The moon shone bright, the sky was void of stars, the warm summer and the quiet night. Only the chirping of crickets and the occasional screaming of mindless and skinny demons could be heard.
The street lights didn't light up and cars were parked haphazardly on the road.
Damian and Mark walked briskly from street to street with Mark leading the way, to avoid being seen by the mindless and skinny demons that squatted at the edge of the buildings.
Damian dragged Mark into an alley as he saw an armoured demon floated past the end of the road.
Mark panted as he leaned back on the wall on squatted, "...Let's rest here for a bit. We still have a long journey up ahead."
Damian acknowledged his thoughts but still kept watch. Then it hit him and he turned back to face Mark, then said,
"Where exactly are we going?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you and you didn't even ask." Mark said.
"Weren't you in a hurry?" Damian turned his head back out to keep watch.
"Hehehe, yeah. Anyway, our destination is Washington Heights."
Damian slowly turned his head back to Mark, "What?!"
"Washington Heights." Mark repeated it casually.
They were apparently at the south of Manhattan and Washington Heights was at the far north. The distance between was more than 15 miles away and took at least 30 minutes to get there by car.
Moreover, Washington Heights was just the classification of the area and doesn't pinpoint at all where their actual final destination was.
"Dumb*as," Damian cursed and Mark was about to retort before he continued, "We'll need a car."
Mark fell silent and pondered before he spoke, "I think Frank has one. But why can't we just use one of the cars that are here? Everyone was in a panic so I don't think they'll remove their keys or lock their cars."
"I know. Do you think it will be smart to drive a car in the middle of the night?"
Damian didn't wait for Mark's reply as he said, "Let's go."
He left the alley they were in and Mark followed suit. Their new destination was Houston Street.
"In other words, you're saying we wait till sunrise?" Mark asked as he followed closely behind Damian.
Damian nodded his head slightly, then Mark continued, "Then what's the point of leaving in the middle of the night?"
"David Dolan will make some people follow us in the name of 'searching for supplies.' And guess who will have to protect them?" Damian said.
"How are you sure?"
"It's common sense. He'll be killing four birds with one stone. He'll get to know where we are going, keep an eye on us, make us help protect his men and also get new supplies."
"What's wrong with that? David Dolan looks like a nice guy and I don't find him suspicious at all. You know, he's even protecting those groups of people he just met a few days ago."
Damian stopped then looked back at Mark, "Then you should go back and wait till sunrise."
Mark was at a loss for words so he just walked faster and walked past Damian.
…
Arriving back at the gas station at Houston Street, Mark went over and knocked on the door of the store.
Knock… Knock… Knock… No one answered.
The glass windows were covered with newspapers and there was no way one could see through.
Mark whispered, "Frank! Frank! We need your help."
There was still no response from the other side.
Mark turned to look at Damian, "What do we do now?"
Damian's expression turned sinister, "If there's no way then why don't we just light the whole gas station on fire?"
"What?! What the hell are you saying?! Have you forgotten how Frank---" Mark couldn't finish what he was saying before he heard movement from the other side of the door, then followed by a male voice.
"What do you guys want!" Frank said frightenedly. The sound of him cock his shotgun from behind the door could be heard.
'You didn't hear our constant knocks and I remember you have a survival sense special power.' Damian said in thought, then spoke,
"Sigh, In short… I threatened you because I knew you would automatically wake up."
Phew… Frank calmed down a bit but he was still a little wary, "But I don't think a lie will trigger my survival sense…"
"I have a special power called 'Perfect lies'." Damian said calmly.
'In other words, You won't know the difference between the truth and a lie when it comes from my mouth, but telling you this will only serve to worry you the more.'
"O-Ok." The special power was practically self-explanatory, so Frank understood.
Grrring… The sound of the bell above the store door rang as Frank opened it to them.
"What'd you guys want again? It hasn't even been a full day since you left." Frank was wearing pyjamas patterned with sky blue and white stripes and a cone hat on his head.
"We need somewhere to stay for the night and a car. We can't guarantee we'll return it but we'll try our best. I'm going to pick my daughter up and we're going to hunt demons on the way..." Mark briefed everything to Frank.
"Ok. I can let you stay for tonight and I'm sure you guys know it isn't free. Plus, never do this again. You're putting my life and business in danger." Frank locked the store's main entrance door and went through the door behind the counter and closed it behind him.
"Seriously? No bed? Nothing?" Mark sat down dejectedly and rested his back on the wall.
Damian sat on a chair at the far end of the store and leaned back to rest his back, lost in thought.
"Do you know all of your 'special powers' and how to use them?" Damian was facing up but his irises were down, staring directly at Mark.
"...No," Mark fell silent and raised his knees then rested his hands on them, "I don't want to use my demon powers."
Damian rolled his eyes, "Let me guess, you got the power in the wrong way by trampling on others."
"It's not just that!" Mark shouted before remembering who he was talking to and lowered his voice, "That feeling… that feeling of wanting to unleash all your desires comes over you… and you won't know when you hurt someone you care about."
'So it's for his daughter.' Damian fell silent once again.
"The need to unleash all desires, is it a gradual process that grows over time?" He felt it was like his 'Demotion' that is a gradual process when it reduces someone's strength.
Mark hesitated, "...I guess."
"So there is a limited time you'll still be sane to some extent, right?"
"...Maybe."
"Then it means you can use your will to suppress yourself from unleashing." As Damian finished Mark started pondering on what he said.
Damian took the initiative to add, "Sigh... If it was anybody else, I probably won't have said this but I think since it's you it's highly possible."
"Catch." He took out his phone and threw it to Mark.
Mark was startled but he couldn't possibly let it land on the ground.
He caught it and just held it in his hands.
He took a deep breath then raised the phone so he could see its contents.
+
[User Information]
Name : Mark Jordan
Titles : (none)
Age : 30
Race : Half-demon
Side : Demon
Rings : 55
Rank : Low
Special Power : Demon strength amplification lv.1, Morph lv.1
Affiliate : (empty)
Current phase : (none)
Upgrade Points : (none)
+
'My rings reduced again. That should be Damian's special power of some sort… I should be wary.' Mark thought as he went through the new OS.
Damian instructed him to read the user manual first and he did.
After, he went to the 'store'. He was a little disappointed that the store didn't have much but put it at the back of his mind.
+
[Store]
–
Name : System version 2.0
Desc. : Added functions like call, scan, smoother UI, switch OS on/off
Cost : 5000 rings
[Buy]
–
Name : Upgrade point
Cost : 50 rings
[Buy]
–
+
'If the store sold many things then someone that killed plenty during the 1st phase will be… I don't even wanna think about it.' He thought to himself as he decided to buy an upgrade point.
Ting!
+
[Notifications and Messages (1)]
– You bought an upgrade point
+
Mark quickly used it on his special power 'Demon strength amplification,' but nothing happened, it didn't move a level up.
"What the?" Mark was confused and furious, he faced up to look at Damian, "I used the upgrade point but I didn't level up!"
Damian was silent for a few seconds before he left out a soft chuckle and said, "Do you think you could actually upgrade yourself by buying something worth 50 rings and without any hard work?"