Demon's Virtue-Chapter 796: Overwhelmed

Slowly nodding her head, the girl tried to avert her gaze away from Eiro. The demon sighed, "So I guess that's the issue with your skill right now. You can't control it. Neither your precognition, nor your psychometry."

"Uhm, sorry, but... what is psychometry exactly?"

"Psychometry. The ability to see the memories of an object. I assume your ability doesn't present exactly as regular psychometry would, but that makes little difference," Eiro explained, "So? What are you so scared of seeing?"

The girl nervously held her own arm, "When... something is touched by others that much, I don't just see the memories of the object, but also fragments of the people that touched it. Their thoughts when they interacted with it. I don't want to do that... it hurts."

"Hurts? Physical, sensory pain, or emotional?" though it was a blunt question, Eiro wanted to make sure he truly understood the issue. This was an opportunity that he didn't want to let up. He had to somehow try and convince

"Both? So much is happening at once, it's confusing and my head just hurts so much... it's overwhelming."

Eiro sighed slightly. He waved his hand and pulled a chunk of rock from the ground, sitting down on it and waiting for the girl to do the same, "Your name was... Jane, was it?"

She nodded.

"I'm going to tell you a few things, which I will need you to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?" he started, and Jane immediately agreed while sitting down, "I have a myriad of abilities in my arsenal. Amongst them are a few that make things... overwhelming to me as well. As I mentioned before, I have the ability to see through truths, and at the same time, that same ability allows me to see connections and figure out 'truths' beyond a 'lie' sense. In me, this presented by speeding up my train of thought many times over. I cannot see something and make connections to everything else I know. And I know quite a lot, you see? Another of my abilities strengthens all my senses. I can hear the heartbeats of each and every individual monster in that town. Both of these abilities together? They make it so that I painfully analyze the rhythm and speed of those heartbeats, together with the sound of their steps, the smell of their sweat, their breathing, and whatever else I could learn. That's why I could tell you exactly what every single one of those monsters is doing right now."

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Confused, and not sure what Eiro was saying, Jane just stared up at him in disbelief, "Seriously? How do you manage all of that?"

"Hm... I have a few tricks up my sleeve. It was quite overwhelming at times, but then another of my abilities came around. It allowed me to split up my mind, and create other versions of 'myself' that walk around in a particular space in my soul. These versions of myself take all of this information that I take in and sort it painstakingly. But even that came with some caveats. I now have dozens of minds in my head at all times, thinking and speaking the same way that I used to with just a single mind. Things are more sorted, easier to fade out and handle whenever I need a moment of quiet, but it's never really silent. I haven't known an instant of true silence in quite a while."

Jane looked away from the demon, down at the ground, "So... I guess I have it pretty good, huh?"

Eiro laughed, "No, no, that's not what I meant. I wasn't trying to say that I have it worse than you, and that you should stop complaining. No matter how much is going on in my mind, no matter how overwhelming it is and how much I struggle with it, I'm still here. I'm still standing, and seeking out ways to make things easier on myself, even if it might not seem like it. Your ability is... something that you can't be rid of, I'm sorry. Unique skills are deeply ingrained in one's very soul. But that means that they are a part of you. You decide how you deal with these things. I chose to find ways to manage these many thoughts, even if it means adding new problems. But that isn't the only way you can manage your ability."

"But that's what I'm doing... I'm managing it."

"By never touching anything ever again? How is that working out for you?"

"... Not very well."

"See? Listen, I can help you out. Either, I could try and create something that will block your ability, at least your psychometry. If touching is the trigger, I can make you some gloves. I doubt I can do something about the precognition, though."

Jane sighed, "Gloves don't work either... I've tried it. I'll go through the past of the gloves, and then it's fine for a while, until I've worn the gloves long enough that I don't even notice them anymore. At that point, things I touch even with the gloves trigger my ability..."

Raising a brow, Eiro looked at the girl, "And you don't think that's a sign you can control your ability?"

"... What do you mean?"

"It's clearly not a static condition. If you try hard enough, if you level up your skill to some degree, you might be able to gain the ability to control when you see the future, or when you see the memories of an object," Eiro explained, smiling, "You have quite the incredible ability, I may add. I'm quite jealous."

"Jealous? You?`Why would you be..?"

Eiro laughed, "Because again, it's a truly incredible ability. You can do plenty with this. Right now, you may see it as a curse, but if you can control it well enough..." the demon thought for a moment, "Your ability to see the past could allow you to be a historian like none other. You could repair that which was broken, return the things that were lost to their former owners. You could become an investigator, helping solve crimes by seeing the past of a location. Or going in the other direction, you could become a healer that can see the future of a patient, to see which treatment will work best before you even fully try it. As you just saw, the future is more malleable than we may think."

"I... I never thought about it like that," Jane admitted, starting to smile lightly. As if she saw her ability in a new light for the first time in a while.

"Listen, the best way to manage skills and abilities that you don't quite like is to use them, as counterproductive as that may seem. You have to learn the limits, you need to know how to grab it and mold it to your will," Eiro started, standing up from the rock that he had made for him and Jane earlier, "Unique skills tend to open up paths for unique classes. And those classes usually compliment your skills in a way that suits you rather well. For you... I imagine it will be an ability that lets you actively handle your skill a bit better in some form. Either way, I believe that it will be worth it. I can stand by your side while you get your class, if you would like, and make sure that nothing happens to you."

The girl nodded and stood up. She was clearly nervous, but Eiro knew that this was going to help her long-term. She was a child, and he had no choice but to think of his own kids when looking at her. Maybe Eiro should bring Arc here and introduce the two to each other. Having the opportunity to talk to someone that truly understood the life that you used to live is a valuable thing. Plus, this Jane kid seemed like a good egg. He was sure they would get along.

Slowly, the two made their way over to the class-change stone. The others had already gone back to their work or to try out their new abilities, but a few of them were still gathered around. Particularly, Marius was still here, making sure that everyone knew what to do if there were some stragglers left behind.

"Oh, Jane... are you also going to try and get a class, then?" he asked. There was an undertone of hesitancy and distance in Marius' voice, as if he wasn't quite sure how to handle Jane. She nodded her head quietly.

"I... I think so."

"Okay, well... be careful. And make sure to think about your choice well."

'Be careful'? Eiro didn't get the feeling that anyone actually knew about Jane's ability. In that case, they probably just knew that Jane tended to react weirdly when handling things like this, and that she got overwhelmed easily in such moments. Jane slowly turned around toward Eiro, who gave her a quick, encouraging nod. The demon watched as Jane placed her hand on the stone and picked her class.