Some people compare demons of Gluttony and Greed liberally without considering the foundational differences between their sins and aspects. Sure, they might exhibit some similar traits at a glance, but anyone who's fought both can tell you they're not the same at all.
Greed is about control. It's about ownership. It's about stock, investments, and having everything that wasn't yours become yours. Demons of Greed seek to master you through spending their assets, their sins, currencies theirs to wield. What they usually lack in stats or aspects, they make up for in items. Items they purchase themselves, or your items, outbid from under your hands.
Demons of gluttony, however, are more elemental. Rarely do they have a high enlightenment aspect, with much of what they possess devoted to their physicality. To be Greed is to covet; spend to get. To be Gluttony is to be elemental.
When you hunger, you suffer as much as your enemies. As Glutton, you wish to consume, so you are consumed by the same desire of hunger, and so you eat, feeding your strength, stopping at nothing. Perhaps only the Sloth has a higher constitution than those of the Gluttony, but even that is uncertain.
For Gluttony mends as fast as it can devour, and they are very, very big eaters.
-The Trespasser’s Compendium
80
Bitterness
A storm exploded out of Wei as he triggered the Heart of Calamity—lightning, wind, tidal waves, and shuddering earth flashed at the world around him. But the effects waned as his Eidolon withered with each passing second, nourishing the realm. That was fine. Wei knew he wasn’t going to win this fight using his class alone.
He led with wind blades, the cuts splashing hopelessly against the durable wings of the Devourer. They slipped against the demon’s Constitution as dull blades singing across a hardened shield, his scythe still fell, his Form of the Harvester allowing Wei to indulge in the absolutist form of irony—to consume Aspects belonging to the Demon of Gluttony.
When he targeted the Devourer, he targeted its mind above all. He suspect that to be its lowest Aspect—thought it to be even lower than his own, considering the activation of his Outsight. But rather than shattering in an eruption of blinding light, the winged beast, mouth slavering with hunger, pressed on, indifferent to the scythe carving potions of its Mind away. Wei barely managed to Essenceshift in time as the Devourer peeled across the distance between them. Thunderclaps forced displaced feeble whirlwinds. Even the aftershocks of the demon speed proved stronger than whatever calamity Wei could bring to bear.
He flowed as droplets away from the demon and, before rematerializing behind it and delivering another thrust. Lightning writhed down from his Eidolon and punched deep into one of the Devourer’s open jaws. It bit down, devouring both force and Scorn, but even so, another scythe fell. The Form of the Harvester claimed its due. Finally, the Devourer cried out, reeling from a blow beyond the material.
“It’s in trouble,” Bishop’s voice echoed through the valley. “But you made a mistake earlier.”
“What’s that?” Wei replied with a growl. Once more, the Devourer opened its jaws and clamped down, biting at nothing in particular. Still, Wei felt his body shudder against his own volition. It was like his veins were rebelling, his blood sought to flow inversely, his flesh hated his bones, and his bones wanted to rupture free. It felt like something was trying to tear its way out from the inside side.
“It doesn’t have weak Mind,” Bishop continued. “It’s just not very human, and it just doesn’t care if you can peer into its mind.” Suddenly, an echo pulsed through Wei, the young master swung up, a quick jab shattering the Source-infused distance beside him. He blinked, barely in time—a massive set of teeth clamped down where he was, and he felt his heart skip a sudden beat. Now it was too close, and he hadn’t even seen the demon move.
Craving stacks at maximum!
What the in the blind heavens was a Craving stack?
Bishop explained. “Now the Devourer can better twist your flesh, make you easier to digest. Better to taste. Now it’s never gonna forget you. It’ll chase you across the rest of the Fathoms just to get its fix.”
Fortification Advanced > 31
[7/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
Wei understood, and at the same time, his Aspect improvement provoked a response from the devourer. It gave a sudden chuff as it froze in midair, as if confused for some reason. Once more it dipped down, and Wei’s body rebelled against him. But this time, the struggles within lessened. He was becoming more resistant to the nature of its Skill, craving no longer at maximum.
“It seems I’m too big for you to swallow, creature,” Wei chuckled. A shrill screech sounded through the devourer as Wei moved, shattering up to a kilometer of distance to keep it at bay. As he blurred across the horizon, he planned to engage it at range, cut it down in a battle of attrition using his Form of the Harvester. But alas, time was not on his side—nor was the Hearted Realm, for that matter.
Four seconds to Essence Overload
The moment Wei jolted across the distance, the Devourer was already upon him. Almost missing him with a sweep of its teeth-like wings. Almost. A feral hiss of pain escaped Wei as he felt jagged blades of agony bit deep—and though—his right shoulder.
Then, with a wrench, part of his pec was ripped free. And so too went his arm and Eidolon.
Source: [3/180]
As the Devourer consumed Wei, the Source took from it as well. The demon began to dissolve from the inside, and it swatted the young master aside during its throes of wrath. The force from the impact sent Wei skipping across the surface of the Hearted Realm. He tumbled across the ground at such speed that he painted deep gorges of sorrow. Just then, a pulse of psionic force ripped Wei from the impact, barely sparing him from another flashing strike from the Devourer—not dead, still pursuing him.
A vast cut opened along the ground, a new, bloody chasm extending as far as Wei’s eye could see. From this wound, conflicted, emerged new teeth, new tongues, new demons that poured forth even as the devourer slipped beyond the reach of Wei’s Omniscience.
Omniscience Advanced > 28
[8/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
“You all right?” John Bishop asked.
“I live,” Wei said, choking back bitterness and suffering. Hurt was one thing, but needing the Trespasser to save him left a special kind of foulness in his mouth.
Two seconds to Essence Overload.
Damn it all.
“Yeah, I don’t think you’re gonna do it this round,” Bishop said. There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice, no mockery—it was simply a stated fact.
“No,” Wei growled. “I will.”
“Son, I’m sure you’ll cut this thing down if you slam your face into it enough times, but you’re playing with your life here for no gain?”
More demons came rising from the open gorge ground like steam, darting out between the jagged teeth. Wei tried to swing at them, only then remembering that his right arm was missing, along with most of his shoulder. The spraying of Source from his mutilated body ironically kept him safe from most harm. These lesser demons, mostly worms and smaller horrors, dissolved outright before Wei’s leaking Syste, and the young master resummoned his weapon.
As the Broken Crescent erupted back into shape in his left hand, Wei cleaved and carved, his great scythe splitting through hundreds of lesser demons, reaping from them. Relativity charges mounted, but less than one second until overload, and Wei could feel his Intent dropping precipitously. With each Relativity charge he gained, his willpower grew to be less and less.
Sins Performed!
Class Level > 31
//
Relativity reaped: 120 charges consumed
Essence Overload immi—
Wei dismissed his catalyst.
Source: [2/108]
John Bishop sighed again. “Come on, kid…”
“be helpful or be silent,” Wei snarled, and then he consumed every charge he had before exploding out to meet the Harvester one final time. Its body was Source-ravaged, with entire sections of its flesh outright unmade. It only had three wings left, yet still, it possessed no difficulty taking flight. True to Bishop’s words, it was a beast of ravenous hunger, caring nothing for its own survival, only the flavor of Wei’s flesh. Even if it ate him, it would ensure its own end. But the demon came on, regardless, and so did Wei—one fool too stubborn to back away despite the screaming of his enlightenment.
The other, a monster barely possessed of consciousness. His Relativity charges had boosted him, not to the level where he exceeded the Devourer’s speed, but to the point where they were at least on par. He readied his spear in his left hand, angling a fluid whip lash out at the demon, trying to end this in a final joust. The beast bit down once more, Wei’s body recoiled, sending spasms up his arm. But he endured, his Fortification proving just enough to keep his strike on target.
The Form of the Harvester flared around him, a massive scythe following Wei’s path, descending to harvest its greatest quarry. But just as Wei’s reaching spear lurched close to the blurring form of the Devourer, a ghostly visage overimposed itself over the demon, and the young master’s mind went blank.
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The beheaded form of the Drowned Sky Sect’s former matriarch reached out to her wayward son, and the young master’s willpower, already sapped for this final blow, succumbed. He failed to resist trauma with the Aspect of Intent. Wei’s mind reeled, the memories smashed back at him like a tide sweeping him under the current. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think—he could only feel the burning of his world, the death of everyone he knew, the butchery, the slaughter, the betrayal. The betrayal.
And then rows of vicious teeth were upon him, a great maw spreading wide, seeking to make Wei its final meal. He let it happen. Despite everything, he let it happen. He was tired. He had been tired, for he’d always been tired. But up till this point, he had simply refused to let himself feel the weariness. The ghostly hand reached out from within the beast’s jaws, and Wei saw his mother once more in the darkness—but not her face. Never her face. That was lost to him, lost to him like the green of her eyes, lost to him like the life he should have had, the life he could never have again.
“It’s enough. It’s enough,” his mother’s voice came. “You have given enough, done enough. It is time for you to rejoin us. It is time for you to rest.”
And the young master was almost too willing to oblige. The rest of his sect flashed into his mind. He saw them standing before their mountain home, whole, standing in those gleaming paddies and verdant fields, looking upon him with pride, knowing that he gave his all, knowing that he had nothing left.
“Yeah, no, we’re not doing that.” A sudden surge of strength washed through Wei, and a pulse of psionic power dispelled the form of his mother and sent the devourer reeling back, just as the demon hurled Wei like he was less than a pebble. So poisoned was John Bishop’s strength that the fifteen-meter-long, multi-ton Demon of Gluttony was spiked backward, a little more than a ball thrown over the horizon.
Wei gasped, his charges spent, Source critically low.
“I... I could have...”
“You could have done what?” Bishop replied. He still wasn’t chiding the boy, but his tone was flat, devoid of nonsense. “You could have only died.”
As the young master’s Intent slowly restored to fullness, he bit his teeth and suppressed a scream of pure frustration. This bastard realm, this cursed veritable hell. He could have had the devourer. One more blow, that was all it would take. He could have...
He could have—Wei’s Enlightenment triggered, and his scream almost turned into a sob of shame and grief. He could have what? He failed to do what he came here for. The demon was less than a distraction, as strong as it was. He wasn’t supposed to beat that. He was supposed to beat the memory of his mother. Now, now he failed. He failed her. He failed every member of his sect. He failed those he came here for. All it took was a moment of weakness. He had traded willpower for might, and his willpower betrayed him.
His mother had become this realm’s instrument, a finely crafted arrowhead made solely to slay him. And now, she was nowhere to be seen, but still present. He could still feel her essence, her scent. She would return. He knew this. When his weakness was complete, she would return.
“Wei, step back across the Liminal Bridge. You’re done here for now.”
“I can... I can still—”
“No,” Bishop’s voice bore a force of authority. It was the same tone of voice Wei heard from his mother when she was truly enraged. In that moment, he felt like a boy again. He flinched despite himself, and a swell of self-loathing followed.
“No,” John Bishop replied, his voice softer now. “Yeah, you could’ve won, but that’s not the point of this here, is it?”
“No, no, it wasn’t.” Reluctantly, painfully, torturously, Wei took a step forward, crossed the mental bridge, and found himself back in the Moongrave. Back and defeated.
Enlightenment Advanced > 25
[10/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
His System notifications taunted him, as if this was a celebration of victory. Pathetically, it was all the young master could do not to cry. He wouldn’t cry, not in front of Bishop. Even in his diminished state, his pride still remained.
“All right,” the trespasser spoke to him. “You get that tantrum out of your system, yet?”
Wei didn’t reply.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would. Your father didn’t know much about cutting and running when he should, either.”
That only further darkened the young master’s mood. “I need to go back,” he said hoarsely. “I need to return, weakening myself over and over until I finally learn—
”Until you finally learn that when your aspect of willpower is low, you will always be vulnerable. Shit, Wei, do you understand how goddamn mentally strong you must be to keep yourself together in the face of all that? Seeing people go insane in seconds, trying to push their way through the Hearted Realm, and you’re just here, defeated-looking, wretched like an abandoned dog. But that’s all. You’re just sad. Defeat is an entire spectrum, boy, and you’ve got the best end of this.”
Something almost akin to a bitter chuckle escaped the young master. “If this is what the best failure feels like, then I have no intention of learning what true bitterness is.”
“Oh, don’t worry, you will,” John Bishop answered. “Live long enough, and you’ll learn to feel just about anything. But that’s just the thing, right? It’s a feeling. Feelings pass. Victory? Well, people like to sell you bushels of victory all the time. It’s not supposed to feel good. It’s not supposed to feel like anything. It’s just you still being here while the other son of a bitch isn’t.
“So, reach down into your pants, feel around if your nuts are still there, and get your shit together.”
Wei’s mind went blank at that statement. “What? Why? Why would I do that? It’s disgusting.”
“Wei, it’s a figure of speech. You’re supposed to—”
“Why is everyone in this damnable realm so intent on self-pleasure?”
“It’s a metaphor about getting your mental health together and hardening up.”
“Hardening?” Wei said, slightly aghast.
“Christ. Forget it. Never mind. Just get yourself together. That’s all I meant.”
“Then why don’t you people speak that way?” Wei muttered under his breath. He swore these outsiders—these trespassers especially—had no sense of propriety. Wei wouldn’t even say such a thing to his closest friends or confidants. Triggering Lesser Hollow Mind, all his mental pain, his incredulity receded into the background as a pool of dull rationality assumed its place.
The young master grunted in acknowledgment. Slowly, the pieces of his armor began to pull back into shape—pale bones, ripping flames, plates of alloyed gold extending in pace with his regrowing arm. Once more, the young master couldn’t help but feel a pang of gratitude towards the old man. He would never submit himself to the Circle of Pride. But that didn’t mean he was ungrateful or even particularly resistant to bribery.
Looking through his System notifications, he frowned as he realized he was still far away from gaining his concept core of boundaries. But both his unarmed and spearmanship reached new mastery tiers.
Refining Source
>>>Source Refined: [180/180] Lumens
Source Core Ascended > Lv. 18
>[0/10] Aspect Advancements to Core Ascension
>>[10/20] Core Ascensions to [Gate] 2 System Ascension
>>>Source: [190/190] Lumens
Reviewing encounter…
Masteries Demonstrated
>Meditation (II) — 98%
>Unarmed Combat (II) — 100%
>Spearmanship (II) — 100%
>Evasion (II) — 10%
>Thrown Weapons (II) — 35%
>Tactics (II) — 0%
>Rapier — 0%
Mastery Node Capacity [7/10]
>Proximal Acceleration
>Form of the Resonant
>Lesser Hollow Mind
>Lesser Manifestation
>Vector Chain
>Lesser Cast Possession
>Mark of Enmity
>Outsight
Sourcery Advancements [1] Available!
Select [1]
Source Magnification > Source Propagation [Requires 10 Sourcery Advancements (Currently at 5)]
Liminal Bridge > Liminal Tunnel [Requires 25 Sourcery Advancements (Currently at 5)
Ascension
Path of the Harvester
>Skills
>>Form of the Harvester
ATTENTION: Special [Title] Synergy Detected for Concept Core of Augmentation
>[Title] Feast Upon Famine: You have survived a foray into the archdevil Gluttony and reemerged undevoured and whole. Grants a 20% resistance against all aspect-draining skills or effects. (Requires experience in Hearted Realm to manifest)
ATTENTION: Skill Upgrade Path Formed [Unarmed/Spearmanship/Form of the Harvester]
>Form of the Martial Harvester: Your being is akin to a scythe, and this world is little more than crops to your harvest. Swing your blade, reap your Aspects, claim your power, and sate yourself on a bounty like no other. When the harvest is channeled by fist or spear, you will also inflict additional damage to your enemy’s Constitution and Strength. (Requires expending Spearmanship (II) and Unarmed (II) Masteries to manifest)
Suddenly, the tang of defeat wasn’t so bitter.
This would help the next time Wei ventured into the Hearted Realm. With that, he gained another thought. Could he gain other titles and resistances like this one if he explored the other Hearted Realms as well?
“Yeah,” Bishop said, answering Wei’s question. “The same deal applies. But you’re risking a hell of a lot for some minor boost in power.”
The young master jolted in shock. “You can see my—”
“Do you want more power? Because you’ll be groping blind for a good while without some directions. System ain’t going to tell you about that. And I’m saying that you’re being a fool with this plan. You barely survived this one. Would’ve died without me.”
“I risk nothing,” Wei replied. “Life is cheap here. If I rise weak and paltry, then I leave myself at the tender mercies of future foes. Do you think the path ahead any kinder? That I can bargain with the Circles without being more than I am?”
Bishop fell silent at that. “So, what’s your plan here?”
“The plan here is that I will face every Hearted Realm. All of them. I wish to learn everything about them. How to traverse them. How to survive in them. How to overcome them. I’ve been to Gluttony twice now and I still haven’t found any visible sign of the exit. But I will need your… guidance.”
“It’s a spatial rift, much like the one you came in on. You gotta follow the essence to find it.”
“And the Inheritors? How do you think they would plan to ambush us?”
“Considering they’ve got traces to people under your faction? Pretty easily. Everyone in their chimera has a teleportation skill in the Hearted Realms. And usually, the archdevils themselves are more than willing to encourage sinners to kill each other.”
“But their forces will be vulnerable to the demons within the realm as well.”
“Yep,” Bishop chuckled. “And the demons they’ll bring about? Those ones will be far stronger than them as well.”
Suppose everyone has their own Devourer.
“Bishop, what is Earth like? You’re from there, yes? All Trespassers are.”
John Bishop went silent at that. “What do you want to know?”
“Because the Inheritors murdered my world for the sake of their own. Of course I wish to know what Ebernest died for.”
“Earth is—” Bishop sighed. “Earth is… It’s pretty boring compared to a lot of realms, but it’s got its own unique forms of beauty. And shittiness. There’s no essence there, so no magic, no Sight, there’s no Systems. Not like here.”
“No essence?” Wei asked, surprised.
“Yep. Stone cold matter, as far as I can tell. Matter, physics, and all that other goodness.”
“Then why and how are the trespassers coming from there?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Some say it’s because we’re pure, we’re clean, the antediluvians chose us. Me? I’d just say it’s the Vault. When we die, something in the Veil gets thin and we pass down into the fathoms. And because we don’t have spirits of our own, well, that makes it easy to tweak us, change us.”
“And what do you think?”
“Circumstance and opportunity. Nothing more.”
“That’s it?” Wei said, a short laugh escaping him.
“Yeah, plenty of people look for higher meaning. The whole reason why the Inheritors are a thing anyway. But I think people underestimate opportunity and chance. Because with opportunity and chance, one person can go a long, long way.”
And Wei thought that, to his survival, what more was he than opportunity and chance? Opportunity and chance to live and see another day. Opportunity and chance to have vengeance prosper.
The young master summoned his Broken Crescent once more. “Fine then, let’s make something of opportunity and chance.”