Chapter 477: 477: Professional, Professional

Kat nodded though she wasn't quite able to fully grasp the idea. *I guess it really is different when masters can live basically forever. I know older humans tend to have more experience with even just around fifty years to work. When you can have hundreds I imagine that really helps… or leads to major stagnation.* 

"When did you know you wanted to go into fashion design like that? I'm not sure I could make that decision as a child knowing so many masters were still around. Competing against people literally hundreds or even thousands of years my senior seems… hard." Said Kat softly, for she had to admit, Aslena deserved a good deal of respect for that despite her personality.

Aslena tapped her horns a few times with a lone finger, this let Kat realise that Aslena's nails were bright pink matching Kamiko's hair. It wasn't close to her skin tone at all, which was actually a bit tanner than Kamiko and much more than Kat. The pink didn't seem to be nail polish or some other dye, especially because it started right at the base of the nail. "It never really felt like that to me.

"There are two reasons for that. For I am not so arrogant as to believe I'm better then than those who came before me. Certainly, I believed I could carve out my own niche, but I didn't truly believe I'd rise fast except in my wildest dreams. The simplest part of it was being a child when I gained this dream.

"I was able to pursue it with the passion only the truly young can hold. I simply didn't realise what I was challenging you see. I didn't, and perhaps couldn't, comprehend the enormity of the task before me. Once I'd set my sights on it, I did everything I could to just go for it. I gave up a lot of things to just keep up my practice…"

*Wow, Aslena sounds like some of Gramps' friends with their 'pain and sacrifice in my youth you see' talks. It's… a little weird honestly. Still, not that jarring I guess. I wonder if she's parroting someone or if she actually thinks all this?*

"… So, that's what I did. I aimed for something impossible before realising it was such a monumental task. The second thing is that some demons have… I guess you could call it a preordained profession. It's something that gives us joy and a sense of purpose like absolutely nothing else!" explained Aslena, really picking her voice up at the end.

"Hmm, seems great I guess. I never really felt like I had that growing up…" said Kat, admittedly somewhat wistful. It really would be nice to just… know what it is you want to do. 

"It's a bit of a double edged sword honestly" said Aslena "I'm forever thankful I'm one of the lucky ones. The condition isn't… rare, but it's not common either. Perhaps one in ten demons? Around the same rarity as true ambidextrous demons, though I know plenty train for that.

"The big problem for… around half perhaps? The numbers aren't clear really because not a lot of us liked to be studied, and many who fall into the… unfortunate category don't like to speak about it, but some people, despite knowing their true passion potentially have zero skill in it at all. The famous example is cooking, it's actually a children story.

"It's about a Pride demon, it changes what type they are from person to person. I obviously heard they were a Succubus the first time, but I've heard it maybe… eight? Times now, with everything from Shadows to Beholders and more in between. Anyway, the type of demon isn't important. What is, is that the demon involved loved cooking. It was the only thing that gave them joy.

"They found it shortly before they became a Rank 1 demon, and their first Rank ability was poison immunity. Because of this, they would cook, without realising just how foul they were making their dish. They would cook day and night, slowly poisoning the world around them, as the dishes they made and the remains of such leached into the world, causing a calamity.

"Now, here the story differs. In the version I was taught, they swore off cooking when they fed it to their true love, who, returning the feeling, ate it all despite the taste and nearly died. We were young when I heard that tail, so I think the original version of that particularly one actually did cause the death I'm unsure.

"Anyway, after that they swore they'd never cook again, as despite the pleasure it gave them, it caused far too much pain to everyone else. Another version goes similarly, and this is my favourite, where the love interest is a warrior, who fights strong beasts, they nearly die from the food once again,

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"But they see the potential. Not as edible food, but as poison, for something so strong to overcome this warrior's constitution would be able to fell even the mightiest beast. The story then goes on to become a story in which the moral is less about knowing when your pleasure is causing great pain to others, and more about finding your talent and being willing to use it in unexpected ways you might never consider.

"So… yes, I thank the stars that I'm not one of the unlucky demons that have no skill in their destined hobby. Personally, I think nothing could be sadder. I'm also not certain design really is my destined hobby. I mean, I think it is, and it sounds nice, but I'm not as obsessed with it as others I've heard.

"Certainly more than most but…" Aslena turned to Kat, and the stars in her eyes dimmed out, showing her true horror, "I've seen things Kat. I am forever thankful I number not among the untalented, but I am even more thankful to not count among the truly obsessed. Though perhaps given time I too may fall to that."

*That looks is admittedly a little creepy. Makes me wonder for a second what she's seen but honestly I don't want to touch that with a ten foot pole. Though I wonder… does Aslena suffer from imposter syndrome? I mean, based on her response I'd say know but she thinks of herself as 'not a true' whatever the heck the obsessive demons are. Maybe? I don't really know anything about psychology it's more an errant thought.

Still, I really don't know what to make of that. It sounds cool on the surface to just… have a  higher calling sort of? Something you know you'll be happy doing. It does really suck that even if you're happy doing something you might never be good at it. Maybe I'll just… change the topic.*

"So, with that in mind… what sort of Contracts did you do before you were able to be excused from them" asked Kat

Aslena raised an eyebrow at the blatant attempt to change the subject and found it strange. The information Kat had just been asking for was easy to find, unlike her Contract experience. She was once again looking for the trick where there was none. Still, she answered anyway, "Nothing too impressive really."

"Surely there must be something" said Kat, "I was called upon to advise an Elven King because he was worried all his advisors were lying to him. I felt kinda bad about that one, but I think I helped him."

"Truly?" said Aslena "I was called upon once in my early days to teach a prince how to dance!"

"Is that something you're particularly good at?" asked Kat

Aslena gave a 'so-so' gesture. "I'm not a dance teacher myself, but I did learn it for a few years and learnt how to teach the basics," When Aslena saw the immediate question on Kat's face, she felt compelled to answer even as she wondered if Kat really did have control over her facial features. She didn't of course, but Aslena hadn't quite worked that out. "I learnt how so that I knew better what kind of outfits a dancer could wear. No sense giving a pencil skirt to a ballerina as they'd never be able to kick properly in one without adjustments."

"That actually sounds pretty cool. Another early mission from me was just a master and apprentice making the apprentices first summoning. It was a little scary for them though because I didn't have my horns yet" said Kat, having forgotten she was trying not to mention she was a nondem.

Aslena actually missed it though, getting caught up in the atmosphere. "I actually had something similar, a set of two youngsters that had found an old tome and mostly just wanted to see what it did. I ended up juggling for them. Not quite sure how I was talked into that one."

Kat was surprised to hear Kamiko giggling beside her, which gave Kat her own small smile. *It seems that for all the bad things I've heard about Aslena from her, she has more than just bad memories. Perhaps I should ask Aslena about some of their better interactions from her perspective? That could be very interesting.*

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