Lyrhea mulled over her options, and they were rather varied, with each option potentially having lasting implications for how she would make her attempt to finally beat the damn Forest Guardian play out differently. She figured that each option would force her body to undergo a physical change, as each one offered benefits and drawbacks that likely only would work if her physical form was different from what it was now.

First on the table was a straight buff to her physical abilities, though it looked to be at a cost to any stealth and to her venom.

Blessing of the Constrictor

A constrictor needs no aids in battle, relying on its mass and its power to claim victory. The hide of constrictors is tougher, and they can claim to have larger muscles and stronger bones, but with this comes a lack of venom and a detriment to stealth. To become a Constrictor is to walk a path of brute force and power. Embrace the majesty of size and force, and strangle the life from any who oppose you in a noose made of your own body!

Reward(s): Blessing of the Constrictor

While arguably a good option, it didn’t suit her vision of how the conflict was to go. She had already proven through her own efforts that speed and precision were her greatest assets, and a bulky yet powerful body kind of ruined that.

Sure, enlarged muscle mass, thicker bones, stronger jaws, and a tougher skin would be useful in a prolonged melee, but if she got involved in that she would be a dead woman anyway, so it wouldn’t matter The best way to avoid taking damage is not to be hit, after all, and a bigger, slower, more durable body would just be a massive damage magnet.

The second option was more her style, though it also had some potential drawbacks, possibly making her even more of a glass cannon DPS than she already was.

Blessing of the Pit Viper

A Pit Viper uses speed, stealth, and potent venom to strike its foes once, not needing a second strike to bring them to their knees. While frail of body, the speed of an initial strike and the deathly venom that a Pit Viper can bring to the table can result in victory, so long as a foe is not able to strike back. The Pit Viper hunts lone prey, silencing them with a single move before any can respond. The ultimate biological assassin, the Pit Viper can blend into nearly anywhere given enough time, and never be seen again once they have delivered their deadly touch.

Reward(s): Blessing of the Pit Viper

At first glance, this would have been a sure choice, but as Lyrhea considered it, she realized that it too was a death sentence. This was a DPS Assassin build taken to its logical extreme, being fast, but only useful against single targets. If she were to fight groups, which she eventually would once the alarm was inevitably tripped, she could likely be one-shotted and it would be her own damn fault.

The final option, though, looked to be her best bet. Neither too far to either extreme nor was it too weak or frail. In fact, she felt like it had untapped potential that was just barely hidden by its text.

Blessing of the First Snake

The First of a mold rarely is too extreme, and the First Snake was the mold that all others come from. Though it lacked the power of a Constrictor, it could eventually gain that power, and while it lacked the venom of a Pit Viper, if it proceeded at its own rate it would gain it. To be the First is to be the one at the top of the ladder, and that takes time and effort, but should one take that path, who knows what could await? Perhaps Ruin awaits, or perhaps Glory? The only way for the First Snake to know for sure is for it to slither along and find out if its gamble would pay off or end in an inglorious death.

Reward(s): Blessing of the First Snake

Okay, saying it was ‘barely hidden’ was a stretch, but this path was for her, no doubt about it. It rewarded her own effort, which was more than she could say of some of the people and groups she had been a part of. If she played her cards right, then this path would lead her to greatness, but only if she played her cards right in the first place.

Or at least that was what she expected, anyway.

“Hey, uh, Snake?” Lyrhea asked. The overly chipper Snake-God responded to her vocal inquiry as quickly as Lyrhea had expected.

[“Oh? My Chosen, have you decided on the Path you will live by?”]

“Yes, now can I see the screens again?”

[“Ah, so casual! But you are the only Chosen of mine, and I have a fair bit riding on you, and you and I are more alike than you’d let yourself believe, so I’ll be magnanimous and let that slide.”]

“Yes, yes. Please present me with the screens, almighty master of all things that slither and slide!” Lyrhea sarcastically replied with great physical acting.

[“Oh, the venom dripping from your words!”] the Snake-God squeed a bit like a little schoolgirl before Lyrhea felt like a mountain was pressing down on her body. She was forced to the floor and found herself involuntarily bowing and scraping out of instinctual fear as something made itself known in spirit. The Snake-God took a deep sighing breath before the tone of the formerly overly chipper deity became dead cold and harsh. [“Don’t think you can mouth off to me like that unless I feel like it, little one. You are mine, now and forever, and if you want to keep engaging in that tone with me you had better prove you are worthy of being allowed to do it.”]

The spectral presence of the Primordial Deity hung in the air and forced Lyrhea to tilt her neck up while her body was forced against the floor. She couldn’t avert her eyes as she stared into what she could only describe as pure darkness borne of hunger and ambition, all swirling like a vortex leading down the maw of a massive reptilian beast.

The spectral mouth slammed shut, and the pressure vanished as soon as it did. Lyrhea could have gotten up then and there, but she remained on the ground, already expecting her new ruler to use that trick again to put her in her place.

[“Hmm… you are smarter than those fools gave you credit for. Any other Chosen would have risen from their position and been knocked down again, and yet you did the smarter thing and thus avoided the wrath of an annoyed Deity.”] the voice in Lyrhea’s head purred. [“Until you kill the Forest Guardian, the Avatar of that pathetic bastard that dares to call itself a God of the Harvest, I will forbid you from speaking so casually to me. Do s again, and I will make sure you live to regret it. Now, Chose Your Path, so you may better serve both my and your own endless ambition and feed both your hunger ad my own.”]

The screens appeared before Lyrhea, and yet she did not move. She was counting on her new God trying to pull one more fast one. The Snake-God stayed silent as Lyrhea lay where she had been knocked down before eventually laughing for a few seconds.

[“Oh, so you are that smart. Good. I like those who know their place, as well as how to deal with it. I permit you t rise, to select your choice, and to continue ding what you feel is needed until you kill the Forest Guardian. That is all for now, and please do not disturb me while I watch you flail abut.”]

Lyrhea got up, almost began to gripe about the whole experience before wisely deciding not to, and made her selection.

“Well, First Snake it is, then..”

And then she passed out.