CH20: Claiming Territory

Reaching D- in charisma and E+ in mana was a hit in the balls. Small blue lines covered his body, forcing his fortify spell to move while his flesh blurred. Pain lanced through his body while the increased stats did their thing. All the while, the fairies, and his new imp stared on like he was an attraction at the zoo. Two blue eyes opened below the yellow eye that rested vertically on his forehead. His torso had changed, giving him shoulders to go with his arms. Silas's back sucker had elongated into a tail thinning out and ending in a fat-lipped sucker. He felt his thighs and arms grow a little thicker while the mana in his fortify spell adapted to its higher mana level.

Silas took a step forward and tripped; his depth perception was off, and it felt like he fell for a long time before he remembered to move his hands to catch himself. His new tail acted as a counterbalance, and he slowly returned to his feet. He waved his tail back and forth, trying to get used to the new appendage.

"Master, are you part demon. You smell like prey but also not. Could I have some of the food coming out of the fairy? I could use a snack." The innocent imp said and stepped off of the circle.

The innocent imp was only 3ft tall but compared to the fairies or himself, she was a giant. Ramona froze in place as the demoness gently grabbed her before turning the fairy around and slurping. The blue-haired fairy moaned as the innocent imp fed.

The girl frowned. "It's missing something." She said before turning her gaze to Silas.

"Tell me your name, demon," Silas said as he tried to reel in his dick. It wasn't working; the giant demoness was doing something to him. Even though she covered herself, he felt more aroused than ever.

"Catherin, but it's rude not to introduce yourself first. Momma said being rude is grounds for draining, but I don't know what that is."

"Silas Flex, how old are you?" Silas asked.

"40, and I'm on my third rank; momma says I'm a prodigy. Do you want me to dance for you?"

"What?" Silas asked.

"You're my first summoner, and you're only lvl20. Momma said the best way to set my summoner up to be a warlock is to dance for them." She winked at him, and he felt truly lost.

Stella jumped in. "Excuse me!" Her voice jumped a few octaves. "He's going to be a fey mage, so we can rank up into high fairies."

With that admission, he understood more about why his summons was helping him. His levels didn't just give them exp; if he went for a class related to them for his next class, it helped them rank up. That was interesting.

Too bad he was getting a rogue class for his next one. He needed a stealth class if he wanted to get past the enchantments guarding the farm.

He focused back on the situation to see the fairies and demon were about to trade blows. Silas sighed and focused on the bond between him and his summons.

"Enough, form up; we're going to fight some more rank 2s to level regiment," Silas said. The fairies slowly organized. Even Catherin looked ready to go as a goofy smile spread across her face.

"Master is taking me to battle on our first day; it must be fate." She snapped her fingers and conjured a red dress. He felt his mana dip by half by the move and immediately rethought everything.

Silas had grown a little after gaining D- rank charisma and E+ mana. Instead of being of equal height to the fairies, he stood a comfortable 8inches tall. He still only came up to Catherin's shin. It was tall enough to take the rank 2 spider leg and use it like a spear. Who knew what skills he could gain from using a weapon as a rank 1 leech?

There was a reason why they fought and killed rank 2 monsters around them. It was for the ichor in the air. By killing off rank 2 monsters and claiming their territories, less ichor was drained from the area, which helped him gain stats and skills. It also allowed him to take control of the other monsters in his little area. Even when his charm wasn't active, the spiders obeyed him along with the dregs from the bug armies they defeated. By defeating other monsters and taking their territories as a rank 1, he had a better chance to rank up into a monster lord later.

…

Fighting with a weapon while using fortify constantly and directing his fairies to bombard enemies while keeping an eye out on his mana while Catherin rampaged was difficult. Moreover, they were in the territory of a particularly vicious rank 2 Mantra Mantis. They were up to their eyeballs in giant mantises.

His dreams of fighting with a spear lasted until they bounced off the carapace of one of the monsters. And one squirted acid in his face.

Catherin's fist flashed over like a truck and splattered the bug. She grabbed him and looked uncertain. There were too many mantises, and they both knew it. The sunshine fairies couldn't do enough damage, and his Retinue skill hadn't reached max yet; even as the percentages sharply rose, the fairies refused to break even as some died. It was his discipline instances that kept them going, and that was shocking. The only thing keeping him from sounding a retreat was that they weren't really dying.

That fact allowed him to bet it all. His resolve lasted until the rank 2 made an appearance. Holy light gathered around the edges of its scythe arms before it swung on a group of sunshine fairies. They died on the spot, their bodies bisected. He watched their guts spill out and felt his mind waver. What was he supposed to do?

The boss mantis charged, and Catherin stopped it with her own hands. Dragging the last dredges out of his emptying mana supply. He heard a meaty tear, and Stella fell in front of him, bleeding out. The mantis that slashed her fell in front of him, twitching its mandibles and salivating. It towered over him and lunged forward while he pushed forward armed with a spear.

He inflicted charm the second their eyes met, and it froze long enough for Silas to lunge for an eye. A wave from the mantra mantis cleared out Silas's charm too late. Silas felt his spear puncture the eye before the mantis slashed him from groin to neck.

Before it could follow through Silas hit it with charm again and tackled it. He pushed the bug down on its back, and under charm, it let him. Before the mantra mantis could use its holy cleansing skill again, Silas pushed his tail against the mantis's thorax. Blood flowed into Silas as he fed greedily on the mantis.

Before he could take too much, the cleansing skill knocked out his charm. The mantis pushed with all its might trying to bisect him with its scythe arms. Its mandibles shot forward to rip chunks of flesh out of him and feed. New energy coursed through his body as the tail feeding, bondage, and bug tags all activated, showering him with iron defense and stallion instances. They allowed him to resist the mantis's superior strength and feed.

Regiment: Beginner 100%

Rank-Up

Y/N

He selected yes, and everything changed.

Regiment: Initiate 0.02%

For every 20 charisma points, add an instance of discipline

The user's instances now apply to all those under the user's command.

Apprentice Threshold: Slay 50 rank 2s and 1 rank 3.

The battle turned when bloom took a scythe to the face and took no damage. Suddenly Catherin had energy to spare, and the fight turned in his group's favor from a single skill.

Stats Drained

+10 Health

Health 60 E-

+6 Speed

Speed 20 F+

+5 Strength

Strength 25 E-

Summoner lvl35

Mana 145 E+ 120%

Charisma 170 D- 106%

With two of his stats so close to reaching the next level and his extreme need for more mana, he added the points needed to bring the two stats over the edge.

Mana 150 D- 120%

Charisma 175 D 107%