Chapter 6: Status (b)
There it was. His face. To the imp, it was the most disgusting thing it had ever seen.
All things considered, among the countless horrors that crawled through Hell... it wasn't even that bad.
His skin was a deep, blood-dark red. Like clotted fluid left to rot. Pocked. Scarred. Not a single patch of smooth flesh.
He stared at the image. Touched his face. Felt his lips.
He remembered, none of the others had them. The swarm it came from had mouths full of exposed, serrated teeth. No lips. Just meat and bite.
"Did you—?"
[Lips required for communication. Increases chance of survivability.]
He hadn't even noticed.
His hand drifted higher, brushing over the small horns that now crowned his head.
In the image, two three-inch horns jutted from its skull, curved slightly inward. Another thing the others didn't have.
Its pupilless eyes, dull and sickly orange, narrowed, moving onto the lines of text. His profile.
[USER PROFILE]
[User Name // Unknown]
[User True-Name // None]
[Entity // Imp]
[Class // None]
[Status // Unrecognized]
[Rank // Unranked]
[Flag // Anomalous Host Detected]
[LEVEL // 2]
[ATTRIBUTES]
[STR // 2 // F]
[VIT // 3 // F]
[AGI // 4 // F]
[INT // 2 // F]
[FLH // 1 // F]
[WIL // 0 // F]
[AP // 3]
[Soul Integrity // 41%]
[DEFENSE]
[Natural // none]
[RESISTANCES]
[Fire // 100%]
[Hellfire // 10%]
[RACIAL TRAITS]
[Heat Resistance // A]
[Dark Vision // S]
[Wall Crawler // C]
[Stealth Movement // C]
[Minor Shifting [Unstable] // X // RARE]
[NATURAL WEAPONS]
[Claws // F]
[Teeth // E]
[Tail // F]
[ACTIVE SKILLS]
[None]
[PASSIVE SKILLS]
[None]
[RACIAL ABILITIES]
[Savage Feed // F]
[DAILY DIRECTIVES]
[FEED // Active]
[KILL // Complete]
[SURVIVE // Critical // 12–36 hrs]
[EVOLUTION PATHWAY]
[Next Available // LOCKED]
[Requirements // Soul Integrity ≥ 49% / First System-Confirmed Kill / Reach Lvl 10 / LOCKED]
Everything was confusing. He could barely process what he was looking at, numbers, anomalies, and attributes. It all blurred together.
None of it mattered.
Not compared to what sat at the top of the screen.
His name. Or rather, his lack of one.
"What is a True-Name?"
[Recommendation: Hold claw on any item for definition.]
He pressed his talon to the words: [User True-Name // None]
A smaller screen flickered open.
[SYSTEM // DEFINITION]
[True-Name]
[A demon's original, divine identifier encoded at creation // If spoken aloud by another entity, it grants absolute control over the demon's actions, thoughts, and form]
[!! Warning !!]
[Exposure of True Name compromises all system defenses]
"But I don't have one. Can I make a True-Name?"
[Negative. Imps are not born with True-Names. Assignment impossible. User cannot generate own True Name.]
"Then how do I get one?"
[Unknown. Possible methods, exploration of Hell or unlocking next stage of evolution.]
Evolution.
He knew the word. Knew his kind weren't meant to reach it. Weren't supposed to change.
But now the system had said it out loud. Confirmed the text he'd seen earlier.
It wasn't just theory anymore.
It really was possible.
Removing his finger from the True Name section, he pressed it against the section, [Evolution Pathway]
[SYSTEM // DEFINITION]
[Evolution Pathway]
[The Evolution Pathway outlines potential forms the host may take beyond current classification / Each evolution grants physical and metaphysical upgrades aligned with consumed data]
[Availability // LOCKED until all visible and hidden conditions are fulfilled]
[Primary Requirements // Sufficient Soul Integrity // Determines host's structural stability]
[Additional Requirements // Unlocked progressively upon threshold checks]
[Note]
[Evolution is irreversible // Each path alters the host's biology, instincts, and identity // Selections are final]
It didn't feel real.
But there it was. His path. He had no idea where it led, but just having one stirred something deep. Something close to joy.
"This says 'Each Evolution'... I have more than one?"
[Evolution potential cannot be fully diagnosed. Pathway, Unknown.]
"Better than nothing... And what are these little moving lights? It's getting hard to read."
He tried swiping them away. Over and over. But the lights kept growing.
[Recommendation: Run.]
"Huh? Why—"
The screen blinked out. Replaced by another.
[SYSTEM // NOTIFICATION]
[!! PROXIMITY WARNING !!]
[SYSTEM Directive // SURVIVAL]
[!! Scorch Gnats !!]
"Scorch Gnats?! Go!"
He swiped the alert away, just as the lights in the distance revealed their true form.
Not data. Not part of the interface. A swarm, coming fast.
The true king of the Maw had found him.
He dropped to all fours and ran, tearing across the warped terrain as fast as his limbs would move.
"What do I do?!"
[New Quest Available]
[Quest // SURVIVAL]
[Condition // Flee Scorch Gnats before they turn you to charcoal]
[Reward // Skill Unlock // Rend]
[Accept] Yes/No
"Accept! Just go away!"
[Quest // SURVIVAL // ACCEPTED]
The screen blinked away.
Just ahead, the waterfall ruptured, vomiting out a massive skull, some thing long dead and long forgotten.
The voice cut in, flat as ever.
[Recommendation: Do not die.]