Trauma

"Yawn..." Kevin rose from the cold ground, instantly surveying the surroundings. The whole area was already lit up by the sun's rays that peered through the hole above.

The two lifeless demon bodies could still be seen right in the middle of the tree. The whole area stank because of the purple blood that covered almost every corner of the tree.

"System," Kevin muttered as various panels instantly opened up.

****

[Name: Kevin]

[Cultivation: Superhuman stage 1]

[Skills: Ressurection of the dead, Ability sharing, Servant's vision]

[Servants: 10/11]

****

"Hmm...only one slot left," Kevin said while looking at the servants' panel, precisely the ones that had managed to enchant their power yesterday.

Fortunately, all the Servants managed to develop into the superhuman stage, which meant that Kevin's current power was tremendous.

However, one servant who was still lagging behind was Adriel. Although he ate a lot of soul crystals yesterday, the progress was minimal.

"Now I understand why common demons are so useless," Kevin recalled the information about demons he had read online earlier. All demon's potential and power were based solely on the quality of the blood they were born with.

Demons didn't cultivate, didn't train. All they had to do to become stronger was to devour the stronger species, which seemingly enhanced their power.

However, the amount of mana they could absorb from devouring depended on the quality of their bloodline. The ordinary demons would need at least ten top-quality soul ores or powerful humans to truly improve their realm, while the demons with powerful bloodlines could easily improve after taking a small bite of a stronger creature.

Unfortunately, there were no ways to improve the quality of a demon's bloodline, or either, humans didn't know all the secrets behind the term "bloodline" yet.

"Well, you are the weakest of my servants now," Kevin heaved a sigh. The common demon bloodline was so useless that even Hydra and Rave, who were sixth-level humans yesterday, managed to reach the superhuman stage.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it," Kevin said, looking through the screens again, this time at the species section. Yet, when he noticed that none of the servants had managed to evolve, Kevin's heart shattered.

"Evolving is harder than I thought," Kevin muttered as he went to close the screens, but noticing the change in Wolf's panel, Kevin's eyes lit up.

****

[Servant: Wolf]

[Cultivation: Superhuman Stage 2]

[Specie: Golden Wolf]

[God Power: Empowering, Night vision, Golden Skin]

****

"Come out, Wolf," Kevin said excitedly. Wolf not only reached the second level of Superhuman, but he also managed to evolve, which was unexpected.

An animal evolving once can already be considered incredible, but twice? That's something that rarely happens. Besides, Wolf is just a simple species that shouldn't have that much potential, but now it seems different.

Actually, Kevin knew the probable reason for this development. As Kevin recalls, emotions are also a serious factor that can force an evolution.

"Did Wolf's strive for power force his evolution?" Kevin guessed as the servant formed right in front of him. However, when Kevin saw his new appearance, his eyebrows drew together.

Wolf's size was at least three times larger than Kevin's, making him even bigger than the Titan himself. Not much changed in his appearance, as he was still covered in shadows that spread to every corner of his body.

"Poof...poof," with each breath Wolf exhaled, a creepy sound reached Kevin's ears, who nodded in delight.

****

[Golden Skin - Absolute Defense ]

****

"Absolute defense? Why is the description of this skill so... unenlightening?" Kevin placed his hand on his chin before glancing towards the Wolf and commanding him to use his new god power.

Immediately, the air tensed as Kevin himself felt sweat forming on his skin. Slowly but surely, Wolf's dark skin dissolved as it took on a different color. The previously shadowy surface turned into that of shining gold.

"The fact that it's golden isn't such a great thing ... But it seems solid enough," Kevin unsheathed his dark blade, pointing it towards the Wolf.

With all his strength, Kevin stabbed into Wolf's stomach. However, the blade was instantly knocked back as Kevin lost control of it and dropped it to the ground.

The shockwave caused Kevin's hand to vibrate as he looked at Wolf's stomach in amazement. Not even a scratch was visible on the surface of the gold.

"Never did I think my own servant would improve faster than me," Kevin heaved a wry sigh as his eye flickered with determination, "I need to get stronger."

"Cough..." a soft cough suddenly resounded through the area as Kevin turned his gaze to Laura, whose eyes twitched slightly.

Kevin promptly dissolved every beast, leaving only Judo, who had been guarding Laura all night.

"Mother..." Laura said softly as she weakly opened her eyes. Her mouth twitched while she took a deep breath. The blurry vision regained its normalcy as Laura finally managed to look around.

"Don't move if you don't want the wounds to loosen up," Kevin said loudly.

"Where are the demons?" Laura tried to stand up, only to be forced back into a sitting position. The pain in her back was even greater than before.

"I told you not to move," Kevin sighed as he moved out of Laura's line of sight while pointing at the dead bodies of the demons, "Don't worry, they're dead."

"Did you kill those monsters?" Laura asked, seemingly amazed by Kevin's strength.

"Laura, I'm not going to ask how you managed to lose to those weaklings, but don't pretend they're strong," Kevin stated with cold eyes, "Even if you have some kind of trauma, that doesn't mean you can lose to such weaklings without even resisting"

"I wasn't..." Laura was about to say something but paused in mid-sentence as she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"If you're so afraid of demons, why are you even going to the front?" asked Kevin coldly.

"Shut up," Laura muttered lightly before shouting, "SHUT UP!!!"

"You're just a kid"

"You don't know anything about me. You don't know what I've been through ... You have no idea!!!" Laura screamed in response, her eyes filled with agony, "How would you feel if your own mother was eaten alive by a horde of demons!!!"

"I would get my revenge," Kevin declared with killing intent, "But I sure as hell wouldn't be a traumatized kid who can't even fight off a few weak demons"

"YOU!!!" Despite the pain, Laura straightened up and pointed her hand at Kevin as a water bubble formed on her palm, "I was never afraid to fight demons! They just sneak attacked me!!!"

"If you're so brave, then show me your courage" Kevin summoned Adriel, who rose from the darkness right beside him.

"Wha..." Laura's face instantly paled at the sight of the demon as she fell back into her sitting position. In fright, Laura closed her eyes as her entire body trembled.

"I'm disappointed Laura," Kevin stated with a piercing gaze as he turned around, "I'm going to go find out where the demons came from while you get to spend some time with this demon."

"Wait!!!" Laura yelled, but Kevin didn't even turn around. Laura's pupils constricted at the sight of the disappearing figure before she buried her face in her knees as if to hide from the demon.

"Overcome your fear," Kevin said as he stepped out of the tree, leaving Laura and Adriel alone. Instantly, silence overwhelmed the area, which was later filled with Laura's quiet sobs.

"Don't hurt me...don't hurt me," Laura trembled as her eyes watered again, remembering her mother's death.