Chapter 90 – Shopping Spree

Kairon went on a shopping spree.

By the next day, four new spawning grounds had been constructed. Three new brood ones, and one new void one. As he told Shiny before, he’d also ordered the construction of a third feeding pit. All of that left every building slot entirely filled save his one last open space in the void district. Something he planned to remedy within the next few days by adding an additional spawning grounds there.

It’d made the sigil practically a moot point, giving both his brood and void populations a massive population boom. The sigil that, now, still was chewing away to replenish his recovering wrath imp population.

When he wasn’t overseeing the city’s operations, he started spending more time meeting with Hush nearby the ritual basin. Kairon had stagnated in his own personal growth. As he brought more powerful demons to this world, that was going to become an issue. He could rely on his allies to do the heavy lifting, but as their leader there was a point where demonic society might become a problem. One that personal power could be a valuable asset for.

Besides, witnessing the sheer power of the callings had made him reconsider his reticence about learning demonic symbols. If the plane had power to offer, shouldn’t some of that become his? And why should he restrict both his city and himself to the whims of the rudimentary system he was given?

If Kairon could master the demonic arts and comprehend the various aspects, what might he be able to build? What might he be able to create?

It was going to be a project. One that would take time. But he got matters underway by immersing himself in Hush’s presence and asking him questions about the nature of the aspects. Bit by bit, he was learning.

About midway through the next week, he got his next pleasant surprise.

“It is done, child.” Sythara was sweating, her tendrils trembling with the effort. Near her, nearly thirty void imps circled the ritual basin. Three days ago, Kairon had spent one of his three remaining essence beads on a tier one brood brand. The first brood advancement for the city.

Shiny wasn’t just thrilled. He was beaming. Nearby, he nodded in approval, orange eyes glowing with hunger.

Kairon rolled his eyes, bobbing his chin in return.

The comprehension was low. Very low. A far cry from the seventy-one percent Sythara had managed last time. Kairon had expected a bit of a drop off, but had been hopeful the enormous increase in his void population would have been enough to offset the worst of it.

Alas, it seemed not.

Delicately, he decided to ask about the void populace in this regard. “I did think that with so many void imps, we might expect better comprehension results.”

Sythara’s jaw tightened. “Did you now, child? And when you thought this, did you consider that maybe, and again this is just a maybe…” She peeled back her lips, showing her sharpened teeth. “Maybe the comprehension is not a result of throwing void imps at the plane, but taking more and more of my power and melting it away!”

“Ah. Yes. There is that. I just… I really thought we could expect Hush and his comrades to do the heavy lifting while you recovered.”

“If you are dissatisfied with my performance, I can leave this to—”

“No! No, no. I’m not unhappy. I just wanted to ask. That is all. And Sythara, I did not forget my promise.” Kairon raised both claws. “I will ensure we repay what you’ve spent, and then some. I’ve been working with Hush, and have some new ideas cooking that I think we can utilize. Besides, all the void imps have to be a huge help, right?”

“They are,” she said. “But they can only do so much. True understanding with the plane requires more than their whims.”

“Uh huh. I see.”

Behind them, the void imps had begun to break away from the circle, chittering and scampering about in excitement.

Lowering his voice, Kairon ensured none save Sythara could hear him. “Listen. About what I told you before. While I work on concocting our growth procedure, I’ve decided to authorize the sigil usage on your next brand research. And not only that, but I want to pursue a tier two brand.”

“Child! Did you not just see what happened! I…” Sythara looked down, sniffling. It was only now that Kairon realized how she must have felt. Sythara, despite all her manic intelligence, was a demon. And demons were prideful creatures.

She’d come to his city covered in fifty shapes of power. Now, she had less than a quarter of that. Was she even rank two anymore?

He placed a claw on her shoulder. “I should have spoken more carefully. Forgive me, Sythara. You’ve done more than anyone could ask, and I rely on your guidance.”

The demoness rubbed a hand at her nose, breathing short, shallow breaths. “I… I really did try. I did. It is hard, you know. I have not been with so few shapes in… I do not know. A long, long time, child.”

“I understand. I do. Which is why using the sigil on your next attempt makes sense. While you recover and I develop a method for us to regrow your void energy, lean on me a bit. Let me use my alteration. Didn’t that sound fascinating? Boosting comprehension to well over a hundred percent? Tell me, have you even heard of such a thing?”

“I…” Her voice began to shift and a note of interest returned to it. “No, child. No one from my sisterhood ever spoke of this. They also never lost shapes like I have!”

And just like that, she was nearly back to tears.

“But, but, but,” said Kairon. “If we can successfully complete research at such a high comprehension, there has to be insights and benefits for one such as you? We just need to ensure we can do it safely, without losing you to the erm… communion.”

“I suppose…” she said meekly.

Slapping her on the back, he straightened and turned his attention to the notification waiting for him. “Don’t you worry, dear. We’ll make a rank three void demoness out of you yet.”

“What?!” Smirking, Kairon strode away before she could ask more details. He had a feeling that would flip her mood around.

As he walked, he ran his senses over the three options for the finished tier one brood brand. Being the comprehension was below the seventy percent threshold, he assumed that meant there would be no options beyond this. He’d choose, and something would be given.

Maw, Belly, Womb. Three avenues.

Maw felt of chewing. Of massive teeth like that of the feeding pit. Processing, harvesting, and other external brood factors.

Belly felt… Well, it felt full. Like he’d had a fine meal and tucked in for the night. Storage and sustenance. And… Perhaps fervor. Ways to increase it and keep his imps happy.

And then Womb. Its purpose was quite evident. Swarm and breeding.

Really, the choice wasn’t hard. There was one metric his city had struggled to pass a new threshold on. Fervor. It constantly hovered in the upper sixties.

Glancing at it, he saw it was still at the same cursed number.

Without giving it much more thought, he pressed his focus against it and chose Belly.

That feeling of fullness blossomed outwards, blanketing the district. The void imps went still, turning as one to face their master.

“Chose!”

“Full!”

“The plane full!”

“Ohhh!”

They each bowed, before staring up at the violet eye above the citadel in the distance.

Kairon, however, just took the feeling in. He heard the sounds of sloshing and smelled something acidic and bile. Tasted it too, which wasn’t very pleasant. He assumed it must be a bit like the inside of a giant demonic stomach.

By the time the feeling had passed, a new brand had been carved at the bottom of the brood totem. One that felt much like its namesake.

A broodfull belly.

“Huh. A mess hall means eating. And if it includes a kitchen…” Kairon reviewed the remainder of his building plans. They were close. Too close to both the new ring and their population limit.

But once they’d gotten through both, this was going to be the next building he made. He made a mental reminder to speak to Nod about recruiting a cooking squad.

***

A few days later, he started what he hoped would bring something far, far more impressive than the first brands had.

Kairon had spent some time considering which type of aspect to try his sigil out on. They only had two essence remaining. Two beads of the crystallized sapience to unfurl into the required knowledge for the plane.

Which reminded him—he needed to have the delve imps scour that crater. There was a chance his feedback loop had generated essence. Then again, his calling was a desire of gold, not essence. So he really wasn’t certain.

Regardless, part of him wanted to wait until the third ring was done before deciding on which tier two brand to create. There would surely be a new demon and new buildings and options that could impact his decision.

But the other part of him was more worried about the audit and Shiny’s upcoming evolution. Shiny was of brood, and he intended to pull several strings to make this particular communion quite impactful.

In this case, not only was he going to have all the void imps spend every waking moment helping Sythara to create the calling, but he also planned to do something a bit… questionable during the ring ritual itself.

Without further hesitation, he paid the two essence. “It’s begun. Now it’s your turn, my dear. Once you are ready, let me know and I will finish it as we discussed.”

The sadness from the earlier day still lingered on the demoness, but a new, manic grin sprouted on her lips. One that mostly covered the somber emotions up. “I will, child. I will. Does this mean that my pilot experiment is done?”

“Almost, Sythara. Almost.”

***

Eight days. That’s how long it’d taken. Eight days of learning, research, and work from all the imps. But by the end, the city was ready.

They fought their battles, claimed their spoils, and turned them into an entirely full city layout. One that bristled with two dozen buildings that circled the citadel.

Given the enormity of the occasion, Kairon had called an early end to the day’s work. Everyone save the absent Boney and Red Claws were ordered to meet at the citadel.

On the way, he made a little stop by the wrath district. He’d learned his lessons. Kairon wasn’t going to do anything too crazy. But he’d gone over the menu notifications from the last time he’d done a ring ritual.

And one major fact had stuck out. The new demons he was offered were based on the power levels of the rings, with each getting a percentage of the whole. Half void? Fifty percent.

So… If he really wanted to skew the odds and get more demons of the aspect he wanted—perhaps even higher quality ones… With a naughty smile on his face, Kairon recalled the sigil.

With a snap, it slid back at no cost into his mind. Then, as if nothing had happened, he began to whistle a jolly tune and followed the imps towards the great tower.

Along the way, the city lord reviewed the city status.

Those eight days gave five new spawning grounds, a new rookery, and the third feeding pit. That extra queue capacity had continued to become an issue as his population grew.

The stockpile had begun to grow comically large, with bundles of ashroot reaching over ten feet high. A violation, Nod had called it. Kairon had agreed, but what could they do? For now, they simply took what precautions they could.

One fact, however, was the most interesting.

Stone. They had a massive amount of it due to how well the delve imps chewed it up. They’d entirely emptied out the riverbed and stone deposits near the city in the first two days. Two days.

Unfortunately, while the delve imps were made for the mines, they were awful with anything else. Shiny and Bean both agreed they couldn’t touch a farm to save their lives, but they could haul—if slowly.

The math worked out so that they were about half as useful as a normal brood imp for cutting down timber. So one unit of timber per day on average per delve imp. Not awful, but not good.

That was going to change too, however. Kairon and Bean had been planning for a mass excavation. The little gremlin had unearthed more and more tunnels beneath the citadel. Slowly, they were mapping the network he desired.

Yesterday, Bean had even found a small den of sorts. One that was teeming with those giant beetles. For now, he had him steer clear of it. Yet, once he set the floodgates open on Bean and the delve imps, just what would they find?

Shrugging, Kairon knew that could wait. One thing, however, had waited long enough. Stopping in front of the tower, he straightened his red cape and brushed down his scales.

“Alright! Hush! To me. Remember what I told you.” Kairon had several goals for this ritual, and not all had to do with his sigil. “I’m going to try and learn what you do. But my own way.”

“Yessss master.” The hooded imp scampered up, taking position to his left.