Tina screamed. It seemed like an appropriate thing to do as a massive head floated out of the darkness, even more so as the head seemed to be all mouth. She was going to die here! She should have listened to her hesitation and never followed a voice that was railing at the injustice of the gods. It was a trap! The girl whirled around and tried to find the door out, except she’d come in a mirror, not a door. So was she looking for a mirror? Her thoughts about the proper terminology flew out of her head as she realized that whatever she had come through did not exist anymore. There was nothing around her except a platform floating in darkness. She was well and truly trapped.

While a proud person may have come up with some other way of putting it, at this point Tina devolved into a blubbering mess. Everything came crashing back down on her once more. The rejection by Jerald, then the rejection by the other Mirrors, the pain of the sprint here and the fear of her pursuers in the Hall of Mirrors. Now here she was, and she was going to be eaten by some giant malevolent mouth! She collapsed to her knees as she was overwhelmed. She knew she must have been a frightful sight as snot flew down her face and tears gushed in a never-ending waterfall. Maybe she’d get lucky and it would put the demon off its appetite.

“TINA!” The voice boomed out, sounding irritated. But Tina was beyond caring. “TINA!” The voice’s only answer was a louder sob. “OH, ENOUGH OF THIS! CEASE AT ONCE YOU SNIVELLING WRETCH!” This time, Tina had no choice but to obey. A powerful, suffocating power filled the entire pocket dimension and she found herself struggling to breathe which cut off any ability to continue to cry. While she still couldn’t bear to look at her doom, the suffocating presence didn’t seem more than mildly irritated. “YOU KNOW, IT USED TO BE CONSIDERED AN HONOR TO LOOK ON MY FORM. BUT NOW I CAN SEE WHY THE OTHERS…”

It was an indescribable feeling. How do you describe it when an overwhelming, suffocating, dominating presence just sighs, defeated? Tina felt a wave of melancholy energy sweep over her. When the voice spoke again, it was softer, quieter, almost human sounding. “Look over here, Tina. There is no cause for alarm.”

Still held in the grip of the almighty power filling her existence, Tina had no choice but to turn around and face the creature. Which now looked nothing like the creature that had emerged from the darkness. Instead of a giant mouth floating in the dark, there was a man. He was pale as one who never knew the sun, gaunt as if starving and his mouth was still a little too large for his bony face, but he was at least human in appearance, mostly. The suffocating presence of a god withdrew from the air around her. Tina managed to choke back her sobs and wiped her face. “You’re not going to eat me?”

“Eat you?” The man looked at her puzzled. “You know what the Mirrors are. They empower mortals. Even if I wanted to devour you, in this place, I could not.” He looked at her for a moment and then shrugged, muttering something under his breath. Tina thought she could make out the word dignity in the move of his lips, but she wasn’t sure. “But I can clean you up.” With a wave of his hand, the tear tracks and snot from her face and hand disappeared in a cloud of energy that rushed over to his mouth, where he sucked them in like a straw.

“Now get up and approach the pedestal. Become my Mirror.”

“Your Mirror?” Tina got up and approached the single pedestal where her doppelganger stood without motion or expression. “I thought I got a class here?”

“Did you never wonder why classes were gained in the Hall of Mirrors? I still think it overly literal of the Administrator, but that was the choice of the others. I can grant you power that mirrors my own. You will reflect me in the earthly world. In that reflection, you will gain in power.”

Huh, I’ve never heard it described like that. But I guess it makes sense. But… Tina’s thoughts were interrupted by a question. But this guy seemed nice enough now that he was in human form, so she figured there was no harm in asking. “So all the classes are reflections of a god? Why do the other Mirrors give multiple classes then, or why you only one? And how could there be priests of different gods if they all got their class from the Priest Mirror? Wouldn’t they all be from that same god? I’m sorry about the questions, but I’m just curious.” She hiccupped, her lungs still sore from the crying.

The god facing her laughed. “I wish I could give you the power to devour knowledge then. Perhaps when you ascend. Yes, all the classes are Mirrors of a god’s power. But there are many types of warrior, so The Warrior can start his Mirrors from many different places, many types of hunter for The Hunter, and so on. The Priest is unusual because he grants a conduit for others, hence why your society has priests of many different gods.”

“What are you then? Why is there only one class here?”

“Because there is only me. I am The Devourer. I devour. My disciples will devour. I suppose I could create a different pedestal for each of the things I could devour, but I find that meaningless, so I don’t.”

Tina hesitated. “I’ve never heard of The Devourer at school. It sounds evil.” She blanched as she replayed those words in her head. “Oh my heavens! I’m so sorry, I just called you… I didn’t mean it! Please don’t eat me!” The tears threatened to start again but were cut off by the return of that suffocating presence that stopped all but the shallowest of breaths.

A presence which was, inexplicably, amused. “Is eating evil now? I haven’t had a presence in the world for millennia but has humanity really moved beyond eating?” Apparently, gods could use sarcasm. The Devourer shrugged. “I am what I am. The question is what you will become.” He waved a hand at the imitation of Tina on the pedestal. “You are a neophyte, too weak to fully reflect my power. So while you will devour, you may not devour just anything. You must choose. What will you devour?”

Tina hesitated and looked at the god in confusion. She thought about it. She assumed that the god didn’t mean food. He had done something to her tears and snot, absorbing them into himself. That must have been him ‘devouring’ it. She really hoped that it became something other than snot for him. Otherwise, that was gross. She definitely wouldn’t take the ability to absorb snot. A spasm in her chest from the earlier hysterics drew her mind to the pain that was radiating through her body from the run. Not to mention the gaping open wound that was the heartache that was still lurking in the background. It was currently being subsumed by the conversation with a god, but it would return. “I … I just want the pain to go away.”

The god looked surprised. “Pain? You wish to devour pain?”

“Would devouring make it go away?”

The god thought for a moment, and his eyes closed for a moment as he seemed to consider something. “You would no longer feel it. It would become a form of raw essence, an energy that you could learn to manipulate.” He started to pace around the space. “Yes, I think … Well, there is only one way to find out.” The formidable presence of the god once again filled little pocket dimension of the Mirror. The image of the man in front of her faded as the original booming volume returned. “TINA COSTELLO, I CLAIM YOU AS MY MIRROR. YOU ARE ANOINTED PAIN DEVOURER.”

The image of the girl on the pedestal turned into a swirl of multi-hued energy that rushed into the real Tina, infusing her with power. She felt bloated for a second, but then the energy meshed with her identity. It was her. The sensation passed and she instead felt whole, and yet at the same time, there was a cavernous, ravenous, hunger at her center.

“Open your Status. Let us see if it worked.” The voice sounded different now. No longer did it resound throughout the entire pocket dimension. Now it was coming from inside Tina’s head, as if the god were sitting on her shoulder and whispering in her ear.

Tina flexed a muscle she hadn’t had until a second ago. All students were prepared to enter the Hall of Mirrors and told what to expect. The Mirrors existed within a System, and created a way to read the results of the bond created by god and supplicant. Only those inside the System could access it, but they were all taught how to do so in advance. A blue box appeared in her vision. Here in the Mirror it was hard to tell, but she had been told that it wouldn’t obstruct her vision in the rest of the world.

Name: Tina Costello

Species: Human

Class: Pain Devourer 1 (0/100)

Health Points (HP): 43.5/43.5 (4.3/hour)

Mana Points (MP): 53/53 (5.3/minute)

Stamina Points (SP): 53/53 (5.3/second)

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Pain Points (PP): - / - (no recovery)

Stats: (+2 Raises Available)

* Strength – Below Average

* Dexterity - Average

* Constitution - Average

* Intellect – Above Average

* Spirit – Excellent*

Class Abilities:

* Pain Devouring - Awakened

Non-Class Skills:

* Athleticism – Novice

Traits:

* Basic System Mirror

* Chosen One

* Sufficient Schooling

* Adequate Physical Training

There was all the information she had expected to see, basic stats that quantified her. It might have been a little insulting to her Strength identified as Below Average, but she accepted that it made sense. But there were a few surprises. “Why does it specify that I’m human?”

“The System touches many things, not just humans.”

Tina had heard about magically endowed creatures, and she supposed that made enough sense. But animals couldn’t read, so why would the System create something for them? “I’m guessing that Pain Points are what I will generate when I use that Pain Devouring ability? The essence thing you mentioned.”

“The Above Average Intellect was not a lie. Good to see.”

“Why are my other points so high though? They teach us that 30-40 points are more normal for first level. Wait, why is my Spirit so high?”

This time, it was another box that popped up to explain, rather than the voice of The Devourer.

Chosen One – The chosen Mirror of your deity, you are blessed with the presence of your divinity. This divinity will communicate with you as it pleases. Your Spirit is raised to Ascended (limited to Excellent by Basic Mirror status) to accommodate the divine presence. You are granted an additional stat raise.

Now the voice of The Devourer chimed in with his input. “The System establishes a limit of century for a god to choose one of their Mirrors to bless with special power and their guidance. You are my only Mirror, I’ve been very bored, so I choose you. It will also allow me to advise you on your growth. It isn’t like there will be manuals on how to be a Pain Devourer. You’re the very first one. Even in my old days, none of my disciples chose Pain as their ability. Neophytes often chose the base characteristics, health, stamina, mana. We had different names for them back then, Blood Devourers, Qi Devourers, Mana Devourers. Hmm … now that I have devou…absorbed your sensibilities, I can see how that looks villainous. No wonder the humans and their gods banded together to create the System to stop us.”

“Wait, your followers weren’t human?” Tina’s voice cracked as panic welled in her heart. She wasn’t sure what she was panicking over, but this didn’t seem good. “The System was made to your, what, prison? Am I releasing you? Are you going to end the world?”

“I will not force you to leave your humanity behind. And no, I’m not going to end the world. The System was meant to limit me and strengthen those who opposed Timostheo, the Essence Emperor. My last Chosen One, as it happens. I refused to accept their shackles, so they banished me and culled my followers.” The Devourer sounded very bitter about that. “It has been a very long exile. Thank you for plucking me out of it. Now, enough about me. Now is about the first ever Pain Devourer. The core of your class is this.”

Pain Devouring - Awakened

Can absorb pain from target using Mana. Pain is stored as Pain Points (PP) for use in other abilities. The greater the pain, the greater the Pain Points gathered and the greater the Mana required. This does not remove the source of the pain. Current Conversion: 10 MP to 1 PP.

“I am really looking forward to seeing this in action. This is a basic form of Essence Devouring, absorbing something from the world to make a unique, raw energy. I didn’t know if the System would allow me to grant it to a neophyte, it was normally an ability of my more powerful disciples.”

“Why do you keep using that word? Neophyte?”

“It means you’re new to this. Before the System, there wasn’t this quantification among my disciples, no levels or quantified Health, Stamina or Mana points. You are my first Mirror within the System, so that is all new to me. You probably know more about the System than I do.”

“But you’re a god!” Tina was shocked, her voice cracked at the very idea.

She got back the idea of a shrug. “I am the cosmic embodiment and manifestation of the idea of devouring. I’m not omniscient. That means all-knowing, by the way.” The god snarked.

“I knew that word! So I just use Mana to absorb pain … Ok, I guess I can try that…” The knowledge of how to do it was embedded within her. With an exhaled breath, she focused on herself. The pain in her legs, the spasms in her diaphragm, results of running and crying. There was even a slight scrape on her knee from where she had collapsed when she’d first gotten into the Mirror. There was no verbal incantation, she just focused on the pain. Energy radiated out of her. While a few other colors flickered weakly, the dominant color of the nimbus around her legs and chest was red. The energy rushed into her mouth and she devoured it. She quickly checked her Status again.

Name: Tina Costello

Species: Human

Class: Pain Devourer 1 (0/100)

Health Points (HP): 43.5/43.5 (4.3/hour)

Mana Points (MP): 43/53 (5.3/minute)

Stamina Points (SP): 53.5/53.5 (5.3/second)

Pain Points (PP): 1 / - (no recovery)

“Well, that seems anti-climactic.”

“A little overexertion from a run and some cramps from hysterical crying are hardly world-shattering pain. As you grow more proficient at it, you’ll become more efficient at converting the essence into useable points. That level of pain will probably never be more than one Pain Point though. It was fairly minor.”

“Hmph!” Tina was annoyed. It certainly felt worse than one Pain Point to her! She didn’t see anything to be gained from backtalking the god in her head though. A spasm in her chest reminded her of the part of her ability that said she hadn’t removed the source of the pain, only the pain itself. Her muscles were still overworked. It was more like she had made herself numb to the pain, but if she could do that…

Tina turned her attention inward again. This time, she did not hunt for physical pain. Her body felt fine. Instead, she looked for her emotional pain. That was what she really wanted to be numb to. The heartbreak, the fear, the sadness at being rejected by the other gods. It was all still there, ready to burst back out into crying if she let it. But what if it didn’t have to be? Wasn’t it still pain, just of a different sort? Tina didn’t bother to ask the god riding in her head. He’d already said she was the first one of her kind, so a little experimentation with her power was going to be necessary. She reached out to those dark thoughts, categorized them as pain and tried to devour them. They burst into a huge nimbus of energy around her head, this time tinted predominantly in shades of blue and violet before again being sucked into her mouth. She checked her Status again.

Name: Tina Costello

Species: Human

Class: Pain Devourer 1 (0/100)

Health Points (HP): 43.5 /43.5 (4.3/hour)

Mana Points (MP): 13/53 (5.3/minute)

Stamina Points (SP): 53/53 (5.3/second)

Pain Points (PP): 4 / - (no recovery)

The voice in her head burst out laughing. “The amazing and unceasing power that is the angst of a teenage girl!” She got the mental image of the humanoid form of the god pounding his hand on a desk in mirth. “Absolutely amazing. So, you can categorize mental as well as physical pain? That will come in very handy.” Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by two alerts that popped up, quickly followed by a third.

Pain Devouring has advanced to Novice, 50 XP is awarded for ability advancement.

Pain Devouring has advanced to Initiate, 100 XP is awarded for ability advancement.

LEVEL UP!

Tina Costello has increased to Pain Devourer 2. Point values are adjusted.

Class Ability Point gained

(1/10 Stat Raise) gained (1/10 Stat Raise total). Note, Stat Raises may not be spent until an integer.

Tina checked her Status now and then her new Class Ability level.

Name: Tina Costello

Species: Human

Class: Pain Devourer 2 (50/200)

Health Points (HP): 67 / 67 (6.7/hour)

Mana Points (MP): 45 /85 (8.5/minute)

Stamina Points (SP): 87/87 (8.7/second)

Pain Points (PP): 4 / - (no recovery)

Stats: (2.1 Stat Raises Available)

* Strength – Below Average

* Dexterity - Average

* Constitution - Average

* Intellect – Above Average

* Spirit – Excellent*

Class Abilities:

* Pain Devouring – Initiate

* (Class Ability Point Available)

Non-Class Skills:

* Athleticism – Novice

Traits:

* Basic System Mirror

* Chosen One

* Sufficient Schooling

* Adequate Physical Training

Pain Devouring - Initiate

Can absorb pain from target using Mana. Pain is stored as Pain Points (PP) for use in other abilities. The greater the pain, the greater the Pain Points gathered and the greater the Mana required. This does not remove the source of the pain. Current Conversion: 8 MP to 1 PP.

“Well, the ability’s growth is somewhat lacking. But wow, that was fast leveling.”

“Yes, I can see why the System was so effective at pushing my old disciples back. That is a very straightforward way of growing in strength. And very rapid in terms of your basic point values too.”

With the distraction of the mental pain gone, Tina could connect things on her chart more smoothly. “That is your fault. It’s the Chosen One trait raising my Spirit so high. I wasn’t anything special before that, so my Spirit was probably average. Spirit adds to all the points with every level, so my values are probably 20 points higher than would be normal. I haven’t even spent my stat raise to try to grow more!” Tina started to think about doing all of that when she felt a strange flex in the Mirror space.

“Ah. Yes. We will do that soon. But first, it would probably be best to return to the Hall of Mirrors. This space has served its purpose and no longer particularly stable. I am very impressed that you managed to level up so quickly, but I would rather my first Mirror, Chosen One, and my ticket out of exile not be swallowed by the void.” The god in her head chided her to move quickly and she looked around. There previously had not been an exit anywhere when she had been looking for one. Now, however, there was a shining panel of glass that looked exactly like the Mirror she had walked through to get here. There was even an image of her in the glass again. It wasn’t a true reflection though, as the girl in the pane was frantically waving her to hurry up and step into the glass.

Her mind felt like it was floating on cloud nine, completely unbothered as she nonetheless obeyed the instruction and stepped into the glass, returning to the Hall of Mirrors.