Salvos

Born in a world of chaos, Salvos seeks to not only distinguish herself from the others, but to survive the constant bloodshed and death all around her. She will fight, she will learn, and she will evolve as she grows up in this harsh world.

Also— she’s a Demon.

—--

Salvos is a story about action, adventure, and evolution. It follows a Demon's journey from her birth and onwards as she grows and experiences new things through the various lenses of life.

0. Advent

“The cycle of Advent has begun.”

Regnorex spoke into the nether; the Demon King turned his fiendish gaze toward the swirling sable clouds forming in the far distance. His servants awaited in terrified reverence for his next words, clinging onto each one as though their life depended on it.

“Genesis shall come, but only Desolation awaits them.”

He withdrew from his high balcony, returning to the grand throne that was carved in resemblance to the mortal kings he had once met and envied. Now, he laughed at the lavish wants of such short-sighted men, content with only the luxuries of life.

“The Devil will play his tricks on the fools, and the Beast shall once again feast upon the weak that invade its lands. All will be destruction . All will be death . They will learn quickly that there is only hell.”

The first of the black raindrops fell from the sky, the precipitation wetting the barren lands with life, yet corrupting the pure, white surface into a dark, wicked ooze.

Settling onto his throne, Regnorex finally addressed his servants gathered before him: the Archdemons, the Greater Demons, and even the Lesser Demons. They were all below his station. Of course they were. To them, he was their master.   To them, he was their god.

“There shall be chaos. There shall be death. But there shall be survivors.”

The Demons stirred at his speech— one which he had delivered a thousand times before. Yet, they treated it with the same awe and fear they did when they first heard it.

The black torrent was now violently raging on, almost as if precluding what was to come. The Demon King ignored it, focusing only on what had to be done. The room darkened as the storm swept over the Netherworld, yet Regnorex’s eyes still lit ablaze in the color of the bloodied sky above.

“Find the survivors, bring them to my demesne, for all who obeys my will shall be rewarded.”

And they did. The Demons scoured the lands, searching, finding all those who survived. It was not a kindness— those who survived were the only ones who were worthy. The only ones who were special among the masses born from the Genesis.

No one would escape: they would either live under the Demon King’s rule, or die under the harsh landscape of the Netherworld.

No one.

===

As the Genesis came to an end and the final stage of Advent began, the dark clouds above slowly faded away; the pools of black slowly receded into nothing. And out from the last of these pools, a survivor came into existence.

Salvos was born.

1. Rocks

A sea of infinite void engulfed me; I found myself wriggling, struggling to break free of the eternal darkness. I pushed myself forward, closer and closer to the edge of the dome that encapsulated my very world.

I had thought it would be hard to break. I had expected it to be a hardened shell, tempered by the eternity of its existence. I never hoped to escape from the boundless abyss— drowning in the ocean of nothingness, forever trapped to unbirth.

And yet, I broke through the surface so easily, I didn’t even realize I was finally free. Only the words that filled my head made me realize I was finally alive.

Salvos

Species: [Infant Demon]

Subspecies: [Demon Larva] - Lvl. 1

General Skills:

[Identification] - Lvl. 1

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 1

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 5

[Strength]: 5

[Endurance]: 5

[Wisdom]: 5

[Agility]: 5

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 0]

[Unused Skill Slot] x5

These words resounded not as a voice, but as a breadth of information that I intuitively knew: I did not have to be told that my name was Salvos— I was simply Salvos.

I lay there for what felt like an immortal moment, choosing not to move, choosing to revel in my existence . Finally, I opened my eyes, taking in the world around me.

Up above, darkling clouds blotched out the crimson sky. The red glow of the heavens itself came down mostly unimpeded;  only a piece of it was  covered by the eddying overcast that seemed to grow fainter through the passage of time.

I was floating atop an inky, black liquid; what I had thought to be a vast ocean proved now to be nothing more than a mere pool— a puddle that I couldn’t even sink myself into.

I flopped my way out of the sable water, hoping it wouldn’t open up and swallow by being back into nonexistence. My body finally reached the pure, white surface of solid ground, the black liquid dripping off my body almost too easily, returning to whence it came.

The mass of land was far more expansive than the tiny pool of my birth; I looked curiously at the world around me, seeing distant sinuous crests and jutting peaks that piqued my interest. What is that?

I had an inkling of an idea of what they could be: I could comprehend the rough concepts of these shapes, but their true nature evaded me. I was captivated by it. I was drawn towards this strange, new world I had found myself in.  

I glanced one last time back at the void I had been borne from, and saw nothing staring back at me. I no longer belonged to that world. Somehow, someway, I had squirmed my way out of it. And I would never go back.

—--

I dragged myself through the barren landscape, stopping ever so often to investigate anything that I took a fascination to. The black clouds overhead was now nothing more than a speck in the distance, but strangely enough, the place of my birth had receded and vanished altogether.

It was gone. I was not sure why it was gone. I vaguely understood that it was possible for objects to disappear but still remain in existence. However, something told me that that was not the case here.

It mattered not to me. I continued my crawl across the chalky and rocky floor. It was not the most comfortable thing I had experienced— certainly, having no senses meant such disagreeable feelings would never be felt.

This was not something I just knew. This was something I had just learned for myself.

I did not enjoy the poking sensation that came when I was crawling over these tiny rock bits that were scattered all throughout the floor. It almost made me want to return to the puddle— simply floating as time passed was an absolute bliss, unlike this.

But I remembered the overwhelming fear I had of falling back into the abyss. It was not something I wanted. I was alive now, and I treasured that. So I made do with these minor inconveniences, choosing to bear this burden that came with life, pressing forward  into the unknown.

...

I only got a little bit further before it got too much for me.

These small objects did not exactly hurt me; they did not pierce through my skin, leaving only brief indents before falling back off onto the floor. My health did not drop from this, yet I was sick and tired of navigating through this rough terrain.

I lowered my face down to one of these rocks, investigating its features and anything else that stood out to me. Surely something about it would clue me into a way to crawl over them without hurting!

I stared at the first rock, studying its every protrusion on its uneven surface. After pondering it over, I decided this rock was useless on its own— I needed a wider array of observations before a conclusion was made— and moved on to the next.

The second rock was bigger than the first, but just as haphazardly arranged in its shape. I looked over it for another indefinite period of time before looking over the third.

I was contemplating how the third was seemingly as rugged as the first and second on one side of its surface, yet completely smooth on the other, when more words suddenly filled my head.

General Skill [Identification] Level Up!  

[Identification - Lvl. 1] -> [Identification - Lvl. 2]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

I jerked, immediately losing concentration as I considered the implications of what the words meant. I had… leveled a General Skill? How did I do that? I was just trying to understand a rock—

My vision snapped back at the smooth yet rugged rock I had been eyeing. Whatever nuance that made the third rock distinct from the first and second was beyond my current understanding of the world. But of course, I had Skills I could use. Skills that were supposed to aid me in accomplishing certain tasks.

I barely parsed the use for [Identification] beforehand; its purpose was not something I truly understood. Now, however, I realized it was for identifying objects. It was to give me a better grip of things that were unknown to me.

So I focused onto the rock, my eyes never leaving the specific rock I had picked out as I activated the Skill.

[Identification]!

The word flashed through my mind. Whether it was by choice or whether it came from using the Skill, I did not know. However, information flooded by head as finally, I could unfurl the mysteries behind this peculiar object.

[Rock - It is a rock.]

...was that it?

No, that couldn’t be. There had to be something more to it than that!

There was a secret here— there was a reason why it was not like the other two rocks I had seen. It was special. It had to be special.

But why did [Identification] not tell me what this secret was? It made no sense. I felt uneasy about my understanding of the Skill, doubts forming in my mind that it was what I thought it was. However, I had been certain I used it right.

Something had told me that [Identification]’s purpose was to identify things. It was the same thing that had told me what I was. It was the same thing that told me what I was capable of.

Perhaps…

I trailed off. Connections were being formed in my head. An epiphany was being made. I finally understood what I had gotten wrong.

The problem is not in the Skill itself, but in the Skill’s level!

That was the only conclusion I could come to. That was why it did not tell me more information than I had already known. If I leveled the Skill, it would surely reveal the truth behind rocks!

I turned my attention to another pile of rocks to my left. These ones were significantly smaller. They were pebbles— miniscule rocks with fine features that were hard to make out without getting extremely close to it. But that was fine. I had chosen those to investigate since I knew I could learn more from them.

I had gone through two dozen of these pebbles before the words I had been anticipating came.

General Skill [Identification] Level Up!  

[Identification - Lvl. 2] -> [Identification - Lvl. 3]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 1] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 2]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

I… finally did it! And I also leveled as a [Demon Larva] thanks to the experience gained from leveling [Identification]! It was a total success!

I could distribute my Stat Points and Skill Point later. For now, I focused on what was important. I glanced at the pebble closest to me and activated my [Identification]—

[Rock - It is a rock.]

...what?

That couldn’t be right. [Identification] had just hit its second level. It should be telling me more than before, not the exact same thing. Unless…

I looked at another pebble, once again using [Identification] on it.

[Rock - It is a rock.]

No!

[Rock - It is a rock.]

No! No! No!

[Rock - It is a rock.]

Everywhere I checked— every pebble, stone, and rock I used [Identification] on— all produced the same result. It was all the same. All of them except for that third rock. The special rock.

I hadn’t checked it yet, but it had to be different. It was different. I saw it with my own eyes.

I cast my gaze back to where I had once been, but was only met by an endless sea of small pieces of rocks spread throughout the empty landscape. I couldn’t make out the rock that had me pondering over what made it different. Over what made it special.

It should be here! It has to be…

Then the realization sunk in. The bits of rock and pebbles uniformly crinkling the ground all around me were just that: rocks.

Nothing set one apart from the other. Rocks were rocks, even if there were some minute differences from one to the other. It  is a rock, the words echoed in my mind.

Slowly but dejectedly, I accepted this piece of information; I had spent so much time chasing after an answer that had always been in front of me. It felt like a waste.

I crawled away from the spot I had hovered over for so long, wading through the rocks despondently. I paused.

Wait, rocks?

Yes, there were rocks all around me. Rocks that had been so meddling. Rocks that made every movement so uncomfortable.

Rocks that I didn’t even register are there anymore.

I had been moving through rocks for such an extended period of time, it was not an issue anymore. I no longer felt the pokings of the rocks on my body. It was just like the dichotomy between the cool stone surface and the strong heat radiated from all around me which I initially felt when I left my puddle, but I had gotten used to it.

I thought such an accustomance applied only to that specific circumstance. Now I understood it could apply to a wide array of things— possibly more than the two I had just experienced. So I didn’t care anymore.

I happily continued my squirming through the white ground, unsure whether I should head to those small hillocks or tall mountains in the distance which my [Identification] didn’t work on for some reason, but stopped when I noticed something.

Firstly, I felt my gaze was sharper than before. It was subtle, I would not have been able to tell the difference if I didn’t spot them in the distance.

I had been musing about what I would do with my Stat Points and Skill Point. But now, all of those thoughts were gone as my attention was drawn to the bright colorful shapes moving in the otherwise desolate and plain world.

It was the others.

Just like me.

And there were a dozen of them.

2. The Others

I saw the others for the first time. There were many of them, all grouped together and wandering mindlessly through the empty landscape. They stood out in the white background— their vibrant colors stood out in sharp contrast to the blandness of the landscape, making them almost seem inviting. But I did not approach.

I waited in the near distance, watching to see what they would do. There were all sorts of them— most of them like me, but with slight variations in their forms. One of them had black and yellow spots on its back, despite the rest of its writhing mass of a body being red in color.

Another one had only a single eye on its face instead of the two I had, with a pair of long protrusions right above it. And another one had multiple small protrusions at the bottom of its body, wiggling and moving in a way that somehow made it faster than the rest.

It almost reminded me of the rocks wrinkling the ground— we were all the same, only slightly different. Was I then just like a rock with absolutely no individual characteristics to me? Was I not special in any way? Somehow, the very thought of that terrified me.

At first, my interest had been piqued from encountering these other creatures, but now I wanted to run away from them. I had to be different. I had to have something that differentiated myself from the others!

I was just about to flee from the group of colorful beings that looked just like me when I remembered the words that resounded in my head when I was first born. No— I wasn’t remembering the same words. It was different now, but I knew it was the words that defined me. And it was…

Salvos

Species: [Infant Demon]

Subspecies: [Demon Larva] - Lvl. 2

That was right. I had leveled up, which was why I was Level 2 now. But that wasn’t why I checked my Status. I did it because I could use it to compare myself with the others. If I used [Identification] on them, would the results be the same just like with the rocks?

I was uncertain, but I had to know. I felt my entire body quiver as I focused on the nearest of the others— the one with the colored spots patterned throughout its body. I hesitated for a moment, however went ahead with activating my Skill anyway.

[Identification]!

The words appeared in my head: the information that described the being for what it was. My entire body tensed as I processed it all—

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 1]

I found my entire body sagging, feeling the tension that once held me disappear. This sensation, it was… relief? I wasn’t entirely sure just yet what it was, but I liked the feeling. It was nice.

This Demon— [Demon Larva]?— or whatever it was, was evidently the same Species and Subspecies as me. And yet, I was higher leveled than it. It was different from the rocks which all produced the same results. There was a distinction between myself and the others. I was not an object, but a subject— just like I thought I was. And somehow, that thought calmed me down.

Wait, that means…

I carefully approached the group of Demons that had taken notice of me and were now just staring at me; some of them had a curious look on their face, almost as if they were waiting to see what I would do, while others seemed completely uninterested and were just following whatever the group was doing.

I got closer to them and began using [Identification] on each and every single one of them. I might have been unlike a rock in that I was unique, but I was not sure if that applied to these Demons too. Perhaps they might have all been the same, which in that case, meant they were just more rocks. That was almost the conclusion I came to where I checked the first three Demons.

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 1]

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 1]

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 1]

I was just about to stop using my Skill, deciding that these Demons were all the same, when I saw the Demon with the protrusions… the legs… take a step closer to me. I met that Demon’s eyes and used [Identification] on it.

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]

It was Level 3? It was higher leveled than me!

I stared at that Demon in shock and another feeling for a moment. Why was it Level 3 and I was only Level 2? That was unfair. I wanted to be Level 3 as well!

For some reason, I was discontent with being lower leveled than this Demon. I wanted to possess the same or better qualities than it— her!

She was a her.. I intuitively knew she was a her. And she was better than me.

However, she seemed to pay no mind to that fact, and was instead moving her legs, gesturing between herself and me. She... wanted me to go with them?

I glanced about at the others, again taking in their stats with [Identification]. In that group of a dozen, there were three other Demons at Level 2— the same as me— and one more at Level 3. The rest were Level 1, and apart from the one with colored spots on its back, they didn’t seem too interested in anything really.

They were just following the group. But why were they doing that?

I pondered it over for a moment, as the group began to head off, led by the other Level 3 Demon. The one with legs waited for me as I lay there, considering these questions in my mind.

Perhaps, I thought, as the Demon finally started after her companions. Perhaps they’re following the Level 3 Demons to learn how to get to that level too?

That was the only line of reasoning that made sense to me. I could not rationalize any other train of thought that would lead them to group up like that. After all, the moment I met that Demon, I immediately wanted to reach the same level as her, so it made sense that the others felt the same way!

I hurried after the group as they got further and further away. They didn’t slow down for me, even though a few noticed me trailing after them. Not that it mattered. I was still with the group until they once again gathered as a group, attracted to something new and interesting.

They huddled around something that was lying motionless on the ground, just at the foot of a small hill; I tried to see what it was, but they were blocking my vision. I had to go around them— up to an elevated position— to clearly see what they were investigating.

Was this how they leveled up? I did level up from inspecting rocks on the ground. Perhaps simply going around and poking at whatever new thing you came across was what helped you to level. Maybe the more peculiar an object it was, the more experience you gained from looking at it?

I peeked down at what the others were studying, when I realized I had been mistaken as to what it was they say. Instead of seeing a weird rock like I had imagined, I saw another [Demon Larva] lying on the ground, motionless.

The others had formed a circle around it, curiously looking on at it, but still keeping a small distance away from it. It was almost a repeat of when they had met me, except that they didn’t approach it any further. Why was it not moving? Why was it just lying there? These were questions that crossed my mind, and I was sure they held similar thoughts to these too.

Suddenly, the [Demon Larva] jerked. It straightened its body, snapping its head up as the others backed away from this sudden movement. This [Demon Larva] looked different. It was not like the ones in the group— the ones that were about my size with small variations in form. Instead, it was thicker than us, it was larger  than us, and it had a longer   body  than us.

Noticing this fact, I had my interest piqued and I decided to inch closer to it. I got till I was about as far away from it as the others before I used [Identification] on it. The results it produced surprised me.

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]

It was Level 5? That was more than twice my level! It was 2 levels higher than the highest leveled Demon in the group!

I had to know its secret; it was so huge— almost twice my size— and so high leveled as well. I didn’t want to be Level 3 anymore— I wanted to be Level 5 if it meant I could get that big!

The others must have shared the same thought. One of the Level 3 Demons— the one with the legs— slowly stepped forward to the Level 5 [Demon Larva]. The only thing that stopped me from rushing up to it as well was a sudden thought.

It was a random thought, but I wondered to myself: why was it alone? Did it not follow any other Demon to reach its level? And did it not encounter any other Demon that wanted to follow it to reach its level?

It was these thoughts that made me a moment slower than the legged Demon to reach the large Demon. She stopped right in front of it as it loomed over her. She tilted her head slowly, and proffered one of her tiny limbs out—

And it crushed her.

In a single motion, the large Demon crushed her with its head. The Level 3 Demon— the one that had waited for me as the rest of her group left me behind— was squished in an instant. All that was left of her was a broken body with black liquid oozing out of it.

I stared in shock for a moment, still trying to process what had happened. And I wasn’t the only one. The others were as taken aback as I was. The only thing that saved us from being immediately killed as well was the change that went over the large Demon’s body.

The large Demon wriggled as it began to morph and grow bigger in size. That brief reprieve was what allowed us to finally react to this unexpected development. Three of the Level 1 Demons and one of the Level 2 Demons charged at the large Demon, throwing themselves at its body in a combined attack.

It reeled back from the hit, bruises forming on its body where it had been struck. They continued to assault its body as the others began to join in. For some reason, I was also compelled to help them fight the large Demon, but that feeling was quickly squashed as it crushed the Level 2 Demon. It swiped its body at two of the Level 1 Demons, breaking their bodies and sending them flying.

Upon seeing that, the rally against the large Demon quickly turned into a retreat; I watched as the Level 1 and Level 2 Demons that started at the large Demon in a charge scramble away from it as it crushed the last of the Demons that had attacked it.

It was too high leveled for us to take down! We were less than half its level, so of course it would be able to take us out with ease. But there was still the other Level 3 Demon, the one with the feelers on its head—

I cast my gaze around, looking for the Level 3 Demon. He was… running away? No— he wasn’t just running away, he had been running the entire time.

I must not have noticed because I was distracted, but the moment the large Demon killed the first Level 3 Demon, he turned tails and ran for it. That was why he was already disappearing into the distance while the others were still within the vicinity of the large Demon.

I panicked. I was going to be crushed too! I didn’t want to be crushed! I didn’t want to… die. I had just been born. Dying now was something I absolutely did not want!

I started after the Level 3 Demon, trying to catch up to him. But he was faster than me— barely faster, but definitely faster. I crawled alongside the other fleeing Demons as we tried to get away from the large Demon. I craned my head around as I did, just in time to see it catch and crush another Level 1 Demon.

It was faster than us too! For some reason, even with such a large body, it moved quicker than I was. Why was it so fast? Why was it so strong? I didn’t know.  I don’t know—

Then, as if by instinct or by deduction, I realized why it was faster than me. It had a higher [Agility] than me. That had to be it.

It had leveled up and used its Stat points to raise its [Agility]. And that was probably why it was its size too. One of its Stat points— either [Vitality] or [Strength]— was also raised to make it bigger. The large Demon was about to catch up to me when I hurriedly recalled my Stats.

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 5]

[Vitality]: 5

[Strength]: 5

[Endurance]: 5

[Wisdom]: 5

[Agility]: 5

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 1]

[Unused Skill Slot] x5

I had received 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill point from leveling up. I had nothing to spend my Skill Points on, so I ignored it and focused only on my Stats.

Each of my Stats already had 5 points in it, but I now had 5 more I could distribute amongst them. I had a rough idea of what each did, but only two of them would help me in the moment: [Strength] and [Agility].

If I spent my Stat Points on [Strength], perhaps I could match the attack power of the large Demon. However, that still meant it outmatched me in speed, so it would land more hits on me and kill me faster. So that was out of the question.

So I decided. [Agility] it is.  I spent all 5 of my Stat Points straight into [Agility], and instantly felt an odd sensation wash over my body.

I didn’t sprout legs, per se, though I did gain small limbs that helped push me forward. I also felt lighter. My body was more slick. Like even if I didn’t use my limbs and just crawled ahead, I would still move twice as fast as I did before.

I wasted no time trying to accustom myself to my body and sped ahead. I ran past the other Demons ahead of me, feeling relief knowing that I would escape with my life. That was, until I heard the crunch that came from another Level 1 Demon being crushed by the large Demon.

I stopped in my tracks and turned around. The large Demon was catching up to the others. It was going to kill them all— none of them, except for the Level 3 Demon, were going to escape. They were all going to die.

That didn’t bother me so much. As long as I lived, why did it matter if they died? And yet, I was running from this large Demon. This large Demon that attacked and killed us for no reason. The others were running from it, fearing for their life, when they probably would have been able to take it down if they worked together from the very beginning.

In fact, one of the Level 2 Demons realized this. He realized that they could not escape, and the only chance they stood was if they banded together. He tried to rouse the others to turn around and fight. Squish. He died as the others ignored him and continued to flee.

Was I really like these other Demons, running like a coward from something I could beat? Surely I was not just a rock that the large Demon used to level up before tossing me aside like the other dozen rocks it looked at, right? And if I really wanted to reach the same level as that large Demon— if I wanted to hit Level 5… no, Level 6 like it— I shouldn’t be running away from a fight like this, should I?

So I stopped running away from this large Demon and charged back at it. It was about to crush another Demon— the one with the colorful spots in his back— when I tackled it, striking it across the face.

The large Demon turned its attention to me as I struck it with my entire body once again. This time, it took the brunt of the hit and brought its head down to squish me like it did the others. However, I skittered away from the attack, dodging it with relative ease.

I backed up as it tried a follow up attack, swiping at me from the side, trying to use its size to its advantage. I barely avoided this attack. If it had hit me there, I probably would have been squished. But I survived it, and saw a wide opening.

As the large Demon tried to reorient itself, I saw the perfect chance to strike once again. I aimed for the bruise that had already been made by the first of the others that attacked it, smashing my head down into it.

This proved effective as it staggered from the blow, pulling itself back to try and gain some distance between myself and it. I did not let up, however. I used my new limbs to hold onto its body as backed away, continuing to hammer my head into its body.

It lurched from the repeated strikes, trying to shake me off. When it couldn’t do that, it straightened its body and brought its head up and over me. It tried to smash me, but I easily slithered away as it hurt itself. But instead of getting off the large Demon, I made my way up onto it.

It twisted its body in confusion as I climbed up to its head. It was wary of attacking me now that it realized it was able to inflict damage on itself with me on it. And in that moment of uncertainty, I seized the large Demon by the head.

I wrapped my body around just below the head of the large Demon. It thrashed about to get me off it, but I simply squeezed my body tighter, using my limbs to stop myself from falling off. It spun and squirmed in a panic, but I did not let go.

I wasn’t sure how long I held that position— I wasn’t sure how much harder I tried to curl myself under its head— but eventually, there was a pop. The head of the large Demon fell limply off its body, its black blood getting all over me.

I collapsed alongside the body of the large Demon, and I lay there triumphant as the words of victory rang in my head.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]!

Abundant experience is awarded for defeating an enemy three times your level!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 2] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 3] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 4]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

I did it! I leveled up twice! I...

Wait, why am I only Level 4? It was Level 6, right? I beat it! It was Level 6! Shouldn’t I be Level 6 now too?!

3. Learning Experience

Salvos

Species: [Infant Demon]

Subspecies: [Demon Larva] - Lvl. 4

General Skills:

[Identification] - Lvl. 3

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 1

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 10]

[Vitality]: 5

[Strength]: 5

[Endurance]: 5

[Wisdom]: 5

[Agility]: 10

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 3]

[Unused Skill Slot] x5

I evaluated my Status after having killed the Level 6 [Demon Larva] by myself. The others— the survivors from the encounter— had left without me. None of them turned around to try and help me when I confronted the large Demon.

Not that it mattered to me; somehow I knew that if they had helped out, I would have gained less experience from killing it, which would have given me less levels too. So I actually preferred that they stayed out of the fight.

Anyway, it was not like I was happy with the amount of levels I gained in the first place. I had doubled my levels, going from Level 2 to Level 4. And while that seemed like quite the achievement at first, I still wasn’t satisfied. The large Demon was Level 6— since I killed it, shouldn’t I be at least Level 6 too?

Something told me that that wasn’t how it worked. But it should!

I might not have been as big as it, and I might not have had as many levels as it, but I killed it when the others failed or fled. The fact that I deserved more of a reward than what I got led me to conclude that the world wasn’t fair. Which was unfortunate, but it wasn’t something I was going to dwell on. Instead, I focused on my Status.

Currently, I had 3 available Skill Points and 10 available Stat Points. I still had no Skills for me to invest my Skill Points in— which confused me in more ways than one. For example, how was I supposed to gain a Skill? How was it different from a General Skill? Why couldn’t I use my Skill Points on my General Skills?

Unable to solve this mystery behind Skills, I then decided to simply look at my Stat Points for now. As I had figured out earlier, [Agility] was something that made me faster… in addition to other things I couldn’t parse right now. When I had spent all 5 of my Stat Points on [Agility], my body changed— kind of like how the large Demon’s body changed after it had leveled.

I grew these… limbs. They ran down the side of my body, not exactly forming full rows of them, but still rather numerous. It was a strange feeling, suddenly changing forms. It was something I was probably going to have to get used to for now, whenever I spent Stat Points.

I considered the other Stats I had: [Vitality], [Strength], [Endurance], and [Wisdom]. I could guess vaguely what each of these Stats did by themselves. There were other facets to these Stats, but I was certain [Vitality] would give me more health, [Strength] would make me stronger, [Endurance] would increase my durability, and [Wisdom]... would grow my magic  power?

I puzzled over this idea of magic for a moment, until my mind drew a link between magic and the Skill Slots I had available. Apparently, magic was something every living being was capable of doing, but was aided by the Skills and General Skills they learned.

That was interesting. I had been curious about what these Skills were just a moment ago, and now knowing that having more [Wisdom] was somehow connected to them made me decide to experiment with it. For now, I was going to spend 3 of my Stat Points on [Wisdom], 2 on [Vitality], and keep the remaining 5 to figure out for later.

Immediately after using the Stat Points, my body began to quiver. It started to shift, changing in size as I grew slightly bigger. It wasn’t as drastic as a growth the large Demon went through— something told me that not only would different combinations of Stats result in different changes to the body, but the individuality of myself and the others made the changes we underwent specific to us as well.

However, while the change that came over me from increasing my [Vitality] was made apparent to me in more ways than one, I was left confused by my [Wisdom]. I did not feel smarter or anything too blatant like that. In fact, I almost thought that nothing had happened from growing my [Wisdom] for a moment.

That was until I stopped focusing on myself, and turned my attention to the world around me. After I became Level 2 from leveling in [Identification] twice, I had thought my perception of things was more sharp. And while that didn’t change this time, I felt like my vision was now piercing through some veil that I didn’t even know was there before.

There were… lines? Or something else. A thing called mana  was cutting through the world. It was not doing so intrusively, but rather in a way that kept it together. It was like strings woven together and into each other to create something that was whole.

I tried to reach out and grab one of these strings, but found my physical hand simply passing over through it. It was hard to touch; I knew my body would not be able to interact with it in this simple of a way. I had to understand it more. I had to learn about them— follow these strings— to get a better grasp of what they were, so I could actually touch and move them.

So that was what I did. Very quickly, I spent the rest of my Stat Points between [Strength], [Endurance], and [Agility]. For now, I was content with my speed so I only increased it by a single point, while splitting the rest equally between [Strength] and [Endurance].

Once again, the changes from these Stats were more tangible and obvious at first, but I intuitively knew that the changes I experienced went beyond simple physical changes.

—--

I would have thought it would take a while for me to get used to my new, bigger body; with extra parts to me coming in the limbs as well as a longer form, it was quite a significant change to what I was before. And yet, I did not find it uncomfortable using my limbs to move through the rocky terrain.

The bits and pieces of rock sticking out of my limbs were barely a nuisance, and I could even move faster now. And while that sped up my process of simply moving, apparently moving faster somehow correlated with meeting other Demons faster. Unfortunately however, these Demons I met weren’t like the first group I had encountered.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 4] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

That was the third Demon I had seen since I defeated the large Demon, and just like the large Demon, all of these Demons attacked me mindlessly. I had approached the first one— a Level 2 Demon— because it didn’t seem too dangerous.

And while it wasn’t dangerous per se, it did try to tackle me. I didn’t have much difficulty dodging the surprise attack, although dispatching it wasn’t as quick of an endeavour. With my relatively low [Strength], I couldn’t crush it in a single blow and relied on multiple strikes to beat it.

After that, I approached the other Demons more cautiously, but still they charged at me. And while they were all lower leveled than me, they didn’t even hesitate in their attack. At first, I had considered it to be a bit of a nuisance, but after I leveled, I decided it was a good thing— in a way.

While I risked dying whenever these Demons came after me, if I defeated them I gained experience which would help me level up myself. And not only was leveling up a satisfying thing, it made me stronger.

With this strength, I could defend myself better. With this strength, I could survive!

But that was boring. There wasn’t really anything for me to do; I had tried investigating more strangely shaped rocks, but I lost interest in them far faster than before. Eventually, I turned my attention to those large rocks in the distance— those mountains.

It was strange. These tall, massive shapes became smaller as I went further away from them— they didn’t sink into the ground, but instead appeared to almost simply shrink in size. I had not traveled to one before, however after making this observation, I decided to traverse up one of the smaller hills.

I had known that a hill became larger as I approached one, but it was still such a jarring sight seeing it turn from this vague outline into this towering shape before me. Putting 2 of my Skill points into [Wisdom] and [Agility], with the last remaining point into [Strength], I scurried my way up.

I didn’t do nothing  on this trek; I was being productive. I raised one of my limbs up, running it through the invisible strings of mana as I continued trying to acquaint myself with it. It wasn’t exactly telling me anything in specific, but I felt like I was learning more about it. My vision of the mana wasn’t completely clear just yet, however—

General Skill [Basic Mana Manipulation] Learned!

Experience is awarded for the learning of a General Skill!

I stopped right in my tracks as the words resounded in my head; I tilted my body, trying to figure out what just happened. I… learned a General Skill? That was right, it was still a Level 1 Skill. But that was better than nothing. Now I knew I was capable of learning General Skills— that was how I gained them.

It might not have been the exact same process for Skills, but it was probably a somewhat similar one. I lifted one of my limbs and tugged at the mana strings, and instead of just passing through nothing, I felt the barest sense of something being there.

It was a slight feeling— something that showed me nothing, while opening up endless possibilities at the same time. And it happened just as I crested the top of the hill.

I rested there, at the peak of this massive rock. I cast my gaze around the landscape, at the flatlands down below, and at the other mountains that rose above the one I was on. I was Level 5, and while it was satisfying to know that I had reached a level similar to the large Demon, it still frustrated that I was not at its level yet.

In a way, I was like this hill. Tall, but not the tallest. Not anywhere close. Something blazed within me; a decision that I came to naturally. I wanted to level— not just to Level 6 or some other arbitrary level. I wanted to keep leveling until I could not anymore.

I wasn’t sure if there was a limit, and if there was one, I did not know how high I could even go. And yet, it gave me something to do. I wanted more in my life than to simply exist. The rocks and the land— they were interesting at first, but they lost their novelty after a while. Seeing the same thing over and over again became dull over time.

So I gave myself a goal. It was my will. And when I went down the hill, back to the flat landscape, I was not just wandering aimlessly anymore. I was on the hunt. Searching for those mindless Demons that destroyed everything they saw.

And it wasn’t long before I saw the next ones ahead. I let go of the strands of mana I was holding onto the entire time— apparently [Basic Mana Manipulation] was a hard General Skill to level since it was still at Level 1— and focused on the lumbering Demon. It charged me, of course. That was what all these wild Demons did.

Me, on the other hand? I leveled.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 4]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 2]!

Less experience is awarded—

4. Magic Attack

Up until now, all of the mindless, lumbering Demons I had seen were alone. It was odd; the only time I had encountered a group of Demons had been shortly— relatively speaking— after I was born.

So based on this single observation, I came to the broad conclusion that only others like me would clump up together. And while applying that general rule too hastily might seem like a bad idea in retrospect, the logic made sense to me when I decided to approach the four Demons traveling next to each other.

Well, I knew better now.

I skittered around the large boulder as the remaining three Demons chased after me. They had caught me by surprise by attacking me when I had thought they were friendly, but I still managed to take one out.

The Demons weren’t as fast as me, although they still managed to keep up with my speed. They followed after me, whirling around the corner—

And I was not there. The Demons paused, confused at my sudden disappearance. They cast their gazes around, scanning the landscape for any signs of me to no avail. Slowly but surely, the three began to spread out, slightly further away from each other.

From atop the boulder, I leapt down at the closest Demon. I wriggled below my feet as I struck it twice with my forefront limbs. The other two Demons noticed this and tried to rush me. I pushed myself off the first Demon as something bright went off right at its antennae.

Circling around them, I easily put distance between us as they tried to tackle me. Instead, I swung my entire body around, knocking one of them back, before charging the second. The Demon struggled as I jabbed all my limbs into it, forcing its black blood out of its body. I brought my head down on it once, twice—

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy half your level!

Once I received the words in my head, I quickly pried myself off the Demon and just barely evaded a strike from its companion. Pushing it back with my limbs, I was just about to do the same thing to it when I felt a sharp shock run through my body.

I spun around and backed away as fast as I could from the Demon I had dropped on. That was… electricity? Light was flashing between its antennae, sparks dangerously dancing off the side like the splash of blood that came from being crushed. It hurts!  

I warily regarded the last two Demons as they approached me. There was no coordination between them. They had no thought behind their actions. So when they charged me again, one after the other, I shoved the first one back to the other.

It did not matter which came first. What ended up happening either ways was the Demon using magic shocking the other. And in that moment where the non-magic Demon was incapacitated, I threw everything I had at the magic Demon, wrapping my body around it and crushed it.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Then it was just me and the last remaining Demon. It got back up, and I waited for it to charge me. I would have expected it to continue foolishly attacking me like it had before— as others like it had always done. But instead, it spun around and ran away.

For a moment— just a brief moment— I was left stunned. Not because I had been zapped or anything. But because it was running.

Why was it running? They never ran!

I was puzzled by this. That had never happened before; it was another thing that went against the norm established by observations I made in the past. By the time I thought to chase after it, it was already long gone.

I felt my entire body vibrate, slightly annoyed that I didn’t get the experience from defeating it. It wasn’t as high leveled as the magic Demon, but when I evaluated my status, something told me it might have given me enough experience to level up again.

Salvos

Species: [Infant Demon]

Subspecies: [Demon Larva] - Lvl. 6

General Skills:

[Identification] - Lvl. 3

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 1

[Basic Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 1

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 8

[Strength]: 8

[Endurance]: 7

[Wisdom]: 12

[Agility]: 15

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 5]

[Unused Skill Slot] x5

Ever since I had decided to focus on leveling myself up, I had only gained a single level, going from Level 5 to Level 6. It wasn’t easy leveling up when everything I fought was lower leveled than me.

It didn’t bother me too much— I was still making steady progress. It was visible both in my Status as well as on my physical body: as my [Agility] increased, some of my limbs grew longer. In fact, I would have been wholly satisfied coming off this encounter in spite of letting one escape, had I not realized that one of those ‘mindless’ Demons was capable of using magic and I still was not.

That frustrated me. Perhaps I wasn’t trying hard enough? Sure, I was focusing more on fighting now than trying to do magic. But the periods of reprieve in between were all spent with my frontal limbs pointed up to the red sky, trying to touch the intangible lines of mana all around me.

I was lacking something. Every single time I raised my [Wisdom], I knew something was changing within me. However there was a component of magic that I just wasn’t grasping right.

I tried once again grabbing at the mana in my surroundings, but nothing happened. I pushed at it, pulled at it, and even tried chasing after it. Still, I wasn’t able to do magic. After I had expended my Stat Points into [Wisdom], it wasn’t working. I… stopped caring after a moment.

It was infuriating, sure. But I was close to a level up! So instead of wasting my time lying here and accomplishing nothing, I decided to mull over it as I scurried in search of a potential enemy.

It didn’t take long. At least, compared to how much time passed before I met the first group of Demons. It seemed that wherever I was was more populated than where I had been born.

When I spotted the Demon from a distance, I had almost assumed it was only a single one. Great! It was more likely to be one that would attack me, rather than approach me out of interest. And yet, when I got closer and closer to it, I soon realized it wasn’t a single Demon— but two wrapped together in a battle.

I stopped a ways away from the fight, choosing first to survey what was going on. Of course, the first thing I did was use [Identification]— which required me to get to a certain distance from the target of the Skill.

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 4]

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]

The higher leveled Demon was, as expected, winning the fight. It had pinned the other Demon to the ground, and was smashing its head onto… him? I paused, noting the distinction. He was certainly not an ‘it’, but a ‘him’, like how I was a ‘her’.

That was a peculiar observation. What exactly about him made him a ‘ him’?  I had met other ‘hims’ and ‘hers’ before, however only at the beginning, and ever since then all the other Demons I had met were ‘its’. What made the other Demons ‘its’?

It was fascinating. It was something for me to ponder about. The implications of which I had to take time to absorb and parse. And as I was busy with this revelation, the Demon continued smashing him on the head.

Was it because they were incapable of thought?

Smash.

Certainly not. The most recent Demon I had encountered thought to run away instead of fighting me once it realized it was outmatched, and it was an ‘it’.  

Smash. Smash. Smash.

So clearly it could think, but an instinctual drive—

Smash.

You’re too loud! I can’t think! Can you stop?

Smash.

I snapped. I had enough of this. The other Demon had a lot of health. He probably had raised his [Vitality] incredibly high so he could take a lot of hits. He was struggling, landing a few of his own on hits back on it. But it was winning, and it was making a lot of noise.

So I finally decided to intervene. I threw it off of him, tackling it to the ground and striking it with my own limbs. I aimed for its weak spots— where it had already visibly taken damage from fighting the other Demon. And yet, it wasn’t falling.

It flailed back at me, thrashing its entire body about, before managing to pry me off it. It charged me with its head, knocking me into a daze as I staggered back away from it. That’s hard! It had a hard head— possibly having a high [Vitality] too? Whatever the case was, I was angry.

It managed to land a hit on me! No one had been able to hit me before— by themselves. Sure, it was because I decided to carelessly attack it, and sure, it was the highest leveled Demon I have seen since the large Demon. But still, it hit me!

I backed up as the Demon whiffed two swings with its body, before it tried rushing me with its head again. I went around it, going for its back and landed a quick strike on it. Once again, my limbs barely left a dent on its tough skin, less so than before since I hadn’t aimed for a bruised spot.

I could hurt it. Just barely hurt it. I couldn’t wrap my body around it and squeeze it since it was about my size, it would easily be able to throw me off it. So there was no quick way for me to defeat it. All I could do now was whittle it down with multiple strikes, until I won. Perhaps if I had a higher attack…

I dodged another charge, just barely this time, as I realized that I actually did have a way to hurt it. That was the reason I had been raising my [Wisdom]. A magical attack.

But I didn’t know how to do one. I had been trying to figure it out, but it was difficult. It was like I was paying attention to the wrong thing. To the magic around me?

That seemed wrong, didn’t it? There was no magic in the empty space filled with mana. The mana was just there, but it wasn’t magic. Instead, the magical attack created by the Demon from earlier came from within it, did it not?

I tried to think back to my previous fight; it was an intense moment, but I did pay attention to how the magic Demon created the electric shock. I saw the magic— the mana around it moving, like strings manipulated by it. And yet, it wasn’t actually coming from around it. It was coming from inside the magic Demon.

It was like the magic Demon had attached its own strings onto the lines of mana. It exerted the mana inside of it to do magic, and the mana in the surroundings only served as an assisting medium. So instead of tugging at the mana strings there, I pulled the mana from inside of me with my front limbs. And it worked.

Instantly, I felt something leaving my body and a slight exhaustion sink in. However, there was now also a power right where I concentrated the mana into. I could do magic now.

The Demon once again charged me, but this time I did not even pay attention to it. I focused on the mana, trying to shape it into something I wanted. Right now, I was frustrated. I was burning with anger against the annoying Demon as well as burning with excitement now knowing how to cast magic. I also wanted to hurt it— I wanted something with the power to penetrate its strong defenses.

And from that desire, I shaped the magical attack. Fire plumed into existence on my front two limbs, covering it with an intense heat I could feel but did not burn me. The mindless Demon did not even stop to take this in, and continued its attack. Instead of trying to go for a counterattack, I decided to be reckless once again.

I swung my two limbs forward at it as it came at me. I struck first into its head, which normally would have done nothing to stop it. But the fire blazed upon impact, and the Demon recoiled. Again, I brought my two fiery limbs down at it, and again it was hurt from the strikes.

I was actually doing damage to it! This magical attack was doing far more than I possibly could have with just my limbs alone. The Demon recognized this and tried to back up, but I was relentless.

I pressed the Demon with my new magical attack, continuously hitting it until its defenses gave in and black blood finally poured out. At that point, it had failed in trying to escape due to my significantly faster movement, and weakly tried to fight back. I took a few strikes due to how wildly I was attacking it, but it didn’t matter. I won in the end as the words filled my head.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 6] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 7]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

Skill [Basic Fire Conjuration] Learned!

Experience is awarded for the learning of a Skill!

Skill [Fire Strike] Obtained!

General Skill [Basic Mana Manipulation] Level Up!  

[Basic Mana Manipulation - Lvl. 1] -> [Basic Mana Manipulation - Lvl. 2]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

I gained two Skills and leveled up? That was amazing! Although I didn’t gain any experience from learning the second one, which was odd.

Perhaps it was because I gained the Skill from leveling? That might have been the difference between learning a Skill and obtaining one; so there was no experience to be gained from the latter.

I quickly looked over my Skills and Stats in my Status as I considered what to do next.

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 5]

[Vitality]: 8

[Strength]: 8

[Endurance]: 7

[Wisdom]: 12

[Agility]: 15

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 6]

[Basic Fire Conjuration] - Lvl. 1

[Fire Strike] - Lvl. 1

[Unused Skill Slot] x3

For my Stats, I put 2 Stat Points into [Vitality] and the remaining 3 into [Agility] because I was unhappy with how much damage I took from this fight. I had to be faster, and I had to be able to take more hits. If not— I would die.

I wasn’t able to take blows like that Demon had been able to, nor did I plan to do so. But I would rather not lose because I wasn’t able to survive a single blow. And I could put off raising my [Strength] and [Wisdom] for now, since I just gained these brand new Skills which would significantly alter the way I fought.

I had considered increasing my [Endurance]— I was absolutely exhausted right now, something which I commonly found myself suffering from after a fight, but even more so now that I used magic. But that was something I could raise later. I did not think I would be able to die from exhaustion.

As for my Skill Points...

The Skill names were rather self explanatory, and I had just used them for myself. But I was not exactly sure how much of a difference a Skill Point made. Was a Level 2 [Fire Strike] twice as powerful as a Level 1 [Fire Strike]? And wasn’t it possible for me to gain a more powerful Skill than [Fire Strike] in the future? For now, I simply raised both my new Skills by 1 Skill Point each, choosing to save my Skill Points once I understood my Skills more and had a wider array of them.

Satisfied, I looked back down from where I had been distractedly staring at in the sky while in thought, and found myself jumping as a pair of eyes stared back at me. The other Demon— the one that had been losing the fight prior to my intervention— was just standing in front of me. And he was not moving.

...do I fight you too?

5. Not Like Me

I stared down the [Demon Larva] that I had just saved as he stood in front of me. At first I had thought he was about to attack me too, but when he did not move, I concluded that that was not the case. However, as to what he was really trying to do? I had no clue.

He had been on the verge of death before I interrupted his battle with the other Demon— the one that I recognized as an ‘it’ and not a ‘him’ or ‘her’. I still didn’t fully parse this distinction, but that did not matter at the moment. Because right now, I was trying to figure out what to do with this Demon.

It was odd— for some reason, he seemed to have recovered from his injuries rather quickly. I would have thought earlier that I would be able to defeat him with a few regular attacks, but with the way he was looking now, it would probably take more than just a [Fire Strike] to take him down.

In fact, he was not only looking better than before, he was also slightly bigger. His body appeared to be more solid. Perhaps…

I used [Identification] on him.

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]

It seemed that my musing had been right; this Demon had leveled up, which healed him somewhat from his injuries. Not only that, he had probably spent a significant amount of his Stat Points on his [Vitality], further regaining his health, as well as giving him a bigger form than before.

But how did he level? Was it because he had contributed in hurting the other Demon before I had defeated it? Was my experience shared with him because he damaged it beforehand?

I intuited that that was probably the case. And that irked me somewhat.

This Demon, who barely did anything and who I had inadvertently saved, had taken some of the precious experience I deserved from me? I had fought and struggled to gain that experience, and he reaped part of that reward? That was ridiculous!

I was irritated at him. He was simply just standing there uselessly in front of me, as if he was gloating that he was able to... to... steal from me. If I… defeated him, I’d get the experience back from him, right? That made sense, did it not?

But— something held me back; I… recognized him?

That was right. He looked slightly different now— he had limbs where he did not before. His entire body was red, which was not an unusual color; I had seen others of that color before. But the black and yellow spots on his back were what clued me into the fact that I had met him before.

He was one of the others! The ones in the first group of Demons I had met!

If I recalled correctly, he was only Level 2 back then. And now he was Level 5, after having escaped that large Demon that slaughtered the others...

Apprehension seized me, stopping me from raising my limbs at him. Wouldn’t I just be like the large Demon if I attacked him now? It attacked us without reason, other than maybe the desire to level and grow. Just like the other corybantic Demons. I did not want to be like them! I wasn’t an it. I was a she!

They were not like me!

I felt my irritation dissolve as a slight fear stopped me from doing anything to him. I took a look at his clueless face one last time before I whirled around. I’m not doing it. I started away from him. I will not do it!

With that resolve ingrained within me, I began my search for the next group of corybantic Demons to fight. As I did, I decided to test my new Skills out. First of all, I had leveled in [Basic Mana Manipulation]. It was now Level 2, which I could infer meant that I could manipulate mana better?

Sure enough, I could feel the flow of mana within and around me far better; it wasn’t the most drastic change, but it was noticeable. I decided to leave it be for now— I looked over at the first regular Skills I had. These weren’t General Skills, but Skills I gained because they came with my Subspecies? I wasn’t entirely certain, however there was a limit to how many I could have.

Right now, I had two of them. [Fire Strike] and [Basic Fire Conjuration]. I had distributed a Skill Point to each of them, and they were now both at Level 2.

[Fire Strike]. It wasn’t exactly what I used to defeat that Demon from earlier. It was similar, but while what I did was rough, simple, and differed with each hit— I could tell that this Skill was a lot more refined and consistent.

I raised a single limb, activating the Skill as I thrusted it forward. For a moment, red fire surrounded the nub I had swung, and with it came a power. A force that I knew dealt more damage than I could do just by swinging my limbs by itself. At the same time, I felt an equal amount of energy deplete from within me; the mana I had just felt surging through me earlier was less now by a small, but significant amount.

Alright, I already knew what that Skill was and could do. What I was more fascinated by was the other one— [Basic Fire Conjuration]. Judging from its name, I could extrapolate that it allowed me to conjure fire?

I had to test that out. I was almost giddy in excitement as I brought my forefront limbs out and focused. [Basic Fire Conjuration]!

I tried to create a fire. I was curious, but still reserved. So at first, I conjured a small flame. A tiny bead of crimson flame came to life between my limbs, staring up at me like a glowing eye. It reminded me of my own eyes— red, blazing.

Seeing what I had been able to create, I felt emboldened to do more. I was capable of more! I didn’t want a small fire anymore, now I wanted a big fire! One the size of me!

I felt a large chunk of mana leave my body into the surroundings, before it connected to the fire I held. The fire flared—

And my entire body sagged. I stopped in my tracks, feeling utter exhaustion set in. I could barely even hold up my limbs to keep the flames from falling onto me. And it was not even like the fire was that big. It was only about half the size of my head now, not anywhere near as large as I wanted it to be.

This was bad. I was so completely tired, I could barely even move. If I was attacked now—

Something bumped into me.

I spun around in a panic, throwing the fire at whatever had hit me. The fire simply fell to the white ground, lighting the rocky floor up for a moment before it was snuffed out. I stared at where my fire one was. This Skill was useless! I couldn’t even use it as an attack!

I stomped my limbs on where it had once been, more annoyed than anything that it had been a dud. I almost completely forgot that I had been bumped, and only remembered that happened when I saw the Demon from earlier tilting his body at me.

He had followed me. Why did he follow me? I glanced up at him curiously; was he planning on attacking me? I did not think so. Not only had I never been attacked by a Demon like him before, but he clearly did not mean to bump into me since it was so light I hadn’t even taken damage from that.

I dragged my tired body a tiny bit closer to him, and he did not move. He did not prepare to fight. He was just staring at me— at every one of my movements. I paused for a moment, considering this. Only a single logical conclusion crossed my mind.

He must be following me to learn how I became Level 7!

That had to be it. I remembered following the Level 3 Demons because I wanted to find out how they reached the level. It only made sense that he was doing the same here.

I looked at him— at his levels and his appearance— and decided that there was no harm if he followed me. So I waited there with him until I felt the exhaustion leave my body; that was something I had to deal with later. I had an inkling of an idea that I could increase the mana capacity in my body by raising my [Endurance]. But to do that, I had to level.

So once I was well rested, I turned once again, facing away from him, and continued my hunt for those wild Demons.

—--

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 3]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy half your level or less!

This wasn’t working out.

I had defeated a lot of Demons, many of them close to my level, and yet I still hadn’t leveled up yet. Normally, I would’ve probably reached Level 8 by now, and would be on the way to Level 9. But because of that Demon with the black and yellow spots following me, I was still at Level 7!

He would always rush in to attack any Demon that charged at me before I could defeat them myself. And maybe it was because he raised his [Strength] or something, but he was doing enough damage to them that I was apparently only getting ‘less experience’ from these encounters.

Of course, I was faster than him, so I would always be able to reach a Demon before him. But I would only be able to quickly defeat the lower leveled ones before he came— which made no  difference since those gave me less experience anyway!

Because of this, my progress had slowed. And I really didn’t like that my progress had slowed. I needed to get rid of him somehow. But he was relentless.

Even if I moved at my top speed, trying to get away from him, he would always eventually catch up to me. And what was worse was that he realized that he had to keep up with me, so when he eventually leveled from these encounters against Demons more powerful than him, he increased his [Agility]. Now it was even harder to put distance between us!

It was almost like he was just following me to siphon free experience from the Demons I defeated.

I had been at a loss on what to do. I had contemplated maybe injuring him badly, letting me get away from him before he could catch up. But I remembered he had a lot of health. I would have to attack him for a while— and what would happen if he fought back?

These were difficult questions for me: I did not like having to think about this. So I put it off for the moment, having spotted a group of Demons in the distance. There were about five of them, and they were gathered at the foot of the small hill I had just finished cresting.

I was nearing a level up. I could tell I was almost there. So I approached them, looking to at least hit Level 8 before I decided on how to deal with the Demon following me.

However, as I got closer— close enough to use [Identification] on them— I realized these weren’t wild Demons. They were Demons like me.

She— no, that’s a he— is Level 5. She is Level 4. He is Level 6. She…yes, she’s Level 6. And he’s Level… 9?!

The highest out of all of them was even higher leveled than me. I was impressed, as well as curious. What did he do to get so high leveled? I knew now how to level unlike before, but still it struck me as odd that he was able to reach that level even with a group following him. Was there a special trick to it?

I wanted to go down there— I wanted to follow him to see what he did differently from me. But then, from my peripheral vision, I saw the Demon with black and yellow spots sidle up next to me. Then I remembered how little experience I would gain if I joined and fought alongside this group.

So I thought to leave; I thought I had no reason to approach them any further, since I was neither planning on following them or attacking them. However, as I was about to scuttle around the Demon with black and yellow spots, I realized he was looking longingly down at the group. Then I had a brilliant idea!

I had been about to go and he had begun to follow after me, but now I turned back around. I started down the hill, making sure that he came with me as I approached the group of Demons down below.

They all looked up as I arrived with him, turning to face me with slight confusion in their faces. A Demon, the highest leveled one who had a pair of odd, jagged protrusions on his head— were they horns?—  stepped forward, glancing between the two of us.

I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but that did not matter. I scurried behind the Demon with black and yellow spots, ushering him forward. The horned Demon cocked his head, as his group exchanged glances with one another.

I stopped right in front of him, raising my front limbs and pointing them at my unwanted companion. Take him! He can join your group! That was what I tried to convey.

I wasn’t sure if it worked. In fact, I thought it didn’t work when the Demons at the back just stared at the Demon with black and yellow spots, unmoving. He didn’t move forward either; he just looked at me with the rest of them.

I was left frustrated, frantically gesturing at him and at the group, until the horned Demon raised one of his long, sharp limbs. He held it there until I took notice of it and stopped moving, then he slowly aimed it in the direction of the Demon with black and yellow spots.

The horned Demon made his way towards him, as I backed up, and gently rested a limb on him. He patted him on the back once, and raised a limb in the direction of his group.

My unwanted companion looked back at me hesitantly. He pointed at me, but the horned Demon just nodded in my direction— as if he understood what I had been trying to do. I eagerly copied that gesture, nodding my head in return.

Three of his Demons came forward and began to lead the Demon with black and yellow spots to the rest of his group. I continued my enthusiastic nodding, as I watched my unwanted companion join the group.

I was overcome with relief— I could finally level myself without any trouble from him. It could go back to gaining regular amounts of experience for defeating the wild Demons. I was just about to leave, when the horned Demon raised his limb again as if asking me to stop.

I was grateful for what he did for me, so I halted as he approached me. He began making weird signals with his limbs, ones that I did not understand this time. I stared at him in confusion. What does he want? I wasn’t entirely sure.

I had been trying to decipher the meaning behind his actions when he finally reached me. He brought two of his limbs up—

And he struck me.

His sharp limb cut through my skin, spraying black out at him. I jerked in pain as he drew his limbs back up, as if to attack me once again. I just barely dodged it, putting a small distance between me and him.

The Demon with black and yellow spots had been staring in horror at what had happened, when suddenly the Demons at his sides assailed him too. My gaze snapped between the horned Demon and his group of Demons, as my mind slowly registered what was happening.

They weren’t the wild Demons who attacked everything without thought. They were Demons capable of thought. They were Demons like my companion. They were Demons like me.

And they had just attacked  us.

6. Red Fire

My body was aching; I had just been attacked, and it hurt a lot. Black liquid— blood— was pouring from the cut running down the side of my face to my body— I had been injured before, but not this badly. And worst of all, I was being attacked by Demons like me.

Why did they attack me? Was it an accident—

There was a loud thud. The Demon with black and yellow spots was knocked back by the three Demons that were next to him. This was no accident; this was done with intent. But I could not understand why they were doing this. And I didn’t even have time to try and understand it.

The horned Demon rushed at me, all of its spiky limbs lashing out at once. I evaded it, pushing myself off the ground and back with all my strength. He pressed forward, continuing slicing out in all directions as I kept my distance between him.

I was faster than him, but the way he was moving, I couldn’t get close. And I almost didn’t want to want to get close. I didn’t want to fight him! I didn’t want to fight them! I was just giving them a new companion— did they not like the Demon with black and yellow spots either?

Perhaps they knew he stole experience from others. Maybe that was why they were angry and attacking me now. But I was not like that!

I tried to get the horned Demon’s attention; I waved my limbs up and down like had done earlier, frantically nodding my head to him. He did not let up.

He swung and missed me by just a tiny bit. I was only barely able to keep him away from me. Why isn’t it working?  I dodged another attack, and from the side, I saw something white flying towards me at high speeds.

A rock struck me on the face, where I had been wounded, and I recoiled. More blood spurted out, as I defensively covered the injury with my limbs. As I did, the horned Demon closed the distance and sliced at me.

I couldn’t dodge it in time, but I wasn’t completely unprepared like earlier. I managed to react by bringing one of my limbs to block the attack, and instead of being cut on my body, the limb was lopped off. I stared in horror as more blood oozed out of that nub where my limb once was.

Reflexively, I struck out. [Fire Strike]! I managed to land a hit back at the horned Demon before he could follow through with his next attack. He staggered for a moment, before recovering himself and charging at me with more vigor. Instead of using his limbs however, he lowered his head, pointing his horns in my direction, and rushed forward.

I drew myself to the side and he missed me. But another rock struck me to the side, and I turned to face where it came from. Next to where the three Demons were fighting with my companion, I saw the last Demon in their group pointing his antennae at me.

The antennae swayed, then glowed. A rock twice the size of my eyes flew up and shot out at me. This time, having seen it, I managed to evade the attack. I whirled back to the horned Demon, expecting him to follow up from this attack, but only saw him glaring at the magic Demon.

He swung one limb down, stabbing the ground, and pointed another at her. She flinched, nodded, then turned to help the other two Demons in their group fight the Demon with black and yellow spots. I looked at this, confused.

He was… ordering her to not help him? But why would he do that? He wasn’t able to hit me without her help! If he wanted to kill me so badly, he’d have her pelt me with rocks as he engaged me up close. That was unless…

He wanted the experience from defeating me all for himself.

I glanced between the horned Demon and his group. They were attacking us for experience. They weren’t mindless like the wild Demons, nor were they angry at us. They did not care that we were like them, and only saw us as an opportunity to level themselves. That— that— was ridiculous!

I felt a flash of anger burn within me. Here I was thinking they were like me, but they were not. They only cared to level. I wanted to level, but I didn’t attack them! We were different— we weren’t the same after all.

The horned Demon slashed at me, and I went under the attack. I landed a [Fire Strike] to his side, before backing away from his follow up swing. It nicked me, leaving a small cut where it touched. I wasn’t able to completely dodge it; my missing limb made me significantly slower than before.

I had come to these Demons, seeking to help them. I mean, sure, I was trying to get rid of an unwanted companion, but I had no intentions to harm them. But they saw me, and they thought only of the experience . If that was how they were going to think of me, then I was going to do the same to them!

I skittered away from the horned Demon’s subsequent attacks, glancing back at the group fighting away from us. I saw the Demon with black and yellow spots struggling as they held him down and struck him. He had a high [Vitality], but I did not think he would be able to hold out much longer.

He pushed one of the Demons off him then lashed out at the other two twice. Before he could fully right himself, rocks hit him at the side, knocking him back down. They continued beating him as he was down, squirming to get away from them.

I focused on the magic Demon, hurling rocks at the side, then back to the horned Demon. My attacks were barely hurting the horned Demon— I would have to use a lot of mana just to deal with him, let alone the others. But I had noticed something earlier. I had seen all their levels, and I realized something now. A plan quickly formed in my mind.

The horned Demon approached me, but instead of backing away, I raised my limbs. A small ball of red fire was conjured right in front of me. He paused, just for a moment, as the fire grew slightly bigger. I drew my limbs back, and he braced himself. I threw the fire as he tried to dodge to the side.

He stared as the fire limply dropped just in front of me.

I rushed the magic Demon before he could react. She glanced up as I scurried up next to her, and hit her with a [Fire Strike]. She lurched back, and I struck her with the Skill once again. Her skin changed color. It was burned where she had been hurt. But I did not let up.

One thing I had noticed earlier— even before I decided to approach the group— was that she was Level 4. And despite being barely more than half my level, she was capable of using magic. I hadn’t even been able to use magic until I was Level 6. I smashed my head on her.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 4]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 7] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 8]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

And that meant she had to have used a significant amount of her Stat Points on [Wisdom] instead of [Vitality].

I whirled around, quickly backing up and away from the horned Demon as he swung for me once again. The words I had been waiting for came, and I hurriedly distributed my Stat Points out. I raised my [Agility] by 2, my [Endurance] by 2, and my [Vitality] by 1. Then I spent the single Skill Point I gained on [Fire Strike].

I could’ve used more Skill Points on my [Fire Strike], but I decided against it, since I wasn’t entirely sure how it would affect the Skill. If it made it more powerful, it could’ve used up more mana, and that was something I couldn’t afford to waste right now.

That was why I had raised my [Endurance] instead of my [Vitality] ; if I had given myself more health, I was sure some of my injuries would have been healed— perhaps even my missing limb would have grown back. But having more health wouldn’t matter if I couldn’t deal the damage necessary to beat them.

And strangely enough, raising my [Agility] shifted my body to adapt without that missing limb. Some of my limbs grew longer, more sturdy, while the others almost seemed to have sunk back inwards to my body. So even in spite of my injuries, I was able to move faster than before.

The horned Demon swung at me once again, and I managed to counter him with a [Fire Strike] to the face, followed by a regular attack. He drew back and I pressed forward. I landed another of my [Fire Strike] on him, before pulling his body up and closing all of his sharpened limbs on me.

I pulled away just in time to avoid getting caught by him, but still suffered a dozen scratches on my sides from that. If he had caught me with that, I definitely would not have survived. He dealt a lot of damage with each hit, while I was only just hurting him with each of my attacks. I had to whittle him down to beat him. But...  I glanced at the fighting happening a small ways away from me. I can’t do it on my own.

I readied myself as the horned Demon prepared for another charge. We repeated the same moves as earlier, with me landing two hits on him. Then when he backed up to bait me in, I turned around and rushed to my companions aid.

I got there as quick as I could; the three Demons were beating him as he curled up in a defensive position to protect himself. I pushed myself off the ground, landing on the back of the closest Demon I could. Immediately, I jabbed two limbs forward, hitting him with two [Fire Strikes] at once.

I managed to get one last hit in before the other two Demons whirled around to engage with me. I hopped off the Demon I had been on, and backed away as they came at me. The two Demons spread out, trying to prevent me from going around them to the Demon I had injured, and when I turned around to flee, I saw the horned Demon closing in on me too.

I was surrounded. Trapped by them. If I tried to flee, one of them would surely catch me. Then it would be me against three of them at once, and I couldn’t possibly win. My best option would be to charge either side, to fight as few of them as possible before I had to fight them all. They knew this too, so the horned Demon started forward, making his two minions wait behind me to cut off my escape.

Unfortunately, he forgot about his third minion.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

The Demon with black and yellow spots crushed the head of the fallen Demon, and immediately his body shifted. Did he get a level up? It was possible— in fact, that was what I had been hoping for.

He grew larger once again, his body more tough and his limbs more hard. I wasn’t sure what he raised, but I had hoped he used his Stat Points on his [Strength]. Because I needed him to take out at least another one of the Demons for us to win this.

While I was staring triumphantly at my companion’s new level and the two minion Demons were caught in surprise, the horned Demon took this as an opportunity to attack me. He charged me with his horns, trying to skewer me.

I backed up to dodge it, but as expected, the two minion Demons intercepted me from behind. I found one of them directly at my back, and the other a little off to the side. The horned Demon reached me—

And I threw myself to the side at the last moment. I landed right next to the other Demon at my flank, and was met with multiple blunt strikes to the face. However, I saw blood pouring out from the Demon that had been behind me as the horned Demon rammed into her with his horns instead.

I fought back with three uses of [Fire Strike], as the horned Demon pulled himself off his minion. I was down half my mana now, having used my Skills so much, and I had meant for that to at least serve as a moment’s distraction to keep him away from me. But he didn’t hesitate. He ignored his injured minion and rushed me.

I was locked in combat with this Demon in front of me. She and I would have probably fought for longer if I didn’t decide there and then to use [Fire Strike] for every single one of my attacks on her. She dropped as I felt my mana rapidly deplete.

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

I was completely exhausted now. I didn’t manage to dodge the horned Demon’s next attack, taking most of it head on to land my own hit on him. I backed up, blood spilling out of another wound just below my face.

I stared into the red eyes of the horned Demon, as he prepared to charge me once again. I was tired. He knew I was tired. This would be his win. If I used my [Fire Strike] again, I would truly be out of mana. And while using up my mana regularly didn’t exactly drain me of my energy— my stamina— it started to take a toll on my body when I used up too much. It made me more sluggish.

He was just about to come forward, when he suddenly stopped. Words appeared— notifications of defeating an enemy came. But it was not for me. It had resounded in his head.

The horned Demon turned slowly, to the corpse of where his last minion had been. The Demon with black and yellow spots— my companion— had finished her off, and he, having injured her, was notified of it. I didn’t receive any experience, because I hadn’t done enough damage to her. But that didn’t matter to me.

Because now, it was just him and the two of us left.

He was still looking at my companion in surprise when I threw myself onto his back. With my now-longer limbs, I was able to leap even further and higher than before. I wrapped my two front limbs around his horns, keeping me from falling off him as he struggled to get me off him. He couldn’t get a proper hit on me with his sharp limbs, although he was able to cut and scratch at me.

I brought my head down on him a few times as we squirmed around on the spot. I wasn’t sure how much damage I was doing to him, but I didn’t have to use mana for this. Then, when he had almost gotten a good grip of me on his back, my companion arrived.

He swung his blunt limbs at the horned Demon’s face twice as I followed up with my continued attacks. The horned Demon tried to fight back against him, but I wrapped enough of my limbs around the base of his to keep him from landing any proper hits. And even if he did, my companion had enough [Vitality] to survive them.

The horned Demon continued to struggle as the two of us laid into him, until finally, he couldn’t move anymore.

General Skill [Basic Mana Manipulation] Level Up!  

[Basic Mana Manipulation - Lvl. 2] -> [Basic Mana Manipulation - Lvl. 3]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 9]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 8] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 9]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

7. Rest Time

Salvos

Species: [Infant Demon]

Subspecies: [Demon Larva] - Lvl. 9

General Skills:

[Basic Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 3

[Identification] - Lvl. 3

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 1

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 11

[Strength]: 8

[Endurance]: 11

[Wisdom]: 13

[Agility]: 22

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 4]

[Basic Fire Conjuration] - Lvl. 2

[Fire Strike] - Lvl. 4

[Unused Skill Slot] x3

After having spent the Skill and Stat Points I had gained from my most recent level up, I slowly straightened, satisfied. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly feeling too adventurous with distributing them, considering the battle I had just fought— I could have died!

So looking at where I had lacked during combat, I decided to raise my [Agility], [Endurance], and [Wisdom], in addition to increasing the level of [Fire Strike]. My [Basic Fire Conjuration] did help as a distraction, but I did not think it would be useful for the time being. Maybe I would use up the Skill Points I had been saving up on it in the future, but for now, I saw no practical use for it.

Slowly, I turned to the Demon which had also been lying immobile next to me: the Demon with black and yellow spots had leveled up too. I had used [Identification] on him earlier, and saw that he was now Level 8.

Yes, he was Level 8: a single level below me. I felt that it was a bit unfair that he had gone from Level 4 to Level 8— doubling in levels— since I had saved him, while I had only gone from Level 6 to Level 9.

It was probably due to the fact that he had been mostly defeating enemies higher level than him; even if he had gained less experience because I was there, it would be subtracted from a larger experience pool than he would have gotten from fighting an enemy his level. Meanwhile, not only did I not get experience from one of the Demons in our last battle, but I got less experience because most of them were lower leveled than me.

And while I was envious of my companion’s rapid growth, I took some consolation knowing that we were both Level 2 when we had first met— before the large Demon attacked our group— and I was still higher leveled than him. Furthermore, my envy was stymied because of what had just happened.

Those Demons— that I thought had been like me— attacked us because they wanted experience. It was… like those wild Demons!

But unlike those wild Demons who were incapable of acting beyond their instinct, they did it after putting careful thought into their actions. Somehow, that made it worse to me.

So my disdain for the horned Demon and his minions made me put thoughts of levels away for now. I pushed my limbs on the ground, trying to get up—

When the Demon with black and yellow spots jerked. He raised a limb and I panicked, thinking he was about to attack me too. However, instead of swatting at me with his large limbs, he simply waved them at me.

I found myself staring at that gesture, confused. I continued getting up, but he began to sway his limbs faster. Examining his body language inquisitively, I saw him… pointing at the ground?

He was trying to tell me to stay. To not… move? But why?

Then upon closer inspection, I noticed something about his body; when he had been badly wounded earlier, most of the cuts and marks on his body were now gone. I glanced back down at myself, then noticed that most of my wounds were still there.

How was he able to recover that quickly, while I was still hurt and low on health. Sure, I had leveled and regained some of my lost health, but not a significant enough amount to close the injuries I had sustained. The Demon with black and yellow spots must have read the confusion in my face as he began shaking his limbs harder, clearly indicating the ground.

Deciding that there was no harm listening to him, I lay back down and simply stayed there. As time passed, I tried getting up twice, but each time he stopped me and forced me back down. Eventually, when I had gotten bored and was counting the rocks on the ground, I heard words appear in my head.

General Skill [Rest] Learned!

Experience is awarded for the learning of a General Skill!

I perked up excitedly. I had just gotten a General Skill! I wasn’t sure what it did at first, until I realized that half of my wounds were gone. Gradually, without me noticing, I had healed up during that period I had been motionless.

The Demon with black and yellow spots looked over at me, realizing I had finally gotten the General Skill. He must have gotten it somehow before, and was trying to get me to learn it too. I gratefully nodded my head in his direction, to which he nodded back.

Feeling a sense of… happiness  within me, I lowered my body once again. While he had mostly regained his health, as evident by his fully healed body, I was still halfway there. So he waited for me to finish recovering, until finally we were ready to go.

—--

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 4]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 6]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Demon Larva - Lvl. 5]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

After I had fully recovered my health, the two of us left the foot of the hill back into the flat, white lands ahead. The moment we had put ourselves in the open, a group of wild Demons attacked us; I wasn’t even prepared for the encounter, but it happened quickly.

Because neither of us had been ready for it, we suffered more damage than I felt comfortable fighting with. So I led my companion back to another hill— one that had a flat top. I realized now that being in the open would lead to being noticed, especially with his vibrant colors, so I wanted to [Rest] up in a place we were safe.

We crested up the plateau, and after taking a quick look around at the top and seeing no one, I decided we would stay there for a bit. I had only recovered some of my health when I heard a noise.

It was an unusual sound— not especially since I didn’t often hear anything when there was no fighting. Curious at this, I listened carefully, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. After a moment, I realized it was coming from over the edge across the plateau. Gesturing at my companion to follow me, I made my way over to see what it was.

He didn’t seem interested in it, although he did follow me as usual. The closer I got to the edge, the louder the noise became. And it wasn’t like the sound of fighting— it was a lot more… repetitive. There was a short interval between each time the sound was made, and it was almost always the same noise or something similar.

Peeking over the edge, I looked down at what was a narrow passage between another hill. It was a valley, and down in the valley were moving shapes. Figures, not ones I had ever seen before, were entering this valley.

I heard the noise again, and this time, not only was it clearer, but I felt something happening inside of me. As if the noise was affecting me somehow. I felt my mind whirl— as if a Skill was being used…

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension]

“Keep on moving! If you break, you will be killed!”

These words registered in my head, and unlike the words that simply appeared in my head, I was hearing them. Someone was speaking— shouting, even. And I could understand them.

I looked at the source of the voice, focusing on a large, gray figure at the front of the group. He wasn’t like any other Demon I had seen before, but I intuitively knew he was one. He only had four limbs— unlike my dozen— and only needed two of them under him to walk. He had a long head, with two crooked horns protruding out of the side. And behind him, were other Demons, ones that walked on four limbs, ones that held strange items— weapons— with them, and ones of different stature. But still, they were mostly the same— most had four limbs, and most were nearly the same height, with only some outliers. Although, even from this distance, I did notice that they all had a weird ringed object attached to them somewhere.

I was immediately drawn to these Demons. This was something new! I wanted to know what they were— I wanted to get close enough to use [Identification] on them.

However, as I placed a limb forward, I felt my companion hold me back with one of his large limbs. I angrily turned to him for stopping me, almost swinging at him in the process, but stopped when I realized he was pointing past me.

I followed it, finding my eyes landing on a second group of Demons— ones that I was more familiar with. They were [Demon Larvae], traveling together as a pack right behind the first, new group of Demons. I immediately felt my curiosity and anger disappear and felt relief that I hadn’t gone forward to investigate the Demons.

These Demons could attack me! Maybe those new Demons wouldn’t, but I knew now to be more cautious around [Demon Larvae] for they were willing to attack me even if they could think. So I held back, instead choosing to observe the interaction of this group from afar.

The Demon with the crooked horns at the front of the group continued his shouting, as they made their way through the valley.

“Keep on moving! Keep on—”

Suddenly, he was cut off as a loud piercing noise. It was very high pitched, sounding almost like a screech. Immediately, all the Demons turned their attention to the source of the noise that seemed to come from the other side of the valley. The first group of Demons seemed more alert to this sound, while the second group of Demons just looked around in confusion.

I also found myself staring down the valley. What is that noise? It continued for a moment, before being followed by more sounds. More noises. And they came at different pitches: some were deep and long, others were high and fast. Whatever was making the noise, I did not think it was only one thing.

And it wasn’t.

From the other side of the valley came pouring Demons. Wild Demons. Ones that were also new to me, but unlike the mostly uniform group of Demons, these ones were truly distinct. They came in all shapes and sizes, with very little consistency among them. Some had long, sinuous bodies with dozens of limbs, while others had bulbous bodies and only a quarter as many limbs. And mixed among them too were what I recognized to be wild [Demon Larvae].

These wild Demons charged down the valley, rushing at the Demons that had been traveling down that path. They roared, they howled, they growled, and they made all kinds of noises— none of them making any sense to me, despite my Racial Skill.

I watched as these large, terrifying Demons reached the first group of Demons. I had expected a slaughter. The wild Demons were huge. They outnumbered them. And yet, before they could even clash, I saw the Demon with crooked horns raise his two hanging limbs— his arms.

A ball of flames appeared in front of him. A massive one that shot forward, and instantly obliterated half of the coming wild Demons. Then once the explosion had gone away— when the bright light had disappeared and the reverberation through the ground had stopped— I looked up and saw something else appear in his hand.

It was a long pointed object. One that was burning, with wisps of flame coming off it. He swung this spear at the closest wild Demon, skewering it in an instant, before pulling it off and slicing another one in half. He kicked the next, before pointing his spear forward and bellowing.

“Slay these Lesser Demons!”

Behind him, the other Demons of his group yelled out and charged the remainder of the wild Demons. The ones with weapons swung their weapons, and the wild Demons died; the ones with extra limbs conjured out fire and stone, and the wild Demons died; and even the ones that were simply large— looking as though they had nothing special to them— attacked, and the wild Demons died.

It was a complete slaughter, except for the other side. The wild Lesser Demons fell in droves, only managing to bring down half a dozen of these Demons with them. And finally, when the last of the wild Demons— whether they had been Lesser Demons or Infant Demons— died, these Demons returned to the second group. The [Demon Larvae].

I paused, staring at the second group. There was less than before, even though they hadn’t taken part in the fighting. Where did the others go? I glanced around the valley, before spotting a small group of the [Demon Larvae] had broken off, and were heading for the valley’s exit.

I looked at them in confusion. They were… running? Had they been scared off by the attack of wild Demons? But they had won now, so why were they still trying to flee?

I spotted a Demon, and felt my question had been answered. Even amongst the group of [Demon Larvae] did he stand out, because I recognized him. He was only slightly different from when I had last seen him, but he still had his feelers on him.

He was the Level 3 Demon who instantly fled from the large Demon back when I had been with the others.

So he once again ran when he saw an enemy; he never wanted to fight. He was a… coward. Of course he would have taken any opportunity to escape, even if they won—

I watched as a spear shot through him, pinning him into the hill wall.

It was the fire spear the Demon with crooked horns had. He had thrown it at the coward Demon, instantly killing him. I stared in shock at this turn of events. Weren’t they on the same side? And continued to watch as he raised a hand and pointed at the rest of the fleeing group.

“I had warned you! I warned you you would be killed! Learn this lesson, the rest of you— the survivors. Know that you can not run from me!”

And a ball of fire shot out at them. It wasn’t as big as the one he conjured up against the wild Demons, but it was enough to instantly wipe out the dozen [Demon Larvae] that had been trying to flee.

I watched as the flames detonated, engulfing the Demons, killing them all before they could even leave the valley. Then I slowly turned back to the Demon with crooked horns in fear. Wha— why?!

He had killed them too easily; they didn’t even— couldn’t even— put up a fight. That meant he wasn’t gaining much experience from this. And yet, he killed them.

He walked back to the remainder of the second group of Demons, creating another spear with what I could tell was a Skill, and slamming its bottom on the hard, white ground.

“Now move! For if you break, you will be killed!”

And the [Demon Larvae] obeyed. They continued following the first group of Demons led by the Demon with crooked horns, as they made their way through the valley. I just watched this procession pass through from atop the plateau, trying to register what had happened.

Only when they finally left, did I feel the tension in my body leave, and I could slump over to the floor. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew that if I had carelessly decided to approach those Demons, I would have been forced into following them against my will.

I turned to my companion, the Demon with black and yellow spots, and once again nodded gratefully at him. Thank you. I tried to tell him.

He only seemed to have been terrified by what he had just witnessed; he looked at me as well, and even though neither of us could speak like the Demon with crooked horns could, I felt that we could still read each other’s thoughts.

Those Demons are dangerous. Avoid them no matter what.

8. Lesser Demon

It was a while before either the Demon with black and yellow spots or I dared to move; we had seen those new Demons headed by the Demon with crooked horns force other Infant Demons— those just like us— to follow them. Neither of us knew where they were being herded to, but we did not want to follow them.

Because they were dangerous.

They slaughtered the other Infant Demons that tried to escape. Wherever they were being led to, I did not think they wanted to go there. And knowing that, I decided that I did not want to go there either.

I had been tense after having watched what happened, but after those Demons left, my companion and I were able to [Rest]. So we had recovered our health and were ready to leave. However, I glanced one last time back at the valley where the wild Demons and Infant Demons were killed, resolving not to end up like them—

What’s that?

I spotted an object amidst the corpses and black blood. It stood out even amongst the colorful bodies because of what it was— glowing.

It was… a spear!

It was the spear the Demon with crooked horns created out of fire and threw!

How did he do that? I wasn’t entirely sure how he did that— probably a Skill— but I was still curious about it. Why did he use it? Was it more effective than simply swinging his hands at his enemies like I did with my limbs?

I wanted to know. So I glanced surreptitiously down either side of the valley; I saw no Demons on either side, and decided that it was safe. I wanted to know more about the spear. And maybe, if it was really special, I wanted to use it for myself.

I started forward down the hill. The Demon with black and yellow spots gave me a look— a warning look— but did not stop me; he followed me apprehensively down the side of the valley, as we struggled to crawl down the steep incline.

We were halfway down the slope when part of the ground gave way below my companion. He was too large to take the same path as me apparently, and neither of us considered that. He rolled the rest of the way, taking bits of white rocks with him before he crashed to the bottom. I had gotten out of the way just in time, but quickly scuttled over to him to check if he was fine.

He was already getting up when I reached him; I looked him once over, seeing no obvious cuts of scratches on his body. I nodded at him for confirmation that he hadn’t taken damage and he nodded back.

Having been reassured, I decided to leave him to check on the spear. It was still protruding from the rock wall, where it had skewered the Demon with the feelers. I stopped right before the body, looking it over to investigate it momentarily before I came to a conclusion.

He’s dead, I made the diagnosis.

I confirmed it with a quick use of [Identification]. It told me that it was a body. And while it did not specify whether he was dead or alive, I was fairly certain that I was right in my observation. So I turned my attention to why I had come down here— the spear.

I inspected it carefully, noting every detail I could. It was almost as if it were made of fire, except solid; specks of embers flaked off it as if it would be snuffed out over time, but after a moment of staring at it, I saw that it had not diminished in size at all. Finally, I decided to use [Identification] on it.

And for the first time, the results of the Skill surprised me.

[Spear of Flames: Medium Grade - ???]

...

What?

What was ‘???’ supposed to mean? That told me nothing!

I stared at the Spear of Flames, mildly annoyed. What secret are you hiding? I reached out to touch it, only to realize too late that I might get burnt—

And nothing happened. I wrapped one limb around the spear carefully, afraid that it might suddenly burn me despite not having done so thus far. But again, I did not feel the searing pain of fire on my limb. Realizing that I would be fine with trying to use it, I pulled at the spear to dislodge it from the wall.

My limb slipped right off.

...huh?

I wrapped two limbs around the spear and pulled at the spear again, and again, it slid right through my limbs. I… couldn’t get a proper grip on it!

I was no longer irritated now. I was confused. Perplexed. I wrapped more limbs around the spear and failed once more. I glanced up at it, peeved at my inability to use the spear. Was it somehow related to me being unable to identify it?

I eyed the spear again. Maybe if I used [Identification] again, this time it would not hide information from me.

[Identification]!

[Spear of Flames: Medium Grade - ???]

It didn’t work. But I tried again.

[Spear of Flames: Medium Grade - ???]

Again!

[Spear of Flames: Medium Grade - ???]

It should be working! Maybe if I did it one more time—

General Skill [Identification] Level Up!  

[Identification - Lvl. 3] -> [Identification - Lvl. 4]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

I jerked as those words registered in my head, followed by results from the spear.

[Spear of Flames: Medium Grade Weapon - A spear made of magical flames that allows the wielder to inflict additional damage.]

Wait, what? I leveled my [Identification]! I hadn’t done that in a while, so I was completely caught off guard by it! And wait, I was— yes, I knew now what the spear did!

So my [Identification] wasn’t at the needed level to learn about its abilities; that was interesting. If I had to guess, it had something to do with the ‘Medium Grade’ label on the spear. Nevertheless, now that I knew the spear’s information, I would be able to pull it off the wall, right?

Wrong.

I failed once more to pry the spear of the wall. Why wasn’t it working? I saw the Demon swing the spear around without a problem! All he did was hold it with… his… hands.

I stared down at the nubby protrusions that were my limbs. Then I slid it along the spear’s body, feeling how little resistance my limbs were met with. I was simply unable to grasp the spear, which was why I couldn’t pull it out.

I backed away from the spear, unsure of what to do. My companion came up to me, and when I turned to him for some help, he didn’t seem like he even understood what the problem was. Well, that wasn’t any help.

I carefully considered this problem: I couldn’t pry the spear out of the wall because I couldn’t get a grip on it. So the solution would be to find a way to do so without gripping it.

Then, from where I was, I saw a way to do it. If I could push the edge of the spear that was sticking out down, I could swing its tip upwards, forcing it out of the wall!

That would work. I was certain that would work— that was simply how swinging things worked. It was using the fulcrum to pivot it upwards. So I would do it. In fact, I was just about to do it when I heard thud behind me.

My companion and I whirled around, looking in alert at what had made the sound. I didn’t see anything come from either side of the valley! How did something get here?

And my question was immediately answered as I heard another thud. And another. And another. Before finally, I saw the figure rise up from the ground— from amongst the pile of bodies and black blood.

A Demon had survived the battle— one of the wild Lesser Demons. It had stayed hidden as the other wild Demons were killed, healing up by itself. It emerged from the corpses, standing up on all four of its feet, baring hundreds of sharp teeth at us as its dark red body flared wide open threateningly.

It howled and charged us .

My first instinct was to stand my ground and fight, but my second instinct immediately called my first instinct out for its stupidity and tossed the first instinct aside.

I knew my companion wouldn’t be able to move out of the way in time, so I threw myself at him, shoving him and myself away from the Lesser Demon’s path. We just barely dodged out of the way of its attack, its sharp claws missing its mark as it sped past us.

I whirled around as it stopped itself, readying for another charge. I quickly gathered myself, using [Identification] on it as I did. The results of the Skill, however, was not something I wanted to know.

[Hellhound - Lvl. 15]

It was Level 15! The largest numerical gap between myself and an opposing Demon so far!

Sure, it wasn’t three times my level, as the first wild Demon I encountered had been. But this wasn’t even an Infant Demon anymore— it was a Lesser Demon! Somehow, I was able to intuit that that meant it was a superior kind of Demon to myself or my companion, making the gap between our levels even more wide than it appeared to be.

The [Hellhound] growled as it pawed the ground once, then came bounding at me once again. This time, I couldn’t even push my companion out of the way. It was suddenly fast. Even faster than I was now.

It struck out with its two front claws— the attack turning to a blur, moving far more quickly than it should have— barely grazing me while sinking its sharp talons into the skin of my companion. I backed up warily, reading a [Fire Strike] as I prepared for it to press me further. It, however, had other plans.

It decided that my companion who was staggering back from it was an easier target, so it lashed out at him as he tried to strike back. He landed a few hits in as the [Hellhound] as it tried to ravage his body, managing to keep it from closing its mouth on him. But it was still digging its claws into him.

Black blood sprayed all around him, even as I came rushing to his side to attack the [Hellhound] from behind. I repeatedly swung at it with [Fire Strike] before suddenly, it produced a fifth limb— a… tail— and whipped me flying back to a pile of bodies behind.

My companion managed to strike the [Hellhound] one more time, landing it cleanly across the wild Demon’s face, before it snapped its teeth around the limb. It pressed his body down to the ground and pulled with its head, tearing his limb straight off. He struggled as blood poured out of the wound, but his attacks were much weaker now. He was barely wriggling as it raised its claw up at him.

I saw this happening and realized it was about to finish him off. I leapt forward, further than I ever had, closing the distance between myself and the [Hellhound] in an instant as I crashed into it just in time. I used [Fire Strike] once again when we landed, but it struck out at me too.

My attack reached it at the same time as its attack reached me, and while it was only just hurt from my Skill, I went flying back and landed in a shower of my own blood. I was lucky. Its paw came into contact with me first so its claws couldn’t fully shear into my skin— and yet, I was already this badly injured.

I glanced up at the [Hellhound] as it got up. I could barely hurt it. My companion could barely hurt it. Neither of us could do enough damage to it to kill it. But— neither of us had to be able to do that.

I looked back at the spear, still sticking out of the rock wall. I remembered what my [Identification] had told me— it was a Medium Grade Weapon capable of doing more damage. What that meant, I wasn’t entirely certain. However it definitely did mean it would let me hurt this Lesser Demon more than I was currently able to.

But even if I pulled it out, that didn’t mean I would be able to use it. Then, I had a thought. And I realized I didn’t need to use it myself.

The [Hellhound] bounded for me once again, but I dodged to the side. It was keeping pace with me. At its current speed, it was probably as fast as me. And with the physical distance between us, it wouldn’t be able to reach me as long as I wasn’t distracted.

I had noticed earlier that it was able to increase its speed drastically. I recognized it then to be a Skill. Now, I just had to wait for it to use the Skill again.

I positioned myself in front of the spear, waiting for the sign. And I saw it. The [Hellhound] scraped its front right leg against the ground, before speeding up. It charged me. It would reach me before I could even dodge. But I didn’t have to dodge.

I simply backed up, lowering my body below the spear. The wild Demon crashed into the back edge of the spear. It went staggering back from the self inflicted blow, exacerbated by whatever effects the Spear of Flames did.

And the spear didn’t just stay rigid against the wall either. The spear tilted up from the impact, before detaching itself off the wall and flew up above me. I saw it spinning and turning as the [Hellhound] was still reeling from its injury. I took this as my chance.

I hurriedly skittered up the slope of the hill before hurling myself up after the spear. I could have missed, but I didn’t. I caught the Spear of Flames with my entire body, hugging it with all the limbs I had so it would not slip out of my grip. Then as I fell, I aimed for the Lesser Demon that was just getting up.

It looked up, seeing me fall from the sky at it. The [Hellhound] growled, baring its dangerous maw at me. And the spear went through the open mouth, skewing it whole as I fell on it.

I felt myself losing grip of the spear as I landed, rolling on the ground as the [Hellhound] exploded into a pool of black ooze. I got up triumphantly, feeling the victory rush as its defeat was vocalized in my head.

Defeated [Striker Hellhound - Lvl. 15]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 9] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 10]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] Level Up!

[Demon Larva - Lvl. 10] -> [Demon Larva - Lvl. 11]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!

It was less experience, because I had my companion’s help in the fight against it, but I somehow knew it was still a lot more experience than I would have gotten for even defeating a Demon at my level. It showed in how I leveled not just once, but twice from this encounter.

I turned to check on my companion, and saw that he was already up and crawling towards me. I checked his level, as I usually did, and found that he had only leveled once to Level 9. He probably didn’t do enough damage to gain enough experience to level two times. And I also managed to level as much as I did because I was halfway to leveling in the first place.

So as he laid himself down to [Rest], I decided to quickly distribute my Stat Points before I noticed something. It wasn’t too blaring, but there were words hanging in the back of my head, waiting for me to spot it.

And I found myself curiously inspecting it, before I realized what it was..

[Evolution Available]

9. Evolution

Salvos

Species: [Infant Demon]

Subspecies: [Demon Larva] - Lvl. 11

General Skills:

[Basic Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 3

[Identification] - Lvl. 4

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 1

[Rest] - Lvl. 1

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 10]

[Vitality]: 11

[Strength]: 8

[Endurance]: 11

[Wisdom]: 13

[Agility]: 22

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 6]

[Basic Fire Conjuration] - Lvl. 2

[Fire Strike] - Lvl. 4

[Unused Skill Slot] x3

I lay next to the Demon with black and yellow spots as we both restored our health slowly with [Rest]. He was healing faster than me— probably because he had gotten the General Skill before me and had already leveled it.

But that didn't matter to me. All that mattered to me was the additional option available in my mind now. The option for me to evolve.

[Evolution Available]

I sidled up to my companion before I decided to see what the option would provide me with; I didn’t want to be distracted and snuck up on when I was investigating this new intriguing thing. I had an idea as to what it would do— I was an Infant Demon now, and the [Hellhound] I had just killed was a Lesser Demon. Considering that I was now past Level 10, I assumed I now had the chance to become a Lesser Demon too.

I couldn’t wait any further— I trusted my companion to guard me as I focused on the words. Then it expanded.

Species Evolution:

[Infant Demon] -> [Lesser Demon]

Requirements for five Subspecies evolutions have been met!

It seemed that I only had a static option for my Species; I could only go from an Infant Demon to a Lesser Demon, and nothing else. However my Subspecies had various distinct evolution paths to go.

A list of options made itself available to me and I carefully studied each one.

Subspecies Evolution:

[Fiend]

A [Fiend] is a Subspecies of Demon that comes in many different forms and has a diverse set of abilities. Mostly well rounded, a [Fiend] would be able fight most foes without a significant disadvantage.

+2 to [Vitality]

+2 to [Strength]

+2 to [Endurance]

+2 to [Wisdom]

+2 to [Agility]

That was an enticing evolution for me to pick. Although it kept vague the kind of form I would take— I wondered what I would become if I picked this?

I almost chose it right away, but held back as it didn’t feel like it was describing me. It was advantageous, but there was a dissonance between the Subspecies and me. So I decided to see the other options available to me first.

[Fire Fiend]

A [Fire Fiend] is a specialized Demon Subspecies form of a [Fiend] that focuses on fire magic. A [Fire Fiend] departs from the traditional [Fiend] early on, but has the advantage of being specialized with only a minor disadvantage in other areas.

+5 to [Wisdom]

+3 to [Endurance]

+1 to [Vitality]

+1 to [Strength]

+1 to [Agility]

So this was a [Fiend], but just more suited for magic? This evolution appeared better than the last at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it didn’t suit me even more. Magic was one of my main modes of combat, but I felt that this Subspecies would overemphasize it.

I moved on to the next.

[Hellhound]

A [Hellhound] is a Demon subspecies that is fast and has a ferocious way of fighting. A pack fighter, a [Hellhound] makes up for their overspecialization by relying on a group.

+5 to [Agility]

+3 to [Strength]

Bonus: 20% of [Wisdom] Stat is permanently removed and added to [Strength]

…

Absolutely not!

Losing my [Wisdom]? Relying on others? Sure, I had the Demon with black and yellow spots as my companion, but I did not want to be dependent on him for my survival. If I was ever separated from him, I would like to be able to be perfectly capable of defending myself.

Also, I had just beaten a Level 15 [Hellhound]. It did not seem too impressive to me. So I mentally placed aside this option as a ‘never’, and checked the next.

[Imp]

An [Imp] is a Subspecies of Demon that is mischievous and has a natural affinity to fire. Small and weak due to its nature as a Lesser Demon, an [Imp]’s greatest strength is their magic.

+5 to [Endurance]

+5 to [Wisdom]

I found myself feeling the same way about this as I did for the [Fire Fiend]. First of all, I did not want to only cast magic to fight. Even against the [Hellhound], my magic attack wasn’t what defeated it. It was only because I had investigated the spear earlier, did I know to use it against the wild Demon.

So far, only the [Fiend] really interested me, and even then, I was not fully convinced it was the best one for me.

I had one last evolution available which I had not yet seen; I hoped it would be a good one as I focused on it.

[Zelus Imp]

A [Zelus Imp] is a Demon Subspecies form of an [Imp], carrying the same affinity to fire, but with a greater resourcefulness due to their intelligence. Still small and weak, a [Zelus Imp] replaces their mischievousness with a zeal that drives them above situations with unlikely odds.

+5 to [Endurance]

+5 to [Wisdom]

+3 to [Agility]

That… actually described me! At least, somewhat. I did not think I was small or weak! But I was certainly capable of overcoming more powerful Demons than me— as evinced by the dead [Hellhound] lying just ahead of me.

I considered each evolution path I had once again: [Fiend], [Fire Fiend], [Hellhound], [Imp], and [Zelus Imp]. None of them seemed more suitable for me than [Zelus Imp]. And it offered me the most Stats too. So I made my decision.

I concentrated hard on the option for [Zelus Imp], then suddenly I felt my head going light. My  body went numb as I slumped over the ground, limp. I tried to get up, but all my senses were so far away from me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think.

I was not sure how long I lay there as I grappled to get control of myself once again. Before finally, I got hold of something and pushed myself up. I sheared through the invisible barrier separating me from my body, tearing my way back to consciousness.

Evolution Complete!

Species [Infant Demon] evolved to [Lesser Demon]!

Subspecies [Demon Larva] has evolved to [Zelus Imp]!

Gained 5 Stat Points!

[Endurance] +5

[Wisdom] +5

[Agility] +3

Gained 2 Skill Slots!

Gained 3 Skill Points!

[Basic Fire Conjuration - Lvl. 2] becomes [Basic Fire Creation - Lvl. 1]!

Skill [Double Step] is now available.

Skill [Fire Blast] is now available.

Skill  [Passive - General Tool Proficiency] is now available.

I stood up, blinking away the black liquid partially obscuring my vision; I looked down at the puddle in the silver skin I had shed, oozing with the same black liquid that was dripping off my body. Slowly, I lifted a short clawed hand up and inspected it.

I was an [Imp] now. A [Zelus Imp]. I had become something else while inside of my old body, before breaking out of it to attain this new form. This form with four limbs, standing only on two of them.

I was almost like one of the Demons in the procession I had seen earlier— except much smaller. And yet, I was still bigger than I had been as a [Demon Larva]. I patted my body down, feeling the much rougher skin I now had.

I was a Lesser Demon! I finally evolved! I threw myself up in the air, pushing off the ground with my brand new feet. I hopped around excitedly, accustoming myself to my new body at the same time. I paused as I realized my companion was just staring at me.

He looked confused— almost shocked to see that I had changed. He glanced down at my old body, poking it a few times, before turning back to me. Did he… did he think that I was just killed? No, no, no, no. I waved my hand at him, pointing back at myself.

“I’m your—”

I jerked, surprising myself as I spoke for the first time. I glanced down at myself, feeling my mouth open and close, touching the side of my cheeks as I moved it. I could speak! I could now communicate with my companion with more than just gestures!

My companion backed up as I approached him, offering a hand out. I spoke slowly, trying to coax him forward to me.

“It’s me. Your companion! .”

I nodded at him, and he stopped cowering. The Demon with black and yellow spots mimicked the movement we had learned together, and I did it once again for him to see. We nodded at each other a few more times, before he finally crawled towards me.

“See? Companion!”

He nodded one last time, finally at ease around me; I felt my lips curling up, satisfied that I hadn’t scared him off, before remembering the other words that were now hanging in the back of my head.

I had three new Skills available for me— I didn’t just obtain them, like the ones I had gotten the last time I obtained a Skill. Instead, it was just waiting for me to choose whether I wanted to actually have them or not.

Not only that, my 15 available Stat Points were just waiting for me to spend them. Very quickly, I distributed 4 to [Strength], 4 to [Vitality], 4 to [Agility], and 3 to [Wisdom]. I was content with my [Endurance] for now, and decided to focus on the other Stats which I was currently lacking in just a bit.

Then I went back to the Skills that I had available. I considered each of them carefully: [Double Step], [Fire Blast], and [Passive - General Tool Proficiency]. I could kind of infer what the first and third Skills did— [Double Step] was probably a similar Skill to what the [Hellhound] I fought used, while [Passive - General Tool Proficiency] would help me use tools better. But [Fire Blast] was… vague.

Did it mean I just sent a blast of fire out in all directions? Or was it a concentration of flames that would blast out when it came into contact with something? I wasn’t entirely sure, but considering that I had more than enough Unused Skill Slots for all these Skills, I decided to obtain them all anyway and figure it out myself.

Skill [Double Step] Obtained!

Skill [Fire Blast] Obtained!

Skill  [Passive - General Tool Proficiency] Obtained!

I didn’t feel any immediate changes overcome me. It wasn’t like an evolution— or even leveling up as a [Demon Larva]. But I knew that the effects of these Skills would be made apparent later on.

I was just about to start testing out the abilities of each Skill, before I distributed my Skill Points out, when I heard the sound of moving rocks from behind me. I whirled around, facing past the body of the dead [Hellhound], to the end of the valley.

I heard a light growling noise as a figure made itself visible, entering the valley slowly, one paw after the other.

[Hellhound - Lvl. 13]

It was another one. A live one. I wasn’t sure why it was here, but I saw this as the perfect opportunity for me. I could test my Skills out on a proper opponent to determine which is the best.

I raised a hand up, indicating to my companion to stay back and continue his [Rest], as I picked up the Spear of Flames twice as tall as I was with my other hand. I stepped forward, swinging the spear around and accustoming myself to it— the Passive Skill I got really did work!

I was just about to use [Double Step] to rush at the [Hellhound], when I heard more growling. Another [Hellhound] stepped forward from behind the first, baring its teeth at me as well. Then another. And another. And another.

[Hellhound - Lvl. 10]

[Hellhound - Lvl. 11]

[Hellhound - Lvl. 10]

[Hellhound - Lvl. 12]

…

Why weren’t they stopping?!

More and more [Hellhounds] appeared from behind the first. All of them were around my level, and none as high leveled as the first. But where did they come from? This was an entire pack of them!

I stopped, glancing down at the dead [Hellhound]. The Level 15 [Striker Hellhound]. When it attacked us, it came alone despite supposedly being a Demon that relied on numbers. But what if it wasn’t alone— what if it came first by itself, and alerted its pack to come to it with a howl?

I realized that now, too late to do anything about it. The [Striker Hellhound] had called its pack to it, and we should have left before they arrived. But we didn’t.

The first [Hellhound] bounded forward at me, slashing its claws as they glowed red. I backed up, swinging the spear as I did and knocking it aside. More came forward, and in the heat of the moment, I used [Fire Blast] in hopes that it would do something to help.

And it did do something.

An arc of fire burst out at where I had pointed, knocking three of the charging [Hellhounds] back. It had repelled the first line of them, but did little else. I did not think they were heavily injured— they had just been stunned momentarily.

The first [Hellhound] gathered itself and leapt at me. Its claws sank into my shoulder, inflicting some damage. I swung back at it with my left claw, using [Fire Strike] as I did. It reeled from the hit, allowing me to follow up with a second attack.

I used [Fire Strike] on instinct as I stabbed the spear forward, and suddenly the already flaming spear was engulfed in even more flames. The tip of the weapon plunged straight through the [Hellhound], far deeper than it did before.

Defeated [Spiked Hellhound - Lvl. 13]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

I blinked, surprised at how easy that was; the spear had allowed me to inflict more damage than I would be able to alone, and combined with my Skill, it finished off the [Hellhound] quickly.

Once again, my lips curled up into a grin, as I prepared for the next attack. I swatted a [Hellhound] away with a [Fire Strike] from my spear, and ran through another one. It did not die instantly, but it was injured enough for me to finish it off with a regular hit. Before I could land the blow, however, two more [Hellhounds] pounced at me from the side.

I kicked the first one off of me, but struggled to get the second one as it bit at my spear. I pointed at it, unleashing a [Fire Blast] that knocked it away, but was that clawed from behind by another [Hellhound].

I backed up as the pack of wild Demons pressed me. I swung my spear, keeping them back and used [Fire Blast] on those that dared jump in. It seemed like the perfect way to win this fight, until I realized how much damage I had already taken in such a short amount of time.

Defeated [Hellhound - Lvl. 10]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Zelus Imp] Level Up!

[Zelus Imp - Lvl. 11] -> [Zelus Imp - Lvl. 12]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

One of my [Fire Blasts] actually managed to kill a lower leveled [Hellhound], but that was one out of over a dozen. I was getting overwhelmed from their sheer numbers. And I was already running low on mana.

I was going to lose, even with the level up. I could not win. I glanced back at my companion who was hiding behind me, having listened to me when I told him to stay back. He was still injured— he could not help me here. Our only option now was to flee— flee down the valley, out of the exit at the other side.

But I hesitated. That’s where the Demon procession went! I did not want to go after them, yet I was left with no choice. I sent another [Fire Blast] out as the [Hellhounds] tried to leap at me again, before I spent all my Stat Points on [Agility], whirled around, and ran.

I lowered a clawed hand as I passed my companion, picking him up and throwing him over my shoulders. He had been bigger than me when I was a [Demon Larva], but not anymore. I gripped him tightly with one arm wrapped around him and the other holding the spear, and quickly spoke out.

“Hold on. Don’t let go!”

I placed one foot ahead of me and used [Double Step]. Instantly, I sped up, traveling far faster than I had before. I managed to double the distance between me and the chasing [Hellhounds] by the time the Skill ended.

I felt my stamina drain as I returned to my regular speed, running as fast as I could away from our pursuers. They were slowly catching up, but if I could just get out of this valley, I’d be able to lose them in the hills and mountains on the other side.

But just before I could reach the exit, I saw a figure appear. Another wild Demon entered the valley from this side, blocking my path from escaping. It was big— nearly four times the size of me.

It places its two clawed arms down in front of it, lowering its neck and head as it opened its gaping maw to roar.

[Hellbeast - Lvl. 22]

I stared at this massive wild Demon that suddenly appeared. I was trapped. It began walking slowly forward, blocking my exit completely.

I glanced back at the bounding [Hellhounds], then forward at the lumbering [Hellbeast]. Either side was death. But one side was perhaps slower than the other.

So I pressed forward. I tried to dash past the [Hellbeast] using [Double Step] once again, but it crashed one of its massive claws down onto the ground, sending white rocks flying everywhere. I circled around the attack, but saw it ready another swing. This time, I couldn’t dodge. My Skill’s effect had worn off once more, and I couldn’t use it so soon after using it again.

I brought my spear up to parry the hit once, then twice. Each time the spear came into contact with the [Hellbeast]’s claws, I found myself reeling back, barely keeping myself from flying to the rock wall. The [Hellbeast] raised two of its claws and I helplessly raised my spear. It was going to crush me—

And the [Hellhounds] leapt onto the [Hellbeast]. Four [Hellhounds] jumped straight onto it, and began clawing and biting at it. I stared at this for a moment, almost thinking that they were helping me, before one of the [Hellhounds] bounded at me as well.

Nope, they’re just out to get everyone, I quickly surmised.

I ran the [Hellhound] through with the spear enhanced by [Fire Strike], almost instantly killing it. It tried to claw at me, still stuck on the spear. Before I could finish it off, a red limb struck it across the face, killing it for me.

Defeated [Hellhound - Lvl. 11]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

I looked down at my companion who did that while still on my shoulder. And I watched his body begin to change. He must have leveled up from that— he must have known he was close to leveling up. So he went for what little experience he could get.

He would evolve and help me. But I locked eyes with him.

“No.”

My companion paused, as I knocked back another [Hellhound]. I looked over at the [Hellbeast] which crushed two of the smaller wild Demons easily.

Defeated [Hellhound - Lvl. 12]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Hellhound - Lvl. 10]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

I was gaining experience from it doing all the work, but only a little bit. It would wipe out this pack of [Hellhounds], and when it was finished, it would kill us too.

“We run. We can’t fight. We will die.”

I made the decision for us. If he chose to evolve now, I would have to put him down— I couldn’t carry him with me anymore. So we had to flee.

Defeated [Hellhound - Lvl. 11]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

I killed another [Hellhound], as I felt my [Double Step] make itself available for use.

I placed a feet forward, feeling more of my stamina drain as I ran away from the fighting. Some [Hellhounds] chased us, but others stayed back to fight the [Hellbeast]. I was not sure how the battle would go, however all I could focus on was surviving for now.

We ran into more Demons, of course— into more fights. But we survived.

10. Gratitude

Defeated [Spindly Hellhound - Lvl. 11]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Defeated [Hellhound - Lvl. 13]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Subspecies [Zelus Imp] Level Up!

[Zelus Imp - Lvl. 12] -> [Zelus Imp - Lvl. 13]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

…

Defeated [Gadarenes - Lvl. 14]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Defeated [Bone Breaker Gadarenes - Lvl. 15]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Zelus Imp] Level Up!

[Zelus Imp - Lvl. 13] -> [Zelus Imp - Lvl. 14]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

I pried the spear off the body of the last of the [Gadarenes]. I stared at the pile of bodies— at the trail that stretched back as far as I could see. After I left the [Hellbeast] behind, the half of the [Hellhounds] that chased me attracted more Demons with their constant growling and howling.

I tried to lead them to some [Demon Larvae] I had spotted, but those were quickly defeated before they could escape. Then came a single [Fiend], which attacked both me and the [Hellhounds] without distinguishing a target. The [Hellhounds] tore it apart, giving me an opportunity to flee— until the [Gadarenes] showed up.

An entire group of them, all of them taking on different forms, attacked me. Then the [Hellhounds] caught up to me, and it was an all out battle from there, which I somehow survived. I had to thank my companion— even though he was still on my shoulder, he saved me a few times by knocking any Demons that got too close to me. And now that the fighting had finished— I had leveled twice to Level 14.

I placed my companion down, nodding to him to begin his evolution. He had leveled as well, and was now Level 11. He started to shift— his body morphing— and as he did, I started to distribute my Stat Points.

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 5]

[Vitality]: 17

[Strength]: 12

[Endurance]: 18

[Wisdom]: 22

[Agility]: 34

When I leveled the first time, I spent 2 Stat Points on [Vitality] and [Endurance], and 1 on [Wisdom]. It was out of necessity. My health, stamina, and mana was running too low; if I had not done that, I wouldn’t have survived.

Now though, I was able to distribute them however I wanted. And I… still spent 2 on [Endurance]. I needed it for the future— in case I had to fight for such an extended period of time again. Then I spent 2 on [Wisdom] and 1 on [Agility].

Satisfied with that, I moved on to my Skills. I didn’t have time to decide what to expend my Skill Points on, so they were still untouched. So I had known I would have quite a few available— even still, I was shocked to see just how much that was.

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 15]

[Basic Fire Creation] - Lvl. 1

[Double Step] - Lvl. 1

[Fire Strike] - Lvl. 4

[Fire Blast] - Lvl. 1

[Passive - General Tool Proficiency] - Lvl. 1

15 Skill Points?! How did I get that many? Last I remembered, I had 6 Skill Points!

Then I paused. I tried to think back to all the times I had leveled after getting my evolution— before that, I received 3 Skill Points for evolving, which I thought was just a one time thing. But apparently… I was getting 3 Skill Points now that I had evolved.

I was happy about that. I didn’t need to be so sparing with my Skill Points now, and could experiment more. But wait—

If I started to receive more Skill Points now that I was a Lesser Demon, did that mean I missed out on getting 2 additional Skill Points by going from Level 9 straight to Level 11? That sucked!

Oh well, I couldn’t do anything about it. Something told me that the next time I evolved wouldn’t just be ten levels from now. It felt like… I would get my next evolution somewhere around Level 40. So I made sure to keep that in mind the next time I had an evolution available.

For now, I considered the Skills I had. Four of them were at Level 1, with only [Fire Strike] at Level 4. That was a useful Skill— if not for it, I probably wouldn’t have survived. The Spear of Flames was a good weapon, but by itself it wouldn’t have done as much damage as with the Skill. I decided to figure out what to do with it last, going to the new Skills I had available.

I had tested most of the Skills I had obtained in battle, so I felt like I knew what I wanted to do with them. First was [Double Step]. I liked what it did, but the cooldown between uses made it lose some of its effectiveness. I was already faster than most Demons I met, after all. I raised it by 2 Skill Points, bringing it to Level 3 before moving to the next.

Next was [Fire Blast]. It helped me quite a lot earlier— if not for it, I wouldn’t have been able to hold off the [Hellhounds] for as long as I did. However, it didn’t do much damage, and could serve its purpose at its current level. But maybe it would increase in damage if I raised it, so I decided to raise it by 2 Skill Points, also bringing it to Level 3.

Then came [Passive - General Tool Proficiency]. It wasn’t exactly the best Skill I had, even though it let me use the spear better. But even if I didn’t have this Skill, I was pretty sure I knew how to swing the spear, just from seeing the Demon with crooked horns swing it around. So I gave it less Skill Points, only raising it to Level 2 with 1 Skill Point.

After that was [Basic Fire Creation]— the only Skill I didn’t use in battle. I could infer what it did based on its name, but I wanted to test how useful it was rather than wasting Skill Points on another useless Skill like [Basic Fire Conjuration] had been.

I brought my hands forward, trying to create a simple ball of flames. I focused— and even though I did not try to create anything too complex— I felt a significant amount of mana disappear. I had thought it was enough mana to create a ball of flames the size of my head, but when I looked down at it, all I saw was a tiny blaze floating on the palm of my hand.

I stared at it, disappointed. That… wasn’t impressive at all! It was worse than [Basic Fire Conjuration]! Why would my Skill change to that?!

I tossed the small ball of flames aside, annoyed. I had expected it to extinguish the moment it left my hand, but to my surprise, it dropped on the ground intact and rolled. I paused, looking down at the small ball of flames.

Then I quickly picked it up.

Amazing! I held it between two of my clawed fingers, inspecting it carefully. It was… a ball of flames. A solid ball of flames. It wasn’t acting like how fire normally acted at all— almost like the Spear of Flames! It was not completely solid, although it felt solid enough that my clawed finger couldn’t just pass through it. But it was fragile. I felt that if I pressed too hard on it, it would break.

I wasn’t sure what would happen when it broke, but I wasn’t going to just crush it on the palm of my hands. That was dangerous! I could burn myself if it decided to become regular fire, no longer under my control. So I decided to throw it.

Aiming at a large rock a small distance away, I hurled the small ball of flames with all my strength. It broke on impact, just as I had expected. But as I watched it break, I saw it staying solid for just a moment as it shattered into dozens of large pieces, before losing its form and turning to normal embers.

I stepped forward to the large rock, investigating the damage. It seemed that there was a slight burn from when the small ball of flames was still solid, before leaving proper scorches when it turned back to embers. That was a good Skill.

I wanted to test it out further. I tried to conjure a spear— one similar to the Spear of Flames I was carrying with me. To my disappointment, all I could create was a small spiked object, and it cost a lot of mana once again.

I decided to use 3 Skill Points on it for now, bringing it to Level 4. I liked what it did and it seemed useful. However the main reason I spent more on it was because I was hoping to possibly create my own Spear of Flames in the future.

That Skill had been the best one so far, and it made me excited to level more in the future. And now that I was done experimenting with it, I could finally go back to [Fire Strike].

I still had 7 Skill Points. 7 Skill Points I could use. I had seen how effective [Fire Strike] was combined with the Spear of Flames, let alone how useful it was by itself. And if it worked on my own fire creations— then it was best to keep it as strong as possible.

So I made a rash decision. I chose to spend all of my Skill Points onto [Fire Strike], knowing full well I couldn’t reverse it. I raised to Level 5, then Level 7, then Level 10—

And it stopped. I still had 1 Skill Point left, but I wasn’t able to use it on [Fire Strike]. But why? I checked my Skills, confused— then I saw the reason why I wasn’t able to increase it any further.

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 1]

[Basic Fire Creation] - Lvl. 4

[Double Step] - Lvl. 3

[Fire Strike] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Fire Blast] - Lvl. 3

[Passive - General Tool Proficiency] - Lvl. 2

[Unused Skill Slot] x2

It was ‘maxed’. It had reached its maximum level— at Level 10— and I couldn’t raise it any further. I felt my lips curling down as I realized this. I slowly raised my hand, then quickly struck forward with the Skill.

[Fire Strike]!

I watched as flames lash out along with my claws. The fire seemed almost sharper than before. And it took up less mana too. But other than that, it didn’t change much.

It was more powerful, sure. However, that was it. It didn’t cause immense destruction like that Demon with crooked horns had been able to do— it was just a stronger version of [Fire Strike]. I had thought a maxed Skill would be more significant than that.

So this was the limit of that Skill? If that was it, I could have just tried to learn a more powerful Skill and replaced [Fire Strike] with it, before maxing it out. Unless…

Intuitively, I realized that I could upgrade my Skill. Just like how [Basic Fire Conjuration] had changed to a more powerful Skill, I could also change, or even upgrade, [Fire Strike] to something else. But that required more than just spending a Skill Point on it.

It was an interesting thing to learn. I felt my annoyance disappear as I decided to keep my 1 Skill Point for the future— I didn’t know what to use it on now, and could use it later. It was not like I had to spend it immediately. With that settled, I finally turned my attention to my companion just in time to see his evolution finish.

A tall red figure emerged from the lump of flesh that had once been his body. He stood on two feet, just like me; he raised his arms inspecting them as he closed and opened them. He didn’t have any claws, although the size of his arms made me think that a hit from that would be able to do more damage than whatever my short claws were capable of inflicting.

He was nearly twice my height too, with a broad chest that was almost as wide as me if I held up both my arms to the side. His long black hair with yellow streaks swayed as he turned to face me, and his lips curled up into… a smile .

“Hello.”

I knew he was my companion. I had gone through drastic changes myself, but even still, I approached him cautiously. It was apparently different from knowing something and experiencing it myself.

“Hi…?”

He looked at how I was approaching him, then nodded his head as we did to each other. I checked him with [Identification], just to make sure one last time that he was my companion.

[Fiend - Lvl. 11]

He was still the same level as I had last remembered, so that was good. Slowly, I stepped next to him and lifted one claw to poke him with. He made a sound and I jerked back. He continued making the sound as I edged away from him, thinking that I had either hurt him or angered him. It took me a moment to realize what sound he was making.

He was laughing!

He was laughing at me for the way I was acting. I glared and pointed a clawed finger at him.

“You were the same way too!”

My companion continued to chuckle as I drew my lips down— into a frown— and huffed.

“Stop laughing!”

“Alright, alright.”

That was all he said as he straightened his body. I continued eyeing at him, slightly annoyed, as he finally stopped his laughter. Then he pointed a finger at me.

“You’re Salvos.”

“Yes I am.”

I replied matter-of-factly. I was Salvos and no one else was Salvos. That was what I had concluded the moment I was born. And I was happy to see him affirming that belief of mine by nodding in agreement.

Slowly, he jerked a finger back at himself. I cocked my head, confused by this gesture before he spoke out.

“You’re Salvos. But me? I’m Haec.”

Blinking, I slowly raised a hand and pointed at him too.

“You’re Haec?”

“Yes. My name is Haec.”

I looked at my companion— at Haec— trying to parse him. He gave me a confused look, uncertain as to why I was having difficulty understanding this. And it was not like there was much to process. He had a name— of course he had a name. I just never once considered that he had one, only referring to him as my companion.

“What’s wrong?”

He asked me the question almost worriedly. I hesitated, almost wanting not to answer it to seem stupid. But as the concern on his face grew, I forced a reply out.

“I didn’t think you had a name— I didn’t even think of giving you a name. I always just thought of you as my ‘companion’.”

I looked up at him guiltily. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling guilty— perhaps it was because I hadn’t fully recognized him as separate from me until now. I knew I would be upset if someone treated me that way. However instead of getting mad, Haec just laughed again.

“As your companion huh? That’s fitting. You are our leader, after all.”

“Leader?”

I gave him a blank stare. I knew what that word meant— a leader was someone in charge of others. Like the horned Demon or the Demon with crooked horns had been. Those were leaders. But me? I didn’t think I was a leader.

Yet, Haec seemed to disagree.

“Yes, you’re my leader. I follow you and do what you tell me to do. Then you protect me and we both level.”

That… was perfectly logical. When he put it that way, I was definitely the leader in this relationship, even if I never thought of it like that. But in the first place—

“Why did you follow me in the first place?”

I had wanted to ask him that from after I saved him from the wild Demon. In fact, I wanted to know why some Demons followed each other, even back when I first met him in the group with the others.

Haec seemed to consider the question for a moment, raising his head up to the crimson sky. He spoke slowly, choosing each word carefully.

“Because I am grateful to you— you saved me. You saved my life. So I follow you to help you in return.”

“But you followed the others too! Remember? Before we were attacked by the large Demon.”

I wasn’t sure if he understood what I was referring to; now more than ever, I was aware that my labels for everything I had encountered was my label. It was my perspective and not his. So he might not have thought of them as the others. Fortunately, it didn’t take him long to realize what I was talking about.

“Ah.”

Haec’s eyes lit up in comprehension. His face twisted, growing… somber.

“Yes, the others. I… followed them because I was born with them.”

“Wait, you were born at the same time as the others?”

He shook his head.

“No. Not all of them. But with most of them. I can’t tell you why more joined our group, but we were already a group from the start. Only you joined us by yourself.”

“Huh.”

I had no other comment on that. It seemed that I wouldn’t be able to learn why some Demons formed groups while others didn’t. I decided to just ascribe it to their natural instinct.

And it was not like they were alive anymore, anyway. So it didn’t matter; I was curious, but after so long, my curiosity was gone. But still, it seemed to bother Haec as he still had a grim look on his face. Slowly, I poked him.

“Are you ok? Why are you looking like that?”

He jerked, looking up at me.

“Oh, I was just… feeling sad.”

“Why?”

I eyed him inquisitively. Why was he sad? He seemed happy just earlier, but now he was suddenly sad. He shook his head as he answered.

“Because I was thinking of the others. They were my group— but now we aren’t anymore. They’re gone.”

I still wasn’t sure why he was sad— he told me that as if it would make sense, however I was just as lost as I had been before he replied. But he was sad and I knew he was sad. So I decided to reassure him, poking him again so he would face me, then I smiled.

“The others may be gone, but I’m still here. I’m your leader— follow me and you’ll be safe, right?”

I gestured around us, at the bodies on the ground; then picking up the Spear of Flames, I pointed past them.

“So don’t be sad, because wherever we go, we’ll be together. We’ll fight together. We’ll level  together.”

I looked at Haec expectantly. I wasn’t sure if what I said would work. Perhaps it would only anger him, or make him even more sad. But I saw him smile just slightly.

“You’re right. As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine, right?”

I stepped backwards, walking without looking as he followed me. I wasn’t even sure where I was going— I couldn’t see, after all. But still, I felt my smile turning into a grin.

“Of course. We’ll be fine no matter what. I’m the leader, after all. I will protect you—”

I wasn’t able to finish what I was saying and stopped. I had been interrupted, not by anything made by any Demon around us, but by the words in my head.

Now Entering [Demon King’s Domain].

11. Companion

“Now!”

I yelled at Haec as I flung myself out of the way of the large fangs bearing down on me. My companion struck the [Arachne] on its hind legs. The giant Demon with eight jointed appendages fell, its two back legs broken by his [Crushing Blow].

I leapt up to the head of the wild Demon as all of its dozen eyes snapped towards me. It tried to lash out with a spray of a dangerous liquid that melted through even the rocks on the ground. This acid went past me as I landed on its face, slicing down at its neck with my Spear of Flames. The spear jammed halfway through before I activated [Fire Strike], allowing me to shear the rest of it off before I lost grip of the weapon.

The [Arachne] collapsed, dead.

Defeated [Succo Arachne - Lvl. 17]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy with the help of others!

Subspecies [Zelus Imp] Level Up!

[Zelus Imp - Lvl. 14] -> [Zelus Imp - Lvl. 15]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

I landed nimbly on my two feet, having completely accustomed myself to this body now. Black blood spilled behind me, pouring out of the decapitated Demon’s head in a deluge. I turned to Haec as he approached me.

“Did you finally level?”

“Yep!”

I replied, grinning at him. Then I narrowed my eyes.

“You leveled too!”

I pointed out. He nodded eagerly, smiling and gesturing at himself.

“I’m Level 13 now, after that last encounter.”

I folded my arms instinctively, in what I recognized was a petulant action. I saw no reason not to act that way, so I did it.

“Hey! You leveled twice while I only leveled once! And in only two encounters too? That’s unfair!”

Haec simply raised his shoulders in a shrug.

“Those [Gadarenes] were all higher leveled than me, and so was this [Arachne]. Even though we beat them together, their experience is worth more to me as I was only Level 11 and 12.”

“I know.”

I lowered my arms and picked up my spear. I spun it around and inspected it— it seemed weaker now. It was still considered a Medium Grade Weapon, yet I knew it was degrading with each use, probably as a result of it being a fully magically created weapon.

I shook my head and turned to my companion.

“I just want to level faster.”

I was still higher leveled than him, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly envious that his rate of leveling was faster than me once again; I had felt this way before, and now I felt that way again. He would probably slow down in leveling speed once he was close to my level, but for now, he would level twice for every level I gained.

“Maybe we should leave this place then?”

My companion opined, glancing at the distant mountains behind us.

“We’ve barely encountered any of those ‘wild Demons’ as you call them, since we’ve come here.”

“But we’ve barely even explored this [Demon King’s Domain]!”

I protested, waving my hands up and down. I gestured at the hillocks— the sinuous landscape— around us.

“Come on! Aren’t you curious about what makes this place different? It’s a new area— it has even got its own name!”

“I know where you’re coming from, Salvos—”

I perked up as he mentioned my name.  

“—or at least, I can try to see what you mean. But look at this place.”

The two of us looked at the ground around us. At the place we were at, and at the place we had come from.

“So far, there hasn’t been anything different about this [Demon King’s Domain] and out there. It’s all the same landscape— all the same hills.”

Haec turned back to me, a worried look drawn on his face as he continued.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’ll do whatever you want to do. You’re our leader. But I don’t know— I just don’t have a good feeling about this place.”

I considered this for a moment, torn between finding what made the [Demon King’s Domain] so special that it had its own name, and going back to a place where I could level faster. I rested the butt of my spear on the ground and huffed.

“Fine.”

My companion brightened as I spoke hesitantly.

“You’re right. I just wanted to see what made this place different, but I guess so far that’s nothing. Anyway, it’s probably dangerous here. I had a feeling this might have been where that procession of Demons went— and if they find us, they’ll force us to follow them. And I don’t want that.”

Haec paused, staring at me. I cocked my head.

“What?”

“Oh— I just never considered that.”

I stared up at the Demon with black hair and yellow hair as he shifted his feet.

“Wasn’t that why you were apprehensive of this place?”

“No. I just didn’t like it because it was… different.”

“Huh.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I just made a noise. I turned around, picking up my spear and gestured for him to follow me.

“Come on then. Let’s just go.”

He was fain to do that, having stood there and averting his gaze from me for a bit. We left the body of the [Arachne] as we started back to the distant valley we had come from— or at least, I thought that was what that place was. Everything looked the same to me, so I wasn’t entirely sure if this was the right direction. Fortunately, the words in my head informed me that we were at least heading somewhere else.

Now Leaving [Demon King’s Domain].

I swung my spear around casually to accustom myself to using it— and also because it was fun. As I did, I began distributing my current Skill Points and Stat Points, having just leveled up again.

Alright, so I have 4 Skill Points and 5 Stat Points to use. I want to raise [Basic Fire Creation] because that’s good, so I’ll add 1 Skill Point to it. Hm, I also like [Fire Blast]— it’s useful when fighting packs of [Hellhounds] or groups of [Gadarenes], so I’ll give it 1 as well. I haven’t had a need for either [Double Step] or [Passive - General Tool Proficiency], so I’ll leave those for now. I guess I’ll just keep 2 Skill Points for later. And as for my Stat Points—

“Oh, I got a new Skill.”

I looked back at Haec as he spoke up. My companion stopped in place and I gave him an eye.

“Really? What’d you get?”

“[Passive - Tough Body]. I feel like I can take more damage now with it. And my skin feels more rough. It’s my fourth Skill— I got it from leveling up.”

“Wait, you got it from a regular level up?”

I gaped at him as he nodded slowly. He had a confused look on his face.

“Yes. What’s wrong?”

“I’ve only learned Skills or gotten them from my evolution! That’s unfair! How’d you get that?”

“I don’t know. It’s the second one I got from leveling up— the other two came from my evolution.”

I found myself frowning, but he went on.

“I’m just a [Tank Fiend]. Your Subspecies seems far more rare than mine— almost like that [Arachne] we had just killed. Perhaps that’s why you aren’t getting Skills from regular level ups? Because you’re learning them on your own, which lets you get a rarer Subspecies, which in turn gives you only the rare opportunities to get better Skills?”

I gave him a dubious look . I wasn’t sure if that fully made sense, but I accepted the explanation as I had none of my own.

“Maybe.”

He was probably telling the truth— or at least, believed that that was the truth. He did tell me he got [Tank Fiend] from his evolution, even though I only saw him as a [Fiend]. But that had been how my [Identification] had worked against those wild Demons as well. So I believed him.

He was my companion, after all.

We continued cresting up the small hill we were on as I glanced up to the sky, a thought crossing my mind.

“Hey, ever wondered what makes us different from those wild Demons?”

“Different?”

“Like are we different just because we’re different? What makes me Salvos, and what makes them… them?  If it’s just instinct—”

I paused as a shadow loomed over me. I glanced up at the top of a hill, seeing a large light blue figure standing there. He was huge— twice the size of Haec, even. As large as the [Arachne] we had just killed.

The figure had straight black hair tied around the back of his head and facial hair that only ran down his chin. He was also wearing a strange piece of cloth around his legs and chest, an odd glowing ringed object around his neck, and he had on his hand a spiked weapon— a mace.

I took a step back as the figure spoke.

“Oho, what’s this? Two survivors— and Lesser Demons at that? That’s quite a feat, evolving even before the Desolation has come to an end.”

Haec backed up behind me, speaking in a warning voice.

“That Demon— I can’t see his level. What is he?”

What? I whirled around and to face the blue Demon, quickling using [Identification] on him as I raised my spear warily.

[Djinn - Lvl. 42]

I can see his level just fine? What is Haec talking about?  As I glanced back at my companion, confused, the [Djinn] bellowed in laughter.

“Of course not, measly [Fiend]. I am a Greater Demon— far above your level. You can’t fathom the power I hold as opposed to you.”

Haec tensed, but I spoke reassuringly to him.

“Don’t worry. I can see his level. He’s a Level 42 [Djinn]. I— I don’t think we can fight him.”

The [Djinn] cast his gaze to me, eyeing me with sudden contempt.

“You— I see, you must’ve spent quite some time raising the level of your [Identification]. Hrmph, an unexpected ability to level. But it would only make you more valuable.”

I jabbed my spear in the direction of the Greater Demon, bringing a hand out in front of my companion as I shouted at him.

“What do you want, [Djinn]? We do not wish to fight you, and you have no reason to fight us. Even if you defeat us, the experience you gain will be meager. Leave us— we will not bother you.”

“Bother me?”

He laughed once more, this time placing his hands on his rotund belly and bending over.

“You won’t even be able to harm me if you tried. No— I have no reason to fight you either, imp. So follow me, or I will make you.”

“And where will you take us?”

I bared my teeth dangerously, mimicking a [Hellhound].

“I was on my way to a contract. So first, I’ll bring you to my lair. Then I shall bestow you to our King, Regnorex. He shall greatly reward me if you prove yourselves useful to him.”

King? As in Demon King? So he wanted to take us back to the [Demon King’s Domain]. I had my interest slightly piqued by this: I wanted to ask this Demon King what he did to get such a vast piece of land to himself.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over at my companion as he whispered to me, panic in his voice.

“Maybe we should just listen to him, Salvos. He’s more than twice our level— and perhaps this Regnorex will be nice to us.”

I was tempted to agree, although I had a warning voice in the back of my head telling me not to, because the Greater Demon might have been with those dangerous Demons we had seen in the valley. I was still in thought when I snapped my head to the side. The [Djinn] blurred forward, suddenly towering over Haec.

“Wretch!”

The Greater Demon struck down at my companion, striking him across the chest with a fist and forcing blood out of his mouth. I stared at this, aghast.

“Haec!”

I sliced my spear at the [Djinn], but even at his size, he managed to dodge it. I ran over to Haec as the [Djinn] backed away.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine. I just… agh.”

He coughed up more blood as I held him by his back. The [Djinn] simply shook his hand as he muttered.

“Hrmph, more durable than I thought.”

I glared up at him.

“Why did you do that?! We said we would go with you!”

I raised my Spear of Flame in his direction, yelling at him.

“You did. But you disrespected our King. That is a sin  deserving of death. Be grateful that I only struck you once. Perhaps you shall remember to never refer to King Regnorex with familiarity.”

“You attacked us for that?

I looked at the [Djinn] disbelievingly. Then I turned back down to my companion who was struggling to stand up.

“Yes. Now come. We don’t have time to waste— I shall complete this contract quickly, and you shall present yourselves to our King.”

I slowly turned away from Haec as he got on his feet. He tried to say something, but clutched his chest as I patted him on the shoulder. Then I stared up at the [Djinn] with defiance.

“No.”

The [Djinn] narrowed his gaze. Then he sighed.

“I see.”

The Greater Demon crashed his mace to the ground, sending a plume of smoldering gas in my direction. I leapt to the side, going around it and rushing in at him. I closed the distance as fast as I could, then slashed at where he stood—

And he wasn’t there.

I whirled around as the [Djinn] appeared behind me.

“Fast, but not fast enough.”

He swept the ground with his giant mace, cracking the ground as it came at me. He was faster than me. I watched the weapon come at me, too fast for me to dodge.

[Double Step].

I just barely moved out the way in time. But the [Djinn] wasn’t finished. He charged after me, swinging his mace wildly. I tried to parry the attack with the Spear of Flames— and while the weapon absorbed most of the impact, the hit still sent me flying.

I landed at the bottom of the hill, rolling for a moment before I forced myself up. I glanced up to see the [Djinn] running down after me. I pointed and sent a [Fire Blast] at him. The Greater Demon just laughed.

“Pathetic.”

He didn’t block the attack. He let the fire burn at his skin, only leaving a slight mark on his exposed stomach. I stepped back, creating a small ball of fire and threw it at him instead. He frowned, then knocked it aside.

“A fire creation Skill? Hrmph, so a rare evolution then.”

He then reached to grab me.

“Come now, or I shall have to break your legs.”

The [Djinn]’s palms hovered over me, about to close on me. Then I stabbed it with my spear and he howled, backing up.

“What is that?!”

I spun the spear around, grinning.

“A Spear of Flame. And [Fire Strike]. Also, you talk too much.”

“Wh—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Haec leapt on him from behind.  

“[Crushing Blow]!”

The Greater Demon recoiled, staggering forward as I rushed forward at him, aiming for his eyes—

“[Burning Haze].”

An explosion of fiery smoke burst out around him, sending Haec and I flying back. I tumbled on the ground, skin flaking off from the heat. I finally came to a stop, but as I tried to stand up, the [Djinn] was there. He swung out at me once again and I tried to dodge—

And I did, but the Spear of Flames went sailing away as the mace struck it out of my hands. My eyes widened as I saw this, and before I could run to get it, he picked it up slowly.

“A Medium Grade Weapon— how did you get this?”

“As if I’ll tell you!”

I flung another small ball of fire at him, and this time he took it. He actually flinched  as it broke on his chest, leaving burn marks where it struck. But other than that, he was unharmed.

“Fine.”

He gripped the spear which seemed relatively small on his hand and pointed it at me.

“If you won’t come— I’ll just kill you and take the [Fiend] instead. One is better than none.”

A ball of smoke shot out at me. I used [Double Step] to dodge to the side, but the impact still knocked me back. It felt almost physical— no, it was physical. Ash? It was ash! And it was burning off my skin!

The [Djinn] was preparing another attack. I saw it, but I was already hurt. Even when it missed, it damaged me significantly. If it actually hit me— I would die. I didn’t know what to do. I almost stood there, frozen, when a voice broke me out of my stupor.

“Run, Salvos!”

Haec leapt onto the back of the [Djinn], knocking him off balance and making the ball of ash go wide. I blinked, unsure of what to do for a moment. Then I saw the Greater Demon struggle to pull my companion off his back as my companion pointed.

“Escape! You can do it!”

I hesitated— then I obeyed.

I spun on my heels, dashing up the hill and away as fast as I could. I heard the [Djinn] shout and a loud crash as he threw Haec off his back. He tried to run after me, sending balls of ash in my direction.

But I remember. At this moment, I spent all 5 of my Stat Points on [Agility] and all 2 of my Skill Points on [Double Step]. I activated the Skill as enough time had passed, and crested the hill, escaping from the ash balls flying over my head.

I continued running even when the attacks stopped. Even when I turned around and saw no one there, I continued to run. Then finally, I stopped.

—--

I had escaped the Greater Demon’s pursuit. I wasn’t sure when he stopped chasing after me, but he did. And he had taken off with my companion— Haec.

I walked around in a daze, as though a veil were hanging over my head, and at a loss of what to do. Was [Rest] working at the speed I was moving? I didn’t really know. All I knew was that I was alone now.

Was that so bad? I had been alone for most of the time I had been alive. Even the time I had spent with Haec was minute in comparison to the time I had spent on my own.

He did save me. He helped me escape. And now he would be taken to some king— Regnorex. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad. Perhaps the Demon King would help him become a Greater Demon too. That was always a possibility, right?

But then, what would I do? That seemed simple, right? I would just level, like I had always done!

And I saw myself— an [Imp], just standing there alone. I was throwing fire at my enemies, killing them solely for their experience. Just to level up, again and again. There was nothing else to my actions. To my existence.

Was leveling all there really was to my life?

No— I had to have a better reason than that. I enjoyed leveling. Everytime I evolved, I felt more complete. But that was not   me. I was already me. If I were to act only on my instinct to become something else, I would be no different from the mass of wild Demons.

I had to have some sort of discerning quality beyond my physical appearance that distinguished me as myself. I was not just another rock lying amongst an endless sea of rocks. I would not drown in my own revel that came from evolution. I had to become more than another piece of the rubble that came from the mindless breakings of life .  That was why I decided not to kill Haec in the first place.

He was my companion. I didn’t really think of myself as his leader— but perhaps I had been. Whether or not that was true didn’t matter. We both agreed that we were companions, and he was the only one who ever recognized me as… me.

Salvos.

Maybe we would not always be together. Maybe something could happen in the future that would separate us. But that didn’t matter, because he had acknowledged me, I, too, would have to acknowledge him.

I slowly felt myself regaining control of my movements, no longer in a thin-stringed trance. I stepped forward and finally sheared the [Imp] in half, my claws breaking into its face as it struggled, trying to burn me. I finished the wild Demon off, and got up.

Defeated [Imp - Lvl. 20]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

Subspecies [Zelus Imp] Level Up!

[Zelus Imp - Lvl. 15] -> [Zelus Imp - Lvl. 16]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!

With those words of victory in my head, I started back in the direction I had come from, searching for Haec.

12. Two of Us

I returned to the scene where I had left Haec behind, fleeing to save my own life from the [Djinn]. The magical ash on the ground was still there, but it was vanishing— the magic holding it together diffusing back to the surroundings. My footsteps dispersed what was left of the ashes as I stepped to the small pool of black liquid at the base of the hill.

There was a trail here; the wound I had left on the Greater Demon, while not severe, drew enough blood to leave a path to follow. So I followed it, distributing my Stat and Skill Points as I did.

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 5]

[Vitality]: 17

[Strength]: 12

[Endurance]: 20

[Wisdom]: 24

[Agility]: 40

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 3]

[Basic Fire Creation] - Lvl. 5

[Double Step] - Lvl. 5

[Fire Strike] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Fire Blast] - Lvl. 4

[Passive - General Tool Proficiency] - Lvl. 2

[Unused Skill Slot] x2

I thought about it, just barely. I had been as fast as the [Djinn] was— or maybe even slightly slower— before I raised my [Agility] as I fled. But I spent everything I had on it, and while I was probably faster now, it couldn’t hurt to raise it even more. So I spent another 2 Stat Points on it.

[Strength] was useless here. And so was [Endurance]. That left [Vitality] and [Wisdom]. Which would I spend more on?

[Vitality] seemed tempting— I was fain to raise it after having nearly died just earlier. But then I wouldn’t be able to harm the [Djinn]. And I did have a way to harm him.

[Basic Fire Creation].

It was a taxing Skill. And I couldn’t conjure up as large of a flame as I was able to with even [Basic Fire Conjuration]. Yet it could hurt the Greater Demon, even if slightly. With that in mind, I decided: I added all of my Skill Points to [Basic Fire Creation] and 2 Stat Points to my [Wisdom], leaving the last Skill Point to [Vitality].

Satisfied, I glanced back up at the terrain around me, still following the trail of blood the [Djinn] had left behind. It was more difficult to track now. But I was getting close.

Now Entering [Demon King’s Domain].

I continued my run even with the notification in my head, not even pausing slightly as the words settled in and phased out. And finally, I arrived.

The trail of blood led to an opening on the side of the hill. I stopped right outside of it, staring into the illuminated cavern; crystals of light hung on the side of the white walls, shining as bright as a fire. Taking one last look around to ensure the same trail I had been following led me into the cave, I entered it.

Now Entering [Lair: Lucerna’s Lamp].

This place was… a lair? I eyed the side of the seemingly natural walls dubiously; it definitely seemed to be smoothed out— but refined, not made. The [Djinn]— was his name Lucerna?—   had appropriated this place as his own. I thought for a moment to ask him how he did that, but dismissed it quickly.

No, I told myself, materializing a small spike made of fire. All that matters now is I get Haec out of here.

Maybe we could have our own lair to ourselves in the future. But that wasn’t important at the moment. I could not lose focus. And I was glad I didn’t.

My ears perked up as I heard a distant voice echoing from the end of the tunnel. I tensed, backing up thinking that Lucerna had found me out. But then I realized he was not calling me out— he was talking to someone.

I hugged the side of the wall and crept up slowly to the end of the tunnel before it expanded into a large cave chamber. I stopped as I saw a large shadow moving just ahead of me. The shadow stopped as a booming voice spoke out.

“Yes, yes. This is certainly a weapon fitting a Greater Demon such as I. Smaller than I’m used to, but its advantages— it is terrific.”

There was a pause— a moment of silence. Then a second, more familiar voice came.

“...Salvos told me it was a ‘Medium Grade Weapon’. Doesn’t sound too ‘terrific’ to me.”

Haec. I tried to peer over the corner— to get a glance of my companion. But I moved back as the large shadow of the [Djinn] moved.

“Hrmph, perhaps to a simpleminded fool such as you.”

Lucerna harrumphed as he moved further away from me, his shadow disappearing towards the end of the cave chamber. I edged closer as he continued.

“Tell me, [Fiend]. When you pick up a rock and identify it, does it tell you the Grade of the rock? Or does it simply describe it as it is— a rock?”

I peeked over the corner and caught a glimpse of my companion, confined inside of a structure of bars made of… metal. It was a cage— a cell to hold him in. While the [Djinn]’s back was turned, I waved at my companion, getting his attention. Haec’s eyes widened as he saw me.

“No response? Maybe I’ve overestimated even your intelligence. It is expected for a newborn to be ignorant, but as undiscerning as you?”

I backed up as Lucerna dropped something heavy loudly onto the ground. He turned back to Haec, strutting up to the cage.

“Think, [Fiend]. A rock can be used as a weapon, yet it has no Grade. No— only a weapon crafted with at least a modicum of skill and mastery would be qualified as a Low Grade Weapon. A simple mass produced sword by a low leveled [Blacksmith] wouldn’t ever get a Grade.”

My companion just stared up at the Greater Demon, staying silent. Lucerna scoffed, stepping back and away from him.

“My Burning Mace has been a useful weapon. A rather powerful weapon for being Low Grade. But even compared to this—”

The [Djinn] held up the Spear of Flames, admiring it against a crystal of light.

“To think someone was capable of magically creating such a weapon. It will still last till the end of the Desolation, even as it degrades to below a Low Grade Weapon by then. Is it… is it perhaps the work of an Archdemon?”

He mused to himself before shaking his head. As he did this, I finally stepped into the room and ducked behind the cover of some tall rocks.

I poked my head out briefly, getting a full view of the room for once. There was a stack of cages to the right of the room, closest to me and where Haec was being held in. To the left was where Lucerna was standing, by a large table of stone with a pile of objects strewn all over. There were clumps of small items made of gold and silver; weapons of various shapes and sizes; and… other cloth things that seemed similar to what he wore— clothes?  

I ducked my head back down as the [Djinn] looked back down. I kept my head low as I slowly edged around the side to more rocks, getting close to my companion. As I did, I caught a glimpse of what was at the end of the room. There was something drawn onto the ground. A black kind of ink forming a circle with symbols within— was it blood? I couldn’t really tell. But it was there.

Haec turned to me as I stopped a few rocks away from him. I gestured at him to remain quiet as the [Djinn] walked to the end of the room. There was something on the bars of his cage— something that I could tell was preventing him from just swinging it open. I gave him a look and he pointed towards a ringed object with a glistening object on it. It was a key.

I could sense the mana emanating off it. There was something about it that made it magical. And so was there something that made the cage magical. Well, there were a lot of magical things in the room, like the circle that was on the ground. But it was my companion’s insistent nodding that made me decide that the key was necessary to open the cage.

I started to the left side of the room, still keeping low and hoping that Lucerna didn’t see me. The Greater Demon was now standing over the circle, inspecting the symbols on it. The ringed object around his neck suddenly glowed. He nodded to himself.

“Well then, let’s see what contract there is for me.”

Lucerna tapped on the object and it stopped glowing. Suddenly, the circle flashed. I felt an immense amount of mana— more than I had ever felt before— tear into the ground. Then the symbols on it shifted. It spun faster and faster, the circle seemingly sinking into the ground, until finally it stopped. The circle vanished, and in its place was suddenly an image.

The [Djinn] looked down at the image and I could almost hear him frown.

“What’s this? This is the contract that I had been offered? The sacrifice that I had come back here for? Ridiculous.”

I had just reached the table and was about to grab the key when he whirled around. I caught myself, ducking back into cover just time.

“Do they really believe that such a sacrifice is worthy of me — a Greater Demon?  As if being a virgin makes a woman give any more experience or mana. No— I require more. A family, at least. And even that is an offering to a Lesser Demon. Or perhaps if she were higher leveled. But alas, it was a waste of time to come here. Come, [Fiend]. You get to meet your King sooner than expected.”

I panicked as I realized the [Djinn] was heading for the key. What do I do? He could discover me. And even if he didn’t discover me, he was going to just grab Haec and leave once again. Did I attack him once he let my companion go? I didn’t think things would go differently from last time if it came down to that. Luckily for me, I didn’t need to do anything as my companion spoke out, stopping him in his tracks.

“What are you going to do to me?”

The Greater Demon paused, just before the table. Then he turned around and started back in the direction of the cage. Haec must have realized my dilemma and was trying to distract him. This was my chance!

I got up and quickly grabbed the key before disappearing back behind the rocks as Lucerna stopped right in front of the cage.  

“What am I going to do to you? Are you not listening, fool? I will take you to our King. And when you meet him, make sure that you’ve learned your lesson and address him with respect. King Regnorex is sure to reward me if I bring back even a single Lesser Demon— but if you prove your worthlessness by insulting him? You will be killed on the spot, and I shall be punished too.”

My companion didn’t respond immediately, which seemed to anger the [Djinn]. The Greater Demon banged once on the cage, rocking it and knocking the stack of cages behind him onto the ground.

“Do you understand? Or will I have to make you understand again?”

“...I understand.”

“Good.”

Lucerna left my companion and went back to the stone table. The moment he did, I leapt out from behind the rocks and started to fumble at the rocks with the key. I nodded at Haec to not say a word as I tried to get him out, as the Greater Demon was angrily muttering to himself.

“Now where did I leave it? I know I left it here somewhere—”

Click.

The key turned and the door swung open. But before that could happen— as I unlocked the cage— there was a sound. A sound that alerted the [Djinn]. He whirled around as I yelled.

“What’s—”

“Run!”

I threw the flame spike I had on my hand at Lucerna, aiming for his eyes. I wasn’t sure how, but I somehow knew how to throw it in a way that made it dart through the air faster than even I could move. He blinked then reached up to cover his face. But he was too slow. He screamed in pain as the small spike pierced into his eye.

“Aggggggggggghhhh!”

Haec burst out of the cage behind me, sprinting as fast as he could for the tunnel that would lead to the exit. He had a brief head start, but even then I caught up to him quickly enough. I grabbed him by the hand and pulled him as I ran ahead, trying to make him go faster.

A ball of ash flew over our heads, exploding right before the tunnel. I stopped just in time to avoid the impact of the blast. Even if I had healed somewhat, that would have still killed me. Before I could try to continue past the cloud of smoldering ash left behind from the attack, a large mace came crashing between me and my companion.

I rolled to the side, picking myself up as fast as I could while Haec rubbed at his bloodied arms.

“You—”

The Greater Demon grabbed his stone table, lifting the entire thing with everything still on it, and flung it at me.

“You dare come to my lair and attack me? I will make you pay!”

He backed up and almost stumbled onto the image on the ground. The [Djinn] caught himself and I narrowed my eyes. But before I could do anything, the table crashed to the side of me, just barely missing me.

He wasn’t able to see well— I had blinded him in one eye. If we wanted to escape… I spun to my companion.

“Go! I’ll catch up to you!”

“But—”

Haec stopped himself. He eyed me hesitantly, but eventually nodded. He ran for the door as the [Djinn] raced to stop him. I flung another two more fire spikes at the Greater Demon, stopping him as he successfully blocked his face this time.

Lucerna angrily turned his gaze to me. His one remaining eye was bulging with hatred, almost as if it were about to explode. He brought his spear to the ground, sending a line of burning smoke at me. I jumped over it, landing amongst the scattered pile of cages.

The Greater Demon sent more balls of ash at me, but I weaved between the cages. The accumulation of ash formed a light haze where I was. I grinned as my plan began to work.

“Where are you?!”

He bellowed, stopping after he sent one last ball of ash. It exploded, but this time, not anywhere close to me. I lowered my body behind some rocks, away from the cages. He wasn’t able to see me anymore, his vision too obscured by his own ash.

I saw Haec begin to turn the corner, finally reaching the tunnel. Lucerna’s gaze snapped to this and I threw a fire spike at him. The Greater Demon jumped back, having anticipated this. Then I leapt out of my cover, running across the room to my companion’s side—

The [Djinn] grinned.

“[Burning Haze].”

Smoke burst out in all directions around him. I was thrown back as the hot smoke burned my skin. I screamed as I felt the scalding heat exacerbate the wounds I had previously suffered. I collapsed to the ground, my vision a blur and ears ringing.

I thought I heard Haec call out to me, but everything was spinning. I struggled to get to my feet but a shadow loomed over me. I looked up and saw Lucerna raising my spear at me.

“Goodbye, imp.”

I saw the ash appear and begin to form a ball. My eyes widened and I almost went straight to what my instinct told me to do. [Double Step]! Get out of the way— no, I wouldn’t be able to get far enough to avoid the impact. The blast would still reach me. And if it didn’t kill me right off, whatever came next from him would.

There was a scream from behind me. My companion was shouting and running to help me. But he would be too slow. There was nothing I could do. I would die here. At least, that was what I thought until I looked between the [Djinn]’s legs.

Behind him was the image on the ground. The circle that became a hole. It was the reason he had come back here— except he didn’t think it was worth coming back over now. And when he almost fell into it, he panicked, even for just a moment.

I glanced back up at Lucerna, the ball of ash finally finished forming. Then back at my companion who was still halfway to me. Then I made my decision.

“[Double Step]!”

I pushed myself off the ground, charging forward at the Greater Demon. I struck him across the chest with all my shoulder, throwing my entire body behind it together with my increased speed. The [Djinn] went staggering back, losing his balance as I pushed him with what little strength I had.

There was a forced exhale as his ball of ash launched to the ceiling of the cave. He stumbled as he tried to regain his footing on the edge of the circle— and I ran into him once again, this time unaided by Skill. He slipped— and fell into the hole on the floor.

I wasn’t sure if it would work. I had no idea what it would do. But as the Greater Demon went falling into the hole, the image vanished and was replaced by a void of darkness. The ring around his neck flashed as he screamed at me.

I tried to back up— to get away from the hole before it would consume me too. But suddenly a hand grabbed me by the leg. I looked down, and to my horror, I saw Lucerna clutching at my leg.

He was pulling me with him. I tried to claw at the ground— stop myself from falling with him. But he was bigger than me. He was heavier than me. And he dragged me with him.

I went falling through the hole too. I tried to claw the Greater Demon’s hands off me, but he was laughing— cackling like crazy. [Fire Strike]! [Fire Strike]! [Fire Strike]! Eventually, he lost his grip. Then from the top of the hole, I heard a voice.

“Salvos, grab my hand!”

I glanced up and saw Haec reaching for me. I tried to swim out of the darkness— out of the black ocean that was closing in on me. My companion reached out for me and I reached for him—

And the circle closed.

Everything went black. There was no more light. I felt like I was being born once again, stuck in an infinite void. I tried to break out of it. I swung my arms, scratching at the surface, but nothing broke. Nothing except for the silence in my head.

Now Leaving [Lair: Lucerna’s Lamp].

Now Leaving [Demon Lord’s Domain].

Now Leaving [Elieus: Netherworld].

After those words came, there was nothing for a moment. Just a moment. Then I heard a crack.

Now Entering [Elieus: Mortal Realm].

I suddenly found myself on solid ground, bent over on my hands and knees. I was staring at a circle on the floor— a black circle with some red liquid spilling by my claws. I glanced up at the [Cultist] who was spreading his arms wide in a declaration.

“Oh mighty Lucerna! Greater Demon of the Netherworld! You’ve accepted this offering, and now we implore you—”

The man paused. He looked down at me, then looked past me. He blinked.

“Wait, why are there two of you?”

…

“Did we just get two for the price of one? Awesome!”