The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 35

Chapter 35 – Questions

Once again, we were back in the cafeteria, where I had ‘held court’ yesterday after the first day’s lecture. My lecture time was at 11 each morning, which meant that this was the perfect time to get a bit of lunch afterwards. Well, if I actually needed to eat. But I wasn’t about to let my ‘assistant’ go hungry!

This time, however, the students were far less hesitant about asking questions. In fact, a gaggle of them had literally followed us to the cafeteria from the lecture hall. Thankfully, they had the manners to wait until I was seated before they started asking questions. Unfortunately, they all started asking them at once, which was just not going to work.

I silenced them all with a pulse of power. I kept it controlled, so that I wouldn’t disturb anyone at nearby tables, but it was still enough to make them all stop and stare. In a smooth tone, I said, “Now, we won’t have any of that. Since you’re all so eager, we’re going to go with the old method of raising hands to speak. At least then we’ll all hear the questions.”

At least twenty hands shot into the air, in unison. I picked one from out of the crowd, and nodded. “You, there. What is your question?”

The student, a young girl who was wearing a band t-shirt for a magic-pop idol group, nodded. “Oh, yes! I was wondering if you could tell us more about summoning? Like, can we summon a spirit or protector to help us? And does that count as enslaving them?”

I had been expecting a question like this. Actually, I was surprised that it didn’t come up yesterday, but I suppose they supposed that asking about summoning was a touchy subject for someone who had been summoned. And they were right. But, as long as they were respectful, like this girl was, I didn’t have a problem talking about the basics.

“Well, first, you have to understand the difference between a Summoning, a Calling, a Binding, and a Grand Summoning. All four of which are very different things, with different mechanics. All four of which also have very different consequences.”

All eyes were on me, so I continued. “A Summoning, the simplest of these, is essentially forming mana into a construct, into which the essence of a thing is poured, giving it a semblance of life. These constructs, whether they are physical or energy-based, embody the essence of what you were trying to summon. Your basic fire elementals or summoned woodland creatures all fit into this category. And, to answer your question, no, a Summoning is not slavery, any more than you would say that your car is a slave.

“Now, just because this is the basic form of summoning, does not mean that it is weak. The power of the construct depends on how much mana you push into it, not the construct’s size or shape. In the other world, I saw a rather prodigious summoner fight using armies of summoned squirrels that did her bidding. She was quite impressive, truly.”

I chuckled, remembering the girl. “Actually, even after she died during the fall of Athelia, and rose as part of the army of the dead, she still had that same level of power. That squirrel girl won me more than one battle over the years.

“Anyway,” I said, getting back on track. “This type of summoning can include your basic demonic or celestial summons, as well. So, if you wanted to summon an angel to protect you in battle, or an incubus to ravish you at night, then you’re in luck.” The girl blushed brightly, suddenly embarrassed, but I pressed on.

“Now, if you, say, summon a demon through this kind of summoning, you are not actually summoning the real demon. Like before, you’re creating a magical construct, into which the demon’s consciousness flows. They will obey you for the duration of the spell, because they enjoy getting to ‘play’ in other planes now and then. But be wary of forcing intelligent summoned creatures to act against their type, or you’ll find them less and less willing to answer your summons, and those that do may be inclined to follow the letter, rather than the intent, of your orders, as they get enjoyment out of ‘playing’ with their summoners.”

That brought a bit of a serious mood to the group, which was good, because now we were starting to get into the meat of things. “The next kind of summoning magic is a Calling. Unlike the Summoning, a Calling does not create a magical construct for your intended summon. They are pulled, bodily, into this world. Well, I say ‘pulled’, but unless you have a creatures True Name, which is NOT the same as the name they were given at birth, then trying to Call a creature opens a door for them, and they can choose to walk through or not.

“There are two important things to remember about Callings. First, because the summoned creature is physically present in this world, if they are killed, then they actually die. A Summoned creature, even an intelligent one, is just a construct. If they are destroyed, their consciousness returns from whence it came, and they are none the worse for wear. With a Calling, well, death is a true possibility.

“Which brings us to the second point on Callings. The creatures you summon in a Calling are not under your control. They are always intelligent beings, and will act according to their own desires and designs. To get a Called creature to work for you requires a negotiation, and a bribe. You are literally hiring an otherworldly entity to work for you, often with a set time limit on their term of service.

“As a side note, you should always conduct a Calling so that the called creature appears inside a barrier magic of some sort. This forces the creature to remain in place until you come to terms, and release the barrier, or it finds a weakness, escapes, and tries to kill you. Because a Calling can be reversed easily by the one who cast it, or led the ritual, but if that person is not around, perhaps because they caught a bad case of being dead, then the only way to get the creature back to their home plane is to either forcibly banish them, or destroy them.”

I paused for a moment, and then said, “Next would be the Bindings. Bindings are like Callings, in that they bring an entity bodily into the world. They are very much unlike Callings in the fact that there is no negotiation involved. The summoner, whether it be a single caster or a ritual group, must pit their will against the entity they are attempting to summon and force them into the world. This is easier if you have some connection to the entity, like a relic of theirs, or their true name, but it can be done without it.

“Once you’ve brought the entity into this world, then you have to perform the actual Binding, where you shackle the creature’s body, mind, soul, or some combination thereof, before the creature can break free of whatever barrier you put up to contain them and slaughter you for the insult. Make no mistake, a Binding is most certainly taking a very dangerous creature from another plane, and enslaving it to do your will. So, you have to balance whether the task you are binding a creature for is worth the danger of having a dangerous entity righteously pissed at you and wanting revenge.”

Looking back at the girl who first posed the question. She was looking a little sad, since I probably dashed her dreams of having a rainbow-haired unicorn companion, or something likethat. With a kindly smile, I said, “However, there is a less ethically questionable version of Bindings, especially for those of you who want a Familiar, or a Bonded Protector, or whatever you like to call them.” She perked up at that, showing me that I’d guessed right.

“Now, the process for getting a Familiar is essentially a Binding but with the more socially acceptable nature of a Calling. Simply put, you cannot force a creature to be your Familiar. Not even enslavement magic can force them to consent to the process against their will. This is good, because the binding used in the familiar spell binds the soul of the familiar to that of the caster. They can hear each other’s thoughts, see through each other’s eyes, feel each other’s pain, share each other’s magic.

“Now, why would you get a familiar? Well, the power boost isn’t something to look down on, certainly. Having a second pair of eyes is not a bad idea, either. Even little animals can affect the environment in ways humans cannot. You could also get a mighty bear to act as both mount and protector. Or perhaps one of you boys would like a succubus to be your eternal bedmate? All of that and more is possible.

“However, you should consider the risks involved. Animal familiars or companions are not too problematic. While your souls are linked, the human mind is not likely to be overwhelmed by that of a serpent, a horse, or a dog. But when you start getting into more intelligent, more powerful creatures?” I paused, to make sure they were all paying attention. They were. Good, this needed to be taken seriously.

“Then you find out that the bond works both ways, and you run the risk of the Servant becoming the Master. Any fool that tries and take a Dragon as a familiar deserves what they get, for even the youngest dragon is smarter than your average Business major, and twice as ruthless. And while making a Succubus into your familiar ensures that you will never spend a night alone, it requires a will of iron for your sense of ethics and morality to not become warped, as you see yourself more and more the way your devoted companion wishes you to be. There are even some poor souls who performed the Familiar ritual with their spouse as part of their marriage ceremony. I shouldn’t have to explain why this was a terrible idea on their part.”

Once the round of laughter died down, I said, “Which brings us to the most powerful, and most dangerous, of the four, the Grand Summoning. A Grand Summoning is what brought me and my classmates to the other world. It is too powerful to be done by any mortal caster, as evidenced by the fact that the mere side effects of the spell caused magic to exist in this world.

“The danger of the Grand Summoning involves the fact that you are bringing one or more individuals from another world, and imbuing them with power, all without asking for their opinion, much less consent, in the matter. This danger is somewhat muted, at the beginning, because the ‘heroes’ arrive weak, and disoriented. It takes time for a hero to grow into their power, and gain enough strength to take on the enemy you want them to fight, roughly one tenth the time it takes a normal individual to reach the same level, assuming they had the same starting potential. While this means your summoned pawns cannot resist you, at first, it also means that, if you’re in a position where all hope is lost, but for the hero summoning ritual, then you’re already dead.”

I paused, and said, “We were actually lucky. While the Athelians were certainly ready and willing to use enslavement magic on us the moment we showed any kinds of doubts about saving them, there were no such bindings written into the summoning ritual itself. The ritual was already complex enough, and required enough sacrifices to pull off, so the simpler version was better for Athelia, or so they thought. As I went across the continent, I discovered other versions of the ritual, some of which incorporated Bindings, or actual Slave Magic, into the spellwork. If we had been summoned by one of those rituals, our minds would have been snared so that we would not even have been able to think about resisting.”

A hand went up, nervously. “Yes?”

“Um, what is the difference between what a Binding does, and Slave Magic?”

“Ah, yes. Well, a Binding is actually the kinder of the two. It places a magical command on the creature, such as ‘Guard the treasury and kill anyone who approaches without the royal seal,’ and forces the creature to carry out the command. It is mind control, certainly, but the creature’s mind is still their own.

“Slave Magic, on the other hand, interferes with the victim’s mind, manipulates it, so that they cannot be sure where they end and the spell begins. There are several different ways they go about it, but the basics of the spell is that it ends up brainwashing people to the point where they no longer need to be actively controlled. How, you might ask? By providing some kind of direct stimulus.”

“Like pain?”

I ignored the fact that the student spoke out of turn, and nodded. “Pain is one way, and it is the favorite of the more sadistic types, to be sure. Pain when you try to resist. Pain when you think insults about your Master. Pain when you try to disobey an order. And, because it is in your head, it supplies the pain every time you believe you’re disobeying, making it difficult to try and do any kind of malicious compliance, since your mind knows you’re not following your Master’s intent.”

There was a general shudder through the crowd, a sentiment I echoed. “Yes, that is terrible, to be sure. But that is the amateur version of Slave Magics, the one that only sadistic monsters use, for their own enjoyment. No, it is far, far worse when you use the kind of magic that was used on us, by the Athelians.

“You see, anyone with enough will can resist pain. You can ignore pain. You can grit your teeth and fight through it. There have been people who broke their foot, and still walked a mile on the mangled stump, staving off shock with the simple goal of making it to their destination and an iron will. A normal human, with no magic whatsoever, is capable of such things.

“But what about pleasure? What if every time you called your owner ‘Master’ in your mind, you got a little rush of pleasure? What if, every time you completed a task for your master, you felt that burst of serotonin? If every time they called you a ‘good girl’ you climaxed? How long could you resist that?”

Forty years was a long time, but I still remembered the effects of that damn collar far too well. I took a breath to steady myself, even though I hadn’t needed to breath since I stopped being alive. “So, I tell you all quite truthfully that, after a year, maybe two, they could have taken those collars off of us, and we would still be devoted servants for the rest of our lives, having been trained to the point where our own minds would give us the pleasure from obeying our masters. I had only had the collar on for a month, and I was already having trouble keeping my mind. If my body hadn’t died then, then the person I was would have died ere long.”