Chương 123: Bonus Chapter - The Missing Chapter 34 Part 2

So yeah, this is extra late. Sorry about that. I have decided to continue this entire side story on Patreon as there is SO much that is happening before Gerard ever makes it to Junstruce. Plus... Plenty that happens in Junstruce too.;) Please enjoy!

"Are you blind, human?" The young woman's voice carried the practiced politeness of someone who often had to force it. Gerard laughed.

"No, no. I was standing in direct sunlight less than thirty seconds ago. My eyes are trying to adjust." He blinked into the darkness. The summoning had dropped him into a cramped wooden room with no windows and barely enough light to make out the walls. He could still tell that the people inside were some sort of demons, though they appeared far too human compared to those he'd met before. He let out an annoyed sound.

"This isn't a world that's always this dark, is it? Or some sort of underground world?"

"No. It's nighttime in the forest here. Human, you know we summoned you? We were told the champion wouldn't know our ways and would need to have everything explained." The young woman spoke slowly, taking care with each word as though addressing a child.

"Yeah, no. Not my first rodeo," Gerard said with some amusement.

"Rodeo?" the older voice whispered. The question was directed toward the younger woman. Neither seemed willing to admit they had no idea what he meant. Gerard shifted his weight. Something was wrong. He had already confirmed that he was no longer Emily, but it still felt… off. Very off. More off than he'd imagined it would feel. Everyone had wondered what it would be like to switch to the other gender, but… this was weird. His shoulders felt too broad beneath the rough shirt.

His hips were narrow, which seemed to affect his balance. Gerard had been summoned forty-four times before this. Each ritual had changed something. Every one of those lives had been female. Not just any woman. Emily. She had always been Emily. This body very much wasn't. He stopped his hand before it moved any lower. Whatever confirmation he needed could wait until he wasn't standing in front of two strangers.

"I'm somehow a magnet for these summonings. This is my forty-fifth." He paused and reviewed the count.

"Well, technically, Calora summoned me back less than a day later, so I'm just going to call it forty-four. So, what is it that you need killed? A demon king? An elder dragon? Oh, is it one of those void tentacle monsters?" Silence followed. Gerard's vision slowly adjusted. He could distinguish the two silhouettes near the far wall. One was much smaller than the other and stood with her shoulders held rigidly beneath a cloak.

"I need to take you to see my father," the younger woman finally said.

"Is this a 'he's sick and I have to heal him' thing? I usually start pretty weak, so I don't think…"

"No. Just come with me. I have horses outside." She cut him off without the slightest concern for whether he had finished speaking.

"Right," Gerard muttered. The taller silhouette turned toward the older woman and whispered something. The words were too quiet for him to hear, but the younger woman's tone changed. It became warmer and more urgent, stripped of the irritation she had shown Gerard. Then the younger woman straightened, reclaiming her earlier posture before opening the door behind her. Darkness waited outside.

"Come." Gerard looked past her into the forest.

"Uh, yeah, do you have a torch or flashlight or something? Not that I'm afraid of the dark, but I have no idea what's in those woods."

"Of course I do," she replied. He couldn't quite make out her face, but he could tell she was making an expression that asked, 'Do you think I'm stupid?' Her features remained hidden, but her voice made it clear she considered the question unnecessary.

"This isn't my rodeo either."

"Ah, yeah, that's not how that…" Gerard stopped. She had already turned away from him. Correcting her would only waste more time.

"Let's get going, then." She stepped outside and lit a torch. Gerard followed her into the clearing. The light revealed a thin forest surrounding the small shack. Two horses waited nearby, both saddled and tied to a low branch. The pair looked comical. They were demon horses, basically normal horses with horns similar to those of the young woman beside him. At least she had expected the ritual to work well enough to bring a second horse.

"Do you know how to ride a fel-horse?" she asked. The torchlight revealed her more clearly. A dark cloak covered her entire body, and the hood had been arranged to shadow most of her face while still leaving enough visible to show who she was. She was beautiful, though not gently so. Her cheekbones were high, her chin slightly raised, and her nose had a small upward turn that made every neutral expression look dismissive. She watched Gerard closely, but not with concern.

She was assessing whether the champion she had summoned would embarrass her.

"Yeah, I think I can manage," Gerard said with a quiet laugh. He had ridden horses in several previous worlds. The problem wasn't knowledge. The problem was his body. The woman mounted with practiced ease and gathered her reins. Gerard placed his foot in the stirrup and pushed himself upward. The horse shifted toward him at exactly the wrong moment. His new body moved with more force than he intended. Gerard nearly threw himself across the saddle.

He caught the horn in the crook of his elbow and hung there before managing to pull himself upright. The woman watched without offering assistance.

"Are you…" she began. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Her lips pressed together as she stopped herself. Gerard had no trouble guessing the rest.

"Yes, yes," he said as he adjusted his position.

"I'm fine." He wasn't. His weight sat differently. The saddle pressed against parts of him he had never needed to account for, and years of instinct kept telling him that his legs and hips should've been positioned another way.

"Then we must be off. Time is short." She turned away before he had finished settling himself and urged her horse into a trot. Gerard pressed his heels against his horse's sides. Nothing happened. He flicked the reins. The horse continued standing beside the shack.

"Hey, wait," Gerard called. The woman slowed and looked back. Her face showed exactly how irritating she found the delay.

"We really need to get going."

"What's the command to get the horse to move forward?" he shouted.

"What?" she called back. Her tone suggested that he had asked an idiotic question.

"To get her to go. Or him. Whatever."

"Use the heels of your feet and press them into her sides. Gently!" Gerard did as instructed. The horse didn't move. He pressed again with slightly more force, and the animal finally began walking. Horsemanship Level 1 acquired. The words appeared in the upper-left corner of his vision. Gerard threw his head back and groaned. This was going to be one of those worlds. Most of the systems he had encountered used levels in some form. Some worlds assigned a single overall level and rewarded attributes as it increased.

Others forced every action and skill to improve separately through constant use. Those worlds were always exhausting. Gerard urged the horse forward and caught up with the cloaked woman.

"What's the maximum level for each attribute, like Horsemanship?" he asked. She looked over at him. Her irritation eased slightly, replaced by an interest she tried to conceal.

"You have The Eyes?"

"I always do," Gerard replied.

"Probably has something to do with being summoned."

"Each attribute, as you call them, can be leveled twenty-five times." She answered quickly, but Gerard noticed the new attention in her eyes. He rolled his eyes, already dreading the next answer.

"Any idea how many attributes there are?" The horses descended into a shallow stream. Water moved around their hooves while Gerard grabbed the base of his horse's mane to keep himself steady in case the animal slipped. Horsemanship Level 2 acquired.

"Oh, the number is nearly limitless," the woman replied.

"I don't actually know whether anyone knows how many skills there are. When something new is invented, like a weapon or a spell, using it gives levels to the new attribute." Gerard considered that. He had been to worlds where individual skills gained levels. One had required him to improve Walking before his body would move at a reasonable speed. Even that system had possessed a defined list. This one apparently expanded whenever someone became creative enough.

"Do we have levels? Like, do we as people have an overall level? Does that make sense?"

"We do. If you have The Eyes, you should be able to see it. I don't have it, so I'm not sure how that works." Her voice carried a small amount of resentment at the admission. She disliked acknowledging that Gerard had access to something she didn't.

"Gotcha. I'll figure it out. There's typically a trick." Gerard settled more securely in the saddle. His body still felt wrong, but each minute made the differences slightly easier to manage.

"You said your name is Gerard?" she repeated.

"What a strangely common name. I expected it to be difficult to pronounce. I am…" She hesitated before saying it.

"Rosaline." Gerard looked at her. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't a complete answer either.

"You're some kind of duchess or princess, aren't you?" Rosaline whipped her head toward him. The movement was small, but far too fast. Gerard had seen enough court politics to recognize someone who had just lost control of a conversation.

"So, which is it?" he asked casually.

"I am a…" Rosaline's mouth tightened. She explained stiffly, as though granting him a privilege he hadn't yet earned.

"I'm a second-tier priestess for the Acolytes of Bodarex and third in line for the throne of my kingdom." Gerard let out a low whistle.

"A priestess and a princess. Quite the résumé."

"How did you know, human?" she asked.

"Of my status, I mean." The tone she used was anything but respectful.

"It's always someone important. It usually takes a lot of expensive resources to summon me." Gerard kept his voice light. Rosaline's disguise had been poor from the beginning. Her posture, speech, and expectation of immediate obedience had revealed her long before he saw her face. The forest shack was an oddity, though. Royal summonings usually happened in temples, throne rooms, or some sort of ritual chamber. A princess didn't hide in the woods at night unless she was doing something without permission.

Rosaline looked at him with open confusion.

"I-it…" She stopped, annoyed by her own stumble.

"No. They were common ingredients. The challenge is finding someone able to complete the ritual, and even then, it fails far more often than it succeeds. As in… it's never succeeded." She watched him carefully after answering. Gerard fell silent. Common ingredients? Every previous summoning had required rare materials or the cooperation of multiple nations. He had seen wars threatened over the components needed to pull him between worlds. He had never been summoned with an apple and a shiny rock before.

The body change suddenly started making a lot of sense. Perhaps it had reached across worlds, found a soul accustomed to answering, and forced it into whatever vessel could survive the crossing. Gerard looked down at his hands. They were larger than he remembered. His knuckles were rougher, and his fingers didn't close around the reins the way his real hands did. Even his voice no longer belonged to the woman he had been for two hundred years. Rosaline remained quiet beside him.

She appeared to be giving him time to think, but Gerard noticed the way she kept glancing toward him. She was studying his reaction and measuring how much he understood. She wanted to know whether the flawed summoning had still produced something useful. Gerard looked ahead again. Rosaline's shoulders remained rigid beneath her cloak. She had summoned a champion without her father's knowledge, hidden the ritual in a forest shack, and brought only one assistant.

Now she was taking Gerard directly to the man she had disobeyed. She was afraid, but not enough to regret what she had done. Rosaline feared being caught, but beneath that fear was confidence. She had already begun planning how to present Gerard as a success. Rosaline guided Gerard through the gates of a strangely normal-looking kingdom. It was dark, and she flashed some sort of signet at the gate, allowing them immediate passage. It likely signified that she was a princess or priestess. Gerard sighed.

Another world… yay. They proceeded at a slow pace, heading in a very specific direction. The princess didn't slow when she turned. She seemed to know the streets well, which Gerard found odd. She was a princess. How would she know the streets? Something to worry about later, he supposed. Since he was riding behind her, he decided to do some exploration to determine exactly what he was working with in his new body. He felt his face.

Emily had been blinded in her fifth world, so she had developed a good sense of touch. He noted the stubble covering his jaw, which probably gave him a rugged appearance. His hair was short, though not cropped or unruly. His chest was definitely missing. He felt his bicep. The muscle there was firm. She'd felt the arms of countless men, and his was definitely a nice one. His instincts suddenly took over when he noticed a demon woman running toward them.

He didn't have a sword or any other weapon, so he tensed, preparing to leap from the fel-horse if necessary.

"Don't hurt her!" Rosaline yelled at him.

"What?" he yelled back. He noticed a male demon running behind her. While the woman looked crazed, the man appeared desperate to catch her. What was going on? Why shouldn't he fight back?

"You need to keep a better hold of your brood!" the princess yelled angrily at the man. She jumped from her horse and gently intercepted the woman before she could reach Gerard. Rosaline shoved her hand into a pouch, pulled out something bloody, and pushed it into the woman's mouth. She then… shushed her? What had happened?

"Why doesn't your slave have a scent mask on?" the man yelled back at the princess.

"I could smell him from two blocks away. It's not her fau…" His deep voice stopped when he caught up and saw the woman he had been yelling at.

"P-Princess Rosaline. Apologies. She just got away from me." Gerard watched the strange exchange. What the hell was happening? The woman was now happily chewing with a look of elation on her face. She ate with little decorum, showing none of the manners Gerard would've expected from an adult. It was strange to watch.

"Get her out of here," Rosaline snapped at him. She placed her hand on top of the woman's head and guided her back toward the man. He took her by the hand and led her away. Once they were a sufficient distance away, Rosaline climbed back onto her fel-horse, and they continued.

"What the hell was that about? What was wrong with that woman? She didn't look like she had any deformities or mental deficiencies, but she… acted… strange." Rosaline looked at him with disdain.

"That's what's wrong with all of you humans. You look at someone and assume you know everything there is to know." She huffed and fell quiet. The sound of hooves striking the cobblestones was the only thing filling the silence.

"That was a child," she finally said.

"What? Can you explain?" Gerard asked.

"Humans massacre our children, thinking we're a mindless species that simply attacks on sight. Our children… We make our children from other species. They would usually appear fully grown to you, but… they're just children. Hungry and unaware of what they look like to you or that their actions seem hostile." Hey guys! It's Riley again! I hope you're enjoying and this gives a bit more context into demon society and why Chelsea/Celeste are the way that they are. I would like to recommend a book which I am loving.

I checked it out because I was a fan of ' So I'm a Spider, So What?' This book feels so much more grounded and real. Where the other one feels like Anime in book form, this one feels like it's real and what would actually happen if... spider.: D So check it out! >>> Jon the Spider <<<