{Racial Advancement}
{Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options}
{Retained upgrades will be offered again next time you advance your racial progression path. Replaced upgrades will be replaced with new options.}
Upgrade [Devour Flesh] and [Consume Heart] with [Connoisseur]:
You gain 10% of the consumed creature’s resistances as well as its stats.
Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire: Range]: Your magical control extends farther for the purpose of conjuring hellfire.
Upgrade: [Demonic Summoning] with [Summon Demonic Familiar]: Your demonic summoning now permanently summons a single companion instead of temporarily summoning multiple demons.
[Consume Heart] was in the [Drain] progression path, but Ashtoreth was pleased to see that she could effectively upgrade the ability by upgrading its components. One of them was already on offer.
“Resistances are good,” she said. [Devour Flesh] was another great ability for snowballing through the tutorial. She hadn’t scratched the surface of its potential, but she would once she killed a boss and ate their heart to gain a stupidly huge bonus to her stats.
She herself had around 100 in each stat. A boss would have much more—a boost of 30 or more wasn’t out of the question. Adding resistances to the equation would only make it better
The [Hellfire] upgrade didn’t interest her. Her horns already acted as a spellcasting focus, increasing the range of her magical control and giving her more refined manipulation of her fire. The range increase would stack with that, but the ultimate effect wouldn’t be useful: if she wanted to attack foes at range, she’d need a ranged spell upgrade like [Hellfire Bolt].
She read the upgrade for [Demonic Summoning] and cocked her head, curious.
[Demonic Summoning] temporarily summoned a small group of demonic minions. Their type depended on the summoner’s [Magic] stat, and there was always a bit of randomness involved.
Since the minions were temporary and the spell took almost thirty seconds to cast, it was only really useful if cast just before combat. It also cost a very high amount of [Mana], adding to its limitations.
Of course, when she could use it, it would be very strong. Right now she’d probably get a few level 1 imps ready to serve her. Not powerful minions, but even if they would just be a distraction for a monster like a carnage demon while she aimed a deadly strike with her spear, that was still quite handy.
Still, its limitations made it one of her worst abilities. She knew that its upgrades could turn it into one of the strongest abilities an archfiend possessed by making the summoning nearly instantaneous, as well as making the minions it called stronger.
The difference between instantly calling up a flock of demons and requiring half a minute to summon them was enough of a difference to change [Demonic Summoning] from one of the weakest abilities to one of the strongest.
Except she hadn’t gotten any upgrades to make it faster or stronger. Instead, she could turn it into a companion ability.
It was hard not to let her decision become emotion-driven.
She’d always wanted a companion. Few things could help in combat as much as a second body and mind on your side. Not only were companions typically strong for something that required only a single ability, but there was also the [Companion] aspect to consider. If chosen, she’d have a whole progression path dedicated to keeping her companion on a power level with herself.
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She could see it in her mind’s eye already: her and her familiar—strategizing together, sharing build ideas, complimenting each other’s style, cracking jokes and laughing together, high fiving sometimes….
Better than a 10% boost to her resistances?
“Definitely,” she said. “Demonic Summoning, please!”
She chose to retain only the [Connoisseur] upgrade.
{You have enhanced [Demonic Summoning] with the [Demonic Familiar] upgrade. The ability has been renamed [Summon Demonic Familiar].}
[Summon Demonic Familiar]
You summon a demonic familiar from somewhere in the upper regions of Hell.
The familiar is a companion who can assist you by scouting, by casting beneficial effects upon you, and by helping you in combat. If your familiar’s body is destroyed, you can reconstitute it by casting this spell again.
You choose a small form for the familiar to take the first time you summon them; thereafter, they will always be summoned in that form.
“Exciting!” she chimed, almost giddy as she read the ability.
She found a patch of unstained floor, drew a circle in blood on the ground there with her hands, and spent almost a minute channeling mana into the ability.
Finally a small, red rift opened in the air before her.
{You must choose a type for your familiar. This will determine their starting abilities.}
{Choose: spirit of war, spirit of intellect, or spirit of favor.}
{A spirit of war will assist you by fighting alongside you in battle.}
{A spirit of intellect will assist you by sharing its knowledge and aiding in ritual casting.}
{A spirit of favor will assist you by granting you buffs and sharing its resources with you.}
“Huh,” said Ashtoreth. She ruled the spirit of favor out quickly, as she didn’t need resources. As for war versus intellect… she felt like she had enough brawn, or at least enough that the spirit of war wouldn’t be a gamechanger without the [Companion] aspect.
A spirit of intellect would likely be an older demonic spirit, someone with more experience to offset the fact that she was just 18. Her experience was limited to her childhood training and her study of humanity.
“Spirit of intellect, please!” she said.
{You have chosen a spirit of intellect; the Arbiter is now selecting a soul…}
{Soul selected. Choose a form for your familiar. This choice is permanent.}
{Choose: Ophidian (Snake), Pteropine (Bat), Feline (Cat), Strigine (Owl), Murine (Rat), Corvine (Raven), or Demonic (Imp).}
Ashtoreth read this over carefully. For a non-combat familiar, the choice was mostly cosmetic: they’d all be able to fly once her [Magic] and [Psyche] stats were high enough.
“Cat or rat?” she asked herself. “They’re both just so cute.” She thought another moment and added: “Oh, I want a kitty. Cat, please!”
The red rift in the air before her flashed, its light coalescing and then solidifying into a new shape.
A black cat fell to the ground before her. They had two batlike wings that were very much similar to her own, along with the same spade-ended tail. Their eyes were red, and faintly luminous.
The cat spoke in a wry, male voice.
“Phew!” he said, sitting up and looking down at his paws. “There’s a relief. After all these years studying human culture I guess I was a little paranoid when the Arbiter said you’d chosen cat form. I was thinking of a… different sort of form, maybe for a master with damper shirtsleeves. But you….”
He trailed off as looked up and saw Ashtoreth for the first time.
“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Ashtoreth said, dropping into a curtsy. “I’m Ashtoreth.”
“Oh,” he said. Then, suffusing the word with even more distress, he repeated: “Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, I think there’s been a mistake,” he said. “I was told that I’d be coming in on the human side of things. You know, the hopeless one? The doomed cause?”
“Oh!” Ashtoreth said, realizing his confusion. “Don’t worry—you did! You see, I betrayed Hell! I am an archfiend fighting on the side of humanity. A good archfiend.”
The cat blinked up at her. He cocked his head.
Then he burst out into gales of uproarious laughter, as if he’d never heard anything funnier in his life.