Chapter 10

“When D.E.D. come through rifts, the first and foremost thing they are looking for is energy. Ambient energy is in the air all around us, but areas with high population and technology or energy-based infrastructure are usually the biggest draws. The increased energy output charges the air more, and the larger the masses of people, the higher the chances of those who can resonate. D.E.D. can feed on the ambient energy in the air, and the energy put off by those with strong resonation, the easiest.”

That description made the D.E.D. seem like multi-dimensional ticks, and it was more than a little unsettling. Especially given how closely the Evil Eye had been staying by him.

“Of course, those are the normal ways for D.E.D. to get energy, but they are not optimal.” Emelia continued. “The most efficient way for a D.E.D. to gain energy is to make a pact with a human who has a strong resonation. These pacts allow the D.E.D. to siphon excess energy that will congregate around the individual. In return, the pacts give the individual the ability to protect themselves against any D.E.D. who may mean them harm.”

So, helpful ticks. But still ticks. He’d heard a name for this in science class…what was it? “So, it’s a symbiotic relationship?” Was that the right word?

“More or less.” Emelia said simply. “As I mentioned, we need their help in order to prevent the Tiered Demons from entering, and they use us to gather their own powers and to strengthen themselves. It’s a win-win. Plus,” she smiled, “forming a bond with an exorcist does more than just give them the ability to freely collect energy from around you.”

She flipped to the next screen on the slideshow, showing a detailed pullup of a demon. The one shown looked like an angry, tiny little red devil. The name above it read Imp, and besides that, Fire Type.

“When D.E.D. bond with Exorcists, they enter into a special state that normally the weaker ones couldn’t. That is, they unlock within them a special enhancement feature that accelerates their growth and enables the use of latent skills.

This feature, this trait of D.E.D., is what makes Tiered Demon’s so problematic. Tiered Demons don’t need to form a bond in order to unlock these skills. Tiered Demons can grow on their own, and can also help other D.E.D. grow. In a sense, Tiered Demon’s are their dimensions version of a combination of an exorcist and a D.E.D.”

“But that isn’t relevant right now.” She quickly flipped the slide. “Technology has thankfully come a very long way from the way things used to happen. Before, each exorcist would carry around a book and write down their own notes and details on the D.E.D. they’d bonded with. It was up to them to gauge the strengths of their D.E.D., and to try and memorize the various skills and abilities of them. Obviously, such guesswork led to some unfortunate failures at times.”

She motioned towards his phone for him to follow along. “Thankfully, we’ve created an app that can accurately access the frequency and reading of each and every D.E.D. that interacts with our network, and have created a massive database that will give us almost every bit of data we could want on the D.E.D. Barring, of course, special cases and irregular types.”

Henry was doing his best to listen, but he’d flipped to his Evil Eye’s page and was looking over the screen Emelia had directed him to. If not for everything he’d just encountered, this would very much so feel like one of those monster taming video games.

“As you can see,” the director continued, “Not only does the app give you the name and type of your D.E.D., but it also gives you the level, the health points, mana points, as well as skill list for your D.E.D.”

Evil Eye

Wind Type

Level 1

20/20 HP

15/15 MP

Skills:

Tackle

Wind Shield

Air Burst

He already knew his Evil Eye was level 1, but it was interesting to actually see the skill list, as well as the Health and Magic Points for it. This data made it hard to focus on the creature as an actual thing, and not something from a game. Or maybe, had his life become game-like instead? Because this was all real now.

“When it comes to D.E.D. there are a few important things to take note of.” She flipped the slide. “First, their element type will affect the types of skills they have, and also play into strengths and weaknesses. I’m sure you’ve run into such things in games, where fire is weak to water, and so on.”

Henry nodded to her.

“Same thing,” she smiled and continued, “next, the level of you D.E.D.” Another slide. “You can increase the level of your D.E.D. in multiple ways. First, by taking part in actual Tiered Demon events. If your D.E.D. participates in holding back a Tiered Demon as it tries to break through a rift, when it is defeated, part of that Tiered Demon’s energy will be split between all the D.E.D. who participated. In that way, they gain experience, and can grow stronger. Additionally, the longer you allow a D.E.D. to stay materialized around you, the more ambient energy it can collect, thus gaining it more experience as well.”

That brought up another question Henry had. Loki had his grim out, but obviously whatever that second thing was, it, had been hidden. And Loki had mentioned keeping your more unique D.E.D. hidden when you could. Which meant you would have to be picky about which D.E.D. you had moving about with you, gaining ambient experience.

“Third,” Emelia moved right on, even as Henry struggled with these thoughts, “whenever you use your D.E.D. to interact with regular D.E.D. at rifts, you have the chance to increase their strength by defeating the approaching D.E.D.”

“But in those cases, it’s a little trickier.” She smiled at him, and flipped to the next slide. “This is because those instances are also chances for you to gain more D.E.D. When new D.E.D. come through lesser rifts, exorcists have three options before them. One, they defeat the D.E.D., destroying it completely and sending it home. Two, they beat it to near death, and force it into servitude. Or three, they try and bargain with it right away, avoiding all conflict, and potentially gathering a new D.E.D. for themselves.”

“No matter what then,” Henry piped in, “the D.E.D. is facing servitude or death?” That seemed a bit dark. Especially after she’d informed him all the D.E.D. were as sapient as humans. She’d now said they were straight up murdering them, or capturing them.

Emelia’s eyes flashed, and he couldn’t’ tell what emotion she was masking. “That’ sadly how this world, this situation, works.” She said. “It’s us or them. Which obviously is why it’s better to try and pact with them, avoiding any conflict, and strengthening our numbers. However,” she let out a heavy sigh, “the ones who refuse to pact, the ones who refuse to create a bond, are a threat not just to exorcists, but to our world. And it is our job, our sacred duty to this world and all the people in it, to ensure they cannot cause us harm.”

The slide show went dark. “Even though we’ve turned it into a game for the masses,” her voice was quiet, “for those of us who resonate, this is very real. And failure on our part means a very real end of everything.”