Walking into his old apartment, Alex began to appreciate the new apartment he got from the Demon Hunter organization. His old apartment was just a single room with a bathroom.
"Just grab what's important and leave," Alex muttered.
He grabbed a bag and began packing his clothes. As he was packing his stuff, Alex looked around to check if he needed anything else.
He honestly never expected to be suddenly working for a super-secret organization that hunts down demons, so he didn't know what to expect. He didn't even know how serious the organization was considering they just gave him a gun and expected him to be responsible with it.
He sighed and opened the case. There were instructions on the case explaining that the knife was made from a material that could harm demons. It also mentioned the phone being connected to services to help demon hunters. Lastly, the bracelet was a storage device.
"A what?" Alex picked up the bracelet. "Does this turn into a bag or something?"
Alex read the instructions carefully, trying to figure out how the bracelet worked. Once he tried testing it out. He wore the bracelet, pointed his arm at his bag of clothes, and pressed the middle button. There was a quick flash of light, and then his bag vanished. Alex pressed another button then a holographic display showed his bag.
"Is this science or magic?"
------
"Simon."
Simon jumped at his desk and turned to see an elderly woman staring at him. "Director Leonora. How may I help you?"
"I was informed that you requested access to one of our unsolved cases," Director Leonora stated.
"Yes, ma'am," Simon nodded.
"Are you sure about this?" Leonora asked.
Simon nodded.
Leonora narrowed her eyes before leaving.
------
Alex stored everything in his bracelet and was ready to return to the demon-hunting organization. As he was heading out, Alex stopped in front of the door and suddenly dove out of the way just as the door shattered open.
A werewolf had busted in. Alex reacted quickly and summoned the handgun. He fired several shots, but it did nothing as the werewolf charged at him.
He took out the knife instead, but before he could do anything, the werewolf slashed at him with its claws.
"Fuck!" Alex clutched his chest in pain.
"Hand over the core!" the werewolf demanded as it approached him.
"Fuck you!" Alex stabbed his knife on the werewolf's foot before kicking it between the legs.
It didn't seem to do much damage as the werewolf glared at Alex before hitting him with a backhand that sent him crashing through the wall.
"Fucking hell..." Alex groaned as he tried to get up from the rubble.
"Last chance, human," the werewolf walked out of the hole. "Hand over the core, or I will make your death painful."
Alex noticed a whistling pipe. "You can go back to hell," he smirked as he fired his gun at the pipe.
It caused a weak explosion that distracted the werewolf and gave Alex a chance to get close and stab it in the eye. It howled in pain and anger, but Alex wasn't done. He pulled out the knife and narrowly avoided a swipe from the werewolf and then dove back in to stab its nose.
Why the nose? Nobody expects to be stabbed in the nose.
The werewolf unleashed a mighty howl that created a shockwave that practically destroyed the area. Alex was sent through walls until he crashed out of the building and fell several floors down.
"God damn it," Alex groaned in pain as people began running away from the scene.
How he was still able to get up was a mystery to him. He gripped his knife tightly and tried looking for his gun that he lost along the way down. The werewolf landed in front of him.
"Missed me already?"
The werewolf howled directly towards him, sending him crashing into a car. The werewolf leaped towards Alex, but black tendrils wrapped around its ankles, causing it to crash into the ground.
Alex followed the tendril and saw it come from a familiar-looking flaming skeleton. The skeleton proceeded to summon more skeletons that began attacking the werewolf.
"Traitor!" the werewolf yelled as it smashed the skeletons. "Die!" it howled, shattering all the skeletons around it.
"Just fucking die!" Alex yelled as he jumped on the werewolf's back and began stabbing it repeatedly.
It managed to grab his arm and then threw him across the street. Alex turned towards the skeleton with a glare.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"You want that thing dead? Then fucking use the explosion you used last time!" Alex yelled.
The skeleton turned towards the werewolf and began flying towards it. Alex didn't understand the situation until the skeleton clung to the werewolf. "Release me, traitor!" the werewolf yelled as it tried to break free.
Black tendrils wrapped around them as the flames on its skull grew violently. "Shit!" Alex dove behind a car as the explosion occurred.
Once everything died down, Alex got up to check the situation. In the middle of the crater, the werewolf was lying down with what was remaining of its body charred.
"I will remember you, human," it managed to say as Alex approached it.
"I won't remember you at all," Alex stabbed it in the head one last time.
The werewolf crumbled into dust, leaving a core behind. The sounds of sirens got closer, so Alex hurriedly picked up the core and ran away.
------
"Senior, you have to look at this."
Simon was just about to leave when one of the researchers ran up to him. "Yes?" he turned to the female researcher.
"There's something strange about Mr. Gray's skill analysis," she informed him.
"What do you mean? Isn't his skill demonic resurrection?"
The researcher shook her head. "After double-checking the results, we found a new aspect," the researcher revealed. "It has the same aspect of the skill Demonic resurrection, which is a high-rank summon, high-rank demon, and high-rank necromancy."
"What's the new aspect?" Simon asked.
"The lead researchers decided to call it core since the aspect of the skill is related to the core."
"What's Mr. Gray's real skill then?"
"He's able to summon the demon where his core came from," the researcher revealed.
"That's a powerful ability, but what's the downside?"
"Mr. Gray will not be able to create his own core."
-------
Alex panted after he ran away from the scene. The sirens could still be heard, but Alex was already far enough from the area. He checked the core he got from the werewolf, only to discover that he no longer had it.
"The fuck?"
His eyes widened in realization, remembering what happened with the first core he obtained. A familiar sensation of intense pain hit him, and he fell to his knees before losing consciousness.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar place. It was the same infirmary where he woke the first time.
"Should I reserve a bed for you?" the same nurse as last time greeted him. "Two days in a row. That's quite a record."
"How long was I out?"
"Seven hours," the nurse answered. "Congratulations, you got a second core already."
"It wasn't intentional," Alex replied.
"Well, you fainted due to your injuries and the sudden integration of a new core."
Alex looked under his shirt to find four scars forming claw marks. He glanced at the drawer beside him to find his bracelet lying there.
"All your things are in the bracelet," the nurse stated.
"Thank you," Alex sat up. "Am I good to go?"
The nurse nodded. "You didn't need an IV like last time, and we used a potion to heal your injuries, so you're good."
Alex nodded. "Thank you."
He arrived at his dorm and found Simon waiting outside. "Alex!"
"I'm guessing you heard what happened."
"Yes. I'm also here to tell you about what we discovered."
"Okay..." Alex invited Simon in before he collapsed on his couch. "What do you have for me cap?"
"It's about your skill. We made a mistake in identifying it and found out it was actually a new skill," Simon handed Alex a scroll. "If you use this, we'll be able to find out more about your skill."
"How do I use it?" Alex asked as he looked over the scroll.
"Just try to pour your energy into it," Simon instructed.
It took some time, but Alex managed to activate the scroll. The scroll began to glow and then shards of light began to form letters.
Name: Alexander Gray
Race: Human
Augmentation: Strength, Agility, Durability
Core:
Black magic: Necromancy - stage 4
* Demonic core revival - Summons the demon sealed within your core. The strength of the demon is proportional to the stage of your core. Prevents the user from creating their core, but enhances the absorption rate of demonic energy.
* Lich - stage 4
* Lycanthrope - stage 2
Shapeshift: Beast - stage 2
* Bloodhound - Physical abilities and senses are greatly enhanced in proportion to the stage of your core.
"That's a lot of words," Alex commented.
"Fascinating," Simon muttered in amazement. "Such a skill has never existed before."
"That explains why the skeleton showed up during my fight with the werewolf."
"I will immediately submit requests for demonic energy crystals for you," Simon said excitedly.
"Demonic energy crystals?"
"They're items used by demon hunters to enhance their cores," Simon answered. "Demonic monsters don't have cores, instead they have demonic crystals."
"How come you're using new words again? I thought you explained everything yesterday?"
"I only explained some of the basics yesterday," Simon replied. "There's so much more you don't know about the world of demons."
"I wasn't much of a student," Alex grumbled.
"Anyways. I'll make sure to make the necessary preparations before our field mission next week."
"The haunted mansion?" Alex asked.
Simon nodded. "Cristina also asked me to make sure you do a check-up before the combat exercise this weekend."
"Who's Cristina?"
"The nurse that was assigned to you at the infirmary."
"Oh..."
Simon got up. "Make sure to rest up and try not to get hospitalized again so soon."
"I can't make any promises."
------
"Any promising recruits?" Director Lysander asked as he arrived at the observation room.
The instructors in the room saluted. "In terms of skill, none of them had shown anything noteworthy, but two recruits have been quite ahead in training."
"That's nothing new," Director Lysander replied. "What's the combat exercise this time?"
"They will be facing demonic monsters. Upon success, they will be rewarded with demonic crystals in addition to the demonic crystal from the demonic monster they will be facing."
"Quite an odd choice," Lysander commented, then he noticed something. "That recruit seems to not have a personal weapon."
"That is recruit Alexander Gray. He had requested a demonic core instead of a personal weapon. His request is still being processed."
"Does he fight barehanded?" Lysander asked.
"We have yet to put them through sparring sessions, so we are not certain yet."
Lysander nodded. "Get them started then."
The instructor nodded.