#speechcraft

Chapter 2: Satan’s Seduction

You move to grab a new prop from your bag, deciding to take a character prompt from the bowl of prompts before sitting yourself back at the table. Your character for this scene is designed to have an illness they can't cure, which modern medicine couldn't help with. This time, you're reading a medical textbook. You open the page to a random one and motion to the teacher that they can beep in the next student.

Whoever it is, they're taking their time to assess you from afar. They haven't stepped past the door. You begin reading your book, and you have to stop yourself from snickering as you realize you opened to a page on liver disease. This will be a fun scene if they try to ask about what you're reading like the last one. You're in a pretty great mood as you hear footsteps come up alongside you.

"Mmnh, the Merck Manual of Medical Information. That's a curious read. Are you a doctor?" The smooth voice is familiar and you look up to see the familiar lime-blue eyes of Satan.

You smirk and turn your head back to your book. "No, I just love a good medical textbook." Leaving it up to him to interpret whether you're joking or not.

"Sounds like you've got quite the hunger for knowledge." He smiles warmly, moving to take a seat at your table.

"Actually, it's more about how it's written. This particular edition was written to be read by folks of all walks of life, attempting to make medicine an accessible study to the common folk." You push the subject of the book. You want to see how well he can engage you in something you know he's not as well-versed in. It's a human realm book, and he's shown a lot of interest in learning about human texts before. It also pushes your character's narrative in an interesting way.

Curious surprise paints his face as he processes the challenge you're throwing his way. His smile returns once again, this time much more sure of himself as he playfully pretends to muse in thought, stroking his chin. "Hmn.. Would you say you're particularly passionate about making knowledge accessible~?"

"Oh yes, absolutely." You slightly put your book down, keeping your thumb inside it to keep your page, but now he has some of your attention. You begin studying him, now taking a moment to take him in. Your calculating eyes actually fluster him a little as he feels embarrassed, realizing that he's got a foot in the door. "... You don't seem like you're here to ask about my thoughts on this book, however. Out with it. What're you lookin' to get from me?" You've got a playful demeanor, despite your hard pivot into the subject matter of his approach.

Satan lightly taps your book cover, eyes locked on yours. "If you're looking to expand your horizons of knowledge, I've got access to libraries you've never even dreamed of." You can feel his magic tugging at your mind. The sense of ease. The comfort. The intrigue. The way it makes you want to ask more. The way it makes you feel like he's telling the truth.

You watch him for a moment, visibly curious. He knows he's got you, but before he can continue, you finally break eye contact. You scoff, opening your book once again, leaning back on your stool to read. "Something tells me that what you want to teach me is a little less studious, and a little more dubious." He's losing some ground, but that's fine.

He loves the challenge you're posing. He loves the way you side-step him. It makes him have to use his mind to think of ways to intrigue you. The demon can't help but to grin a little as he leans back, watching you, getting comfortable. "Dubious, certainly. I am a demon, after all. Though if medicine delights you, you're only scratching the surface with what that book can tell you.

"You glance to him and look him over, which earns him a skeptical chuckle from you. "Funny. I've actually heard that one before. I'm certain some might call you a 'demon', but I'm not interested in playing fantasy." You choose to ignore his comment about the medicine. It'll be easier to resist if he has to prove himself to you.

"I assure you, every word I'm saying is the truth. Would you like me to prove it to you?" He's keeping smooth, his voice is like that soft, gentle tone he usually only uses when it's just the two of you sharing late-night chats over books, which is to say he's very relaxed and in his element in this moment.

You raise an eyebrow, setting your book on the table, your thumb still propped inside to keep your place. Your other hand rests atop the one in the book and you give him the majority of your attention now. "Well now I'm curious. How does one go about proving they're a demon?"

He stands up and looks around before shifting into his demonic form for you to see. You feign surprise, now letting your hand forget your place in your book as he has your full attention. He smiles warmly to you, waiting to gauge your possibly scripted reaction. You lean against the table, the hand that was in your book now supporting your head as your eyes narrow in visible calculation.

".. Alright then. So you're a demon. What's got you interested in me, hmn?"

Satan shifts back into his humanlike form, once again seating himself at the table. "You've got one of the brightest souls I've ever seen. No doubt, it's honed from time well-spent studying and improving yourself. I want to strike up a deal with you for it." He's very straightforward in this portion of the conversation, which suits him well. It helps that as he speaks, his eyes are warm and gentle, his smile challenging you to find a flaw in his approach.

It makes him seem trustworthy and approachable, which is very dangerous. You can feel him layering in his magical influence as he speaks, helping you to feel safe, to feel light-hearted. As though this were a conversation about favorite music instead of the fate of your soul.

Once again, you feel yourself having to tear yourself to breaking eye contact. You unconsciously touch your face as you look away from him. ".. Sounds a bit too good to be true. I thank you for your offer, but you're just going to have to find someone else to sucker outta their soul.”

The smile once again spreads through Satan's lips. It's hard to contain his excitement. He knows he's got you. He's keeping a cool head though, and even when you steal glances at him, you aren't be able to tell how delighted he is to finally give chase.

"I hope it's not too presumptuous of me, but..." He begins, lacing every word with a glaze of honeyed allure. His magic is much harder to resist this time. You can feel as your senses are awash with the comforting influence. Your heart relaxes. Every word he says feels like a truth that you can and should trust. That he'd never hurt you. "You're passionate about medicine being an accessible study, you read with such fervency that I feel almost jealous of your book for getting so much of your attention.. I just can't help but wonder if it's all because you're searching for an answer yourself."

"..." Your silence and the way you stare at him speaks volumes.

"You've got the drive, I've got the tools, we can make that dream of yours a reality."

You give his offer serious consideration. Your job is to find the reason your character would say no to such a deal. "... You've got the tools, but your price is a bit too steep. I may spend the rest of my life working towards it, but I could also pave the way for others to expand medicine as we know it in the process." It takes a significant amount of energy for you to deny his sweetened offer.

He loves getting to play off of you. You're so different from the usual actors for these kinds of tests. This feels so real. So organic. He can't help but admire your dedication to the part. "If you're looking to pave the way for humans to grow in medicine, whatever you do with the information you learn through our deal is all your own. You can teach as many people as you like. Pass on ages and ages of medicine untapped by humans." Every word from his mouth feels like it's a brush stroke building a bigger scene in your mind. One of grandeur. Of greatness. Of answered questions. It feels like you're standing on the precipice of a legend in the making.

All you have to do is say yes."..." You begin to bubble with soft laughter. It diffuses the building tension of his magical influence building inside of you as you stand up. ".. Something tells me that if I don't go now, I'll find myself lost in those hopeful eyes of yours. ... You can consider me painted with intrigue, but I can't allow myself to make a judgement so rashly."

"Certainly. I'd never want you to regret this kind of deal." His warm smile melts your heart, making you really believe he's going to let you walk away. "How's this- Take however long you'd like to for thinking things over, and when you're ready to talk with me about it, you can use this." He places a page with his pact sigil on the table. "Draw this sigil in a circle of candles and speak my name out-loud. We'll pick this up where we've left things off."".. And what's that name of yours?"

"Satan."

"..." You feel a warmth in your chest. You've definitely fallen under his influence. It's intense. Unlike Asmodeus' charm, this is a type of magic that just makes you more suggestable. It can't control you, it's just capable of bringing your desires to the surface. Dangerous magic indeed. You knew he was talented in this class, you just didn't expect it to feel so... real. ".. Thank you then, Satan. I'll consider your offer."

You take your D.D.D out to take a picture of the sigil and turn to leave the 'stage' of the front of the room and your teacher begins applauding. You sheepishly return to the front of the class, the effects of Satan's speechcraft magic still tugging at your mind and heart.

"Ooh, top marks all around! Satan! You were perfect. You took it slow, you took it careful, you were deliberate. You took care to earn their trust before sharing how much they gave away about themselves. If that were a real moment on earth, there's a very good chance you'd have gotten that soul. You were smooth, you were warm, you knew exactly where to lace your influence so that it felt natural. ___? Did it feel as though he was just a very emphatic speaker?"

"Oh god yeah. That was intense. I had to expend a significant amount of energy to tear myself away from the scene, because it felt like infatuation bubbling to the surface, making me want to hear him out." You can't help but laugh. Satan's cheeks warm up as he hears your praise. He does think he's particularly good, but hearing that directly from you adds a certain layer of excitement from what would otherwise be normal marks for him in this test.

"And you, ___!" The teacher motions to you. "The way you chose to separate yourself when you realized you were outmatched by the strength of his magic, and that you couldn't fight it head-on, that was a brilliant display of your cleverness. In instances where your opponent is particularly strong or well-versed in Speechcraft, sometimes the only winning move is not to play. I'm also particularly proud that you didn't pick up the paper on the table. Any number of objects can be cursed to make you more susceptible or agreeable to demonic influence."

Satan raises his hand. "Is there anything I can improve on?"

"Yes yes- Improvements. Satan, I don't have anything to share in terms of ways you could improve your performance. You hit every note that you needed to, and then some. ___, you need to work on making little-to-no eye-contact. Though you may not be susceptible to charm spells at this time, there's no telling if that'll ever change in your future, and you should be particularly careful to cultivate healthy practices in magic resistance." You nod, taking in the feedback, and Satan smiles, watching how determined you are to get things right and improve.

The teacher motions that Satan can leave now, and you two give each other a warm hug before he goes.

After such an intense session, you end up needing to take a break, putting the midterms on hold for the other students assigned to work with you. It's no wonder, though, given that Satan's one of the seven avatars of sin. The fact that you could resist him nearly as well as you did was nothing short of amazing on your part.

Your teacher notes as much in her notes on your performance.

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Chapter End

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Chapter List:

- Chapter 1 (Setting The Scene) - Chapter 3 (Mammon’s Magnetism)

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You can read the rest of this series, and other works, here!:

Chapter One, Introduction

It was decided that you and the other exchange students would take your tests a little differently. In classes like Seductive Speechcraft, where your studies have been centered on learning and analyzing and dissecting the methods in which demons seduce and manipulate others, it would be best to showcase your strengths in those classes by testing how well you can resist those influences.

Still, you weren't exactly prepared for 7 particular students to be testing their mettle against you.

Coming into class, you brought a series of props as requested by the teacher. You're going to play both an actor and test taker, and the students have to actually use every tool in their arsenals to seduce you. Magic, wiles, they can and should pull out all the stops.

You're directed to the front of the classroom, where you're set to sit on a stool. You pick a prop from your bag, and you play a human in the human realm minding their own business for the demons to approach. Your goal is to be hard-to-get.

The first student to approach you is one you don't know very well. You choose to start with a book as your prop, and you sit on your stool. There's a table in front of you. The teacher is watching, making notes. The student approaches you.

"Oh wow, that book there looks quite interesting." He flashes a grin, leaning against the table as he stands beside you, looking out behind you. You glance up at him, then give him a look up and down, and then return your eyes to your book, playing an uninterested individual.

He knows he doesn't have you hooked in yet, so he's gotta find something to help you disarm yourself. He read the title of the book as he approached you, and noticed it was about poetry. "Are there any poems in there that you'd recommend?"

You raise an eyebrow, moving to slightly close the book to give him your attention. "Maybe to a friend, but uh... You don't seem to be one of those. Look, I'll save you the trouble. I'm not interested, and I don't want to buy what you're selling." You look to him expectantly.

He blinks, then chuckles, crossing his arms, still half-sitting against the table. "You must get a lot of folks bothering you to have a reaction like that. Look, I'm not here to sell you anything, and I'm not here to try to get in your pants. I was actually interested in seeing if there was something I could do for you.

"You lean against the table, looking more directly to him, now turning in your seat to face him. You lean against the table, resting your head against your hand. "And what would you be looking for in return for this... 'Kind gesture'..?" You're visibly skeptical, but your book is now closed and in your lap. You're interested. He can tell. Just has to rein in his excitement.

He grins, giving you a playful look as he says "It'd be a hefty price-tag.. The kinds of favors I'm looking to do for you would be the kinds people sell their souls for."

"Mhm." You smirk, turning back to the table and opening your book. "Well, nice try, but I think you'll have to sell your snake oil to someone else."

"Oh I assure you, nothing about my offer is fake or cheap." He now turns to move to the side of the table, taking a stance, his hands on the table pretty confidently as he grins to you. "After all, when the price tag's so steep, the goods have to be worth it, right~?"You snort. "Not always. People always mark up crap and try to sell it as quality. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a poet." You playfully shoot him a 'I'm done' look and then return to your book.

"Ooh, but you haven't even perused my goods. Maybe I should show you a taste?"

"If you flash me, I'm going to hurt you." You say this without even looking up from your book, and it catches him off-guard. He breaks character and can't stop himself from laughing. He props himself up against the table, completely breaking down, losing all sense of composure. You can't help but break character too as you start laughing with him.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR" He exclaims between wheezing laughter.

"That's a normal thing for a human to say!!" You defend your point, still laughing. "It felt natural!"

The teacher is scribbling notes, as you both look to her for her verdict. She glances up when she's done and motions to you with her pen. "Good work. I saw that you were able to resist all magical influences, and you put your opponent off-guard in a manner that was natural and pleasant. Continue to hone your resistance to magical influences, and I think you've got quite the skill at maneuvering the social side of these encounters with ease."

She motions to your partner in the scene. "I think the only real feedback that I have is that you need to 'commit-to-the-bit' in this. I understand that a testing scenario is significantly different than the real thing, but you'll need to be able to roll with the scene as though it's real for us to truly be able to give you meaningful feedback on your performance. Otherwise, I think you did fantastically with your banter, you were goal-oriented, but in a pleasing manner. You weren't pushy, you weren't off-putting, I just wish I could have seen more. I'd have been very interested to see how that scene could have played out if you'd been able to stick to it. Continue to strengthen your seductive speech magic, and I think you've got great promise."

You and your partner shake hands and he steps away.

It's the next student who comes in that shakes things up a little..

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Chapter End

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Chapter List:

- Chapter 2 (Satan’s Seduction) - Chapter 3 (Mammon’s Magnetism)

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You can read the rest of this series, and other works, here!: