Damien confronted Lyristae the next morning in her private study. No preamble, no diplomatic dancing around the topic.
"Why are you really doing this? The philosophy lessons, the moral complexity, questioning everything I thought I understood about demons. What's the actual endgame?"
She looked up from her desk, unsurprised by the directness. "Because you're not strong enough yet."
"For what?"
"For what's coming." She closed the book she'd been reading. "Sit down. I'll explain."
He sat, shadows instinctively coiling as his wariness increased.
"You've probably noticed in your... capabilities," she chose the word carefully, "that there are things locked away. Powers you can sense but can't access. Techniques that feel just out of reach."
Damien's mind immediately went to the System shop. The Second Demonic Core that required fifty percent corruption. The redacted option with unknown requirements.
"How do you know about that?" he asked carefully.
