6) Getting on top of things

  There was a brief moment of silence as my various summoned creatures settled around the room before Viola finally responded to my announcement that I had questions.

  “Well, I might have answers… At least some.”

  I turned my salamander around and rushed it at the table her cage was sitting on, having the fire lizard leap upwards as it got close. Only to have its upper chest thump against the edge of the tabletop, it’s leap not quite getting it all the way to the top of the table.

  Instead, it hung from the side of the table by its tiny front claws, dangling as its lower limbs were too far away from the table legs to try to climb its way up.

  Acting all on its own, the Undine, a small scaled and finned creature skittered over and pressed its hands up against the bottom of the salamander’s feet, pushing the fire lizard up high enough for it to scramble up and make its way over to the fairy squeezed into the undersized wrought iron bird cage.

  Which had a lock, as well as tiny little barbs sticking out all over the metal of the cage. The barbs were all pointed towards the inside of the cage where they had left little bloody scratches and puncture marks all over the trapped fairy within.

  Many of those marks on her left shoulder and upper arm were fairly fresh from where she had been pressing herself against the metal bars of the cage in an effort to reach her hand out to me, letting me know I wasn’t alone.

  Whatever anger I had been feeling toward her for not warning me about demons coming for me after I took a class… was still there. Muted now, but still there.

  Viola struggled to give the salamander a big smile from inside the cage, even as she still shook in fear at knowing the roaches would have come for her next after finishing me. While she had to sit there helplessly, waiting for them to attack her.

  Her smile crumbled, “I’m sorry Fell, the Mother of All embodies us as Rank ones. I never had the Child class, so I didn’t even think about it. Once one of the corporals like you takes a real Rank one class and starts pulling at the background Chaos all around them to generate Merit points, Demons feel the Chaos you’re pulling at and come running.”

  She shrugged. “And when a Child ranks up, it's a whole thing. People gather up around them to deal with any weak low Ranked Demons that would be lurking in a big city like this.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “I just didn’t think.”

  I huffed. “I’m buying that you screwed up, and know it. But really? A tear?”

  The fairy immediately grinned. “I guess I should have known you would be all hard core. But I am truly, honestly sorry, but... no one got hurt, and you should have another two beast cores now that are weak enough for you to turn them into two more Totems. It’s all good.”

  She began pumping her fists up and down within the limited space inside her cage. “Yeah, you won. Now, could you please get me OUT OF HERE? Seriously, all this iron… it hurts. Pretty badly, and it’s a constant pain.”

  Seeing the lock, I knew from my god’s gift of common knowledge that I would need a key for the lock and peered over the edge of the table to look down with the salamander’s eyes. For something about the size of a kitten, it was a long way down.

  “Undine.” The scaly humanoid creature, the only one of my summons with opposable thumbs, looked over at my Core. “Search the dead body for keys, along with anything else.”

  It nodded and began poking and tugging at the dead body, starting at Nictob’s bald head. I guess it understood that I wanted something, but lacked the knowledge of where to find something like a key on someone.

  “No. Not behind his ear. Check his clothes.” You only find coins behind someone’s ears.

  I had to rely on the summons to find the keys on its own, and I was sure it would, eventually.

  Meanwhile… “How many creatures can I summon and how long do they stick around?”

  Viola pressed her head up to the top of the inside of the cage, trying to catch a glimpse of my Core, and winced at something sharp that poked her in the head. I moved the salamander up closer to her, but not quite within her reach. “Just talk to…” Saladmander the salamander? No. I needed something noble, a name worthy of my innate summons…

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  Caesar? The name popped into my head for some reason. But it sounded appropriate enough. “Talk to Caesar. I can see you through his eyes.”

  The fairy grinned at the salamander, started to say something, then looked alarmed, and began trying to readjust her dress and comb her hair with her fingers, grimacing at nearly every movement caused her to poke up against one or more of the barbs on the bars of the cage. “Hang on! Wait, don’t look at me. Turn around!”

  I sighed. “Viola. I’m a rock. And I know you’re hardly at your best. Just talk to me.”

  She crossed her arms and pouted. “Fine…” Then she blinked as she gave me a confused look. “Wait, what did you need me to talk about?”

  I glared at her with Caesar. “Summoners. Tell me what you know.”

  The fairy brightened up, “Oh yeah. So you can summon one creature at a time for each Totem you have, but the points you spend to get them don’t come back as long as they are out, and they fade away if they get more than three times your spirit… which will be three hundred feet for you. Oh, you’re stats are so broken.”

  She pouted again.

  Settling Caesar down in what felt like a more comfortable position, I decided I would almost be relieved once I freed the fairy and she left. Even if I was left with no one to answer my questions.

  “So after something kills a summons, I can summon another one from the same Totem?”

  Viola frowned. “It depends?” She shrugged. “I think Demons can do something that keeps Summoners from calling their creatures back right away, but if you unsummon your creatures, or if they get stepped on or something, you can call them right back?” The fairy shrugged again. “I’m sorry Fell, I just don’t know. I’ve spent my entire life helping fields of wildflowers grow without being altered by Chaos into having tentacles with mouths on the ends or something. All I got is gossip. It’s not like anyone bothers to teach us stuff about people.”

  She frowned. “Other than to hide from them.”

  So I had the magic points to keep all these guys out and about, and a lot more of them as well. “Blinky, how many more Rank one cores can I collect.”

  [ You are presently the closest to x2 Rank 1 Dread Cockroach Cores ]

  “Turn both of them into my Totems, and summon both of them Blinky.”

  Two solid black cockroaches appeared, each of them smaller by far than either of the two dead insects lying halfway between me and the door they had come in under.

  Different ranks? Or was it a matter of levels within the same rank? The roaches I had killed had left behind Rank one Cores, so they had to be Rank one creatures that I had summoned. Right?

  [ 91 magic points remaining ]

  I hadn’t gotten any of those points back, but then I wouldn’t since I hadn’t lost any more summons, so…

  “Boys, kill those roaches.”

  The hawk swooped down and crushed one below its talons, while the snake and some of the others rushed over and began tearing the other two roaches into various pieces.

  [ Rank 1 Level 1 Dread Cockroach designated A, B, and C destroyed]

  [ 93 magic points remaining ]

  Alright, I got the points back… The fairy winced as she began clapping her hands together so hard inside her cage that she had brushed up against the bars again. “Ow. You are really viscous Fell. Killing your own guys. By the way, any progress on GETTING ME OUT OF HERE!”

  I gave a small gasp. Oh yeah. “Undine? Any progress?”

  The small scaly creature’s head popped up from the other side of the body, and it held up a ring with well over two dozen keys on it.

  Ah. Well, at least one of those had to do the job.