"———, why can't you understand?" The young woman huffed angrily as she walked away.
"What do you mean? I've tried my best! Catherine, please!" The young man pleaded as Catherine had no signs of turning back.
"No, you've never had anything you cared about in your life! The least of all, me! ———, I'm done with you! I'm going to find someone who appreciates me!"
"Wait!"
Before he knew it, Catherine had already crossed the street. In the city, it was normal to walk across the street even when the light didn't say so. As a result, the young man chased after the young woman.
"Catherine! I ca-"
SCREEECCHHH
THUNK
The last thing he could remember was that he somehow ended up on his back, with his consciousness slowly fading. In the background he could hear screams, the last thing he thought about was whether or not she had even spared a glance at his dying body.
"Where am I?" Alden grumbled when he finally opened his eyes and saw the unfamiliar ceiling.
CAW!
With a quick greeting, Huginn happily flapped her feathers when she saw that Alden was awake again.
"Woah there girl!" Alden laughed as he had not seen a bird in this life or the last this joyful. But the dreams had surprisingly taken a toll on him. He could not help but feel a wave of sadness from the way things ended in the last life.
"Finally, you're awake."
Alden had been resting in a room and in the corner was the dark-haired Lundri Knight.
"Yalgri? Was it?" Alden collected himself and stroked Huginn's feathers calmly. He didn't know what the second in command's attitude towards him would be like.
"Of course, Alden, you have all our thanks for helping defend the gate while we were at the other positions."
"I get the feeling that you're not here just for that." Alden put on a business smile as
he spoke to Yalgri.
"No, I'm not. We need to catch you up quick."
"Can I get food and some peace?"
"I'll have food delivered, after that I'll be back in an hour."
After Yalgri left, as promised food was promptly delivered by a servant. As Alden ate hungrily, he noticed something about the room.
There were bars on the outside of the windows as if they were for trapping the occupants inside.
Making sure there were no sounds from outside the door, Alden slowly moved the bandages from his right eye.
"Daiyu?"
She wasn't there when he woke up, but if she saw that he was awake again, perhaps she would hurry back.
After a few minutes, Alden set the bandages aside and reached for the conveniently placed eye patch that was on the nearby table.
"Alden!" Daiyu exclaimed as she came flying through the metal bars in her usual incorporeal form.
"Daiyu, where have you been?"
"Looking at how Geri was doing in the woods."
"…yea what was he doing? I could've used his help against the undead." Alden frowned as he started to eat the soup that had been provided.
"He's been fighting this entire time. All the undead and animals that have reached us are the ones that he didn't manage to kill. Their numbers are overwhelming for a wolf, even one blessed with my power, to handle alone."
"That's just great, how long have I been asleep?"
"Roughly two days, it was funny to see them try to help you." Daiyu smirked as she thought back to back when they were treating Alden.
"How so?"
"They thought they needed to treat your eye just in case."
"That's right!! Damn it, did they see your eye? Is that why there are bars on my window!?" Alden nearly dropped the spoon he was using. Red-eye color could be explained back on Earth, but this medieval world with magic and demons would only serve to vilify him.
"The look on your face right now, hahaha. Serves you right for being reckless!" Daiyu laughed briefly before her cheerful face turned to a stern one.
"Daiyu…"
"No, they didn't see. Mere humans can't hope to look upon the image of gods without their consent. Since you were unconscious, I kept it shut for you. They gave up trying to pry your eyelids open after it became apparent they were beginning to use too much force."
Daiyu replied as she faced away from Alden, instead, she was floating near the shelf of books in the room. Her current mood gave Alden similar feelings to when a certain other girl was pouting as well.
"I see, thank you."
Daiyu didn't respond and merely sought to examine the room in great detail. It seemed like she was never bored when she admired the way human crafts had evolved.
Deciding to leave her alone for now, Alden decided to check his skills once again.
<(Demonic) Gluttony: Rank C
Target: Single
Consumes percentage of enemy hp and converts it to hp for self (Life steal: 2.75% of total enemy hp)
Ineffective against Undead
Cost: 29 Stamina>
Demonic Aura: Life steal 60% of <(Demonic) Gluttony>
Cost: 80% cost of <(Demonic) Gluttony> per hit>
<(Demonic) Gluttony Skills and (Heavenly) Gluttony Skills cannot be used at the same time>
<(Heavenly) Gluttony: (Passive)(Inactive) Rank D
Area of Effect: 1 Meter
Effective against Undead
Reduce damage resistance of all enemies in range by 1.5% on contact and another 1% after 1 hour(s) for each subsequent contact
Cost: 25 mana per hour, +5 to mana cost every hour for each hour that passes
<(Demonic) Gluttony Skills and (Heavenly) Gluttony Skills cannot be used at the same time>
"So <(Heavenly) Gluttony> debuffs enemies within range of me by 1.5% of their damage resistance and I have to wait another hour then I can debuff them by another 1%? Hmm, the cost gets higher after one hour and gets even higher after that."
Alden wondered what the future could hold, all he knew was that he was just beginning his journey. It did make him wonder though, just how did he acquire this hidden system?
That may be a question he wouldn't know the answer to for a long time.
"So, (Demonic) takes from enemies and nourishes me while (Heavenly) destroys their defenses… or is it more accurate to say one consumes the flesh and the other destroys the soul?"