Chương 95: [2.21] Rained on Parade (Part 4/5)

"Uhh, yes, hello… Flagger?" She pulled his Alias from a scry, trying to not let the weird name interrupt her cadence. What was more confounding, though, was the fact that the man was just a Novice. He looked a bit too old for that, thirties, and guarding the gate felt like a job that should be given to someone of higher status. But who was she to judge the Sect's administrative decisions?

"I am Gelic, and I just recently—" She tried to explain herself, but a figure swooped down next to the guard and began staring at her intently.

"Gelic." Their voice called out to her like they knew her, so she scried them as well.

"Oh, Xinder, I didn't recognize you!" Apparently she wasn't the only one who had Evolved. [Xinder | Gremlin Lv. 2 / 50] Her gargoylic bird friend, well, probably still an acquaintance by his judgment, was sporting a new look, and it was actually hard to call him a gargoyle, or even a proper bird anymore. For starters, he was about half the size he previously was. But based on what Gelic knew about Gremlins, that was apparently pretty standard, coming with the territory along with a bolstered sense of humor.

Though she couldn't exactly picture the avian engaging in a giggle fit, especially since he too no longer had a proper mouth. His new form was like if a bird of prey and a fighter jet had a baby. All of his stoney feathers had been replaced with metal panels, and everything angle of his body had been streamlined to be more aerodynamic. He was also just sort of hovering in the air, with subtle movement under his outstretched wings, but he wasn't actually flapping them.

And there were even pointed nubs underneath that looked like they could fire mini-missles, making her wonder if he actually had modern warfare packed into his body now, or if it was just for aesthetics. In general, the fact that technology could be incorporated into Demon Evolutions at all was interesting, and at the same time, she bet his master, Vystal, was livid. She was definitely rather taken with her Bound bird when he was a Hellion.

And he'd matched well with her prim and studious appearance, but now their aesthetics would clash entirely. Maybe Vystal wasn't so shallow, but as a fellow young woman, Angelica knew her heart had to be at least a little broken.

"She may enter," Xinder spoke, his voice sounding like it was coming through a speaker rather than a squawk.

"You can confirm with Disciple Vystal if you wish."

"No, that's fine," The guard stood down and returned to his booth, opening the gate into the compound. Gelic followed Xinder as they made their way over to the side house where she'd first been summoned to Zenmoon. Someday, she'd get to see the inside of the main castle. But apparently this was not that day.

"Hold still a moment." Her guide turned to her once they made it to the building's vestibule. He spun in the air, doing several barrel rolls to fling the accumulated rain off of himself. But then the air picked up, matching the motions of the flips, hitting Gelic with a huge gust of wind that blew her dry in seconds. Huh, Xinder must have gotten some wind powers with his new Evolution. His master used a wind Rune as well, so maybe it was so they could coordinate better, or help her down that path of magic.

Very thoughtful.

"Ah, Gelic! Erm, this is Gelic, right?" Vystal came trotting over and turned to her Demon for confirmation.

"Yes," the Gremlin assured her.

"Or a very bold imposter."

"It's me," Gelic attempted to corroborate, not sure what she could say that would make them believe her. Ah, I could do that. She briefly reverted to a Puffball, just enough time for a good glance, then went back to her Puck form.

"My Evolution went an unexpected way. But I'm trying to keep my head high and get used to it. Sorry if I look creepy now."

"No, it's fine." Vystal shot her a smile, as if it was something that couldn't bother her, likely having recently done the same thing for Xinder. Quite considerate, and it made it obvious why Xinder had stuck with her for so long. In general, the Zenmoon Summoners had been quite nice to deal with. Well, most of them.

"We have a guest," Vystal announced somewhat quietly when they got to the small house's main area. Sperado, who was sprawled out on a nearby couch, lifted the eyemask he was wearing and stared at the newcomer for a second with deep bags under his eyes. Using his Ghoul to unleash that powerful attack during the previous day's Malignant fight must have worn him out more than usual.

"Ugh, did someone leave a window open? A huge bug has gotten inside. Gross." He then slid the mask back down and rolled over. How rude. Gelic looked to Vystal, and asked with an expectant glow in her eyes, "Can I?" While the Order was long done, the woman was still technically the Puck's master since they were under Contract until the payment was made. Though she'd hold no power over the Demon anymore. But it was also just nice to ask the host before causing a ruckus in someone's home.

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"Hmm, sure." Vystal gave her full permission, even without having any idea of what would be done. Gelic wandered over and gingerly placed the tip of a claw on the man's exposed side since his shirt had ridden up a bit. Bug Bite. She focused a bit harder with this application, making sure to reduce the effects as much as possible, only applying a single stack of Irritant.

"Gah, itchy!" Even that was enough to make the man lurch upright and began scratching his side with fervor.

"Just who do you think you are to—!" He began to lay into the guest, only to come to a sudden realization.

"Ah, Impy, it's you! Would have been nice if someone told me. And I guess I can't call you Impy anymore. So… Pucky? No, that sounds bad. Ah, since you've become an ugly bug, I shall call you Buggy henceforth!"

"Keep it down, Sperado!" A burly voice bellowed with annoyance from the other side of the room. Rastille was hunched over a large summoning circle drawn on the floor, a much more intricate one than he'd used to summon her the first time. His Demon, Himpo, was watching him with intrigue while dangling from the rafters. Gelic watched as the big man squinted at her for a moment, likely scrying to confirm it was her, before offering a nicer greeting.

"Good to see you, Gelic. Give me a bit to finish up here and then we can catch up properly. Glad that you're alright, though. We were worried."

"Sorry, I—" She was about to go into a whole spiel about going to Evolve after almost dying but quickly realized that Rastille was no longer listening properly, absorbed in his work once more.

"Erm, what's he doing?"

"Failing at summoning another Demon." Vystal was quite candid with her answer.

"Our mentor, Pathos, believes we're ready for the Apprentice exam after how well we did yesterday, mostly so we can be considered on the same level as Sperado. It entails that we have two Bound Demons at the same time. Which I did this morning during a practice run, a Puck I had run some basic errands to exhaust the Contract. A little disappointing. I was hoping for at least a Hellion. So I'll try a few more times before the exam proper. But Rastille, meanwhile, is struggling to get anything. Not even an Imp."

Gelic briefly considered mentioning the factoid she'd learned recently that there weren't many Pucks or Imps in this world, a smaller pool, so summoning either should be considered more of a rarity, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

"It's this damned circle!" Rastille argued, the besmirching having not slipped by unnoticed.

"Not all of us are as Magically Proficient as you, Vystal, and have to use more complex circles! Not to mention, a Second Bound usually requires more precautions than the first. So I'm not used to putting in this much detail. Just give me some time, alright." Angelica's artsy instincts flared, and she couldn't stop herself from being nosy. After getting close enough that she could get a good look at the floor and the reference he was working out, the glaring error shot out to her immediately.

Well, maybe to someone who wasn't used to looking for such things, it would be a difficult game of spot-the-difference, but the vacant spot was annoying her.

"You're missing a squiggle. I think you Summoners would call them sigils." She actually did know what they were called now, having just seen the word translated properly plenty of times in her book, but didn't want to sound too knowledgeable on the matter.

"Well, I got that much." His frustration was obvious. Frankly, she'd never seen him so riled. He must be the type that doesn't do well at struggling with things that come easily to others, especially when comparing himself to Vystal.

"But I just can't find it!"

"It's here." Gelic took pity on the man and pointed to the spot in his time with her claw.

"Uhh, where?"

"Right here, I'm literally touching it?"

"Huh? You're pointing to a bunch of lines, and they all look the same!"

"Ugh!" She lost her patience and pinched some chalk off the floor. Even with her less flexible appendages, she was still able to draw the simple sigil with ease. Immediately, she felt a tingling of power exuding from the circle. Maybe because she was the one who finished it, the piece recognized her as the Summoner, wordlessly asking if she wanted to perform a summoning. Probably not something she should mention.

So instead, using the back of her foot, she scrubbed what she'd just drawn, ready to act like the teacher that the man had often been for her.

"Now you do it."

"Ah, I see, thank you." When he completed it this time, there was a similar pulsation of power, but it clearly affected the man.

"Why are you so good at this?" Hmm, Gelic probably should have seen that question coming, having likely overstepped some expected boundary. Perhaps it was weird for a Demon to help a Summoner at all with the art of summoning or even know about it, since it was what enslaved them after all. In a way, she'd just helped seal some other Demon's fate, but they'd be getting a good master, so she could feel fine with it.

"My master is really into making art, so I guess some rubbed off on me." That much would be fine to share, right?

"Well, I appreciate your assistance." Rastille's tone had eased significantly, back to its usual levels, now that he had accomplished his goal.

"I'll wait until later to perform the actual Summoning. Don't want to keep you waiting around." Ah, drat. Honestly, Angelica kind of wanted to watch since she'd never seen another summoning since her own. But she also didn't want to insist, otherwise they might be caught in a loop of courtesy.

"Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but…" Vystal came over with clear intent to pry.

"Since you mentioned them, would you mind telling us a bit more about your master? Are they involved with another Sect, or perhaps they're a Rogue, erm, or maybe better to say uninducted? I ask because Pathos would like to meet them."