Wide, golden eyes stare at the man who proclaimed himself a demon, a wave of disbelief falling over Valentyn.

‘A demon? Like the ones from my stories?’ His thoughts ran astray. Demons in the real world were beyond his wildest expectations, having only encountered them in fiction.

“Demons exist?”

Sorian smiled, returning to his seat next to the boy.

“We do. Demons exist in a separate plane of being, separated from this earth. We are depicted as evil and selfish creatures by humans, which is quite far from the truth. We simply do things that benefit ourselves.”

“I suppose it makes the part about us being selfish true, though.” He mutters, a chuckle tumbling from his lips.

He cleared his throat, realizing that in his moment of transparency, he had strayed from their original topic. A light flush revealed itself on the tips of his ears at that realization.

Silence rang out, almost deafening in the moment, as Sorian gathered his thoughts and calmed his mind.

“Using your skill, ‘Summoner’s plea’, you brought me from my plane of existence into this plane. Because of my lack of humanity, this system can not affect me the way it affects you humans,” He said, shaking his head slightly and breaking his previous silence.

“If the system can’t affect you, how was I able to summon you through my skill?” Confusion rolled off the boy in waves, frustration leaking into his words.

“That is something I cannot tell you as I am unaware of exactly how it works, though it might have to do with the conditions of your skill.”

Sorian shifts on the couch, his brows furrowing. He seemed conflicted, moving his hands to mess with the pommel of his sword once more, his lack of information for the boy getting to him.

“It is a good thing that I summoned you using ‘Summoner’s Plea?’” He inquired anxiously, wiping his palms off on his pants. This conversation was confusing and nerve-wracking, and all this stress just made Valentyn want to sleep for eternity.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“All I know is that your skill summoned me here to help you. Somehow you met the conditions to summon me, whatever they were, and I feel inclined to help you now that I am here and bonded to you,” Sorian explained, reaching over to stop the motion of Valentyn’s hands on his pants.

“It is in your best interest that you have someone as strong as me by your side. I can lend a hand in areas where you lack understanding and be your protector when you need it. Since we’ve formed a contract, I would never leave you to fight those monsters alone. That would be cruel to you, wouldn’t it?”

Tears sprung in Valentyn’s eyes at Sorian’s declaration. Declarations of protection were a common occurrence in the many adventures he had read, and Sorian, in that instant, bore a striking resemblance to the knights he had read about. Almost like his own personal knight-in-shining armor. All he could manage was a nod, overwhelmed with gratitude.

“Moving on, let me explain how I can be of help to you and how this system works.” He points towards the area in front of him where the status window sits, floating in the air in front of him.

“Earlier, you got a notification about the world ending and that it would be a survival of the hardest workers. You must keep what I tell you in mind.”

A slight chill ran through his spine at that reminder. This situation was just getting more and more complicated as Sorian explained things to him.

“I understand!”

“The system is what we call the purple screen in front of your face. It contains basic information about you, your skills, and your stats.”

Valentyn’s gaze turned from the man, the bright purple raining across his face as he took in the contents of the status window.

———————————————————————————————

Name: {Valentyn Sinclair}

Age: 10

Alias: N/A

Skill(s): Summoner’s Plea

———————————————————————————————

‘That all seems fairly simple. It looks a lot like a video game.’

After he finished reading the screen, another screen popped up, listing new information. He surmised these were the stats Sorian had been talking about.

———————————————————————————————

{Stats}

Strength: 1

Agility: 2

Intelligence: 1

Charisma: 2

Constitution: 2

———————————————————————————————

Sorian’s voice unexpectedly pierced the silence, sending a jolt of surprise through the boy.

“You should understand what stats are, so I doubt I need to add much clarification. Your stats will grow as we go through the mission, though there is no guarantee of it. Most individuals will probably have one stat that increases while the rest remain stagnant. We will see in the future how your stats grow.”

“Since I will act as your strength, I think we should work on building up your resistance. I don’t need my contractor to fall ill in the middle of battle.” Sorian remarked, staring down at the status window. His hand reached out before he brought it back towards his body.

“When do we start?” His brain ran off the nervous energy he gained through the brief conversation, sending ripples of unease through the surrounding air.

“As soon as possible.”