Landing on a ridge still a kilometre out, Julia looked over the impossible buildings ahead. As Julia studied their madness, she had to admit that it was scary thinking about going in. Not just because, well, 'Demons', but since waking, things were off. Something inside her felt broken, and yet the edge of the break seemed indistinct. Things, sensations, thoughts that should terrify; instead, had slid right off. The most significant impact they had made was how little she'd felt.

Proper, preparation, prevents piss poor, performance. You rushed that last Pit, and that Ascend. Let's not rush things now.

I did not know what that Ascend process would do. Yet triggered it anyway. Just had to go for another level up.

{{Power is good, though.}}

As she tried to remember more of the details from the Ascend, they skittered away.

Scattering like roaches when a light came on.

Why do you want to think about being burnt alive? Even metaphysically. At this rate girl, you'll need to decide a safe word.

{{Screams and giggles.}}

Did I damage myself from Ascending or the Tranquility of the Ki?

Is second-guessing going to help?

Focus on now. Be aware, and at least try not to make the same mistake again. We need to be still sane to get out of here.

So.

Why go into the city at all?

What's my goal?

What do I have to work with here?

Why am I not scared out of my wits even considering doing this?

If I go into that place without a plan, will it just swallow me whole?

[Danger Sense (6 -> 7)]

Really. I swear.

[Yes. You do.]

Okay, focus on planning J. The 'system', is a troll but isn't entirely against you. That hidden Lore, the way it 'forced' me to speak in Abyssal. The Lurkers in the Pits might have been close enough to hear me.

Yes, they are bestial demons. Could use Detect Thoughts against them, though; so they weren't completely mindless.

Hidden Lore could be why the Ka'larg thing couldn't sense my thoughts.

[Hidden Lore (1 -> 2)]

I'm going to take that as a yes. You know that, right?

So with my hidden state, I can't give myself away unintentionally, but I can intentionally do so.

[Hidden Lore (2 -> 3)]

Crud.

So a primary goal should always be don't spill the beans. That's such a fine example of positive goal setting.

Right.

Go Me!!!

Yes, ensure I don't spill my secrets faster than a smashed piñata. Demons would be on me like ants at a picnic. Need to set goals on things to achieve, not what to avoid. The current goal is to determine a plan, enter the city, blend in, perform planned activities, and get out.

{{I should get stronger and make something kneel. Thugs should answer to me, not ask questions of me.}}

Julia sighed and shook her head as the unheard voice continued whispering into the ear of her subconscious. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was more than a little wrong.

I broke something. How do I fix myself? Is it safer to leave that broken? How do I get stronger? How do I get out of this place?

Focus on the now.

The system description said Monks progression is self-discipline, focus. The Ascend progression was ripping me apart. I surrendered to the Ki, and that engulfed me.

Suppose the effect from Ki did this. Well, then it brought me the chance to focus on now. Maybe I held off too long, and it was the Inferno that damaged me. Why am I distrusting the Ki? When did I doubt things of peace and calm?

Snapping like that seriously, 'So I gut you now, halfbreed'.

Yeah, that sounded pretty much on the nose for a Demon girl. Let's chalk that one up to Demonic essence shards, at least. Still, it was funny to see its face when I basically said he was the spawn of a rat fucker.

So my current self-assessment emotional reactions have changed. Be aware of the condition. Manage it, don't ignore it, don't let things get worse.

Wait, what if it was Hidden nature stopping me from sticking out like a sore thumb?

Stop it, J. No. Take ownership; focus on now.

Focus on the choices you have, real control of, at each moment. Not blushing like a virgin in front of 'things' eye-fucking you. Well, congrats for surviving. Cause I'm sure, there'd be nothing more abnormal to a Demon than a blushing Succubus.

Plan.

Do I need anything from that maggot-infested, gangrenous cesspit of a city? No bigger hive of scum and villainy was it. Sorry got you beat here.

Information?

What information and how? Excuse me, kind Demon, how do I get out of the Abyss?

Portals. I can't go back home. They think I'm dead; they even had the funeral. Back up, J, don't go there. You're not in a safe place, don't get into stuff like that.

Need to focus on the now.

So learn about Portals. I need options other than being trapped in the Abyss. Is there a Library? Mages? Casters? Do mortals come to the Abyss for trade? Sure cause they'd be more than happy to take you out of the Abyss. Yeah, right, maybe if I was prepared to bunny bounce them. That is not happening.

In RPGs with planes, good high-level adventurers travel to evil ones to stop a great evil. Evil ones would come for Power. However, they also had restrictions on the demons being able to get out. Is that the case here?

Again, learn more about portals, and any restrictions on a demon's rental permit on space outside the Abyss. Is it only they can hop out for a spa day, or more long term possible? Please let it be possible.

Please.

Another option: push my Planar Portal knowledge skill by dumping points into it? Wasteful. It's taking more effort to get levels in my higher skills. Need to save the points for when I get things close to tipping into a high rank.

{{Make them crave us, give us gifts.}}

What do I have to work with, Lurker acid glands, meat and bits for trade? Sex. No. Why did my brain go there again? Does a demonic species influence instinct that much?

[Demonic Lore (19 -> 20)]

Lah la lah. Now I really don't want to Ascend again. The Cambion seemed to want that small gland quick enough. That could have just been greed, though. You have, I want.

Step one: find a marketplace, food place, whatever. Second, learn what they sell for, learn who would buy, sell them off. However, haggling is low, so good luck. Make sure you don't get given a price that is a ton of worthless currency. The analysis said the glands are a delicacy, so don't accept the first offer.

Profile

Name

J

True Name Species Lesser Succubus Level 1 /10 (Variant: Hidden Mortal Soul - Cursed) Shards (0 / 20) Home Plane Culerzic Class

Blood Monk

Level 14 Defence 35 Exp (109,999 / 110,000) Melee Attack Power 48 Health 320 Attributes Strength 16 Faith 5 Endurance 22 Magic 20 Quickness 20 Intelligence 22 Ki 63 Willpower 33 Charisma 18 Resistances Air (2), Acid - Improved (6), Cold - Minor (5), Fire - Immune, Mana - Improved (1), Mundane Materials [G] (1), Poison - Minor (5), Electricity - Minor (5) Powers Abyssal Adaptability [B] (6), Blink [Ap] (18), Energy Drain (9), Flight [B] (11), Improved Regeneration [Ap] (12), Ki Strike [B] (15), Mana Sense (3), Shapeshift [Ap] (10), Soul Sight (6), Telepathy (3), Translate Languages (1) Skills Active - Acrobatics [B] (4), Acting (9), Analysis [Ap](2), Bluff (10), Climbing [B] (20), Danger Sense (7), Disguise (9), Fly [B] (9), Haggling (13), Leatherworknig (1), Intimidation (2), Ki Meditation [Ap] (7), Mental Resilience [J] (4), Pain Tolerance [J] (4), Perception [B] (16), Perseverance [Ap] (11), Profile Control (11), Seduction(11), Sense Motive (1), Stealth [B](12), Tactics [B](4), Time Sense (12), Unarmed Combat [J] (9) Knowledge - Abyssal Lore [B](6), Arcane (3), Demonic Lore (19), Hidden Lore (3), Planar Lore (7), Planar Portals (7) Available Skills Points 33 Available Knowledge Bonus 10 Languages Abyssal, Infernal, Common Celestial, English

Inventory (2): Assorted Lurker glands, meat and flesh materials

(Max Weight: 20 kilograms)

I don't remember seeing some of those increases. Did they happen during the Ascend process? Why didn't it call them out?

Trying to access the notifications history provided a surprise. The earliest one listed was just the blurb that had snapped awareness back in place.

So what a System reboot, it has lost all previous activity.

Well, time to spend those attribute points.

After considering her options, Julia mentally allocated the points and confirmed them. The notifications that followed weren't exactly what she had expected.

[Strength (16 -> 20)

Charisma (18 -> 20)

Willpower (33 -> 40)

Quickness (20 -> 25)

Intelligence (22 -> 25)

Endurance (22 -> 24)

Knowledge skill maximum rank has increased from Adept to Master

Additional Knowledge Bonus points available

Unallocated Knowledge Bonus points (10 -> 14)]

I have only gotten one of my Knowledge skills out of the 'introduction' ranks yet. So need to do better.

Analysis: Skill rank Adept

[Rank: Adept - indicator [A] - is the 5th rank of progression within skills, there are 50 levels within this rank.]

Analysis: Skill rank Master

[Rank: Master- indicator [M] is the 6th rank of progression within skills; there are one hundred levels within this rank.]

Oh. So long way to go.

[Skill Lore Unlocked.

Skill Lore (1)

Analysis [Ap](3)]

Thanks.

She had a plan, or at least the start of one. Yet still, she was loath to rush. So rather than dashing off, Julia dropped back down and moved away till the city was out of sight. The terrain she'd flown over previously was rough and uneven, but on foot, it provided plenty of sheltered spots.

Julia beckoned and let the Ki drift through her like a mist, cycling it through her body. She stretched and took the time to loosen herself instead of charging in. The improvement in her forms and techniques from then to now clear to her. It was like someone had taken months of training, practice, and lessons, strung them together and hit fast forward.

Sometime later she finally found herself decided on her plans and approaching the city. Her jumble of uncertainty having calmed during the meditation and practice. Though there wasn't a full tank of gas or a half packet of cigarettes, anywhere in sight, there was a mission. With swaying, graceful movements, she covered the final distance towards Demons who clumped in groups littering the road through the gatehouse.

She looked over all she could analysis letting her catalogue species, sometimes class, sometimes more. Gaining a little or a lot wasn't the purpose; it was learning all she could. For during her practice, considering what she'd need to do to improve learning had moved to take precedence above all other goals beyond survival and secrets.

The guards ignored those entering, their interest purely on their games of chance. Mounds of erratically shaped coins and clear jars of wiggling grubs alike sat in the circles between the gamblers. The 'guards' presence was as if the place's chaos had set them as a parody of form without real purpose. The most vigour she saw from any of them, other than arguing over dice, was when stepping passed the final guard. Moving around his bulk, she noticed the direction of his focus was on another Succubus, and they weren't talking. At what once would have been an eye-opener, Julia felt only the disconnected numbness.

Without a pause, steps carried her onwards, and into a city of the Abyss, the place alive with as much frenzied activity as a broken ant nest. The whole milestone happened with less fuss than a stone lowered gently into deep water. The masses were so varied and different they warranted no attention, letting her slip among them unnoticed. Past that gatehouse, streets appeared to run in many seemingly impossible directions. To her perceptions, more than one pedestrian could be seen walk through another as if a ghost.

At first, perceptions couldn't separate the many walkways, alleys, and even roads that somehow seemed to co-exist with each other. Others looked to head straight into a wall, and those walking along them faded from sight before they hit it.

The city itself seemed to press down, forcing itself brutally into her awareness as various skills ticked over. Perception, Analysis, Abyssal Lore, Demonic Lore, even more than a few times Danger Sense among other notifications pinged on her awareness. Yet after a time, the progress slowed, and the pressure eased as if it had crossed a threshold for existing in this place below which no baby Demon need apply.

The place was pure confusing chaos, and at first, she had merely sought to learn more and look about. Perhaps that initial intent had caused such problems and forced her progress. For when she caught onto the pattern required by movement within the city, it was a key that became clear in hindsight.

Having been walking straight on for hours when the strange sky darkened, heralding the oncoming of whatever night existed here. With her only consideration that of getting back out of the city, things had fallen into place. The stonework under her feet disappeared between one step and the next, as it had at other times. This time though her front foot came down on familiar-looking blocks, and suddenly the gates which should have been long behind shuddered into sight.

She now wasn't sure anyone could know what pathways connected physically and wondered if they'd ever had. Instead, all that seemed to matter was the intent of the traveller.

[Abyssal City Navigation Unlocked

Abyssal City Navigation (1)]