normal and we start getting a steady flow of clients again. The fiscal situation simply does not allow for a frivolous expenditure such as this."
You listen in for the rest of the day as the Mizukage who you learned is named Yagura takes meeting after meeting with his advisers and other important people. To your disappointment you fail to learn anything truly interesting. Mostly it was all talk about money, the aftermath of the war and what the new Mizukage was going to do to mark his ascent to power. Useful information to be sure but nothing that struck you as particularly helpful in your quest to satisfy your demonic desires and enslave some souls.
Information gathering is all well and good but you're getting itchy to take some action. What should you do next?
-[X] Take the three days necessary to summon your Demonic Servant. Two sets of eyes are better than one.
-[X] Hang around the Mizukage tower some more. Eventually you're bound to hear something good. Also what was up with the Mizukage's energy?
-[X] Start utilizing your Totally Native Demon perk to figure out some ways to infiltrate Mizu legitimately once you build yourself a body.
-[X] You really want to stretch your legs and talk to people street-level. Time to put together a human body. This process takes about two weeks.
-[X] Go hang out at the market, at some bars, etc. and listen in on what the little people are talking about. Gossip is a good source of information.
[X] Start utilizing your Totally Native Demon perk to figure out some ways to infiltrate Mizu legitimately once you build yourself a body.
Hanging around listening to mortals talk was frankly getting boring and you are getting fed up with not being able to interact with anything in this world. Time to start looking for a way to infiltrate this quaint little city. For most demons this would be challenging task prone to trial and error but for you infiltration is always easy. Your instincts in this area have not led you astray yet and they were unlikely to start now.
Leaving the Mizukage and his toadies to their banal mortal squabbling you start drifting in a random direction. You kind of 'zone out' as you let your ability for infiltration carry you where you need to go. Eventually you find yourself in an ugly official looking building. You feel drawn to listen in to a particular conversation.
"Is this really a good time for this?" one man in official robes said to another older man who might have been his superior.
"The Mizukage approved it. Apparently more civilians left than expected because of the war. He wants to replenish their numbers quickly so starting next month we'll be accepting a few hundred new immigrants from the Land of Sea," the older man replied looking displeased.
"I don't really think that will help. Where will those immigrants work? There aren't a lot of jobs to be had around here," the younger man replied with a furrowed brow.
You sense that you heard everything you needed to at that point. Still in a half-trance, half-daze you leave the mortals and float your way around town.
A few hours later you find yourself in a small bar hidden in some back streets. Looking around you notice that the bar is filled with dangerous looking males and females, all of them ninja. A ninja bar then? Following your instincts you drift towards a pair engaged in an intense-looking conversation.
"... -ive they were wiped out. Fucking Kaguya taking advantage of the war. Those damn Kekkei Genkai berserker freaks should be put down for they did. The Saito clan was one of the founding clans of Mizu, they didn't deserve to be back stabbed inside our own borders," a rough looking brown haired woman with an eyepatch said in a low but heated voice to her drinking buddy.
Her counterpart had dark blonde hair and looked more than a little drunk. He shrugged but still looked a little troubled. "The Saito had been on the decline for years and they had barely a ghost of the influence they did during their height. They hardly had anything to do with Mizu anymore, hardly better than the Kaguya in that respect. That's why the Mizukage isn't having us hunt those bone bastards down."
The woman got angry at the man's words. "The only reason they were wiped out was because the Saito actually stepped up and fought in this war for us unlike the Kaguya. We at least owe it to them to avenge their deaths."
"I don't know what to tell you," the man said taking a deep pull from his drink and shrugging again, "the big wigs decided they don't give a shit about the Saito. It's a tragedy sure. They weren't fighting in the war out of any sense of loyalty to the village though. The way I hear it they had some pretty selfish reasons for throwing in on our side."
Yesss how heartless, how cruel. Desperation thrives in this sort of environment. It seems I made a wise choice in coming to Mizu.
Sensing you heard everything you needed to your found yourself drifting out of the bar and high into the sky. In the distance you spotted a squat but elegant and meticulously maintained building on the outskirts of the city. What could it be? Your instincts tugged at you and you found yourself drifting in that direction
When you reach the ornate building you read the inscription. Huh. Turns out you came upon the crypt of the First Mizukage. You allow yourself to enter. It is pitch dark but you do not need any light to see in your non-corporeal form. Unsure of what your instincts are telling you you relax and just go with the flow. You find yourself drifting inside the sarcophagus of the First Mizukage.
Ah, you think to yourself as you begin harmonizing with the remains, so that is what my instincts were after.
Soon after you leave feeling mighty pleased with yourself. You could practically see yourself spreading spreading despair and corruption already while at the same time gaining new powers and your very first slaves. It was enough to make you positively giddy. After you became strong enough you would have a fun time crushing some of those self-important ninja.
However first things first. You had deduced a few ways you could successfully infiltrate the Mist village. Each would take some work but you were confident your special ability at infiltration would allow you to pull it off. However the 'how' you were going to infiltrate was important. After giving the issue some serious consideration you decided to...
-[X] Infiltrate as the sole survivor from the now defunct Saito clan. You were confident you could dummy up convincing enough paperwork and act the part of a Saito clan member who has not been trained as a ninja. The name is well known and the Saito still have a few friends in Mizu so that might open some doors for you. However at the same time there would be increased pressure and expectations that might limit your freedom somewhat.
-[X] Infiltrate as an immigrant from the Land of Sea. You would have to make it on your own but there were advantages to that. If you were a nobody there was nowhere to go but up. Flying under the radar had a lot to be said for it as well.
-[X] Infiltrate as the illegitimate grandchild of the First Mizukage. With the information gained from studying his corpse it would be easy to build a body that would show you are his grandchild with a simple blood test. You feel this approach has the most potential as well as the most risk.
-[X] None of these are any good. You want to look for other options.
... yes that approach will do nicely. Very nicely indeed. Now, what to do next?
-[X] Find a quiet place to being building your human body capable of ninja magic. This will take about two weeks.
-[X] Summon your Demonic Servant. An extra pair of eyes could be helpful. The ritual would take three days.
-[X] Gather more information. You don't feel confident enough to move forward with the infiltration yet.
[] About the Mizukage
[] About ninja magic
[] About ninja themselves
-[X] Other|Write in
[X] Infiltrate as the illegitimate grandchild of the First Mizukage. With the information gained from studying his corpse it would be easy to build a body that would show you are his grandchild with a simple blood test. You feel this approach has the most potential as well as the most risk.
[X] Gather more information. You don't feel confident enough to move forward with the infiltration yet.
-[X] About the Mizukage
-[X] About ninja magic
-[X] About ninja themselves
Once we get some souls and learn a few things in a tech dimension this could be us. The cute girl is just beginning to have physical changes due to Corrupted Servant. Note the glowing red eyes.
You sigh in your mind. As much as you want back in a physical body so you can get started on your dark agenda you realize you'll probably be better off learning a few more things before doing that. Sure your special perk Totally Native Demon will fill in the holes in your knowledge necessary to make your infiltration a success but that doesn't mean you can't come across as an idiot or an incompetent. If some of these monkey mortals ever decided to make fun of you... well. No self respecting demon can allow a thing like that to slide now can they? Better to educate yourself in order to avoid any potential problems. Though admittedly taking care of problems can be quite enjoyable from time to time.
Being a disembodied spirit of pure evil occasionally has some disadvantages. In this case without a body it isn't really possible for you to pick up a scroll or book and just read the information you want. After thinking about it you realize that only leaves you with one clear option. You need to go to a place where people frequently speak about the topics you are interested in. After spending the better part of the night searching you eventually find your way to the building labeled 'Mist Ninja Academy'.
A few hours later morning comes and students and ninja alike arrive to fill the classrooms. Not one of the children you see looks to have entered puberty except perhaps for a few of the older girls. You nod your metaphorical head in approval. When you have your own dimension you'll institute a program for brainwashing children into what you want them to be early on too. Really it is simply a logical and efficient thing to do.
You spend all day drifting from classroom to classroom staying only when the teachers get to a topic you find interesting or relevant. At some point every class spent some time outside practice fighting with each other bare handed. The more advance classes used live weapons. You reluctantly had to admit that you knew absolutely nothing about fighting bare handed or with those funny knives. In your FaMother's dimension you were primarily a manipulator when it let you do anything at all. Martial arts with a physical body were something you had absolutely no experience with. Thankfully demons learned much faster than humans and had perfect eidetic memory but it would still prove a hurtle for you to overcome.
After all the classes were over for the day you decided to seek out your next object of curiosity: The Fourth Mizukage. The leader of the village would probably have a large say in what rules your would be forced to play under once you began your infiltration (as if a mortal monkey could ever truly tell you what to do. Ha!). Learning a bit more about him would not go amiss. You're also curious about the alien source of his incredibly high energy relative to all the other ninjas you've come across.
Night was falling when you locked on to the strong energy signature of the Mizukage. You drift in the direction of the Mizukage Tower and find Yagura hunched over his desk doing paperwork. Boring. Still you decide to wait and follow him. Once he goes to sleep it will be easier and safer to slip into him and determine the source of his overflowing energy.
Late into the night the Mizukage finally stops going through his piles of endless paperwork and leaves his office. It turns out the Mizukage made his home on the Mizukage Tower one floor above his office. How convenient. You wait until he goes to sleep before slipping inside his body.
The inside of Yagura had an... odd feature to it. His body and spirit had a section walled off by some sort of mystical barrier. The barrier wasn't complete though. Instead it was porous allowing power to leak out from the inside. How interesting. It seemed that someone had put a kind of energy battery inside of the Fourth Mizukage using some type of ninja magic. You moved your consciousness closer to get a better look.
"...ehhh... who... eeehhh..." a voice said coming from inside the walled off section inside Yagura. Your metaphorical eyebrows rose in surprise. There was some kind of intelligent entity sealed inside there! How fascinating!
It sounded groggy and not altogether there. Maybe a feature of the entity's prison to keep it more docile? It seemed likely. As interesting as this was tough there was only one reason you could think of to get any further involved at the moment.
Do you have a soul? You ask. You can't feel very well inside the contained area so you have to ask. However you do not communicate with words at this level, instead using thoughts and feelings. The entity inside is able to instantly grasp what you mean.
"...y...yeess... wh... r... you...?"
Excellent! Perhaps this was about to pay off unexpectedly.
Someone who can help. I can free you from your prison. However I will need to ask a price for my services. Don't worry though my price is completely reasonable You think to the entity. However you must have said something wrong or the entity sensed something from you. The reply came more forcefully this time, sounding less groggy and more alert.
"Be...be gone! My f... m.. father... warned ..s...about... sp...ts.... askin... about our..s...souls. Nev...ver... will I m-make... a ba..rgain...w.....ou. M-My soul... is...my...o-own!"
You mentally scowl at that. It seemed that at least some beings in this dimension were aware of the dangers of bargaining with your soul. On top of that this extremely powerful creature refused you outright. You feel... vexed by these developments. To a high degree really.
I hope you enjoy your tiny prison, you say to the entity with cruel condescension, warn any others about me and I'll make a special note to decimate you and everything you love before I leave this backwater of a dimension.
The entity did not answer you but you did not expect it to. You are not sure if it could communicate with Yagura but you doubted it. The prison seemed more designed to milk energy while keeping the entity contained and docile. You did not get the feeling communication factored into the design plans. Feeling reasonably secure the entity wouldn't be telling anyone anything and feeling a bit smug at having gotten the last word in you leave the body of Yugara and head out on your way.
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The next day and for four days after that you go back to the Academy during the day and listen to gossip at seedier establishments by night. Over that period of time you learn a lot more about ninja and the ninja arts (apparently calling it ninja-magic was something of a faux pas). The energy that ninjas used was something called "Chakra" that their bodies generated by mixing the "physical" and "spiritual" energies that their bodies naturally produced. It was a powerful and versatile energy but ninja can only carry a limited amount. Having a gigantic battery of "Chakra" is apparently part of what made Yagura strong enough to be the Mizukage.
There are also three types of ninja arts called "taijutsu" "ninjutsu" and "genjutsu". Some other things were mentioned in passing such as "fuinjutsu" and "kenjutsu" but apparently these were highly specialized niches. By drifting from class to class and listening intently you got the gist of what the three main types of ninja arts entailed. You couldn't wait to learn them yourself, especially "ninjustu" and "genjutsu". You were undecided about "taijutsu" since didn't have any experience with anything similar.
You also picked up a lot of common knowledge about ninja in general. There were the ninja ranks and the letter system for determining threat level (E- through S+). You learned about missions, clans, a bit of history, and basically what you thought was a good mix of things that were common knowledge in the Mist Village. The knowledge you gained over the last few days was by no means comprehensive but it was probably enough to keep you from sounding like a completely ignorant fool once you began your infiltration of the village.
You felt as though you had learned about as much meaningful information as you were going to by just hanging around the Academy and in public places. After all the time since you arrived in this dimension spent floating around without a physical body you were really itching to make one and interact with the world. Your patience was beginning to run thin. Still you could probably hold out a bit longer if you felt you had to. What do you want to do next?
-[X] Let's begin the infiltration. Find a quiet place and begin making a human body capable of using Chakra. This process will take about two weeks.
-[X] You're not quite ready to become a human just yet. Instead you want to become another animal that will allow you to explore more of the Land of Water. (choose one)
[] Build a bird body. (Takes 3 days)
[] Build a deer body. (Takes 9 days)
[] Build a wolf body. (Takes 8 days)
-[X] You want someone keeping an eye on things when you eventually start building a body. It's time to summon your Demonic Servant. The ritual takes three days.
-[X] You've been spending your time listening in to the people on the street and at the Academy. Maybe you should find some important looking people and spend some time eavesdropping on them instead.
-[X] Let's begin the infiltration. Find a quiet place and begin making a human body capable of using Chakra. This process will take about two weeks.
The process of creating a new body.
Thanks to ebolasos for first suggesting the picture.
Finally you feel like the time is right to begin building a proper Chakra capable body. The time for infiltration is nigh. You smile a metaphorical Cheshire grin. You have gone entirely too long without inhabiting a physical body. Elemental Nations beware. The demon has come for you.
Your plan to build yourself a proper human body capable of using Chakra firmly in mind you leave the Hidden Mist. After searching for three days you think you've found the perfect spot; a hidden cave that doesn't look like it has seen human occupation in recent memory about ten miles up the coast from the village. You're not worried about animals disturbing you. If any do come in once they notice what is going on inside the cave most animals will have the good sense to flee.
There are unfortunately a few drawbacks to creating a body. Once you begin the process you cannot stop before it is completed, otherwise the body will be ruined and you would have to start all over again. It also looks quite horrific while it is being created so unless you want villagers coming at you with pitch forks and fire it is best to remain unseen for the duration. Nevertheless other than an investment of time creating a new body is essentially free. It is by far the most treasured ability of any demon. Once you have more souls you will be able to build some truly amazing things.
Still, best to not get distracted from the task at hand. That could lead to... messy results. You remember that your plan involves infiltrating as the supposed illegitimate grandchild of the First Mizukage. Choosing a spot at the back of the cave you begin the process of building a new body.
The process is similar to the development of a human embryo, minus the copulation and adding a healthy dose of demonic power of course. You will a single cell into existence with the First Mizukage's DNA that will divide and develop into the body you desire.
Now that you have begun the process some decisions need to be made. Some decisions can be made later in the process but a few need to be made right at the start. As this is important to your infiltration you consider carefully before committing.
The most obvious first decision you must make is the sex of your new body. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Which will you choose?
Sex
-[X] Male.
-[X] Female.
Now comes the second logical question. This one is trickier. What age will your new body be? There are advantages and drawbacks to all of the options open to you. If you are younger it means you will be more readily accepted and trusted but you must suffer others treating you as a child. You must also plan to spend a good number of years playing nice in the Mist Village. If you are older that means people will be more distrustful of you but you will be treated less as an incompetent child. Older also makes things... unorthodox for your ninja training. Your body will learn just as well at any age. Perhaps there is some merit to creating an adult body?
Age
-[X] Toddler (2-3 Years Old)
-[X] Academy Entrance Age (5-7 Years Old)
-[X] Academy Graduation Age (9-11 Years Old)
-[X] Young Adult (15-19 Years Old)
-[X] Mature Adult (25-35 Years Old)
-[X] Venerable (45+ Years Old)
From your experience in creating human bodies you know that you can't make a body that is good at everything. At least not without a lifetime of training. Even your fleshcrafting has difficulty replicating that. Thus you must pick what kind of body type the body you are creating will have.
Body Type
-[X] Speed and Agility (Kakashi, Itachi, Minato)
-[X] Strength and Endurance (Zabuza, Kisame, Gai)
With ninja there is one genetic factor that is not common to the regular humans you are used to. That is the addition of "Chakra Nature". Since you are going to be infiltrating the Mist Village and posing as the grandchild of the First Mizukage it is only natural that your primary nature will be Water. However you overheard in the Academy lectures that ninja often have a second element they can learn with relatively little trouble. Feeling out the body you are creating you are fairly sure you can influence what this secondary element will be. What would be best though?
Secondary Element
-[X] Fire
-[X] Earth
-[X] Lightning
-[X] Wind
-[X] None (Having no secondary element will make your Water Element Justu more powerful)
Lastly comes a tricky decision. With your current levels of power you have the ability to imbue bodies you create with moderate levels of supernatural strength and durability. This will be noticeable and you will not be able to keep it hidden for long. Being supernaturally strong and durable without an explanation could cause a lot of problems. On the other hand being supernaturally strong and durable is a nice plus.
Supernatural Powers
-[X] No. (You will have a regular, if exceptional, ninja body. Fitting in and not drawing unwanted attention is more important)
-[X] Yes. (You will be more durable and stronger than your peers by a large margin in addition to having an exceptional ninja body. Having the extra combat ability is more important)
Yes.... Oh yesss... you feel quite good about all the choices you've made. In about a week's time you'll have to choose some more details about your new body. Until then it is best if you concentrate on creating the very best ninja body that you can.
With this new body corrupting souls and unearthing the secrets of the ninja arts will be a cinch. You just know it.
A/N: I want to apologize and clear up any confusion ahead of time. The votes between Male and Female were very close. However there are two people who are not posting on this thread who are also following this story and whose votes I've been taking into account. Their voices brought the Female and Male votes to a tie. Flipping a coin lead to a 'Female' result so I'm going to go with that. Hope no one is too terribly disappointed. Enjoy the next entry into Demon Quest!
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1.8 Building the Body (Part 2)
Sex
-[X] Female.
Age
-[X] Academy Entrance Age (5-7 Years Old)
Body Type
-[X] Speed and Agility
Secondary Element
-[X] None (Having no secondary element will make your Water Element Justu more powerful)
Supernatural Powers
-[X] Yes (You will be more durable and stronger than your peers by a large margin in addition to having an exceptional ninja body. Having the extra combat ability is more important)
"I'm not Evil. I swear! What, that? Doesn't everyone keep a pile of skulls in their closet?"
An entire week has passed and the body you are creating is coming along well. It was easier to make opponents underestimate females and humans always tended to be more trusting of them, excellent qualities for plans you have in mind. Since you had already decided to include supernatural strength and endurance having a body type focused on speed and agility made more sense. Creating a body that is the right age to enroll in the Academy seems like the best way to gain their compete trust... even if it inevitably means spending more years pretending to be a monkey mortal (distasteful). Finally you decided to focus on simply mastering the Water Element Techniques instead of branching out. In this particular case you decided additional firepower trumped versatility.
Now that you are a week into the fleshcrafting process it is time to iron out a few final details. These will be important to how people see you and and how you interact with them in turn. Some of it might seem trivial but these factors can subtly (and not so subtly) affect how people react to you. Controlling how others perceive you is always important when you are attempting to corrupt and influence them.
First something simple. How tall should we be?
Height
-[X] Short (We look more harmless)
-[X] Average (Neutral)
-[X] Tall (We look more imposing)
You muse that humans are simple creatures who are strongly affected by simple appearances. Choosing how appealing you are to their eye can have a big impact on your interactions.
Attractiveness
-[X] Ugly (More frightening and intimidating)
-[X] Plain (Easy to fade into the background and go unnoticed)
-[X] Somewhat Good Looking (People are slightly more inclined to like you)
-[X] Devastatingly Attractive (People are more likely to be in awe of you, worship the ground you walk on or hate you)
Something else simple. What color should your hair be?
Hair Color
-[X] Brown
-[X] Black
-[X] Blonde
-[X] Red
The body you are creating is functionally designed for speed and agility. However in your experience that does not necessarily dictate cosmetic appearance. What should your body look like?
Body Type (Cosmetic)
-[X] Sleek and Thin
-[X] Busty and Curvy
Finally everyone knows that demons like you have a foul, cruel and violent disposition. Obviously you cannot behave this way around mortals if you want to maintain your cover. Thus you must pick a fake personality to go with your new body.
Personality
-[X] The Best Friend (You are outgoing and bubbly. There's always a smile on your face. Befriending people couldn't be easier.)
-[X] The Ice Queen (You are regal, distant and untouchable. When you talk people listen. The occasional touches of humanity you show are made much more powerful.)
-[X] The Tigress (You move like a predator and radiate danger. People are frightened yet fascinated by you. There is an air of mystery about you.)
-[X] The Shy Girl (You are soft spoken, polite and tend to blush a lot. You set off the protective instincts of those around you. People are always shocked when the hidden claws come out.)
Hmm good, gooood... that should be everything. Magnificent body. Truly one of your best. It won't be long now. One more week and you'll be ready to march on The Hidden Mist Village and take it for all that it's worth.
There are some concerns of course. Long term your Demonic Miasma could make things... difficult. You also will be stuck in your new body and be unable to leave it or else it will die. Summoning your Demonic Servant to spy for you will have to be a priority. False Messiah and Totally Native Demon should make your transition into a citizen of Kirigakure go smoothly though. Despite yourself you can't contain the excitement bubbling up inside you. You can't help but wonder 'who will be the very first desperate soul that I will enslave?'
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A/N: Part of the reason I went so specific with looks is that I'm hoping to find a good picture to match our new body.
Additional Note: While the body is still that of a kid you can mentally replace "Devastatingly Attractive" with "Devastatingly Cute" and "Busty and Curvy" with "Chubby Kid". I made up those choices before I knew what age our new body would be. Of course those descriptions only apply when the body has grown up somewhere down the line. For some reason I thought we would end up with an adult body
