Chapter 6: Useful

Michael smiled, “Excellent. Meera informed me that you have properly received your next gift. By looking at you, you selected either the Human Form or the Shift.”

If he knows that, it’s safe to assume that most demons have those same three options. Probably altered to match their template.

My mind was still reeling from the sudden revelation that I may be on Earth but it was calming quickly. With that came the realization that I was an idiot; Earth didn’t have skills, demons, cat people, or anything like that. If this was Earth, it was some alternate reality of it. Some stuff would probably be the same, but not everything.

Whatever the case, the world's true nature was hardly a pressing concern. I had just joined a cult and needed to learn as much as possible about it, while not making anyone suspicious. Starting with answering Michael’s implicit question, “Sorry, I was given something called a ‘Devil Shift’, but I have no idea how to use it.”

He nodded, “The Shift then, you picked the same one as me. Yes, it can be rather difficult to use, but have you actually tried to?”

I had tried to use it right away but couldn’t do so, “I did, but the directions were a bit confusing. It feels like I should just be able to turn it on, but it didn’t work like that at all.”

Michael smiled, “Yes, that sounds about right; let me ask, were you excited?”

Was I excited? Yea, I guess I was kind of excited. Maybe nervousness might be a better description, but excited works.

“I was, I think.”

“That was the problem. The knowledge to use your gift was given to you; it requires a focus of mind and a calm heart. Humans are imperfect. They feel fear, anger, hatred, and any number of emotions that strive to reduce us. But what sets us apart from the cattle, is our ability to look past those emotions. To set them aside.”

I could see how his thought process worked out. According to my instructions, I had to focus my mind on a singular goal and steady my heart. Both were easier said than done.

Especially if I’m expected to use this devil shift to fight! How the hell does one keep a steady heart under the threat of imminent death? If I had known it would be like this in advance, I would have picked the human form one.

Since Michael made no move to continue talking or to leave the room, it was rather obvious he was expecting me to try and shift.

Right… Well, here goes nothing… Deep breaths. Calm. Focused.

I was trying to shut out the world, focusing deeply inside myself. Then, when the only audible sound was my heart beating in my chest, I focused on the skill. Opening my eyes, I looked around a bit.

Nothing feels different…?

An experimental flex of my muscles indicated no changes either. At a loss, I looked at Michael. He returned a sympathetic shake of his head, “No, not quite. Don’t worry too much; fully embracing the gift takes time. It took almost a year for me to manage it for the first time. Now,” He shut his eyes and changed drastically in a brief flash of light, “Now, I can do it as I please.”

Previously he had been blonde, with slightly curly hair about an inch long. His skin had been a healthy pinkish, and as far as I could tell, he had been decently well-toned. The only standout feature about him had been the rather abnormal lavender eyes, though, without any real frame of reference, they may have been rather common. Now, his hair seemed to glow a soft gold and stretched down his back. Sliding out from behind that hair was a pair of large feathery wings. His skin had turned white, and his eyes were green like mine.

He's a literal angel. By that logic, what the hell am I going to look like!? My template is “True Devil!”

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Michael walked up to me, or rather he floated a full foot or so off the ground. He reached out a hand and touched the bottom of my chin, lifting it and shutting my mouth, “I understand that I am breathtaking, but you should not gawk.”

A lot of emotions rushed through my head all at once. First, a bit of embarrassment and bashfulness. Before there was a chance to comprehend those, though, a feeling of disgust and anger pushed up past them. Neither pair were at all what I might have expected to feel.

Ok, no.

I shook my head rapidly and stepped back out of his immediate reach, “My apologies. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do it soon.”

“Indeed, we have high hopes for you.” He floated gently down to the floor and shifted back to his human body.

Ok, who’s ‘we’? Most likely, the other ‘Emergent’s Chosen’… The Emergent’s Chosen other than Michael.

I had caught myself lumping myself in with the group. Sure, technically, I had joined their little club a few minutes ago, but that was only temporary. It would be a horrible idea to start internally identifying myself with them. The realization made me frown, something that Michael picked up on.

“Eira, is something the matter?”

“Ah! No, it’s nothing. I was just thinking; if I can’t use my gift, what can I do as one of Emergent’s Chosen?” In my mind, the excuse was pretty piss poor, but unless he had been given a different reason to doubt me, it should be buyable.

Michael dipped his head, “I am glad you are so eager to embrace our path. Fret not; there are ways for you to work as one of his chosen without being able to fully utilize your gift. Perhaps these would even help you to awaken it. Wait here a moment if you please.”

He then departed, leaving me in the crystal room all alone.

Well, it’s not like I have anywhere else to go. A chair would have been nice, but whatever.

His parting words had given me another sliver of information to consider, though it was unclear how much stock I could put in it. Michael had said that doing some other work might help me to ‘awaken’ my gift. It was pretty clear that these loons didn’t fully comprehend the R-System. Emergent had simply been some application, yet they formed an entire cult around it.

Therefore, I might have lacked the level required to use my Shift skill. I couldn’t think of any examples of games that give you abilities before you could use them, but that definitely happened with gear. “Awakening” my gift could mean that I had to level up a few times before shifting became possible.

Though, there wasn’t anything like a level on my status screen… Damnit, I wish I had been more into RPGs, some additional context would be awesome right about now… “Status, General”

Like Meera had said, the only part of the menu that surfaced was my general information section. Though it didn’t contain anything beneficial.

…No, that’s something. My subspecies is different.