[Leela] Chapter 2: Contract

[Throndir]

"Leelasama, Leelasama! I'm so sorry! I will make sure not to eat if it is not my turn to eat!" Abi exclaimed still prostrating herself.

"I can't remember if I've eaten that or not! They are yummy!"

Even though she said they tasted good, you recall the fruit you did have was rather bland.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"You forgot to tell me who Gabu is and why he was in the kitchen. Kuki is the only one who currently has permission to be in the kitchen, and he is supposed to be guarding it if he has found the things I asked him to yet."

Leela wondered if the imps thought the food was yummy, if they merely said that because of the texture or if they could actually taste it. Or perhaps the one Abi had nibbled on actually did have flavor and Leela had just gotten unlucky... The only true way to find out was to taste it for herself and see. She would have to have Abi learn about how to better describe food according to texture and taste other than just "yummy."

[Throndir]

"Gabu came to see me while I was walking here! Food is yummy!" She then looked up hesitantly at you.

"Did you try the fruits yet? Gabu got me in trouble! Are they yummy? Did I do good? Are you good?"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela dropped her hand holding up the last finger when Abi finally answered that question. At least Gabu had not been in the kitchen like she had thought. If he had been, Leela would have sent for him so he could be punished. Though he should be punished for tricking Abi.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to clear her mind, the young woman looked back at Abi.

"Next time another imp tries to pressure you into doing something, remember that you are Imp Leader. They have to listen to you, and you should not let them pressure you into doing things that you could get in trouble for. Next time you see Gabu, make sure he knows that if he tries to do that again, his punishment will be skipping a meal. If anyone else tries to pressure you into doing something bad, have them report to me for punishment."

"As for the fruits, I was going to share some with you so we could compare how they taste, but since you already helped yourself," She indicated the half-eaten fruit still in her other hand. "I don't think I should anymore."

[Throndir]

"Ohh... oh... okay..." Abi said, sniffling. Her eyes visibly had tears in them. She scrunched up her face then.

"Leelasama! Leelasama, I'm so sorry, Leelasama!" Abi continued, flustered as the imp started to have more fresh tears in her eyes.

"I-I... Promise to tell bad imps that they are bad... And... and...! I'm sorry Leelasama, Leelasama! Other imps have to listen to Imp Leader? It's hard being Imp Leader!"

She glanced at the fruits that you had pointed at. Just knowing that the tasty morsels were out of her reach, Abi began to cry even more.

"I-I'm s-so sorry!"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Of course they have to listen to the Imp Leader. Masters give Imp Leader orders for the other imps, so if the other imps don't listen to those orders when told by Imp Leader, they can get in big trouble. But do not abuse that by telling them to do things they should not do or you'll get in really big trouble." Leela explained to the imp. She was beginning to realize that she would have to go into more detail about what being an Imp Leader would mean for Abi from now on. She would have to put together that list later on, there was still so much to be done before bed.

"If you don't like the punishment, then you shouldn't do bad things. But if you promise to quiet down, I'll consider sharing with you again."

Leela wondered if she could use this mimicry blessing to copy what Zavan had done earlier in the kitchen and slice up the fruit she still held in her hand. Holding up her empty hand, she imagined her fingernails growing into sharp knives in the way Zavan's had.

[Throndir]

Heroic Action Point Gained

Abi sniffled one more time.

"O-okay... I'll be quiet. Abi can be quiet. Imp Leader knows how to be quiet..." Abi said softly. "C-Can Imp Leader sit beside you?" Abi asked, her voice still slightly cracking.

《Mimicry: Natural Demon Weapons》
The moment you thought about copying Zavan's abilities earlier that day, your fingernails elongated just like Zavan's.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Yes." Leela answered the question simply, a little distracted by her concentration of what she was doing. Her eyes widened a little as her fingernails did elongate and seem to sharpen. With how high her dexterity seemed to be in her status menu, she wondered if she could do what Zavan had done. First, toss the fruit up in the air. Second, slice and dice. Third, catch the piece. She used the half eaten fruit as her test subject.

Dexterity Roll:

Rolled 1d20+9 : 5 + 9, total 14

[Throndir]

Dexterity: 14
You manage to slice the fruit in the way you wanted.

Abi started to climb up and proceeded to sit beside you. A moment later she clung to your side in an attempt to hug you.

You notice her look hungrily at the fruits you had just cut.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela though about her nails going back to normal, like Zavans had, once the fruit was cut. She then carefully placed the pieces of fruit so that the pieces that had been eaten from prior to the cutting were separate from the pieces that had not been touched by another's mouth.

She wondered if her actions had changed the description of her Mimicry blessing or anything else in her status, and so summoned her status screen once more to check everything for changes. "Status."

"Aside from what you ate on your way back here, when did you last eat?" The young woman asked the imp when she noticed her clinging to her side and eyeing the fruit.

[Throndir]

Leela Steading
Summoned Hero
Level 25

Condition: Healthy

HP: 69/69
MP: 88/89
STR: 24
DEX: 28
CON: 28
INT: 10
WIS: 14
CHA: 16
MAG: 36

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Summoned as Demon Hero, Mimicry

Focus on 『Mimicry』
Ability to copy natural skills.

Abi thought about the question for a moment.

"Just a bit ago! Something he made. It tasted okay. Kuki shared with us! It was a fried fruit. He likes to experiment. Right before Zavan called me!"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Curious. It cost her one MP to use her Mimicry skill for that particular ability. She wondered if it was one MP per use or if it just depended on what she was doing. More complex things probably used more up more MP. And the question marks were gone from the Mimicry description, though now it only said that it was an ability to copy natural skills. So it was like a certain ninja from that ninja anime she had watched. Ha! She imagined herself dressing as a ninja when going to confront others and earning a title of the Copy Cat Ninja by using her Mimicry.

Still, though... Was that all Mimicry did, or did it only show that description because that was all she had tried to do with it? Leela decided to test, looking at Abi and imagining her own head also looking like Abi's.

"So right before we met, you ate fried fruit that Kuki made? How much did you eat? How often do you need to eat?"

[Throndir]

When you attempted to look like Abi, a notification appeared in front of you.

Ability not yet unlocked.

"Sometimes we don't eat a lot! How much we eat... Everyone likes to eat a lot too! I wonder! We can sometimes eat a lot! I like to eat a lot. Maybe... this big!" Abi raised both her hands in the air in an almost tipi-like fashion. "We can get really hungry too. It's painful! I don't like it when I feel hungry. We can go a month without eating! Then we die and are alive again! How much do you eat, Leelasama? Leelasama!"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela would have been disappointed with the thing that popped up, but because it said "not yet unlocked" instead of "not available", she was satisfied for the time being. She would work on trying to figure out how to unlock it when she had more time.

She finally gave Abi her full attention, letting her status menu disappear once again. She could not be totally sure from the way Abi spoke, but it sounded like the imps required food as often as humans did. With all of them always wanting food or talking about food and her own lacking in knowledge on imps and demons, Leela had wondered if perhaps they just liked to eat but did not really need food. Well... technically they could go without food, since they would just be reborn anyways. But Leela was not a cruel person; she would not make the imps suffer from hunger pains.

"What I'm trying to figure out is if imps are different from humans in how much they need to eat or not. Healthy humans usually either eat 3 meals a day," She shaped her hands to give an idea of how much food they ate per meal. "Or they eat small snacks throughout the day. Most creatures in my world require food on a daily basis, multiple times a day in order to be healthy. Some creatures, like spiders, only need to eat once a week. I even had a pet snake that only needed to eat once every two weeks and could go two to three months without eating if it needed to!"

"It sounds like imps might be similar to humans, though. I am going to assume demons and most other creatures are the same as well. Normally, I only eat a small meal for lunch, a larger meal for dinner, and then a few snacks if I get hungry between dinner and bed. When do you usually eat your meals? Is there a set time when you guys are provided with food?"

[Throndir]

"Food is yummy! Zavan visits us sometimes in the cove! He brings yummies with him all the time. Then we go out and look for food sometimes. But mostly we like to play and bounce around. Do you like to play Leelasama? Leelasama! How did you make your clothes? We can eat as often as we can! But the old demon generals didn't like that... They said we eat too much. Master Zavan is nice! Lord Ghorat is nice too sometimes! And I really like master Ashaki too. Leelasama is scary and nice!" Abi said as she literally bounced around you.

"I never thought about when we eat food! I just like to eat. We just like to eat! Whenever there is something to munch on... I don't know!"