After some time, weary from all that futile crying, I dried my tears and began to reevaluate the situation. Perhaps my initial focus was misguided. There appeared to be a significant underlying problem, and the events that had unfolded might not have been as haphazard as they initially seemed to me.

It wasn't just the undeniable fact that I had been labeled as a demon but also the unsettling revelation that I had been summoned as one.

It wasn't just about being summoned; it felt like I had been penalized for refusing those summons.

How else could I make sense of these bewildering events?

Must demons answer all summoning calls or just specific ones? Do they even desire to be summoned?

I was entirely in the dark about the intricacies of demon summoning. The only thing I had to go on was my personal experience.

Each unanswered summon had triggered a devastating reaction so severe that I even feared for my life, but amidst all that, perhaps there was a glimmer of hope because I felt significantly better after that last successful summon.

It wasn't just a feeling.

My perceived level had increased, my situation had improved, and various classes of magic had appeared, but my power, including my spell power, was still diminished from my true self.

What I hadn't tried yet was my transformation spell. Would it still work?

I attempted to cast an illusion on myself to make me look like Cala, and it worked... I did create that illusion over myself, but no transformation occurred.

It was a shoddy illusion, hardly convincing, even worse than the one the goblin, who had treated me with worm eggs, had cast.

I touched my horns. They were still there, though not as prominently visible as before, just like the wings on my back.

Oh dear! What did I expect? If my magic was indeed reduced to level twenty-six, that would affect my camouflage and illusion spells as well! With this level of illusion spells, I might be able to deceive an elderly lady in the dark, but attending school during the day in a place full of people with keen eyesight? It seemed quite unlikely.

I stood there in the woods, struggling to keep the rising panic at bay, almost frozen with fear and blinking stupidly as I suddenly grasped more about my predicament.

Oh, damn! I was trapped inside a horned demon's body, and I had no idea how long this situation would last!

This brought a whole new set of problems. I had faced some of them already, but back then, I had a much higher magic level, and even then, it was a struggle. What should I do now?

It seemed like I might have to leave my old life behind, even if only temporarily, and attempt to survive in the woods and hope for a miracle to happen.

I might need to come up with a story for my parents to explain why I won't be going to school until I figure things out. My current level of illusion tricks could work well during the night, but could I really sustain a life that way?

Why didn't I let myself be summoned in my human form? Did these darn summonings have to occur precisely when I was flying?

Without warning, the illusion spell vanished.

I sighed. These low-level spells don't last long! Casting them continuously might drain my mana completely.

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I covered my face with my hands and took a deep breath, attempting to calm down. "Okay, I'll think about this later," I told myself.

My level did seem to increase, so there was still hope. Maybe I'll regain my higher levels and resolve these problems sometime soon.

If I had been at level thirteen before, how on earth did I jump thirteen levels to twenty-six?

Even in the game, the tasks I completed wouldn't have allowed for such a leap from level thirteen to twenty-six. Not that I was complaining, but it just didn't make sense from that point of view.

When I reconsidered the whole situation, I realized that I felt worse and worse after each declined summon but better after completing one.

Had I lost levels by refusing those summons? Was that the reason why I felt so terrible? It could be so...

Was this some form of automatic punishment for demons to coerce them into accepting summons?

But who would do such a thing, and for what reason? Is this how the world operates?

Nobody had given me any information about this; no one had warned me that I would lose levels if I refused a summon! It just didn't seem fair!

Well, dwelling on these questions wasn't getting me anywhere...

I let out a deep sigh and tried to recollect my level situation. How many levels had I lost? Would I ever be able to regain them? How? Perhaps through dungeoneering?

But where could I find those level twenty-six dungeons? Definitely not around here...

At least if I knew what level I had before! Damn it, why hadn't I attempted to identify myself before all of this happened?

"Come on, Lores, use your brain!" I scolded myself. "I was at level thirteen not long ago, and now I'm at level twenty-six after completing that one summon. It was a simple doubling of my level!"

If declining the summons had the reverse effect, I might have lost half my levels with each one I turned down.

How many summons did I refuse? I think there were three. If each one halved my level, it would mean I started at... thirteen, twenty-six, fifty-two... one hundred and four! One hundred and four!?

Fucking fuck!!! Was that insane level even remotely possible?

I clutched my face with trembling hands. Perhaps my math was slightly askew, but that explanation did make some sense. It might, in broad strokes, clarify what had happened.

Was this some temporary setback or a more permanent reset?

My level appeared to have risen back up for one summon, but would it do the same for the others?

Halving the level didn't mean halving the power; it exponentially diminished it.

If I had been at level one hundred and four and plummeted to level thirteen, no wonder I faced all those challenges, with my body having to adjust to such an instant downgrade!

How on earth was something like this even conceivable?

I shrugged. Let me channel my inner Karen and talk to the supervisor!

That thought brought half a smile to my face.

What should I do now?

Unfortunately, there was no way for me to gain any levels here.

I couldn't even attempt my lightfire spell; it wouldn't even activate. That spell was meant for higher-level wizards, and my mana reserves fell short of what was needed. My movements were confined to the local area, although I could still manage to fly, for now. I suspected that even in flying, I'd hit mana limitations sooner or later, as it demanded mana as well.

All I could do was hide, wait for the off chance of random summons, and hope that I could complete them. Maybe, just maybe, I'd regain my levels and be able to travel again.

I'd need to be cautious not to draw excessive attention and not to involuntarily start some kind of demon-hunting mission through some stupid action.

I was on my own, without any friends or allies. Who, in their right mind, would be willing to work with a demon?

Well, who, I wondered?

Perhaps someone who'd pose the question: "Are you willing to carry out that dirty task for me?"

It was akin to the situation with the summons.

Accept them or decline and face demotion. Oh, fuck me!

I had no idea how fortunate I had been with that cleaning library work! Sitting down, I found myself crying once more. It was the one thing that provided a shred of solace in my current predicament.