(Demon lord's Pov)
Weird.
That was the only word I could think of since I met him.
When he appeared in the room from thin air, when he asked me to teach him when he didn't express any fear when his expression didn't change even when his stomach was pierced, when he recovered from the injury in an instant, when he ate the same food as me, a demon, and when he told me about the sensation he feels when he uses 'mana'.
No matter how I look at it, the whole situation seems weird.
Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird.
It's so weird.
I can't force answers out of him, I can't kill him. I have never been stuck in a situation like this before.
If I wanted something I could simply take it, I can destroy whatever I want after all, I am the strongest person in the world. My wishes command how matters settle.
And yet, here I am.
Going along with him.
A part of me wanted to rip him to shreds for the sheer audacity he has been showing and part of me is curious about him.
Just a bit curious, but I can't break his bones or pull his innards out and use healing magic over and over until I can get the answers out of him because of what his artifact can probably do.
I need to figure out the artifact he has and what exactly it can do. Once I have figured it out, I should be able to find some way to deal with him.
'Annoying'
Thump!
I thought as I used my left hand to deflect his roundhouse kick.
He was absolutely horrendous with the scythe, he seemed a bit okayish with the sword, and he is excellent at using daggers but when it came to hand-to-hand combat...
In terms of pure raw skill, he is on par with me as much as I hated to admit it.
A human boy who hasn't even lived 20 years is on par with me who has lived for 669 years.
It felt frustrating. Until now, if something frustrated me I would just destroy it but I can't do that right now.
I felt bitter for some reason.
How is it even possible? I should have an upper hand due to sheer experience and yet here I am fighting on the same footing with a kid.
Absurdly annoying.
And what is this?
I can't fathom how his strength just went from F- rank to D rank.
Does that even make sense? How is it even possible!?
Not only that, his movements were totally illogical, he is able to move his body in a way that shouldn't have been possible as if ... as if there's a string attached to his body making it move however the puppet master wants it to move.
Mana, Aura, and Demonic energy, there's been only 3 that have been known and this boy possibly has a new form of energy that has never been seen before.
And it's absurd.
'Oh, his movements are getting a teensy bit slower'
I guess, it takes a lot of toll, huh?
It's only been around 10 minutes since we started.
"Alright, stop,"
I said.
There was no reason to continue anymore and he might just end up endangering himself.
With a nod, the kid stopped and fell on his butt, heaving for air.
He again bit down something in his mouth and instantly stood back up.
'How many of those does he have in his mouth? At some point, he will run out of them and he will need to restock them. If I take into account that got hit by Liza then, maybe he has no way of fighting back and nothing that can protect him, at least not unless it's an instant kill type of attack. That's a confirmation. Teleportation, that's the only problem and the biggest one.'
"So, what do you think?" The kid questioned me.
"It's not normal, that's for sure. You tell me, how does it feel? Any lingering effects? And doesn't your system window show you what it is that you are using"
"Last time I had but that fight went on for more time than this one. So, I am taking it 10 minutes or so is the safe line for me. The system window shows mana proficiency F+ if not for that I wouldn't be this confused"
Look at that, he figured out the safe range of time for using it himself. But the last part of his sentence is concerning.
Is he just lying? There's no way it's mana, so is the system window displaying the wrong information? I have never heard of such a case.
How annoying.
I would be so much better if I could just punch my way through this whole thing.
"For the time being, let's start your mana training"
It's annoying.
"How are we doing it? If what I have been using isn't mana then I don't know what to do, I ain't even on the starting line"
"That's my job to worry about, just do what I ask you to"
But... it would be a lie to say that I wasn't interested in seeing how things would turn out.
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(Noah's Pov)
Sitting on the bench I started drawing a manga I remember from my memories.
Why am I drawing manga? I have nothing else to do!
The demon lord told me to just sit down and do whatever I want to do but I need to stay in a single spot.
And so, I did what she told me.
Now an Elf is standing behind me circulating mana inside my body.
Who is this Elf? Well, maybe a slave, a worker in the castle, or just a food source. I don't know.
Why we are doing it?
According to the demon lord 'Babies learn about mana or aura from their environment, so it's better to let you have the feel of it, so you can familiarize with it'
Or something along those lines.
And now, I have nothing to do except sit in the same place and let the Elf do the mana circulation. Honestly, at first, it was a cool, refreshing feeling but now I am bored. I am supposed to keep doing this for 2 days straight.
So, I decided let's just start drawing manga while my body familiarize itself with mana. Well, actually the job of this Elf is more straining.
"Hey, demon lord-san, so like, this Elf is circulating mana inside my body"
I said garnering the attention of the demon lord who was just sitting on her bed and reading the manga pages I drew.
"Mm, I am listening, go on," She said without even looking at me, focused on the manga.
"So, can't he like, wreak havoc inside my body and destroy me from inside out?"
Like, seriously, imagine touching someone and then controlling their mana and then
Splatter! Splatter!
You get the gist. Isn't it, just like, op?
"To circulate mana in someone's body isn't an easy thing, and besides, he isn't circulating mana throughout your body, to begin with, he is providing the mana from the spot he is touching, the mana in your body is being circulated all on its own. If I have to give an example, then like this girl on the page you drew, she is getting blood inside her body through an outside source, but the blood will mix and move all on its own. For you, it's a new experience so you are just sensitive towards the mana flow, all that Elf is doing is providing you mana"
So, the mana isn't being circulated but provided.
There's a huge difference between them, I do know mana could be provided to others but in my case, I never used mana so my reserves are all should be full.
"Isn't it impossible to provide me with mana if I don't use it and my reserves are full to begin with"
"Why do you think I called him? He has a skill that lets him drain the mana of someone he touches. He is draining your mana and then providing you with it. You don't have to worry about mana overloading in your body"
"...Ah, gotcha, but still is it really impossible to control someone's mana?"
"It is, not for me though, if you give me an hour I should I able to control the mana of whatever part of the body I am touching though to only some extent, so it's a waste to try it. Everyone has different wavelengths and frequency of mana, so managing to match it is as hard as it could get."
Hm? That so.
Matching the wavelength and frequency...
I see.
I kept drawing the manga pages as fast as I could while she kept on reading them and the Elf on the back kept providing me with mana to familiarize my body with mana.
I have an inkling to what's going on but I need to confirm.
"Hey, demon lord-san, can you ask an aura user to do the same for me as this guy is doing."
She moved her head upwards, finally breaking away from the manga.
"You think you might be able to use aura?"
"Probably"
Don't ask me why, I am still not sure myself but since I am a novel reader it's not that hard to come up with a theory or speculation on what might be going on.
But I needed confirmation first.
"If that happens, you might be able to learn demonic energy as well. If you truly succeed, that would be funny ...and scary at the same time" She said and then focused on reading the manga once again.
Yeah, if what I think is true, man that had to be op but damn is it gonna be hard to master it.
I kept on drawing the manga while going through various thoughts of my own.
For now, let's try to hook demon lord with manga so she doesn't destroy the world.
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"What in the name of wicked deed ...You really can use mana and aura, well time to see if you can use demonic energy then"
It's been 4 days, I have done nothing but draw manga pages and sat in a single position, 2 days for mana and 2 days for the aura.
And here we are, I can use aura and mana.
Mana has a pretty light feel to it, easy to move, I tried to control my brain using mana but ...the effects were lackluster compared to what I have been doing until now.
The aura is a bit more viscous type, it's a bit harder than moving mana but not as hard as I had it until now.
...Gosh, I have a bad feeling.
My system screen has also unlocked the aura column showing my Aura proficiency to be G-.
"Liza, you are on the job, and don't try anything funny" The Demon lord gave the warning to Liza as she hopped onto the bed once again, reading the manga.
She is hooked.
"Understood." Liza bowed her head as she made her way towards me.
She wasn't looking at me with the same anger as has until now but ..just gave me a weird look, which is hard to describe.
But I can understand, anyone would have a hard time digesting something like this. I mean, I can use mana And aura.
That's actually a pretty big deal.
It's the demon lord who with her poker face makes it seem like not a big deal.
Guess, in the eyes of the SSS+ ranker, everything is trivial.
And so, finally, Liza put her hand on my back and I felt a strange sensation.
For a second my whole body shuddered.
'This one feels weird...'
Let's just wait until I familiarize myself with it.
"Hey, tell me, something"
Demon lord suddenly asked
"Go ahead"
"So, like in this picture, this girl is shouting 'kyaa' and hitting the boy but isn't it the girl's fault for leaving the door unlocked?"
"I am surprised you questioning it. It's 100 percent the girl's fault"
"Then why is the boy apologizing? He shouldn't apologize when he is not in the wrong and the girl is reacting a bit too much."
"The girl isn't reacting too much, she is startled because of what happened. Emotions are complex, you can't expect everyone to be the same and react the same as you, as for the boy apologizing, well he did enter the room without knocking first and it is the girl's room, so he does have a fault, a tiny one but a fault nonetheless"
Honestly, I would probably throw a huge tantrum if I saw a cockroach in my room, so I don't know if the girl's reaction is a bit too much or not but then again, it is a manga, exaggerating events a bit isn't a wrong thing.
"Hm? So, I should have shouted 'kyaaa' when you saw me naked in the room" She asked, it was clear she was talking about our first encounter.
I could feel Liza's killing intent from behind.
"When will you apologize to me then? You entered my room without knocking. You should apologize." Demon lord insisted.
What the hell? Now you are asking for an apology?
"Haven't you heard 'let bygones be bygones'"
"No, I haven't"
"Well, now you have"
Demon lord showed a dissatisfied expression, rare for her to change her expression. I have learned with time, that she is your typical kuudere type.
I shook my head as I tried to feel and understand the demonic energy that was now flowing through me.
"System: Status"
=====================================================
Name: Noah
Rank: F-
Strength: F-
Stamina: F-
Agility: F-
Perception: F
Mana proficiency: F+
Aura proficiency: G-
Demonic energy proficiency: G-
Luck: C+
Intelligence: B+
Charm : B+
=======================================================
Yup, this confirms my suspicions.