Jack fell off of his chair in shock. The person squatting on his desk flinched in surprise and fell back as well, landing behind the desk.

"Ow!" the voice called out. Then a demon shot up from behind the desk. He had pure white skin, the complete opposite of the darkly colored demons Jack had met until now. He had three horns, two on the sides of his head and one that came out of his forehead. He was as tall as Jack before the horns started, so his total height was likely closer to six and a half feet. His golden eyes peered at Jack closely before he slowly started grinning.

"You can see me, can't you?" the demon asked.

Jack nodded dumbly, surprised and disoriented as he was.

"YES!!! God of gods, finally someone to talk to!" The demon lept up and pumped his fist in the air. "Good to meet you, friend." He came forward and grabbed Jack's hand, shaking it vigorously. "Love the butterflies, by the way, very fun."

Jack was a bit taken aback. This whole situation had caught him completely off guard. "Sorry, umm, nice to meet you?" Jack wasn't sure how to respond to the newcomer who poked and prodded all of Jack's stuff. The demon even went so far as to grab Jack's chair and sit in it, kicking his feet up on the desk.

"So you're the system guy? I didn't see Deis summon you or anything, but I've seen you around fiddling with stuff." The demon idly grabbed one of the butterflies out of the air and began trying to chew on it, his sharp teeth failing to pierce the bug.

"...Where did you come from? Who even are you?" Jack wanted answers, this guy had come out of nowhere. How had he gotten here?

The demon glanced over at him before grinning. Then he jumped onto the desk and flourished, bowing deeply to Jack. "I am the late King of all Demons, Plexion the paranoid!" Then straightening, he looked down imperiously at Jack. "You may offer your supplication now, Fall at my feet and worship me."

Jack was stunned into silence until the demon started laughing. "Mostly joking." The demon sat down on the desk. "I really am Plexion, the late king. But I guess now I'm just a spirit stuck in purgatory."

"You're the guy that Deis had killed? The reason I'm here at all?" the sudden meeting and confrontation was making Jack's head spin.

"Apparently so." Plexion shrugged. "Though I doubt Deis actually wanted people to kill me. That seemed more like an issue of interpretation."

"Why are you here? I don't even know what this place is besides being where Deis lives."

"Oh. Well, we're in the sun," Plexion stated simply. "Deis lives in the sun, it's like his whole aesthetic. Constantly looking down on everyone and keeping us all alive or whatever. When we die, the priests say that our souls return to Deis so he can wipe us clean and reincarnate us into new forms."

Jack considered this, the sun was white...the same kind of white as this void. Besides that, Jack had heard that the announcement Deis had made to the world had come from him appearing on the sun itself. It made sense, he supposed, as much as anything Deis did could make sense, anyway.

Plexion continued on unprompted. "I got really sick of Deis peeking over my shoulder and coming down to visit and give 'advice' all the time. So I decided to invent a new form of magic. Long story short, I was able to hide myself from Deis and he freaked out. He panicked and called the whole world to hunt me down and get me to reveal myself again. Then a bunch of people murdered me."

The king of demons kept rambling even as Jack absorbed what he was saying. He had hidden himself from Deis? That was information Jack really wanted to have.

"I'll never trust a chef again for as long as I live. Can't believe that-"

"Plexion," Jack interrupted. "can you tell me about how you hid yourself from a god?"

Plexion stopped and looked at Jack. He cocked his head to the side and seemed to be thinking about the question intensely. After a few minutes of tense silence, Plexion answered. "Sure, if you give me a status screen."

"Even if Deis can use it to find you?"

"He won't. He searched this realm for me after I died, but couldn't find me. I don't think he's looking anymore. Besides that, I'm confident that my magic will still work even if it's attached to the system. It worked after I was killed after all," Plexion replied confidently. His smile was easy, but Jack felt conviction behind the expression.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Alright then." Jack put his hand out. Plexion shook it without hesitation, his grip firm.

Jack used the [Status Granting] skill on Plexion. After a few minutes, the skill was completed and a screen popped up in front of the demon. It was almost entirely blank. The only word present on the entire screen was [Status], showing that Plexion could resummon the screen if it disappeared. The problem was that Plexion didn't have the buttons to close or minimize the screen.

Plexion looked at the screen, tapped it a few times, and then tried breaking off a piece. He couldn't damage it at all. "Hmm, that could be an issue."

Just then, Deis appeared from nowhere. Materializing in between Jack and the demon who had frozen in terror. What are you doing? I believe I told you to keep making the bugs

Jack wasn't sure what to say for a moment. He avoided looking at Plexion or even looking away from Deis at all, just in case. "Oh um, I got distracted."

And what could be so distracting that it compels you to disobey me? Deis seemed to be growing angry.

Jack floundered. He didn't want to tell Deis about the demon (who was slowly tiptoeing away from the situation) nor did he want to talk about his transition to a spirit. He searched his mind until he found something, then latched on. "Combat with the system! It's been on my mind and I wanted to bring it up."

Ah yes...I suppose barbarians such as yourself would only think about death and violence. Very well, present your ideas to me

"Oh um, well have you seen how Jeler has been using it?"

Indeed, a most interesting application for it. The screen cannot be moved by mortal means which means it serves a perfect purpose as a shield or way to redistribute power

"Right," Jack said recovering his mental footing. "Well, I think we should consider adjusting that slightly. It feels...too powerful and unintended. The screen wasn't designed to act that way, and the more we fill it with information, the harder it will be to see through. I think that we could try something slightly different. Maybe we make the screens untouchable to anyone but the user?"

I will consider it. However, I do not wish to punish Jeler's forward thinking. What alternative do you suggest to his current methods?

"I think we can add another system skill," Jack replied confidently. "A skill that can create temporary screens at key points around the body. If people are intent on using the system screens as a tool in combat then we can accommodate them." At this point, Plexion had snuck back over to the two of them and was sitting on Jack's desk again, nodding along as Jack spoke. He idly plucked one of the butterflies out of the air and started using it like a toothpick.

A novel idea, I shall create such a skill

"But I also think that we need a counter to it, like a system disruption skill or something. A way to prevent the system from completely overtaking every aspect of combat and warfare."

Deis seemed to ponder this for a moment. There are magics in Drowl that serve the role of increasing or decreasing a person's strength. Perhaps implementing system skills that strengthen or weaken the effects of the system on a person. Coupled with a skill that can cause screens to weaken or disappear, I think that these would solve the issues for now

Jack nodded his agreement. The system still didn't have a way for people to acquire these skills, nor any direct methods for strengthening a person yet, but all that and more would be coming soon.

The skills are created. Now resume work on the bugs until you are finished or return to the surface. Do not forget about the skill you will apply to my priests

With that, Deis vanished again, and the tension in Jack's body released. He wheeled on Plexion, "What are you doing!? Are you trying to get caught?"

Plexion smiled easily, "Relax. As soon as he appeared and didn't acknowledge me I knew it was fine. Seems being connected to the system doesn't let him see me after all."

Despite his easy words, Jack had seen the fear in the demon's expression. He knew that Plexion was playing it cool, but let him get away with it. "Well, thank goodness for that. What did you think about the discussion?"

Plexion's eyes lit up. "It's so interesting. So many new and impactful ideas! Then Deis can just make the skills and hand them out. I can't wait to try them all!"

Jack thought about that for a moment. Plexion couldn't do anything with his status screen. He could make it appear, but that was it. Did Jack want to give him access to all these skills and abilities? He still didn't know if he could trust the man, then he remembered. "Hey, you need to teach me how you hid from Deis. I gave you a status screen, now you do your part."

Plexion looked at him for a moment before lying down on the desk. "You don't need it."

"What?"

"On the surface of the world, you should be invisible to him. He probably can't see anyone too close to you either. You aren't a part of him, not a part of his power. I had to magically separate his essence from myself, block him from seeing me entirely. But he doesn't seem to be able to check on your progress. He always asks you things like 'what happened' or 'why are you back here.' He even admitted he hadn't seen your stat experiments." Plexion seemed deep in thought as he explained, and Jack saw something of a scholar in the man. Someone who considered things deeply and examined them from every angle. "If you learned my magic, all that would happen is that he wouldn't be able to find you here, in his realm. You would never talk to each other again."

That...would be useful. Between that magic and the [Deity Resistance] skill, Jack had an effective way to avoid being destroyed by Deis. Of course, he would be stuck up here in a white void with nothing to do. Ideally, he would find some way to return to Earth. Failing that, finding a way to live on Drowl would have to do.

As Jack thought, Plexion chimed in. "Hey, I'll make the bugs for you if you fix up my status sheet a bit. I'll even accept just the name and race section if you're worried about me."

Had he noticed Jack's concerns about him? "No, I'll take care of the bugs. But I will give you access to some things, just not skills, not yet anyway."

Plexion shrugged easily, still grinning and lying on the desk. Jack was wary of the demon, but glad for the company as he got back to work making butterflies.