The sun rose from behind Amari's head as he awoke to a warm, soft bed in a small, quaint room.
He wasn't dead. Not yet.
But that begs the question. How was he still alive? Having fallen so far down in the air. The logical conclusion was death, but he was alive?
After a while, he shook his head and threw the thought away. "Whatever…"
The other question now was why did a simple improvement in his skills cause such a violent reaction. Was that how it was supposed to be?
Amari tossed the questions behind him again before getting off his bed.
As he imagined his status in his mind, he murmured, "I just hope it will be worth it.".
The skills he'd thrown the points in had improved. A lot.
[Words of Power (Lvl 1 -> Lvl 5), Flash Step (Lvl 1 -> Lvl 10), Shadow Movement (Lvl 1 -> Lvl 10), Dark Tendrils (Lvl 1 -> Lvl 10)]
His mouth parted in shock, and his shoulders drooped in silent defeat and acceptance of the system.
"I guess that's why 200 SP was even included on the mission's rewards list in the first place,"
The longer he stared at the increase, the more eager he was to test his upgraded stats and skill levels in a fight. He had no choice but to fight his urges.
He scanned the room and grabbed the clothes he'd gotten in the Ifrit Territory. They were fresh and spotless. A couple of minutes later, the perfectly fitted clothes were on him, tickling him a little as the soft fabric grazed against his skin.
"Time to go!"
After making sure none of his other items were there, Amari pushed the room door open without hesitation.
The smell of roasting meat wafted through the air and Amari temporarily forgot that he had no idea where he was. His first thought was to check the direction where the aroma of food was coming from.
And that was what he did.
He was led to a large dining area. An incessant chattering noise reached his ears as soon as he got there. Some were loud, some were quiet. Amari wasn't sure, but he was immediately on guard.
One thing he'd learned was that people meant trouble.
He reached for his spatial bracelet and only after much thought did he decide against bringing out his sword.
There were over a hundred demons here. He would only be at a disadvantage if he decided to confront them.
Amari decided to observe them instead.
Most of them had normal skin colours, unlike the Ifrit group. A few of them had even more bizarre skin colours like yellow, aquamarine, and the like. However, every single one of them had horns atop their heads.
Regardless of skin colour, height, or any other visible thing, the short stumps on their foreheads immediately distinguished them from humans or any other race.
Eventually, his staring was noticed
"Hey, who's that?" Someone called out abruptly.
Not long after, hundreds of demon teens saw him. The cafeteria went silent for a short period of time, then the annoying chattering became two times louder.
Amari heard a bit of what they were saying, and he concluded that teenagers were the same in every universe…
…fucking annoying!
"He's that dude Fuller brought back last night,"
"Yeah, I heard that he was all beat up."
"Heh, that means he's weak."
"If he's that weak, we don't have to worry about him becoming one of our competitors."
Amari's eyebrows twitched and he thought about ignoring it but shook his head. As a certified nerd, he knew what happened when someone ignored side characters like these ones.
Furrowing his brows, he walked over to the last person who spoke and stood in front of their table.
"Hey look, the weakling wants to talk." One of them snickered to the side.
'Sigh, of course, we have spoiled the brats at the prestigious Demon Academy. Time to ruin their imaginations!'
He ran a finger against the spatial bracelet he'd been holding since the cafeteria. A dull gold sword appeared in his hands, the tip pointed dangerously at the student who had spoken.
"Repeat what you just said, trash. I dare you!"
A clearly audible gulp echoed through the silent cafeteria.
An awkward moment of silence later, Amari sighed and returned his sword. Either this guy was a complete pussy or the academy wasn't like those he read about in novels. He really hoped it was the first one because he needed someone to fight.
"Where should I get food?" He asked someone else as he turned away from the guy he had just threatened.
Another audible gulp reached everyone's ears as the person he asked pointed in a certain direction.
'I guess it really isn't the type of academy I thought it was.' he thought to himself sighing.
He ignored the strange stares and walked over to the serving counter.
The chef was a short old lady who seemed oblivious to any yells or complaints within the cafeteria. She had graying black hair and closed eyes. However, she had no horns or visible indicators that she was a demon.
Amari greeted her and pointed to a dish in front of him. "One portion of food, Ma'am."
She gave a small hum of approval and scooped over a few spoons of food and handed him a drink. Amari accepted it with a bow and began turning away to go eat his food.
"Wait, young man." A small hoarse voice called from behind him, forcing Amari to turn back in shock.
"Yes, ma'am?"
The old lady opened her eyes for the first time and her red, ruby-like irises stared into his own blood-coloured irises.
"Be careful," she said, closing her eyes again. "There are people out there who don't want our kind alive. And even more who want us in chains."
Amari opened his mouth to speak, but her wrinkled old hands shooed him away like an annoying fly.
"Alright. Thank you for your advice ma'am." He bowed again and turned back to the direction he came from.
Then he considered his options.
Eat with these weak demon douches or alone.
The second option certainly sounds more appealing. So that was what he did. He ate in the peace of his room, unaware of what interruptions life would bring his way.