30. My Demon is a Monster

Sunder and I stood guard over the portal, ready to ambush anyone who came through. We had chucked the bodies through to Floor 1, but there wasn’t anything we could do about the bullet holes littering the square. I was conflicted. Retaliating against attackers was one thing, but attacking someone before they proved that they were horrible people… What if they were just on their way to farm the portal?

I devised a test. We hid inside of a building, waiting for someone to show up. If they entered the portal, we left them alone. If they hid in a corner, Sunder pounced. I reasoned that anyone who was hiding was guilty. They might be waiting for a friend to enter the portal, but you could wait in less conspicuous places, so, too bad. I waited, my heart beating out of my chest, for any signs of movement. Sunder only needed to eliminate four people in the first ten minutes, which was an acceptably low number for my morals.

“Hey Sunder, talk to me about the Tower while we wait.”

“What do you wish to know, Master?”

“Gross. Please, just call me Théo. And, well, anything and everything, I guess.”

“Ok, Théo.” She took a breath and then rattled off, as if reading from a book. “The Tower is a magnificent feat of architectural and engineering brilliance, floating majestically through the vast expanse of the cosmos. According to Tower philosopher Leomund-Michel Kerr, its towering structure is supposedly a symbol of gnomish perseverance and imagination, soaring to seemingly impossible heights and defying the limits of conceivable design. The Tower is an unprecedented combination of art, artifice, and magic, serving as a beacon of hope and a testament to their species' unyielding spirit.

Constructed of materials unknown to its residents, the Tower's outer walls are resolutely sturdy, yet at the same time, exhibit an ethereal quality that makes it seem to shimmer and glow. The Tower's many floors and sublevels are interconnected by a complex network of portals, all of which lead to the various environments and ecosystems that have been crafted within its walls. The floors gradually increase in mana density and complexity, allowing for higher life forms to reside in the upper echelons of the Tower without their divine or quasi-divine auras adversely affecting the lower floors.

Its location in the cosmos, floating freely without the constraints of gravity or other physical laws, allows for a truly unique and diverse collection of flora and fauna to flourish. The Tower's many inhabitants are supposed to be bound together by a shared sense of community, and the common goal of exploring and expanding the Tower's limits. Without growth, the Tower starves.

For those who have had the privilege of exploring the Tower, it is an experience that is both awe-inspiring and humbling. Its grandeur and wonder are unmatched, making it an unparalleled achievement of gnomish civilization, and a true marvel of the cosmos.”

I blinked a few times before responding. “Wait… What?” I asked, confused.

Sunder had one hell of a time suppressing an eye roll. She took a breath and started again. “The Tower is a magnificent feat of--”

“No, no, I got that part,” I said, interrupting her. “Did you say that the Tower was built by gnomes?”

“Of course, Théo. Who else would be able to construct and manage such a thing?”

“So, are you saying that the Tower Gods are all… Gnomes?”

She wobbled her head back and forth for a bit before answering. “Not all Tower Gods are gnomes, no. But any of the Tower Gods that are in charge at any given point in time is a gnome, yes. Gnomes rule, it’s what they do in the Tower and it’s what they always will do.”

“Ok, so what’s on each floor?”

“Monsters, puzzles, scenarios, challenges.”

“More specific. I know what’s on the second floor. It’s goblins. What’s on the third floor?”

“Boars, orchards, crafting components,” Sunder replied almost mechanically.

“Fourth floor?”

“Boss floor. A goblin-slime duo.”

“Fifth?”

“Safe zone. Noob Village. Home to humans, dwarves and the occasional spirit.”

I nodded slowly. It was all information that I had either guessed, already knew or that didn’t really change anything for me. Knowing that gnomes ruled the Tower wasn’t really going to help me with slimes, after all. But, it was kind of cool to know.

“How do you know all of this?”

“School,” she said simply.

“Wait, you went to school? Like, a demon school? How does that even work?”

She bristled a bit at my line of questioning, but then composed herself. “Yes, Théo, I went to school. No, it wasn’t a demon school. There’s a climber academy on the tenth floor and it’s open to all of the sapient races.”

“Sapient… Races…” I mumbled. “So, why can I summon you and not humans?” If there were monster races that were treated the same as humans in the upper floors, I wasn’t sure why my skill treated races differently.

Sunder froze for a moment, then looked at me questioningly. “You don’t… Oh, of course you don’t know.” She didn’t say it spitefully. It was more as if she was resigned to talking to a dumbass. I think spite would have hurt less, to be honest. “You don’t consider the other humans monsters. As bad as they get, no matter the atrocities they commit, you see them as your kin.”

“And I… Oh…” It dawned on me. I mean, she spelled it out for me, but I finally understood. No matter how many emotions she presented, I still considered Sunder a monster. Could my skill tell the difference? What if I eventually stopped considering her a monster? Would she disappear from my Bestiary?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Thwain landed in the square, snapping me out of my spiraling. I rushed out to meet him, my haste having absolutely nothing to do with my discomfort.

“Thwain! How did it go?” I asked, smiling a bit too wide.

“Fine. The Church and the gangs are really going at it, though. It’s getting pretty crazy. Even Awakened were duking it out in the streets, Théo. I don’t know how many more of these trips we can make.”

I turned to look at the four people entering the square. “Mame! Pape!” I yelled, rushing over to my parents.

“Théo!” My mother said, grabbing onto my hands. “Thwain said we’re going to camp out in Floor 1. How can we possibly…” She trailed off, searching my face. Thwain cleared his throat.

“It’s going to be fine,” I assured her. “Let’s go, we need to move. I’ll explain on the way.”

I dismissed Sunder as we ushered our new members towards the portal. When I popped through into Floor 1, I was greeted with a slight oversight of mine. My parents, as well as two men who looked suspiciously like Pyro, stared in horror at the twenty two husks of what used to be highwaymen. Portalmen? I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed at forgetting to dispose of the bodies before my parents saw them.

“Uh… Yeah, about that,” I mumbled. “They were set up to ambush us. And you. We, uh… We took care of it?”

My mother trembled, clinging to my father’s hands. I couldn’t help but realize how gaunt she looked. My father, too. They were just so thin. Too thin. His usually ruddy face was sunken and ashen, the few hairs he had left were gray and thin. It only served to accentuate the same large nose that I inherited from his side of the family. Her hair was likewise thin, her arms looking like not much more than sticks. They would no doubt need a few days to rest and eat before making the trip to Floor 2, but they should be fine in the safety of our bunker. Plus, once they got their classes, they would feel better.

I awkwardly shuffled my parents and Pyro’s family members to the other side of the portal, away from the bodies, as I sat down and rested. I shared what food I had left with the four of them while Thwain dipped back into the Slums to make sure we didn’t have any surprise visitors.

After an hour or so of resting, I felt confident in being able to summon Slimey and make it back to base. When Thwain appeared again for his usual fifteen minute check-in, I let him know that I was good to go. With a warning to my parents, I summoned Slimey and had him mop up our mess.

With four people to escort instead of two, and with how slow my parents were, our trip to the base took a few extra minutes compared to our earlier voyage. It wasn’t necessarily a complication, it just meant that I was inching that much closer to being exhausted by the time the growing set of stone towers came into view. Pyro sure had outdone himself. With his increased skill rank and his growing mana pool, he had been expanding the base into a sprawling complex equipped with all sorts of slime traps.

Thwain landed on a tower and entered the base ahead of us, signaling Pyro to open us a way in. When a hole in the base opened to let us in, I sent Slimey on his usual run around the base. I brought my parents on a tour, showing them the little nooks we called bedrooms, the storage areas, the weapons racks and noting the little conveniences Pyro had added while we were out. The Geomancer had even taken the time to carve out little shelves in the sleeping areas so that everyone could have their little personal storage spaces. There was also much more light streaming in from vents in the ceiling, able to be open to the outside because of the ever-growing moat surrounding our home.

Once my parents were settled (ish), with a meal and water skins, I headed up top to watch Slimey work, and to ponder our future. I watched him massacre slimes, disappearing over a hill and circling back, making sure to stop slimes from overwhelming our defenses, but also giving the various spike traps the time to work their magic. I checked my Bestiary, looking at Sunder’s as well as Slimey’s stats.

[https://i.imgur.com/TyeTp8L.png]

Bestiary entry: Demon selected.

Soul strength: 35.3%. Collect more essence to increase soul strength.

Stats: Speed prioritized.

Health: F+

Phys Power: E+

Magic power: D-

Magic resistance: E-

Physical resistance: E

Speed: E

[https://i.imgur.com/lOtTQcK.png]

Bestiary entry: Devourer slime selected.

Soul strength: 756%. Collect more essence to increase soul strength.

Stats : Size prioritized.

Size: D+

Magic power: E+

Magic resistance: E

Physical resistance: F+

Speed: F+

Shrinkage: F-

Slimey was getting so close to 800% that I could almost taste it. Just a little more farming and he would hopefully hit a threshold. I winced as I watched the tiny lights of a few loot orbs appear and then promptly disappear inside of my happily burbling slime. Common white orbs and uncommon green orbs spawned and were consumed, each loss of loot turning my mood a little sourer with each orb that I lost. Sure, I could ask Pyro to let me out and I could have Slimey escort me to each loot orb, but so many slimes needed to die for a loot orb to spawn and having me accompany him would only slow my summon down significantly. He could now speed off faster than I could run, meaning that he would need to slow down to at least my jogging speed and I’d have to hope that a loot orb spawned before I tired out. When Slimey could only move quickly in short bursts, it was easy to walk with him without tiring or slowing his clearing speed, but now that he was zipping up and down hills… We needed to figure out an equilibrium before we ran out of food. I’d obviously sacrifice my summon’s soul strength gain in exchange for keeping my family alive, but it would still sting a bit, watching the percentage slow to a crawl.