"Is this a particularly common type of demon? Anything in particular I should possibly do to try to avoid it?"

"They're not very common, no. It's not particularly intelligent, it just—got lucky. According to the girl's Watcher at the time."

Ouch.

Ouch indeed.

"And my job," she explains, "is making sure luck has nothing to do with your encounters with demons."

"I would appreciate that very much," says Eva. "If I could just not die for a while, that'd be wonderful."

"Dearie if it's up to me you will live to see ninety."

"If it's up to me we will all live to see forever!"

"Hopefully."

"What, with the horrifying magic, or…?"

"Well, yes, with the horrifying magic, of course."

Nod. "That sounds– well, horrifying."

"Well, it's not impossible to become super powerful and not lose my mind, it's merely very difficult."

"...I would recommend against going down that path."

"If it's as horrifying as it sounds, probably likewise."

"I'm not gonna ask what's the worst that could happen, but I will say that sacrificing my body, mind, and soul to make sure everyone ever has utopic standards of living is a very low price to pay."

"I don't know how the system itself actually works, but I'd expect that if it sacrifices your mind in pieces then you might not be sane enough to– continue with the process when you're that powerful?"

"Yeah, that is a problem, and not having solved it is part of why I have not done it yet."

"Right," she says. "Well yeah, if you can patch that minor issue, and you aren't going to go accidentally creating a dystopia instead, be my guest." Shrug. "I'll try not to let you die of demons in the meantime, if there's anything I can do to help it."

"Thanks!"

...Norma makes a mental note and turns to Eva.

"In any case, we should start your training. Now, you'll find you have quite a few instincts installed already. I want you to kick this dummy's head."

"… How strong am I in comparison to how resistant this thing is? I mean, I don't want to accidentally break it, and I don't know how resistant it is."

"If you manage to break it I will be very impressed and happy but I don't expect you to, at this point. I have several dummies, we will not run out."

"Okay," she says, then tries to kick it in the head.

She does, indeed, have new instincts installed! But despite her super strength and dexterity and agility and all that jazz, she doesn't reach the head (yet), and almost loses balance.

"...so, about those books..."