Walking along the street's edge, Thomas used the car-calling app on his phone. In less than ten seconds, an intelligent car pulled up beside him, doors opening.
Flying crafts like cars, bikes, or even the flying cruisers usually came with a hefty price. Apart from government officials or wealthy families, most civilians opted for AI Vehicles, offering affordable transportation to their destinations.
For the next ten minutes, the car departed from Mul's residential area in the lower west side of the city, heading north through the industrial sector and then a road leading even farther from the city.
Realizing he was somewhat far from the city, Thomas put on his breathing device. Despite humans transforming Mars's atmosphere to resemble Earth, some areas outside cities retained a hint of toxic air that could impact non-adepts.
The red sand under the hot sun was intense in this dense and vast desert. Far away, Thomas saw his destination—an abandoned amusement park built in 2049 when Dexia City had just been founded through joint efforts from several countries.
Initially visited by the first civilians when humanity began migrating to Mars, the amusement park faced problems a few years later. The same dimensional rifts and monster raids affecting Earth now plagued Mars.
He recalled his mother saying this amusement park was one of the first victims, with a group of gray demons appearing in the middle of the park. Thousands died, marking a significant tragedy for the humans of Mars.
The car suddenly stopped, and a mechanical voice spoke.
"Dear Client, we arrived at the destination. Please remember to check if any keys or your phone has been forgotten in the vehicle before leaving."
"Okay." The trip's cost deducted, Thomas disembarked from the car.
A large sign warned, "Danger, do not approach. Influencers would receive a fine of up to 10,000 credits."
"Hehe." Seeing the plaque, he chuckled, recalling a news report about influencers recording videos here and never returning.
However, he wasn't influenced by a student in the adept preparatory class of the Dexia Institute of Adepts.
As he headed deeper into the ruins, he noticed thin buds sprouting, leaving a trail of green as he walked. The Aura of life seemed to have some effect.
With the training he received in the adept preparatory class, he focused on his hearing. Most demons were noisy, and sometimes their sounds revealed their type or class.
"There!" His eyes shot open as he propelled himself towards one of the nearby walls.
His claw-like hands seized the head of a gray demon, smashing it on the floor.
[1 Low-rank Gray Demon Killed. Do you wish to absorb its soul? Y / N]
"Yes." Despite a low-rank demon having no value for his mission, Thomas needed the soul of a high-rank demon. As he accepted, a gray mist purged from the demon's body and was absorbed into a yellow chain.
[Low-rank Demon Soul x1]
[Demon Soul is a material that can be converted into status points, skills, and material for upgrading skills and other functions.]
The system explained the uses of a demon soul, and Thomas considered its benefits. From the perspective of a person in the preparatory class for future adepts, he was strong in terms of physical strength compared to a normal human.
He didn't know the judgment parameters the system used for status. But surely, increasing it would make him even better, right?
For an entire hour, Thomas ran through the amusement park, encountering only low-rank demons. Prepared for battle, the lowest-rank demons were no match for him.
[Low-rank Demon Soul x27]
Once they were all dead, Thomas collected their souls one by one. The total number of souls, combined with the ones he already had, turned out to be more than he needed.
[Tutorial part two, Experiencing the real world. (Completed)
Description: Now that you have experienced some moments of a god, it is time to descend to the earth, fight by yourself, and bring some demon souls.
Objective: Kill ten demons and gather their souls. (Demon's Souls: 34/10. User has surpassed the minimum requirement, rewards will change)
[Rewards for the quest: Attribute Points x16, Memory Pass x1, and skill points x9]
Glad for completing the tutorial, he wiped the dark blood from his knife when dark clouds covered the sky.
Out of nowhere, a single short-haired male was sitting on top of the roller coaster. Thomas' eyes locked on him as if he was looking at a monster.
Taken aback by this sudden appearance, he blinked his eyes. The man was already standing right behind him.
"What?" Thomas raised his guard to the maximum, but he knew that with this speed, this mysterious man could finish him at any time.
The man, with orange skin, peculiar tattoos and traces of purple in his hair inspected Thomas closely.
His pupils were vertical and covered in gold, thin purple treads moving within his eyes.
What was even more surprising was how such a powerful demon was allowed to live this close to the city without anyone noticing.
He wasn't sure what type of demon and class this one belonged to, just that its presence was unlike anything he had seen.
The system tried to warn him of danger, but the voice was cut off. The man spoke in human language, revealing his surprising knowledge.
Then the mysterious demon continued inspecting him up close, a hit of deep shock and ... pleasant surprise? After the shock, the man recovered his posture and moved his lips, with words in human language flowing from his mouth like it was nothing. "Hoho, who could have expected I would see it once more."
"..." Thomas was in a state he couldn't even respond. All his senses told him this creature in front of him wasn't something humanity could take on.
"What is it, did the cat eat your tongue?" The man walked closer, and his majestic yet horrifying present was even stronger as it pressed down on him.
Thomas felt lightheaded and when he thought he was impossible to keep standing, a green light flashed in his eyes. The green spread forth creating a whole dome of green around the two, with plants and trees surrounding both of them.
Seeing the scene before him, the man retracted his aura and only at this instant Thomas could see the man who seemed invincible had a huge hole on his chest all this time and vitality was seeping away at every passing second.
"Boy." The man said. "Tell me what your thoughts are about your world, in case a full all out war between humans and demons breaks out. Should one of the sides win and the other cease to exist, and which one? And What do you believe to be the greatest source of power? "
Facing these two questions, Thomas was taken aback. He wasn't expecting for this mysterious demon to begin testing him, but this demon is unlike others. He is intelligent and is not holding any killing intent against the humans nor looking down on them. After thinking hard, he decided to answer honestly.
"There is on way to know. There were so many uncertainties in the war that it is impossible to know if there is even a side deserving of victory. However, no matter what as long as others need it, I won't run away from the battle. As for who should win between demons and humans, I will just say there are humans out there that can do things even devils may find disgusting." When he reached this point he then said. "As for power, I won't repeat all the bullshit about the power of friendship, but I truly believe it is in the bonds. Not just friendship but the bonds with all the people we met along the way, be it good or bad."
"You know, my mom lost my dad and older brother when I was just a four year old child. I may not remember anything about them, but it is for the hope of finding those two that I work so hard to become an adept, to reunite my family. "
"...." The demon was silent as he seemed to be moved his words. He could spot a lot of flaws in what the youth just said. But as a demon, he had the ability to see the darkness in the heart of others and this was something that was not present in the boy.
The Demon waved his hand and all the green ceased to exist, and they returned to the ruins of the amusement park. "Sorry but I may have to trust this upon you. Demons from the Domain are planning a high-scale invasion on this world, some are already here hiding amongst your kind. I just fought one of them and got this fatal injury, but I see potential in you, young man and a heart filled with kindness but is not afraid of dirtying your hands for those you love. To have such mindset at your age... "
"I've made my decision." The demon said, he grabbed the youth's hand that held the knife and pierced his own heart. "
Pluck! The man spouted a mouthful of orange blood with purple dots on the ground. His golden eyes shone bright as he murmured in his youth's ear. "I didn't have much time, yet I saw something in you and hope it will be enough to change things. Something that made me hopeful for a brilliant future. I have done many things I'm ashamed of, and ruined more lives that I can remember but now I accept it all. "
"You shall remember the past and live without rest, let the sun and the moon guide you on your path, and those once gone on earth shall walk." When he said those words, his body was beginning to melt at alarming speed. His face was peaceful knowing his work was done and he could get to rest.
Melting into countless streams of light, it gathered on every point of his body. Thomas felt the heat of his body increase as he lost notion of time.
[Due to the achievement of gathering the soul of a demon lord the reward Physique Bestowal shall receive a level up, with physiques listed being of a higher rank.] [In this reward, the user can choose between the list of special physiques that are compatible with the user.]
Physique list: (1) Celestial Fire Physique (2) Celestial Water Physique (3) Celestial Earthen Physique (4) Celestial Wind Physique (5) Thunder Calamity Heavenly Body (6) Heavenly Strength Physique (7) Sun-Moon Demonic Body.
It was like in a game when there were seven legendary items before you, but you could only take one with you. As Thomas read through the list, he didn't know why but he immediately felt something different about the last [Sun-Moon Demonic Body] as it was the only one among the choices without the word "Heavenly" or "Celestial" in its name. Instead it was written in dark red and purple letters, the huge "Demonic" word.
Thomas thought back to the words that the amazingly powerful demon he just met said. 'Let the let the sun and the moon guide you on your path' He murmured those words and seemed like even the demon himself seemed to know he would have to face such a choice shortly after. He knew his class exam that would decide if he will continue in the institute or be kicked out of it would happen shortly so there was no time to hesitate.
"Alright I chose the number (7), the [Sun-Moon Demonic Body]"
In his mind, he heard several notifications of the system following his choice.
[User has absorbed the soul of the fallen Demon Lord, Kez'ganak.]
[Kez'ganak has forsaken the path of evil and has been received by the system for the user to acquire his powers from him.]
[Kez'ganak has acknowledged the use of Thomas Ries, he shall enter the system with an affinity over 50%.]
[Due to your recent actions, figures at the higher realms have become interested in you.]