While back in our room, I pondered, “What could be the reason for the skill to fail?”

The broken window had already been replaced, and the wall repaired. The fresh smell of masonry work lingered in the air. While it still needed some paintwork, it was impressive to see how promptly they fixed it. Also, the enchantments were still missing; a specialist would need to come from Guaranga to do that. All in all, it had cost us two gold, most of it being the cost for the enchanter to come and do his work.

Lynx was out hunting. After having guarded us the whole night and morning, he had deserved a break. We all had moved in there—Ju, Alice, Tina, Tom, me, Mike, and Michael. Hew was getting better but was still sleeping. Ju had done the work to isolate the room with some enchantments of her own to make sure our conversation remained confidential.

“Based on what you have told us, I have a theory!” Ju said. “To prove it, I would like you to test some of your demonic powers.”

“You mean using a demonic skill undoes the suppression skill?” Tom wondered while Alice nodded.

“I guess she's right,” she said. “You should try something on me!”

“Oh, well,” I pondered. What should I try? I sent a death bolt that splashed harmlessly over Alice.

Ju shook her head.

"That did nothing!" she said, then added, "Actually, the black bolt is common magic, nothing demon-specific, but good to know that you can use it!"

I took a deep breath.

"I'll try to dominate her then!" I said.

"Try it on me," Ju said with a grin. "I do have a racial ability to resist mental tricks like dominate and such!"

Alice shrugged, and so I turned towards Ju.

"Jump on one leg!" I said putting mana in my command. And she did just that with a bland look in her eyes.

Alice shrugged.

"Nothing happened." she said, "Your skill still works; you are still unidentifiable!"

I turned to Ju and looked slantwise at her.

"You're messing with me!"

She laughed, stopping her jumps.

"Of course I am! But you should try this with the boys and make them do push-ups! They are too skinny!"

"Hey!" Tom protested, alarmed. "We do what we can!"

I looked slantwise at him.

"That might be a good idea!" I said with a grin, while Mike rolled his eyes, unable to imagine that I truly meant it.

"Dominate is not a demon-specific skill," Michael said. "You should try something demon-specific, maybe seduce?"

I sighed. Is seduction a demon-specific spell? I was not sure, but I didn't want to try that one on any of them.

"Sure, try it on me," Tom said with a grin.

"Tom!" I protested with a snort. He never knows when to stop. I shook my head and looked slantwise at him. Everybody was making fun of me!

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Ju said with a laugh. "I am waiting, sweety! Do your worst!"

I rolled my eyes and identified her. I wanted to be sure she was in a safe bracket for my spells. To my pleasant surprise, it worked, and I got a valid result.

<>

Her level was way higher than mine, and with her racial ability, she shouldn't have any problem with any of my skills. It should simply fail on her with no result.

"How come you're only level ninety-one? Cala had a higher level than you?" I wondered.

She turned to look at me slantwise.

"Only? That's a pretty high level, my little demon!" she then sighed, "Humans with their pissing contests! It doesn't work strictly like this; not only your general level is important but the level of your skills do matter a lot!" After a short pause, she continued. "As a healer, levelling goes slower. I always took it slowly but steadily, I tried to not take too much risk. Well, except when I was forced to do it... Now, do we talk about that, or do you try your skill on me?"

"I think it was the summon that messed with my skill," I said with a shrug.

"You'll never know unless you try them all!" Alice countered.

She was right. I sighed. Oh, well.

I looked at Ju. In an attempt to make even more fun of me, she balanced on her legs and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Hm, you look sweet after all!"

"That was pretty sexy," Tom commented from the side. "With time, you might get it!"

She snorted and turned, feigning annoyance when she looked at him, fluttering her eyelashes.

OK, they'll never stop, I need to do it.

I sighed, and even the sigh was filled with mana as my chest swelled.

“Ju,” I whispered, my words barely audible. “I need you, please help me, Ju!”

Another sigh swelled my chest as my eyes blinked.

For a couple of seconds, nobody said a word until Alice announced with a heavy sigh,

“That's it! You do identify as a demon now!”

“Damn it!” I protested angrily.

“Well!” Tina said with a shrug, “You now know that you cannot use seduce or risk identification!”

I sighed.

“That was a strong spell!” Mike said, “Look at my hands, they tremble, why is this?” His fingers were lightly trembling.

“You're lucky the spell had not been targeted at you. That's a side effect for low magic persons when in the presence of strong spells. You need to get stronger urgently,” Alice said, then turned to me. “You need to learn to target your spells better; they go too broad!”

Tina turned to Ju, concern knitting her brows.

“Ju, is something wrong?” she asked, her voice laced with worry.

Only then did I glance back at Ju. She remained in the same position, her hand still raised and lightly trembling. No response came from her; she stared into space with a vacant expression on her face.

“Ju?” I inquired, my alarm growing. Had I broken her somehow? I wondered anxiously. Thankfully, she eventually looked at me, as if returning to the present moment. Her cheeks flushed red, and her breathing quickened.

“I... I...” she stammered.

Alice approached, placing a hand on Ju's forehead to meet her gaze.

“Maybe you overdid it; it seems to have had a minor effect on her. It should pass soon,” Alice reassured with a sigh.

Ju blinked and shook her head.

“It cannot be. I do have resistance to mind manipulation. It was just strange to see how this works!” she explained.

“What do you mean?” Michael inquired.

“I mean, her spell suddenly changed the way I saw her,” Ju elaborated. “It was as if I were putting on a pair of pink-tinted glasses that only worked for her. The image of her in my mind suddenly transformed; she looked even better, and there was nothing repulsive or negative about her. It was as if I were looking at a pure saint. This is part of how resistance to mind manipulation works; it makes you aware of how the image is being altered and manipulated. But to witness it happening is quite the experience!”

I shrugged. “Of course, there's nothing repulsive or bad about me!” I declared.

“I want to see this too!” Tom protested.

“Oh, come on, Tom, be quiet!” I chuckled.