Ben suddenly found himself in a desert with red, rocky ground. There's nothing here except the red, rocky ground and a gigantic seed that floated in the middle. The seed was glowing in a golden color with red patches that move around as if they're alive.
"Where am I?" Ben asked, looking around confused.
[This is your subconscious space. You are conscious, but you can't control your body right now. Your mind and soul were drawn here after you ate that lacrima crystal.]
"Ah, that's right, I ate that crystal. Damn, I don't know what's gotten into me. I can't believe I ate a crystal. Hmm? I think I've done it in the past." Ben said, trying to recall it.
[Yes, you have eaten a small portion of a raw lacrima crystal because you were curious about it. You didn't like it though because it was hard and bitter.]
"Oh, that's right. I can't believe I ate a crystal again. Furthermore, it's a crystal made from a corpse. Ugh, at least it's not the corpse itself, so it's safe." Ben said with a disgusted but relieved expression.
Ben then looked at the gigantic seed that almost had a bud sprouting out of it. The tip has come out, but it doesn't grow further. A.I Chip explained that it is his Dragon Seed that has stopped growing, for now.
He sighed in relief because this thing won't be a problem for several years. But he still needed to find a permanent solution for it. This seed will eventually grow and become a big problem.
Suddenly, the red sky turned dark when Ben inspected the Dragon Seed. He looked up and saw black matter in the sky. The black matter spread in the sky above the seed before it fell to the ground.
Ben was surprised and ran away. He didn't know what the black matter was, so it was better to avoid contact with it. He is just a soul now, so it might be a big risk if something happened to him.
The black matter falls to the red ground like rain. Ben was a safe distance away and watched the black matter cover the red ground around the seed. It took 5 minutes for the black matter to fall from the sky completely.
"What is that thing?" Ben asked.
He wanted to investigate the black matter, but then it moves again. The black matter moved toward the Dragon Seed and started to cover it. It looks like the black matter wants to devour the Dragon Seed.
Ben was excited because if the black matter could destroy the Dragon Seed, the the dragonization will never happen. But he's also worried about what the black matter will do after destroying the Dragon Seed.
However, the Dragon Seed wouldn't let itself be destroyed. It fought back by releasing it's energy to repel the black matter. Now they are fighting each other for dominance.
[Ding! Sun Devil Slayer Magic has been obtained.]
Suddenly, Ben feel stinging on the right side of his chest. He checked it out and found a black sun tattoo. The tattoo was composed of a circle surrounded by flames.
"A.I Chip, what is that?" Ben asked.
[The mark of a Devil Slayer that you obtained after learning Sun Devil Slayer Magic in an instant. But there's nothing to worry about as you won't be demonized like normal Devil Slayers.]
Just like Dragon Slayers, Devil Slayers gain their magic by learning the Demons' magic. They can be taught by a demon or anyone who knows a Demon's magic. Then just like Dragon Slayers, their magic can turn them into demons.
"WTF, NOW I WON'T JUST TURN INTO A DRAGON, BUT A DEMON TOO?" Ben asked with a frustrated tone.
[Don't worry, it won't happen to you. There is a good reason for me to suggest eating the Sun Demon and obtaining his magic. It's because the demonic power will suppress the dragon's power.]
The black matter is a materialization of the Sun Devil Slayer Magic. It doesn't look like a sun with it's black color. But the black color is the characteristic of Devil Slayer Magic that is caused by the demonic power.
Ben sighed in relief as he doesn't need to worry about turning into a demon. The dragonization was troublesome enough for him. So he doesn't want to handle another problem. He's also happy because the Devil Slayer Magic can suppress the Dragon Seed.
"Hmm? It suppresses the Dragon Seed? Does it mean I have to stop my growth from now on?" Ben asked A.I Chip.
[You still need to halt it until your Devil Slayer Magic is stabilized. It is still struggling to merge with you completely because of the Dragon Slayer Magic.]
"How long?" Ben asked.
[I can't calculate it because it will depend on you. The Devil Slayer Magic will get stronger if you keep training and using it like other types of magic. If you can solidify your Sun Devil Slayer Magic, then it will suppress the Dragon Seed faster.]
"Hmm, that makes sense. But shouldn't it start to suppress the Dragon Seed now? Then it should reduce my growth stopping time, right?" Ben asked.
[Yes, it reduced your time limit to 2.5 years.]
"Oh, half a year discount, not bad." Ben said happily.
With the demonic power suppressing the Dragon Seed, Ben won't need to worry about the dragonization. Even if his physical strength grew fast, it won't trigger his Dragon Seed because it will be too busy fighting with the Demon Seed.
But Ben needs to solidify his Sun Devil Slayer Magic first. It is still weak because he obtained it not that long ago while the Dragon Slayer Magic had been trained for 5 years.
It will be difficult to change a 5 year difference. But both magic types have the same source, the sun. That means they have the same basics, like their elements. It will be easier for Ben to adapt to the magic because he didn't need to start from zero.
"Alright, so now I need to focus on the Sun Devil Slayer Magic while still training the Dragon Slayer Magic. I will be very busy from now on. But it will be interesting to try a new type of magic. He he, I can't wait to see the power of this Devil Slayer Magic." Ben said excitedly.
Ben always likes to learn about new things in this world, especially magic. So obtaining his Sun Devil Slayer Magic really excited him. He wants to explore this new magic and find out what he can do with it.
"That must be very interesting, but how do I get out of here?" Ben asked while looking around.
[You will wake up automatically after a half hour. Your body needs to get used to the Sun Devil Slayer Magic that you just obtained.]
"Oh, alright." Ben said.
With nothing to do, he decided to walk around the desert while looking at the battle between the demonic power and Dragon Seed.
"It looks like Venom trying to overtake Spider-Man's body. Hmm, what movie was that? Spider-Man 3? Forget it. I won't be able to watch movies anymore." Ben sadly sighed.
As he watched the battle taking place, Ben realized the place was getting hotter. He is immune to heat, but he can still feel it and knew the temperature easily. So he can feel the increase of temperature in the desert.
It's easy to guess the reason though, the Sun Devil Slayer Magic. Both magics have the same power source, the sun. So their power compliments each other while still clashing with each other because of their different nature.
"So their personalities are different and can't match each other. But their powers are complimenting each other and becoming stronger. If I can make them work together, then the result will be very good." Ben said after analyzing the situation.
Ben keeps watching the 'battle' in his subconscious. He doesn't have anything to do, so he watches the 'battle'. The 'battle' wasn't that interesting to watch, but it was the only thing for him to watch in this place. Then after 30 minutes, he finally woke up.
"Finally, now let's try out my new magic. But let's sleep first." Ben said while looking at the sky that had turned dark, so he went to sleep.