These creatures against which humans fought for their survival appeared at the same time as the era of great upheaval.
No one knows where these creatures came from, or why they attacked humans.
But one thing is certain.
Before the appearance of these invaders, this world followed the same way of life as that of the earthlings.
Their civilizations also evolved in this direction.
However, technological progress was brutally interrupted by the appearance of these nightmarish creatures.
At that time, the golden age of civilization focused on the development of weapons and devices based on iron and other similar materials that transformed the way of life of the earthlings into what it is today.
Shotguns and other medieval fighting techniques existed.
But such weapons were powerless against such creatures.
And because of their unknown origins and deformed appearances, the people of this world gave them all sorts of names.
Men's strongest emotion is fear. And the oldest fear that has manifested itself in the minds of men is the fear of the unknown.
Aberrations, demons, or invaders from elsewhere.
Some did not hesitate to claim that they were gods.
But among all the names that these men gave to these creatures, one name became more famous among them.
...Mystics.
Even without the help of grimoires, the Mystics had powers far surpassing those of the mutant beasts.
Their body strengths, power affinities, and their understanding in this field far exceeded those of humans and the beasts of this world.
With so many aces up their sleeves, humans could only brush against large-scale extinction.
However, fate seems sordid towards others and always on the side of humans.
No wonder many people say that humans are the favorite species of the creators.
Despite all these disadvantages, humans clung to the glimmer of hope that appeared in the shape of a golden thread.
With their adaptability, strong desire for life, and sheer tenacity, they used these grimoires to their advantage to tip the scales in their favor.
Perhaps it's because of these desires that some have also undergone mutations.
--
After five more days, the small group finally arrived at their destination.
Each of them had obtained significant gains.
But the most favored by fate is undoubtedly Mystic and Devon.
The group had arrived in the evening.
They didn't have too many challenges after the mutant spiders.
Of course, that means no gains.
Between the pack of silver wolves, and the herds of steel bulls, the journey wasn't very boring for the juniors, especially for Eleanor.
Along the way, Nikolas, Ivan, and Eleanor didn't use their grimoires against the enemies they encountered during their journey.
Once at their destination, Devon realized that the front wasn't so different from the military fronts he saw in the movies.
Military tents were set up everywhere with soldiers patrolling regularly, always ready for combat.
The only difference was that there were strange beasts everywhere.
Although it was nighttime, Devon noticed more beasts than soldiers patrolling the surroundings.
That fact didn't surprise him.
In a world where the military philosophy differed from his world, what could be worse?
However, while the battalion commanders were in a meeting, he and his master had time to catch their breath in one of the temporary tents a little further back.
"You have twenty-four hours to rest." - Nikolas had said before leaving them.
At dawn, while the deafening noises of the crowd in armor, armed with spears and others, mingled with the growls of the beasts, Devon quietly looked at his statistics.
Mystic was taking her nap after a night of intense training with Devon.
The latter was himself surprised by his rapid learning.
'This body that I considered a blunder has proven to be more efficient than I thought.'
He mumbles with the desire to smile.
Over time, he realized that his eyes only needed one thing, to see Mystic's movements to allow his body to reproduce them.
In conclusion, his mind saves him and helps his body imitate the same movements with quite impressive precision.
It was as if the movements were engraved in him.
--STATS--
[Host: Devon Cradle (Lvl 08).]
[Lifespan: --.]
[Race: Undead skeleton]
[Classe: none.]
[Spiritual energy: 61->86.]
[Body strength: 34->59.]
[Combat power: 95->145.]
[Xps: 24%] - [EP: 54.7]
--
[INNER ABILITIES: Death's blessing (Lvl01).]
1- Herlad of death:
2- Grim Reaper:
3- Appraisal eyes:
Skills: Dark energy (Lvl03).
--
This sight forced him to smile hysterically, out of excitement.
'Never, I'd have thought I'd get so much gain in just one week. Coming here was the best decision in the end.'
His bones gnawed with excitement as he looked at those hard-earned statistics by the 'sweat' of his brow.
The best part wasn't that.
'The best part of all this...
He looks at Mystic who is sleeping peacefully with greedy eyes.
'Should I? Huhu~, I can't wait anymore.'
Out of excitement, he approaches Mystic who was sleeping soundly.
He reaches out to her face and gently retrieves the grimoire from under her pillow.
Seeing that she didn't open her eyes, Devon reacted like a person breathing a sigh of relief.
After getting what he wanted, he lost interest in her and went to sit on his stool two meters from Mystic's bed.
Unlike the latter, Devon doesn't feel the need for sleep.
What interested him in the grimoire wasn't the statistics, no, but the last page!
'If I consider the first page as 'my home', the last page is my kitchen.'
His fingers trembled as he looked at that page.
As soon as his eyes landed on the page, his consciousness was sucked into it.
But this is different from the creepy effects of the first page.
On this page, like any grimoire, was a dimension dedicated to storage.
Inanimate objects could be stored on this page.
It's a bit like the storage ring Mystic wore around her ring finger.
Devon, despite being a beast, realized that he could also use some of the features of this grimoire.
He removed everything that interested him—the cores of the beasts he and Mystic had slaughtered along the way.
His joy reached another level when he saw all these treasures in front of him.
But his joy was short-lived when Mystic's voice echoed under the tent.
"I was wondering why you were stealing my grimoire again."
He started with shock when he heard her cold voice next to him.
"It seems like you're really impatient, huh? Tsk, tsk, it seems like you're more greedy than I think."
Although her tone seemed angry and complicated, she had a small, amusing smile that betrayed what she'd shown.
She got up from her cushion and snatched her grimoire from Devon's hands.
"It's strange, but I've never heard of a beast being able to use its master's grimoire.
I'm starting to wonder if you won't one day be able to enter and exit the pet garden on your own."
She said these words with a smile that only Devon could see in the world.
Devon looked at her briefly before focusing on the cores before his eyes.
'Thirty-five. Even considering that each one gives me five evolution points, I would still have double my current points.' He said as he tried to pick one up.
However, Mystic grabbed his arm.
"No, no, no; that's not how it works. We got these together. My gains are double yours."
Devon felt like his world was turning upside down after hearing such words.
'...Pff, that's why I didn't want her to wake up.'
He then motioned for her to wait.
At this finger gesture, Mystic understood what he meant.
When she released Devon's hand, the latter looked at the cores in front of him and began to sort them out.
First, he set aside those of high rank and divided the others equally.
"...So? What about these three cores?"
Mystic's eyes focused on the three polished green cores that Devon had set aside.
At her question, Devon pointed at himself.
Mystic frowned. "Why? You know I'm the one who killed the three King Rank mutant beasts, right?"
She argued with a vicious smile.
To answer favorably, Devon pushed sixteen cores toward her and added five more to her share.
Most of the cores were emerald-colored.
The five he just added to Mystic's share were the only Ivory cores.
In other words, cores belonging to Basic mutant beasts.
Although Mystic now had 21 cores compared to Devon who only had 14, the most valiant ones were still with him.
Mystic watches his actions with bliss.
"Pfffthahaha..."
But soon, she was unable to keep her serene demeanor and laughed wholeheartedly.
Her laugh, although pleasant, compared to the other members of her clan, Devon gritted his teeth in annoyance.
'Sigh, she's not easy to con after all. I might have managed to convince her with words, who knows.' He thought to himself as Mystic continued her laughter.
'Worst case scenario, I'll just absorb them without her consent.'
"…Hehe~, you really make me see things. The longer I stare at you, the more I notice how human you seem. But you know what? It's not a bad thing at all."
After these words, she gets up and goes to sit on her cushion leaving the cores near Devon.
"They are all yours. I was only teasing you." She adds with a twisted smile.
'...That brat!'
Between his annoyance and his immense joy, Devon remained baffled for a long time by the turn of events.
As if Mystic could read in his pupils, she looked for the other stool under the tent sat down with one leg on the other, and apologized.
"...Don't be offended for so little, I would have regretted to death if I had missed such a funny show."
'Apologies? These words have nothing to do with someone who apologizes.' Devon became more irritated.
However, before Mystic could change her mind, he placed both of his palms on the pile of cores and commanded his system to absorb them all.
[DING! You have obtained 10 EP after absorbing five average-tier cores.]
[DING! You have obtained 270 EP after absorbing 27 advanced-tier cores.]
[DING! You have obtained 75 EP after absorbing 03 king-tier cores.]
[EP: 409.7]
[Congratulation! The host can now evolve to the second stage.]
'...???'