Daemon

Daemons (悪魔族) are a major race of naturally occuring Spiritual Lifeforms similiar to Angels and Elementals. They have an advantage against Angels but are in turn disadvantaged against Elementals.

Background
Daemons are derived from the Great Holy Spirit of Darkness with Primordial Daemons being the shadow of Seven Angels of Origin.

Daemons spontaneously come into being within the Daemon Realm as Lesser Daemon, where they endlessly fight each other. At times they might be summoned into the non-spiritual world, where they require a Material Body to remain permanently or they will get ejected back into the Daemon Realm by the rejection force of the World.

Daemons have an innately strong resistance to magic, and while without a body, they can use a temporary medium made out of magicules known as a "Magic Body" to interact with the material plane. This magic body makes physical attacks borderline useless against them, as even if damaged, they can simply revert it back to its original shape. Once a Daemon is incarnated into a physical vessel, their energy sublimates inside of it and begins transforming into something truly their own. Their body, however, does not retain the same benefits as a purely magical corpus as physical attacks are able to harm them. In particular, purely natural effects-such as those produced by Elementals-are especially effective against them, as their resistance towards magic is rendered meaningless.

Appearance
Daemons, as Spiritual Lifeforms, possess appearances that are determined entirely by their self-image. Despite this, it is somewhat easy to estimate a daemon's evolutionary stage and age purely on their appearance. Typically, the more human the daemon in question appears, the stronger its ego is, with fully human daemons, excluding those possessing a human body, being either Greater Daemons of immense age or fearsome Arch Daemons. Lesser Daemons and younger Greater Daemons, on the other hand, possess more animalistic and distorted appearances, resembling something more like a hybrid between a human and a horrific monster. Despite the extreme variety in their appearance, all daemons possess claws, horns, and wings.

Most daemons above the Lesser Daemon stage belong to a specific color lineage, with their color being apparent in their appearance. The color of a daemon's sclera will usually match their lineage and, although not always, other parts of their body match this color as well. Examples include, but are not limited to, hair color, iris color, and skin color. The color of their clothing usually also reflects the color of their lineage.

Summoning
With the use of Summoning Magic, it is possible to summon daemons to the material plane. Daemons summoned this way, assuming their master and task are fair, are fiercely loyal and honor their contracts absolutely. During the duration of their summoning, assuming they aren't provided a material body, their magical corpus is sustained directly by the summoners magic power. It is also possible for daemons to breakdown the corpses of material beings to reinforce their magical corpus for a period of time. One adult human corpse is enough to sustain a greater daemon for three days or an arch daemon for a day and a half.

The act of summoning daemons, while not entirely forbidden, is restricted information. Only high ranking adventurers such as Thegis or special individuals such as nobles who have access to royal libraries have the opportunity to learn this brand of summoning magic. Summoning Lesser and Greater Daemons in the first place requires a summoner with a large amount of magical power. Even summoning a Lesser Daemon is enough to completely tire out an A-ranked adventurer such as in the case of Thegis.

The summoning of Arch Daemons is a completely heretical and forbidden act. The knowledge is only kept and passed down verbally by select master wizards and royal families, and the act itself is so foolish and dangerous that one would have to be utterly insane to even attempt it. Arch Daemons possess extremely strong wills and forms that teeter closer to humans in appearance. They're unpredictable and have enough power to easily break the contract that binds them to their summoner. Unless the summoner appeals to the daemons whims or is otherwise strong enough to force them into submission, they are likely to be slaughtered on the spot.

Social Class and Strength
Daemons gain stronger power as they live longer. Daemons who have reached a certain level reach the upper limit of the amount of possessed magicules, eventually making them numerically equivalent in terms of raw power. Knowledge and experience are the things that matter from there. In other words, the difference in proficiency becomes the difference in combat ability.

Color Lineage
Depending on what Color Lineage a Daemon belongs to, their personality and willingness to cooperate can change. There are three major dispositions that are based on their Primordials:


 * Negotiable: Can be negotiated with and are probably the best bet when it comes to contracting with a Daemon while keeping the risks at a minimum.
 * Non-negotiable: It is unlikely for any contract to be formed. At worst, the summoner might even be tricked into a wicked contract that they end up regretting, which is why it's strongly discouraged to summon any Daemons from this type of Lineage. The only practical use for them would be to trick someone into summoning a Daemon of this kind within an enemy nation.
 * Whimsical: The result of summoning Daemons of these Lineages can vary and the chances of success for establishing a contract are random. These Daemons can be reckless and are subject to mood-swings. Their eccentric nature makes them more likely to possess proficiency in areas that other lineages do not possess. There is a risk associated with summoning them, but it is still safer than summoning non-negotiable ones.

Intrinsic Skills

 * Magic Resistance
 * Material Creation - An ability that allows Daemons to freely create equipment such as clothes and weapons. The quality of the created equipment is dictated by the power of the user but is typically weaker than naturally created equipment of the same rank.
 * Spirit Possession

Evolutionary Stages
Daemons have their own evolutionary stages, which, unlike their Social Class, is much more prone to external factors within the Material World, like the quality of the contractual compensation, the magicule supply of the summoner, the presence or lack of a name, etc.

Naming leads to an immediate strength gain and/or Skill gain and in case of a particularly strong namer, an evolution to the next stage might occur.

Trivia

 * Daemons are honor-bound to their contracts, so it's up to them if they wish to take the prize they were offered.
 * Testarossa refused to claim the soul of her friend.
 * Ultima revived Towa as an apology for Lacua violating the contract she established.
 * The negotiatiable variety are colors of nature reflecting the verdant earth along with the sky and clouds.
 * The non-negotiable variety are colors of destructive flames; reflecting their unwillingness to do anything but use others.
 * The Whimsical variety are unnatural colors, reflecting darkness and mystery.

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