Chapter 12:Adaptation [4]

Either the skill book had already been used...or the skill book was yet to generate a skill.

Stretching out my hand, I hovered it over the skill book, breathing slowly and catching my breath.

The fact that the world had made a decision on its own had displayed something important to me.

This world was independent.

It wasn't being forced to follow the book...it was choosing to.

At any point, it could stop and decide what would happen next without consulting the book.

Say the protagonist suddenly died; the world could just choose a new one and suddenly shift the plotline, creating events that had never occurred in the book.

In other words, what happened in the book wasn't destined to happen in this world.

Just because the book said I died in ten years didn't mean I couldn't die now.

While I could use it to my advantage, I couldn't rely on my book knowledge for protection.

I had to become strong myself.

Steeling myself, I lowered my hand until the rough and flat surface of the book brushed against my open palm.

Surprisingly, as my hand rubbed against the leather book, I didn't feel any holes. Despite its old age, the book seemed well-kept.

Picking up the book, I decided to experiment with it, hoping that I could cause it to generate a skill.

Skill books, even at the lowest rank of E, are extremely rare and valuable, only being obtainable through dungeon chests.

So, I would take anything I could get from this book.

To my surprise, when I opened the book, the empty pages suddenly began to sparkle an ocean blue.

"Blue...C rank, not bad."

As my fingers made contact with the fragile paper pages of the book, they disintegrated, eventually leaving my hands completely empty beside the book's front and back cover.

Placing the covers back on the statue's base, I finally grabbed the hilt of blood-red katana in front of me.

It felt almost weightless as I could easily pick it up and move it around without any strain.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any sheath for the katana, so I pointed its blade at the ground, using it as a walking stick.

Smiling, I then rubbed my hands around the katana's pitch-black handle for a moment before finding a small elevated area on the right side.

As I pressed the button on the hilt, the blade of the katana instantly surged upward into its handle, disappearing inside it within seconds.

The hilt then suddenly began shrinking until finally, it was small enough to fit in my palm, and then it suddenly transformed.

Within seconds, a pitch-black pen with a blood-red bottom lay in my palm.

This was just one of many abilities that the demon prince's katana held.

However, like other magical artifacts, I had to practice with the katana and gain proficiency with it to unlock its other powers.

Gripping the pen in my hand, I anxiously glanced to my right, where my system menu stood.

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[Athen / 16]

▶ Stats

[Rating: E+]

--> [Strength : E]

--> [Stamina: D-]

--> [Speed: D-]

--> [Perception: D]

--> [Vitality: E-]

--> [Magic Power: E]

▶ Gift

--> N/A

▶ Traits

--> Demon God Lineage [1 / ?]

---> Devil Transformation: Take the form of a Devil. 

▶ Skills

--> Phantom Mirage [C] : In exchange for 10% of your mana, create five clones of yourself. These clones are normal humans who will run around and follow your commands to the best of their abilities; however, upon touching something, they will instantly disappear.

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"...still no gift."

Upon reaching a certain stat threshold and becoming "enlightened," the system menu will grant you a gift.

These gifts practically determine the weapon you use, as your gift allows you to excel in your chosen field with unique stats alongside specialized abilities such as magical sword slashes.

For example, a sword-related gift user receives the special stat Tempo, which allows you to predict and see the trajectory of different attacks before they even hit you.

Whereas a long-ranged weapon user with a bow or crossbow-related gift would receive the Stealth stat, which allows one to blend in with their environment and escape the human eye.

Shaking my head, I grabbed the letter and the podium and stood in the circle-shaped room for a moment, wondering how to get out.

Tomorrow, the protagonist will simultaneously receive letters with news of her brother's death and her acceptance to the Glaive.

And because I recall reading those long letters when I first started the book, I knew that tomorrow would be the 31st of August.

So, not counting today, I had one day to reach the capital city and enter the academy.

It seemed impossible

How was I supposed to get to the capital city in one day if I had no idea where I currently was?

Fortunately, as I stared around the room, a familiar sight came into view.

This cathedral had to be on the outskirts of the human kingdom, thousands of miles away from the capital city, as it took the hero a considerable amount of time to come here.

However, the previous demon king somehow managed to sneak hundreds of spies into the center of the human kingdom before he fell.

He had to have a secret warp gate.

Glancing backward at the arc-shaped entrance to the room, I smiled before walking toward it.

Warp gates were extremely expensive and complicated to build.

Only a couple were scattered around the human kingdom, yet the previous demon king and my "father" still had his own personal one.

Well...he was the closest demon king in history to ascending into a devil, so I shouldn't be surprised.

If a hierarchy of demonic creatures were to be made, devils would be at the absolute top, with powers comparable to demigods, and demonic creatures would be the lowest.

Above demonic creatures would be djinns, humans who have made a contract with a devil and received power in exchange.

And, below devils would be demons, human-like creatures born with horns and a propensity toward dark things.

Although devils are undoubtedly the most powerful of all demonic beings, they are unable to come down to Earth, so instead, they use demons and djinns to their bidding.