(25) Iovoi's Failure (Long Chapter)

Owen's quick reaction saved him by tilting his entire body to the right in order to avoid the diagonal arc of blood.

Iovoi fixed his grip on the red karambit and ran to get closer to Owen. The blade looked slightly longer and more fearsome than the standard karambit.

==========

[Level 87 Quest Series: Mending A Shattered Demon (III)]

Objective: Kill Iovoi.

Failure Condition: If Iovoi manages to successfully escape.

Consequence For Failure:

(1) Possible N/A

(2) Possible Death

Rewards: +20,000 Experience, +2 Skill Points, +Perk [Smooth Talker], +Spell [Curse - Paralytic Fear]

==========

Owen's first instinct was to run away, just like all he has been doing.

No matter what, against someone with a weapon who knows what they are doing cannot be defeated by an unarmed person. That is why a weapon is a weapon.

A weapon is a tool, and it must be an efficient one at that in order for the wielder to avoid using their hands or their own body to wrestle with the opponent in a tedious tug of war for life and death.

So by all logic, it is unwise to fight.

Within a single spark of thought, Owen heard the voice of a young boy.

'Do you need a hand?'

Owen's face shifted to a strange one.

'Since when did you learn how to make jokes?' Owen did not say anything more and acted.

Calling out his inventory once more, Owen pulled out the [Plunderer's Iron Sword] and swung it at Iovoi's neck.

Unfortunately, Iovoi did not have plans to stop. Instead, he bobbed his head lower so that the blade would hit his face.

The iron mask was way too durable than what Owen would've liked it to be. When the iron sword struck the iron mask, it merely bounced off after a loud clash.

Iovoi flashed forward with knife in hand and swung at Owen, only to swing at emptiness.

Owen took several steps back and felt a tingling sensation on his cheek.

Then, something warm trickled down his face.

He wiped it with his left forearm and saw bloodstains.

Owen's heart started to beat faster. He then looked back at Iovoi, already upon him once more.

A grim urgency took hold of his senses.

'Partial control, that's all I'm giving you!' Owen scowled in urgency as he braced himself and parried Iovoi's knife.

The voice of the boy seemed satisfied with what he heard.

'That should suffice.'

Iovoi lifted his left knee and knocked Owen's abdomen while he was preoccupied with his thoughts. Then, with his opponent's balance in shambles, Iovoi flicked his hand once more and sent another arc of blood flying towards Owen's neck.

If this didn't hit, Owen would fall over to the ground, making it easier for Iovoi to restrain him.

Iovoi was physically stronger and faster, so that would only be a winning situation that will snowball into more favorable results.

But Owen saw through his predicament.

Owen leaned back, allowing the blood arc to fly towards a tree behind him. The blood arc struck the tree's trunk and dug about an inch into it before losing its form and spraying into droplets of blood.

Under the mask, Iovoi was visibly surprised.

Owen managed to remain standing because of quick thinking. Using his inventory, he made his sword disappear and reappear quickly in another location to use as a cane to prop his body stable as he leaned back.

Upon discovery of what Owen did, Iovoi had nothing but contempt for him. "Sly trick… For a…. m- mere bug."

Owen utilized the most out of his inventory by unequipping his belt and using the character equipment save slots to put on his belt and black scarf around his left forearm to support the iron hatchet attached to it.

Iovoi merely saw the belt on Owen's waist disappear and then reappear on his left forearm along with the hatchet and scarf.

There weren't any special effects like glowing or anything, it's just a surreal scene of seeing an object fade out of existence, then reappear somewhere else in a second.

Iovoi narrowed his eyes and said, "You were…. not a demon- to begin with, were you?"

Owen's face was currently unblinking and devoid of emotion before speaking.

It was as if he had to first gain control of his facial muscles to talk. "Then why did the demonic soul seem harmless to me? What does that suggest?"

"I have…. no reason- to believe you- any longer." Iovoi unbuttoned his upper cloak, allowing it to fall into the grass.

His outfit under the white cloth was a fitted battle coat resembling a leather tunic made of white animal hide and pants of the same design and material. The boots had dark soles despite being made of the same white leather. It wasn't crude to look at, but rather clean and smooth…

Iovoi assumed a battle stance and held his karambit in front of him.

Owen steadied his pose and watched closely for Iovoi's movements.

After a few seconds of silence, Iovoi dashed forward.

At the same time, Owen swung his sword at Iovoi's left side. Iovoi responded by blocking it with his karambit, but the sword was a tricky one.

With the inventory, the sword disappeared from Owen's hand and rematerialized after it passed through the karambit.

Alarmed, Iovoi stomped on his right leg strongly to step back, but his neck was still nicked regardless.

A light gash was made on Iovoi's rocky basaltic skin, causing his neck to faintly shed blue blood.

Iovoi took some time to inspect the wound. Touching his neck, the demon saw that an azure stain was now on his glove.

Gripping his hand tightly, Iovoi began to reassess Owen.

Iovoi could see that Owen was looking at him quite intently. Not only that, he was even observing his karambit that significantly shrunk in terms of length as its red color started to fade into a pink tint.

Iovoi could perceive that the person in front of him right now could read between the lines.

He no longer had a soul, so Iovoi couldn't use soul energy, making him an inert Siyech'an. His superior physique belonged to a Middle Tier-II Ce'tali, but due to the purification that his demonic body was enduring, he was only a High Tier-I Ce'tali.

Tier-I was in the realm of ordinary mortals. Tier-II would be the equivalent of turning a human superhuman. Tier-III explores the boundaries of being superhuman and Tier-IV is when one breaks that boundary to transform oneself into a greater being.

Owen was a Low Tier-I Ce'tali compared to him, a far cry, but a bridgeable gap.

"…"

Having enough with mindless rumination, Iovoi sprinted towards Owen.

Not letting him close the distance, Owen slashed at Iovoi, aiming for his chest this time. There were doubts that the sword might not be able to slash through it, but since Iovoi attempted to block it earlier, the white leather might not be that great to use as protection.

Turns out, that conjecture was right as Iovoi took a step back to avoid it.

With a swing of the karambit, Iovoi sent another sharp arc of blood towards Owen, preventing him from moving forward. His karambit shrunk in terms of length and lost its red coloration and became fully crystalline pink.

Owen sidestepped to the left to avoid the incoming bloody crescent.

As he dodged, Owen saw that Iovoi was fast approaching. He swung his left forearm, using the hatchet to hopefully deter Iovoi away.

Iovoi raised his leg and kicked Owen's forearm away.

Noticing how dire the situation is, Owen finally gained his balance and swung his sword at Iovoi. The cold steel's movement was swift until it was suddenly halted.

'Stopped?'

Iovoi was grabbing Owen's right forearm, preventing the sword from moving an inch further. Then, with the karambit's handle, he delivered a punch that struck Owen's face, sending his head keeling backwards.

Iovoi didn't stop there, he dug the karambit further on Owen's face in order to inflict more wounds, but Owen used his fall to avoid the blade.

His right hand was still caught in Iovoi's grip, so he used to pull Iovoi closer to kick him in the abdomen.

Iovoi took the strike of the boot's hard sole and only stumbled a step back. Unfortunately for Owen, Iovoi is also capable of thinking fast. Using his left hand, Iovoi managed to catch Owen's leg the moment he kicked.

With a sharp movement, he stabbed Owen in the femur, the pink sheen of the karambit's blade exiting from his calf.

Owen's unreactive face suddenly broke, showing an expression of agony.

"Argh–!"

He growled as the blade of the karambit greedily drank his blood.

The karambit, previously showing its pink coloration, now started to gain a reddish hue.

Iovoi pulled the blade out and dropped Owen's leg on the ground. His breathing was slightly strained after receiving the kick on his solar plexus, but overall, he was fine. The white leather around his body was enough to protect him from such a blow.

Owen was groaning in pain, grabbing his leg in anguish.

He yelled in his mind, 'I thought that partial control would have been plenty!? What the f*ck are you doing?!'

The boy, as calm and reserved as ever, replied, 'As you spent too much time gaming back on earth, I am unable to use any relevant data regarding combat.'

Owen's eye twitched in disbelief at the audacity. 'So now it's my fault–?!'

The boy, unswayed by the violent reaction, said, 'No, I take full responsibility.'

Breaking Owen out of his conversation, Iovoi began to speak.

"So… this is how you will- die? From- the way that- you were… fighting me, you are indeed not a demon, are you?"

"Didn't you say that–" Owen winced in pain. "–It doesn't matter?"

"I suppose…" Iovoi nodded and then looked at the bright moon hanging above them.

Still keeping his head turned up, he continued, "You are not going to.. survive. Give up the amulet, I will- let you live."

Iovoi's speech was less choppy, most likely due to the adjustment of the mental recollection.

Owen scoffed with a pained grin despite the pain, with sweat trailing on his face. "Not happening, I'll take your true body down with me at least…"

Iovoi shook his head and lowered his head from the moon to look at Owen. "Since that is how you want to play, then so- be it."

He unslotted his hand on the brass knuckles of the karambit except for his index finger and began to spin it.

"This knife on my hand is- called a Bloodwhetcher. It is made from a living rock most commonly found in- my home… or at least, my true self's home."

Owen tried to get up for some leverage, but as he did so, Iovoi flipped his knife and pointed it at him, warning Owen not to move another inch.

His back was pushed against the ground until it was flatly laid upon it.

Unperturbed, Iovoi continued, "As you may have- observed… This living rock feeds on blood to fix itself and to grow sharper and tougher so that it can feed on more blood effectively from a careless wanderer that trips on it. It has a suction ability as well, so if this were- to stab someone...."

Iovoi's eyes flashed with a taunting glint.

"..... It will continuously drain their blood as it acts as a vortex more than willing to drink greedily from its prey's veins. So if you shall remain uncooperative, I will not be the one who kills you… it's this knife."

Owen stared at the blade a distance away from his eyes.

He gathered his words and spat out, "I still won't free your main body…. I'm going to die anyway."

Iovoi's tone dipped in dismay. "How miserable…"

Iovoi raised his foot and stomped on Owen's bleeding leg, making him growl in response. Owen turned his body and kicked out with his left leg, but Iovoi merely stepped back to get out of its reach.

"Lunatic.." Iovoi dusted his battle coat and was thinking of ways to deal with Owen.

He wasn't given enough free time to think when he suddenly saw Owen getting up on his feet. Owen immediately dismissed his sword into his inventory and instead, took out the [Woodcutting Hatchet] and threw it at Iovoi.

'How is he– moving?'

Unwilling to receive it with his body, Iovoi dodged out of the hatchet's way, but was left unprepared for Owen tackling him into the ground.

The two grunted upon falling into the soil.

Owen quickly began channeling soul energy on his right hand to use [Firestrike], but Iovoi moved and flipped his karambit to point towards Owen before stabbing his sides using it.

*Shh–thwock…*

Out of literally nothing, a green hollow tree trunk appeared to block the karambit from stabbing Owen. It was just about to pierce his ribcage when Owen had the great idea and quick thinking to open his inventory to take it out.

'W- what??' Iovoi was perplexed at its sudden appearance.

The Nulmiap tree trunk was filled with water, so its contents spilled on Iovoi's arm and torso. The soil under them turned muddy and stained Iovoi's white clothing.

A glowing red magic circle materialized on Owen's palm. But he wasn't given reprieve just yet. Iovoi pulled out the karambit from the Nulmiap trunk and attempted to stab him again, his hand moving faster than before, thanks to his body weight shifted to the left to serve as a pivot.

Owen rolled out of the way and aimed the [Firestrike] spell at him. He did not have any considerations for his soul energy expenditure. He sent his reserves into the magic circle, creating a stream of fire to swallow Iovoi.

*Fwoosh–!*

Bright orange light illuminated the trees around them. It was much more concentrated at where Owen was previously at.

Owen used his hatchet that served as his left hand to help him stand up. His knees worked together to get him back on his feet while his palm remained pointing at Iovoi.

Like a weak flamethrower, a constant stream of fire combusted on the air as it left the magic circle spinning on Owen's palm.

Right now, all that Owen could feel was a faint cloak of mist inside his body rapidly leaving through his palm. Not only that, his hand was being put under strain as it served as the spell's medium.

He gritted his teeth and endured the mixture of piercing and blunt pain that he was being tormented with.

Even when his hand began to become numb, Owen did not stop until his soul energy reserves became empty.

As it ran out of fuel, the magic circle fizzled out and spat out smoke. Almost like it was coughing.

Seconds later, the glowing magic circle lost structure, then faded away into sparks of red.

His eyes did not leave the flames even for one second. It reflected into his irises like it was painted on them, like his eyes were glowing with moonlight.

Owen breathed out in exhaustion, he dropped his hand to his side as he kept watching the shapeless form of heat dance.

That single action of rest was the moment when a blood arc whistled past the air as it flew towards his waist.

Owen sidestepped to the left and saw Iovoi rushing out of the flames, without a single burn on his coat.

Apparently, some demons can resist fire.

But even if Iovoi was a demon, his injuries caused by purification magic lowered his resistance to fire, so his flesh resembling dark rock had the tendency to crack further and aggravate his injuries further.

The small streams of blue blood that flowed out of his body like sweat was a great reminder that resistance isn't immunity.

While in his battered and agonized state, Iovoi continued to fight.

While holding his karambit in the style of a normal knife, he thrust the knife forward.

A silver pulse of light spread from Owen's sternum as it visibly moved towards his legs and arms. Owen shifted his body to the left at a considerably more remarkable speed that he has been moving at.

He caught Iovoi's outstretched wrist, his hand pulsed another with another silver light and squeezed as hard as his muscles could possibly muster.

Then finally, his entire left arm glowed silver for half a second, the hatchet that remained idle throughout the entire fight was brought down, chopping off Iovoi's forearm from the elbow down.

Iovoi's eyes widened in fear. He staggered back with his stump spraying out blue blood.

Then, with a connected flow of his movement, Owen grabbed Iovoi's severed forearm upright and then stored the karambit into his inventory.

The demon's forearm fell limply on the ground as its owner watched helplessly.

As the karambit disappeared into nothing, Owen assumed the grip for the weapon, prompting the karambit to magically reappear on his hand.

==========

[Level-52, Bloodwhetcher (Rare) - A knife made from a special crystal that absorbs blood. The crystal tends to sharpen itself and mend cracks by using blood. After some research, demons managed to control the crystals' ability somewhat and use the blood collected to heal the wielder of this weapon. Although Bloodwhetchers are a mass produced local weapon of the Demon Gorge, it is a lethal weapon nonetheless.

Blood Gauge: 7/500

Additional Effects:

(1.) (100 Blood Gauge) +20 Base Damage, +40 Critical Damage, +10 Armor Bypass.

(2.) (200 Blood Gauge) +30 Base Damage, +50 Critical Damage, +15 Armor Bypass.

(3.) (300 Blood Gauge) +40 Base Damage, +60 Critical Damage, +20 Armor Bypass.

(4.) (400 Blood Gauge) +50 Base Damage, +70 Critical Damage, +25 Armor Bypass.

(5.) (500 Blood Gauge) +60 Base Damage, +80 Critical Damage, +30 Armor Bypass.

***

Special Effect: 10% Chance to inflict [Demonic Wound] per hit. (Stackable)

Note: Because of your class ability, the special effect/s of the weapon are changed.

Special Effect: 10% Chance to inflict [Purification Mark] per hit. (Stackable)

(Ability 1) - Recover: Consume 250 points of the blood gauge to heal 20 points of HP. (If the blood gauge is filled with bloodborne debuffs like [Poisoning], the user will also be affected.)

(Ability 2) - Slash: Use 20 points of the blood gauge to send out a thin blade of blood with a low range, damage of the user's base damage with a reduction of 5. (If the blood gauge is filled with bloodborne debuffs like [Poisoning], the attack will also be affected.)

(Ability 2 Cooldown: 5 Seconds.)

Durability: 1,029/1,100]

==========

Owen was reading the details of the Bloodwhetcher while Iovoi was desperately clutching his stump to prevent the bleeding from getting worse.

Iovoi scowled.

"How do you still have soul energy!?"

Owen flicked the panel off his face and turned to Iovoi.

"Oh that? I'm sure you could guess that I was pretending that I ran out…" Owen stared down the kneeling demon and continued, "I also have to thank you.."

".. If it weren't for you, I would've never guessed that concentrating soul energy on specific regions of my body would augment them."

Owen remembered the sensation that he felt on his arm when he channeled his soul energy exactly on his right forearm. It felt nimble, strong and sturdy.

He devised this trick the moment he learned of that fact.

Iovoi looked at him silently, his expression was unknown under the iron mask. "You are….. such a liar, Ivorius."

Owen furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Iovoi chuckled as blue blood seeped out of the chin of the mask.

He remembered it all.

He remembered how Owen lied to his original self after Owen was chased down through the town. He remembered how foolish it was to trust that Owen was incapacitated by having his leg stabbed. He remembered how Owen purposely dissipated his magic circle to pretend as if he ran out of soul energy and had lowered his guard, baiting him to attack.

During the entire battle, Owen was outclassed in terms of skills and physical strength, yet he still won.

Iovoi softly laughed, fully accepting that he was defeated.

"When I was being showered by flames, I wanted to attack you. However, I was scared… scared that you had another trick, another method of accounting for my actions. That's why I hid and bid my time."

"I was afraid, because Ivorius… even if that is not your real name, you are a liar– a great one at that."

Even though no one could see Iovoi's face, Owen felt that he was smiling.

Owen did not care whatsoever.

Owen remarked, his tone laced with sarcasm and anger, "What's all this? You're waiting for a miracle to appear? Are you trying to gain my sympathy so that I will acknowledge you as an honorable warrior that I should spare? What are you getting at?"

Iovoi shook his head and sincerely spoke, "No, I just wanted to convey the message that I knew why I lost."

Under Iovoi's gaze, Owen knelt down and stabbed the Bloodwhetcher into the demon's severed forearm.

"Oh yeah, why's that?"

==========

[Blood Gauge: 9/500]

…

[12/500]

…

[15/500]

==========

Iovoi saw this unfold and did not say much.

"It is because I trusted you…"

Owen nodded and looked at Iovoi thoughtfully upon hearing those words.

"I get that."

An image flashed in his mind.

A picture frame of his family laid upon a drawer. His focus was on him, his emotionless face with bleak eyes that gazed back at him.

Then, a view overseeing the city of Hemptonburg from a school balcony.

Owen looked somewhat calm and also deeply pained.

"I am unworthy of anyone's trust."

==========

[Blood Gauge: 23/500]

==========

The severed forearm had shriveled up under the glove and white silk covering it. When Owen took out the Bloodwhetcher, it was now dyed dark purple instead of red or pink.

Owen stood up properly and examined the Bloodwhetcher before fixing the brass knuckles on his fist. Although not exactly brass, but a black smooth metal with grayish veins similar to that of marble.

"However, that was before… I currently strive to be better one day. To be able to hold someone's trust without breaking it." Said Owen seemingly hesitant to know if he was saying that to console himself.

"I believe that." Iovoi said with a casual tone hidden by a hidden layer of meaning.

Owen's eyes darkened.

He flicked the Bloodwhetcher, sending an arc of blue blood shining with the moonlight straight towards Iovoi's neck.

Iovoi closed his eyes.

*Shwick–!*

The demon was beheaded.

*Vhoom..*

==========

[You have completed - Level 2 Quest: Transportation Issues]

+20,000 Experience, +2 Skill Points, +Perk [Smooth Talker], +Spell [Curse - Paralytic Fear]

[Performance Rating: A]

==========

[+ 18,927 EXP - Mental Recollection (Iovoi): Level 87]

==========

[Unlocked Perk: Smooth Talker]

[Smooth Talker - +15% Charisma when talking to someone. When speaking to anyone with a lower level, +25% Charisma.]

==========

[Unlocked Spell: Curse - Paralytic Fear]

[Curse - Paralytic Fear: Level 1] - Freeze opponents in place with fear and dread. Leave them vulnerable to you.]

Range: Long

Damage : [Details About: "Ivory11" Paralytic Curse]

Cooldown: 2 Minutes

Consumption: 12 Soul Energy

==========

["Ivory11" Paralytic Curse]

(1) The target will be frozen in fear, affecting one's capabilities greatly.

-9% Movement Speed, -8% Attack Speed, -2% Critical Damage, -2% Critical Rate, -1% Soul Defense, -2% Physical Defense, -3% Block Effectiveness, -1% Detection.

Duration: 1 Hour

==========

[Achievement Unlocked: Outwit or Overpower]

- Kill anything with at least 60 levels above your player while being under level 50.

[Rewards: +1,234 EXP, +2 Skill Points]

==========

[You have leveled up!]

[Level 4 > 10]

+2 Skill Points

==========

[EXP: 160/10,300]

==========

Owen flicked the Bloodwhetcher back into his inventory as if nothing ever happened. Then, he habitually ran his hand into his hair then gripped firmly to pull his hair strands.

When he calmed down, Owen began to focus on his injury first. He was going to bleed out if he didn't fix his leg.

Despite winning, he felt no satisfaction but an empty cavernous feeling that emerged in his chest.

Probably because he had been through such a mentally taxing ordeal, Owen wasn't in the mood to celebrate or smile.

He walked towards the fire that remained burning on the dried leaves and grass then sat down. After that, Owen unhesitatingly summoned the knife that he looted from Ledasdore… or was it from Yuhmbir?

Owen didn't care.

He placed the knife's blade into the fire and brought back the iron hatchet into his inventory, leaving him with the black scarf and belt.

Owen used this to tightly wrap his thigh with the belt and the black scarf as a secondary measure. It was quite difficult trying to do it with one hand, but his forearm wasn't useless.

Without much problem, Owen tightly wrapped the belt and scarf on the major veins and the knife was barely even heating up.

As Owen was tending to his wounds, the boy from his mind walked from the shadows behind and sat next to him.

The way the boy was sitting was in a very relaxed manner.

One of his legs was used as his armrest and the other leg extended forward. His attire changed into that of a white buttoned up shirt and black shorts with suspenders.

His extended foot swayed gently left and right, his polished shoes reflecting the orange light of the fire.

The boy was staring at the burning mess that Owen made with a detached face and said, "That will not work as well as you think it will."

Owen spared him a passing glance, replying bluntly, "What else am I supposed to do?"

"You should stab the Bloodwhetcher on Iovoi's body and use the first ability [Recover] to heal it." The boy pointed to Iovoi's decapitated body just a few steps away from him.

"Granted, there are risks, but using that knife will just damage your leg more instead of stopping the bleeding." The boy then held his face like a toddler would. But the way he was doing it with his glassy unblinking eyes felt wrong even as an imitation.

Owen glanced at the knife on the fire and shook his head. He touched its handle and made it return to his inventory.

"Fine, but what do you mean by risks?" Owen decided to hear him out.

The boy stopped playing with his face and turned to look at Owen, "Your body might have inflammations as your immune system fights off the foreign blood."

Owen could sense what the boy was getting at.

"But we're counting on the fact that the Debuff Knight's passive ability does its thing, right?"

The boy nodded affirmatively. "You hit the mark."

"It takes exactly about three seconds." The boy paused to hold up three fingers. "Three seconds for the inverse effect to kick in, so you should be fine for the most part."

The words 'for the most part' was not something Owen liked to hear. "How are you sure that this wouldn't kill me and the passive ability will work?"

"It worked for liver damage when you got stabbed by Yuhmbir. That was not implemented in the game, so if anything, you should be dead in the first place." The boy shrugged.

Owen looked up at the moon and sighed. "Figures…"

"Alright, just pull Iovoi's body towards me so that we can get this over with." He gestured towards the demon's corpse.

"..."

The boy stared at Owen without a change in his expression then looked at his hands before staring back at Owen. "Unless you are going to transfer body control to me, I physically cannot."

"Right." Owen went past his mind skipping over some logic and stood up without much difficulty.

Owen marveled at it, his eyes shifting with amazement.

"I don't get how this is remotely possible…"

"It may be because of the debuffs." The boy said while maintaining strict eye contact.

Owen waved his hand to his side to flip through the game interface.

There, he saw the following debuffs..

==========

[Bone Fracture (Right Femur)-2], [Muscle Damage (Right Leg)-2], [Nerve Damage (Right Leg)-2], [Bleeding], [Pain-2], [Mental Fatigue-5], [Organ Failure (Liver)-2], [Fatigue-4], [Thirst-3], [Hunger-3]

==========

(Debuff) Bone Fracture (Right Femur)-2

(1) Balance reduced by [Calculation-Error]%.

(2) Reduces movement speed by 60%.

(3) Structural integrity of the affected part is lowered by [Calculation-Error]%.

(4) Damage received is heightened by 15%.

(5) Affected bone is more prone to movement and displacement, causing more damage by [Calculation-Error]%.

Duration: Until "Body Part : Right Femur" is fully healed.

(Class Ability Activated)

(1) Balance increased by [Calculation-Error]%.

(2) Increases movement speed by 60%.

(3) Structural integrity of the affected part is heightened by [Calculation-Error]%.

(4) Damage received is lowered by 15%.

(5) Affected bone is less prone to movement and displacement, causing less damage by [Calculation-Error]%.

==========

Owen whistled in a mix of delight and amusement.

Apart from the fact that his leg is still bleeding, it felt and performed better than how it would usually do. The pain wasn't that great as well because it was replaced by a blunt spread of relief akin to a massage.

Owen walked over to Iovoi's corpse.

Looking at his body, the white leather battle coat was truly immaculate.

Owen hunched over the corpse and began to take the coat off. He rotated the body when necessary and slowly pulled it away from the limbs and over the head.

He also would have removed the thick, protective leather pants, but after Iovoi died, the muscles in his body relaxed and released both liquid waste and solid waste, truly against Owen's liking.

So, he settled for the boots instead.

==========

[Level-27, Ashensnow Tormentor Hide Boots (Uncommon) - Boots made of the hide of a muscular feral hound capable of inhaling volcanic ash to use as material to mix with its tracheal mucus to spit a boiling hot, glue-like sludge. And yet, it still is a small threat within the Demon Gorge.

Additional Effects: +21 Fire Resistance.

Defense: 55

Penetration Resistance: 33-42

Weight: 1.5 Kilograms (Total)

Defense Specialization: Slash, Blunt

Durability: 232/250]

==========

[Level-30, Ashensnow Tormentor Hide Battle Coat (Uncommon) - A custom made battle coat from a loyal warrior who used to have no name, but was granted one by the Baron of the Scorching Saline Lake, Loniula Praest. That warrior bears the mantle of Iovoi.

Additional Effects: +45 Fire Resistance.

Defense: 63

Penetration Resistance: 40-59

Weight: 2 Kilograms

Defense Specialization: Slash, Blunt

Durability: 319/340]

==========

Owen did not celebrate in any way or did his emotions falter either. He was just really drained at the moment, so his happiness towards this matter will probably show later on.

He then reached for the Bloodwhetcher and plunged it down Iovoi's heart with his right hand.

The Bloodwhetcher was more than eager to drink Iovoi's blood. Maybe on an instinctual level as the living crystal does not possess the necessary intellect or organs to think to be truly eager about anything.

Owen sat by the side and watched the blood gauge slowly get filled.

==========

[Blood Gauge: 3/500]

…..

[Blood Gauge: 53/500]

.....

[Blood Gauge: 189/500]

...

[Blood Gauge: 383/500]

==========

Owen pulled out the karambit from Iovoi's corpse.

Speaking of the corpse, it now looked like a withered gray husk. Iovoi's torso laid bare, showing his ribcages that were now prominently visible as the basaltic skin tightly wrapped around each individual bone. His arms were now branches of a dark dead tree, very thin and colorless.

Examining the Bloodwhetcher's new appearance after draining Iovoi of his blue blood, it was now very purple in color with a tinge of vibrance.

Owen held it carefully and used the [Recover] ability of the knife.

'Hopefully it ends well.'

*Sgui–ch!*

Tendrils of blue blood extended from the blade's base and pierced through Owen's hand. Forcefully finding its way into his veins and into his bloodstream, closing the puncture wound that it caused upon entry.

Owen expected to be convulsing from pain immediately, but except from the prickly sensation on his palm, there was only a warm feeling that followed.

Owen waited anxiously for a few seconds, checking his debuffs constantly to see if something new appeared.

So far, nothing went wrong.

His leg was healing at an astonishing rate. The muscles repaired themselves by each fiber regrowing and joining its severed components together.

Then, the veins and nerves followed in the same manner. The femur was the slowest to heal, taking about sixteen seconds in total.

After that, Owen was fine again.

He unwrapped the belt and scarf constricting his thigh and wore them as he had before.

Owen didn't rest easy right there and began touching himself. His thumb pressed against the point where he was stabbed and felt completely fine.

After healing his injury, [Muscle Damage], [Nerve Damage] and [Bleeding] were gone, but [Bone Fracture] persisted. It was only lowered to level one.

Owen sighed in relief.

"Thank you AC for adding so many healing features in the game…" Owen clasped his hand and stump together, as if he was fervently praying to the ones above, that being the game company.

The boy was still sitting in front of the waning flames and said, "It would be more appropriate to thank them for the existence of your class."

Owen turned his head and looked at the boy with a scornful stare. "This is why I hate you so much."

The boy was bewildered.

His logically driven mind wasn't able to comprehend why Owen would be mad when all he did was provide assistance.

"Have I made a mistake?"

Unbothered to explain, Owen finished any further possible discussion with one word.

"... Nevermind."

He then focused on more important matters.

Owen called out, "3." to summon the attributes panel in front of him.

==========

---[Attributes]---

[Strength - 10]

[Speed - 8]

[Defense - 5]

[Intelligence - 2]

[Fortitude - 4 + (1)]

[Detection - 4]

[Luck - 2]

Available Points: 30

==========

Owen was about to let his instincts take over, but treating his situation right now like a game did not sound too great of an idea.

He turned to the boy sitting on the ground and said, "Hey, any suggestions for this since you're the one who can see flaws?"

The boy turned to look at the blue panel in front of Owen and laid his shiny porcelain eyes on it.

For the first time after being in the world of Saeffaria, the boy closed his eyes to think.

An uncontrollable throbbing of veins happened on the right side of Owen's head, causing him to hold it to relieve some of the pressure.

Then, after a short while, the boy opened his eyes and said softly,

"Six for strength, six for speed, eight for intelligence and ten for fortitude."

Slightly amused by the decision, Owen wondered aloud, "What's the decision making behind that?"

The boy unhesitatingly gave his explanation. "Strength and speed helps with fighting in close range, intelligence can increase our soul energy reserves from ten to twenty and fortitude is to avoid dying. Your battle strategy currently revolves around getting wounded by an opponent to gain access to debuffs, so fortitude is a way to prevent an unexpected demise."

"Alright, alright, I can get behind that idea."

==========

---[Attributes]---

[Strength - 16]

[Speed - 14]

[Defense - 5]

[Intelligence - 10]

[Fortitude - 14 + (3)]

[Detection - 4]

[Luck - 2]

Available Points: 0

==========

Owen closed the panel and checked his health points.

[Health: 57/90]

"It's still jarring to see it bounce up from a max value of 30." Owen jokingly said, knowing that even if he used all of his attribute points to level up his Fortitude until he was level 50, it would only give him 1,250 HP.

Accounting his crystal path, he will receive 1,562 HP in total, only to die because of blood loss.

That's a souls game for you.

Interrupting his imagination, the boy said in his unbearably cold tone, "Do not be complacent, a single critical hit can kill you." The boy glanced at the demon's shriveled corpse. "Iovoi definitely had a higher health pool than you, yet he still died from being beheaded… No amount of Vitality saved him."

Irked and his eyes twitching, Owen asked with a concealed yet strained voice, "Then why didn't you tell me to level up my defense if that's the case?"

"I trust you not to be careless when it comes to getting your heart or brain destroyed. In addition, common vital injuries do nothing but increase your battle strength instead. So with that within my considerations, your worries are smaller than that of an ordinary human." The boy responded in the most reasonable manner that he saw fit.

Owen rolled his eyes. "Wow, the [Smooth Talker] perk works on you too?"

"Absolutely not, I believe it is only applied towards other entities aside from the individual." The boy showcased his innate density to nuances and jokes.

"..." Owen remained speechless.

He ignored the boy and remembered that currently he had six skill points waiting for him to allocate.

"5." Owen called out in his mind to summon the skill tree's panel.

However, unlike what he was expecting, a white orb appeared in front of him.

This illusory sphere of light shifted and reformed its figure. A protrusion of light emerged from it and grew steadily, continuing to reach upwards.

The protrusion expanded slowly like petals of a blooming flower that added to its size. From a pole, it grew into that of a small tree trunk. Above it, branches of light sprouted in multiple directions.

The spectral branches split into two, and then split once more. When they became small enough did they stop to sprout grayish leaves made of light. These leaves were elongated into strange Vines that hung lowly, similar to willow trees.

After that gorgeous display, the skill tree fully displayed itself.

Owen had his eyes widening in astonishment. However, the indifference in his expression caused by fatigue didn't change at all. The boy also observed the tree with a blank stare containing apprehensive curiosity.

The two of them glanced at each other before focusing back on the tree.

"That was impressive, I'm not even going to deny." Owen then tried to focus on the skill tree to begin.

The tree's leaves seemed to be swaying with non-existent wind, and when Owen willed it to move, it did nothing.

'Wait, nothing?'

The boy looked over at Owen and reached his hand out towards the holographic skill tree, only for his hand to phase through.

"Maybe you should try interacting with it directly."

Owen didn't have any better ideas anyway and followed through with it.

He stretched his right arm to touch the tree and to his surprise, it did respond.

A preview message floated above the tree with letters made of light. Four specific branches glowed golden located on the tree's front, back, left and right alongside two glowing crystals within the tree's trunk.

==========

---[Skill Tree]---

Skill Points: 6

[Branch of Power] - (Overpower) - (???)

[Branch of Wisdom] - (Weak Soul Energy Regeneration) - (???)

[Branch of Resilience] - (Basic Muscle Refinement) - (???)

[Branch of Swiftness] - (Weak Agile Dash) - (???)

(Unlocked at Level 100) [Crimson Crystal Path]

(Unlocked at Level 150) [Jade Mountain Crystal Path]

==========

The four conspicuous golden branches each had a skill that he could choose from, each with their own differing effects.

Each branch mirrors all the attributes except for luck as luck cannot be trained as a skill. However, there are branches that encompass two attributes, namely the [Branch of Wisdom] with Detection and Intelligence, and the [Branch of Resilience] with Defense and Fortitude.

Owen was obviously familiar with the skill tree even though the preview animation for the tree was quite the sight since he wasn't used to it being in 3D.

The way the skill tree works is when you spend one skill point on one of the branches, you will unlock the next skill available to that branch. But this time, it will cost two points to acquire and then the next available skill in that branch will cost three points and so on.

That means, Owen has to be careful on what he wants to acquire.

He reached out his hand and began spending his points on different skills.

==========

[Branch of Power]

[Overpower - Passive Skill]

[Cost: 1 Skill Points]

For every 15 points of damage received from an enemy during combat, +3 Strength. If the opponent who dealt the damage is above the character's level, 7 points of damage gives +3 Strength. The strength gained will disappear after leaving the combat state.

***

[Hard Hitter - Passive Skill]

[Cost: 2 Skill Points]

+4 Base Damage per hit to an enemy. Stacks thirty times, giving +120 Base Damage boost when full. If the enemy isn't hit for 8.5 seconds, the stack resets.

—

[Branch of Wisdom]

[Weak Soul Energy Regeneration - Passive Skill]

[Cost: 1 Skill Point]

Regenerate one soul energy point every 10 minutes.

—

[Branch of Resilience]

[Basic Muscle Refinement - Passive Skill]

[Cost: 1 Skill Point]

Permanent +15 Physical Defense, +20 Stamina. Improved body control and coordination.

—

[Branch of Swiftness]

[Weak Agile Dash - Active Skill: Level 1]

[Cost: 1 Skill Point]

Dash forward and change directions quickly in a short timeframe.

Range: Short

Cooldown: 2 Seconds

Consumption: 3 Energy + Number corresponding to the calculated armor weight]

==========

---[Skill Tree]---

Skill Points: 0

[Branch Of Power] - (Overpower)•[Unlocked] - (Hard Hitter)•[Unlocked] - (Disregard Consequences) - (???)

[Branch Of Wisdom] - (Weak Soul Energy Regeneration)•[Unlocked] - (Knowledge Absorber) - (???)

[Branch Of Resilience] - (Basic Muscle Refinement)•[Unlocked] - (Basic Armor Structure) - (???)

[Branch Of Swiftness] - (Weak Agile Dash)•[Unlocked] - (Trackstar) - (???)

(Unlocked at Level 100) [Crimson Crystal Path]

(Unlocked at Level 150) [Jade Mountain Crystal Path]

==========

Owen closed the panel after getting all of the skills and passives that he wanted. It was satisfactory given his current situation.

The holographic preview of the skill tree retracted all of its branches made of light into its sturdy trunk, the spectral willow leaves were also pulled back. Without pause, the entire tree kept shrinking and warping its own shape until it compressed itself back to a white orb, similar to a miniature sun.

Then, the orb flew towards Owen's sternum, bypassing his clothing without a hitch.

After that did Owen feel a subtle change take place within his body.

His muscles seemed to grow more fibers without changing his current appearance by much. Not only his muscles, but also his organs, ligaments, bones and glands seemed to feel this extraordinary transformation.

Owen looked at his left forearm and squeezed it to see if he was imagining things.

As he did, his forearm felt firmer somehow.

He was slightly startled when the boy spoke all of a sudden.

"It is not within my intention to disturb your reverie. However, the woman in the wagon is still tied up until now."

Owen turned to look at the wagon and indeed, the woman Luram abducted with Iovoi was still there.

"Oh right, her…" Owen did not hesitate and hurriedly approached her.

He wasn't the little boy.

Owen was raised dearly by his parents to care about others, he had empathy. He did not think twice if it would jeopardize his identity if he was mistaken by the woman as a demon after everything that he was subjected to see.

==========

[Idaiel Wylten - Level 5]

[Affiliation - Chosen Holy Priestess Of "Heva'Oern Mlyeht"]

[Skills - Unavailable] (You do not have the necessary detection skill/s to view the following information.)

==========

Owen took note of her strange affiliation.

Idaiel witnessed everything that transpired.

When she saw Owen approach her with a knife that he pulled out from the air, she was scared out of her wits.

Idaiel began shifting desperately to break free of the ropes binding her.

Owen looked at the woman who didn't even dare open her eyes in fear. He wanted to ease her nerves and clear any misunderstandings between them, so he tried to talk.

With a calm voice, he said, "I am not here to kill you."

Idaiel peeked through the small slits of her eyelids with hesitation.

Based on her response, Owen could see that she was more willing to listen now.

He calmly spoke to her in a gentle tone, "I meant what I said. I have no intention to kill you and I do not wish to harm you in any way. But, I need to ask you some questions... Nod for yes, and shake your head for no."

Idaiel's chest breathed erratically as she listened to his words.

"Do you trust me that I won't do anything to you?" Owen asked the first question.

Idaiel looked down at the ground, her eyes darting everywhere. She glanced at Iovoi's drained body with a severed forearm and the incomplete ritual circle and Luram's corpse.

She trembled and gathered the strength to nod.

Owen knew that she had second thoughts. Apparently, she wasn't too trusting of him just yet.

He didn't mind it and asked another question,

"Do you think that I am a demon?"

Idaiel seemed to struggle to come up with the right answer as it was evident in her expression. In the end, she nodded.

Owen clearly knew that she was unconvinced, still believing that he was a demon like Iovoi. He didn't dwell on the matter and call her out for it though.

He smiled and said, "Alright.. I believe you."

He quickly shifted his tone and became serious. "But I need you to promise me one thing, once I let you go, you mustn't speak of this matter to anyone. Is that clear?"

With no other good choice, Idaiel nodded.

"I'm going to cut the ropes off you now. Don't struggle so that I won't cut you by accident." Owen grabbed the knife tightly and began to rip apart the hemp rope that bound her to the wagon.

One by one, her limbs and body were now freed. He was delicate with the knife, he made sure not to even nick her skin with the blade.

After getting the rope off her, he carefully removed the cloth over her mouth and stuffed the knife back into his inventory.

Idaiel was still in a daze, she didn't expect that Owen would keep his word.

Her mouth released a feeble noise before speaking a complete series of words.

"Am I… free to go now?"

Owen shook his hand at her to gesture that it wasn't a big deal. "Yes, I'm sorry that you had to get dragged into this mess."

Owen began to explain the summary of the events that unfolded while maintaining a solemn expression.

"To tell you the truth, Luram was working with this demon so that the demon could regain his full strength. They wanted to use this ritual so that they could switch bodies with a vessel. And the new vessel that they chose, unfortunately happened to be you."

"But as you can see, the demon trusted me wrongly. I won't talk about the specifics, but all you need to know is that I betrayed the demon and killed it." Owen nailed the nonchalance of someone who could outsmart a demon, giving him some semblance of integrity from the woman's perspective.

Ironic since he had lied more times than the number of his fingers and toes combined.

Supposedly, fifteen isn't a big number.

Owen then added, "I'm sure that you still have remaining doubts whether I'm truly a demon or a human... Isn't that right?"

Feeling as if she was seen through, Idaiel replied feebly.

She didn't want to lie lest she incurs Owen's ire.

"You must understand, I saw you talk to him quite comfortably… and when you killed him, I assumed that you wouldn't want witnesses."

"Nonsense." Owen laughed it off, considerably lifting the mood. "Although it would be bad if you told someone about what happened, I will not regret my decision to free you."

He then asked, "What's your name?"

This was a useless thing to ask since he can see their names through the name tags above their heads. That is of course, if he was looking for information.

If he wants to foster trust between the two of them though, the effect isn't as useless anymore.

"Idaiel… Why did you ask?" Idaiel was starting to believe that Owen wasn't such a bad guy.

"Very well Idaiel, you can leave now. I'll take care of the situation here."

"However, I want you to remember that if anyone asks you about what happened here, never say anything." Owen reminded Idaiel one more time.

"Please.."

Owen's eyes softened, despite how uncomfortable it was to look at his disfigured face.

Idaiel placed her hand closer to her chest.

A firm resolve gathered in her eyes.

"I won't say anything…"

Owen's posture relaxed.

Before she could say something, he asked, "Also, how do you know Heva'Oern Mlyeht and how much do you know about her?"

Blinking thrice in confusion, Idaiel thought to herself, 'Huh… maybe this man is indeed crazy.'

After all, she did see him interact with the invisible game interface and talk to the unblinking boy that only Owen could see and hear.

Idaiel's mind churned and calmed down.

With a more composed look, she answered, "Isn't it known that she's the Mother of Everlasting Love and Care? As for how much I know about her, it's the same as anyone else in Wiunlen… I don't know much about the specifics of the Epitomus Bible."

After realizing that he worded his question incorrectly, Owen found himself to be quite stupid sometimes. But at least he now knew of the Epitomus Bible. He didn't have any corresponding knowledge to that before.

"I've asked enough questions, go ahead and return to the town now. I'm going to stay behind to clean up this mess." Owen flicked his hand, gesturing for her to leave.

Idaiel didn't waste any more time and got up while rubbing her sore wrists. She got off the wagon and walked back home.

Once she was quite a fair distance from the forest, she looked back for a brief moment and saw Owen breaking apart the ritual circle and getting rid of Luram's corpse through burning.

Iovoi's body was going to be more difficult to dispose of though.

Idaiel sighed as she continued to go back to the nearest town gate.

"I didn't get to ask for his name…"

…

Now that he was left alone, Owen was scratching his head, racking his mind to think of a way to at least hide the demon's corpse.

The boy wasn't helping. He was just sitting while hugging his knees and maintaining a close watch on whatever Owen was doing.

He glanced at the Selenkyr Construction Guild insignia on the wagon and saw Owen walking towards it.

"I better get rid of this unless I want trouble…" Owen summoned the [Woodcutting Hatchet] and chopped the piece of wood that held the insignia.

"Do you require assistance?" The boy's monotone voice spoke up.

Owen looked behind him and said, "Yep, sure thing."

After that, what happened next was easy to understand.

— Present time…

"… What drove you to steal this to begin with?" Riang stretched her back and leaned more comfortably on the wagon.

She brought her wool sheets with her, so laying down on the wagon wouldn't hurt as terribly.

"Hmmmm…" Owen deliberated on his answer.

"There's no reason. I just did it because I thought that it would be convenient for travel." Owen answered.

"As expected…" Riang didn't even bother reacting to it.

Oslan had enough of just laying down. Every time there was a bump, he didn't enjoy being hit in the head, so he just sat down for the meantime.

He then complained, "Riang, how are you able to lay down comfortably…?"

"I brought my bed with me. You didn't?"

"Well, I can't… Even if I sit down, I can't really sleep, can I?" Oslan missed when he could still sleep on a pile of hay.

"You can sleep if you try hard enough." Owen side-commented.

"See?" Riang nonchalantly spoke. "Even Owen is with me on this one."

"Fine.." Oslan didn't argue and just tried to find a good spot.

He rolled around the wagon in a fetal position. But because the wagon isn't made for sleeping, he wasn't really going to get some shut eye that easily.

Riang groaned. "Here, sleep on my arm… you're too skittish, it's annoying." She extended her arm on Oslan's head side.

Oslan was stunned and quickly rejected it, "Eh uhm… I don't think I need to-"

Before he could continue speaking, Riang pulled him over to her arm as she closed her eyes and focused on sleeping.

Oslan managed to find a comfortable way to sleep now. The only problem remaining was that he felt too embarrassed to even fall asleep. He didn't even dare move around anymore.

Owen, who was still watching by the side, shook his head.

'I can clearly see who the dominant one in the relationship is…'

'Shame she died in the original timeline though.' He said while shaking his head.

— Somewhere in the Undbok Deep Forest…

Ixila sat on the stone throne with the crate next to the feet of the strange and ominous blackstone throne. Her elbow stood on the armrest while supporting her face.

She closed her eyes as if she was sleeping.

Within the lush forest with trees standing high up, there was only rustling of leaves and the constant shifting of sunlight passing through the thick canopy of greens.

Faint footsteps could be heard.

Ixila opened her left eye in a narrow slit to see a group of men and women in gray hoods walking towards her.

She didn't mind them and closed her eyes once more.

That couldn't be said for the group though.

They were on high alert as they approached Ixila as if she was a beast in human skin.

The person in front is named Ligerre.

She looked at Ixila, carefully trying to measure her strength from her presence alone. Ligerre wore thick, bronze-colored plate armor that covered her entire body. Her helmet is shaped like a lion's head, with a horizontal slit that allows her to see.

On her back are two large scabbards for her double-edged claymores that are about 1.5 meters long and 10 centimeters thick. Only through enough physical strength would someone be able to lift these quite comfortably like normal swords.

Right now, Ligerre remembered the words her master told her prior to this moment.

The image of an old man with round glasses and white hair, clean side cuts and a long slicked back hairstyle covering his nape appeared in her mind, saying,

"Once you meet Ixila at the designated area, do not show any kind of weakness. Do not flinch, do not avert your gaze, and most importantly, do not stutter… This woman is strong… Even stronger than me… However, as long as her requests aren't too much, try to play along."

"Be careful Ligerre.. I am entrusting the deal with her to you." The man twirled his wine glass as he faced the window.

Ligerre discreetly took a deep breath and spoke out loud,

"Mercenary of the Golden Grace, I am Ligerre, Duke Isciont's most trusted subordinate. We are here to recover the stolen goods." Ligerre pressed her fist on chest.

Ixila lifted her eyelids, revealing her beautiful orange eyes that seemed to glow.

Despite the scars on her face, her fair skin still and graceful expression gave her a unique sense of gorgeousness. She gave off the mixed aura of imposingness and charm.

Under her helmet, Ligerre couldn't help but feel her cheeks burning.

'By my unwavering soul… are women normally this stunning?'