“Seer Tribe? It seems you are a unique mortal. Now, tell me, what is it you seek me for?”

“How would I not know of the honourable Seer Tribe of the Demon Realm that existed for thousands and thousands of years, overlooking the realm and serving it with utmost determination, ensuring the protection of each and every demon summoned away?”

Seeing that the servants are getting weaker by the second, I push the talk for later as I tell him what I summoned his existence for “I seek a demon, young yet experienced, sly and scheming, yet not too adventurous.”

The servants nod at the first compliment and answered after the reply “You seek to play with fire, mortal. Unique or not, even a contract will fail to stop the will of a demon, what will their task be? Forget not, a demon will never be a puppet.”

“I do not seek a puppet nor someone without will, much less a demon. They shall rein my Noble House in my stead as I will be leaving for a long time, with the only purpose of them being to uphold my House and treat it as their home. The demon shall be third in command of my title, and if they wish so, they are free to take on my last name and bind their fate to the House.”

“Young mortal, are you clear of your words?” the devil asks, a bit excitement in his voice. As I am not making the demon I summon a servant but a true member of my house. Additionally, I even offer them to bind their fate with that of the house. It is basically a free pass for any demon that comes to build up a new lineage of demonkin, the best part is that they would have legitimate identities already with a foundation to boot.

“Yes, I am. I seek no slave but allies, and a bit of amusement. This shall count as a favour I give your Seer Tribe, what do you think about it?” This is my true goal – the Seer Tribe had influence in the Demmon Realm, and they were specialised in interesting kinds of magic. This was also the reason they were struggling with gaining access to the main world.

They were the best in trickery and seeing through trickery, their expertise being mind and illusion magic. Obviously, no fool would summon them, and whenever that happened, they would often fail because of various reasons. With a given identity, they might very well get a real foothold. The reason the devil even entertained Alaric the whole time was because he was able to see through lies, and he had yet to detect even the lightest intention of lying.

“Is this the Vessel you offer?” the devil asks while the servants, who looked very strained by now, turn to the mistress “She has no blood of yours.”

“That is right, only a fool offers their own blood for vessels. But worry not, she was the old mistress of my father and has married into the family, so she has karmic connection. With this, it should be enough to fool any cultivator of karma, if that is what you think.

Our family is special, so the demon can be revealed to be a lost sister of the body’s owner after some time. Just let her act like her currently, you seers are goo with illusion and mind magic, no? Your target is only a 6-Circle mage, that should be possible.

Just refrain from using long-lasting mind magic, make it short ones to bridge the plot holes in the story, and with time, the holes will lose it’s meaning. To the outside, this family was a marquisate, and we are diminishing currently, the strongest being the butler over there.” Alaric talks while pointing at Kendrick, who has not understood a single word since the two began talking, the passive pressure already nearly killing him.

The only reason Alaric didn’t feel it is because he included that in the ritual, it’d be weird if he shivered when calling forth a devil, someone of godhood-rank. Of course, it’s stupid to think that godhood is a singular rank and not divided into many different levels – the world is too big for a new god to even be able to dominate even a small continent like the ones he is on, not to mention the central continent, which is several times larger than all the other continents combined. If it wasn’t for that, how could there be three different merchantries Alaric considered, not to mention all the others that he didn’t think of joining.

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“You can send a talented child of your tribe into the body of this vessel, let it take over and slowly assimilate. By the time she’s finished assimilating, she should also be able to transform her body. I will be honest; I am just giving out ideas and won’t even be present. You will be on your own the whole time, at most I can write down a ritual or two that help. Even if it might not look like it, I am quite an expert in rituals.”

Ahh, I’ll just call every free-form essence-manipulation rituals from now on, who cares, those nerds in the forums can’t read my thoughts anyways. In it’s cut down form, every free-form is a ritual of sorts, and the short key-combinations in the real world are just as long-winding as prayers, and prayers might as well be called rituals.

“To be able to inscribe the ritual you have down in such short time, with still fresh blood from measly twenty sacrifices are enough evidence of your ability. Very well, unique being, I, Oianon of the Seer Tribe, Arbiter of the Demon Realm and Witness of countless Pacts, owe you, Alaric van Violet, a favour of- “as the demon was about to finish the oath, Alaric gave his suggestion.

“a favour of similar dimensions as I have given.” This would mean that the favour depended on how much of a favour it was to give the Seer Tribe a chance at creating their Demonkin lineage in the main world. It was a risk for both sides, but the demon accepted.

“-a favour of similar dimensions as you, Alaric van Violet, summoner with hidden true name and master of rituals, have given.” The servants seemed to smile for a second before one after another fell down as presence flooded into the world, piercing dimensions. The presence wasn’t stronger quality-wise, but it was more direct and not restrained.

Interesting, summoner with hidden name and master of rituals, is this my first step in gaining a true title? Gotta get other higher entities to call me by that, and I would truly gain that title. I just wonder what power I get through that. True titles are bound to one’s origin, as much as true names, my true name represents a lot and my strength also is bound to it in an indescribable way, the same is true for a true title.

Names are fully unique and don’t give out any hints about what strength they give, as they are more bound to the life the person themselves lived… but titles are much easier to guess it’s strength, so maybe summoner with hidden true name, hides my true name stronger while enhancing my summoning-affinity? Master of Rituals is a weaker title that doesn’t go into the realm of origin, unlike true names, this is probably something any mortal with a certain mastery can get, as long as they are acknowledged by other mortals. In the game, true titles were passive buffs, but I can’t check it out here, at least I’m good at guessing…

With the last servant down, the presence reduced significantly and the mistress in the middle opened her previously closed eyes. She looks around the room for a second before she spots Alaric and bows slightly to him “I greet thee, Alaric van Violet, benefactor of the Seer Tribe.”

Woop, another chance of gaining a true title, but this one will probably come faster to be, as long as enough devils of their tribe know about me, and if the mission of hers is successful. Guess I’ll give her a good ritual, after all. The effect is also good, maybe I get more affinity to mind-magic?

“Greetings, child of the Seer Tribe, would you like to tell me your name?” I ask.

She replies calmly “I am Onaia, Child of Oianon and…” she hesitates before becoming firmer “and Spark for the Seer Tribe Demonkin”.

Hmm, a title that probably grows with her accomplishments, it seems this is a parting gift and the only advantage she will have. If the gods intervene too much, then the world won’t accept the connecting point between soul and body, sending the demon right back to the demon realm, or not giving them any chance to bear children. There are many other ways the world would use to stop the demon from becoming a demonkin if the gods intervene a lot.

“Great, Onaia, you occupy the body of Maria van Violet, my stepmother and third in command over House Violet. A commoner that was found by the past marquis, he then married you and let you stay to take care of me because he was bedridden and soon died after. You supress me a bit but never show it to the outside world, besides making a few sarcastic remarks.

Today I will announce that we found the long-lost niece of her, making you, my cousin. I will sign off that you are the fourth in command and become third when my stepmother dies, while you will also represent me when I’m not around.”