Moments before, the young man stood still as he tried his hardest to suppress his urges. When he believed to have lost, an unprecedented chill arrived at the depths of his brain, clearing his mind in a instant.
"Urr. gahh! sdafggag...." Grabbing his stomach as he spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with whatever he had eaten earlier.
In that instant, words he heard back in his infancy played back in his mind. It happened when his genetic awakening started to decrees, in his depressed state, Thomas couldn't play with his friends anymore and decided to put it all in training.
Every single day he would head into the gym next to his home with the money his mom gave him then spend the whole day training. He believed even if he didn't have anything his body could still be trained.
Since it was a private gym and not one of the Adept Association, there were few Adepts who frequented the place.
After two years of training, when he was passing by, Thomas saw an 1-star adept sparring against another man.
This man wasn't an adept as well but just a ordinary man, his body was thin, his hair was the most brilliant gold he had ever seen and his eyes shone like two pair of jewels. Still, he was just an civilian who was fighting against an adept. No matter how handsome he was not even the girls fawning over him believed he could win.
But some say reality sometimes is stranger than fiction, in two rounds the handsome and slim man able to beat the Adept guy who had a physical strength over ten times of his. F the present him, a 1-star Adept is nothing, yet it is an massive chasm for a non-adept.
When the adept lost, he also couldn't accept it and asked the man how he did and the man said.
[The one who defeated you wasn't me, you only lost to yourself. You think too much and is afraid to take the risks, sometimes all you need is to let it flow.]
That incident happened once almost three years ago.
After that, Thomas went there several time but he never met the man again. His words he said still remained at the back of his mind, though
Even now Thomas still didn't understand the full meaning of these words, Thomas stopped all resistance against the baleful aura and instead sough to relax.
Immediately, his body was covered in gentle warmth. All the aggressiveness taking over his brain was nowhere to be seen as his body was immersed in the multicolored light.
"This!" Deep in trace, Thomas recognized the gentle yet colorful light as the same one that aided him, yet the boy had no idea about the things happening outside nor the wheel of light that manifested above his head.
One breath… Two breaths… Three breaths…
Once he no more reaction was felt, Thomas sighed in relief then helped himself get up. The mysterious wheel of light had vanished by the time he open his eyes and he didn't even realized its presence.
"Sigh* I should have a look at my current status. Character Sheet!"
The familiar window popped up in the air. His skills were same as before while his attributes and other states had turned upside down.
Name: Thomas Ries
Sun-moon Demonic Body Level 2 (1553/2760)
System Access: level E (79%) Store Credits: 555.121
Affinity: Light (Sunlight Demon Form) and Shadow (Moonshadow Demon Form)
Race: Demon/ Human
Sunlight/Moonlight Demon Energy: 1900/2300
Title: Demon Lord's Successor, The Blacksmith Titan, Formation Adept,
Attributes: Strength 60, Agility 60, Dexterity 60, Intelligence 54, Charisma 55, Willpower 59 Demonic 50, Unnamed 19
To his surprise, his demonic attribute fell whole 20 points, meanwhile, his demonic energy reserves increased to 2300.
"An unnamed attribute?" Among all the changes this new attribute was the most stunning, it even had all the nineteen points his demonic attribute just lost. It was really a wonder what this unnamed attribute represented.
"Hey system, what is this thing listed in my attribute window?"
[A gift from one of the deities integrated within the system.]
The system gave a short answer and simply stayed quiet awards.
'... Fine.' Thomas wanted a more elaborate answer, but he could accept it was gift from a deity. He just had to wait to know what exactly it is.
Still, his success this time isn't final, Thomas knew the mysterious power had helped him for a second time.
Checking his quantum computer, only five minutes has passed. Thomas tidy up his clothes and hair before returning to the convoy.
Gask was helping with the repairs while the others carried the unconscious lions to one of the carriages. Nana was nowhere to be seen as she was checking on the herbs to see if there had been any to get damaged.
Seeing Thomas was back, all the lions stopped what they were doing to stare at him before they knelt down with their front paws. "Thanks for the help, benefactor."
Thomas exchanged glances with Gask and the latter nodded.
"Wait," Accepting their thanks, Thomas went straight to the unconscious lions before turning to the beast in charge of them. "How many are hurt?"
Facing Thomas, Piff felt nervous. "We have fifteen unconscious brothers, almost every one is here in this carriage."
"I see... Can I have a look at them?"
"Huh? Yes, yes." Piff opened the curtain and let Thomas have a look inside. As soon he stepped onto the carriage, the lions which had pale faces started to show some changes. Putting his hand on the head of the lions, Thomas felt the inner flow of energy was very active in the lions. Some had broke one or two ribs, and were left with several fractures.
Thomas closed his eyes and felt the faint green aura starting to repair the scratches and external injuries of the lions.
Ten minutes later, Thomas walked off the carriage and gave a light tap at Piff's back. "They are better now."
As Thomas headed out, Gask stopped him. "Are you going now?"
"Yes, I have some things I must deal with first. I will find sometime to visit your tribe's residence latter."
"Good, then let us meet later brother!"
Thomas and the old Lion shook hands, well, Thomas shook the old Lion's paw before leaving the convoy once more.
[Are you really ready for it?] (Dike)
As the goddess representing justice, she was able to feel Thomas' intentions and powerful killing intent.
"Hmm, he's seen my face after all. So I must do it, otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Now, let's find this Xamak Mountain." A vicious glimmer light up in his pupils.