Chapter 9: Class about demogorgons and deilums

Then another day comes where Lucas has a class about other demon races. He thought that this might turn out to be a short one if not handled correctly.

When he got to the class, there were even more people attending this class. Lucas starts with "Greeting all who came to this class. As most of you know, I'm Lucas Knave and I teach things about demons and such. Without further wait, let's start with a simple question. Do any of you know what the original demons were called?"

Multiple students raise their hands and Lucas picks one. The student that Lucas picked says "They were called primal demons. Or deprim for short." Lucas says "Correct. Those demons weren't as diverse as the demons of later eras as they were more of a test done by the god Naga. Deprims didn't go extinct by any means, but when Naga split into the seven demon gods, the demon gods changed the forms of many deprims to create a more diverse race. Now then, which demon race would you like to hear first?"

Many raised their hands and the one who Lucas picked said "Demogorgons." Lucas then says "Ah yes. The demogorgons. Similar to lamia in a sense, but not quite so in terms of what they can do. Demogorgons are kind of like an evolved lamia in terms of appearance and many lamia worship demogorgons as their spiritual protectors. As to what they look like, they have the upper body of a woman and lower body of a snake. Demogorgons are generally bigger than lamias and they can have multiple heads. Demogorgons appearance varies from person to person, so not one demogorgon is necessarily similar to another. If you want one example of a demogorgon, then I give you an example of Medusa Gorgos. Now what do you all know about the legend of Medusa?"

Three people raise their hands and Lucas picks one that says "She had the ability to turn people to stone if they looked her in the eye. She was said to have snakes in place of her hair. As for what happened to her, the most common one says that she was defeated by a human hero of the time by cutting her head off while not taking a single look into her eyes."

Lucas says "That is the general story of what happened to her. But the truth was that Medusa fell in love with a human who she made kids with. While her ability to turn people to stone by looking her into her eyes was dangerous, the man wanted this lonely demon to have a better life than she did previously. Through conflict they managed to find peace and tranquility. It was after she drank a wine that her lover brought it to her when she got poisoned by some unknown person. Some say it was her lover and some say it was someone who knew the man's circumstances. The poison wasn't enough to kill Medusa but it had a damaging effect on her mind. She took the blindfold that she had kept ever since she fell in love with the man and started killing her own children mindlessly. To stop his lover from killing all their children, the man took up his sword and killed Medusa by cutting her head. As far as I know, the man still had one child left after seven of them were killed. He found a place in a demon territory so that his child would be able to live a more normal life. The story ends there."

One of the students raises their hand and Lucas gives them permission to speak. They say "Were the children humans, demons or hybrids?" Lucas says "As far as I know, they resemble their mother more than their father. I only have seen a painting of one of the kids and that's all I know in terms of appearance. They didn't have similar power of petrification as their mother had, where if you accidentally looked in her eyes, you would turn to stone. Instead they had the ability to switch it on and off by will."

Another student says "You said that the man felt Medusa was lonely, but wasn't she part of the Gorgon family? Where was her family?" Lucas says "Medusa's ability to turn people into stone uncontrollably made her shunned even by her own kind. The parents were merciful and gave her the opportunity to live in a cave far from where they were. Medusa knew this and she was bitter for a long time before meeting the one person who showed compassion towards her. Since her last remaining child didn't have any dangerous uncontrollable power, the Gorgos family took the child in."

A student asked Lucas "Didn't you say that the story ended when the man and the child went to demon territory?" Other students questioned this as well, to which Lucas said "I just felt like Medusa's legacy should have ended there. What happened to the man and the child after they went to demon territory is something I'd personally like to forget."

A teacher asked "What happened?" Lucas then said "The Gorgos family, as a sign for her loyalty to them, told the child to eat her own father. To which the man didn't even try to stop it at that point and killed himself so his child would be able to live peacefully. But as you can guess, this left a long lasting effect on the girl and it would eventually lead to the Gorgos family's downfall. This is something that I don't have solid proof, so take it with a grain of salt. But what I can gather from the signs left indicates that the girl turned the whole Gorgon family into stone somewhere during the 500 year war. As to whether or not the girl lived after that and had any offspring of her own, I don't know. I just honestly wish she found peace after all she went through. And if nothing else, she would be reunited with her family."

One student asks "What was her name?" To which Lucas said "Her name was Elpizo."

Lucas takes a deep breath and then says "Okay, now that the more depressing part is over with, let's go into details what demogorgons and gorgons in general were able to do. First characteristic was that they would love to go on battlefields just so they could eat the corpses and get stronger. Which they did by consuming people. They all had the skill "Gluttony" which allowed the person to eat and eat without need to stop. The skill made the gorgon more powerful than they were before. Initially this ability is overpowered as long as they are allowed to eat, but the general downside is that they are driven to take many risks to become more powerful. While I don't know if any demogorgons are still alive in this era, I have seen a couple of regular gorgons walking… slithering in the demon territory, so there's that. The fact that they have survived to this day means that they either learned to not take too many risks or that they became so powerful so they wouldn't be hunted down. I think the former is a more plausible option in the long run.

And a little bonus knowledge for you. Medusa got the skill "petrify" when she was very young, but when she grew a little older, she could eat the stone that she petrified for nutrients by using her skill "Advanced gluttony" for her advantage. For what I understand, she wouldn't be able to eat regular stone with that skill and that the Gorgos family could also advance their gluttony skill, but it required more practice.

The second characteristic was that while they were very sociable, they were known to become savage against people for a moment's notice. Well I suppose you can be both sociable and savage at the same time, but what I mean to say is that they can turn a fancy social gathering into a slaughterfest.

The third characteristic was that they preferred to not kill any males, but would be ruthless against any female enemies. The reason for that was because, like lamias, their entire race was female and they had to rely on other race's males to continue their bloodlines. They would often steal males from other races or even trade things for males to come and breed with them. Again, they were like an evolved lamia."

A student asks "Did any of the Gorgon's become demon kings?" Lucas says "As far as I remember, only two managed to get that title. There was the demon queen of burdenance Pinanos Gorgos and the demon queen of castration Tinalis Gorgos."

A student asked "How did they get their titles?" Lucas says "Pinanos was the last demon lord of Gorgos bloodline so she had to single handedly continue the bloodline. Tinalis however… well I think the title says exactly how she treated others that she didn't find interesting. In her own words "Why should people with nothing to add to the table be able to reproduce?" and such. Needless to say, the birthrate plummeted during her reign. And fun fact, if Tinalis Gorgos would have been able to, she would have castrated the whole Elifito bloodline. But as you may have learned, if you read the mimic part in the book that I gave some of you, mimics don't have a specific organ that makes reproduction possible."

Then one student asks "What kind of battle tactics would you advise?" Lucas says "Generally treating gorgons as monsters will do the trick. They may not have as big of a mobility and aren't usually thought of as smart beings, but since they have the capability to grow in power just by eating, they shouldn't be taken lightly. The demogorgons especially have better aptitude for the "gluttony" skill so they usually grow much faster than regular gorgons. It gets harder and harder for them to power up from just eating the stronger they grow. And if you run into a gorgon, then be sure that if you need to take them down, be sure to do it as fast as you can. Since if you let them live longer, they may have the opportunity to grow just enough to become a more formidable opponent. Remember, just like how mimics can evolve into demon mimics, gorgons can evolve into demogorgons. Generally speaking speed is your ally when dealing with gorgons."

Then Lucas claps his hands once and then says "Well then, I suppose this is enough about gorgons and demogorgons. Let's change the subject to another demon race. Any wishes?" Lucas picked Kyle to choose the subject, so Kyle says "How about deilums?" Lucas says "Ah yes, deilums. A race that can be mistaken to be beastman and vice versa. They come in many types and sizes, so it is hard to give a general idea how they look. As I said in earlier class, they kind of look like beastmen that are more beastly than humanoid. This can vary from deilum to deilum, but generally they are just more beastly versions of beastmen with magic cores. Some look like felines. Some look like canines. Some look like lizards. And some look like apes. Hell, some even look a bit like dragons, but I suppose that also falls into the lizard category. No offense Drace." Drace says "Some taken" and Lucas continues "All in all, I believe the best description of them in this era's terminology is that they are basically hardcore furries. I'm still not entirely familiar with the terms of this era, so please forgive me if I use some vocabulary incorrectly."

One student asked "What was Dorian Ranan like?" Lucas answers "Astute, brave and calm mannered. He was a bit of a weird Ranan, as Ranan usually went straight into battle whenever the opportunity arose. Then there is the fact that they aren't known for their smarts exactly, but they can easily make the right calls in battle when need be. Though their usual hotheadedness makes it hard to deal with leaders. Dorian's flame aptitude made him very dangerous to most people and his burning passion to dominate all made people respect him like a sun. He did lose some control over his flames when he got emotional in all aspects. That is also why he acted calm most of the time. But when he was in battle worthy of his attention, he would let loose like he was ready to die."

Then one Iris asked "What did he look like?" To which Lucas gave an answer "He was wolf-like with a shimmering golden white fur. He was about twice as tall as most average humans. He walked on two legs and had a straight posture almost all the time. He often wore decorative flames around him which didn't burn anyone, that is if he didn't want them to burn those around him."

Then one of the teachers asks "Did the great demon king of beasts Marchosias belong to the Ranan family?" Lucas says "If we are strictly speaking that did he bear the Ranan name at any point, then the answer is no. But if we ask if he had any blood relations with the Ranan bloodline, then the answer is yes. For you see, Marchosias was born before the great migration to the mortal realm and before the time of demon gods. When he got to the mortal realm and the title of a demon king was established, he rose to the top and claimed his title as a demon king. It was only after demon god Iram made a pact with Marchosias that the Ranan bloodline would be established as Iram created the first Ranan woman to be Marchosias' partner. So to summarize, the Ranan family has its roots with Marchosias who later became partners with the first ever Ranan."

Kyle asks "Didn't you mention that the title of demon king would only be accessible to the seven demon lord bloodlines?" Lucas says "Yes. After the seven demon lord bloodlines were established, only those belonging to the seven bloodlines would be allowed to have the title of a demon king. Marchosias however was the demon king before the seven demon lord bloodlines were established."

A student then asks "Can you tell us about tactics concerning deilums?" Lucas says "Yeah, we are about to hit that part, so sure. Two things that you should avoid when fighting against deilums is to never fight them during a full moon or especially blood moon. During those times, deilums receive heightened abilities and become generally more powerful. For example, let's say that deilum is a rank F when it's not a full moon. When the full moon comes, their strength becomes that of a rank C rank. And if it's a blood moon, an rank F can become a solid A rank. So if you ever encounter one of them, heed my advice and don't go looking for a fight with deilums when the moon is out. And a side note here, it doesn't matter if the moon is visible or not, it just needs to be a full moon or a blood moon."

Sonya asks "Does it apply only when the moon is full?" To which Lucas answers "Deilums get a minor boost when the moon is out, but they are mostly minor. At best, rank F becomes rank E when the moon is not full. As for if the moon needs to be full on a blood moon, no, that is not necessary. The effect will be stronger when the moon is also full on a blood moon, which can make an rank F bordering a rank S. But blood moons are rare in general, so the likelihood of this is not that high."

Tenrir asks "Doesn't vampires share the trait of boosting their power when the blood moon is out with deilums?" Lucas says "That is correct. When I was young, some theorized that vampires and deilums share a bloodline, but that is mostly false."

A student asks "What do you mean mostly false?" Lucas says "They don't share a common ancestor, but some vampire variants have been born between vampires and deilums breeding together. These vampires look more beastly, but are still considered vampires nonetheless. But go and say to a pure blooded vampire that beastly vampires are the same as them and you will see how you fare in combat against a pure blooded vampire."

Tenrir asks "Have you met any noteworthy vampires in your time?" Lucas says "I have dealt with plenty. I even have dealt with the famous, or should I say infamous, Bloodstone bloodline. Personally I don't have a problem with their antics of being superior to humans and whatnot, but then again, I only mimic blood so they don't really concern me much. I did have part in one of their experiments by seeing how much blood I can produce since my full size and mass is just massive. Ended up feeding the whole family for three days with plenty to spare to the lesser vampires."

Elliot asks "Can we see your full size someday?" Lucas says "I suppose I can show you if the principal allows me to do so. I'll come back to this topic after I have asked her. Now then…"

Lucas claps his hands three times and then says "I think this class can end now. Feel free to use this time to read the book that I gave some of you in this classroom. Shouldn't waste the allocated room when you still have it. Anyways, I have brought twenty more books about monsters, written by yours truly. Feel free to come and get one for free if you want one. This is a one time offer, so if you don't take it now, you will have to buy one if you ever want one."

Then people took Lucas' offer and took a book and started reading them in class until the bell rang. Then all went to a break and Lucas only had combat training to supervise. The rest of the day went uneventfully and the next day another class about demons would be held.