“You’re all ready for this? Riza asked, stretching her muscles out after lying in one position for so long. She rubbed her eyes as Lefie answered, tiredness seeping in.

“I think so,” She answered without her characteristic energy. “It’s going to work, right?” She asked, looking slightly up towards her friend.

Riza struggled to meet her eyes, so full of trust. She was confident in herself, what she was doing. It was risky, yes, but she was prepared to take risks to get what she wanted.

But dragging along another person? A remnant puddle of guilt remained within her, biting at her brain, asking her whether it was worth it, safe, right to take Lefie away from a probably much safer life.

The thoughts spoke with such confidence it was hard to dismiss them. What did they know of the situation? The same as Riza, but they ignored all the downsides. It was hard to ignore her emotions by relying on pure logic.

“I don’t know. The skill works but… I don’t know what lies beyond that,” Riza answered honestly, unable to bring herself to outright lie.

Without buying any new skills, she was as strong as she could get; all skills at level 10 and all stat points allocated. She left the party once Lefie had the passive ability of cleanse, wanting to be as strong as possible.

Name Riza Level 13 Health 100/100 Stamina 93/100 Essence

1700/1700 Power 5 (5) Constitution 5 (5) Endurance 5 (5) Vim 6 (6) Essence

5 (85) Spirit

60 (305) Health Regeneration

100/day Stamina Regeneration

120/day Essence Regeneration

6100/day

“Why did Artiv have to go off on his own?” Lefie mumbled.

“I don’t know. He wasn’t happy with what we were doing, I guess. It’s silly but… you can’t control what other people think.”

“I just don’t understand.” Lefie replied, exasperated.

Riza didn’t respond, unsure what to say. She wasn’t much of a religious or spiritual person herself but she was far too aware of how a person’s upbringing could instil such prejudice in a person.

Even if, she was reluctant to admit, she had a hand in forcing the man to his decision.

“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. He wouldn’t be able to come with us through the fog anyway.”

“Why couldn’t he? He was still able to level up. Could’ve bought [Cleanse] like I did and level that up?” Lefie asked.

“It’d take too much time. He’s a soldier; probably hasn’t spent a single point in spirit. That gives him only 100 essence per day. [Cleanse] takes 1000 essence total to level up. That’s ten whole days of grinding.” Riza explained

“That is a long time.”

“Let’s stop wasting time and get a move on.”

Pure white. Alien to reality. Noise whistled from within it, the unmistakable sound of wind racing past Riza’s ears.

She was standing just before the large wall of fog, bisecting the room. She was on the precipice of a great change, and all she had to do was take one step forward.

And she couldn’t. Her muscles refused to move as she stared at the physics-defying phenomenon before her.

It glowed without light, was a gas denser than air but able to hold itself upwards without spilling forth to fill the room. Riza couldn’t explain it, nor had she ever encountered something like it before.

Stepping in once to prove a theory was one thing. Stepping in with no intention of leaving any time soon was another.

It’s fine. I just-I just have to psych myself up. That’s all. Riza took deep breaths.

She felt a hand on her back, turning her head to look at Lefie. The teenager smiles weakly.

I’ve got no other option. I’ve pushed myself into a corner. I have to do this. The thought, strangely enough, helped.

And so, she took one small step into the fog before her.

Immediately, all her senses were subsumed by the fog. Her eyes went blind, seeing nothing but the pure whiteness of the void. Even if she lifted her hand to within an inch of her face, she saw nothing. The fog robbed all sight.

The fog was physical, exerting a strange pressure all over her body. Riza found her clothes sticking to her strangely, like she was swimming through honey. Her nostrils were filled with stuffy, clumpy fog, extracting valuable oxygen but irritating her nose.

Whenever she breathed, she inhaled mouthfuls of thick, viscous air. The first time she opened her mouth, the fog disappearing down her throat, she began to choke, doubling over as she pounded her chest, panic rising.

Quickly, she scrambled out of the fog, falling onto her butt as the darkness of the tunnel revealed itself to her once more.

She took staccatic, deep breathes, as if she was drowning, her body desperate for air.

“Riza! Riza!” Lefie shouted, panicking as she fell to her knees and grabbed her friends body.

The gentle shaking seemed to ground Riza somewhat, her breathing steadying as her brain realised she was, in fact, not drowning, and could breath just fine.

That didn’t mean she stopped coughing as she tried to expunge as much fog as she could from her trachea.

“What happen?” Lefie asked after seeing Riza was safe, falling back to sitting on her feet like a prim and proper lady.

Pushing herself up, Riza looked towards the teenager and then to the fog, taking it all in.

“It was… unexpected,” She said. “The fog. I could feel it inside me. It’s… thick. I thought I was choking. Suffocating.” She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to release the hyperactive energy still inside her.

“It was just instinct, I guess. It’s fine. It should be fine. Just have to get used to it. That’s all,” She explained, weakly getting to her feet again.

Walking up to the wall, she reached out tentatively, seeing her hand sink into the previously poisonous substance. It disappeared, occluded by the opaque, gaseous substance.

Riza clenched her fingers, tightening up into a fist, and pulled her hand out. Wisps of fog came with her but quickly disseminated in the air, breaking apart.

Cupping her hands this time, she tried to pull some fog out of the dense supply in front of her but this, again, failed.

So strange. I can feel it and it damn near choked me to death but I can’t grasp it in my hand?

Closing her eyes and activating [Meditate], Riza sank into thought.

Be calm. This is fine. The problem was I jumped in without any preparation. Take it slow; this is just like swimming.

Opening her eyes, she felt much better about all of this.

One step forwards. Another step forwards. Riza proverbially fell into the fog, consumed by the white abyss.

She held her breath, eyes open but seeing nothing, as she tried to get used to the feeling covering all of her body.

Mouth still closed, Riza tried to breath through her nose. Small at first, getting used to the stuffy feeling as the fog disappeared down her nostrils.

No problems. She was tempted to let out a sigh of relief for that, slowly coming up to speed with breathing purely through her nose, establishing a rhythmic pattern.

Now, opening her mouth, she took a small mouthful of air. Instinctively, Riza gulped, the air disappearing down her trachea almost naturally. The pressure in her throat was unusual but not uncomfortable and she felt she could get used to it.

A few more mouthfuls and she was, in fact, getting used to it. She even experimented with breathing solely through her mouth, managing it just fine.

Feeling satisfied she had gotten used to it, she stepped out of the fog--worrying for a second or two that she was going the right way--to not panic Lefie with her extended disappearance.

“You’re back,” She said. “Better? How do you feel?”

“Good, good,” Riza answered, sitting on the floor. The whole ordeal took a lot out of her emotionally as well as mentally--she was thankful for this reprieve. “It takes some getting used to. Just take it slow; breathe through your nose first and then your mouth,” Riza advised.

“Yes, sir!” Lefie chirped, giggling shortly after at Riza’s confused face.

Almost eagerly, the teenager swiftly stepped into the wall of fog, Riza trailing behind her, grasping her hand as she followed.

Neither of them talked. Riza could hear nothing but the the whistling of the mysterious, ambient wind and their discordant breath. Thankfully, Lefie’s did not seem to be erratic, assuaging her nerves somewhat.

“You okay?” Riza asked, holding firm onto Lefie’s hand. She desperately didn’t want to lose her.

“Yeah?” Lefie replied, slightly uncertain. “It’s strange. I think I’m getting used to it.” With each sentence, it was like she was out of breath, not quite at ease with speaking in the fog.

“What’s-What’s this noise? The whistling?” Lefie asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve heard it before. The first time I found some fog, it was at the bottom of an abandoned tower. I heard wind there.” Riza answered. She had dismissed any wind at the bottom of the crater for the sheer size of the thing; it was natural to feel wind there, she thought.

But after considering the tower in the forest, now, she wasn’t so certain. Too much of a coincidence? How does wind connect with fog? Is there a big fan further in or something?

Riza chuckled at the thought.

“What’s that?” Lefie asked at the sound, a tinge of worry to her voice.

“Nothing,” Riza assured. “ Just a thought.

Slowly walking over to where she believed a wall to be, Riza started to think about what to do next.

I hadn’t anticipated the sight issue. I guess calling it ‘fog’ may have made me think it’d be fine once we were inside.

So, how to fix that? Is there a skill that grants omniscience? Enhanced eyesight? Able to see through fog?

Negative on all of those. Before she could think any further on the topic, however, the hairs on Riza’s neck suddenly stood up on end, a faint shiver running through her as her hindbrain alerted to her a presence deeper within the tunnel.

Again? How many this time… Many. But the signals are weaker this time. As they came closer, the scuttling of many legs tip-tapping on the stony surface became louder with it. Ah. Spiders. Good.

“Spiders. They’re coming closer,” Riza informed Lefie.

“Er, from in front?” The teenager asked, still holding onto Riza.

“Yes. Stay by the wall.” They let go of hands, Riza, withdrawing her knife from her thigh scabbard she still had all this time. It worked well with the robes the Dominion insisted on her wearing.

“They’re… sixty metres straight ahead. Fifty-five. Fifty,” Riza said, grasping onto the loose feelings in her mind and cementing them with concrete statements.

The sensations were getting clearer, and not just because the spiders were getting closer; she was beginning to get a firmer idea of distance, now. Something to think about later.

The spiders appeared to be mostly harmless. They didn’t seem hostile, for some reason, but she believed they were still worth experience.

Anything that was made by essence or lived near essence long enough to be suffused with it contributed to level ups. That was what Riza had gathered.

So, as soon as she felt the first spiders reach within her forty metre range, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine the tunnel before her, devoid of fog, with skittering spiders running down it.

Nothing.

Shit. [Leech] doesn’t work because I can’t see.

No point in worrying about it now, Riza waited for the spiders to get closer, relying on her strangely accurate senses to locate them.

Quickly, one-by-one, she stabbed down with her knife, plunging the blade within their thin, weak, little bodies as they tried to glide past her.

It was easy enough against such defenseless creatures but the difficulty was disconcerting; multiple strikes struck stone and she knew for certain she had missed some. Both her senses and the slightly worried squeals of Lefie alerted her to that fact.

Hurrying back to the teenager, Riza gripped her wrist once more as a tide of anxiety started to build within her.

No. Stop. This is fine. She urged herself, activating [Meditate] once more to quell the oncoming emotions.

Like a wave suddenly breaking apart, everything settled in her mind, her pulse slowing to a calming speed.

Think, Riza. Don’t start having regrets; this is your one chance to escape from the Dominion. Do you want to continue life as a slave? No, so think of a way out of this!

Lefie trusts you; you can do it.

Be logical. Let’s list the problems.

I can’t see. This also means I can’t use [Leech]. My combat options are limited to my dagger and healing can only be done through [Heal], though that’s not a bad thing as it’s more efficient than [Leech] for that purpose.

This does mean I’m worse at fighting groups of demons, not to mention, I don’t particularly feel like testing how much [Heal] can sustain me. She remembered back to the first greater demon she encountered, grimacing at the memory.

We’ve got options. Let’s consider them.

“-Za! Riza!” Lefie was frantically shouting, aggressively pulling her hand in the hopes to get her attention.

The reason was obvious; Riza’s mind was alight with signals, barrelling towards them. The thudding of footsteps echoed around them, loud compared to the near silence that previously dominated.

“Shit. Get back Lefie. Leave the fog” She said, gently but assuredly pushing the teenager away whilst she walked into the middle of the tunnel.

Two signals. Stronger than spiders but neither are a greater demon. Beast demons. Twenty metres or so and rapidly closing in.

Her feet never stopped moving, slowly walking left and right as she tried to position herself directly in front of the creatures.

At the last second, Riza dug her heels into the ground, both hands gripping onto the dagger as she held it pointed in front of.

The impact was immense, drawing a pained gasp from her even as she stabbed the knife upwards with great speed and activated [Heal], feeling the restorative energy wash over her.

Her legs felt like they were going to snap, the momentum of the demon was so much.

Painfully, she ripped out her knife as she stumbled backwards, relying solely on the sensation in her mind, as indistinct as it could be, to locate her prey.

She slashed forwards, nicking the skin of the demon as it ducked below the blow, but the second stab caught it in a limb, pulling Riza with it slightly as it tried to get away from the weapon.

Pulling it free a second time, she thrust forwards once more, completely unconcerned with her own safety.

From her side, she was suddenly battered and thrown against the wall, healing herself quickly.

She tried keeping a portion of her mind on the other demon but evidently failed; focusing on something auxiliary whilst fighting was hard to do.

Thankfully, a measly two demons weren’t enough to threaten her. Too few in number to reliably keep her health down and too weak to kill her in one hit. Riza had plenty of essence to keep her health high whilst whittling down the demons'.

And, eventually, they died, leaving Riza stumbling towards the wall, covered in sweat. She wiped a hand across her brow, evaluating how the fight went.

[Level up]

You have gained 5 stat points and 1 skill point

Terrible. That was terrible. Turns out, when you can’t see anything, there’s going to be a lot of stumbling and flailing around. Anyone else in my position would be dead.

I’m going to have to rethink how I fight in the fog.

At least I levelled up.

Exiting the fog, tendrils of whiteness drifting off Riza, she was eagerly greeted by Lefie.

“You’re alive!” She said happily, though the lack of worry on her face just before suggested she never doubted Riza would win.

“Barely,” Riza replied, knowing how binary the outcome was--it was all dependent on essence. “I need to rethink some things. [Leech] doesn’t work in the fog.”

“Why doesn’t [Leech] work?”

“Needs line-of-sight. Can’t see anything.”

Experimentally, Lefie wandered up to the wall, conjuring a ball of water in her hand and then sending it drifting into the wall.

She waited for about ten seconds afterwards before returning.

“I can’t control water in there either,” She said firmly, sparking a little nugget of pride in Riza at seeing Lefie’s initiative.

I now have four skill points in reserve, and a further one I can obtain until my level cap. I want something that works with four skills but is enhanced by an additional one, then, for maximum power. What are the avenues of power I can take?

Life

0th Tier

Heal (10/10)+ -Learned

Restore 190 points of health to a living entity

Cost: 10 es/sec

[Leech](10/10)+ -Learned

Drain 110 points of health from a living entity

40m range

Cost: 10 es/sec

[Cleanse (Passive)] -Learned

You have immunity towards any toxin, disease, or contamination

1st Tier

[Sapping Curse] (1/10)

Prevent a living entity from recovering health for 2 hours

Casting Time: 1 sec

Cost: 5 es

[Animate Critter] (1/10)

Raise a corpse smaller than yourself into a level 0 zombie

Casting Time: 5 sec

Cost: 5 es/sec

[Life Sense] (1/10)

Scan for either a general or specific form of life

2m radius

Casting Time: 1 m/sec

Cost: 1 es

[Last Words] (1/10)

Extract thoughts from an entity that died within 2 hours

Casting Time: 1 min

Cost: 5 es

Hidden Skill

Requirements: [Heal] (10/10)

[Rejuvenate] (1/10)

Restore 100 points of health and regenerate any wounds to a living entity

Cost: 15 es

Firstly, I can focus on my strongest skill, [Leech]. What I need for that is a way to see in the fog. [Life Sense] could potentially do that, but I’d need [Essence Congruency] to utilise with [Leech], and I definitely don’t have enough active skills for that.

“Lefie,” Riza called out to her companion. “Do you know of any skills that’ll let us see in that fog?”

The teenager shook her head after giving it some thought.

So that’s off the menu.

What about [Leech] (passive)? Fuck no. [Heal] and [Cleanse] get me enough shit as it is; taking [Leech] (passive) will definitely turn me into the monster Artiv thinks I already am.

Not to mention, it makes no distinction between allies and enemies. I’d definitely hurt Lefie if I took that skill, not to mention ruin my life entirely. Why the fuck is it even offered in the first place?

Maybe there’s a way to target it discriminately? [Leech] doesn’t target everyone, after all. Let’s quickly search for a skill that does that…

Nope. Nothing. Well, that’s shit.

I suppose I could try experimenting with the skill in a safe environment but that seems like way too big a risk to do that.

Okay, what else is there?

Could try the animation skill in the life skill tree, but what would I have available? Those spiders? They seem awfully weak.

How would the skill level up? Cost would obviously increase, but would the level of the creature increase as well? Up to a max of level 9?

If so, that’d be insane. Artiv was only level 8 when he held off the greater demon. Numerous spiders of a higher level must be so much stronger than that.

But the essence cost would be fucking huge. 5 per second is already a lot but if it increases by 1 each level, that’s 14 essence per second per spider. Easily 30 or 40 per second for only a couple of them.

That’s not even a minute of combat before I’m drained dry, and my regen is nowhere close to compensating for that.

Let’s say, in theory, I take [Animate Critter]. My goal would therefore be to decrease the cost of the skills or increase my essence regeneration.

“Lefie. I require your assistance,” Riza said, taking a bit of joy in how the teenager always perked up whenever Riza wanted her help. Her eagerness was endearing. “Do you know of any skills that decrease the cost of other skills?”

Lefie tapped her fingers against her lips, looking at nothing in the air whilst she thought.

“I think there’s skills in chanting and runes that do that. Chanting was a very common choice amongst the druids,” Lefie said, Riza translating the word based on the context. She hoped it wasn’t too presumptive of her.

Chanting

0th Tier

[Word of Brevity] (1/10)

Assign a [command word] to an active skill. Multiply the casting time by 0.98 when the [command word] is used

Cost: 1 es

[Word of Power] (1/10)

Assign a [command word] to an active skill. Multiply the intensity by 1.02 when the [command word] is used

Cost: 1 es

[Word of Time] (1/10)

Assign a [command word] to an active skill. Multiply the duration by 1.02 when the [command word] is used

Cost: 1 es

Can’t see anything here. Must be either a higher tier or a hidden skill.

Runes

0th Tier

[Magical Focus] (1/10)

Connect a 0th tier active essence skill with a magical object. It acts as if the skill is level 1

Cost: 1 es

[Rune of Brevity] (1/10)

Inscribe a [rune] onto a [Magical Focus]. multiply the casting time by 0.98 when the [Magical Focus] is used

Cost: 1 es

[Rune of Power] (1/10)

Inscribe a [rune] onto a [Magical Focus]. Multiply the intensity by 1.02 when the [Magical Focus] is used

Cost: 1 es

[Rune of Time] (1/10)

Inscribe a [rune] onto a [Magical Focus]. Multiply the duration by 1.02 when the [Magical Focus] is used

Cost: 1 es

Runes. Huh. Is this what I was trying to find when that old wizard guy translated for me? What was his name… Bellaford, or something like that.

But nothing in this tree either. Probably a similar case to chanting; they seem quite alike.

So, making skills more cost-effective is a no-go. What skills increase my essence regeneration?

There’s the [Meditate] divergence choices.

[Meditate] has reached level 10.

You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.

[Meditate]+

Regeneration is multiplied by 3 while 1 sense is subdued absolutely

[Meditate] (passive)

Regeneration is multiplied by 1.5

What’s important is whether [Animate Critter] counts as an active skill. If the answer is yes, I can only have one zombie at a time and also can’t use any other active skill while it’s active.

That seems very limiting and quite weak but, if it is the case, then [Meditate] (passive) would be the best option there. 50% is a huge boost to my essence regeneration.

However, if it’s not active, that means I could use [Meditate]+. That would also allow me to maximise [Meditate], which multiples my nominal essence regeneration by 15 alone. I’d probably lose my sense of smell in return; it’s the least useful sense, although that would change to eyesight when in fog.

I can also improve [Maximise Mastery] to further increase the extra regeneration that [Meditate] offers.

[Maximise Mastery] has reached level 10.

You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.

[Maximise Mastery+]

Multiply intensity of an active essence skill by 7

Cost: variable

[Maximise Mastery] (passive)

Active skill's intensity is multiplied by 2 without increasing essence cost.

There’s also [Essence Transformer].

[Essence Transformer] has reached level 10.

You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.

[Essence Transformer]+

Convert health into essence

Conversion rate: 20 hp/sec

Efficiency: 50%

[Essence Transformer] (passive)

50% of natural health regeneration is converted into essence regeneration

Efficiency: 20%

I haven’t looked at this for a long time but now that I think of it, the upgrade has an interesting combination with [Heal] (passive)

[Heal] has reached level 10.

You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.

[Heal+]

Restore 190 health, 2 stamina, 2 essence

Cost: 10 es/sec

Heal (passive)

Constantly restore 40 points of health per second

Wait. This can’t be real. I’d regenerate 10 essence per second and 20 health per second with these two skills alone.

What. The. Fuck. How have I not noticed this before!

That’s too good to be real. Think, Riza; what are the downsides.

Number one, I’d lose access to [Heal] as an active skill. That means no healing Lefie.

Number two, the 10 essence per second would not be affected by anything that impacts essence regeneration, as it’s technically separate.

Fuck me. That’s such a hard decision.

What about [Rejuvenate]? That’s effectively a replacement for [Heal]. In this case, [Animate Critter], [Heal] (passive), [Essence Transformer]+, and then [Rejuvenate] would be the skills I take, in that order.

That’d make me very strong but leaves both Lefie and I vulnerable for two whole levels. Seems risky.

Let’s focus on something else, then: [Essence Transformer] (passive). That would only be an additional 50 essence per day. Not that much, but I could take [Well of Constitution] to increase that to 250 per day. A relatively low increase but still better than nothing.

I could also try going further down the blood route.

Blood

0th Tier

[Essence Transformer] (10/10)+ -Learned

Convert health into essence

Conversion rate: 20 hp/sec

Efficiency: 10%

[Ichor Manipulation] (1/10)

Manipulate 2kg of blood

2m radius

Cost: 1 es/kg/second

1st Tier

[Ichor Calefaction] (1/10)

Modify the heat energy of 2kg of blood by 2K/sec

Cost 1 es/K

[Pestilent Wound] (1/10)

Convert your blood into a poison to entities that deals 2 damage every second per 100g for 10 minutes

Casting Time: 100g/sec

Cost: 5 es/100g

This is interesting and already synergistic with [Heal] and [Leech].

The only damaging skill there requires a bit of thought.

Firstly, where would I obtain enough blood? If I cut myself with my knife, I could immediately [Heal] myself but that’d be a waste of essence.

Say I’d get 1 kilogram of blood out of myself. That’s 20 damage per second if the demon ingests it for 50 essence. That would take 10 seconds to alter and then it would also require [Ichor Manipulation] to actually get the demon to ingest it.

The good news I suppose is that the skill seems to be stackable. The more blood, the more damage.

Seems a whole lot of work for that amount of damage.

Finally, I could invest in a brand new skill tree, looking for offensive skills.

The fire skill tree is clearly out of the question. The one that most interests me is the ice skill tree.

Ice

0th Tier

[Icicle] (1/10)

Launch a shard of ice that deals 20 cold damage

4m range

Casting Time: 1 sec

Cost: 1 es

[Freeze] (1/10)

Lower the heat energy of 2 kg of a substance by 2 K

Casting Time: 1 sec

Cost: 1 es/K

The standard offensive skills are all similar so it doesn’t matter too much which I choose. Ice specifically is interesting, since it’s a different skill tree to water, for some reason.

This really doesn’t make sense considering Lefie has access to a skill that can turn water into ice. Why does the system delineate between a substance at two different temperatures? I’ve got no clue.

“Hey, Lefie,” Riza asked. “Why is there a separate skill tree for ice and water?”

“Why are you asking?” The teenager inquired, clear confusion on her face.

“I’m thinking about the next four skills to take.”

“Of course you are. Well, ice skills do cold damage and water skills don’t,” Lefie answered.

“Skill trees are partly based on the damage type of skills?”

“Yes?” She answered, uncertain.

“Thanks for answering.”

I need to consult someone who knows more about the system, clearly.

Back to my original idea, icicle probably isn’t a good idea as I’d need to aim it which would be difficult if I couldn’t see.

So, that leaves me with my fifth and final idea; becoming a meathead.

Namely, I’d take skills from primordial strength and meta-strength skill trees

Primordial Strength

0th Tier

[Well of Power] (1/10)

Power is multiplied by 1.4

[Well of Constitution] (1/10)

Constitution is multiplied by 1.4

Metastrength

0th Tier

Alteration Power (1/10)

Control the strength of a power-based active skill with finese

Cost: Variable

Seeker Power (1/10)

Multiply range of an power-based skill by 1.4

Cost: Variable

Maximise Power (1/10)

Multiply intensity of an power-based skill by 1.4

Cost: Variable

As well as an actual skill that utilises my physical stats.

The upside is that this makes me a much more well-rounded individual. My essence and healing gives me unimaginable sustainability whilst my power could let me destroy demons. It seems like a strong combination.

So many options. So many paths in front of me. It’s hard to choose.

I need to talk to Lefie about all of this.