I woke to the sound of quiet. Nothing shrieking. No threats of death. No unnatural silence. Simple quiet. My dreams were foggy, already fading from memory. Something from my human life? It slipped away.
[You have rested in your domain. Rest has restored full status]
[Status: Alert]
I wasn't even hungry yet. I remembered forcing the corpse of the lizard demon down. It was as large as I was. Was it Demons Stomach that let it fit?
[Your observation has rewards. Beginners Observation has increased in ability.]
Cheeky system.
Alert now, I looked around the domain I had stolen from my victim. A simple affair, it looked more like an animal's den than anything. As a demon I was little more than an animal myself. Eat and survive. This was luxury I didn't know hell could afford.
Lulled into a sense of security I opened up the system menu. If I was going to have a chance to do it, it would have to be here.
[Domain Information]
[Domain Status: Lesser Lair]
Fitting for a low demon like my wretched self I suppose.
[Domain allows recuperation of exhaustion. Domains are safe from demons of lower power and tier than their host. Demons cannot cross the threshold uninvited without a victory condition.]
I hissed out a gasp of air in delight. A clicking cackle tickled the underside of my throat. Safety! At least safe enough.
Eager now, for the first time I opened all the systems menu. It had expanded quite a bit!
[You have access to the Dominion Subsystem]
[You have access to the Organ Subsystem]
[You have access to the Ability Subsystem]
[You have access to the Title Subsystem]
[You have access to the Evolution Subsystem.]
Evolution? ORGANS? What fresh hell was waiting in the wings. I had hoped to survive and grow stronger. How much of myself would I have to sacrifice?
[Demons with access to the Hell System are able to control their progression. Reveal strength in the Subsystems of Hell. Descend as deep as you are able]
More answers made more questions. I thought of the notification from earlier. The locked location information. Was there a purpose to this journey through hell? And it specified deeper. My demon mother had chosen to climb up and she was the most powerful creature I had ever seen. It felt strange to have two mothers. One monstrous, one I couldn't hold onto in my memory.
What to examine first?
I thought back to the fight with the Lizard, of watching my health erode while I was helpless to stop it. How effective that was even while it was unable to do anything but try and toss me off its back. Did I get notifications about organs then? I must have. Even remembering being that tired threatened to exhaust me.
[System Display: Organs]
[You are not limited in quantity of organs. All developed organs are active at all times. Organs demand heavy investment of souls. Developed organs unlock and close off options in the evolution system.]
[Developed Organs: None]
How did I breathe? How did I eat? It must mean organs not native to my morphology. That being said, did I remember organs when I crushed my siblings? The location of my mouth made it hard to look as I ate. A small blessing.
[Organs Available for Growth]
[Undeveloped - Beginners Poison Sac - 10 Souls]
[Undeveloped - Beginners Venom Sac - 10 Souls]
[Available Souls - 12]
Souls couldn't be... literal souls, could they? I thought back to the ledge. Every one of the cliff huggers had dropped a soul. One even dropped two. Of all the silent maw I'd killed, only one had a soul. I suspect the one that had landed the killing blow on the cliff hugger that fell. The Lizard had multiple souls and multiple organs...
My mind shied away from the implications.
What was important for my survival was what was the difference between the organs. I only had enough for one. Poison was what I was resistant to. Was Venom not also poison? No. The difference was its use. Venomous things inflicted poison. Poisonous things gave you poison if you ingested them. That must be the difference here as well. I definitely wasn't getting eaten if I could help it.
[Your planning has rewards. Beginners Foresight has increased in ability.]
Knock-off observation skill.
But it seemed to have confirmed my theory. Or acknowledged that I made a theory. I hate that ability. Here goes nothing.
I felt sick immediately. My hands began to ache and a thick goiter swelled up at my wrists. I rolled over in agony, my maw vibrating as my gullet tried to wretch into the open air. My fingers stretched and I shrieked as my nails forced their way out. Something was growing beneath them. The claws tore from the skin, falling onto the domain floor. Left behind were transparent red stingers at the ends of each arm.
[Status Changed: Poisoned]
[Health -3]
[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]
[Health -2]
[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]
[Health -2]
[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]
[Health -1]
[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]
[Health -1]
[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]
[Status Changed: Weak]
Righting myself, I finally heaved a wet sop of clear waste onto the ground. It was everything not to collapse in it. Never again.
My arms sloshed, fleshy bulbous fleshy protrusions filling up with liquid. I had poisoned myself off my own venom. I raised my hand to my left eye. the stingers at the ends of my hands were hollow, thin and transparent. Would I even be able to pierce a hide as tough as the lizards?
I knew for sure if I did my venom was potent. I had resistance against the lizards poison and my own had ripped through me.
I looked at the floor in disgust. Flesh still gripped the nail bed of the discarded claws. They looked so dull now, compared to the points. The shift it forced in my stance was uncomfortable at first. The glands pulled my wrists back and the points were too sharp to rest weight on, moving me onto my palms for balance.
The pool of phlegm did nothing to help the situation. I could smell my own vomit mixing in with notes of blood and the decay of the discarded meals from the Lizard.
[Beginners Venom Sac has modified the skill Beginners Gouging Claw. Ability is now Beginners Venomous Gouge.]
Well thanks for that system. My exhaustion had saved me. If I had explored that option last night, in the tunnels I wouldn't have had the strength to leave. I'd be meat for the first demon to come across me.
What would ever go through that process again if it had a choice?
Grabbing one of the skins, I did my best to clean up the waste. The Lizard had left all kinds of small bones and horns. The tunnels must have many different demons then. It was hard to tell what the skins were from. They were headless and it looked like the lizard had cleaned them by eating the beast from inside its belly. Awful.
[You have tended your Dominion. Your bond with it grows.]
I had made it serviceable. The worst of the smells had faded. Lacking a better solution, I engulfed the soiled skin, bones, claws and all. The demon stomach didn't seem to care that I had eaten my own vomit.
I was even more wary of the System. When it couldn't throw other demons at me it felt fit to rip me apart from the inside. My health had not recovered from my own poison.
[System Display: Abilities]
[Available Ability Points: 20]
[Invest Ability Points into base stats, upgrade skills, or unlock new skills]
[Health: 20/24, Mana 0/0, Stamina 30/30]
[Strength: 3][Defense: 6][Magic: 0][Resistance: 6][Speed: 2]
[Skills List]
[Native Latch]
[Native Demons Stomach]
[Native Horrors Maw]
[Beginners Leap]
[Beginners Pain Resistance]
[Beginners Silent Hunt]
[Beginners Observation]
[Beginners Venomous Gouge]
[Beginners Tough Carapace]
[Beginners Foresight]
[None of your skills have met the requirements for upgrading]
[Tier Limitations of Lowest Lesser Form has locked the ability to reveal skills]
Cruel. Even my observation skill has let me down here. I thought about investing my ability points into my stats. They seemed so low. Magic especially seemed so tempting. But what good would it do blind? Without knowing what I was aiming for I could be locking myself down without even knowing it. Spending souls without knowing the details had been dangerous enough. At least with souls I knew that I could get more of them. I'd only gained ability points through leveling.
I closed that menu in despair.
What systems remained unexplored? Oh Yes. Evolution.
[System Display: Evolution]
[You have the required levels for one or more evolution]
[Available Evolution: Lesser Cliff Hugger - 1 Soul]
It was tempting to evolve immediately. I would be able to access skills! Only the long list below stopped me.
[Locked: Lesser Venomous Cliff Hugger - 50 Soul - Organ Requirements Met]
[Locked: Lesser Scribe Cliff Hugger - 100 Soul]
[Locked: Lesser Shrieking Cliff Hugger - 50 Soul - Organ Requirements Not Met]
[Locked: Lesser Cliff Wraith - Level Requirements Not Met]
[Locked: Locked - Knowledge Requirements Not Met]
....
The list seemed endless, but it made it very clear. I needed to get more souls. The hunger welled up within me again. It was time to hunt.