She Demon

by A P Gore

  He ordered five cups of Starbugs. The aroma of the coffee aroused his senses, but right now he was worried about something else. “Can you please tell me if Thia is okay?”

  “She is. Your health potion saved her life. But not for long. Not unless you earn a blessing from me.”

  Noah dropped to his knees. “How much time does she have?”

  “Maybe a couple of days if you don’t get her an antidote. Or a blessing from me,” Sumara replied with a cunning smile.

  Antidote. Roderich was dead, and Noah didn’t know how to make them. “Goddess, please. Please tell me how to save her. I’ve found an herb that will turn into coffee soon. But that soon is not two days soon. Can you please, please, please tell me the way to save her?”

  “I guess I can. You’ve earned my blessing by destroying the plot against me. And I know you can’t make the coffee out of the teccino until you get your hands on one of the required components, blue grass herb.”

  Noah stared at Sumara’s face with his life on the line.

  “Okay, it’s very simple. Make her your soul companion. That should put her off my curse partially.”

  “Partially? And what is a soul companion?”

  “It’s a blessing in disguise for you. When you take a soul companion, you bind that person’s life to yours. So, the curse would be shared by you both. You are immortal. So, unless she dies physically in a battle, she should be safe.”

  Noah’s heart filled with pure joy. It was so easy to save Thia. Why didn’t Roderich knew this? “Wow! That’s great. It’ll buy me time to find the cure. Thanks a lot, Goddess. You are a real life saver.”

  “But there is a catch to this. Actually, two fucking catches to this.”

  The smile on Noah’s face disappeared.

  Sumara continued, “First, you can’t leave her behind for more than three days at max. If you do, she will lose the companion bond and die from the curse. Second, you’ll have to die instead of her once every month.”

  “Okay.” Those were bad conditions, but it could be worse. He was immortal, so he wouldn’t worry about it.

  “Don’t forget, after level 10 you lose all level progression every time you die.”

  “Holy moly.” Noah hadn’t thought about that. He was on the verge of reaching level 10, and that would mean no free dying anymore.

  “That’s it. And thanks for the coffee.” Sumara winked and vanished from the respawn room.

  Noah looked at his notifications. He opened the ornate one first.

  Congratulations! You have become the new ruler of the town of Sumara. You inherit the fifty remaining demons and the throne of the town. Build it into an empire to earn blessings from the Goddess.

  Epic Quest Alert: Flourish the town of Sumara into an Empire.

  Town of Sumara is going through a rough patch and needs tender care and major rebuilding efforts. Would you do that for your goddess? Reward: Goddess Blessing. Failure to complete: Variable.

  Accept: Yes/No?

  “What the ….”

  Sumara chuckled from heaven, or whatever place she lived in. “You killed the last high-level person in town, so the town ownership automatically transferred to you.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. I’m not a demon.”

  “Who said only a demon can rule a demon town? Have you seen how humans are living among the elves, dwarves, and many other races?”

  “No. Damn! I have to get to the human side and meet my daughter. Why do I even care for this shit anymore?” But no, this shit was real for him now. He loved Thia as his daughter, and he was going to find a way to cure her from the curse first. He liked Rihala too, and he had promised her that he would save her. He couldn’t go back on his promises.

  “Will you? Leaving Thia and Rihala behind?”

  She was right. “No, I can’t, and I won’t. But being the head of a town? I know nothing about that.”

  “Keep giving me coffee and I might help you with it.”

  Noah stared at the ceiling, thinking she would be somewhere in the sky. “Why would you help me?”

  “I have my own motives. Now shut up. I have my own work, too.” Her voice vanished after that.

  Noah rubbed his forehead. He didn’t understand what he would do with the whole town. But he accepted the quest.

  The respawn timer ended 24 hours later, and he left the respawn room with a heavy and confused heart.

  32. First Pillar

  Sumara

  It was the hundredth time, if not hundred and one, Sumara had watched the shining pillar of blue light in her only existent temple on the earth—or rather, BlackFlame Online, as they called it these days.

  She glanced at the shiny blue metal plate on her armor one more time and stepped inside the hall of greater gods. Her love, Lucifer, was waiting for her. The sun and moon shined in the sky, providing ample light to illuminate her walkway. The untamed, shrieking wind outside of the hall flew like a horse along the pathway. Even the wind wouldn’t dare to evoke one of the golden god’s rage upon it.

  She licked her lips, absorbing the sweet taste of coffee one last time before stepping in front of her love.

  She stopped in front of the ruby eyes that were fixed on some distant horizon. Not anymore. She pulled out the shining metal piece of her armor and stabbed it in her love’s right ruby eye, shattering it into pieces of glass.

  His eyes opened for the first time in BlackFlame. The devil himself opened his eyes.

  “What is this? Is that you my love?” he asked, in her mind.

  “Yes, my love. My lord. It is me, Sumara.”

  “But…”

  “My plan is working. The first divine plate has been lit up when the old Drakonia had the new owner.”

  “What? But, how could he? How did he manage it in so little time?”

  “When you have a lower god of the game as your friend, many things are possible.”

  “Still, owning a town is nothing. I don’t believe he crossed one condition of your puzzle just by inheriting the town.”

  “Even I didn’t expect it. But the human is full of surprises; he claimed the site of the fire dragon by defeating the two guardian snakes. Only a human player could do it.”

  “Those are the puny obstacles my love, but can he conquer the next obstacle and reunite your empire?”

  “Time will tell.” She paused, thinking. “But the strangest thing is he found friends in demons. Two girls, and that wasn’t in my plan. I never asked Varuna, the lower god of the Zedusania empire, to steer the things in that direction.” That was unexpected, and the way Noah had made his way into those two women’s hearts was astonishing.

  “Is he making a harem or what?” Lucifer chuckled, fixing his eyes on her face.

  “Not at all. He calls one of them his daughter.”

  “If I were you my love, I would have kept him away from the women. Love or lust are not good for our mission.”

  “Maybe you are right, my lord. I do need to keep him away and focused on the real task. Killing two pieces of code is nothing for a god.”

  33. Town Management

  Noah walked through the grimy hole of the council hall. It was hot and moist that day, making Noah wary of his thin shirt. The surface of the ground was still red, painted with the high priest’s blood. But the shattered pieces of his body had been cleaned up by someone. He could even see an attempt to clean up the blood, as the residual water reflected the lights from the torches lit across the council hall walls. It seemed a bit brighter today. Not daylight bright, but I-can-see-well-enough bright.

  “My lord, welcome to the council of the town of Sumara. I’m your assistant and will help you with civil matters.” A demon wearing a bright white fur coat stepped in front of him and handed him the golden diadem he had retrieved from the Xamphala cave. The demon sounded odd, like he was talking with something in his mouth.

  Noah wondered how the demon could wear such a hefty piece of fur on his body despite the warmth of the air. “Wh
at is your name?”

  The demon in the white fur coat bowed in front of him. “I’m called Troy, my lord.”

  “Troy, call me Noah. And tell me where the demon girl is.”

  “No, My Lord. I can’t. Goddess Sumara will curse me. I can’t dare to call the lord by his name.” Troy stepped closer, so close that Noah could smell the food he’d eaten today, some kind of nasty smelling meat which he couldn’t identify clearly. “Lord, we have a problem to discuss before I call upon other council members.”

  Noah’s nostrils flared in annoyance, in part due to the filthy smell Troy was giving away, and part to the work problem. “What problem?” He was here to save Thia, not deal with problems. “First tell me: where is the girl?”

  “She is doing well, my lord. I came here after I got the notification of the fall of the high priest. I was shocked at first to see a girl. I knew she was special. I asked my assistant to take care of her.”

  Noah chuckled. “Assistant for an assistant. That’s funny, Troy. Anyway, what’s the problem you were talking about?” Thia was all right, so he could check on the issue the fur-coated-assistant was bringing up now.

  “We have a food problem, my lord. I tried to tell that to the previous lord, but he didn’t listen. I know the lord prior to him was trying to set up a trade agreement with a nearby town. I know it failed.”

  “Food issue? Doesn’t every demon in town eat meat? And there is plenty of that in the forest.”

  Quest Alert: Feed the town

  Your town is hungry, and there is no quality food available for more than 3 days. They are not able to sleep because of the tension. Get your townspeople out of the rough patch.

  Reward: +2000 reputation with town of Sumara. 100 BP points. Failure: -2000 reputation with town of Sumara. Demons will die. Demons will flee to other towns.

  “I know not everyone eats meat. I know some eat grains and bread. My lord, one hunter died last week. I know other one is injured.”

  Noah found demon’s speech pattern a little odd. He was mostly using sentences starting with “I”, but then demons weren’t humans to speak perfect English. Heck, he himself didn’t know how to speak a perfect English sentence. Who am I to judge a demon by his language? Maybe the game translation is bad.

  So, he ignored fur-coat-demon’s language patterns and accepted the quest. What other option did he have? “Okay, so what do you want me to do? Ask someone else to go and hunt. Demons are strong, and anyone should be able to hunt an animal.” He was hoping to solve the issue this way. Just send more demons to hunt.

  Troy retrieved a paper from his pocket. “My lord, no. I know only hunters can hunt.” He pointed at the paper. “We have only two hunters. I think you don’t know about professions yet. I ask you to check your town management sheet.”

  Noah knew what he needed to do; he willed it. He had learned it with lots of struggles.

  A screen popped in front of him with various tabs and details. He willed to search for the people tab. A list appeared in front of him.

  Demon Town of Sumara Level 1

  Total Population: 50

  Adults: 30

  Children: 20

  Houses Available: 20

  Then there was a profession tab. He selected it.

  Total Profession selected people: 16

  Blacksmith: 0

  Cook: 2

  Hunter: 1 (Injured)

  Leather worker: 0

  Merchant: 0

  Vegetable gatherer: 0

  Builder: 2(1 Novice, 1 Adapt)

  Iron Miner: 4

  Stone Miner: 4

  Herbalist: 2 (Including the head man)

  Healer: 1

  Wood workers: 2

  Non Professional assigned residents: 32

  “Why do we have non-professional workers? And what do they do?”

  “I know it’s a low number. My lord, most of them are children. I know a few people are old. Both can’t work,” Troy replied.

  Noah gawked at the food tab.

  Food Available:

  50 meat pieces

  50 wheat pieces

  50 vegetable pieces

  Days remaining to starve: 3

  “What the heck? Why do I see only 3 days of food?” Noah groaned. This was bad. “And what am I supposed to do here?”

  “My lord, you need to bring food,” Troy said in his mushy voice.

  It was a nightmare. How was he supposed to feed his people? This was a disaster. Life was so simple before he became the lord of this town. Mathial and Roderich used to give him so much better food. Damn!

  34. gamisha

  Tia

  Tia watched the planet they hovered over from the glass window. She pressed her nose against the cold glass, trying to view more of the beautiful sheets of clouds. Soon, the beauty would be replaced by the concrete jungle the planet was known for. Gamisha was its name. Five moons rotated around it, providing a 24/7 light source. The planet rotated around a dead star, so there was no light. Someone had stupidly invented the idea of creating moons to provide light, giving rise to the never-sleeping cities of the gaming planet.

  The layer of clouds vanished, and the bright lights of their target city winked at her. The intense light evoked the memory of when she first visited Thema, the academy planet. It had an academy building visible from space, and she was flattered to see it for the first time. Here, on Gamisha, even a city with few million population had multiple buildings taller than the academy tower. The huge structure of her academy building seemed a lot smaller against the skyscrapers this planet had.

  As the craft descended, the air around them grew colder. The temperature dropped suddenly, and she pulled her hands closer to her chest and crossed them around each other, trying to cope with the cold. Emanuel put his jacket around her shoulders.

  She wrapped it tightly around her hands, inhaling his familiar scent. "Em, tell me once again, why we are in the transportation craft?" Laxania had offered them space on the transportation craft, which was cold, odd, and didn't restrict the sounds of the planetary atmosphere penetrations that sounded like metal crushing against metal, only 100 times louder. The craft was clearly not made for human transportation.

  Tia was adamant to go on Gamisha, but Em had persuaded her.

  “Ten more minutes, love. We are almost there.” he said, in an apologetic tone. It was he who dragged her with him. She didn't want to get within even a few thousand miles of the Laxania offices.

  He rubbed her shoulder, easing her with a familiar spell. He always did this when she was angry, and his actions made her relax and just agree with his thoughts.

  She closed her eyes; the jacket smelled of him and the faint perfume he regularly used mixed together. It was a comfy feeling. She inched closer to him, and Emanuel wrapped his arms around her. He was the only comfort she had, and if it wasn’t for him, she would never have agreed to visit Laxania’s main office.

  The insulting journey finally ended, and they landed at the private starport of Laxania Corp. The starport was huge. Her whole academy building could fit inside it. There were about fifty different sized cargo ships parked in it. All were carrying one thing, white pods. She had seen them in cable ads; they were used for the full immersion VR-MMORPG games.

  A message popped on Em's PC, asking them to wait for the escort to arrive, so they stood in the parking bay, watching the operations of the various ships through a huge glass wall. Tia had traveled on space crafts, but she had never seen so many ships in one place. And the way the ships moved without hitting each other was next to a miracle.

  She inched closer to Em and slipped her arm in the gap between his torso and arm, brushing her nose on his shirt, smelling his familiar scent. “Em, you never told me the reason behind your brother’s motive for entering the game. Why did he do it?” She looked up into the blue eyes of her love.

  Em’s face darkened. It was his usual reaction, to shy away from the reason for his brother’s actions.

  “Welc
ome, guys.” A man in black suit entered the parking lobby of the starport. “Tia Maddison. If you had told me you were coming, I’d have arranged a special VIP craft for you.”

  Tia turned in shock. It was the same man she had met a few days back with the proposal to meet her father in the game. She knew the black-suited man worked on Gamisha, but she never thought she would meet him here.

  Her forehead creased as Balthazar extended a hand along with a fake smile. She hated her dad, and now she hated this man too.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks for coming along on this ride.

  …but the trip isn’t over.

  Rihala is in danger, but Noah is not giving up on her. Not yet, not ever.

  But he is just the ruler of a small town, while Jethro is High Priest of the whole empire.

  And that’s not the only thing Noah has to worry about. The town is in trouble.

  There are more quests, items, and town management in the next installment.

  The story will keep you turning pages and the twists will keep you guessing.

  Get to know about it by signing up to my mailing list.

  Join LitRpg Guild

  Thanks,

  A.P. Gore/Patricia Jones

  p.s. When a reader writes a review, an author angel gets their wings.

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