27: Graybeard x Annoying Imp

Like Aiden, Annoying Imp was tested in his dreams, which were memories of his creation.

Nigen Imps didn't process understanding in dreams like most creatures did. When they slept, it was rare for them to even have a thought in mind. So when Annoying Imp was dreaming he knew it wasn't by his doing.

"Hello?" His dream self timidly called out within his cylindrical glass tank.

From his watery view he saw other glass tanks holding proper looking spindly imps with large bat wings folded and leaner faces that didn't look friendly. Imps were usually bred for agility and magic abilities, so it made sense for these ones to be smaller. A lot of sorcerers regarded imps and succubae (female kind) in a similar way as homunculi, so weren't seen as alive.

"But why am I bigger and look more like Hu?" Imp thought in his tank.

His thought was disrupted when he saw a black robed human of white hair rush into the room with a glass cage in his hands. Inside were tiny gray mice, which moved with agitation.

"Need to make them think more but to my will." The sorcerer mumbled like he was chanting a spell.

He placed the mice down and pulled out a black crystal, which was sparking with black magic.

Annoying Imp frowned when black smoke surrounded one mouse the sorcerer pulled out of the cage.

"Humans can be cruel. They disregard life as mere objects for their selfish whims." A deep voice spoke into Annoying Imp's ear like injecting a thought.

"Not all humans."

"How can you be sure? You're just an imp created to be the will for your grafter."

"A sorcerer created me, but my will is my own. Wouldn't it be the same for humans? Some one must've created them, but they think with their own will. So if no will is the same, no human is the same."

The voice bellowed with laughter, giving a feeling of satisfaction to the dreamscape.

Annoying Imp opened his eyes and saw Graybeard looming over his head with a devious grin.

"Um, Graybeard, er, I'm not sure what honor to give you good sein."

"We wizards stand above men. Our name is all. I am Graybeard: you are Annoying Imp. Anything else is adding on a lowly arrogance."

Annoying Imp sat up from his bed and felt the old man's slap to his back.

Graybeard stood back to regard the muscly beefcake and nodded with approval. "Your heart is pure, but is that enough to face evil?"

He gestured to the door. "Get up, it's time to fight!"

Annoying Imp followed the wise wizard into the square hall for his trial. He saw four totems that were familiar to him: a rat, book, glass jar and black rock.

"Touch the totem and fight the trial. You'll need to defeat all four to leave this place." Graybeard jovially laughed as he slapped the imp's back again and added, "Try not to die. Remember to ask yourself what is worth keeping to mean something to you."

Before Annoying Imp could seek more understanding on the question, the wizard was gone.

"What is worth keeping to mean something to me?" Annoying Imp frowned as this question didn't make sense.

He stared at the glass jar, which reminded him of his time in the tank. As he touched it, he was pulled into a memory of the sorcerer adding something in the surrounding liquid to bring him to life.

The human stepped back laughing with excitement when Annoying Imp opened his eyes.

"That's it! My fighting Juggernaut Imp!" The sorcerer specialist known as a grafter clapped his hands. "Now to test its fierceness."

Annoying Imp saw the liquid drain until cold air struck his body to make him shiver. He took his first steps out of the tank. But there was no coddling because he was teleported into a fighting pit. The grafter left him to survive battles with wolves, bears, serpents and other lower form creatures. Annoying Imp obeyed the commands to kill and win.

For days he fought then was tested in the tank afterward. Constantly told he was a failure but giving successful results.

"We need to test your might with another scenario." His grafter had thought aloud his ideas, which meant nothing to him.

Then the next day in the fighting pit, a frightened kijen man was tossed in to be his opponent. The man was in human form, skinny with little muscle and looked starved to be a waif.

"Ple...ase, I just wanted food." The man shivered as he recoiled with fear.

Annoying Imp stared at his grafter.

"Kill him," the grafter ordered with no ounce of compassion or pity.

Annoying Imp stepped toward the cowering man, who stammered nonsense. The kijen couldn't even shapeshift into his fox form because of lack of lingxi.

"This is no fight." Annoying Imp hesitated and paused.

"Kill him!" The order came again with more insistence.

"He's not even raising a fist. There is no fight in him." Annoying Imp factually stated and remained rooted.

The last beasts had bloodlust in them, which caused a fight. So he fought back as that was what was expected. But this creature was different. Annoying Imp wasn't sure how to deal with him for it was the first time he faced one that didn't want to fight.

Many situations and conclusions based on past experiences rushed through his mind, not one of them landed on the answer to fight this pitiful man. He stepped away and turned around.

"Imp! I gave you an order to fight!"

"He's got no will to fight. There is no reason," Annoying Imp answered.

The grafter entered the pit with his black crystal hovering over one hand. "If you won't fight him, I'll kill you both and start again."

Annoying Imp frowned. "You will disregard this life."

"You're not alive. I created you to fight! But not fighting makes you just annoying!" The grafter cast black magic at the terrified kijen.

Annoying Imp pushed against an invisible will that was keeping his body rooted. He moved with his own selfish thought to shield the attack from the kijen.

"Annoying. You Annoying Imp!" The grafter snapped as he cast more magic to fight him.

Annoying Imp ducked and dived to constantly protect the kijen, as he absorbed the magic being cast.

"Is life annoying to destroy it?" He calmly asked the grafter.

"All life is irrelevant, like you, if it doesn't serve my purpose." The grafter hissed.

More black magic was cast, which Annoying Imp absorbed at the cost of his lifeforce.

"Please, stop, he'll kill you." The kijen pleaded. "I'm just a bum off the street, but you are strong."

Annoying Imp shook his head. "I'm just created to kill."

"Why do you protect me?"

"Because you weren't."

The kijen sighed and found his strength to stand firm. "Then take my last strength and be something greater than the will to kill."

Too fast for Annoying Imp to stop him, the Kijen dove into a magic attack while casting a spell. The man's death released all his lifeforce into Annoying Imp to empower his strength and defenses. A terra spell of "Will of Protection" was etched into his head.

The grafter gasped when Annoying Imp stood before him with a magical black shield in one hand. Every time the grafter shot black magic shards at the imp, the shield absorbed the attack to give a minor boost to Annoying Imp's stamina and lifeforce.

"Annoying, annoying... ANNOYING." The grafter constantly chanted with anger as he found himself at a disadvantage.

Then Annoying Imp did something that should have been impossible, he made a selfish decision to counter and send the black magic back to the human.

"But... I created you... you're irrelevant..." The grafter panted before his life seeped out of him. Dead.

Annoying Imp slumped to the ground. "I'm not irrelevant. I be Annoying Imp."

Gusts of white winds surround him. He was back in the square hall. The Will of Protection spell momentarily surfaced to his mind.

He nodded with approval and understanding and raced to face the other trials.

Graybeard jovially greeted him at the end of them all. "Juggernaut Imp. Brilliant."

Annoying Imp scratched his head. "Were you watching?"

"What did you gain from the others?" Graybeard deflected the question.

Annoying Imp answered that the rat totem granted him a spell for attack speed. The black rock added a level to his nigen blood code absorption strength and the book unlocked a blood code for charm cast.

"Charm cast! Isn't that a succubus ability?" Graybeard stroked his plaited beard with the thought.

"I don't know, but I can use a thought to make it the will of another for a brief moment." Annoying Imp frowned. "But, I don't like this spell."

Graybeard nodded. "So what is your answer to what is worth keeping to mean something to you."

"I'm selfish when it's for others."

Graybeard laughed. "To be selfish for selfless sake. Brilliant!" He swung his arm around the beefy imp and dragged him to the exit. "To dine and drink!"