Beneath the world of humans lies the realm of demons.

A vast, empty land inhabited by demons who watch over humanity. Occasionally, a demon's gaze falls on noteworthy humans, ones with the potential to change the world, for the better or the worse. These humans are granted a piece of the demon's powers, a piece of their energy.

Humans who learn to take hold of this power can close their human eye and open a Demon Eye, granting them control over one of the many natural types of energy in the world.

Rarely, two or more demons may lay their gaze on the same human, but never before has a human been watched by more than three demons at once.

And yet, in a small, coastal town, a young boy has a Demon Eye with the power to control all twelve kinds of energy at the same time. That boy's name is Noreyu.

It's a sunny spring day in the peaceful town of Kawazumi. A young boy is making his way up a stairway that leads up the side of a small hill. A breeze blows a leaf into his light brown hair.

As he walks, a bird perches in a tree. A bee flies past the boy and lands in a flower, buzzing happily. A branch falls off a tree and lands in a small pile of leaves. The bird turns towards the boy and chirps playfully. He smiles and continues on.

A sudden rustling noise in a large bush on the side of the path startles the boy, but he chooses to ignore it and continues on his path.

But just as he walks past the bush, a man jumps out of the leaves. His tanned face is broken up by a large scar cutting through his missing right eye. Without hesitation, he grabs the boy's arms from behind and holds a knife to his throat. 

Another man appears further up the stairs to block the path forward. "Hand over your cash, kid!" he yells. The boy slowly reaches for his pocket as the robber behind him laughs. "We've got an easy catch here, Zankoku!" he says to the other man.

However, the boy is completely unfazed as he locks eyes with Zankoku, the robber in front of him. He remains completely calm as his hand continues downwards. A drop of sweat runs down Zankoku's face. "Hurry it up!" the man behind him says, his voice rough and sharp. "I don't have all day!"

Ignoring the thug's threats, the boy closes his right eye as he still stares at Zankoku in front of him. The robber's hand trembles. He starts to sense something.

Black markings form around the boy's eye. Two wings pointing upwards on each side, one short spike in the same direction, and one long spike pointing down.

A bright teal stream of energy emerges from the boy's eye as it starts to open again. His pupil shifts in colour to match that of the energy. The light from the eye makes the tips of the boy's hair glow in the same colour, too. Finally, Zankoku realizes what is happening.

"Goro!" he shouts to his partner. "Get away!"

A gust of wind appears around the boy. He moves his hand through the wind and pushes it around his body, forming a small tornado-shaped gust. Goro's knife is knocked away from the boy's throat. Unable to withstand the wind, he falls down the stairs, tumbling to the ground.

Before he can even land, the boy leaps down and throws his fist into Goro's ground-turned stomach, delivering an uppercut that launches the helpless thug high into the air.

In a flash, the boy leaps up several metres to deliver another blow that sends Goro flying at high speed above the trees. He crashes through the window of a nearby high-rise building in the modern district, much to the confusion of an innocent family trying to enjoy dinner.

"Who... Who the hell are you?" Zankoku stammers, slowly backing away.

The boy closes his eye and the black markings disappear. His pupil reverts to his usual cyan eye colour as he opens his eye again.

"My name's Noreyu!" he says, grinning at the terrified man. "And I love to beat up criminals like you."

"You're-" Zankoku looks at Noreyu, his expression distorted by fear. "I know your face now! Don't think I'll forget this!"

Without another word, he runs into the bushes as Noreyu continues on his way. He picks the leaf out of his hair with a smile. "What a nice day."

As Noreyu reaches the top of the hill, he takes a seat on the grass and gazes out at the city below. The city centre lies directly beneath him, full of activity, as usual for a Sunday, when the market fills the central plaza. From here, five major roads branch out with many shops and stores. Beyond the city centre lies a stunning beach, partially obscured by a series of large vacation homes.

Noreyu's eyes wander to the left, where a modern district has emerged in recent years. Despite opposition from lots of residents, the mayor pushed for this modernization project, ultimately leading to the construction of a new area filled with towering skyscrapers.

Closer to the shoreline, atop a small hill, the school and university buildings stand above the town. Noreyu's view shifts to the right, where a large river divides the town in two. Only a single bridge connects the city's two sides.

Noreyu is too lost in thought to notice that someone walks up behind him.

"Hey Noreyu! It's time, let's go!"

Noreyu quickly turns around. Looking at him with a friendly smile is a boy his age with brown eyes and chaotic orange-brown hair. Noreyu smiles back at him. "You're here already, Fumito? I thought you still had homework to do."

"Nothing worth delaying a good duel over! Besides, I'd just get it all wrong again, so who cares."

Noreyu stands up and looks at Fumito, who stands at the same height as him. "In that case, let's go! I'll crush you this time!"

Fumito runs backwards, putting a good distance between the two.

"Don't be so sure about that, Noreyu! I've practiced all day!"

A small breeze blows through the air as Noreyu takes one more look at the beautiful townscape behind him. Then, he turns to Fumito and activates his Demon Eye.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Fumito responds in kind, dramatically sweeping his hand past his eye. As he reveals it again, it starts glowing in a bright orange colour, lighting up his hair. Black markings appear around his eye as well, forming three large spikes at the top and two small ones on the bottom.

A small flame flares up in his hand. He looks at Noreyu, who has formed Wind energy around his legs.

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Insight: Demon Eye

Certain humans have the power of a Demon Eye. Some have one from birth while others acquire it far into their life. A Demon Eye grants the user extraordinary, superhuman power, massively increasing their physical strength, agility, stamina, and durability, among other things. Additionally, it grants the user the ability to produce and control energy corresponding to one of the twelve elements. It is said that the weakest human with a Demon Eye could defeat the strongest human without one.

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"Fireball!" Fumito yells. He shoots a ball of flames through the air, burning in a bright orange light as it flies straight towards Noreyu. The Wind energy from Noreyu's legs engulfs his lower body, launching him forwards into the air above the fireball.

Using the energy again, he dashes towards Fumito while still airborne. Fumito reacts immediately,  avoiding the incoming attack by jumping to the side, leaving Noreyu to crash into the grass. His face lands in a molehill, getting dirt into his eyes.

Noreyu attempts to wipe off the dirt, but Fumito won't give him a break. "Flame Pillar!" Fumito shouts. He puts his hand on the ground, only for a pillar of flames to burst out of the ground below Noreyu, knocking him away.

After flying for a few meters, Noreyu catches himself. He wipes away the remaining dirt on his face, only to hear Fumito shout "Fireball!" again. Just before the fireball can hit, Noreyu forms a small tornado around himself, blocking the attack.

Immediately, Noreyu dashes to the side of Fumito, ready to launch an attack of his own. Fumito responds in kind, dashing directly at Noreyu. He conjures flames from his hand, covering his entire fist in an orange, burning aura.

"Flame Fist!" he shouts as he prepares to clash. Noreyu however has other plans, quickly forming an upward current of wind below Fumito. "Current!" he shouts back, finally matching his friend's enthusiasm.

Fumito is launched high into the air, and the energy from his fist disappears. Before he can catch himself, he sees Noreyu jump up after him. Quickly, he holds out his palm in an attempt to block any incoming blow, but Noreyu has other plans.

He launches himself upwards again, leaping above Fumito in the air. "This is it!" Noreyu shouts. Wind energy starts forming around his fingers. As he pulls in more and more energy, tiny cuts in his skin appear around his fingertips.

"Forget about it!" Fumito shouts in response. "The duel is far from over!" Still in the air, he moves out of the way and safely lands on the ground a few meters away, putting some distance between the two.

Noreyu, surprised by Fumito's quick maneuver, lands as well, but his landing isn't quite as safe as Fumito's. While his left foot lands on the grass, his right one gets stuck in a molehill.

Damn those moles... These hills are all over the place. What are they for anyways?

Once again, Fumito enthusiastically shouts out, "Fireball!"

I can't dodge... I can't move my leg at all. But I might be able to-

As the fireball is about to hit Noreyu, his pupil suddenly shifts in colour from the teal hue of his wind powers to a brown colour, and energy of the same hue emanates from the eye. The markings shift too, now forming two large curved upward spikes on each side, with smaller curved spikes facing downwards. All the spikes slightly point towards another large upward spike and a small downward spike in the middle.

Harnessing the brown energy through his hand, Noreyu slams it into the ground, raising a chunk of dirt upwards to block the incoming attack just in time. "Earth Barrier!"

Before the barrier disappears, Noreyu switches his eye back to Wind, using a small gust to sweep away the hill his foot is stuck in. It reveals a small, winding tunnel that he attempts to pull his foot out of. He uses a small wind current to free himself just before the barrier sinks into the ground again.

"Hey, Noreyu! You can't just suddenly use your other elements, that's unfair!" Fumito shouts from across the battlefield.

"Sorry, sorry! But you'll defeat me anyways, right?" Noreyu shouts back.

"You idiot... Of course I will!"

Fumito readies another fireball, but Noreyu comes dashing towards him immediately.

"Flame Pillars!" Three pillars made of flames emerge around Fumito. A seemingly untouchable barrier of fire covers him from all sides.

"You lose," Noreyu smiles. A split second later, a wind current shoots out of the ground below Fumito, throwing him into the air. "What?!" he shouts, confused. "Where'd that come from?"

Noreyu dashes above Fumito with a small grin on his face. Wind energy forms around his fingers again, now shaping into lots of small, sharp wind currents. The currents swirl around his fingers, forming the appearance of small blades. "Shredding Wind!" Noreyu yells.

Unable to dodge, Fumito can do nothing but watch as Noreyu's attack digs into his chest, shredding through first his clothes, then parts of his skin. The moment blood starts spewing out, Noreyu stops his attack, throwing Fumito to the ground. As he collides with the dirt, his Demon Eye closes and his Fire energy disappears. Noreyu lands safely next to him.

"Are you alright?" Noreyu asks. "Sorry, that attack was a little-"

"It's fine!" Fumito responds. "It's no fun if we don't go all out!"

Noreyu chuckles, then stretches out his arm to help up Fumito. Despite his wounds, he gets up without a problem. He pulls out a first-aid kit to tend to his injuries. "My parents force me to have this with me now."

"I wonder why," Noreyu jokes. "Not like you'd ever get hurt."

"Yeah, exactly! I don't get it!"

Noreyu chooses not to comment.

"But how did you do that? I thought I guarded myself perfectly!" Fumito asks as he tends to his injuries. His lack of experience shows, as he fails to apply a simple bandage to his hand.

Noreyu walks up to him, helping him out. "The current, you mean?" he says. "Well, that's on you for ignoring your surroundings!"

"Surroundings? What are you talking about?" Fumito's face distorts a little as Noreyu applies a cold cream to his chest to reduce the pain from his wounds.

"Look here," Noreyu explains, pointing at the ground. "Do you know what these are?"

"Oh, the molehills? Yeah, of course!" Fumito responds.

"That's common knowledge?" Noreyu thinks, but he stops himself before he says it out loud.

"Well, do you know what they are for?" Noreyu asks.

"Moles make them when they dig their underground tunnels, right?" Fumito immediately responds.

Noreyu secretly bites his lip.

"Oh, I get it!" Fumito suddenly says excitedly, having figured out Noreyu's attack. He shot a current through the tunnel of the molehill he got stuck in, which then travelled all the way through the molehill underneath Fumito. "That's smart!"

"I know," Noreyu responds, proud of his strategy.

"Also, what was that attack at the end?" Fumito asks, looking at the injuries around his chest where Noreyu is currently applying bandages. "I've never seen that before!"

"Oh, Shredding Wind?" Noreyu responds as he finishes treating Fumito's injuries, handing him the medical kit. "To be honest, I only just came up with that one today."

Their conversation continues for a while until Fumito notices the sun setting in the distance.

"I've gotta go now!" Fumito says. "I don't wanna be late for dinner!" Noreyu waves Fumito goodbye as he runs off towards a nearby house.

Noreyu looks at the sky, then opens his Demon Eye again. He launches himself into the air, then starts dashing north to a forest just beyond the hill. He lands in front of a small crevice in the hillside, leading to a tiny cave.

Inside, there's a mattress on the stone floor and a few pieces of furniture, a chair, a table, and a lamp. Noreyu takes a sandwich out of a large cardboard box placed next to the table and jumps onto the mattress.