17 Little Demons (02)

Teta and the imps soon quieted down some time after the initial kill. After realizing that they were still very much in the open with a very fresh piece of meat, they did what anyone would do. They each grabbed a side and tried to lug it back, but they couldn't get very far. Alban just stored it into his inventory, much to the shock and amazement of the imps.

"Shouldn't you be able to do this too? Don't you hear a voice when you beat things?" Alban asked inquisitively. He thought systems were perfectly normal in Nightmare, there was no reason for him to just randomly be the only one to have it. He wasn't the universe's child or something. The female imp spoke up.

"Voice? Yes, me hear voice. Voice no do cool thingy like you. Tell when enemy dead, help me get tougher. No other thingy." Alban took this into account, watching the other imps nod along. He felt assured in that his reasoning about the system was correct, but theirs seemed a bit...different? He guessed that it was only natural, the system said that it was made based on him. And he did have to unlock some functions before it got to where it was now. Thinking of functions, Alban realized he still had yet to draw another quest. He'd do it when they got back to the cave.

And get back to it they did. Along the way Alban collected a bit more cloud beads while the imps copied him, getting a bit more than they could carry. Shaking his head, Alban offered that he'd carry them instead, while the imps acquiesced after fiercely denying him for a good five minutes straight! He only got their compromise on the condition that each could hold one with them, they probably didn't think he'd hand them back. But he'd show them.

However, Alban's assumption was completely off the mark. The imps were only refuting because one; they loved shiny things, and two; they respected his strength and didn't want to upset him. Alban walked into the cave along with his subordinated imps, being none the wiser to their thought process. As they sat around in a circle with a fire in the center, he tried to get to know the imps better.

"I know Teta's name. What are yours?" The two imps looked at each other, then back at him.

"Me don't have a name. Me not important enough."

"Me neither." Both of them clearly agreed on this point, both of them becoming a bit less cheery than they were prior. Teta nodded his head sadly, looking at the evident confusion on Alban's face.

"There were many. Many died while young, dumber than now. We learned, we survived. Only leader have given name...others too weak to survive." His childish face looked sad, the scratches on all of their bodies telling a story only for the eyes before them. Alban looked at the bones scattered around the cave, noticing they seemed similar to the imps' overall stature. He nodded slowly.

"You'll take my orders now, right? I can feed you guys." The imps nodded at him, blinking slowly as if what he said was obvious. They didn't expect what he would say next, however. He pointed at the female imp, saying "You will be Lady." And then pointed at the scarred imp, proclaiming him as "Nevus."

As Teta, Lady, and Nevus looked at him, he saw the excitement in their eyes. Names meant they were important. Names meant they wouldn't die quickly like the others. They began to dance again, alternating their feet on the ground while swinging their arms above their head. They had to stop real quickly, as their stomachs were growling.

"You guys are pretty hungry huh? It's been a long time since you ate, at least before you met me right?" Teta and Lady nodded quickly, while Nevus sat down and waited patiently. He always seemed to be the more subdued of the three. Alban retrieved the isoceles banshee's corpse from his inventory, ripped off a piece, and held it over the flame.

Oddly, as it cooked, the aroma wafting from it diffused into the air like the fog outside. The inside of the cave was cloudy as the meat browned. The scent was distinct, similar to pork with a hint of pine nuts. The imps' mouths were watering, and Alban silently agreed with them in his head. He was a bit reluctant to eat the meat though, he had never eaten it before. And he had a feeling that eating it would progress that peculiar slipping sensation that he was a bit weirded out by.

When it finished cooking, he simply threw the meat right to the side and gestured for the imps to wait a bit. He grasped two similar sizes of meat in both of his hands, placing them directly in the fire after coating them in mana. The meat quickly cooked and the fog cleared around the cave; Alban had set the meat aside at this point. "Come eat", he told the imps.

Teta walked over to the food with a bounce in his step, exuding a jovial mood. He grabbed all the pieces of meat before handing two pieces to Lady and Nevus, respectively. They huddled together and bit at the meat at the same time, stars filling their eyes. Alban felt a bit happy at seeing this, the most human thing he experienced in what felt like a long time. It might as well be, as he couldn't remember any of the faces in his memories. Avoiding the incoming sadness, he quickly used a quest draw card and saw what he got.

<Received a D class quest, Little Demons>

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Description:

This system was created to aid in your independence, as this was the only form of survival it deemed possible for you. Being independent, however, does not necessarily mean you'll have to be alone all the time. The user has subjugated three imps, who now have complete loyalty due to your actions. Please evolve them, so they can be more of use to you later. After all, you can't be around them always.

Requirements

Guide your three subordinates to their thresholds. (0/3)

Watch them evolve (0/3)

Reward: Store function unlocked. Party function unlocked.

>

'It's nice to know they fully trust me, and it's even better to get a quest like this.' Alban realized something quite important about the quest draw function. It recorded his actions and the locations he around him before using some algorithm to decide whatever quest he would get. Meaning, he would only get quests that he could do or were around him! He looked at the time, seeing that it was 23:04...56 minutes before daylight. Knowing that monsters got weaker during the morning, he told the imps to sleep after they were done and started meditating. The next moment he opened his eyes, he would try to make his subordinates stronger.