'Status'
===Status===
Name: Aldric the Demon King
Race: Fallen Cherubim
Level: 11
Strength: 11
Agility: 11
Stamina: 11
Intelligence: 28
Free stat points: 2
Demonic energy: 145/145
Traits: [Blood of the Patriarch]
Skills: [Demon Claws], [Flight], [Claws of Darkness]
Talents: [Light magic - Beginner], [Dark magic - Beginner]
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Sitting on my throne, having come back from conquering the dry plains on the other side of the forest, I was currently scanning my new status.
'I... think I understand?'
I wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that Gobbu had in reality been quite a hard challenger, only falling due to the fact that I accidentally hit him with a surprise attack, but I had leveled up after killing him.
However, when I was now checking my status, I could see that the progress in my stats wasn't the same as when I previously leveled up. Instead of gaining plus one to every stat, as well as one free stat point, I had now gotten on in all other stats except for intelligence.
Instead, I gained three points in intelligence, as well as two free stat points.
Having already asked Tatiana about so much, I felt like I should at least be able to figure this kind of situation out on my own, which I thought I to some degree now did.
In my head, I could only think of it being the case of me having become a superior race, and as a result, I got more powerful for every level up than an imp would. Adding to this, the fallen angel evolutionary trait was probably a race specializing in the intelligence stat, which would be the reason why that got the biggest increase.
There was still one big question mark in my head that I had no way of answering myself, and that was; if I now needed so much more stimulus than other races to grow, why was it that simply defeating Gobbu was enough to make me level up?
"You leveled up because a part of what your summoned monsters kill counts as your achievements. So it wasn't that you leveled up just by killing that one weakling of a goblin, you leveled up because your minions defeated a heap of enemies."
My guide and mentor had once again been able to hear what I was thinking, answering my question before I was even able to vocalize it.
"I see. That makes sense, I guess. After all, they were created by my demonic energy. But Tatiana?"
"Yes, master?"
"Could you please not read my mind like that?"
"I am not capable of reading minds, master. I only assumed that you were thinking about it due to your expression."
Still skeptical about whether or not she was telling the truth, I decided to ignore her suspicious actions for now. Because what she had said made me both very happy, but also incredibly stressed out.
It was all well and good that I could grow through the efforts of my minions, but when thinking about the fact that they killed over a hundred goblins, and all I gained was one level?
'Do I have to become a mass murderer just to grow stronger?'
I wasn't sure of how the equation behind the divide of the stimulus went between me and my creations if it was a 1:1 ratio, or a 1:3 ratio, or something else entirely. Nor did I know if part of their experience went to each other as well, making it even harder for me to try and stimulate my own growth.
What I did know, however, was that I was most likely going to have to defeat a lot, and by a lot, I meant a metric ton, of enemies to level up.
Leaning my head back on the back of the throne, looking up at the roof that almost looked like it could belong to some kind of gothic church, I asked her, "Tatiana... What's the fastest way for me to grow stronger?"
"The fastest way? That would likely be to go out and hunt stronger beings by yourself. Though it has to be said that the single best option would be for you to hunt humans, as they should prove to be a better source of stimulus for demons to grow."
Though I knew I shouldn't have been taken by surprise by her words, as it made a lot of sense that a demon, even more, the demon king himself, would be able to grow stronger by killing humans, but it still wasn't something I was prepared to hear.
Even if I had somehow held it together during the fight against the Gobba tribe, I wasn't sure if I would ever be prepared to claim the life of another human. Or, a human would be a better way to phrase it as I could no longer be said to be walking under that banner.
All that being said, I had a feeling that no matter how I felt about the subject, it didn't matter much. If there came a time when I would have to fight with humans in order to survive, I needed to make sure I was prepared for it.
Turning my gaze down from the ceiling, I faced Tatiana head-on, having made yet another resolve for myself.
"Please teach me how to use magic."
Currently, that was my absolutely biggest weakness, as the only spell-like skill I knew was [Claws of Darkness] where I had simply added dark magic to my claws. In other words, it was quite an uninspired skill. Effective and pretty cool, but very uninspired.
"I can't. Though the number of demons who can use dark magic was quite high in the past, I am not able to use it, and therefore I cannot teach you about it. Naturally, light magic is completely out of the question."
So, when I heard the response coming out from expressionless Tatiana's mouth, it was hard not to feel a bit dejected. Until she suddenly continued.
"But there might be a couple of books regarding the subject in the library on the seventh floor."
'Bingo!'
Getting up from my throne, careful to not expose the fact that I was insanely excited about the prospects of actually getting to learn about how magic truly worked, I quickly made my way to the hidden, magical elevator that was hidden in the wall opposite from where the door to my core was.
Opening the doors to it, by injecting a bit of my demonic energy into the wall, it didn't take long until I was on my way to the seventh floor, standing in the very normal-looking elevator that didn't quite seem like it should have been part of this medieval world.
*Ding!*
With the elevator doors opening up, I was met with a grand sight that I hadn't been able to see before. Because in front of me, an endless amount of bookshelves were lined up, each and every one of them filled with books.
The room in itself was more or less like a normal library, only themed in the gothic ambiance that permeated most of the dungeon. Meaning there were a lot of grays and blacks, as well as some questionable statues portraying horned figures spread around the room.
Now that I actually got to see what the library was like, I sort of regretted the fact that I didn't ask Tatiana to come with me, as I had absolutely no idea how to navigate it. In the end, I simply walked forward, feeling slightly more chilly air brush against my topless torso, making my wings quiver a bit because of the cold.
After hours upon hours of searching, I finally found it. On the leftmost side of the room, there was a row of shelves that only contained books regarding magic, and although most of them contained information about dark, fire, or ice magic, I still managed to find a few that spoke about light magic.
Seating myself down cross-legged on the floor, I couldn't stop myself from diving into the treasures that I had found as quickly as possible. And even when I was only quickly turning the pages, trying to familiarize myself a bit with the content, I realized that I didn't understand anything.
When I had created my skill, [Claws of Darkness], I had merely tried to visualize evil and dark magic coating my claws and then sending it out by using the momentum of my arm. However, reading the books that I had put in a stack on the floor beside me, I felt completely and utterly helpless.
Forget about not understanding the text in them, because there were barely any words at all.
Most of the contents were just magic circles and different kinds of symbols that I had no idea what they meant, reminding me of the time I had somehow managed to pass calculus in math class without even knowing what the word meant.
'Well, at least I tried.'
I was already well aware of my limits, and understanding things like this would no doubt take way too much time. Therefore, I did as I always did.
I was going to pretend that I read those books and instead just tell Tatiana that I didn't find anything that could help me while continuing to try and create my own improvised spells and skills.