'System, increase Demonic Synchronization.'
[Request Acknowledged]
[Increasing Demonic Synchronization]
[Demonic Synchronization: 0.00%...1.83%]
[Max Demonic Synchronization has been reached]
Jayce could feel the demonic energy flow from his heart to different parts of his body. His eyes glowed crimson as his body bulged.
The burns on his arms slowly healed until they were back to normal condition.
With Isaac's {Mana Sense} skill, he could feel the sinister energy radiating from Jayce's body. Happiness turned into confusion then quickly led to terror.
"What the hell are you!" Isaac's yelled out of fear.
Sweat poured down his face as he raised his staff.
"AUGUE!"
Twenty fireballs that were the same size as the giant fireball from before filled the air above Isaac.
Before he could lower his arm to release the fireballs, Jayce suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed his arm.
"You didn't think I would let you cast that, did you?" Jayce said as he tightened his grip, shattering Isaac's arm.
"AHHHHHHHHH," Isaac screamed as tears fell down his face.
The fireballs dissipated as Isaac lost concentration on the spell due to the pain. Desperate to get away from Jayce, Isaac channeled his mana into his broken arm.
Using the same trick, Isaac pushed the mana out of his body causing an explosion. With his equipment, he wouldn't be severely hurt but the same couldn't be said about Jayce.
Thinking that the explosion made Jayce back off, Isaac tried to distance himself but quickly realized that Jayce still held an iron grip on his arm.
A hand shot out of the smoke, wrapping around his throat, and lifted him off the ground. Using his free hand, Isaac tried to pull the hand off but it didn't waver no matter how much strength he put into it.
As the smoke cleared, Isaac was dumbfounded when Jayce didn't have a single injury.
'That's not possible! That explosion should have injured someone at the peak of C rank.' Isaac thought to himself.
He would never have believed it if not for Jayce's hand tightening around his neck. Isaac slowly started to lose consciousness as he couldn't breathe.
"P...lea...se...do...n't...kill...me," Isaac begged.
"Don't kill you? I knew from the start you were planning to kill me and yet you're asking me to let you live. How about if you drop me everything in your storage ring I'll think about letting you go." Jayce said in an indifferent tone.
Isaac powered his ring as items fell out, Jayce inspected the items while holding Isaac.
[Health Potion]
[Rarity: Common]
[A small flask that contains a red liquid, drinking this will heal non-lethal wounds.]
[+25 HP]
---
[Mana Potion]
[Rarity: Common]
[A small flask that contains a blue liquid, drinking this will restore a portion of one's mana.]
[+25 Mana]
There were five of each potion, one of the health potions was emptied as Jayce assumed Isaac used it to heal the damage that was done to his face.
The other item was a huge bag of gold that held about 150 gold coins, but nothing else came out.
"Is that everything?" Jayce said as he loosened his grip.
"Yes, now you'll let me go right?" Isaac replied with fear in his voice.
Once Jayce let him go, he was going to tell everyone what happened with a few small tweaks. Jayce would be hunted down like a dog as Isaac would watch him be slaughtered.
"I lied," Jayce said
"Uh."
'System, activate Life Absorption.'
[Request Acknowledged]
[Target's fear is currently 60%]
[Are you sure you want to use the skill, {Life Absorption}?]
'Yes.'
[Request Acknowledged]
[Activating {Life Absorption}]
Isaac was thrown out of his delusion as an excruciating pain occurred around his neck area.
He could feel something akin to roots invading their way through his body. He tried to kick and hit Jayce to make it stop but it accomplished nothing.
The roots made their way to Isaac's mana core which was located adjacent to his heart. Wrapping around the core, the roots started to absorb the core along with everything else in Isaac.
Isaac tried to scream, to tell Jayce to stop but he couldn't say a word as the roots had already absorbed his voicebox, rendering it completely useless.
Jayce watched the life leave Isaac's eyes, the hits became weaker and weaker until they stopped completely. Seeing the notifications pop up, Jayce dropped Isaac's corpse.
[The skill {Life Absorption} is finished.]
[No stats absorbed]
[No HP restored]
[No Mana restored]
[850 Exp!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Additonal Experience will be granted for absorbing the target]
[300 Exp!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Quest Complete]
Jayce knew that he wouldn't be able to absorb Isaac's stats, but he didn't expect to begin granted additional experience.
He also completed a quest, but Jayce didn't remember being assigned a quest before the duel.
Jayce expanded the Quest in hopes of knowing what rewards he would be given.
[Hidden Quest]
[Absorb a Person's Life Force or Soul]
[As a demon, the fastest way to gain strength is to absorb the souls and life force of other living beings. Throw away the weak human you once were and become a demon that all of mankind, supernaturals, and other demons fear!]
[Quest Rewards: Instant Level Up, Inventory]
[Time Limit: None]
[Quest Failure: None]
Reading over the quest, Jayce finally understood the situation he was in. He was no longer a human, but a creature that eats the souls of others.
'That's fine. I'll even become the devil if it means I can be stronger, stronger than anyone.' Jayce thought to himself.
He never wanted to experience that hopelessness ever again, so he was willing to become a demon.
Unbeknownst to him, he was already mentally changing into a demon. The entire time Isaac was being tortured by his skill, he was smiling.
Not because of some grudge against Isaac but simply because of the pain. He was enjoying watching him squirm, watching him cry as his life faded away from his eyes.
Unknown to him, he was becoming a demon much faster than he had anticipated.