Arc 1 Chapter 2 – Lesser Imp. Shapeshifting is that easy?!
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This chapter is a bit of an info dump, but it is a summary of your run-of-the-mill Imp. You can choose to skim it, but don't whine about not understanding things later.

"I am not human."

That was the conclusion I have reached.

Surprisingly, I didn't find this fact revolting, and neither did I think that eating a rat was disgusting.

I was at peace with it.

However, that also raised another question.

"If I am not a Human, what am I? What do I look like?"

My heart swelled with a desire to learn more about my appearance. To know what I am.

"I remember there is a small mirror in Jacque's purse."

Reaching that point, I returned to Jacque's purse and rummaged inside it with my blood and fur-stained hands, fishing out a large hand mirror that I could barely grasp, forcing me to use both hands.

I then gazed at the reflection that was in front of me.

The reflection had a familiar and exceedingly handsome white face by human standards as if sculpted to perfection by a master artisan—the perfect symmetrical mixture of both masculine charm and feminine beauty. Even its apparent malnourishment didn't reduce much from its handsomeness.

It was Jacque's face. I have inherited it, along with his memories.

However, it was only the face structure. The rest was foreign and monstrous.

The face had not a strand of hair, no eyebrows or facial hair in sight. Instead, two stubby protrusions decorated its forehead, just underneath his skin, horns that have not grown out yet. Two long and floppy pointy ears decorated the sides of its head.

The most shocking point, however, was that within its eye sockets, two snake-like eyes shone with white light, resembling two white crystals with two vertical black pupils.

However, as I was currently color-blind, I did not know if that was the real color or not.

But that did not matter, as the previous clues and the reflected face gave me some vital clues to my racial identity. A memory surfaced in my mind as I knew the name of my new species.

"Demon. I am a Demon. That much is certain. But, what kind of demon?"

Calmly blinking my eyes, I started to use the mirror to scan the rest of my body, suppressing the discomfort that some of the poses I took brought me.

I was malnourished and hairless, with my bones visible beneath my rubber-like skin, as if I had been fasting for days. My body was lithe as if it was designed for agility rather than physical strength. I also had normal-sized and human-looking genitalia between my legs, and behind me swished a small spiked tail, shaped like an arrowhead at the tip.

Connecting all the clues, including my size and instincts, I managed to deduce what I was now from Jacque's memories.

"I am a Lesser Imp, a minor demon the size of a cat. Minor demons are the weakest demons of hell, being at the bottom of the food pyramid, often cannibalizing on each other. Lesser Imps are juvenile imps, having the intelligence of a three-year-old child or a dog, are easy to maintain, and are easy to train and control, unlike the willful adult Imps that have above-average human intelligence, so they are one of the favored familiars to beginners. Naturally, I seem to be an exception, having the assumed intelligence of Jacque, an apprentice wizard, and human genius."

However, as I reached that point, I frowned as I found a disturbing piece of information in Jacque's memories.

"According to his memory, demons are 'Outsiders', and Outsiders don't need to eat mortal food, feeding off of ambient mana of a certain nature that is present in the atmosphere of their home plane. When not in their home plane, they need to find other sources of sustenance to survive. The mana produced by a summoner is one such source. However, the information about their eating habits ends there. Jacque only learned about the Outsiders on a surface level, as he didn't specialize in conjuration, but transmutation. I will have to find other information from other sources or through self-observation."

I frowned with a hint of worry but quickly dispelled it.

"No use worrying. I shall handle the problems as they come. Now, what else does Jacque know about Imps?"

I then read through the relevant memories, receiving some much-needed information.

"Imps are humanoid shapeshifting creatures that have many subspecies and different specializations. Jacque didn't know about all their possible variants, but he did know about the abilities that they all share due to it being a must-learn subject to all orthodox wizards. All Imps, regardless of subspecies, have the following abilities: [Darkvision], [Predatory Instincts], [Shapeshifting(False)], [Invisibility (Lesser)], [Enhanced Regeneration], [Enhanced durability], [Detect Magic], [Detect Karma], [Demonic Poison], [Enhanced Magic Resistance (At least Lesser)], [Fire Resistance (At least Intermediate)], [Toxin Resistance (At least Intermediate)], [Poison Resistance (At least Intermediate)], [Cold Resistance (At least Intermediate)], and [Resistance to Nonmagical physical attacks (Intermediate)]."

 

(The following part is him monologuing to himself about the details of all the abilities of Imps. IE, an info dump. I put it inside a spoiler so that it will be easier to skip if you want, but do so at your own risk.)

Spoiler

"[Darkvision] Allows one to see in absolute darkness, in places without light, up to a certain distance away. It can't discern color, only shades of grey, which explains my current color blindness. Most demons have this ability at birth."

"[Predatory Instincts] is rather self-explanatory, as it gives the instincts of a predator to the creature who has it, allowing for better usage of the natural weapons bestowed upon it when facing prey. All predators have it, demon or not, so it doesn't mean much."

"[Shapeshifting (False)] is one of the hallmark abilities of the Imp, allowing it to polymorph its form into that of another creature at will, ones that are smaller and weaker than it. Common examples include Rodents, Cats, Small Dogs, Spiders, and Ravens. However, the inner biology of the creature would be that of the Imp, as only the outer shape changes. Also, the Imp won't obtain the racial abilities of the creature it transformed into, only its physical appearance and feel. Its new body structure can grant it a different speed, however. Of course, the Imp can revert to its true form at will. The only prerequisite is that I have seen the creature I am about to transform to once."

"[Invisibility (Lesser)] Allows the Imp to turn invisible at will, making it impossible to see it without special means. That said, many creatures have senses other than sight, so it is only useful on creatures that are heavily reliant on sights, like humans and birds. However, this ability also makes Imps excellent scouts, and they can use it when shapeshifted."

"Both [Enhanced Regeneration] and [Enhanced durability] increase its natural regeneration and durability, allowing it to take more damage and survive it. That said, they are physically weak as their small size suggests."

"[Detect Magic] and [Detect Karma] are two valuable skills that many demons have. It allows them to detect magical energies, increasing their effectiveness as scouts, and Detect Karma allows them to estimate how "Good" or "Evil" a creature is."

"[Demonic Poison] is an ability that many demons have, allowing them to produce and use poison with magical and demonic properties, making it harder to cure. The effects vary from demon to demon but are usually necrotic or paralytic. Imps usually inject it with their tail or bite, and they can also use it when shapeshifted, although the effects are lesser."

"Imps are also famously known for their resistance to magic, which they can share with their summoner. In addition, they also have resistances that are common to demons to survive the hellish landscapes of hell, like fire, cold, toxins, and poisons. The resistance they have can also be increased, depending on their subspecies. Some are even downright immune to fire at the level of magma."

"Lastly, due to them being shape-changers, their forms are more malleable and can close wounds and absorb shock better, making them effectively more resistant to non-magical physical damage."

[collapse]

 

"Imps that serve as familiars can help empower their master by bolstering his control over magic and sharing their regenerative ability and Darkvision. The only downside is that an adult Imp will usually attempt to tempt the summoner to commit more evil and are sometimes willful and won't obey orders. However, they cannot forge a Faustian contract, not violent, and they can only resort to persuasion and tricks to deceive their master, so they are rather safe to summon."

"Overall, although they have all of these awesome abilities, and are considered premium familiars, Imps are still awfully weak by demon standards and are very cowardly. That said, an adult Imp is more than capable of killing an armed bandit by itself, especially so if they attack from an ambush."

"All that said, this is only valid information on adult Imps. Juvenile Imps like me are much weaker, and many racial abilities should also be weaker. Let alone killing an armed bandit, I might struggle with fighting a child with a stick. I will need to slowly discover the abilities I have myself."

 

I then internally sighed as I looked in the direction of the bloody remains of the rat I ate.

"However, I will need to occasionally hunt for food, and I am not certain that I will be as lucky in the future. Also, I am a demon, and most sentient creatures hate demons to the point of killing them on sight. I cannot go onto the streets and hunt rats like a street cat... Unless I disguise myself as one. But for that, I will need to learn how to shapeshift."

With that thought, I had a new urgent goal in mind now.

"I need to learn how to use and control my racial skills to survive. However, I don't have a teacher, so I need to learn them myself through trial and error. If I am fast, I might be able to learn how to do it today. If I am slow, it might take me weeks and months to master."

"For now, I shall focus on shapeshifting."

I nodded to myself and was about to begin training it when it occurred to me that I had no idea where to begin.

"How am I even supposed to practice it? I am not supposed to just will myself to transform into a rat, am I? No way that would work!"

As I was going to dismiss the stupid notion, something deep within me told me that it will work.

"No, it can't be THAT EASY... can it?"

Again, the feeling that it would be THAT EASY got stronger.

"Maybe it is worth a try?"

In doubt, I could only resign myself and try it.

With my eyes closed, I visualized the rat I had just eaten and imagined myself transforming into it.

Shhh*

In reaction to my will, my body rapidly shrank and changed shape.

My limbs grew shorter, my head grew thinner, and my neck thicker.

Within less than three seconds, my body stopped compressing itself and I opened my eyes.

The world around me got larger again, and my field of vision got a bit wider, but I could still see in the dark in shades of grey.

"From Jacque's memories, rats have poor eyesight, but my vision is as clear as before."

I thought as I looked around.

I then had an idea and tried to smell my surroundings, but they smelled the same as they had previously.

"Rats have a strong sense of smell, but I have nothing like that. In other words, it is only my shape that changed, and nothing else."

Mentally nodding to myself, I rushed to Jacque's mirror to have a look at my new form.

What I saw in the reflection was a rat that was almost identical to the rat I ate, be it size or shape. However, I did notice that my fur was white, unlike the grey rat I ate, and my eyes were of a brighter shade of grey, unlike the black beady eyes of the other rat.

"Good! Now I look like an authentic rat! Shapeshifting turned out to truly be that easy to do! Let's see if I can revert to normal..."

With a thought, I willed myself to return to my original shape. My body once again grew larger, back to its original size and form. I checked myself in front of the mirror to see if there were any changes or flaws, and there were none.

"Success! However, rats are also problematic. They are unwanted vermin, and from Jacque's memories, slum folk catch and eat them on skewers. It is better if I have another form. How about a cat? Can I use the cats in Jacque's memory?"

Thinking about it, I began to search Jacque's memories about cats.

I am beginning to question Jack's gender orientation compared to Jacque.

Spoiler

As I have hinted, Jack isn't Jacque, and if you have read Arc 0, you can see that Jacque is purely straight, while succubi, in general, are bi-gendered and pansexual. Also, I planned on making succubi a matriarchal society, heavily leaning towards being female due to them mostly predating on males. In a sense, Incubi are gay succubi, with a 1 in 10 chance of being born like that, and they are mostly born like that for procreation purposes( yes, demons can get pregnant, including succubi). Even then, almost all Incubi have no issue with turning into a female succubus and having sex with a guy if it means that they can predate on them. This is the in-lore of my world, and it fits the description of shapeshifting sex monsters.

All that said, like I was saying, Jack, is not Jacque. He is a sort of pseudo-reincarnation, a reconstruction of Jacque's soul into something else. Although he mainly sees himself as male, I am asking myself if I should make him OK with turning into a woman and having sex with a guy. Basically, a bi-gendered and bi-sexual individual who prefers being male, and prefers women over men, but is not completely repulsed by the idea have having sex with a guy as a female, although as a male he is completely repulsed.

I am saying all that because of role-playing issues, not because I want to turn Jack into a gender-bender.

[collapse]

????'s confirmed racial abilities:

Spoiler

[Dark Vision], [Predatory Instincts], [Shapeshifting(False)]

[collapse]

What type of cat do you think Jacque should be? (Only white fur)
  • Persian cat Votes: 8 28.6%
  • Turkish angura Votes: 4 14.3%
  • Siberian cat Votes: 14 50.0%
  • Khao Manee Votes: 2 7.1%
Total voters: 28
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