Fendelheim loved being contracted to human summoners. They were full of desires and pursued them by any means. It was rare to find a species with so little regard for their fellows or themselves. A wolf would kill another wolf for territory, mates, or food. A human would kill another human for looking at them the wrong way. Or for laughs.

They’d do the most horrible things imaginable to the people they loved the most, including themselves, but could humble themselves to those they hated if it meant obtaining the slightest bit of power. Truly, unique specimen.

And so very easy to manipulate. Some creatures were impossible to satisfy. They called on the succubi as healers and tasked them to erase every ail plaguing their worlds. They summoned them as warriors, to fight endless battles for heroes and tyrants alike. They summoned them as great thinkers, to counsel rulers into forming perfect utopias.

A human summoner? They’d sell their souls and sacrifice their families just to get off. If was almost as if the species were made to be played for fools by predators like the succubi. Little snacks with enough intelligence to thrive and multiply with the ferocity of rabbits but too foolish to learn from their mistakes.

She had two complaints about human summoners though. For one, there was their lack of power. She had good reason to think of them as little snacks. Most humans never reached a coefficient of one hundred. They were the only intelligent race with knowledge of mana and how to cultivate it that restricted that knowledge to its upper echelons. It was ridiculous how the current rulers perpetuated the belief that only a few had the talent to use magic. A simpleton could learn how to circulate mana to grow their mana core. They may never cast a single spell but the larger core would make them healthier and stronger.

She understood why. IT tied into her second problem with humanity. They were a fearful, cowardly race at heart. While she had accomplished much under her contracts due to their foolishness, she never accomplished as much as she would like on account of the caution of her summoners.

Oh, the things she could accomplish if paired with an ambitious and brave soul, but no. Kings, revolutionaries, and heroes, humans of spirit, were rare beings. Beings normally not drawn to the art of summoning, where one beseeched another to solve one’s problems for a price. No, she dealt with the kind of humans who would restrict her to using her power to be a glorified prostitute. Men who would cripple their species rather than risk their subjects gaining too much power to be easily controlled.

However, there was a reason Geneva, as the humans called her, the succubus who had claimed the world as her feeding ground, forbidding any other succubus entry with threat of war, did not forsake the humans. While they lacked power, foresight, and many other things, what they had in spades was potential. Once in a generation, a summoner came along who made it all worth it. And once every ten generations, humanity birthed a miracle.

Such as the one they called the First Saint, a man who had wielded the power of stars and banished stray draconids to protect the fledgling human kingdom. The tales of their greatest hero were woefully understated. They celebrated the man called Dunwayne for slaying a fake dragon. One. The First Saint had fought off hundreds of draconids of matching power. Dozens at a time.

Not as impressive as slaying an actual dragon but it showed that humanity had the potential to stand alongside the strongest races of the world and many beyond.

That potential had been realized again in Lourianne Tome.

“Lady Fen.”

Fen looked up from the reports she was reading. She had commandeered the deceased Gordon Grimoire’s study for her work, though on the surface it seemed that his son had taken over. She never let him sit behind his father’s desk. There was a smaller table and simple chair in the room for him to sit at while he completed his assignments. Nothing related to running the family, no need for a puppet ruler to concern himself over complicated matters, but as her summoner, she had a vested interest in developing his strength, which included his knowledge.

“Come in,” Fen called, setting down a document.

Another thrall entered the room. With the sun just starting to rise, the human servants would only start awakening but the succubi had little need for sleep. After all, they had physical affinities to nourish their bodies and mental affinities to strengthen their minds.

[Word has been sent. The agent of the crown will be arriving today.] There was no need for the succubi to speak aloud when not putting on a show. It was both more efficient to speak through their magic and eliminated any possibility of being overheard.

[Has Baron Yemen’s position changed?]

[No. He intends to discipline his daughter and reinforce her loyalty before adding her to the escort headed for Fortitude.]

Fortitude. The first city of Harvest and the current stronghold of the man-mutating horror known as Aggro, as those who knew of him refused to use his true name.

There had been whispers abound in the capital about a crisis. The king and his advisers were keeping quiet about the threat itself, and she wouldn’t risk everything by trying to pry into their minds, but there was plenty of evidence that something terrible was on the horizon. Of kingdom-ending proportion if the crown was sending a diplomatic mission to Aggro. The nobles despised the creature, a living reminder of their failure.

[Have we arranged agents for the expedition?]

[No. The group contained only royal knights and was meant to be led by Sir Quintana. However, with his recent failure, it may provide an opportunity. Especially if Yemen is able to find a place for his daughter.]

They had received word of the esteemed knight’s utter failure in an attempt to form cordial relations with the elf. Fen had almost fallen out of her chair with laughter at the thought of the king almost inciting war with a poor gift. [Already making herself useful~ Is the meeting with the summoners arranged?]

[Javarius Tome will be expecting the boy tonight at his home.]

[His home? The man has no caution.]

[Does he have any reason to be cautious? On the surface, these decrees seem to target the Mason family more than anyone else. It is perfectly understandable that Junior would be incensed. He thinks there is little to fear. Perhaps he thinks he can manipulate the boy. Nothing would make the Tome family patriarch happier than ‘getting one over’ on a former Grimoire.]

[Funny how a creature so glorious could come from such garbage.] Of course, she spoke of Lourianne Tome, the summoner that had contracted Geneva, or at least, the latest incarnation of the greater whole.

[Ah ah. I had hoped that she would be drawn back to the capital.] She had yet to taste twilight-colored flesh that smelled of ambrosia and had destroyed her reason with a single whiff. The power contained within that body. Fen shuddered remembering it, her tongue unconsciously licking her lips. If she could obtain a single bite, she could die happy.

The second thrall’s tail whipped faster, picking up on Fen’s thoughts. [We were told to leave the capital with as much wealth as we could. Would it not make sense to resettle in Quest?]

[Hah, if only. No, we have already been ordered to infiltrate Rosentheim.] If the capital was the seat of the crown, then Rosentheim was the seat of the nobles. Despite the Guiness family’s efforts with the city of Sleepy Harbor, Rosentheim remained the richest city in the kingdom. It’s surrounding territory contained fertile fields that fed most of the kingdom and it was known for its master craftsmen. Many notable families had estates in or near the city, including the Rosefields. A most suitable target.

Fen stood from her chair and stretched languidly. [Was there anything else?]

[No. I will return to my duties.] “A good day to you, Lady Fen.” The thrall bowed her head and promptly left the room.

“Suppose it’s time to wake my summoner.”