Chapter 41: C39

“Alright, be sure to follow along. Understood?"

Lorn asked, looking to me and awaiting a confirmation, to which I nodded. As she looked back down at the book, Lorn turned to the first section of the book that contained the introduction to Higher Demons.

"Higher Demons, like all other branching races, are a set of sub-species derived from their stem-species. 'Higher Demon' is the base state of all members of the branch. Think of something similar to a Larval stage."

"Wait, is that natural?"

I was tilting my head at Lorn's words.

Larval, so there is some sort of actual life cycle to this? To sentient races?

"Yes, and no..."

Lorn looked up from the book. 

"Higher Demons ARE their own species, but it's strange... recorded history doesn't always account for it... at some point, the system started actively intervening in the evolution of the sentient races. As an example, Wolf-Arachne, and Giant-Arachne were never able to crossbreed and create offspring at all. At some point in early history, after the system began expanding, those two species could cross-breed. The resulting offspring was always a 'purebred' Arachne, that after maturing, would metamorphize into either a selected or pre-determined sub-species."

What... what the hell?

I wracked my brain for a moment on Lorn's words. The idea of previously incompatible species now creating ancestral species-based offspring should have realistically been impossible. Going by Earth standards, that would be the case, but this wasn't Earth. 

"Selected or pre-determined?"

I asked, curious of what Lorn meant with that particular wording. 

"Well, since every being born within a branch family is born as a member of their stem-species, they eventually have to take on an aspect or attribute of their racial family. In the example, the offspring would have to choose what kind of Arachne they would become... or, if they had become specialized or greatly affected at that point by external factors... the system will give no choice and force the offspring to metamorphize in the best-predetermined choice. In short, it will attempt to force you into your best choice for survival."

Lorn finished her explanation once more, twirling her hand as if to motion that she was now rambling on and on. 

"Will the system force me into a specific species?"

I looked to my tail as I asked this. Thinking about the biological changes I had already undergone, the thought of more was daunting to me.

"Well, that is entirely dependant on if it determines if it's your only hope for survival. Usually, you'd have the choice yourself."

Lorn looked down to the book after answering that question.

"Does it hurt?"

I asked, causing Lorn to smile as she looked for where she left off. 

"Not really, It can make you lose consciousness in most cases, but that is the extent of it."

Rubbing my tail tip within my fingers, I began pondering the system's involvement when Lorn began preparing the next section. 

This doesn't sound off from how it's acted for me before. I hadn't seen much activity from the system in the last year and a half leading up to now. However, just after I arrived here, and just last week, it's been fairly active. The first month or so, the system was occasionally pointing me around. What is this? I thought it was just some weird hallucination at first until everyone acknowledged it. For everyone here, it's a part of reality, but it just seems too... out of place... way too out of place. 

Looking at the book with Lorn, the next page depicted a rather average-looking humanoid with demonic features. It was not too different from what I would look like if I had just turned back into a male and aged to my late twenties. The key difference is that the horns are swept back slightly, a longer tail with no shaped tip, and there are hooves where feet should be.

"The first sub-species we have listed are Hell knights."

Lorn finally spoke, marking the introduction for one of my possible paths. 

"These are the generalists of the species, they're the closest in base traits to the stem-species, and of all possible choices, tend to be the most common choice for the simple fact that its the least specialized of each of the races."

Lorn proceeded to rattle off information from there. Things such as average weight, height, and builds of both genders. Going by her description, this was your run-of-the-mill Higher demon, and they may as well have just been Higher Demons alone by that respect. The biggest diversion with them was with their horn pattern and the form their legs took. The change in anatomy provided extremely powerful legs; and very well may have given them the ability to move slightly faster or jump higher thanks to the relocation or buildup of certain muscles. The name Hell knight was derived specifically because they appeared more devilish in nature compared to the other sub-species. Looking to any parallel I could find, they were very close in appearance to a fictional race on earth, Teifling.

If I don't know where to take things from here... this one seems best from the get-go. That's at face value though, we are going through them all for a reason, on to the next one. 

"Is anything really notable about them?"

Lorn looked up at my question, looking as if she were tracing her mind for some answer.

"Well, Hell Knights are generalists; they tend to have some further resilience from the elements. But that's all."

Lorn shrugged as she answered, bringing her attention back down.

"Next, we have the Higher Imp."

Turning the page, the next displayed image was very different from the prior one. This time, a girl of a rather small stature was displayed. Her horns were stunted, and the tail was shrunk to a similar size as my own.

"Higher Imp is more specialized in mana manipulation... this wouldn't be your greatest choice, really."

Lorn rubbed her temple for a moment before continuing.

"I've known a handful of Lower and Higher Imps; the draw of mana seems to get even worse for those with our condition. In short, even with the higher output, you'd get weaker much more quickly with a little tradeoff."

"Wouldnt the higher output make mana burst stronger?"

Lorn shook her head to my question, frowning as she did so. 

"Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. Imagine I took this cup-"

Lorn picked up one of the mugs.

"If I put a hole in it, it will drain. Imps have the ability to make that hole larger, right?"

I nodded in response, following her words.

"With us, it would be as if this cup were filled with holes, and the bottom was suddenly busted out. We'd become unable to house or store mana. Considering you'll eventually start passively bleeding off mana as you age, this can be fatal to you."

"Ah."

I imagined the effect that could have on me, and the closest I could think of was if I'd always been starving or tired. With a sigh, Lorn continued. 

"If your mana veins were normal, this would be a fairly lucrative path for you. You'd become a devastating war mage or a lifesaving healer thanks to the speed at which you could work. But as it stands, you'd cripple yourself so early in your life; it wouldn't be a joking matter."

"It's really that bad?"

I ended up asking, wanting Lorn to discuss it further, but my question was met with a bitter frown.

"One of my party members, he was a Higher demon, same condition as us... he was the one that had to teach me how to handle myself just as I'm teaching you... we knew each other as children... it killed him by the time he was three-hundred... don't pick Imp."

Lorn left it at that before turning the page, choosing to move on rather than continuing with further details.

I didn't mean to dredge up memories like that... I have to remember not to push her on that stuff. But god damn, it's enough to cut my lifespan by more than half if I was forced into Imp?

"Kiyomi, we'll keep going; you said at some point you have a preview?"

Lorn asked, leaning back into the couch and resting the book in her lap. Nodding, I prompted my status page up.

"Try and open the preview the system gives you. Let me know what you see."

Nodding once more, I opened my status page, then prompted the previews to display. I was given a menu similar to that of the class selection. 

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Describing what I saw to Lorn, she nodded as she rubbed her chin. 

"Try viewing Hell Knight before we move forward.  We could actually look at them as we read further; that way, anything not covered in one or the other won't be missed. While you look over that, I'm going to call for our lunch."

"Okay Miss Lorn, what's for lunch, by the way?"

Lorn smiled as she stood, walking backward to the door.

"Has Hatsumi ever had you eat river shrimp?"

Lorn asked.

"Hmmm, no ma'am, I think the only things from the rivers I've eaten so far have been fish."

I said, shaking my head. I could feel my tail rasing with my curiosity; this seemed to please Lorn as she smiled in response.

"It will be a treat; now look over that preview while I take care of it."

Lorn opened the doors to her office and disappeared through them. With the Elf now absent, my body relaxed slightly. The tense sensation voiding itself finally reminded me why I was probably like that in the first place. I'd been like that around only two groups of people on Earth, Bullies, and drill instructors.

Well, at least I know that will fade with time. Thankfully a bit faster than before. Being young must've made it worse than it would have been. Okay, so, she said to check the preview.

Bringing up the preview, my sight was blacked out. I still felt full conscious and in control, and I could still hear everything going on in the building, yet I couldn't see. 

"H-hello?"

As I spoke out, my voice echoed off the walls, and I was startled as another person appeared in front of me. Contrasting from the pitch-black background stood a girl, stark naked and almost the exact image of myself. Aside from the primary features of the Hell Knights, her skin was slightly darker and red compared to my own pale complexion. Her horns were also different in that they were skin-toned at their base, with no defined seam, yet ended with black tips. Looking down, true to the description, the feet were hooved and slightly more digitigrade in pattern, with a much longer tail. 

"So... a Hell Knight, huh?"

"You're looking as I said, so I take it?"

Lorn's voice could be heard through the doors, albeit muffled.

"Yes, Ma'am... can I keep looking?"

I asked, curious about the other options in case Lorn was held up. If one were to peer into the room at that moment, one would see a girl patiently sitting on a couch as her tail swayed in anticipation. To myself, however, it was me and a clone of myself mirroring each other's actions. 

"Go ahead. Just remember we're going over them again."

"Okay!"

Nice! Time to keep perusing. 

Looking back to the Hell Knight version of myself, she faded into mist as the menu returned to the foreground, displaying the selection once more. 

Okay, Higher Imp.

With the prompt, I was greeted by a clone once again, this time by a girl that was slightly shorter than me. As opposed to before, the only defining features were the horns and tail. The horns were shorter than my own, and their base had shifted from the back of the head to the sides; they were displayed similarly to ram's horns. Looking to the tail, it was much longer than my current one and was tufted with fur at its furthest point.

It's kind of interesting... But is Lorn sure this wouldn't hurt? Shifting of bones and muscle groups should probably hurt a lot, or at least be super uncomfortable. Haaahhhh, Okay, next one... Succubus...

I dismissed the clone of myself as the menu reappeared. Eyeing the Succubus section, it was one that daunted me more than the others. Not comparatively for the change in biology, but I was unsure of how my lifestyle would change. Primarily with the fact...

Sex... I'm stereotyping here... and I'm going to have to cross that bridge eventually; I can't remain a virgin forever. But God damn, I don't want to delve into something like that... I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it... who knows, it doesn't even say I need to have sex for that anyway. Okay... preview.

The next 'clone' to appear in front of me was that of the Higher Succubus. This was the closest in base appearance to myself. Looking her over, the horns were almost exactly as they were now, but longer and lined with some kind of bioluminescent membrane in the inner portions. Prodding them, they were hard to the touch. 

Huh, could that be some kind of... indicator? 

Outside of that, the tail was much longer than my own, with a wider girth at its base like my own. It was similar in coloration and texture as well. That, however, was dwarfed by what really caught my interest about the Succubus and the next species. 

"Wings, huh?"

Looking at the lower back, a set of wings similar in coloration to my tail but differing in texture were tucked neatly. Pulling them by their tips, they actually had the same span as my arms, showing that their compact size was very deceiving. 

Okay... this one is making me feel things about myself - So, on to the Manticore...

Dismissing the Succubus, the menu was brought forth before I selected preview again. Appearing before me was what appeared to be a slightly older version of myself. That was the initial thought; however, the longer one viewed, the differences continuously built up. 

Cat ears? Well, I mean, a Manticore IS a hybrid monster... but still.

The clone was just barely taller than I was at the moment, possessing cat ears not so different from Mother's that were similar in color to the hair. The horns were regressed in size but unchanged in shape. I found myself rubbing the ears, feeling for their texture, to find that they were almost exactly like Mother's in that department as well.

If I selected this one, I'd have to watch myself... I don't think they would, but I don't want Beryl or Vaughn rubbing these if I had them. Mother already barely lets me touch hers; I couldn't imagine being in her shoes with these... maybe I shouldn't mess with hers anymore. 

Thinking it over to myself, I decided to move on with my observation. 

Oh? 

The next thing that greeted me was a segmented tail that reached the ground and rested there. This was possibly the longest so far, completely diverting from texture and shape. It was hard as a rock when I tapped on it, and the tip hooked in a sort of stinger. Looking over it, it looked like a sheath almost, like the actual tip was being concealed. 

I guess that's why it mentioned the assassin part... possessing natural poison more than likely.

Looking back to the feet, they were digitigrade, just as the Hell Knight was. The difference being instead of hooves, they were feline in appearance and coated in fur until the lower thigh. 

Fur would be a pain to maintain... 

Tufts of fur were located throughout the body as well, but not to the degree of the legs except for the neck, being wrapped in a thick coat that wrapped nearly completely around it. The last factor was the wings, larger in their rested state than with the Succubus but nearly the same in span. 

Haaaah, okay, so Manticore is a good option. Better check on the mouth real quick, though. It said they were strictly carnivores so-

Forcing the clone to open its mouth, there were fewer teeth than I'd assumed there would be. I personally found it strange and out of place as the canines were stunted, and behind them were a series of almost plate-like teeth that looked like they slid over each other. Only one set of what could be compared to molars existed, and even they were slanted.

It looks like this one will be a pain to eat with, though... that's going to probably suck...

Allowing the Manticore to close her mouth, I once again dismissed the clone and moved on to the Last option.

Oni...

The Oni appeared almost instantly without me even having to select it. 

Looking over her, she only appeared to look different in three aspects. Firstly, the horns were skin tone and placed on the forehead. Secondly, the skin tone was a strange pale blue in contrast to all the others. And lastly, the upper and lower canines were slightly exaggerated. They weren't exposed, but the change in facial structure was just visible enough that it prompted me to lift one of the lips. For some reason, a strange sense of nastolgia and familiarity was given off by this one. Thinking back, this Oni form looks very similar to-.

So we look like Mom, huh, Kiyomi?

I thought to myself. We were the spitting image of our Mother from what I could remember. This made us look almost exactly like her, except for age and a slight skin tone change.

I'm sure she would've been proud of that...

I was caught up in thought as I could hear someone enter the room.

"Close everything up, for now, Kiyomi; it's time to eat."

As Lorn spoke and heard the doors close behind her, a very familiar smell of seafood flooded my nose. As my sight came back to me and the system closed, I was greeted by an unexpected but very welcome sight. Lorn's description initially made me think of simple shrimp, but what she carried on plates now was far from some simple shrimp.

Ooooh, Lobster~

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