Well that was disappointing. Thozronnath was consistently being summoned into the mortal world just to instantly die and acquire more debt. Sure it provided a momentary distraction, but when compared to the literal centuries of work between summonings, it was far too quick.

Now that he was back in hell, he had a moment to think over the status that was quickly fading from his mind without the immediate worry of death. Though if someone came by and interrupted his experiments by ordering more work that might cause him some trouble. So he ran through all the information very quickly, nearly having a heart attack (minus the heart) when he realized both his HP and MP had gone up by five points, a one hundred percent increase for the former.

He couldn’t celebrate for too long though, he had to try out some of these skills before he got caught and ordered back. The resulting experiments were absolutely idiotic. Thoz would say the skill name out loud, try doing various motions, and occasionally expend a point or two of mana in the process. The worst part was, sometimes it worked.

Sting was a skill based on his imp tail. The barbed scorpion-like tip could produce a weak poison apparently, and it’s stabbing motion looked like it would do minor damage as well. The downside though, was that most greater devils were immune to poisons and had thick skin that wouldn’t be pierced by something so small. Thus Thozronnath thought his sting was useless unless he wound up having to fight another imp. He wouldn’t dream of fighting a devil in a station above him of course, but it was innate to the devilish nature to fight for glory and try to topple those in power, unless the gap was too large.

He had already tried Invisibility previously and had gotten rather disappointed, he was assuming Stealth was something similar. Unlike invisibility though, stealth could not be activated, it was a passive skill that reduced the holder's presence. Stealth was the main reason other devils failed to notice Thoz all the time and ended up trampling him under foot unless they were looking for someone to torture.

Similarly Subterfuge was a passive skill as well, one that allowed lies and persuasion to land more favorably on others. It was almost entirely negated by the imp’s negative charisma score. Most of his other skills ended up being passive as well, Fire Immunity had demonstrated that he couldn’t be killed by heat, and so he assumed Silver Vulnerability meant that whatever silver was it could kill him rather easily.

Thozronnath’s Eyes of Hell skill was innate to his actual eyes, it allowed him to see in the dim and dark areas of hell’s circles, even when that darkness was summoned by the very magic that suffused the plane.

Shapeshifter, though, was potentially a jackpot. Thoz might be able to change out of an imp and appear as something more powerful. Concentrating as hard as he could, and channeling two entire points of mana into the skill, Thozronnath cried out in his mind for the skill to activate.

SHAPESHIFT!

His body promptly shrunk down into a small quadruped creature. Having lost his wings, the stinger on his tail, and had his body covered in fur, Thoz realized exactly what had happened.

He was a rat.

Not a cute white furred rodent one might keep as a pet either, but a dark grey, mange ridden, sickly looking sewer rat.

To digress for a moment I must inform you that, yes there are rats in hell. Where do you think rats come from? Tiny creatures that can multiply at ten times the rate of the average human and spread diseases that they are otherwise immune to? Despicable.

A rat was not exactly the pinnacle of shapeshifting prowess, nor was it the jackpot Thoz had been hoping for, but it was usable. If he stayed as a rat and scurried about hell for a few years he might be able to get out of doing work. It wasn’t a brilliant plan, but it was a plan at least. That was an accomplishment for an imp.

The bigger accomplishment was the plan actually working. Thozronnath wove between feet and under floors for days on end, days became weeks, became months, became years. Every time he thought the plan was about to fall apart and fail, it just kept working. Thoz spent the next three hundred years as a rat, a significant amount of time for a creature as long lived as him.

This all came crashing to the ground rather violently though. Our impish rat (rattish imp?) was speared through the spine by a pit fiend and tossed into his mouth before Thoz could react. The subsequent crunches and cuts of fiend teeth would have killed a normal rat, so when the creature in its mouth didn’t stop screaming or squirming the pit fiend spat it out. Thozronnath in a bloody pile on the ground slowly turned back into a mangled imp. That mangled imp then slowly healing.

“Of course” the pit fiend sighed.

Larger than a true devil in almost every sense, with thicker scales all a deep red, and strength to rival a giant, pit fiends were the pinnacle of devilish cruelty. They stood only in second place to the ArchDevils that served the lord of hell directly.

“Get up welp, you work for me now” came a gruff voice, causing Thoz to crawl towards it in obedience.

The next nine hundred years were actually relatively nice for Thoz, relatively being the operative word. He was ordered to pick the teeth of his new boss, serve as a seat cushion, work as a punching bag, and generally just became a servant for the first time. It wasn’t amazing, but compared to pointless tasks that had no meaning, Thoz felt like he was actually being put to use for the first time. Of course there were still days full of pain and torment at the hand of his new master, but it was hell that was expected.

This new master was one of the younger pit fiends, as many of the first generation had been elevated to Archdevil status by now. His name was Varekoth “The Chainbreaker”. He earned that title by killing his first summoner before the ritual was even complete. His cunning was considered above average for pit fiends, as he had acquired one of the largest soul balances in hell.

He treated Thoz like a disposable tool, but that was alright, Thozronnath saw himself as a tool (though not disposable) after years of conditioning. Using the imp’s manpower and lack of skill to do menial tasks was more than any other devil had thought to do so far. Perhaps this was the start of a better era for imps? Probably not.

After centuries of servitude thoz was finally spoken to by his master for the second time ever without receiving an order in the process.

“Thozronnath.”

Silence fell over the room and the imp turned about in place, falling into a bow as he noticed the serious expression on his boss’s face.

“I’ve reviewed your case file. It was transferred to me when you started work, but I never expected it to be this horrible” the fiend continued, his voice filling the room like a cloud of smoke.

“Sorries sir” Thoz trembled

“It’s to be expected if someone just hands an imp a last minute contract in the middle of a war that they would fail, but none of your summoning lasted even ten minutes.” the fiend sighed, clearly overestimating the capabilities of the oldest living imp.

“From now on I will delegate your contracts directly. If you ended up getting annihilated in the war and transfering me a load of debt that wouldn’t do. So in the mean time..” the fiend trailed off, his hand waving through the air.

Congratulations! Your account balance has been paid. All future profits will be split between your current employer.

New balance: 0 souls

Thoz nearly wept in joy. His body of course could not produce tears so nearly is the key there.

“Thanks yous Boss. Mercifuls Boss” Thoz began openly praising the pit fiend from the foot of the latter's throne. This prompted another disappointed sigh from the towering devil.

“Just try and avoid any penance fees in the future. When a contract I think you can handle comes through, you’ll receive it, and if you try to turn traitor on me after you get back to hell I can restore all that debt back to you since I own your account. Got it?” came a low growl.

Thoz understood completely. This was not a threat, it was a promise. The pit fiend had just bought his life and it could be bought and sold again just as easily. Thoz was trapped. One of the better parts of hell to be trapped in, but still definitely hell.

“Now get back to work!” bellowed his boss, shaking the building around him.

Limping back to his desk in fear, Thoz picked up a pen and resumed writing. His one point in intelligence had given him a basic understanding of language and arithmetic, even if it couldn’t help his lisp. He was not trusted with making anything obviously, so he was more or less an infernal copy machine, writing what he saw on one piece of paper onto another, picking up a few new words here and there as he went and slowly understanding more about numbers. Another century passed this way before he got a message.

Congratulations! Your employer has brokered you a contract from his Lordship.

Your summoning will begin shortly.

Physical manifestation under construction.

A nervous excitement set into the imp’s body, quickly being crushed by a steel eyed stare from his boss. With a nod of acknowledgement the summoning ritual washed over Thozronnath once more. It was starting to become a familiar sensation to have his mind catapulted through reality and into a newly waiting flesh puppet.

Physical manifestation completed.

Congratulations! You are now a level 1 imp.

Remember to check your status for your specifications, and please comply with your summoner’s requests to the best of your ability while trying to claim their soul for your employer.

Looking around, Thozronnath found himself in another hut like last time. This one was a bit more advanced however, it had what appeared to be a tile roof, a floor of cobblestones, and a basic white plaster insulating the wooden walls from the elements.

His summoner this time was even shorter than the dwarf-thing he had previously, less hairy too. It had bright blue hair but was otherwise built like a very tiny human. A quick whisper followed this revelation.

“Statuses…”

Information then flooded the imp’s mind, and his understanding of the gnomish language identified the creature as a “gnome-thing”.

Tentatively looking around, Thozronnath couldn’t see any immediate signs of danger, and the hut hadn’t exploded yet so that was a good sign.

“Helloes?” he called out to his new summoner who was only slightly larger than the imp himself.

“Good. You’re awake. We’ll be getting to work soon so make sure your physical form is under control, I’ll give you a few moments” came an immediate high pitched response from the gnome. They then took their hands out of the basic linen clothes they appeared to be wearing, rough spun as they were, and moved about the small building.

Mortals didn’t have paper yet, so this summoner had recorded all of their magics on hand scratched clay tablets piled all over the building.

“You’re to assist me in organizing the tablets in this building based on their approximate date. I specifically summoned a devil capable of reading so this shouldn’t be beyond you” came the imp’s first round of instructions.

Taking a small cord and tying the mess of blond locks up above their head revealed a tiny blue beard to match as well, this summoner was a man-gnome-thing.

“Okays” was the only response he was given from his new summon.

Thoz then began fluttering around the room reading the content of the tablets piece by piece to identify when they had been written, and then stack them according to his new master’s specifications. It was surprisingly easy compared to what he had been asked to do in hell, and he was taking to it quite quickly.

Perhaps this seemingly diligent approach to work, coupled with a familiar that didn’t talk back, gave the summoner a false feeling of security. He was dealing with a devil quite literally after all, but seemed to slowly be giving Thoz more room to work without express orders.

After three days of this relationship, Thoz even continuing to work while his “master” slept, all the tablets had been sorted.

“Good work.” The gnome sighed while rolling his neck to release some tension from his shoulders.

“I don’t suppose before I let you go that you could do something to make this pain in my neck stop could you?” the gnome asked. A rather poorly phrased question at that.

“Yeses sir” Thoz replied with a creepy smile, walking towards the gnome. A few factors racing in his mind.

One, Thoz would never pick a fight with a creature more powerful than him, years of living in hell had taught him not to do that, but the past few days had proven this gnome rather weak both physically and mentally compared to any devils Thozronnath was aware of.

Two, no matter how many times he died on the mortal plane he always returned to hell without fail, he could not be destroyed here.

Three, while the contract usually prevented him from harming a summoner directly, he could in fact use any suggestions or orders given vaguely to perform actions the summoner might consider harmful as long as Thoz thought they were in line with the order. He had learned that one from Varekoth directly boasting about killing his summoners.

“Get on with it then” the gnome sighed. Giving the imp an order without realizing what he had done.

Thoz stepped behind the gnome, and silently activated the only skill he thought would be useful in this situation.

Sting.

The imp’s barbed tail immediately pierced the gnome’s neck.

You have inflicted a minor injury on your target. -4 HP

The gnome dropped to the ground screaming and frothing at the mouth as a second round of information met Thoz’s mind.

Your poison courses through the target’s veins. -10 HP. Congratulations! Your target has died.

The imp didn’t even have a chance to celebrate this tiny victory before it was immediately followed up by another more familiar message.

Congratulations! You have slain your summoner.

The remaining duration of your contracted time is now yours to do as you please.

A cruelty bonus for slaying your own summoner has added 1 soul to your account.

Successfully claiming your summoner’s soul has added 1 soul to your account.

A portion of your profits has gone directly to your employer.

New balance: 1 soul

“YESSESS!~” The imp cried out in victory. For the first time in his life Thoz actually had done something that hell valued as productive, it was an overwhelming feeling of euphoria for the devil.

When that subsided he realized two things though. He had no idea how much longer the contracted time period would allow him to stay on the mortal plane, and he didn’t know how to get back to hell without dying.

General Stats Classes Level Name: Thozronnath "The Pitiful" Strength: -2 Imp 1 Species: Imp (Lesser Devil) Dexterity: 1 Sex: N/A Resilience: 2 Age: 3667 Intelligence: 2 Affiliation(s): Hell Wisdom: 1 HP: 15/15 (+0.2/sec) Charisma: 0 MP: 20/20 (+0.2/sec)

Skill

Level

Invisibility

1

Stealth

1

Subterfuge

2

Silver Vulnerability

1 (Max)

Fire Immunity

1 (Max)

Shapeshifter

1

Eyes of Hell

1 (Max)

Sting

1

Varekoth Status General Stats Classes Level Name: Varekoth "The Chainbreaker" Strength: 800 Pit Fiend 50 (Max) Species: Pit Fiend (Greater Devil) Dexterity: 200

Warrior

100 (Max) Sex: M Resilience: 700 Sorcerer 5 Age: 954 Intelligence: 600 Affiliation(s): Hell Wisdom: 400 HP: 3510/3510 (+70/sec) Charisma: 700 MP: 3010/3010 (+60/sec)

Skill

Level

Pit Fiend

Sorcerer

Magic Resistance

5 (Max)

Pyromancy

2

Fire Immunity

1 (Max)

Poison Immunity

1 (Max)

Warrior

Silver Vulnerability

1 (Max)

Fear Aura

1 (Max)

Cold Resistance

1 (Max)

Mace Wielder

5 (Max)

Divine Eyes

1 (Max)

Multiattack

4

Natural Weapons

5 (Max)

Magic Attacks

1 (Max)

Telepathy

5