Power. The feeling of raw strength coursing through his veins. That was an immediate change.
He felt different, and the man in armour noticed it too.
"What the hell? You should be dead!"
Amari said nothing, still absorbing the raw power he had just gained in that one instance. He felt invincible.
"I guess I'm just lucky."
Something clicked in him and a calm blue light rose up from his stomach to his throat. An uncomfortable feeling gripped Amari's throat. It didn't feel as bad as vomiting up your throat. It was different.
'I can't hold it anymore!'
He gasped for air and let the energy flow out of him.
"DIE!"
A simple word. He did nothing that caused the man in armour to collapse so violently as he had done. The large man gasped for air as he fell to the ground on his butt.
His armour rattled on the floor drowning out the words the man managed to spout in that brief instant.
But Amari heard it. He looked at the man, savouring that one last call of "Help me..."
Who was he asking? He didn't care.
Shortly after, the adrenaline wore off, and ignoring the dead man in armour, Amari rushed towards Belat.
The pup was dying. He was covered in bruises, both from the kick and the tumble.
"Fuck, how do I save him?"
A familiar light blue prompt appeared in front of Amari.
[Dying Shadow Dweller Wolf detected. Bond as summon?]
"Will it save him?" he asked the system.
[Doing so will heal said beast and forge a bond]
"Yes, do it do it!"
[Confirmed. Soul Bond forged between host and Shadow Dweller Wolf]
A warm white light covered Belat's small body and the wounds gradually disappeared as if they were never there in the first place.
Amari sighed in relief and collapsed to the floor.
Reida was dead. The man in armour died. Belat was saved.
He didn't even know where to start with this chain of events.
"Observation!"
He cast Observation on the dead man's body and a series of screen prompts appeared in front of him.
[Name: Lamart Palenia]
[Race: Human]
[Rank: Observer]
[Attributes]
[STR: 120]
[AGI: 70]
[STA: 100]
[INT: 50]
[Skills: Force Slash, Flash Step, Raging Blade, Fiery Slash, Flame Render]
[MP: 0/100]
[Status: Deceased]
Amari took a huge breath. He got lucky. There was no way he would survive if this Lamart dude had taken the match more seriously. He had better physical stats than Amari and way more skills on his side.
"How the hell did I beat him then?" He wondered out loud.
'Status.'
[Name: Amari Burrows, Raion'shalang]
[Race: Demon]
[Rank: Lesser Demon (Birth Rank) - Evolvable]
[Species: Variant Incubus- Verbum Daemonimum]
[Class: Wildman (Squire Rank), Orator(Observer Rank), Astrologer(Observer Rank)]
[Patrons: Borjak the Wild, Kaplen the Orator, Valen the Astrologer]
[Attributes]
[STR: 150]
[AGI: 160]
[STA: 120]
[INT: 200]
[Skills: Observation (Lvl 6), Basic Shadow Manipulation, Shadow Movement (Lvl 5), Dark Tendrils (Lvl 5), Words of Power (Lvl 1), Force Fist (Lvl 1), Rush (Lvl 1), Flash Step (Lvl 1), Star Reading (Lvl 1), Wayfaring (Lvl 1), Star Fist (Lvl 1), Star Energy Absorption (Lvl 1)]
[SP:0]
[MP: 400/400]
[Soul Bonds: Belat the Shadow Dweller Pup (Expand)]
[Titles: Child of the Beasts]
[Remark: Young demon abandoned in every sense of the word.]
It was his second surprise. All his stats were now better than Lamart's! He'd also gained extra skills and three classes? What did those mean?
[Ding!]
[Classes are specialties granted by gods or mysterious beings with enough power. Pay your respects to the beings that have granted you power. If you do not do so, they will revoke their blessings]
'That makes sens-'
[Ding!]
Another ring sounded out in his mind, but this time the notification contents were different.
[Your skill; Words of Power has been limited. You are now unable to speak a direct or indirect death unto a target]
He frowned a little. Meaning his next fights wouldn't be as easy as the ones just now.
There were a lot of things that still confused him though. He didn't know what Squire Rank and Observer Rank meant. Although Amari knew they were clearly related to Lamart's Observer rank, seeing they were the same thing.
"I'll find out later…" He looked to Belat's small form and Reida's unmoving figure then stopped on Lamart.
Amari had many other things to worry about.
Meanwhile, somewhere out of view, a menacing figure draped in dark robes smiled evilly.
"I didn't expect that woman's pup would be able to kill Lamart. Even more surprising is the fact that he's a demon as well.
****
In a vast and ancient hall, two figures conversed. One was clearly the subordinate in the relationship. He knelt down with practised precision and spoke without hesitation.
"Zed's reports suggest that we have lost contact with Lamart. He has either entered deep into the Pit or…" the subordinate trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence.
"Do not worry about that. What is the status of the Pit's invasion?"
"We have the upper hand. Although, a higher demon beast Shadow Dweller Wolf has taken it upon itself to defend against us and avenge its brethren."
"Foolish creature," the pompous man muttered. "Is it succeeding?"
"No, my Lord. We will have him dealt with at this instant."
"Good. You may leave now."
The subordinate stalked out, leaving his master alone in that spacious room.
"Hmm. Lamart seems to have died. How unfortunate for our family. However, that will not deter me."
"I always get what I want."
The pompous man called another servant in.
"Hear my orders well. Search for Lamart and his belongings. If you spot anything suspicious, inform me. I will provide you with detailed descriptions of the items if need be."
"Yes, my Lord."
"You may leave now."
Though he didn't care, Nolan Palenia was excited. Excited to find out who or what killed his son. The why didn't matter. He had already decided. He would find the perpetrator and make them pay. They wouldn't leave alive with that item.
****
Morning had come and Belat had awoken. The little pup had stood in front of his mother's grave all morning and stared at her killer's grave with burning malice.
"We're leaving, Belat."
The pup said nothing and shuffled towards Amari's feet.
He seemed more introspective than usual. Amari could not blame him. It was not his fault. It was none of them's fault. But they would pay. Everyone who had caused his loved ones to suffer.
"Palenia family, huh…" he muttered under his breath.
Amari was no longer stupid. He was no longer ignorant and most importantly, naive. The world was full of scum who killed innocents to achieve their own selfish goals.
Before he buried Lamart Palenia, he searched the man's body and looted him for everything he had. His armour was not very useful, so he left it on the man's body. Everything else he took.
Most of the man's items were kept in a silver bracelet embedded with a gem that resembled a diamond. Golden runes covered the bracelet and flashed periodically.
After a while of fiddling with it, Amari figured out how to use it.
He injected a bit of his mana into the item, which resulted in a less-than-significant drop in his MP. After that, a wide space appeared in his mind full of multiple items.
It didn't take long to figure out what this was. A spatial bracelet.
Amari took out everything he needed, including clothes, a map and other miscellaneous things.
Despite the fact that the clothes were bigger than him, he had to make do with them.
Amari went ahead and Belat followed. They were on their way to the cave they once called home.
Nothing had changed about it, but Amari sensed a familiar aura when he entered the cave.
"Father was here," Belat muttered, eyes widening with expectation.