Reentering his room, Nox stepped out of a shadow on the opposite side of the room and looked oddly serious. “Are you sure you want to do this, DevilWalker? Summoning is a troublesome business at the best of times, hazardous at the worst of times.”

Colin walked over to his desk chair and turned it to face Nox. He took a seat and looked his Goblin companion in the face, “why don’t you just give me the information, and we’ll go from there.”

Nodding, Nox materialized a stool out of the nearby shadows and hopped upon it. “Alright, so let’s start with the types of summoning. There are familiars, free, and directed Summons. Familiars are contracted to you on a spiritual level and cannot directly disobey you. You can bring free Summons to this world, but you cannot control them. Directed Summons are in between where you can summon them and give them directions. Still, they might not listen depending on your Summoning Magic Level.”

Colin nodded, “I follow you so far.”

“The only limit to what can be summoned is that the creature cannot be native to this plane of existence, and you have to have some kind of affinity for the creature. Elementals, Undead, Angels, Demons, Djinn, Devas, Abominations, or worse creatures are possible to bring to bear from other planes.” Nox said. “As for affinities, this usually takes the form of your skills, abilities, and class choices. You have fire magic, you can get a type of fire elemental. You are a raging Berserker; you can get a like-minded undead or Demon.”

“So, in theory, anyone can get or use a summon? Why haven’t I seen anyone using them yet?” Colin queried, trying to understand the mechanics.

Nox let out a breath, “Summons are… finicky at the best of times. Familiar Summons are rare to see because it requires a decent mana pool to upkeep a Familiar and to make it more powerful.”

Colin raised an eyebrow, and Nox continued, sensing the coming question. “There are three things that determine any summons strength. The mana devoted to their summoning, the Summoning Magic Skill, and the Summons’ own personal strength. It is worth noting that you can get the weakest Summons in history, and it will gain its own sort of experience and become powerful under your care. Because of that, it’s usually worth it to just pick one that you think will useful, shore up a weakness, expand your options, or bolster a current strength.”

“What about Free and Directed Summons?” Colin asked, can they get more powerful with repeated use?”

The Goblin shrugged, “I don’t think so. My people’s scholars believed that Summons gain their own experience because they are connected to their summoners. Free and Directed Summons are not.”

“Okay, how do I choose the summon? Is it just chosen for me, or do I have to put out an ad in Familiars’ R’ us?” Colin jested, chuckling a little at his joke.

Nox grimaced. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, DevilWalker. It would be better and faster if you just did the Summoning Ritual and find out. It’s not complicated; the skill should have given you the knowledge of the ritual.”

Colin nodded but remained where he was. The ritual would be simple; it only required a circle drawn into the ground to hold in the power and a few words in the common tongue to initiate the first time. Nox’s reluctance to talk about it was making him nervous to actually start the rite. “Nox, what is going to happen?”

Sighing, Nox said, “you are too cautious. I swear on my Goddess’s name that nothing ill will befall you and that I am not jesting with you in the slightest. I promise that you just wouldn’t believe me if I told you what will happen. Out of everything I’ve seen in my life, this has to be one of the strangest.”

Nox took anything that involved his Goddess with zealous fervor. It wasn’t something that Colin could replicate unless it involved McKenna, but it was something he could trust. It was really the only thing that Nox treated with perfect reverence and politeness.

Nodding, Colin walked into the bathroom and into the circle he used to summon his Infernal Advisor. According to his skill, this circle was way over complicated for the task at hand, but it would still work for his purposes without ill effect. Higher-level rituals would require more exactness in their area preparation, but this one didn’t need it.

Standing in the middle of the intricate circle, Colin took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, “I call upon the ancient rites of the universe to bind a creature to my soul. I beg of you to give unto me the time to arbitrate my desires under the Contract Infinitum, I DevilWalker, ask this now.”

Colin finished the statement, power building up around him as the world around him broke away. It was almost as if the entire reality around him peeled and rolled away like wallpaper, vanishing into a black void. That was where Colin found himself, in a pitch-black void with the only notable thing around him being the glowing white ritual circle under his feet.

“Alright, my name is Jimerante, and I am your choice moderator. Sir, I’m behind you,” the voice sighed, and Colin spun around to face the voice in the nearly empty void.

A human-looking man in a two-piece suit sat behind a desk, complete with piles of paperwork, and a desktop computer upon it. The man looked utterly ordinary. Combed dark hair, Hispanic tan skin, glasses that somehow reflected nonexistent light made him look like he belonged in some office building. His lit cigarette altered the sight some, making him look more… relaxed, perhaps. The entire scene sat there with no visible floor, just an unseen bottom of perfect emptiness.

Colin approached the man carefully. The lack of a floor made walking feel perilous, and Colin had a weird feeling about the man behind the desk. It was a little odd that he was the only thing here… wherever he was. The presence the man had felt familiar but weak, like the same universe-shattering power that the One God Above All Others had but not as intense.

The man signed, “Sir, what are you doing?” he asked, indicating Colin’s slow pace.

“What are you?” Colin asked, looking over the man and trying to determine what he might do to him if pressured. No weapons, no hyper-inflated muscles, or even a notable magic item to defend himself. It was only a sense of pressure from the being that still made Colin nervous.

Jimerante grinned around his cigarette, “Interesting. I’ve had people try to threaten me, bribe me, blackmail me, seduce me, even offer me their very souls for the tools to ultimate power.” The man stated, “but you ask a simple but heavy question. Why?”

Colin felt no need to lie to the man, no one had even heard of the One God Above All Others before, and those who did thought it was a myth. But more than that, There was a note of calm professionalism with the man tone that compelled him to answer. “You feel like a being I’ve met before.”

The man froze for a few long seconds; he looked like a frozen computer screen with how perfectly still he went. When he did move, his cigarette fell out of his mouth with the word “who?”

“Not sure about an actual name. It just called itself the One God Above-”

“All Others,” the man finished for Colin. “Shiiit, that makes you the Antagonist. You shouldn’t be level twenty yet, so why…” the man trailed off, looking at his computer screen. Colin followed the wires that typically would have led off into a wall but found that they were connected to nothing; it was just an unplugged cable. “Ah, a Familiar Selection. That would explain this.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Colin stated, looking at the man in his still illuminated glasses.

The man pushed his glasses up his nose, letting Colin see his eyes with the weird light effect gone. It looked like there was a spiraling galaxy in his eyes, reds, yellows, and purple lights all spinning around a single point in the center of his eye. Underneath the cosmic eyes, dark heavy bags hung, indicating a lack of sleep. “You’re right, I didn’t. Seeing as how it appears that I will be your caseworker, Antagonist, I will answer. My species doesn’t have a name, as it were. We are not spiritual in nature, like angels or Demons, and we are not physical like humans. We are cosmic in nature and are built to preserve the natural order of the world, unlike the Void Creatures, our opposite.”

“Specifically, I am a Choice Moderator. One of many called to help the planes’ sentient species make choices that would otherwise be not theirs. You are here for a Familiar Selection. Without me, you would need a plethora of items, powers, magic to get anything, and even then, it would be mostly random. With one of my coworkers or me, you gain real choice in regards to your power. Make sense?” Jimerante finished, eyebrows raised, glasses sliding just a little down his nose to let whatever light that was cover the sight.

Colin nodded, “so, you don’t care that I am the Antagonist?”

“Why would I?” he said, sucking in a breath through empty teeth and only now realizing that his cigarette had fallen away. “Damn it,” he said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out another. He lit it as he continued, “you, nor any Demon Lord who came before you could harm me or my kind, so I am not worried about my safety. If it’s the fact that you are considered evil, that doesn’t bother me since I see things from a broader view. So let’s not worry about it, okay? Let’s just get you the perfect Familiar; sound good? Have a seat; the man gestured to an area in front of the desk and just to Colin’s left.

A chair materialized next to him, and Colin took it willingly. “Okay, so what do we do?”

“First,” Jimerante said, “Call me Jim. It’s faster and easier for you mortals to remember. Good?”

Colin nodded, “I’m fine with Jim.”

The Choice Moderator nodded, “second, I need to confirm your character sheet. Please give me your hand.”

Colin compiled a little hesitantly, and it was over a moment later. “Level One Summoning Magic and Level one Circle Summoning. Level Fifteen, okay. Guess that means you Summoned your Infernal Advisor; who’s yours?” he asked, typing away at his computer.

“It’s supposed to be Lucifer, but apparently, he’s not available. So Baal was supposed to be his Proxy, but he was too busy as well. Now I am just waiting for his to call back,” Colin explained.

“Ah, Lucif- Wait, your the Antagonist of Pride? Well, I’ll be. Okay, let me enter that in… Okay, according to this information, you can summon creatures of fire, water slash ice, shadow, psionic, undead, and infernal power. Of those choices, you can summon higher-ranked creatures of the demonic and shadow varieties. So unless you REALLY need something from water, Psionic, or fire, I would suggest one of those two.”

Jim started typing away, and Colin was just stunned by the Information dump. “Wait, wait, wait. Why are Undead among my choices? Why can I summon higher-ranked Infernal and shadow creatures?”

“Undead is the only creature type that anyone can summon. The saying goes that all mortals are constantly dying, so they all emit energies of death or something like that. You can summon stronger Shadow or Infernal creatures because you have sources of favor from these powers. My information says that you have curried favor with one of the Lords of Hell and bear a physical reminder. As for shadow, the only thing it states is a name… Nox Lightsnuffer? Whatever, it is considered a very high source of shadow, so you get a choice there.” Jim explained.

Colin reached into his Dimensional Bag and withdrew the Token of Demon Favor. The one-inch coin with a blood-red ruby set into the middle seemed just as vague as the day he got it. The fact that Nox counted as a boon for his summoning skill made Colin wonder what other unknown bonuses the Goblin was providing him.

“So, what sort of Familiar are you looking for?” Jim asked. “Which role do you want it to fill?”

“Role?” Colin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh all these explanations today, There are several roles that a Familiar can take, just like Mortals. There’s the Defender, Tank, Skirmisher, Sneak, Mage, Healer, and Skilled. These describe the primary roles a Familiar would take in combat. Do you need me to describe each of these roles?” The Choice Moderator asked.

“No, fairly self-explanatory. Can I pick multiple categories?” Colin asked, thinking of what he wanted for his coming Familiar.

“Yes, but the more focused, the higher their skills will be when they are first summoned,” Jim explained.

Nodding, Colin told him. “Focus on Shadow and Infernal unless something better comes up on your screen,” he instructed. “But I was thinking a Tank/Skirmisher or a Defender/Skirmisher,” Colin told him. “Can you do two separate searches?”

The man nodded, “I mean, my computer here may be running windows vista, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless. So, male or female?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Colin stated, waving his hand dismissively.

“Any special skills, abilities, powers you want it to have?”

“High Build Attribute, Good Speed and Dexterity, prefer if it could pass for human or another civilized species. Oh, I would also prefer some magical combat powers,” Colin said, a little unsure at the end. “But that is not strictly necessary.”

Jim nodded, “Okay. Any preference of Good over Evil? Order over Discord?”

“Maybe, Ordered-Evil,” Colin said. “Someone on the lower evil side of the spectrum. I don’t want to watch them eat orphans because no one will miss them,” Colin explained, remembering what little he knew about Demons from Earth’s lore was said to do. Either that or McKenna told him about one of her DnD games. Either way, it wasn’t pleasant.

“Fair enough,” Jim said, typing away at his keyboard for over a minute before asking his next question. “Weapons of choice?”

“Any, but closed range is the highest priority.”

Typing more, Jim asked a series of other questions that Colin answered but was baffled by. Why did this entity need to know his mother’s maiden name, if he’s ever had syphilis, if he was an army veteran, if he had ever been to Redwood city in the last five years, that sort of thing. Colin answered them all with mounting annoyance; he didn’t have time for this. Rielle would be back soon if she wasn’t already, from her recon of the area, and he needed to be done to assist her.

“Okay,” Jim said, yawning before looking sleepily at his screen. “Only two more questions before we find out what your options are. What is your favorite color?”

“Dark Forest Green,” Colin stated immediately.

“And what is your quest?” he asked, cosmic eyes boring into Colins.

Colin had to pause and think about this for a moment. He had many things to do, but what was his quest? He wanted to get revenge on Monty and his group for what they put him through, he wanted to get out of the game, he wanted to get as strong as possible. But none of those were his quest. Colin locked eyes with the Moderator and said, “I want to get out of this world to go see my wife.”

Jim’s smile reemerged, and he typed the answer. “Okay, now that that is all done, the system will take a moment or three to compile your choices so that you can choose well. So tell me, what’s happening on RosenGard right now?”

Colin gave him the short version of the Golem invasion and how he’d escaped to the Dark Horse Hotel. A few short minutes later, and Jim looked at his computer with a satisfied look. “So I have good news for you. We have four available Summons that match the criteria that you gave me. Two Infernals and two Shadow creatures. Here, have a look.” he turned the screen so Colin could see the shortlist.

Inkstain Typhon Larrimortias LaGrelle Cowler Cordova Madras

Species: Elder Shadow Elemental

Class: Shearing Lord

Notable Skills:

Polearms Shadow Magic Manipulation Shadow Forging

Disposition: animosity

Fealty: 45%

Other: Aversion to Light

Species: Hollow Incubus (Demon)

Class: HellRime Knight

Notable Skills:

Shields Shapeshifting Water Magic Manipulation

Disposition: Motivated

Starting Fealty: 76%

Other: Resistant to Divine

Species: Shaded Cowl

Class: Dark Ward Fencer

Notable Skills:

Longswords Shadow Magic Manipulation Warding Magic

Disposition: Devoted

Starting Fealty: 81%

Other: Honor Code

Species: Glyphed Fury (Demon)

Class: Sanguine Angel

Notable Skills:

Blood Rage Infernal Armory Chain Whip

Disposition: Hostile

Starting Fealty: 38%

Other: Frenzies in Combat

“Whoa,” Colin breathed out. “These four are on my shortlist?”

Jim nodded, “yeah, all good strong choices. I can say honestly that I haven’t seen this many power choices on a shortlist before. It is hard to believe that we could narrow it down from over 14 million options to just these four. Aren’t you glad you answered all those questions?”

Almost gagging at the obscene number of possible Familiars, Colin looked them over. “Why are only three skills listed?”

“As it is stated, those are their notable skills. These skills might be important to their class or their highest skills. We only do this many to protect our Familiars abilities since it is possible to run into them in their natural environment.,” Jim explained.

“What about Starting Fealty?” Colin inquired.

“All Familiars have a percentage rating that determines how loyal they are to your orders. It is possible to increase or decrease the Fealty over time as long as you work with the Familiar instead of forcing them to work. This sort of thing is different from creature to creature,” Jim informed him.

“Doesn’t that mean that those with lower Starting Fealty would be less likely to obey my orders in the beginning?”

“Indeed, but again, Fealty can rise, so there is nothing wrong with those of lower percentages,” Jim answered.

“Hmmm,” Colin hummed as he thought over all the information he had. He dropped the Shadow Elemental and Fury off his list of options for similar and different reasons. The Dispositions, Fealty, and the other sections were all wrong for what Colin needed.

That left Larrimortias and Cowl. But even then, the choice felt easy. While the Cowler sounded like it would be a good match for him and its Fealty was the highest, the other section’s Honor Code made the choice easy. Especially when he considered Larrimortias’s Resistance to Divine and the fact that he could Shapeshift, making him a versatile infiltrator. He may not know what a Hollow Incubus was, but how bad could it be if it could shapeshift?

“I’ll take Larrimortias LaGrelle,” Colin stated, sure of his decision.

“Are you sure you want this? Once chosen, you cannot take back this decision without losing the option to get another Familiar,” Jim stated bluntly. “There will be no remedy for this if you chose wrong.”

Never one to go back on a decision, Colin simply said, “yes, I’m sure.”

Jim nodded, “Alright. I am going to need you to sign a few forms.” The Choice Moderator opened one of his desk drawers and withdrew a yellowed scroll, and started filling in some blanks on the rolled up piece of parchment. “Larrimortias LaGrelle, Hollow Incubus, HellRime Knight. Okay, So I need you to sign here. Initial here. Initial here, this offers your firstborn if he is permanently killed. Now a blood mark here, oh, allow me,” Jim stated, flicking a finger and opening a small pinprick hole on Colin’s finger.

“Just place it at the bottom near that seal, and Larrimortias LaGrelle is yours,” Jim stated.

Looking at his blood welling upon his finger, Colin was finally a little hesitant to do it. He’d heard of a lot of things that required blood as a component, and not many of them were good. He looked up at Jim with a questioning glance.

The Choice Moderator looked with understanding at Colin, “the blood component is the penultimate tie that connects your soul to this creature. The other thing you have to do is summon him, but that’s after you bind his status to yours. I’m afraid there is no other choice here, it’s either do it or walk away now.”

Steeling himself, Colin dropped the blood on the contract, and the whole thing rolled itself up into a neat and tidy scroll, sealing it with royal red wax.

“Excellent doing this work with you, Colin Drummond. I will see you when it’s time for you to choose a Career, and I wish you good luck with your Incubus. Have a wonderful rest of your day,” Jim said in a hurry.

Colin took a mental double-take to realize that he’d been called by his real name, not DevilWalker. He tried to ask the Choice Moderator how and why he did that, but the next thing he knew, he’d reappeared in the Hotels apartment. He was standing stiff as a board as he reeled from the experience.

Through a signed contract, you have gained the subskill; Summon Familiar Level 1. Having bound the Demon Larrimortias LaGrelle, you have gained the ability to summon him to your plane of existence. At level one, you can devote 1% of your total mana to your Familiar to keep him on this plane. Mana Devoted to the Summon cannot be used until the summon is destroyed. Destroyed Familiars may be resummoned after 99 minutes of cooldown period.

“So, I suppose it went well?” Nox asked.

It took Colin a moment to nod, “yeah. I got one. How long was I gone? It felt like hours.”

“Oh, about ten minutes. Rielle hasn’t been back yet just so you are aware,” Nox informed him. “So, what did you get?”

“A demon. Hold on, I need to summon him to solidify to finalize the bond,” Colin told him. He then turned to the bathroom and again used the circle as the basis for the magic. He channeled the Summon Familiar Subskill and utilized the Circle Summoning Subskill to bring forth his new Familiar.

A pillar of swirling red smoke appeared within the circle; thick enough Colin could not see through it. Seconds passed, and Colin waited to see if something more than a glorified magic show would happen. Then an outline of a man walked into view within the smoke and then a silhouette.

More seconds passed, and a six-and-a-half-foot-tall man with deep red skin appeared within the circle. Even deeper red horns curled up and over his head, ending in points at the back of his scalp. Short black hair was combed straight around his ears, with smooth cheekbones and strong lines around his face. His torso was uncovered and perfectly muscled for physical beauty and power. His slacks were black and pristine as if they’d come straight from the cleaners, and heavy boots adorned his feet. Colin could see a swishing pointed tail that moved slowly around the Demon’s feet just behind the Demon.

The Demon smiled; the white teeth were slightly sharp but unnaturally beautiful at the same time. “You must be my contractor. DevilWalker, right? My name is Larrimortias LaGrelle; it is a pleasure to meet you,” he said, approaching Colin and taking his hand to shake it vigorously.

“DevilWalker, did you contract an Incubus?” Nox said, a little worried for the first time since Colin had known him.

“Yeah,” Colin answered Nox. “Why?”

It was at that moment that Rielle opened the door and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her and hurried over to Colin, pausing halfway there upon seeing the new person in the room and staring at him.

“Master DevilWalker, you are too kind. You’ve brought me a treat already, and I haven’t even done anything for you yet.” the Demon said, slowly approaching Rielle. A predator smile gracing his pleasant features, and his tail rising up with his approach.

“Uhhh,” Rielle said, blushing and taking a step away from the oncoming Demon.

“I’d suggest you stop him, DevilWalker. Succubi and their Male counterparts Incubi are sex demons. He thinks you gave him Rielle as a snack, and if the copulate, it will not end well for her,” Nox said quickly as Colin’s Familiar stepped past Colin and stood over Rielle.