Chapter 103 - Three Stages

According to what Jien had been told about the summoning ritual it came in three stages. The first stage was the summoning itself, the use of the summoning formation, the incense, the incantation and the use of one's mana to create the doorway from which the demon would appear. The second stage was bargaining, the demon and the summoner would work out the details of a personal contract that would be bound to silence. Only the two parties would ever know the terms, but the contract would be binding on the level of the soul meaning that if either party broke it, they would be destroyed leaving only a husk that was their physical form. The last stage was the sealing of the contract and the binding of the agreement, after which demon and summoner would live a symbiotic existence.The other important detail that they had informed Jien of during the prior lunch was that demons often had rather amorphous and bizarre appearances when summoned. Some would even look like terrifying creatures, however that they were often rather peaceful during summoning, unless you chanced on one that wished to test the summoner. Once a bargain was struck and a contract signed by both parties the demon would choose a form more in line with the world around them, often that of an animal. None of those present had read or seen anything remotely like that of humanoid demon, though some may have come closer such as walking on two legs often even those wouldn't be called humanoid. To see the rather beautiful being that stepped through the door they immediately had the thought that Jien had screwed up and summoned a different kind of creature they were unfamiliar with.Out of the fog of incense walked a woman who dwarfed everyone in the room in terms of height, being at or slightly above seven feet. Her build while well-proportioned and beautiful was contrasted by the deep scowl on her lips. Her eyes like two burning embers seemed to bore into the souls of those present and her very aura made the air feel like it was made out of boulders, weighing down their lungs. On the side of her head were two ram horns that spiraled with the look of onyx but were as smooth as if they had been smithed by a master smith. Her long blood red hair cascaded down her back and the small glasses on the bridge of her nose did nothing to alleviate the feeling of rage in her gaze. Everyone could feel that she was very upset but it was hard to breathe in her presence let alone ask what the cause of her anger was so as to try and resolve the issue.After a moment of observing her surroundings, finding the room shrouded in the fog of incense rather plain, she turned her gaze to the youth just outside the summoning formation, having been clearly marked as the summoner in a way that only the summoned would be able to recognize. It was a certain scent that lingered in their mana as a way to recognize each other. Jien could likewise tell that this woman was indeed his summoned demon from the 'scent' of her own mana if the darker energy leaving her could even be called that.As her gaze landed on Jien's own, he felt as if a mountain had landed on his chest, and it immediately made his legs go soft, leading him to drop to the ground his jaw slack and pupils constricting to pinholes. He couldn't think let alone speak and the adults having seen what was happening had no choice but to step forward and try and subdue the woman in the hope that Jien would either have the chance to cancel the summoning or she would be subdued, and the contract would be signed. Nobody had felt that this process would end up in such a predicament.As soon as the adults stepped forward with their weapons in hand, ready to intervene the woman's scowl devolved into a frown as she turned her attention to them in full. They were all veterans of the battlefield, while her very gaze pressured them their response was a lot more solid than Jien's own, taking another steady step forward. It was then that something unexpected happened, surprising the approaching adults and causing them to rush rashly in her direction.The beautiful woman scoffed at them, and her form began devolving into a blood red mist that began traveling to Jien who was still locked in place. The adults rushed over, having not been far from Jien in the first place but the woman was faster. Her form had completely turned into mist and invaded Jien's nostrils, invading his body.There were two ways for her to go back home, the first was for Jien to end the summoning, which he likely would have done anyway after seeing her. The issue with this was that if he ever decided to attempt another summoning, she would be called once again. Though after the first summoning it was not compulsory to answer one would still have to suffer the Cosmos Chimes ringing for them incessantly until the time the summoning was given up on. No demon would answer after the first summoning because it was seen as an insult to have been sent back after being called forward, but there were tales of demons being driven to insanity by those who had not given up on the potential of summoning a demon again.The other option was to kill the summoner. A demon, at least in the lore of their land only had one destined summoner. If they were summoned once, then they would be free from any other summoning so long as the contract had ended, or the summoner had met their demise. To ensure there would be no more disturbances in the future Aqa'krghrift decided to snuff out the root of the problem, invading the youth's body to crush his soul before the contract could be formed and thus breaking free of her destiny.