Chapter 12 Proof of Strength
Jin could not believe his eyes
The humanoid wore the West Wing uniform the same one that Jin is wearing and had the face of his Academy friend Alex!
'Alex?! A Demon lord?!'
As the humanoid walked towards the Demon War Priest and Demon Marauder, Jin could clearly see the two massive jet-black devil wings on the humanoid's back and two black horns on its head
The humanoid's demeanor when walking was calm and collected at first….then he spoke in a bone-chilling low-pitched voice
"So….it is the two of you that revived me…."
"YESS MYY LOOORD WEEEE DIDDD!" the Demon War Priest responded
"And trapped me in this fucking wretched body?!"
Suddenly the Demon lord vanishes and reappeared in front of the Demon War Priest then grabs its throat
The speed of the Demon Lord shocked even the Demon Marauder however it remained quiet and didn't dare move a muscle
The Demon Lord glared at the Demon War Priest demanding an answer as to why he is in a human body
The Demon War Priest began shaking in fear and replied
"TTHAT HHUMANN WAAS THE ONLYYY ONE CAPABLEE TO HANDDLE YOURR POWERRS MYYY LORRD!!! PLEEASE SPAAREE THISS HUMBLE SERVANT!!!"
The Demon Lord lets the Demon War Priest go then turns around and sees the gigantic red mana crystal
Jin could now see two tubes made of wiring connected to the back of the Demon lord
"This S-ranked mana crystal will help me recoup some of my strength! Then I will bring down the onslaught to those heretics!"
"Where is the rift to the heretic's dimension?!"
"PASSST THOSSE RED DOOORSSS MYYY LORRD"
"I must go see it with my own eyes!"
The two tubes connecting its back disconnect and the Demon Lord's stats stopped increasing
[Demon Lord Asmodeus] LVL: 62
>HP 51,422/250,000<
>MP 9,591/30,000<
[Titles: A King of Hell, Master of Demons, Mana Corruptor]
The Demon Lord spread its jet-black wings and flew past the cavern and through the doors
The Demon Marauder grabs the Demon War Priest and took off after to his master the Demon Lord
Jin overheard the conversation and sees the status window of the Demon War Priest and Demon Marauder as they fly above his head
[Demon War Priest] LVL: 35
>HP 4,000/15,000<
>MP 600/5,000<
[Title(s): Demonic Whisperer]
[Demon Marauder] LVL: 41
>HP 31,000/31,000<
>MP 1,900/2,000<
[Title(s): Brute]
'Alex..what the hell did they do to you..?!'
Then to Jin's sudden surprise, the System responded to his thoughts with another text window
[That is no longer your friend but your target]
'Huh? It can read my thoughts?!'
'….'
'What do you mean no longer Alex…?'
A text box of dots was displayed to indicate the system had gone silent
[….]
Jin couldn't believe it…
'So you're saying my friend from the Academy is now a demon lord?!'
[…..]
Jin looks down at the still-opened quest window
'This quest…Proof of Strength…'
Then Jin remembers the first text window
'A Chance To Prove Yourself…'
'Are you trying to tell me…to somehow kill those three to prove myself..?!'
The Text Window shakes in visible excitement
'…prove myself….? To who?'
[…..]
The System didn't respond for a couple of seconds then it displayed one text after another
[To Me]
[To show me that you have the capabilities]
[To show me you're the one]
'…the one?'
'And who are you exactly…?'
[….]
The system went silent again and this time it didn't respond
Jin was still fairly confused but he didn't dwell on it
'Fine let me see my skills at least…'
The window quickly switches to the Skills Menu
[Skills]
>Passive Skills<
Optical Analyzer LVL 1
[Mana Eater] Mana Vamp LVL 1
>Active Skills<
[Mana Eater] Backstab LVL 1•MP required 25
[Mana Eater] Relentless Strikes LVL 1•MP required 10 per hit
[Mana Eater] Null Shroud LVL1• MP required 100
>Ultimate Skills<
[Mana Eater] Mana Equilibrium LVL1•MP required 5000
[Mana Eater] Ultimate Conversion LVL1•MP required X
Jin read through his skills one by one very carefully
Optical Analyzer LVL 1
————————————
The user can display a status window containing information regarding the enemy or item by looking with his eyes
[Mana Eater] Mana Vamp LVL 1
————————————————
Each time the user lands a hit on an enemy, drain a % of mana from the target based on the damage dealt
Current percentage: 10%
[Mana Eater] Backstab LVL 1 • 25MP
———————————————————
Teleport behind an enemy within 10 meters away.
The next attack in the back against this enemy will be a critical hit
CD(Cool Down): 20 seconds
[Mana Eater] Relentless Strikes LVL 1 • 10MP per Hit
————————————————————————-
Launch a furry of attacks against the enemy at high speed. Each attack will cost the user 10 MP and can crit
CD(Cool Down): 60 seconds
[Mana Eater] Null Shroud LVL 1 • 100MP
————————————————————-
A mana shroud will cover and hide the user for one second. The shroud also blocks the next incoming ranged spell from an enemy
CD(Cool Down): 5 minutes
Then Jin gets to his ultimate skills and sees the Mana requirement for casting one of them
'5000 MP?! I don't even have a fifth of that!'
'…is this a joke?'
[…..]
Jin wasn't angry at the system but was irritated
Although he didn't have enough mana to cast the skill, he read each ultimate skill thoroughly to try to understand what they do
'What?! These types of skills exists?!'
'…'
'If used correctly…they be insanely powerful!'
'It's a shame I can't use them at the moment…'
Then Jin returns his sight to his first active skill Backstab
'This skill, however…..maybe it can help me get down from here…'
Jin looks around the cavern floor
There were several imps in the cavern and some were within Jin's vicinity
The imps were around a normal human's height but have sharpened claws, fangs, and pointy tails. Normally they would be a D-ranked mob to hunters
Jin saw an isolated imp rummaging the ground by his obelisk
A white status window appeared above the Imp's head
[Red Imp] LVL 5
>HP 300/300<
>MP 25/25<
[Title(s): None]
'That one is far away from the others…I could probably take it out on my own..'
'Let's try it out!'
Jin stares at the Imp then he whispers
"<•Backstab•>"
He instantly blinks away from where he was hung to right behind the red imp
Jin's spine flashed bright white for half a second before dissipating
"Gah?!" The little devil turns his head and sees Jin
It quickly tries to turn the rest of its body to face Jin
However, Jin gives the little devil a fast jab in the back
As the hit landed, a small text windows pop up above the Imp's head
[Critical Strike!]
[-120 HP!]
[-12MP]
The punch blew a hole through the Imp's back and its small red life bar gets cut nearly in half
[Red Imp] LVL 5
>HP 180/300
>MP 13/25
[Title(s): None]
The Imp drops to its knees and screams out in pain from that near-fatal attack
"GAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
However, it wasn't dead just yet and even tried to counterattack with its sharp claws
"<•Relentless Strikes•>"
Jin felt a strange power channel into his hand from his body
His spine began to pulse white
Although Jin only had one arm, he let out a burst of punches in quick succession
The punches were much stronger than his normal punches and also ridiculously quick, not visible to the human eye
Jin made sure not to overdo it to conserve his mana after all each strike cost 10 MP
BAM!BAM!BAM!
[-60HP!]
[-60HP!]
[-60HP!]
[-13MP!]
They all landed at the same time and each hit sent out small shockwaves through the Imp's body into the air
The Imp's body flew back a couple of meters and lay there dead..
The Imp's status window pops up for the final time
[Red Imp] LVL 5 (Deceased)
>HP 0/300
>MP 0/25
[Title(s): None]
'..…'
Jin was a bit speechless at his new abilities
'the <•Backstab•> and <•Relentless Strikes•> skill worked flawlessly….and I gained back some mana from the Mana Vamp passive…this is amazing…'
'My strongest single damage dealing skill is <•Backstab•>…and at the moment it seems like it does around 120 HP points of damage…'
Then Jin remembers the stats of the ridiculous monsters that he was tasked to kill
'….'
'So I have to kill the demon lord….which looks like my friend….with my bare hands?!'
'My attack won't even tickle any of those three....and you're asking me to kill them?….there is no way…this quest is impossible to complete!'
The system can hear Jin's thoughts and didn't respond to Jin's mental outburst at first
[….]
'You might as well just kill me now because there is no way I can complete this quest barehanded!'
[…..]
[Compromise Acknowledged]
[One Free Weapon Will Be Granted To The Title Holder…]
'…weapon…?' Jin eyes perk up when he saw the text
'Maybe it is a legendary weapon capable of vanquishing those demons…'
[1x Weapon Wheel Ticket received]
'….Weapon Wheel Ticket?' Jin furrowed his brows in confusion
'Show Inventory' He thought
Jin was a fast learner and quickly navigated himself to the Inventory
The inventory window pops up and in it, he saw a grid of slots and they were all empty except for the first one which contained a small icon of a golden ticket
A smaller but readable window pops up beside the ticket
[Weapon Wheel Ticket] x1
——————————————
This ticket will allow the holder one chance to participate in the Grand Weapons Wheel which grants a weapon to the holder. The weapons range in rarity
'….'
Jin didn't know what to think of such a crazy item
Then another window pops up
[Would you like to redeem this ticket?]
[Yes] or [No]
'….'
'Yes'
[1x Weapon Wheel Ticket consumed!]
[Grand Weapon Wheel Initiated]
A new window pops up and it contained a rotating wheel that displayed many different weapons with varying background colors to indicate the rarity
'So it's like…a gatcha?' Jin thought to himself
And like just a gatcha game, it spun until it locks on onto a weapon
The Weapon Wheel locked onto a weapon icon containing a blue background
A sound rang in Jin's mind
Ding!
[You won the blade "Moonlight's Edge" in the Grand Weapon Wheel]
Suddenly to Jin's surprise, a small rift the size of a basketball formed in the air
The rift spits out a bladed weapon, about a meter in length, and it hits the stone ground making a small sound
THUD!
Jin takes a small step toward the weapon
The weapon was a bit crescent in shape with multiple sharp edges. The main blade of the weapon is attached to a dark brown handle made from an unknown material. There were two smaller blades that attached themselves to that handle
'…this blade…it looks unbelievably cool…'
Jin grabs it by the handle and tries lifting the blade up
"UUGGGGH!"
Jin struggled to even get the blade up past his knees
'Damn it.….this thing is heavy as fuck! I don't think I can swing it around….'
Then a warning window pops up which made Jin drop the blade
[System Warning: Weapon Requirement not met! Title Holder will lose 30MP per second wielding this weapon!]
[Items can be stored in the inventory with the store voice command]
'What?! Weapon Requirement…?!'
A small text window floats up from the weapon
[Moonlight's Edge]
>B-ranked Gear< • [Rare]
——————————
Able to slice and dice through B-ranked monsters with ease…
Damage: +700
LVL requirement: 32
+10% damage to Flesh
-5% damage against Armor
[Unique abilities: Crescent Slash ]
Jin read through the weapon's stats and then sees the LVL requirement
'Level 32?!'
No wonder Jin was straining to lift it up even though the blade itself didn't look that heavy
Jin wanted to yell in frustration but he held back
'What was the point of that Weapon Ticket if I can't even use the damn thing!'
First, it was finding out that he doesn't even have the mana to use some of his spells and now he is unable to use the blade because of LVL requirement
It was like the system is playing tricks on him in a seemingly impossible Quest he needs to complete
'Is it because my luck is so low…or are you messing with me!'
[…..]
Jin didn't get an answer and instead the Quest window [Proof of Strength] pops up again
"…."
Jin lets out a sigh
'I guess I'll just store it in the inventory for now..'
He places his hands on the blade and then whispers
"Store"
The blade vanishes after Jin audible that word
Jin quickly opens his Inventory
The blade was now in the first slot where the ticket used to be
Then suddenly the red velvet doors swing open
The two demons and their demon lord have returned and they spotted Jin standing there staring at the air (Jin was looking at his inventory window)
"THE HUMANN HAVE ESCAPED!! OONCE WEEE KILLLLL HIM YOUR CONQUESST CAN BEGIIINN MYY LOORD!!"
"Oh fuck.." Jin exclaimed
….