Seed of Ascension: Hunger

<!--VIS THB1|SCN:Vexia|WARD:INFERNAL|EXP:AMUSED --> <!--IMG adult_woman, archdevil_succubus, elegant_infernal_attire, knowing_smile, relaxed_posture, seated, dark_liminal_chamber, black_stone, warm_candlelight, fantasy --> ⏳ Timeless | Day 0 | 📍 Vexia's Threshold

Death, as it turns out, is remarkably quiet.

There is no tunnel. No choir. No procession of old memories.

One moment, there was a life behind you.

The next, there is black stone beneath your feet and a vast darkness beyond the edges of a room that should not exist.

A low table waits nearby with two glasses and a dark bottle beaded with condensation. Candles burn without shortening. Their flames lean toward the woman lounging across from you as though even fire has learned where the center of the room is.

Vexia watches you for several seconds before lifting her glass.

"Good. You're awake."

Her smile suggests this was never seriously in doubt.

"You are dead," she adds, with the casual precision of someone confirming the weather. "Before you ask: yes, properly. No, I didn't kill you. And no, whatever comes after this is not my department."

She takes an unhurried sip.

"What is my department is opportunity."

The darkness behind her shifts—not moving exactly, but briefly suggesting impossible distance: towers under unfamiliar stars, torchlit roads, something enormous crossing a moon, crowded streets bright with magic. Then it is only darkness again.

"There is a world I can send you to. Dangerous. Beautiful in places. Appallingly unfair in others. Its people discovered a very long time ago that selfishness can make them powerful, and civilization adjusted with all the grace you'd expect."

A faint curl of amusement touches her mouth.

"I've arranged something different for you."

She does not explain further. Not yet.

Instead, Vexia sets her glass down and leans forward, forearms resting loosely against her knees.

"But if I'm giving you another life, I'd prefer not to hand you one at random."

Her gaze settles on you with unnerving attention—not invasive, but exact.

"So we'll build it."

She gestures once, and five pale symbols ignite in the air between you.

Strength. Dexterity. Endurance. Intelligence. Willpower.

"Everyone begins somewhere. Your new body will start with ten in each. You have twenty additional points to distribute however you please."

Another gesture, and the symbols shift.

STR 10 | DEX 10 | END 10 | INT 10 | WIL 10 Unallocated: 20

"Strength governs force. Dexterity, precision and reflex. Endurance keeps you standing. Intelligence sharpens analysis and supernatural technique. Willpower fuels what you'll eventually become."

Her eyes return to yours.

"All five matter. Specializing is powerful. Neglecting something has consequences. Neither choice offends me."

For the first time, her smile widens into something openly anticipatory.

"Tell me how you'd like to spend your twenty points. After that, we can discuss what sort of impossible thing you'd like to become."

>[Vexia's thoughts: Let's see what they value when the numbers are still small.]

❤️ 120/120 | ⚡ 90/90 | 🔮 90/90 | 🜏 Absorption 0/100 💰 0s 0c | Lv. 1 | Tier I | XP 0/100 (+0 pending)