Self-Reflections Of The Demon-To-Be

As John stood over the now-dead demon, its body started to melt away and vaporize. When the pop-up for his gained demonic experience appeared in front of him, the black and red tendrils of disintegrated demon had already started to swirl around his body. The clouds drew in closer in only moments, and he could feel his body absorb them through his skin. It was a warm feeling. As if he were a comfortable distance away from a campfire, or outside on those perfect, sunny days. 

This feels…good. It’s like, there’s a part of me that was empty without me noticing, but now it’s filled, he thought to himself. He was completely subdued by this unexpected phenomenon. The rising trauma and fear that he had felt just moments ago were now gone, completely and utterly washed away.

While John bathed in this warmth, the body of the demon had melted away completely. The only things left in its place were the rope, gag, and a bloody claw. Distracted by the new sensation, John didn’t even notice it until Miss Wentworth picked it up and held it up in the air as she inspected it.

“Interesting, very interesting,” she muttered aloud. “Why was this piece the only part that wasn’t absorbed? Hmm.” She pursed her lips ever so slightly before she turned towards John. “Mr. Newman, if you would be so kind as to use your scrying spell to tell me more about this item.”

That command was enough to snap him out of his trance-like daze. He shook his head slightly and slowly blinked a few times. He glanced down at his hands, clenched and unclenched them, and then looked back up to Wentworth. Who patiently waited for him.

“Y-yeah, I can do that…” he responded as he cast Observe on the claw in her hand. It was a relatively small thing, perhaps only two or three inches in length. But that would still be more than enough to pierce through someone’s flesh and reach their organs.

Claw of a Lesser Demon
Creator: N/A
Rarity: Uncommon
Sharper and tougher than steel, this black claw is part of a devastating set. One that can tear through flesh and bone with relative ease. On its own it is not of much use, partially due to its lack of reach and crudeness. However, it can be used as a raw ingredient for crafting.

“-And that’s what it says,” John finished after he read the last part aloud. Miss Wentworth placed her hand on her desk and drummed against its surface with her fingers. Based on the expression on her face, it was obvious to him that she was currently in deep thought. In the meantime, John decided to open his character sheet to see what it looked like now.

Huh, I’m almost halfway there until I get another Perk Point. Last time, Soul Weapon was my only option available, and the rest was blurred out. Hmm, I wonder if I can open my perk tree right now instead of waiting until I unlock the next point. Maybe some of the other stuff will be there for me to at least see, even if I can’t choose any of it right now, John thought. 

He then tried to look around and experiment with his character sheet. Especially within the Demonic Points section. Although it took a bit of trial and error, he eventually found it the demon skill tree, and it popped up in front of him in its entirety.

Most of it was blurred out and still inaccessible. However, there were four options that he was able to see. Each of which seemed to be the start of a different theme. Deafness, Demonic Ritual, Killer’s Stance, and Chaos Bolt. The last two were a tad special, however, in that Killer’s Stance was a direct continuation of Soul Weapon and that Chaos Bolt actually had a label under its option: Path of Chaos.

Although he couldn't read them, John saw that there were three more perks above Chaos Bolt. One that was directly above it and was likely a part of the same path, and two more that went more to the left or the right. He didn’t know what they were, but John felt that he could safely assume that these two other perks were probably the starts for different “paths”.

He then tried to do some more tests. Specifically to see if he was able to get descriptions for any of these perks. He tapped on each of them, double-tapped, zoomed in and out with his fingers, dragged, but nothing seemed to work. With a slightly disappointed sigh, he closed the perk tree and dismissed it.

Ah well. I guess I should be happy that I got to at least see the names. I suppose I can largely guess their effects from that instead of getting to read the descriptions. Deafness, which probably makes something… deaf. Demonic Ritual likely summons demons or maybe makes contact with them. Killer’s Stance… hmm. Since this is a perk tree, and it follows Soul Weapon, it’s probably safe to assume that maybe it improves the stance I have with the scythe. Or something like that. And Chaos Bolt shoots out a bolt. That one’s honestly the option that seems closest to what I’m already familiar with in RPGs.

John figured that, based on what he knew so far, his perks could perhaps be broken into different categories. The first one with Soul Weapon and Killer’s Stance was maybe his melee or weaponry perks. Demonic Ritual was either summoning or… other strictly demon related skills. 

He wasn’t quite sure yet, and would need to see more of that branch before he could confidently draw a conclusion on that. And lastly, Deafness could be the start of debuff skills, with maybe the next one some kind of blinding skill. Although making someone go deaf sounded scary enough on its own, it would be even more so if John could make them go blind as well.

John realized that was something he might have to get used to. After all, his skills were those of a demon, which meant that they wouldn’t be the most merciful or painless abilities. They would be cruel and made to inflict pain and suffering. He just hoped, no, he prayed that, even if he had to use these kinds of skills, they wouldn’t turn him into someone he didn’t want to be.

He would rather give up his powers entirely before that happened. Or… maybe… even die.