Sli!?
Looking at the pile of corpses, Serea opened her palm.
"Don't ss with —if I get another fallen Lucia, I might as well not use this lousy skill."
As she spoke, the skill icon marked with a bundle of tentacles lit up.
Abyss Summon!
The skill activated, and a pentagram appeared beneath the corpses, an eerie aura emanating from it, and Serea began chanting along.
"O mighty ones from the Endless Abyss, accept these as offerings and heed my call!"
Then, to improve her chances, Serea even tossed in fifty fear crystals, which really showed her sincerity...
System: Contact established with 172 abyssal creatures willing to accept the summon.
"How many fallen Lucia are there?"
System: 171.
"Good. So, is the remaining one a Deepwater Fishman?"
System: No.
"All right, bring it out for to see."
As soon as she finished speaking, a spatial portal shrouded in black-violet mist appeared before Serea. Since she hadn't formally established a contract yet, Serea could only see that mass on the other side...
A squashed 'ball'? That was the only way to describe it.
"Huh? Soone's actually summoning ."
The voice was casual, and the tone... was kind of cute?
Just by the sound, Serea could tell it wasn't so powerful creature—however, given the precedent of Dogsius, she didn't dare underestimate this 'ball'. She examined it closely, and its form was rather peculiar.
If she had to describe her first impression of the creature...
Sli!
"You're... a sli?"
"I suppose you could say I'm a harmless little sli."
The white, semi-transparent 'sli'-like creature on the ground answered without a care.
"From your lazy tone, you don't seem all that interested in being summoned..."
"Of course. Isn't being summoned just such a hassle?"
"Then why did you agree to the summon?!"
"Because your offering is really tempting. I wanted to try and see if I could get you to give it to for free."
"I can't believe you just said that out loud..."
Serea couldn't help but retort. She herself didn't know why she was bickering with a sli.
Finding it all a bit strange, Serea used Appraise on the sli...
Role: Pelam (Doppelganger Demon, Legendary)
Level: 20
Status: good
Spirit: A
Strength: F
Agility: F
Endurance: F
Physique: F
Charm: A
Luck: A
Skills: Shapeshift
Description: Feeds on pure energy and minerals, and can easily disguise itself as anything.
Shapeshift (Tier 3): Can mimic anything, but only retains 90% of the mimicked target's power; the duration of the disguise is proportional to the target's strength.
"As I thought..."
Serea said, a aningful smile appearing on her lips.
"You'll do. I want to form a contract with you—na your terms!"
"But I'm really lazy. I don't want to do anything too troubleso, so forget it..."
Pelam spoke, wriggling as if to leave. Seeing this, Serea quickly took out a fear crystal.
"You want to eat this, don't you?"
Seeing Serea take out the fear crystal, pelam stopped.
"I would like to eat it, but you're not going to give it to for free."
"That's easy. If you agree to my summon, I'll give you one a day—how's that? And look, I've got plenty of different flavors."
Serea brought out blood crystals, Death crystals, and soul crystals. Since doppelganger demons feed on pure energy and minerals, Serea's materials were incredibly attractive to her.
At this mont, Dogsius jumped out.
"I want to eat soul crystals too!"
"Get back—no causing trouble!"
"......"
Looking at the four crystals in Serea's hand, pelam gave it so serious thought.
"That actually sounds pretty good, but I'm so lazy, and pretty weak too—are you sure you want to summon ?"
"Don't worry. Under normal circumstances, nothing troubleso will co your way."
"Really?"
Pelam asked lazily.
"Really."
Serea shook the material crystals in her hand, still tempting Pelam. Pelam agreed without any sha.
"All right, switching where I sleep does sound pretty nice. At least with you around, I won't have to go hunting for food."
With that, pelam made for the portal—and, as expected, slamd into it.
Thud!
"Ow."
Pelam rolled back, and Serea reminded her.
"You have to sign a contract with before you can co over."
"So much hassle... Suddenly I don't want to co anymore."
"It's not trouble at all, really—it'll just take a mont. Is a master-servant contract all right?"
Serea gently coaxed. Hearing this, pelam mulled it over.
"A master-servant contract doesn't sound so good..."
As an abyssal creature, she tried to recall the contract's terms, but soon, since it was too much trouble, she gave up thinking about it.
"Whatever, too much bother. Let's just sign it."
"Great!"
A phantom sheepskin scroll appeared, and Serea set the terms to grant Pelam one 'material crystal' per day. The contract type was master-servant.
Serea signed, and the contract passed through the portal to Pelam, who signed it without even looking.
The contract vanished and took effect, and Pelam tried passing through the portal again. This ti, she easily slipped through and landed at Serea's feet.
Seeing Pelam co over, Serea picked her up in both hands and brought her up to eye level.
"Is your real form just a sli?"
Serea examined her closely.
"No, I take this shape because it's the least taxing to maintain."
The cute voice sounded, and looking at the squinty-eyed sli, Serea began to feel a bit drowsy herself.
"By the way, did you know I'm a doppelganger demon?"
"Uh... Even if I didn't know before you said it, I sure do now."
"Oh, I slipped up."
Pelam said, but didn't care and just opened her mouth to swallow all four crystals in Serea's hand.
"I thought we agreed on one, not all of them..."
"I never turn down food."
Pelam said, not chewing at all—she just enveloped the crystals, and in just a few seconds, they were digested.
"Since you ate so much of my materials, shouldn't you show sothing?"
"Show you what?"
"Demonstrate your ability. Let see just how far your mimicry can go."
"All right—I guess since you fed so well, a demonstration wouldn't hurt."
With that, pelam hopped down, turned to look at Serea, and asked cheerfully,
"Can I use you as the template?"
"No problem."
"All right, here I go."
As she spoke, pelam's body started to expand, quickly growing into the outline of a human form. In a few seconds, the girl's delicate features had been copied perfectly.
"There, all done."
Pelam said, now speaking in Serea's exact voice, and her looks were identical—the presence and aura were both utterly convincing.
In just a few seconds, a brand-new 'Serea' stood in front of the real Serea.
But there was one problem!
No clothes on the transford form?!
Serea froze for half a second, then hurriedly yanked off her cloak and draped it over Pelam.
User Comments
0 comments from readers