Progress and Plans
Flopping into bed after a hot shower, Tom let out a sigh of exhaustion. Jerky climbed up onto the bed and stared at him as he lay there staring at the ceiling. He walked over and snuggled against his side.
"It's been a long day, buddy. These meetings drain me more than the fighting does. Sometimes I'd rather just be out there dealing with problems than in here." Tom admitted to his familiar.
"Jerky understand," the little demon offered as consolation.
"Thanks, Jerky. I'm glad you're here with me. You've gotten so much stronger since we first met, how have you been?" Tom asked him.
"Jerky happy. Jerky love master and friends. Feel like home." Jerky replied looking up at him and blinking with his sideways eyelids.
"I'm glad to hear that. You will always have a home with me. No matter what happens." Tom said to him and scratched him behind the ears.
As he scratched Jerky behind the horns, the Quasit began to emit light and glowed white as his skin felt warm.
"What the hell? Jerky are you okay?!" Tom said in alarm as he sat bolt upright.
Jerky's outline became amorphous for a time and then grew larger. The amorphous ball of light began to take shape in front of Tom's eyes, and he had to put a hand up to block the light as it began to burn. Suddenly, just as quickly as the light had begun, it winked out and the room was back to the dim lighting from a lamp in the corner. Blinking to make the stars go away in his vision as he adjusted to the darker lighting, Tom stared at the being now sitting cross-legged on his bed.
"Oh, ho! This is interesting." Maria said in his head.
"What? What's interesting?" Tom said still staring at the creature in front of him.
"Looks like your familiar evolved," Maria said simply.
"Evolved? Evolved into what?" Tom asked.
"See for yourself,"
Tom stared for a moment longer. The Jerky he knew was gone now. No longer did he appear to be a more bestial creature with some intelligence, but now a humanoid form with dragon-like wings, a chiseled bare torso, fury legs, and no genitalia to speak of sat in its place. Its hair was a fiery red color styled back across its head with piercing sky-blue eyes that almost seemed to drill into his soul. He had horns jutting out of his forehead as well which curled upward to points and a black diadem sat on his forehead with a ruby shining in the middle.
"Jerky?" Tom asked tentatively.
"Yes, master. It is I." The creature replied, now smiling up at him.
"Well, go on, use Inspect," Maria urged him.
Shaking himself from his stupor, Tom used Inspect on Jerky.
Drokling - Jerky
Droklings are a sub-species of the greater demon incubus. Unlike their relatives, the Drokling are not sexual beings but do draw power from devouring the souls of their enemies. Considered the princelings of the demonic realm, Droklings are exceptionally rare creatures that can only evolve when bonded to another being and have proven their loyalty.
HP
1500/1500
MP
5000/5000
SP
950/950
Attacks
Can wield weapons, Magic
Tom stood open-mouthed as he read over Jerky's new evolution stats and description. His stats had jumped so far ahead of what he could have ever expected for an evolution.
"What the hell is happening?" Tom blurted, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Well, I have evolved because of you. We are linked, and when you pass thresholds so do I." Jerky replied as he chuckled.
"No one is going to believe me when I tell them it's you. But I must admit, you look badass!" Tom said to Jerky as he took in his new form again.
"I'm glad you approve. I will always be here with you, and now I can serve you better in the capacity of a protector. You have been so kind to me, I only want to do the same for you." Jerky said as he stood up from the bed.
Tom noticed that while he had grown substantially from his other form, despite being humanoid he was shorter than most. He must be barely five feet tall, if not slightly shorter. But there was no denying that he even exuded power.
"I appreciate the sentiment. Just know I only do it because I love you. Which now sounds weird to say when you look like this." Tom said, realizing what he was admitting to. "It's going to be hard to think of you as a familiar in this form, I must admit."
"I hope you don't look at me differently. But I must say that it will be much more difficult to sleep in my normal bed." Jerky said, smiling at Tom's discomfort.
"Oh, right. Ummm...You could share my bed for now, I guess? though that's gonna feel weird too." Tom stammered as he tried to get his brain to catch up with his mouth.
"Oh! Thank you, master! I will!" Jerky said as he moved forward and hugged Tom around the waist.
It was at this moment that Kiera and Jay chose to enter Tom's room.
"Hey, Tom. We need to talk to you about...." Jay began as he trailed off seeing the being hugging Tom tightly.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise, Tom. Not who I would have put you with, but hey, who am I to judge?" Kiera smiled widely at seeing the position Tom was in.
"No! It's not what it looks like! I mean, it kinda is what it looks like, but this is Jerky!" Tom tried to get all of the words out at the same time.
"Fuck you, that's Jerky. He's a cute little quasit and this....isn't." Jay replied, looking at them suspiciously.
"No. It's me." Jerky replied, his eyes closed with his head pressed against Tom's chest still.
"Bullshit," Kiera said.
"It really is. I just evolved, thanks to master." Jerky replied opening his eyes and pulling away from Tom momentarily to look at the pair in the doorway.
"He did just call him master," Jay said leaning a little closer to Kiera and talking softer.
"Then where did we find you?" Kiera asked.
"You didn't find me. Master summoned me when you were in the dungeon." Jerky replied.
"Well, I'll be damned. It is him." Kiera replied looking him up and down. "Puberty was good to you!"
"What's puberty?" Jerky asked.
"Nevermind. Tom, I think you two need to have the talk. Look, I don't care what you do in your own room, just remember, consent, consent, consent." Kiera said, putting her hands up in a placating gesture.
"What?! No!" Was all Tom could seem to say as he continued to trip over his words in his embarrassment.
"Now, now. This is a safe space. No kink shaming. Unless kink-shaming is your kink. Then you just have to keep your mouth shut." Jay said winking at Tom.
"Fuck you," Tom replied.
"Love you too, man," Jay's smile was now so wide Tom thought it might split his face in two.
Taking a deep breath in, and letting it out slowly, Tom finally was able to reply, "Look, it really is Jerky. He just evolved and I was going to introduce everyone tomorrow, but I'm still taking it in myself."
"We know, we're just yanking your chain because it's fun. Jerky, you seem far more eloquent than before." Kiera said moving over to hug him.
"Thank you, Kiera. My stats have all gone up and I feel smarter than before." Jerky replied.
"This is going to take some getting used to," Jay admitted, now seeming to feel a bit awkward as well.
"What was it you came here for and didn't bother to knock on my door before entering?" Tom asked, annoyance beginning to set in at being picked on and trying desperately to change the subject.
"Right, we think we have a lead on where Jeffery is. I sent my spy team after them when the goblins scattered. I didn't bother having them trail Jeffery himself since he was on a mount, but I figured the little goblins might take a bit of a roundabout path but couldn't be that tough to trail. I was right." Jay said after recovering from the moment.
"Show me," Tom said and put the rest of his clothes on to follow Jay out of the room, Jerky following closely behind him.
The group took the elevator to the lobby and when they entered and began walking to the security room, people stopped and stared at Jerky as they continued. Jerky, for his part, seemed completely oblivious to the stares. Tom began to feel uncomfortable.
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When they reached the steel door of the security office, Tom turned to everyone who was still staring at them, "Alright, keep your eyes in your head. This is Jerky. Yes, he's changed, no he's not dangerous unless you do something stupid. Treat him the same as you did before."
No one moved.
"Ah forget it," Tom said, turning to open the door.
When they entered the security office, all heads turned to see who had come in, and again they stared at the new form of Jerky.
"For fucks sake! It's Jerky!" Tom said, the unease just too much for him to bear.
"Touchy much?" TJ asked, unsure whether to tease him or if it was better to just leave him alone.
"Sorry. Everyone is staring and these two asshats already gave me the third degree." Tom said putting a hand on his face.
"Well, if you two weren't making out, we wouldn't have had to," Jay said a shit-eating grin on his face.
"What's making out?" Jerky asked.
"You really have the best friends ever," Maria piped in sarcastically in his head.
"We weren't and you know it," Tom said, suddenly standing in front of Jay with a finger pointed menacingly in Jay's face, his voice a growl.
Jay blanched at the rage suddenly on Tom's face, "Sorry, Tom. I see the line now. My bad."
Letting his shoulders sag, Tom let out a heavy sigh, "Sorry, Jay. I'm a bit on edge still and taking things too seriously too. Can we just let it go for now though? We need to get on this Jeffery thing before we lose the chance."
"Right. Where's the map?" Jay asked.
TJ stood up and moved to a table at the opposite end of the room. Bringing a rolled-up piece of paper over, he spread it out on a table near the door.
"Jeffery is held up here for now," Jay said pointing to a building on the northern outskirts of the city. "My spies tell me that we did a real number on those goblins, but it seems that Jeffery has managed to get one of their leaders to be his buddy and they are gathering all the other goblins that are spawning in the area to their cause. It's not going to be long before their forces are recovered."
"Then we move to strike them. I need all the Paladins we can muster and any Clerics we can spare." Tom ordered. "The rest of the strike teams will go with us as well. I want this quick and clean."
"On it," TJ Saluted and moved to the PA system mic.
"Jay, I want you and your spies out in front. All of them. Get Sean too. You all are going to scout out the building for us, so we don't get any surprises. I doubt they had long to setup traps, but I don't want anything popping its fucking head up at us." Tom said.
"Sure thing, boss," Jay replied, now all business.
"We'll surround them so they can't escape and then storm the building. There is not going to be any getting away this time." Tom said. "While everyone is gathering, I need to check one thing. Give me just a few minutes."
"Anything you need," Kiera replied.
Tom moved to the opposite side of the room and sat down heavily in a chair, Jerky not far behind him standing by. He opened his skill page to review his progress.
Tom Harris
Race: Human
Class: Warlock
Level: 32
Total XP: 2,574,500
XP To Next Level : 462,500
HP: 600/600
MP: 540/540
SP: 500/500
Attributes:
Unused Attributes Points: 0
Strength: 55
Constitution: 60
Dexterity: 48
Endurance: 50
Intelligence: 54
Wisdom: 60
Charisma: 100
Luck: 30
Non-Combat Skills:
Inspect
Level: 15, Rank: Novice
Combat Skills:
Vehicular Homicide
Level: 28, Rank: Initiate
Swords
Level: 31 Rank: Initiate
Summon Demonic Creature
Level: 34 Rank: Initiate
Fear
Level: 11 Rank: Novice
Corruption
Level: 10 Rank: Novice
Spells:
Eldritch Blast
Level: 23, Rank: Initiate
Dark Ball
Level: 14, Rank: Novice
Dark Healing
Level: 24, Rank: Initiate
Final Flash
Level: 17 Rank: Novice
He wanted to get some more skills or spells but decided against going to the vending machines for now. When he returned though, it would be time. For now, Jeffery was his only concern, and he would be put down this time, for good.