Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 17 – Diplomacy (Patreon)

Elania watched in frozen horror as the Darkwalker descended upon the unsuspecting Mushroohum. The cavern echoed with a guttural roar as the beast completed its pounce, slashing at the hunter’s back with vicious abandon. Reflexively, she tightened the grip on her ready javelin.

A flurry of panicked “Glaa-Glaa!” filled the air as the Mushroohum was thrown to his knees under the brutal assault. The Darkwalker loomed over him menacingly in the dim light and went for a bite.

Acting on instinct rather than logic, Elania rushed towards them. She threw the javelin in her hand at them, but it went wide and high and clacked against the cave wall ineffectually. Readying another javelin, she tossed the bundle with the rest of them onto the ground so she could wield her weapon with both hands.

As she closed in, she noted how the struggle evolved into something less one-sided. Despite being taken by surprise and being slashed and bitten already, the Mushroohum shook the Darkwalker off its back and grab its nearby weapon.

His skin bore deep gashes, and dark green blood welled up and oozed out slowly like a strange jelly. As the mushroom man spun around, the Darkwalker didn’t hesitate to continue the attack. He barely raised the spear and jammed the handle crosswise into the Darkwalker’s gaping maw, preventing it from biting down on his throat.

Both went falling backwards in a tumble, and Elania reoriented and continued her charge.

The Darkwalker adjusted immediately, clawed feet raking the man’s torso savagely. It was so preoccupied with its prey that it didn’t notice her. She remained silent right up to the moment where she slammed her javelin into the beast’s side, right behind its front leg. The sharp point sunk deep into flesh.

The Darkwalker reacted instantly, jumping off and rolling, causing the weapon to bend almost to snapping before it slipped out. A gush of blood exploded like a pulsating geyser, and the creature let out a pained shriek.

[You have gained a rank in Improvised Combat!]

[You have reached the maximum available rank in Improvised Combat!]

[Consider developing a more advanced skill!]

Leaping off the Mushroohum, the Darkwalker nearly collapsed when it landed, but regained its feet and turned to run.

The Mushroohum stood up immediately and brandished its spear toward the Darkwalker, but it was clear the wounds had left it disoriented and dazed.

The thought that the wound she had given the creature was enough to kill it proved wrong when it suddenly spun around and charged again—directly at her. Elania took a step back in surprise, startled by the new attack.

Disarmed, she did her best to dodge, jumping out of the way as it pounced on her. Scrambling back toward her javelins, it chased. It was faster, but she pulled out a throwing stone and infused [Power] into her arm as she tossed it. The throw was bad and she was weak, but the Darkwalker was so close she couldn’t miss, and the stone thwacked heavily into its feline torso, knocking it off its feet.

It gave her enough time to reach her weapons, but before she could throw, it was on her flank. She dodged sideways into a roll before slashing at it, but its claws raked her forearm heavily as it slid underneath the weapon.

A yelp-turned-curse escaped her as she tripped as she backpedaled out of the roll, and then it jumped on her. Its back foot clawed her thigh and it swiped at her face.

She blocked that with the shaft of her spear, and when it tried to lunge down and bite her neck, she head-butted it in the nose.

Slamming her knee into its side in an attempt to flip it off of her didn’t work. It was bigger than the first one she had fought and heavier than her by far. A hot roar blew in her face as it snapped at her.

Before she could react, a spearpoint slammed into the Darkwalker’s side, spraying her with another coating of blood. This one died rapidly, and she could immediately feel the creature weaken.

The Mushroohum! She’d completely forgotten about him in the melee!

She rolled again. This time it was like dealing with a dead weight; there was a final growl then she saw the Darkwalker’s eyes glaze over.

It was dead.

[Do you wish to absorb the darkwalker Essence? Y/N]

Yes, she did; she scrambled to her feet and turned on the Mushroohum as the process took over.

[You have absorbed 15 Power!]

[You have gained a level in Stealth!]

[You have gained Darkwalker Affinity!]

[Consume more Darkwalker Essence to enable darkwalker Transformation!]

It watched her closely as the [Darkwalker] dissolved into energetic motes that melded into her skin. Blood dripped from the hunter’s spear, and he slowly backed away from her toward the [Ralfot] carcass and the hides he had been preparing.

Riiight. She’d helped him on impulse, but that didn’t mean she had accomplished her goal. It was still to be seen if this would help communications or if the Mushroohum would be thankful. Maybe he thought he hadn’t needed her help?

Too bad her ‘Universal’ speech skill seemed to be about as universal as a ten-year-old, out-of-date tv controller.

Her small wounds had already healed, and he looked the worse for wear, though. His gaping injuries weren’t bleeding profusely, though. Most of them had sealed up, probably because whatever ‘blood’ the mushroom man had was very thick.

How exactly their biology worked, she had no idea.

“Glaa-Glaa.” A sickly sweet scent she’d not smelled before filled the area, and she realized it emanated from the Mushroohum. Come to think of it, the mushroom men seemed to suddenly smell more whenever they talked. Maybe that was a hint?

“Stop.” Elania ordered.

The Mushroohum did so, turning toward her while still holding his weapon.

She moved around him, keeping a safe distance and then grabbed, got between him and the Ralfot. “It belongs to me. I need it.”

“Glaa.” There was a sharp odor. But the Mushroohum didn’t approach, but its focus lingered on the hides it had been preparing.

Elania frowned. It wasn’t like they were going to be of much use to her. They probably would be if she knew how to tan them or make things from them, but she had never taken primitive survival lessons back home other than watching random documentaries on Discovery or National Geographic.

The exchange cycled frustratingly between “Glaa” and “Mine” in an annoyingly consistent manner until she knelt down and picked up the hides. The system labeled them [High-Quality Ralfot Skin] which proved that there were higher quality levels, but she was probably just to bad to make them.

The Mushroohum tensed up. She pointed to his knife. “Trade.”

He tilted his head. She tried again, but there was still no understanding.

Deciding to take another tack, Elania knelt down and put the skins between them. Pointing at his knife, she demanded again. “Trade.”

He finally seemed to get the idea and knelt down as well, drawing the knife from his belt and placing it opposite of the hides. She pushed the stack of them towards him slowly.

Instead of copying her gesture with the knife, he reached out and pulled the hides to himself. He reached out to take the blade back as well, but her hand snapped over to it and snatched it.

“No! You don’t get both.” Elania warned.

“Glaa-Glaa-Glaa!” That didn’t seem to make him happy, which meant she got doused in a musky smelling rot. Ugh. She did not like mushroom men!

“It’s a trade. You don’t get both,” she repeated.

He wobbled multiple times, then it seemed to finally click. He pulled off his leather belt and put it down on the ground, then pointed at the knife. “Glaa!”

Elania rubbed the side of her head and considered. The knife was made of crude metal, not nearly the quality of her steel dagger, but it would still be very useful.

On the other hand, making another trade would probably improve their communication, and the hides for the knife seemed a little unfair. The belt would be helpful for carrying things as well.

Ultimately, she decided to acquiesce, even though she wanted the knife and the belt.

The trade went off without a hitch this time.

She examined the belt. It had a metal buckle and three small empty pouches. It also had a loop for the knife sheath, but the Mushroohum had kept that part. The knife sheath went with the knife, she supposed, so she didn’t object.

But she really wanted the knife, too. Looking back at the carcass, she pointed to it, then to his knife. “Trade.”

This prompted confusion. She cleared it up by standing up and walking over to the carcass. It was easily twice her size, and definitely heavy. She channeled [Power] through her limbs and lifted it easily. The offer to absorb appeared even though the carcass wasn’t intact, but she denied it.

Dumping the carcass at his feet, Elania pointed at the knife again. “Trade.”

She got her knife.

Rather than disappearing immediately, she moved away to a safe distance and watched. He kept a wary gaze on her as he went back to his work preparing the carcass. It turned out he had a second knife, this one made of bone, inside his big leather pack. That would have been nice to get, too, but she doubted that he’d accept the stones in her pockets for it, and she wanted to keep the belt and knife.

It turned out there were a lot more skins on the [Ralfot] left to harvest, and then came a dozen large steaks of meat. They oozed on the ground, and she didn’t think it was exactly sanitary, but she realized that worrying about that might not be important to the mushroom men.

“You should have a name.” Elania blurted out.

He looked at her, confused.

She hadn’t really meant for him to understand. She was taking mostly to herself. “How about, Skinner? That’s a good name. Plus, it’s what you do.”

Skinner replied with a predictable, “Glaa?”

It was a stupid thing to bother him with, but apparently, he didn’t think so as he picked up one of the meat steaks and tossed it to her.

She winced. Was she a dog? Actually, she hadn’t eaten in… well, a long time, but the meat didn’t seem that appetizing. Her appetite had disappeared completely, she realized. She’d have rather had another dose of [Power], if anything.

Elania’s eyes widened. That wasn’t quite correct, she realized. She had an appetite—for recharging her [Power] stat. It acted like her food and water. Heck, it even acted like her oxygen!

Did that mean she’d never be able to eat anything ever again? This was skirting too close to the idea that she actually was, in fact, a vampire thing. Or rather, a demon.

She eyed the steak and picked it up. It was gross as heck, and now there was a coating of cave dust on the bottom.

But she couldn’t shake the thought.

She wanted the ability to enjoy food. That was a major part of being human!

Drinking water hadn’t made her sick, so eating should be fine, right? Right?

“I’m going to leave you to it,” Elania finally decided. The Mushroohum watched her go without a word, before returning to tending the [Ralfot].

A new obstacle laid before her: how the heck was she going to make a campfire to cook with safely?