Chapter 12: The Hero and His ??

The man walked in and took a quick scan of his surroundings. there was a bed in front of him, a desk to his right and an armchair to his left.

The man looked at the bed, raised his head slightly, waited a moment and then said,

"I finally found something that worthy of my time"

He went to the head of the bed and saw an elven woman sleeping, he raised his head slightly again and said.

"Do I really have to do this? She looks so innocent."

After a short pause, he continued

"Okay, okay, I get it."

The man grabbed his sword and slid it between his fingers with practiced ease. As he did, it began to hum softly, then burst into a brilliant glow. The shining blade lit up his determined face, ready for the strike, he said.

"I'm sorry..."

He struck and was just about to slit the elf's throat

*BONG!! BONG!* A sound echoed through the room

Jasper, who was sitting on the chair, took off his cloak and became visible. After a sigh, he walked up towards the man.

The man was standing still, like a statue, and as Jasper came up to him, Jasper put his hand on his chin and thought.

'Not only did you fall into such a simple trap, but you also look like you can't do anything to get out of it... Hmm, how come you have such intense divine power when you are so weak and inexperienced?'

After pacing around the room for a while, he finally decided what to do and thought.

'Ever since you entered the castle you've been staring blankly at something, maybe there's someone or something around that I can't see'

After drawing a pattern of symbols on the ground, he dug his fingernail in the back of the man's head and said as his blood rushed into the man's brain,

"See what they see!"

As the symbols slowly disappeared, the man's eyes began to glow red, just like Jasper's.

The man's body still couldn't move, but his eyeballs could.

 Jasper was inside the man's mind, he looked left and right but saw nothing, then looked slightly up and saw strange writing floating in the air.

[YOU FOUND THE DEMON KING'S BLOOD SOURCE]

[Mission: Destroy it]

#Reward: 100 Hero points

Jasper had never seen such holy magic before. Just as he was about to leave the man's mind, a spirit appeared, a mixture of a fluffy white hamster and a squirrel.

Its mouth was not moving, it spoke directly into Jasper's mind, 

"Hey hero Aric, I know you can hear me and you're probably quite surprised"

The spirit approached the man's face, examined his eyeballs and said,

"I didn't know the time stopping spell had such an effect, anyway I know you can't move but you can talk to me through your mind"

Jasper had never seen such a spirit before, but he more or less understood the situation. The spirit thought it was the man himself, Jasper thought through the man's mind. 

"Who are you?"

"Exactly the question I was expecting."

The spirit smiled smugly, pointed to the writings and said,

"I'm the soul of the hero system you've been using so far. I was thinking of showing up when you're in a really difficult situation, and you seem to be in one right now"

Jasper thought to himself,

'What is this stupid spirit talking about? What is system? Is it a spell? If so, what kind of idiot would name his spell like that... I need more information'

Jasper said to the spirit,

"You're going to help me to break free?"

"Bingo! Of course it'll cost you 150 hero points."

"Ehm... Okay, but I don't know how to give you those things"

The spirit chuckled and said, "You're used to using the system manually, but with me! You just need to tell me you approve the transaction and I'll give you a one-time use spellbreaker skill from the hero's store."

"Why only one use?"

"Haha, I see you are quite greedy, for that kind of magic you don't have sufficient level yet, I will help you in this exceptional case"

"Level? What's that?"

"What do you mean, what's that? There is no way you don't know that."

The spirit looked confused as it flew around the hero and noticed Jasper's body just behind the hero. 

His eyes were glowing like the hero's, the spirit realized that something was off and said,

"Y-you, you're the demon king!"

"Haha, am I?"

"How did you access the system, I've never met a demon king who could do that before!"

Jasper's actual body began to move, he grabbed the spirit by the scruff of the neck like a puppy and said,

"I don't know who is giving you this information, little one, but I am not the Demon King"

The spirit struggled to escape in fear, but it was futile, it began to shout,

"There is no way you are not the demon king, how can you be able to catch my body with your physical form, it doesn't make any sense!"

"But seriously, I'm not the demon king"

''Then what are you!!!"

Jasper smiled, sending shivers down your spine. His grin stretched unnaturally wide, showcasing his sharp, intimidating teeth. There was an eerie glow in his eyes.

With a slow, chilling "Keu-Keuk-Keuk-Keuk" laugh, he said.

"I am the worse!"

The spirit covered its eyes with its hands in fear and began to plead,

"Eek! P-please spare my life!"

"Hooo, this day is turning out to be a really entertaining one! I've never seen a spirit begging for its own life before."

"I-I've never met a demon king who can infiltrate the system!"

"I told you before, I'm not a demon king and apart from that, how many demon kings have you met?"

"Dozens or maybe hundreds..."

"What do you mean by dozens, maybe hundreds? Since the demon kingdom was formed, only 4 demon kings have ruled"

The spirit said anxiously, "I-I can't give you any more information, p-please don't kill me!"

Jasper was really amused, he put the spirit in his other palm and said,

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Even though I want to know who is your owner, but he probably put a seal on you so you are not allowed to tell me."

The spirit nodded, Jasper continued.

"So I'm right... whatever it is, I want to see the power of this so-called system. If I release this boy, will he be able to use its power?"

The spirit seemed relieved to know that Jasper would not harm him,

"He is too weak to utilize the full power of the system. At the moment it has only reached 5% of its potential."

"Hmm, 5 percent... Okay, let's see." 

Jasper snapped his finger, and he and the hero teleported into a rather large room.

A gut-wrenching scream tore through the air, echoing off the pillars, "Aaaaaaaargghh! Get out of my head!"

Time had only stopped in the room they had been in before, once they were in the new one, the hero started to fight Jasper's mind possession.

The hero fell to his knees, blood started to flow from his eyes and he hit his head on the floor, started clawing his heads and shouted.

"System what's going on!!! I feel like my brain is going to explode, help me!"

Jasper said "How disturbing" and then he left the hero's mind.

The hero, relieved that Jasper was out of his mind, took a deep breath, picked up the sword he had dropped on the ground, stood up and as he looked around he said.

''Thanks system, for the first time you helped me without asking for points!''

It was a circular room, In the center of the room, an empty space lay, perfect for events or battles. Surrounding this arena were tall, white pillars, each with seats attached for spectators. Among these pillars stood a grand throne, its black frame adorned with striking red symbols. In front of him, there was an archvampire looking down on him. The room's ceiling was open, revealing the sky above during the day and the stars at night.

The Hero Aric pointed his sword at Jasper and said,

"Who the hell are you?"