"Ten seconds, right? Better hurry up, human. I'm still quite hungry, and if it turns out that you can't actually break my contract, I might just eat you anyway for lying to me..." The woman leans into you and whispers into your ear as you place a hand on the middle of her waist. "You do smell delicious, you know..." You try to ignore the woman's threats to eat you as you start to flow your magical energy into her body. She really would eat you alive if she felt like it, so you're very thankful for whatever it was that give you the information you required in order to properly pacify her into allowing you to do this. Without that information... well, you'd no doubt have been eaten, and Orochi would likely end up succeeding in whatever his plan is and destroying the planet or whatever the hell he's after.

"Ten seconds." You say calmly as the countdown is just about to end, and you find yourself in the conceptual world of Vritra, the Dragon King of Asura, just a few moments after speaking. It's dark, it's cold, and it feels empty. Hollow. Like the existence of one who was created for the sole purpose of achieving revenge on a God. To be created for a simple act of vengeance by a grieving father. Vritra may be intimidating, but at their core, they simply wish to see humanity progress and advance. But that same wish is one that can only be constructed with the limited emotional capacity of an Asura. She wishes to see humanity overcome obstacles as she enjoys watching them struggle to do so, and feels satisfaction in seeing humanity succeed, but it is not a true emotion of happiness brought about through caring for them. Vritra simply wishes to carry out her role as an obstacle, and having your role fulfilled is guaranteed to bring satisfaction, no matter what you are. Still, it can't really be called True Happiness, just being satisfied that you are carrying out the purpose you are created for. No, could you call a toaster happy for cooking bread? The idea of being happy and satisfied simply because you are carrying out your purpose is ridiculous.

You wander through the dark empty void of Vritra's conceptual existence. It's so terribly empty. Whereas many of the other beings you've used your powers at least had many smaller conceptual ideas about themselves floating around that weren't the core of their being, Vritra is like Enkidu when he was possessed with all the evils of the world. A nearly hollow shell that contains only a great hunger and... something else. The core of Vritra's being, it doesn't take long to find. You aren't suddenly attacked by the dragon at her core, because... well, that's not really what makes up the core nature of her being. The core nature of her being would be the small golden spearhead of the Vajra, lying discarded on the floor.

Yes, it's nothing else but the conflict with Indra and the Gods in general that makes up Vritra's core. Created solely for the act of vengeance by a God on a God and nearly succeeding before being slain by the very man she was supposed to kill through an act trickery. It would be hard for Vritra to consider anything else to be the core of her being. You pick the Vajra up off the floor and begin to focus on it. Now, just what sort of concept should you apply to it? Compassion? To allow Vritra to truly feel emotions? Love? To allow her to maybe love the humans that she serve as an obstacle for?

No... You've been wondering for a while now how conceptual manipulation works when it is used with more... esoteric concepts. You've studied Zoroastrianism quite a bit, in one of Touko's attempts to try to get you to understand by just what system your powers functions on, and as a result, you were made to study the concept of Asha quite a bit. Of course, compared to your Truth, Asha is not quite as complete, but it was still a good exercise in studying new concepts. Asha is something that you feel would be an excellent concept to apply to somebody like Vritra. A concept with links to truth, righteousness and order. When something like this is applied to a demon like Vritra, it may very well somewhat invert her existence, like the other face of a coin. It shouldn't change her personality all too much, either.

With the concept chosen, you begin to infuse it into the Vajra that is at the core of Vritra's being, infusing such an advanced concept is taking far more magical energy from you than it normally would though, and even halfway through the infusion process, you feel your magic circuits straining and screaming out in pain. No! You aren't going to back out now! You keep up the effort, and though your magic circuits keep screaming out in pain, you keep infusing the concept into Vritra's conceptual core.

Finally, you finish the process, and the world fades into white around you as you are dragged out of Vritra's conceptual world.

You blink your eyes open as you regain consciousness, you had actually managed to knock yourself in applying the concept to Vritra, it seems, and you basically drained the entirety of your magical energy reserves! You get a good look at the woman who is holding you in her arms and stopping you from falling to the floor.

[Status Updated!]

Part 29