-Day 27 (Thursday), Daniel's P.O.V.-

I intently observed the droplets of water rushing over my skin, dripping down, and slipping in the shower's drain. Slowly, mana seeped out of my body and tried to get a grip on the water.

Your affinity with the element [Aqua] is not high enough

"My shortcomings seem to be a reoccurring theme lately, huh?" I thought and I scrubbed my short horns carefully. "These things are cool, but also a bit of a bother. I might've been better off without them."

The horns were a new addition to the roster of my physical changes, brought in by the 'perk' I gained for reaching level 300.

Draconic ascendance

-Your body is maturing, growing into a proper dragon

-Remaining time: 160:12:11

I still had around a week until the process was complete. I wasn't sure what would happen then, but in one week a lot could change. Hopefully it would be worth it.

A few minutes later, I left the shower and dried myself with a quick application of Ignocorpus. Sooner or later I would need to increase my arsenal even more, but for now I was happy with my spells and skills.

While I was drying my wings, my eyes landed on a mark on my shoulder.

-A few hours earlier…-

After the third Gashadokuro got annihilated, I waited for the next boss. I was wondering what it would be: I wasn't too knowledgeable about ghost-type enemies, in all honesty.

I felt a chill go down my spine, and my instincts screamed at me to get out of the way. Just as I dodged, aided by a burst of wind behind me, an extremely sharp blade sliced through the air.

A chill ran down my spine as my attacker became known. It was another reaper, and this one looked way more powerful than the last one I'd met.

Grim Reaper - True harbringer of death (+75% STR, AGI, MAG, HP/MP*10)

LV: 450

HP: 8.500 [85.000/85.000]

MP: 25.500 [255.000/255.000]

STR: 400 (700)

VIT: 300

AGI: 550 (962)

DEX: 500

MAG: 470 (822)

LUK: 30

Phys protection: 0

Magic protection: 150

Resist Ice

Null Physical

Repel Dark, Death

I was fucked. I was so, utterly, fucked.

And like the last time I had the displeasure to fight it, the screed spazzed out.

You have made good progress lately, but let us see just how well you will fare now. Go forth without mercy, little demon; my reapers have none to spare.

With that little 'pep talk' from Thanatos over with, I prepared myself for the fight. The reaper immediately lunged with a speed far higher than what I could follow along, and it was only a mixture of luck and knee-jerk reaction that saved me from the scythe again.

I launched myself as far away as I could, and began layering spells all over me. Power Burst *10, Overdrive *10, Armor of Agathys, Defense Boost. The increase in power was astronomical, my physical stats shooting well over 1200.

The reaper must've felt the change, as it hesitated in its approach for a moment. I gave a fierce grin, more determined than ever.

"Let's dance."

A blast of air erupted as I moved. Sure, it was immune to physical attacks, but what about fire-empowered punches?

My forearms, hands, shins, and feet became covered in black flames, leaving behind a trail of scorched soil. I jumped up, and delivered a fierce axe kick down at the reaper. Instead of its head, my heel struck a wall of liquid shadow coming up from the ground with a mighty bang. I used the momentum to jump back.

The force behind my hit was enough to drain over 30.000 Mp from it in order to keep it protected.

"Great, just gotta keep going for another six or so hits."

My Mp wasn't even draining in the slightest, so I just let myself go on a rampage. The reaper dodged, ducked, and deflected most of my hits, and those it couldn't get away from it had to use its 'shadow wall' to block.

Soon, I had depleted most of its Mp, so I decided to pull out a technique I'd given some thought before.

"Black Tiger Claws!" I yelled, excitedly. The flames on my arms converged all in my hands, specifically my claws, lengthening them. I raked my claws all over my enemy's body, my arms nothing more than black flashes.

Just as its Hp got close to 50K, it disappeared. My confusion was replaced by a sting of pain from my back.

-1.040 Hp!

I turned around, and caught the reaper straight in the face.

It flew back a bit, and stabilized in midair.

"Oh, right. Spirit. It flies."

The reaper pointed at me, and several tendrils made of shadow erupted from its sleeve. They all came at me from different directions. I had no choice but to get hit a bit to get out of the way.

-10.830 Hp!

That hurt. A lot.

I was pissed.

I ran at it, and ran as much mana in my body as I feasibly could without exploding. The sonic boom made by my movements threw off my enemy enough that I could get close enough. I grabbed its bony neck, and help it up. With a primal roar, I slammed my fist into its face.

The head flew off, rendered dust by the absolute power of 50.000 Mp all used for one thing: Attack Boost *250

Reaper Lv: 450 killed!

You gained: 1.350.000 Xp and 9.000 Gp!

You leveled up! (311 – 318) You gained 35 Stat points and 14 Upgrade points!

I grinned. While my whole body ached because of the excessive amount of mana I'd used in one go, I was definitely happy about the boosts I gained.

My grin faltered when I remembered who was supposed to appear now. And appear he did, coming out of a portal made of shadows.

"S̵͉̰͎̗̄̐̀̓̈́p̶̰͘l̴̼͍͓̻͂̓̚͝͝e̸̛͇̔̃͠n̷̛̹̏̾̍d̷̢̺͗̅̇̚ĩ̶̢̞̈́ͅd̵̰͖̗́̄̀̈́̕!̴̛̠́̆ ̴̺͚̭̍͋̎͊ͅĂ̵̲͇̙͖̞b̸̨̝̼͛ŝ̵͇͍̙͕̊̔o̷̠̬̺̜͛́̃̉̍l̵̛̪̣̲̠̂͋̍̚ȗ̶͚̝͌t̶̛̞̳̔̐̄̏ͅȅ̷͍̺͓l̶̯̎͛͛͝ͅÿ̸͖͆ ̸̭͇͗́̌͝s̴̪͇͑̌͝p̴̤̀l̵̛̲̞͕̼̻̀̇͗e̴̛̼̽̑͒̈́n̷͍̗̎̇d̵̠̖̋̏͐ḭ̸̭̤͈̺̄̍̈́̂d̴̡̬̞̗͔͐̂!̷͍͔͎̩͋͘ ̴̨̙̫͎̀Ê̶̩̪͔̂x̵̲̎̄̎͌̈a̴̻͖̩̦̓̏͌͝͝c̸̢̼̫̙̘̄́̎͆t̵̰̽͘l̷͉̣̫̝̀̂͐͘ͅy̸̧̮̠͒̾̔̓͘ ̸̬̪͕̺̍͌͝͠w̸̩̞͉̹̆͂̿́͜͠h̶̢̙̥̋̒͗a̸̘̔̏̈́͝ṫ̴̛͎ ̵̲̖̠̀̊̂̕I̵̙͓̎̊̒ ̷̮͍͈̘̎ͅw̶̜͚͚̄̅̇̏̽a̶̟͕̯̻̜̎̾̅s̸̜̪̭̘͘ ̶͙̪̓h̸̥͍̤̩̋ͅo̷̢͓̝̱̘͆͆̎̓p̶͈͓̱̍͗̾̐i̵͚͛͆̎̉̉n̵̢̔̊̐̾̃g̷̭̈́͊͝ ̴̲͍͐f̸͈̟͙̍͋̕o̴̘̲̞̍͂̀̍̽r̸̭̦͈̞̦̐̋̾!̷̜̀" He clapped.

I was having a harder time than before to understand what he was saying, but I assumed that he deemed me 'worthy to not hold back', or something dumb like that.

"Y̴̨̮̪̞͂ͅo̶̤̍͒̔̉̄ͅù̴̫̠̘̺͌̔̏͜͝ ̵͙̀a̸͚͉͠r̷̪̼̽͊̕e̷̢̺͈̥͠ ̵̼̪̖̤̫̋̍̌t̷̛͓͈̣̼̩̂̽̑̅r̴̬̙̺̈́͗u̵̧̞̖͇̫̎̆͌̓͘͠l̶̼̩̮̰̹̫̓̃ý̵̛͕̖͘ ̵͙̮̓̋̔̾s̸͖̦͓̻͙̑͗̈́̅̇̚ó̵̭͙̲̒̽̊m̵̨̃͐e̵̦̰͙̱͑̀t̷̜̣̓͝ḥ̷̡̆͗͠i̶̡̡̖͙̿̇n̵̻̫͉̙̓̽̿͆̍g̶̞͔͚̦͊̑ͅ ̶̡̨͓̠̭̼̆̉̽̌ă̶̢̳̳͕̄̌̋m̵̗̣̪͇͕͒͂a̸̧͈̽͌̊͒̔̒z̸̙͈͐̍͂̒̈̌ĩ̴̫̭͍̬͚̏̔̕͝n̴͉̖̈́͌͜g̶̢̨̥͉͚̬̈́̿͗͑ ̴͎̒̌̆̎̔c̴̻̪͌̽͂h̷̞̹̖̊͐́̽̌͝í̸͇̯͇̖̼̺l̷̢̺̖̫͒̀d̸͍̞̺͐͐͒͆̽̄ͅ.̷̨͖̞̎̅̒͠͝ ̴̮͇̟̍E̵͖̜̾͜v̸̨̰̤̤̠̗̅̓̓̈́e̶̡͂n̷͙̚ ̶̮́̇͑̑͜ẁ̵̲̱ỉ̷͍͉̽̈́͐͜͠t̷͍̃ḥ̵̥̒̐̈́̓͘o̷͓̖͇͍̥̿ů̸̟̩̜͈͇t̷͔̲͛̎̑̅̔ ̷̢͉̤̤͙͛Y̴̨̯̟̙͔̋̓g̵̢̠̭̹̃g̴̥̰̼̅̐͊d̶̛̰͍͕̘̍̇r̵͕̪̈́̋̍̿̈́͘a̵̬͓͇̘̔͐̏́s̵̼̥̃̒́i̷̗̠͊̈́̈l̵͚̒̑'̶͍͎̟͗͑s̴͉̥͓̏̄ ̸̫̮̗͕̀̓h̵̩̯̾͜e̸̗̻̣̎͊́͋͝ḷ̸̛̛͖̩͙̲̞̒̈̕͝p̶̘̟̺͈͚̦̽̀͛͝,̷̣͉͉̙̩͑̿ ̸̯̺̝̞̒͒̿͗ͅI̸̥̖͎̦͚̝̽̂̐͠͝ ̶̮͗̈́̓̂͒̅a̴̢̟̠͌̌͆̅m̶̘̞̈́ ̶̤̪̟͇͎̦̓̆̊̊̇͝s̶͍̋̑u̴̘̣͙̅̊̀̈́̚͜͝ͅř̵͍e̶̥̋̑͑̏̋̚ ̴̠̤̠͇̓̊́͊͗͜y̸̦̰͙̻̘̳̆̏̇͒̐ọ̶̧̳͇̬̯́͊̒͘͝ụ̴͖͙̯̇̈́̎̕͠ ̶̢̨̪̹̲̭̂̅̍̕ẅ̴̩̙̰̞́̿o̴͇͖̼̫̓̀̀ū̵̲̻̮̘̗́͒̊ḽ̸̗̪̩͗͛͌̌͘͜ḑ̵̖̪̥̞̋̆͐͗ ̸͕̱͔͕͒͂͂͌ĥ̶̟͚̻̰͎͚̄̄a̵̯̞͎͛́͜v̶͎̝͑̈́̀è̵̜̦̲͇͚̻̈́ ̵̭̝̤̜̆͐́͜ͅg̴̭̬̞̍̄͒̽͒͘ṛ̵͇͎̆͗͌̏͗́ö̵̡̩̝̗͇̭ẉ̷̧̰͕̟͊͝n̵̛̳̯̓̾͐͝ ̸͕̦̭̈́̂̇̾̕j̸̩͓̥̤̓̃́́̕u̷̯͙͈̼͛̑s̷̢̹̝̤̥͍̊͗̾͒̕͝t̶͙͕̲̘͚̄͌͌̔͜ ̸͈̒̀ä̸̹͉͙́̂̄̃͑͘š̵̜̈͋̈̒ ̷̙̦̭̮͈̘͆̅p̴͙̰̖͚̲̟͋̉̂͋o̸̰̱̍̈́̓̆̏w̸̡̘̰̜͈̟̍͊̐͊ê̵͖̩r̷̘̜̙̳̹̭̈́̔̈́͐̚f̵̥̹̱̈́̾̇͗͒ű̴̢͎̭̩̍̓͂̒ĺ̶̠̻͂͛̄͝ ̵̟͕͔̭̼̽͛̕ğ̴͇ͅi̶̧̠̮̠͋̽̔͋͛̕v̷̠̭̎̇̅͝e̸͂̈̓͊ͅn̴͉͇̗̟̓̾̈́̾̿͜ ̵̠̩͕͌̆̿̈̌͝e̸̫͕͍͔̽̅͜n̸̼͇̠͗͗̏́̕o̶̢̓̏̅͑͠͠u̶̧̳̦̹̝̎̉͑̄̏͠g̵̢͓̀h̶̙̩̐͋̑͛̉ ̴̢̤͎̮̊̋̾̊͘t̸̳̤̖̱͙͔͒͂i̴͕̹̅̍͛̋̓̑ḿ̵̢̭̹̖͙̰̃͆̀e̸̞̝̥̙̋̌̓.̵̛̩̪̮̬͉͑̌͋"

My ears were starting to hurt.

"F̴͈̅̂͊̔͝ơ̵̢͖̩̺̘͐̈́̇͘r̴͔̤̪̣̲͂ ̴̡̫̥͔̭̜̅̎͐̀̔̚i̷̠͖͎̩̙͆̏ͅm̶̛͈͓̆̍̊̀p̸͙̽̽̕̕r̶̤̙̃̀̓ë̴̝͇̮̄͘͝ṣ̴̜͆ş̴̛̭̞́́i̶̩̰̗͋̈̂̋̈́̓n̸̢̺̜͋̈́͂g̷̢̼̞̱̠̉̀̀͘͜ ̶̞̞͕̥͆́̈͐̀͠m̶̰̞̙̜̚ë̸̳̐͗̓͘͝ ̸̗͔̎͆̆̿̍̚y̸͖͍͈̩̕̕e̴̛̗̰͕̮̗͂̿͘̚t̴͍̮̜̝̽̀ ̸̡̻̮̺̐̽͌͝ą̷̧̰͎̜̻̇̉g̸̙̜̊̒͑͊͘͝a̴͓̭͈͌̆͋͒̎ị̵̡̬̯̩͛̃̏͠n̴̢̬͚͉͕̊̔͊̚͘͜,̶̺͓̜͋̄̆̇͠ ̴̳̬̺̳͐̒͝ͅI̸̡̠̙̮̝͈̓ ̵̱̞̰̹̞̍ś̸̡̳͚̌̃̌̈́͝h̷̡̠̄̌͊ǎ̷͙̳͕̪͜l̸̡͓͓̊͑͛̅͜ļ̴̣̫̺͚̤̈́̓̑̎̚͘ ̵̡͋̉͜͝o̸̧̦̗̳͕̻̎̃̌f̷̪̬̟͆̅̈́̌̕̕͜f̸͚̫̞̳̓̽̅̂ͅe̵̡̘͎͓̗͊̈̉̓̒͜r̴̡̻̣̗͉͘ ̷̨͎̪̖̹̞́t̷̨̼̫̰̳̔ḩ̶͇̪͎̘̀͐͝e̵̮̖̯͐̔͌̓̏ḛ̴̼͍͂͒̇ ̴̩͙̺̥̿a̶̮͖̙̩͍̒͛͝ ̷͈̯̬̖̖̊͑̿̋̽̀ͅp̵̡̠̫͂͌̀͠ṙ̶̡̤̘̪͓͗̆͑̚i̴̢͎̠̲̗͆͗̍z̶̩͓͇̃́e̵̞͔̫̩̭̽͘ ̵̧͇̫̫͍̟͐͂̏̌̿͘o̵̡͕̬͍̿̈́f̷̡̗̪̜͎̯̾ ̴̢̦͒̚y̸̢͍͌ỏ̴̥̤̝̭̬͎̃̌͂ù̸̗̠̆̈̎̔͆r̷̨̼̜̹̹̫̾̋̐ ̸͚͖̜͑͛̎͊͗c̸͋̐̏̊͝ͅh̸̞̳̼͋̄͛o̵͚̪͐͗ì̶͍̲͐̒̎c̴̨͓̱̹̪̯͑͑̀̕e̷̪̬̘̬͕̩̓̍̍̇.̸̨̙̪̭͕̲̑̓̓̉̉"

"A prize of my choice, huh… what would I want that I can't get from the Store? What could a god of death offer me that… oh."

I looked up at Thanatos, not flinching even as I stared into the voids that were his eyes. "I want a chance to escape death. I know I will be defeated at some point, and I want to be able to return to life when that happens."

If Thanatos' shadowy face had eyebrows, I was sure that they would have rose quite a lot at my request.

"A̵̖͂̏̇̐͝ ̵̺̜̓̒̏̏͊b̵͔̲̮̹̿̆͜o̵͍͇͊̈̋l̶̜̘̤̺͈͐̈́͌d̵̞͉̮̈́͆͜ ̴̤̀ř̶̢͚̩̗͖͆̃̈́̚͘ȩ̷̧͖̙̒q̶̦̤̌̅̽̈́͌͛u̷͕̟̅̈̓͌̋̆e̴̢̼͑̏̐͒̓̇͜s̷̢̟̜̖͖̠͌̾t̸̛̪̼̻̖̼͂.̴̛̦͈̋̄́̄" He stated. "B̵͇͛̔ŭ̶̹͉̪̘ť̴͜ ̷̡̜͓̺͌̀ȏ̵̦̟͚͇̼̣͆͆͆n̵̝͍͎̝̈̔̎e̷̡̲̮̪̝͐̂ ̸͖̭̞̜̖̅ṭ̷͍̭́̒̀̈͝ḧ̸͕̺̹͓͚̼̄̋̏̀a̷̗̳̱̤̎t̸̘̒͛͋͋ ̵̟̰̜̋͆͂͘I̸̜̳̟̠̎ ̶̛͇́ȧ̴̡̘̻m̷̜͚̮͕͛̑̌̌ ̶̤͚̈́̌̃̂̉̊w̴͇̜̝͖̲̘͐̿̂i̸̮̖̼͍͚͚̍̔l̵͎͕͚̫͎̤͗̎l̷͎̞̟̙̩̥̏̉̈̌͝i̶̧̡̮̟͓̜̅͗͂̂n̷̡̟̺̠̤̍̔g̶̢̺̱͙͈̓̾ ̶̟̺͙͉̍̿̿͆͝t̴͙͚͈͛̑̋o̷̡̥͆̾͐ ̶̨̱͈̙̓̌̾͆̕͝à̵̙͉̅̈́̓͜͜͝c̸͙͚̿̄̃͆̕̕ͅc̴̟̲̗͇͈̓̌̀͗͗e̵͉̙̼̖̤͊̾̏̕p̷͔̓̀̌̈́t̷̬̉͛̓ ̷̙͕̒͋n̷͉̰͚̰͍̓̀ͅỏ̷͎̘̩͚͎͗̄ṇ̵̛̖̐ȩ̶͔̜̳̻͇͗̈́͋t̶̛̰͍̦̋́h̷̨͈̪̟̯̟̓̇̈́̈́ẻ̴̝͎̮̱̉͝͠l̸̙̘̮͍̲͗̉̾ͅe̸̱͚̤̊̔̄ş̴̬̑̀͛̂̊͝s̷̱̟̀̀͗̃͒̅.̵̡̩̗̼̓̃̌̕ͅ" He came closer, and touched my bare shoulder.

I was regretting going without a shirt for so long, what with my wings tearing through them and whatnot, and I regretted it even more when my shoulder started burning.

After a few seconds, Thanatos lifted his finger from me, and I almost fell to the ground.

"I̷̡̭͔̗̤̮͊̂̊ţ̴̩͈̞̅ ̶͎͑̀́͝ī̴̬̥̽š̷̰͖̮̼̹̰̍́̈ ̷̖͚̝̲̲̈̇̒d̴̡̯̹͋õ̷̰͇̘͙n̸̛̮͉͍̭̍̚ȅ̷̯͐͑̉.̵̢̱̣̮͔̅ ̸̧̩̖̥͍̄̒̊S̶͓̖̟̫̲͉̀̉h̵̛̜̝̟͆̾̒͜o̵̢̘͕̓ͅù̸̠͌̓̋͝͝l̷̙̳̥͉̾͑͆́̃̾͜ḏ̶̗̘̞̭̊͑͊ ̵̖̗̘̲͓̉̋̉̌̽̚͜y̷̢̦̺̰̠̝̌o̷̺̳͌́u̵̩̰̓̌ ̸̤̹̫̏͑̓̈́͜ȩ̴̗̼̗͒ͅv̷͔̗̖̟̫̙̍̄͑̅̍̚e̸̫̲͇̽͒̈́̚ŗ̴̧̧̦̀͘ ̶̦̎́̿f̷̢̹̺̮͒́͜a̶̫͐͒l̵̨̞̉̃̊̐ļ̵̡̠͓͓̎ ̸͕̾̉i̶̫͔͓͚͍̓̆̐͋̃͊ǹ̵̯̫̲̘͗ ̸̧̗̞̏̅̍͐̍̐͜b̸͈̉͑̚͝a̷͚̤̺̹̿̇t̸̖̫͐ẗ̶̜̪̣́̀̆l̷̘̺͓̬͗e̵̦̝̅̅̈́,̴̠̱̣͍̝̮̎̍͘͝ ̴̢̡̢̫̯̜̃͆̒̐̃̚t̷͎́͌͌͝h̸͙̹͖́̈o̴̱̰͖̭̓ư̴̘̼͍̭ ̵̨̨͖͍̮͈͂̽͝s̶̰̱̓̀̂͛̕͝h̸̦̉̊̑̒̐͘a̴͔̻̰̰̦͙̐͑́͠l̸͕͈͌̏̍l̴̛̪̥̬̘̄́ ̶̟͊͊̽̉r̶͉̝̦̫̼̄̀͑͆ĩ̴͇͍͙͎͓s̵̝͎̖̯̀̈́͛̾̚̕ẽ̷͍̜̝͈͛̃̔̕ ̸̼͕̑͑̈́̕a̴̲̼̦̟͠ͅn̴̢̯̗̔ḙ̷̎̓͒͝w̵̡̩͔̖̖͆̈́̉̇͊̇.̸̺̠̱̻͂̌̔̿̽ͅ" Thanatos moved away, but said one last thing before entering his portal. "T̶̡͕̮̅̓͝ḥ̷̚a̴̙̣̋̾͋t̷̩͎̾͆ ̷̳̒í̷̢̬̪s̷̫̝͂ ̵̪̫̾̚͠ͅt̴̹̱̽̾h̵̭͔͛̿̀ę̴̼̇͒ ̷̠̓͋̎ǒ̷̜̓n̸̟̪͍͊̾̓l̵͈̦̉y̶͕̹̓ ̵̟̋e̵͔̋x̸̮̄t̴͇̆͛r̵͖̿̔͋a̵̠̹͇͑͛͠ ̸̢̠̜̍͐̂c̶͉̣̩͌̆̚h̴̻̹̮͛ą̸̝͕͂͋ň̸̞͕͍̾c̶̦̰̿ͅẽ̴̢̻̝̈́ ̶̠̜͝Ḭ̶̰̮́̍̉ ̸̗̂͜m̶̄ͅͅa̷̬̗̋̍͋y̷̆͒͑͜ ̴͔͕̠́g̵͉̣̗͋͝ĩ̵͇̟v̴̯͎̀͌͛ͅe̴͕̋ ̶̡͎̂y̷͈̲͓̾ö̸̧̙́û̶̬͝.̶̭̱̝̊͒̎ ̵̫̜̲͠Ǎ̵̡̹͖̄̎n̸̲͙̔y̵̟̑ ̶̜̔m̶̦͊͘o̵̓͒ͅr̴̙͆ę̶̈́̾̚ ̴̛͕͚̰̇w̴̠̞̪̑õ̴̢̘̀͠u̷͓̲̻͑l̶̝̝̱̈́͌̈́d̵̻͓̿͘͘ ̵̪̱͐̔t̴̼͚̃ȧ̵̭r̴̼̦̊̂͑n̴̡̤̓͂i̷͈͒s̸͉̺̊h̴̪̠̘̐̕͘ ̵̩̩̽̃͑y̴͔̪̘͊̉̋ō̷̧̻̐u̷̇̄͋ͅṟ̸̝̂̔ ̴̧̎͌̇s̷̙͕̞̃̕ȍ̵̟̈́u̴͕̜̳͆̕l̷̩̈͝ ̴͖̥͉̈́̌̍t̴͈̀͌̽o̶͖̯͒̏̂o̷͈̘̅̓ ̴̰̕m̶͕̎͊ů̶̺c̴̭̓̈́͠h̸̻̹͐̇.̵̧̅̽̀ ̶̰͇̞̊̑M̸͚͙̍̅̓͜a̷̹͗k̶̡̋͜͠e̸̞̰͌ ̵͔̌͝g̸̳͍͌̂o̵̰̺̜͊ô̵̗d̷̞̗͍̓͘ ̶̙̆́̽ù̵̼̈́̂s̴̏̿͜ȩ̷̏ ̵̫̩͖̀o̵̩̯̿̇̈́f̴̞̬̪̆̆ ̵͕͕̝̈̾į̵͙̉̽t̵̯͖̞͗͆̓.̷̟̙͗͛̏"

Thanatos disappeared, and I fell unconscious.

After waking up, I met up with my clone and reabsorbed him. Then, I went to take a shower.

And that was how I'd gained another mark on my body. A casual Observe showed just what it was exactly.

Death's mercy

-When your Hp reaches 0, you will regain full Hp and MP

-Can only be used once

I was happy that it was there, certainly. After all, I didn't want to die just yet, and with the overpowered enemies that seemed to be coming my way, it seemed like a heavy possibility. It was good to have a contingency plan that didn't involve me becoming undead or anything along those lines.

The store, unfortunately, didn't have any shirts with wing-holes, so I'd have to find someone that could make them for me… or make them myself: it was a viable option. But for the moment, I was forced to wear only pants. Hopefully no one would ask questions about the mark.

Just as I returned to the main room, the door opened revealing Meidi. She calmly hung her jacket near the door, and took a seat at the table. She gestured for me to join her, and so I did.

Meidi kept quiet, her fingers interlocked and eyes unfocused. I waited for her to begin.

"I don't want to do this… I promised over a century ago that I'd cut off all ties with the Overlord, and by extension all that wanted to become one…" She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "But my daughter believes in you. I have no idea what you've done to warrant that trust, but I'll believe in her. I'd suggest being grateful."

I nodded.

"Good. Here's what I can tell you: the aspiring overlords are all much stronger than you, except for two of them. If you want a chance to defeat them, you can't go about this alone: you will need help. There are a handful of demons still loyal to Machrosias in the castle, and if you're really related to him like you said, then they might help you." She frowned. "You may have to prove yourself to some of them."

Another nod from me. "Do you have any names for me?"

"A few." She started counting on her fingers. "There's Estoma, he used to be Machrosias' right-hand man. I heard that he moved somewhere east a while ago. There's also Aiwa, though after Machrosias died barely anyone heard of him. He returns every few months or so the check the situation before flying off beyond the mountains. If you can find him, he would be invaluable. The last one…" She grimaced. "…will be a problem, from what you've told me."

I blinked, confused. Who would that be?

"That last one… is Lanoor. He used to be Machrosias' general."

"…fuck."

I let the others have lunch on their own, and instead tried to come up with a plan to find my possible allies. Lanoor was probably a no-go as it was, but I would try convincing him. If that wouldn't work, I was confident enough in my ability to kill him if it came to it: my clones back then were weak, but I? Yeah, he would bite the dust.

My best move for the moment was heading east and try to find this 'Estoma' fellow. Maybe he'd be willing to help me out if I worded my request correctly. Aiwa… would be an issue. I couldn't count on finding him, as he was only available every couple of months. I didn't have the time to wait for him.

Who else could help me? Pyra and Sora? No, I wasn't going to pit them against demons for my gain.

My choices seemed to return to one skill: goleomancy.

As I had just reached over level 300, I gained one more spot in my party: what better way to use it than to add a new teammate?

If I wanted to do things well, I needed to get better at Goleomancy, though. My rank there was still Initiate.

"Ten to Golems and Armor… twenty-five to Golems, and another ten to Tools. That's all of them."

With my Golems skill ate Expert rank, I was finally ready to get cracking. Since I could use Rare materials to make my golem, I purchased some special materials: Tungsten for the main structure and as protection for the inner vis channels, a graphene core for the joints to provide flexibility, and the rest of the body was an alloy of steel and raw Motus vis to allow speed in spite of the extreme weight.

…the Store was definitely helpful with that long endeavor, but after several hours of painstaking labor, I'd managed!

Goliath – Multi-metal golem [+100 STR, +150 VIT, +30 DEX, +20 AGI, +200 Phys protection, +20 Magic protection]

Race: Golem (+1 VIT per level)

Lv: 53 (0/21.200 Xp)

Hp: 6.150/6.150

Mp: 150/150

STR: 50 [150]

VIT: 50 (103) [253]

AGI: 10 [30]

DEX: 15 [45]

MAG: 15

LUK: 5

Stat points: 125

Physical protection: 200

Magic protection: 20

Affinities:

-Metallum (Master)

-Terra (Expert)

-Alienis (Acolyte)

-Motus (Initiate)

I may have forgotten to mention that I gave it also an Argent Cluster. Yeah, I totally forgot. Well, there it is! In other news, this golem was ready to kick ass right from the get-go! I just needed to fix its speed a bit: I quickly used all the points to increase its AGI and DEX to 75 each, which boosted came up to 95 and 105 each. Not the best, but I could work with that.

While I sent my secondary body and Goliath in the Lesser Golem dungeon to grind his Xp up a bit, I pulled out my phone. It had been a while since I'd spoken to my family.

After a couple of rings, the phone picked up.

"Daniel? Thank goodness you actually called this time. We were starting to get worried, you know!"

"Eh, sorry about that mom. We've been on the move a lot, so I didn't have much time to just sit down and talk."

"Really? What changed then? How has hell been treating you?"

"Well…" I ticked off my encounters on one hand. "…found a burning city and beat up the responsible, along with his accomplice. Got a new follower from that: one Kellea girl. Rather nice, though I find myself a bit distrustful of succubi. After that-"

"Oh, so you finally found yourself a girlfriend?" My mother interrupted. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie! It only took you almost seventeen years and becoming a demon to get one!"

I was relatively certain that some grass wilted from my stare. "No. She's not my girlfriend. We've known each other for just a few days, anyway."

"I know that, shrimp. I was just messing with you a bit!"

Palm, meet face.

"Mooooom, how many times did I tell you to stop calling me that?"

"Nonsense! I haven't had a chance to mess with you for seven years, now you'll make up for it!"

"Ugh… Yes ma'am. Can I go on with my story, please?"

"Uh-uh. Sure."

"Thank you. Now, then. After meeting Kellea, we planned to reach the Overlord's castle, to see if any of Machrosias' old servants were around, and could help us… well, mainly me but still. Anyway, I sent some clones to scout in front, and one of them ran into a small town. In that town, my clone met some ghost knight who was looking for me to kill me. He apparently works for some guy called Veryon. Long story short, he was way stronger than my clone and I had to use a last-ditch kamikaze move to escape… Now that I think about it, with the amount of magic I pumped into that, I'm pretty sure a considerable chunk of that city got frozen.

"Well, seeing as that way led to pain, we had to choose another path. Kellea decided to bring us to a small town called Leedri. Her mother Meidi lives here, so she's letting us stay here for the moment. The plan now would be to find one 'Estoma' guy, who used to work closely with Machrosias. With some work, I should be able to get him on my side, and with his support I should be able to beat the others. At least two, maybe three of them I can beat without too much of a hassle, but the others would be an issue. That's why I made a new golem, and my secondary body is taking care of levelling it up as we speak."

My mother didn't say anything for a moment, mulling over all that I'd told her.

"So… how close are you to coming back home?"

"I honestly don't know, but with a stable place to stay for the moment I'll be able to train way better than before. That'll let me knock the others off their high horses much easier. So, I'd say another week or two. Don't take my words as an absolute truth, though. I may have complications along the way… though I hope not."

"Let's hope so. To be honest, I'd normally tell you to just give up on this dangerous plan and just come home, but… it's not really a choice now, is it?"

I shook my head, even if she couldn't see it. "No. I've gone too far now to give up. Just you wait, and I'll see you all very soon. I promise."

I heard a sigh on the other end of the line. "Be careful. Please."

"Always, mom. Love y'all."

With that call over, I went to do just what I'd chosen: train until my muscles got destroyed and then do it all over again. Yay.

-Several hours later…-

"Yo, wassup homie? We're back- JESUS ALMIGHTY WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Hey… help?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

My secondary body quickly kneeled next to me and started to pull my arms. Goliath quickly followed, pulling me from the other side. Once they'd pulled me out of the ground, my clone poked me in the face a bit.

"Ok, what did ya do this time?"

I blinked. "So, you know how it gets hard to control my strength after an intense training session?"

He – well, I – nodded.

"Well, I wanted to try training with my full power. So, I tried instead to push myself down with some Motus."

My clone's brow furrowed. "Alright, I'm following. Nothing too weird here."

I grimaced. "Well… 20 kilos of pressure weren't enough, so I overcharged the spell… I overdid it a bit. But still, it was an impressive result!"

I wasn't wrong in saying that, considering that I'd gained 11 STR, 13 VIT, 9 AGI, and 8 DEX from that ordeal.

My clone pointed to the destroyed ID around us. "Was it worth it? I can tell from a mile away that your bones must've broken an insane amount of times!"

"…they did, yeah."

My clone faceplamed. The last thing I heard him say before he fused back into me was "Am I that dumb? Really?"

While my clone wasn't here, I answered nonetheless.

"Yeah, I probably am."

After a few minutes to let my Hp recover, I sat up to look at my results.

Name: Daniel Samuels

Race: Demonic Drake (+2 to all stats except LUK every level)

GP: 1.190.000

HP: [45.380/81.125] [+6.450/min]

MP: [31.000/103.500] [+13.800/min]

STR: 513 [769]

VIT: 515 [772]

AGI: 511 [766]

DEX: 510 [765]

MAG: 662 [993]

LUK: 255

Stat points: 1.444

Upgrade points: 47

[STR 500] – Pierce

-Enemies who Null or Reflect physical attacks now can only resist your hits

[VIT 500] – Life gift

-You can imbue your HP into another person, or an item, and reabsorb that HP as you see fit

[AGI 500] – Imperceptible

-Your speed is such that no being can see your movements, if they are shorter than half a second

[DEX 500] – Perfect aim

-Your eyesight is so fine, and your coordination is so perfect that it becomes impossible for you to miss a ranged attack

I hadn't even realized I shot over 500 for all of my stats! Unbelievable!

I greatly appreciated the increase in power, though. And that 'perfect aim' perk… My eyes had never been so clear before! I felt like someone had pulled my eyes out of my sockets and replaced them with a falcon's!

Since I was curious, I went and checked on Goliath's progress.

Lv: 190 (14.100/114.000 Xp)

Hp: 27.500/27.500

Mp: 2.440/2.440

STR: 195 [295]

VIT: 150 (340) [490]

AGI: 200 [220]

DEX: 200 [230]

MAG: 160

LUK: 50

I blinked. Then I rubbed my eyes a bit, and re-read the window. Did my golem seriously gain almost 150 levels since it started grinding?! That was amazing!

…Sure, it didn't hold a candle to me, but it was strong enough to beat the crud out of most of my demons easily! If we'd kept it up, Goliath would reach level 300 very easily, and with that a peak of power that would be absolutely monstrous!

I shook my head. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Daniel. There's still a lot of work to do. For now, though, I need a break."

I put Goliath in my Inventory (which was a hassle, mind you. It's extremely heavy, even though I can easily lift a few tons), and went back inside to rest.

I lowered my book a bit.

Yep, she was staring.

"Need something?"

"What's your plan?" She murmured.

I blinked. "A bit more details, please?"

"To become Overlord. What's your plan?"

I lowered my book fully. Kellea… she wasn't looking good. Fingers trembling, red eyes… she must've been very stressed. For what reason, I cannot fathom. Still, she deserved an answer.

"First, I'll need to find Estoma. Having someone who personally knew Machrosias would do me a lot of good when I become overlord. Having Estoma with us will help when dealing with Lanoor, too. If we can't win him over, I'll have to eliminate him. After Lanoor, I will deal with Veryon: he seems like the most troublesome right now. After Veryon is done, I shouldn't have too much trouble defeating all the others."

She nodded carefully. "And… if you can't?"

"No, Kellea." I shook my head vehemently. "There's no if. I will win. No matter what. I will grow stronger, and take what's rightfully mine. After all-" I'd got up during my tirade, and I placed my hand on her shoulder "-I got you back to your family, right? Trust me, I'll return to mine as well."

Her tired face lightened up a bit. "You're right. You'll get through this."

I settled down next to her. "Now that we have that cleared up, mind telling me what got you so stressed exactly? It's the first time I've seen you like this."

Kellea ran a hand through her hair, smoothening it out a bit. "…I was worried. You're going against all these strong demons… I can't even imagine how scary that would be for me." She looked down, unwilling to meet my eyes. "…You're much nicer than most demons. I- I don't think you deserve all of this."

A dry, humorless chuckle escaped my lips. "Maybe I really don't. Or maybe I do. Or maybe someone else did and I'm just stuck in their place. Who am I to tell?" I shrugged. "It is what it is, I'll just get through this as I have before: some preparation, and luck."

"…"

I took another good look at her. "I'll leave you alone. You need some sleep."

Before I could fully get up, she grabbed my wrist. I turned to her, curious. She seemed to be debating with herself whether she should speak or not.

"I… I want you to promise me something."

I kept quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"You said you grew up as a human, so you wouldn't know it, but slavery is common here."

My eyes widened. Sure, I should've expected it: we were talking about demons after all, but the way Kellea mentioned it pointed towards something worse.

"Normally it's just prinnies: souls of dead humans who have to work to atone for their sins, but… that's not all."

I had a feeling that I knew where she would end up.

"Some demons have taken to enslaving other demons… no one bats an eye, they just see it as the right of the strong to rule on the weak…" I caught a glimpse of a tear running down her face. "Please… please, make it stop."

More tears streamed down her face, with random hiccups coming from her.

I knelt down, and wrapped both my wings and my arms around her. I held her close, and let her cry until she couldn't anymore.

"Is that what happened? It would make some semblance of sense… separated from her mother years ago… the reaction Meidi had when seeing her… and now this? It all fits together too perfectly."

I tightened my hold on Kellea a bit more. Seeing her like this… so vulnerable, sad, weak… "Did I really this someone like her could betray me? She's too good for something like this. I don't even want to know the kind of stuff she went through."

"Of course," I whispered. "I'll do it. No one else will have to suffer like that so long as I live."

Her sobs began anew, though I could barely see that she started smiling.

+10 REP with Kellea for being a compassionate person

"Hush you. Don't ruin it."

After that little heart-to-heart, Kellea fell asleep on me. Must've been too wound up on stress. It was a quick affair of getting her to her room, thankfully.

Now, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma: I had about an hour before dinner (which I was planning to cook, as thanks to Meidi), and 47 Upgrade points. Now, I could either: get two more levels and increase Ignis magic to Master rank, and with that get some new spells; or still get two more levels and increase both Tools and Armor to Expert.

…Then again, who said I couldn't do both? I was rather good at multitasking, after all.

As my clone left with Goliath, he shot me a look that said 'don't be an idiot'. Yeah, I'd probably end up disappointing myself.

After a bit over five minutes, I'd gained the two levels I needed. Quickly I upgraded Ignis to Master, and man was that an experience and a half! My knowledge of fire expanded rapidly, giving me an insight on the element that I could've never imagined before: compacting fire in ludicrous shapes, instilling part of my mind in my flames, end even giving me the knowledge on how to create small fires without mana!

…Well, regarding the last part: they were extremely weak, just good enough to light small flames, like candles, but it was still a great skill to have if I ever needed it! In addition, my new knowledge alluded to my affinity playing an important role on how strong my flames would be. For example, if I were to gain Master affinity, I would be able to cast low-level spells like Agi without even using mana!

Though, that was in the future.

For now, I settled down and tried to use my new knowledge to make some new spells.

Boiling Blood (Acolyte, 50 Mp/sec)

-Attribute: Fire

-On contact, your blood deals 10 (+50) DMG/sec

Combust (Expert, 500 Mp)

-Attribute: Fire

-One item of your choice within 5 (+50) meters spontaneously combusts, dealing variable damage

Temperature Control (Novice, 5 Mp/sec)

-Attribute: Fire

-You can vary the temperature of any object you come in contact with

Blazing Geyser (Expert, 300 Mp/sec/m2)

-Attribute: Fire

-Fire erupts from underground, charring everything in its wake

-Deals 200(+50) DMG/m2

Maragidyne (Master, 100 Mp/enemy)

-Attribute: Fire

-A multi-cast, homing version of the Agidyne spell

-Deals 360(+50) DMG

Solar Lance (Master, 1.000 Mp)

-Attribute: Fire

-A destructive lance of fire, hot as the sun

-Pierces through targets

-Deals 650(+50) DMG

-Casting time: 5 seconds

Along with the classical damaging spells, I went and made a more utility-based spell, just because. No one could tell me what I could and couldn't do, after all!

The Solar Lance would become my one-hit kill move, especially when combined with my black fire. The only downside was the casting time, as it was plenty of time for my enemies to reach me… my clones could take care of it. 1.000 Mp was literally nothing to me, to boot, so I could just overcharge it until I could one-hit-kill anything.

My clone had got me so much Xp, in fact, that I could afford to do both things I wanted and increase my Weapons crafting to Expert rank. A great day, all in all.

I had gained a huge amount of Stat points, to be fair. I had over 1.600 just sitting around…

My hand inched towards my LUK stat again. I stopped myself. Would I really do it? Couldn't I keep those points for another time?

"To hell with it! I'll win through pure RNG!" I yelled in my head, as I rose my LUK stat to 400 in one fell swoop. "I'll need to lay off the points for a long while after this, though."

Perk: [DICE] will be upgraded. Please choose two upgrades:

-Quality (+1 dice every roll)

-Quantity (Choose another day of the week: you can roll also on that day)

I decided to choose both upgrades, that way I'd get the best of both worlds. Instead of today, though, I chose Friday: I already had Monday and Wednesday, might as well spread them out. I could wait until tomorrow morning, no problem.

After cooking dinner (a rather easy affair, considering that I had a clone who knew exactly what to do alongside me), and serving said dinner, I took a metaphorical step back to see what I'd accomplished. Not only just then, but in general.

I'd saved three young dragons from capture, and earned the trust of a small town.

I'd helped defend the town from a siege.

I'd accidentally killed Pyra's father, and to make it up to her I accepted to bring her with me.

I hurt Pyra.

I let her get captured.

I had to make her watch as I slaughtered my way through Derkein.

She watched as I beat up Ingemar… I wasn't too sorry about that one, admittedly. I had fun.

I pretty much dropkicked her and Sora in an ID, giving barely any assistance.

And as of late, I just hadn't given them any attention whatsoever.

Welp, there I went feeling bad. I'd vowed to protect the little dragoness, yet what did I do? Hurt her, show her how I killed and hurt others, forced her to fight without much forewarning, and now downright neglected her.

I pulled up my Reputation screen, my eyes locking onto one entry in particular.

Pyra Sun: 55/100 (Big brother / Mentor)

God, I felt like an asshole. I really wasn't suited to dealing with children, was I? And she wasn't even that much younger than me: only thirteen against my almost seventeen years of life!

It was probably for the best that I helped them return home. They had no place amongst demons, it seemed.

And that's a wrap, y'all! Are you surprised to hear from me again so soon? Well, so am I. The coronavirus is forcing me to stay stuck in my home for at least until the end of the month, so I have all the time in the world to write.

Plus, I've gotten hyped for one particular thing that will happen at some point in the story, and I really want to get there.

Oh, right! For those who want more of my Gamer works, go check out 'The multiversal assassin'. I'll update that story roughly every two chapters of this.

With that shameless plug done, onto the reviews.

Le Dregenbern: "Thanks for catching that! I've fixed it now."

zackman2k12: "You're welcome, and here's some more."

HardlightArtemis: "Welp, you asked for it. There it is."

Spyro fanboy (both reviews): "In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure myself. It just flowed better for me at that point. Probably, had I written that part another day I'd have made him a wyvern. I'm fickle like that. Btw, check out the new release: 'Adventures of an Overlord'! Now in all the cinemas of the world!"

Justsomeguy16: "I hope I'm doing this 'character complexity' thing right. My process of writing is mainly 'wing it', so I may very easily write something great one moment and a hot mess the next. And as for game worlds… Yeah. Absolutely. There's a few worlds in particular that I am extremely excited to reach… I'd probably make them last a whole ark on their own. Speaking of Fallout, I only played the third… it doesn't quite fit in my opinion. Maybe I'll change my mind, who knows."

And that's all we have this time! I'll see you beautiful sons of guns again next time!

You crazy mother- Oh wait, wrong outro. Xeno out!