Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Chapter 91

[These 4 demons have been following your progress and are interested in obtaining you as a partner. Click on each for further details concerning the potential minion and their contracts.

Beholder, Unholy, Level 27 - a buffer and siege type demon predominantly with high cooldown long range attacks, and shielding abilities. This particular beholder is very good with identifying enemies or objects. [25 Willpower required]Blood Fiend, Blood, Level 3 - a close-range brawler with passive regeneration, this demon often uses its teeth, claws, and stinger to inflict stacking ‘Bloodbite’ afflictions that do damage over time. [11 Willpower Required]Succubus, Unholy / Depravity, Level 21 - caster demon, good crowd control and debuffs, moderate damage. This particular succubus specializes in curses. [29 Willpower required]Abyssal Wyrm, Chaos, Level 12 - a massive tanking type demon, very stupid, prone to experiencing uncontrollable rampages. Feels little to no pain or fear. [30 Willpower required]]

“Is 4 demons a good number?” Riven asked as he shared the screen with his two demonic familiars when Athela climbed up Azmoth’s back to sit on his shoulder again.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

“I not sure.” Azmoth stated.

But Athela was more happy about it. “Definitely! You did GREAT! The variety is rather good as well, most contract applications only come in 1 or 2 at a time. Let’s take a little bit to go through the list. Something to keep in mind is that the levels matter, but they don’t matter nearly as much as the traits they give you and the contracts that they try to throw at you. We can always power level them by killing random monsters in the wild. Some demons will try to trick you into giving them various benefits or loopholes without you noticing, such as time off to do whatever they want or an easy out of the contract if you say a certain word. Doesn’t happen often, but it definitely happens so watch for it.”

Riven raised an eyebrow, folding his arms thoughtfully. “So... Why does this Succubus have Unholy and Depravity pillars listed? When I saw the succubus offered as an option previously - back when I ended up choosing you in Chalgathi’s Trials, it had only been listed as Unholy. The description here is also a bit different than the first... Does this mean that this succubus is special, somehow?”

“No. It just means that this succubus has acquired both those pillars and is probably transitioning to create her own specialty pillar with Depravity. Depravity is pretty common with Succubi, an easy-to-acquire pillar for them for obvious reasons. As for why there’s a unique description, that’s because they’ve acquired levels and the system is evaluating them at a more in-depth level than the level 1 demons who’ve never been in combat.” Athela clicked the first item on the list and started reading, and Riven began to do the same.

Beholder, Unholy, Level 27 - a buffer and siege type demon predominantly with high cooldown long range attacks, and shielding abilities. This particular beholder is very good with identifying enemies or objects. [25 Willpower required]

The level 27 beholder was a giant, floating, central eye above a large maw of sharp teeth. It had purple skin and multiple other eyes at the ends of long tendril-like appendages. The details were described in further detail with a click of the option. The trait it gave was called ‘Observer,’ which allowed itself and the bonded warlock to see stealthed opponents at a much farther range and far quicker. It also came with a description concerning identifying enemies or objects, which Riven desperately needed in his opinion as this creature would fill a massive hole in the party he was building between himself and his minions. Not being able to see enemy identification information was a serious problem, and he remembered how nice it was to get that information back in Negrada when he was still under system tutorial parameters.

Blood Fiend, Blood, Level 3 - a close-range brawler with passive regeneration, this demon often uses its teeth, claws, and stinger to inflict stacking ‘Bloodbite’ afflictions that do damage over time. [11 Willpower Required]Succubus, Unholy / Depravity, Level 21 - caster demon, good crowd control and debuffs, moderate damage. This particular succubus specializes in curses. [29 Willpower required]Then there was the level 21 succubi. The description of these demons was the same as it’d been before when he’d first entered Chalgathi’s pre-tutorial starting quest, describing them as ‘caster demons, good crowd control and debuffs, moderate damage’ - but this time it had a little bit more detail as well concerning the ‘specializing in curses’ part. When clicking the option it gave even more details and talked about their ability to fly. The system even talked about how they were often used as nothing more than sexual playthings for their masters, and had a historical habit of being abused or pimped out to wealthy men over the centuries due to their natural beauty.Abyssal Wyrm, Chaos, Level 12 - a massive tanking type demon, very stupid, prone to experiencing uncontrollable rampages. Feels little to no pain or fear. [30 Willpower required]

The pictures had been rather skewed in terms of the size of Riven’s applicants. The Succubus was the size of a regular woman - but taller than average, probably about 5’10 and shorter than he was. The beholder was a little bit smaller than her, maybe 3 feet in diameter for its main body with numerous eyeball appendages making it seem a little larger than it actually was. The blood fiend however was significantly larger than its picture – being about twice the size of the succubus, and the abyssal wyrm was about the size of a small bus at this point in its life cycle.

Still, each of the demons – though they were moving about restlessly, did not appear to see him.

[Touch each of the demons individually for your designated interview time. Your own perceived notion of time has been sped up drastically while you complete your transaction. The hells and nether realms send their regards, and hope that you find your new partner up to satisfaction.]

Riven scratched his head as Azmoth and Athela just waited patiently for him to continue, and he approached the large wyrm first. Moving closer was the equivalent to shifting his body’s position at a though when he blipped ahead, disorienting himself momentarily while he adjusted to this realm’s odd set of rules, and reached out a translucent hand to touch the abyssal wyrm.

Immediately all of the other demons disappeared, including Athela and Azmoth, and he stood alone underneath the creature’s towering figure on a vast landscape of ice and snow. A blizzard encircled them, crashing down onto Riven’s head... but he did not feel cold as the snowflakes pelted his skin. He subconsciously knew, somehow, that this was a visage given to him by the wyrm itself... and that this was its ideal habitat that it conjured while remaining here in the nether realms.

In person the monster was even more intimidating than he’d originally anticipated. It coiled up around itself like a snake, deep rumbling sounds vibrating the ground underneath his feet, and it sparked with crimson lightning similar to how Riven’s own ‘Blessing of the Crow’ worked.

Riven backed up to get a better look at the monster as the wyrm uncoiled, and it silently watched him silently move.

Neither spoke.

Frowning slightly, Riven raised a hand. “Nice to meet you... do you talk?”