"So what's the plan?" Belial asked, trailing behind Leila as they walked back through the forest.
"My sister was thankfully out of the estate when the attack happened, so my priority is to find her," Leila responded wrapping her arms around herself as she shivered from the cold weather, her robe was torn the previous day and she didn't exactly have the leisure to go shopping.
"We need to go pillaging for food and clothes for you first, where is the nearest village?" Belial asked as he looked around in curiosity.
"Belial we can't just go kill people for food and clothing" She squinted her eyes at him before letting out a sigh of frustration, "Not that you'd know"
"Then how do we obtain food and clothing?" Belial asked again with a curious tone.
"We buy them using money" Leila answered.
"Do you have that 'money' you are talking about?" Belial answered with another question.
"Well, no.." She looked to the ground with a look of defeat.
"Worry not my dear human, for I Belial, have something for you" Belial replied proudly, "I got this attire from the succubus queen after a passionate night, here here" Belial snapped his finger, suddenly a black mist engulfed Leila, after a moment she appeared, wearing a form-fitting leather dress that was deep dark velvet, it trailed her waist perfectly showing every curve, the neckline plunged low revealing a large portion of her skin, her sleeves were long and fitted, with a gap between the shoulders and the arm, her legs covered in sheer stockings disappearing into a pair of thigh-high boots.
"B-B-BELIAAAAL!" Leila blushed trying to cover herself as she kept checking her surroundings to make sure no one was watching.
"I know, I know, there is no need to thank me" A proud smile was drawn on his face as Leila smacked him on the cheek, "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"
"I AM NOT A SUCCUBUS, PLEASE DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING LESS REVEALING?!" Leila yelled still trying to cover herself.
"Fine! Fine! here" He snapped his fingers once more with the mist engulfing Leila again, after a moment she emerged wearing a long white robe with a wide hood, beneath the robe was a fitted black body suit made of one piece from toes to fingers, with silver trims decorating the area around her waist, on her legs were short black boots merging perfectly with the body suit.
"How about this? better?" Belial asked in excitement.
"Y-Yes, much better" Leila cleared her throat in embarrassment, "For now we should focus on avoiding the Vestels and head straight to the hunters' guild at Arpen to find my sister"
As they journeyed towards Arpen, Belial's curiosity bubbled up once more. "So, what's this hunters' guild all about?" he asked.
"It's a place where talented people can register to be hunters, their work revolves around killing monsters and clearing dungeons" Leila answered as they walked by the side of the road.
"Oh, so it's a gathering of warriors!" Belial replied enthusiastically.
Leila chuckled softly, nodding in agreement. "Yes, something like that"
"Your sister must be quite the warrior if she's part of this guild then. How skilled is she?" Belial inquired with a genuine curiosity.
"Oh, she's an A-rank hunter, so she's pretty high up, only S-ranks are above her" Leila's smile widened
After a while, they arrived at the gates of Arpen, a port city that lay a couple of hours from the Grimwoods' estate, they were greeted by the tall stonewalls of the city and the busy gates that never seemed to be empty of visitors.
"Aha! So this is Arpen! It's nothing grand but it reminded me of the fourth fortress, good memories!" Belial exclaimed as Leila stopped for a moment gazing at the city gates.
"The Vestels have an overwhelming influence over Arpen, I'm sure they knew I escaped their Knights since they never returned and issued a bounty on my head, It'd be very difficult to enter the city without a fake name" Leila thought out loud as Belial thought of a name beside her.
"Lilith!" Belial said, "How about Lilith?" A mischievous smirk was drawn on her lips as the guideline materialized before him.
LILITH IS LOOKING AT YOU WITH CONTEMPT
LILITH IS FURIOUS THAT YOU SUGGESTED A LOWLY HUMAN USE HER NAME
Leila's brow furrowed in confusion as she turned to Belial who was chuckled mischievously.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Ehm, nothing" he cleared his throat, his laughter slowly subsiding. "But won't they also recognize your face?"
Leila thought to herself for a moment. "Yes, most likely. But your horns are a bigger problem" She paused before an idea sparked in her mind. "Aha! There are folk who live near the mountains who have horns. They're called Dokkaebi. You can introduce yourself as one of them!"
"D-Dokkaebi? I am a Dokkaebi?" Belial exclaimed in disbelief.
"What? Didn't you say you were a demon?" Leila asked.
"Demons have species, you know!" Belial explained. "Just like how you mortals have humans, dwarves, and elves, we also have different species. I can't believe there were Dokkaebi here on Gaia"
"Demons are divided into five species" Belial continued. "The lowermost, unintelligent ones are called Abominations. They're creatures that live off instincts, like goblins, hellhounds, Cerberus, and trolls. They're usually found all over the nine circles of hell, and some of them are also found here on Gaia"
"Then you have the succubi" Belial went on, "who have some sort of intelligence, given that they specialize in luring their victims. But in reality, they're just imitating other intelligent species without truly understanding what they're doing"
"After that" Belial continued, "there are the Balrogs, the first of the intelligent species. They're fire elementals that act as fortress guardians from the fifth hell upwards"
"Next are the fiends" Belial said, "who serve as demon lords and fortress captains"
"And finally" Belial concluded, "the most intelligent species are the Dokkaebi, the demon kings, demon gods and absolute demons are all Dokkaebi, if there are Dokkaebi here on Gaia, then they should have helped us migrate, why did they sit still knowing that their brethren are suffering in the nine circles of hell!" Belial yelled in frustration, "Can we visit this Dokkaebi village?"
"That'd be difficult, but if you introduce yourself as a Dokkaebi, that's bound to grab their attention" Leila answered, "Do you happen to have a mask for me?"
"Uh yes, but all my masks have horns since, you know.." Belial answered materializing a mask in his hands.
"That's even better, we can both introduce ourselves as Dokkaebi then!" Leila tried reaching for the mask but Belial pulled his hands back.
"Insolent Human! you dare try to compare yourself to the Dokkaebi!" Belial made a disgusted expression looking the other way before looking back at Leila, "Alright then, if you can handle wearing this mask, I'll permit you to call yourself a Dokkaebi"
She hesitated for a moment looking at it, it was white matching the colour of her robe, with two black horns and black drawings beneath the eye slots, she looked up to Belial then back at the mask before slowly putting it on.
Suddenly, she felt as if her very soul was burning as she found herself standing in a huge palace, in front of her were three thrones, sitting above them were Lillith, Moloch and Baphomet the demon gods.
"So you're the human who wants to use my name" Lillith's voice boomed as Leila struggled to stay on her feet, "Blasphemous! Moloch, control your champion!"
"Why would I? It's quite funny" Moloch replied with a loud laugh before he looked back at Leila, "Child, are you worthy of calling yourself a Dokkaebi?"
Leila tried to speak but couldn't utter a word, all she could do was remain silent in the face of the three demon gods.
"Alright then, I'll see if you're worthy" Lillith stood up, approaching Leila slowly.
"Don't do anything stupid, Lilith" Moloch said with a hint of annoyance, As Lilith tried to touch Leila, a surge of energy exploded around her body, pushing Lilith back two steps.
"I see, so he really does favour you" Lilith said, walking back to her throne, "Alright then, you may use my name, but I'll be watching you"
For the first time, Leila could see the guideline Belial was talking about.
LILITH HAS GRANTED YOU PERMISSION TO USE HER NAME
YOU HAVE RECEIVED LILLITH'S BLESSING
YOU HAVE GAINED DEMONIC ENERGY AS AN EXTRA STAT
DARK MAGE HAS BEEN ADDED AS A SUBCLASS
NAME: LEILA (LILLITH)
LEVEL: 1
RACE: HUMAN | DOKKAEBI
CLASS: SUMMONER
SUBCLASS: DARK MAGE
HP: 100/100
MP: 250/250
STATS:
STR: 4 | AGILITY: 7 | CON: 3 | WIS: 12
DEMONIC ENERGY: 1 (+10)
YOUR HUMAN BODY IS ASSIMILATING INTO A DOKKAEBI'S BODY
ASSIMILATION RATE: 10%
Leila was shocked for a moment trying to take all that in before she suddenly found herself standing before Belial again, "So, how was it?" Belial asked, "I wish I saw Lillith's reaction to the small gift I planted on you for her!" Belial started laughing before Leila smacked him on the head, "OW!"
"You didn't warn me about meeting the demon gods!" she exclaimed, rubbing her forehead where two small horns began to emerge, "H-HUH!" She started frantically rubbing her forehead again touching her small horns back and forth.
"Be honoured human! you're transcending into something more dignified than your mortal body, HA!" A proud smile was drawn on Belial's face as he put on his own mask, unlike Leila's, his was all black with two golden lines below each of the eye sockets, "Well then, shall we?"