Chương 1: [1.01] Starving Artist

"Angelica!"

"Angelica. You never leave, so I know you're in there!" The girl in question grumbled awake in her bed. Since her apartment was only a single room, there was no escape from the cantankerous rapping at her front door.

"Answer the door, Angelica. If I have to use my master key and find you hiding in there, this conversation will be a lot less friendly."

"Uhgk, coming!" Angelica called in return, forcing herself to sit upward, wrenching herself from her comfortable pillow. She took a second to adjust her clothing that had become disheveled in her sleep then hurriedly stomped over to the door, having to dodge the trash and other random items that were strewn across the floor. And she almost nearly stepped on her cat who was sleeping in one of the many delivery boxes that had fallen away from the unorganized mountain.

"Good morning, Ms. Gate." The tenant greeted her landlord with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, forcing a smile on her face while squinting at the blinding light of the outdoors.

"If it can even still be called morning." Ms. Gate didn't reciprocate the fervor, already stuck in a mood that wouldn't be so easily swayed.

"Do you know what tomorrow is, Angelica?"

"Umm, first of the month?" She took her best guess.

"Yes," the landlord huffed, unamused.

"And it will be exactly three months since you've last paid your rent."

"Ah, well, that's, erm…" The wheels in Angelica's mind slowly started to turn, trying to dig for an appropriate excuse that wouldn't exacerbate Ms. Gate's already pissy mood—coming up short.

"And I take it you still haven't gotten a job?" The peeved woman piled it on.

"No, not since umm…" Angelica really didn't want to explain it again.

"Not since you were fired from your last job for incompetence." Ms. Gate finished the sentence for her.

"That's not what happened!" The accusation spurred lingering trauma in the unemployed girl.

"They, erm, it's because they lied and-""I'm tired of hearing the same sob story, Angelica." Ms. Gate's patience was already running out.

"Even if it's true, and they blamed whatever accounting fraud they were committing on you as the intern, that was what, over a year ago now? It's time to move on. You're letting that fancy degree your mother paid for go to waste, and you have your actuary license. Surely there's someone who would hire you who hasn't heard about the stain on your record."

"M-maybe…" Angelica muttered, hesitant to agree.

"But I've really just been focusing on my art. It's—I think it's what I really want to do."

"And how much money has your art made you, hmm?!" The landlord all but spat on her dreams.

"Clearly not enough to pay your rent. Look, Angelica, I really don't want to do this, but things have changed. It was out of respect for your mother, and your promising future, that I even rented to you in the first place since you were an unpaid intern. And it's why I've been so lenient thus far. Yet even I have a limit to how many concessions I can make.

"Per your lease, three months unpaid rent is the limit. It means that if you have not paid off at least a month by tomorrow, then I have no real choice but to evict you. I'll be kind, at least, and give you two weeks to move out, but once tomorrow hits, there will be no stopping the process even if you come up with the money."

"W-wait, you can't just do that!" Angelica started to panic.

"Why are you only telling me now on the last day? You could have at least told me a few days ago!"

"I tried!" Ms. Gate insisted.

"I've been calling and texting you non-stop for the last week! But you've ignored it all. Why else do you think I'd drive out here? You know I don't live close by anymore!"

"Huh, but my phone hasn't made any noise at all lately." Angelica turned to look back into her dark apartment, seeing the light glow of the device charging on her nightstand. She rushed over to grab it, having to do another dance around all the obstacles.

"Oh, umm, I see…" she hesitantly reported when she made it back to the door.

"I guess they shut off the service."

"Hah, that's…" The landlord could both laugh and sigh at her tenant's pathetic life.

"What about your mother, Angelica? I know it's not my place to, but she stopped bringing you up the last few times I've seen her. Does she even know what state your life is in? Could you reach out to her for a loan or handout? As I said, I'd really rather not do this, Angelica, but if you can't—""No, I can pay! Just… give me until the end of the day. $500 for a month, right?"

"$625," Ms. Gate corrected.

"Prices went up at the beginning of the year, as was stated in the letter I sent you. And you'd know if you'd been paying. But fine. I'll be back after work. If you have the money then, I will let this slide for another month. However, I'll expect two month's rent at least by then. This is your last chance." With that stern warning, the landlord departed. Angelica stepped inside, closed the door, pressing her back against it as she let out a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, the problem was still far from resolved, but at least the angry woman was gone. When she first moved in, Ms. Gate was a very kind landlord, but ever since Angelica had lost her job, she'd become increasingly bitter toward her tenant. It was understandable to an extent, but still frustrating to no end. In an effort to be rid of the problem, she went over to her desk and clicked on her computer. It was slow to load as always, something she would certainly replace if she had the money.

But unfortunately, the last time she had a good amount of cash, it had been spent on a new drawing pad she wanted, instead of many other important things she'd been neglecting, like rent and apparently her phone bill, which she had thought was on an auto-pay family plan with her mother. Another thing to dig into on a later day. The first thing she did, though, was check on the webcomic site she posted to, as was her routine everyday after first waking up, whatever hour that may be.

"Oh sweet, a new reader. And… they read through every chapter already!" Angelica mentally patted herself on the back after checking her comic's stats. While the girl dabbled in many forms of art, this was her main one. However, she'd regularly say that she was just an artist, since it was far simpler than explaining to many that she posted comics on the internet for free. Posting under the pen-name " Gelic," hers was a cozy comic serial called Merlina's Boutique.

It was about a girl who lived in a magic town but had no magic of her own. She ran a combination tea and technology shop, helping the magic folk adapt to modern conveniences, and all the shenanigans that ensued. While Gelic's readership wasn't… amazing, it wasn't entirely absent, either, giving her enough parasocial enjoyment through comments and feedback as a replacement for most other human interaction.

With that little bit of joy to start her day, she got back to the problem at hand, starting out by checking her bank account. Angelica could only frown at the number; not as terrible as it could be, but still not enough, about half of what she'd need.

"Damn it!" Her frustration grew, dwelling on how to actually get the remainder. Angelica's thoughts were partly allayed by sudden fluff brushing against her legs.

"Sorry, did I wake you, Cherub?" She reached down to pet her cat, an orange tabby she'd adopted as a kitten right after moving into this apartment a few years ago. His original name at the shelter was Mikey. However, after having him for a while, she renamed him to Cherub since he was always rubbing against her chair, as he was currently doing. And he was also definitely a bit chubby, quickly spoiled. A lot of her miniscule money went to his food.

"Oh, maybe the new reader left a donation!" Angelica had a sudden spark of hope, and she went to check her donation page. But alas, there was nothing, not a single donation in her year or so of posting her comic. She didn't let it get to her, though. Since people were clearly enjoying it, that was enough, even if it didn't help her current situation. Yet not all hope was lost! Despite her landlord's words, Angelica had actually made some money as an artist. Besides drawing comics, she also did art commissions.

While still getting her name out there, it paid a decent amount each month—her current main source of income, and she had a few regulars that often requested quick doodles. On occasion, she'd get a bigger commission for book covers or personal art that someone wanted to hang in their homes. While she charged less than most, they'd still pay a few hundred each time. And she currently had a finished commission that was just waiting for payment before sending the final files.

It was just enough to cover the gap needed for her rent as well. However, it had been completed for weeks now. Her client had stopped responding to her entirely, like they'd suddenly vanished off the planet. It wasn't the first time she'd been ghosted, but it still sucked, especially since they really seemed to love all the progress posts she'd sent. She sent them one final message, with a bit of begging included, but sadly, it would probably take a miracle, and be stupid and negligent of her to rely on it.

So she checked her current commission requests. There were a few of her regulars wanting icons or small pictures. Regrettably, even if she asked them all to pay upfront, it wouldn't be enough, and the guilt would get to her. Those weren't the only commissions she'd received, though. There was a whole separate never-ending pile that continued to grow, ones she'd ignored entirely. Ever since she'd debuted as an artist, she'd constantly receive these commissions.

They paid very well, far more than she'd ever charged any client, and the requestors were always so very polite, to the point that she felt bad not responding. The issue came from what they wanted, drawings and paintings more… scandalous in nature. And the specifics of the requests often left her either blushing, disturbed, or deeply confused, most often a combination of the three. And while Angelica wasn't inherently against such things, she also wasn't sure she wanted to sell her soul in that way just yet.

Given the present conundrum, however, she did seriously consider it. Unfortunately, she just couldn't pull the trigger. Even after finding one that wouldn't be too bad and would cover the costs, there's no way she could complete the piece by the end of the day in a way that her artist's pride would allow. Sadly, that basically ruled out commissions as a viable way to make the money presently required. She glanced around her small apartment, looking for a few items she'd need for her last ditch plan.

It took a moment, finding them difficult to spot under the other mounds of junk. After confirming their existence, she headed into the bathroom to get more presentable. Because regrettably, for this method of making money, she'd have to go outside. Angelica was just planning to do a quick comb and throw on some deodorant, but after staring at the grungy state of her blonde hair for a moment in the mirror, she decided a full shower was in order.

It was so frizzled and matted that the locks were all bunched around the base of her neck when they usually extended down to her shoulder-blades. And there was a good chance she'd forgotten to bathe yesterday, and the day before… Actually, when was the last time she'd showered? No matter. It was time to scrub! Angelica made sure to cleanse every inch. And when she was done, she went and dug through her piles of clothes. Originally, they'd been divided between clean, and not clean.

But since she hadn't done laundry in some time, none of it was clean anymore, so she scavenged for the cleanest, or at least what didn't smell. With what was available, she made sure to bundle up properly since it was still the tail-end of winter, getting a taste for the brisk outdoors during the earlier exchange. After grabbing her easel and bag of dwindling art supplies, along with a snack bar, she left the apartment, hopefully not for the last time. Before departing the premises, she glanced at the other doors.

The complex was a small building with four units, two double bedrooms and two studio apartments. However, she'd been the only tenant for some time. Everyone else had moved out for the past year for one reason or another, and Ms. Gate was seemingly making no attempt to fill them again. Perhaps the landlord had gotten an offer for the property or lot. It'd make sense why she was suddenly so adamant about rent and lease agreements.

Angelica made the short walk to the bus station, one of the reasons she'd wanted that apartment in the first place was thanks to its relative convenience to many things, besides just the overall cheapness. She sat down at the bench and forced her second smile of the day, greeted by a familiar face.

"Hi mom." It wasn't actually her mother, but rather a small billboard with the woman's face along the bus stop's railing.

"Re-elect Corticia Hallow for Treasurer!" That was the simple message written along with a picture of the woman standing proudly. The daughter wondered why they even bothered with it. Her mother would undoubtedly win in a landslide. Corticia Hallow, 51, Treasurer for the last nineteen years. The woman who had gotten the City of Vulgrest entirely out of debt with her reforms and policy changes, more beloved than any other elected official, even the mayor. Meanwhile, she was Angelica Hallow, 25, unemployed.

After being ousted from her internship at a large corporation, her future prospects had all withered away, along with her relationship with her mother—too ashamed of her own failures to regularly stay in touch. But it wasn't all bad. It had allowed her to fully explore and ignite her own passions. Now she had to work hard to make a living off of them. Surely, it would happen someday if she just kept trying.

While glancing guiltily at her mother's picture for a while longer, she noticed that it was actually a new billboard. The last time she'd taken the bus there had been some graffiti on it, some of that weird graffiti that had been popping up everywhere. It wasn't art or anything like that, but rather writing characters or symbols that no one could read. The media was blaming it on teens, saying they'd made up their own language, and were using it to say stupid or hateful things to the unaware masses.

To her, they kinda looked like something she'd draw in her webcomic for magical nonsense. The thought faded away when the bus came. Fortunately, due to her mother's connections to the city, Angelica had a full travel pass for all forms of public transportation: bus, subway, even trains on direct lines to and from the city if she ever needed to go somewhere. For today, it was just a short trip to the city center, the touristy part, not the governmental sector.

Unfortunately, they were still pretty close together, so it meant Angelica would need to be on edge about her mother suddenly appearing if she had a sudden urge to go on a walk out of her way. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. And thankfully, there were no other artists or performers in the center that day, so there was no competition, and she could post up at her favorite spot.

While she hadn't done this recently, it was frequent enough in her past that she knew the good spots from the bad. Angelica had even tried it out a few times back when she was still in college and just starting to dabble in art, back when she was more social and the idea was a lot less anxiety inducing. After plopping down on some steps, across from a wide bollard where clients could sit comfortably if they wanted, she pulled out a pre-prepared sketch. It was of herself, an example of what she could do.

When first starting out, she'd do a live drawing of one of the random citizens loitering around the area, but quickly found out that some people didn't appreciate having their likeness depicted, even if it was flattering. She displayed the art next to her setup, along with a sign with prices of the different types of works she could provide: portraits, caricatures, and even requests where they could describe anything and she'd draw it to the best of her ability from her own imagination.

Sadly, the rates were far lower than they should be, meaning she'd be there for a while, but the art had to be an amount people would be willing to spend on a whim. It wasn't long until she lured in her first customer, so she forced the biggest smile of the day yet. Time to get to work. ◆◆◆ Angelica slowly approached her apartment with a pit in her stomach as the last shred of sunlight vanished. Her anxiousness wasn't due to failure, though, rather just the dread of the upcoming altercation.

She had actually achieved her goal, along with a bit extra, enough to treat herself to a nice meal after getting the issue with her landlord over with. On the way home, she had stopped by an ATM and drained every dollar, leaving only the loose cents behind so she didn't incur any fees. When she rounded the corner of the complex, she found Ms. Gate waiting as expected, and damn did she look pissed.

That was probably fair, since it was at least an hour or so after the woman would have gotten off of work, so she'd likely been there for some time. And not only that, but the door to Angelica's apartment was wide open, so the landlord had let herself in to confirm that the girl hadn't been hiding inside.

"I have the money!" She started with that, hoping to appease the woman's anger, holding out the wad of cash proudly.

"Well, you kept your word, at least." Ms. Gate marched forward, snatching the bundle of bills straight out of the girl's hands, and kept on walking.

"Wait, umm, there's a bit more in there!" Angelica tried to stop her, seeing her future takeout feast vanishing before her eyes.

"Then it will go toward the rest of what you owe." The landlord didn't even break stride.

"Oh, and Angelica, clean your damn apartment. If it's like that next month, you'll have more to worry about than your rent." What are you, my mother? Angelica said that internally, not nearly brave enough to say it out loud. And Ms. Gate was actually good friends with Corticia, so in a way she was actually like a pseudo mother or aunt. That made it hit with even more annoyance and frustration.

"I'm home, Cherub!" She sighed against her door once more, letting the remains of her art supplies collapse to either side, and tearing off her outer layers. The cat immediately rushed over to her and began meowing incessantly.

"Yes, yes, I know you want your wets." She only fed him wet food once a day, though he had unlimited dry food the rest of the time. But the boy loved his meat. That was part of how she kept track of time throughout the day, since she rarely looked at the clock or out of her shaded window. Yet Cherub always knew exactly when it was time for dinner.

"Ah, it's the last can." Her fingers scraped the bottom of the bulk box. Now she'd definitely have to go shopping tomorrow. Angelica always put it off until her stocks were pitifully empty, and while she could sustain herself on whatever scraps she had around, the cat would not accept a day without his succulent wet meal. As the hand that fed him, she would never hear the end of it. And the bigger issue now was with what money would she buy all the food she needed. Another problem for tomorrow.

The more immediate matter was her own dinner. All she'd had that day was a single snack bar and a yummy sugary drink she'd bought from a nearby stand during a lull in customers. While that certainly had plenty of calories, her body needed some proper sustenance so it didn't chew on itself overnight. Angelica hadn't really been paying attention to her food supplies recently, but knew she had to be low on everything. A quick check in the cabinets confirmed that… empty, unless she wanted to chow down on dust clods.

So she reached her hand back into that same snack bar box only to find herself grasping at nothing. Apparently, the one she'd taken earlier was the last one. She pelted the empty cardboard over onto the bulging pile, but it didn't catch hold anywhere and bounced off, landing sadly on the floor. So things were much worse than she expected. Oh no… she'd have to resort to her treat cheese.

Angelica opened the fridge, finding it essentially empty except for a decent number of stains, save for a few bottles of condiments with only a few drops left each, and a single bag of shredded cheese. It was something she'd munch on only when she felt she deserved a proper treat and was too lazy to go anywhere, or it was the dead of night. However, she hadn't allowed herself the indulgence for quite some time, feeling rather unworthy as of late.

The girl pulled out the bag and grinned at the heft when she picked it up, only to be met with unbridled despair when she looked inside. Mold. It was entirely covered in mold. And not the kind of mold that she could pick away and ignore, eating what was left even though she really shouldn't. No, the entire bag was spotted and fuzzy, utterly ruined to the point that it couldn't even be considered as edible.

Not wanting to throw the rotting sack haphazardly in her apartment, having long lost sight of her trash can, she bunged it back into the fridge for now, holding back tears from the heartbreak. It was then that her stomach decided to grumble, serving to torment her further. Maybe just a little… A crazy thought entered her mind as her eyes wandered over to Cherub, happily munching on his wets, with still over half left. Certainly he wouldn't mind if… No, nope, not doing it.

Couldn't even consider myself human at that point. But even if she wasn't going to eat like a cat, it didn't mean she wouldn't stoop to raccoon behavior. It was time for her absolutely last ditch survival strat. Angelica reluctantly bundled herself up and headed back outside. It was later than she wanted to do this, pitch black already, and far colder than she wanted to be exposed to. So hopefully it would be a quick trip.

She hurried over to another apartment complex just a few blocks away and darted down the alley. This was not her first time dumpster diving, having reached a particularly bad point of desperation shortly after losing her internship. During that time, she'd found the shining jewel amongst the literal rubbish. That particular apartment complex had a house husband that would throw out any food the moment it reached the expiration or "best by" dates, even if it was still perfectly fine.

Since trash pick up was still a few days away, their dumpster should be primed.

"Ah, score!" It barely took her a minute of rummaging to find the bag holding her hopes. The house husband used a particular green eco bag with some weird scent that no one else in that complex had even heard of, let alone would consider using. Just before she went to open it, to see what loot she'd gotten, she heard what sounded like mumbled yelling above her head. Oh damn, did someone see me?!

Angelica was still leaning into the dumpster, so she craned her neck skyward, looking at the windows for judging faces, but didn't find any. What she didn't expect was for a dark object to be falling right toward her, faster than she could react. She was hit in the side of her skull with what felt like a brick, banging her head down straight into the trash. Ahhh, holy frits that hurts! Angelica internalized her scream, not wanting her pain to leak out and draw attention.

She quickly ran her fingers into her hair, along the injury, trying to feel for any blood, but it came back dry. The anguish was quickly fading, but it would definitely leave some kind of welt.

"Erm, a book?" She knelt down and picked up the object that had bounced off her dome and landed on the ground. Angelica pulled out her phone, using it as a light to examine the object. The tome looked brand new, like it had never been opened even once, not a single page turned. And since she couldn't read the title—similar in text to the graffiti she'd been seeing around the city—she took the liberty of cracking the seal. She was staggeringly underwhelmed at first.

The book was frontloaded with more indecipherable text. But as she flipped, like a child with a poor attention span, her eyes lit up when she came across pictures.

"Huh, monsters? Or demons, maybe?" She gazed at the unusual beings that steadily got more intricate and intense as she skimmed through. It looked like they were divided into tiers, by her best guess. If this really was the work of bored teens, they had some interesting tastes.

"Oh, now these are cool." After getting past the beasties, she came across weird circles. Well, since she often dabbled in fantastical intrigue, she immediately recognized them as magic circles, probably something for intense spells or summoning. They had the usual pentagrams and sigils, but there were many other squiggles unlike any she'd seen before, the same unreadable text. Given the earlier creatures, demon summoning was likely the point.

"I can use this." While Angelica had no interest in anything demonic or creepy, she could certainly use the circles as reference material for other magical depictions. A wave of inspiration hit her, and she suddenly really wanted to draw one herself. So after picking back up her looted bag of trash, the girl—more akin to a scavenging vermin at this point—skittered back to her nest.

"Back again, Cherub!" Happy to be back in her lair for good, she called to her cat who was enjoying a post-meal nap on Angelica's pillow.

"Alright, let's see what we got first." She dug into the trash bag, only to be hit with more crushing disappointment. It was almost all linens. Thankfully, they weren't soiled, and smelled like they'd actually been washed, probably just no longer wanted. Maybe she'd actually keep them—undoubtedly cleaner than her own at this point. However, there was one saving grace, a single morsel of food.

It was a bag of cheese-flavored rice crackers, "expired" as of yesterday, and it looked like only maybe two had ever been eaten before the bag was tossed. She threw one in her mouth without hesitation. They were pretty bland, definitely a bit stale, but her stomach immediately unclenched the moment the first bite hit it. And at least she was getting a cheese-adjacent treat in some form after all. Angelica got to work devouring the entire bag as she flipped through the book that had attempted to bash in her brains.

Now that she looked more closely and in better lighting, some of the earlier monster-demon-things actually looked kind of cute in a bizarre way. After that, they definitely shifted out of her tastes for a while until they got toward the end. While many remained monstrous and beast-like, some turned significantly more humanoid, even looking a little cool, one maybe a bit attractive, if she was honest with herself. Perhaps she would make a character based on them after all.

She then flipped back to the magic circles, scanning through them more intimately, looking at the way they were built. Each of them were pretty unique, ranging from fairly basic to extraordinary complex.

"Oh, damn, now this one's crazy cool!" she couldn't help herself from uttering when she got to the last one in the book. It outright eclipsed all the others in both scope and design, complicated beyond measure.

"I wanna make it!" The creative bug nabbed her, and now there's no way it would let her rest until she'd perfectly recreated the piece. But how to do so? It was a bit of a logistical problem. Since it was so intricate, even sketching it on her easel would be difficult to make sure she got all the details correct. She could draw it digitally, but that wouldn't have the same feel. Might as well just take a picture at that point, and she kind of wanted to display it. No, she needed a large canvas.

That was when Angelica was struck with a devilish idea, looking at her floor, or what little of it she could see. There was no way she'd be getting her security deposit back at this point, and given the events of the day, part of her definitely wanted to spite her landlord. Plus, such a thing would really add to the witchy vibe she always wanted but was too poor to pull off properly. So to an extent, she did what Ms. Gate had commanded and began cleaning her apartment.

It wasn't thorough by any means, mostly pushing things off to the edges. But what could be considered outright trash, she did actually properly bag for disposal. Eventually, that pile got a bit too much, so she reluctantly once more made a few quick trips outside to her own complex's dumpster, which had been laying bare for some time, not even bothering to throw on more layers for the quick sprints, shivering all the way. And then finally, her canvas was ready.

While she'd absolutely ravaged what remained of her already sparse art supplies that day, there was something she could use, pulling out a large pail from the corner that had sat there idly as a crude piece of furniture. It was a five-gallon bucket of paint that she'd gotten from a local hardware store. They were just giving it away one day, so she couldn't resist, even if it was a pain to lug back home. When she popped open the lid and tried to use it, the reason became quickly evident why.

The color was an orangish-pink. While not super appealing at first glance, it wasn't horrible and had some charm. However, after it dried, the color had an odd tinge to it, making it look a bit like barf. While probably not the color that the artist envisioned, especially for something that would be a long-term display in her room, it would do for now, and she could color over it later with the pattern in place once she had spending-money again.

Angelica toiled on the magic circle for hours, ensuring every inch was perfect. Getting the overall shape and construction done was simple enough, but there were so many little complex and entangled tidbits that she had to be very careful—not a drop out of place. There was one major hiccup, though, when Cherub got curious and came to inspect, walking right through it. While his painted pawprints were adorable, they clashed with the overall design, so she was quick to scrub them up.

And the cat quickly got the hint and returned to his nap after she threatened to put him in his carrier. It was probably the dead of night by the time Angelica finished the circle. She was undoubtedly covered in splotches, both her skin and clothes, but she didn't care, and took a good step back to admire her work, grinning from ear to ear. She compared it to the one in the book and it was absolute perfection, an identical recreation.

One part did still bother her a bit, a weird blank stretch in the pattern that undoubtedly looked like something was missing. But she'd elected to ignore it, not wanting to fiddle with the piece, and she wouldn't let it hamper her joy. When the initial bubbliness and pride dwindled, a new impulse took over, and Angelica grabbed a toy scepter off her wall.

It was from one of her favorite animations as a kid, one that her mother undoubtedly hated because she'd watched it so many times, but still bought her a bunch of merch from.

"Magic, go!" She did a little shimmy and pointed the small plastic staff at the circle, giggling to herself.

"Come forth elements abound, rain down on my enemies!" Like a kid again, she continued to spout phrases from shows she'd seen, even coming up with a few nonsense ones of her own. It was a good thing that she didn't have any neighbors, or they'd be very annoyed by her noisy antics right about now. And then one last super cringeworthy magical whim came to mind. With book in one hand and scepter in the other, she spouted the nonsense without an ounce of shame like a proper mage.

"I call upon the demons of hell, the angels of heaven, the spirits between the planes! I beseech thee! Lend me thine power, smite my foes, answer my prayers, and I'll give you my soul!" Angelica flicked the tip of the scepter toward the summoning circle and pressed the button on the side. While the internal, irreplaceable batteries had long since died, she remembered exactly how it sounded, how the lights that would flash, the magic still real in her heart.

And to her mind-shattering surprise, the magic was also real in her room. At her feet, the circle erupted with light, every inch glowing brightly with raw power. A torrent of force exploded upward from the floor, causing everything in her apartment to shift and the light scraps to swirl around. What could only be called magic trickled in the open air in front of her, the particles of energy forming into a figure in the circle.

And yet, Angelica didn't really have time to appreciate it, or be bewildered by it, or properly deal with any of the overwhelming surge of emotions that were flooding her mind. Because her own body had started to tingle. Not from the outside forces, though the pulses of energy were making it hard to stand still. Rather, it was like her very being was starting to dissolve. It began at the tip of her head and worked its way down. From what she could see, it was like those same magic particles were emanating from her.

Right when she started to panic, the eroding light devoured her eyes. But they didn't vanish, no they just moved, shifted a few feet in the room. The next thing she knew, Angelica was looking at herself, or what remained of herself, still standing outside the summoning circle. Down to her neck had dissolved away, and then it ate at her shoulders, taking her arms with it. When her hands vanished, the scepter and book thumped to the ground, followed by her shirt flung to the wall.

Soon all that was left was her disembodied legs, and they too faded away quickly. As she watched the last of her body vanish in front of her eyes. Her new body, her new form, however it could be described, was suddenly hit with an explosion of energy, feeling like the essence of her existence was being ripped to shreds. And that was the last thing she remembered. [Soulbound Contract Forged] [Demon Rank: Imp Lv. 1] [Summoner Rank: Initiate Lv. 1]