"Where are you going?!" Cristina yelled when she entered the room and found Alex getting ready to leave.

"Out."

"You still need to rest!"

"I'm good," Alex said before marching out of the room.

"I can't let you leave," Cristina stood in his way, but Alex just went in the opposite direction.

When Cristina moved to try to block his way again, Alex spun and rushed past her.

"Hey!" Cristina ran after him.

Once he left the building, Alex looked for the nearest ATM. He was notified that he received a bonus after the incident with the mansion, and his monthly salary had been deposited. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the several hundred thousand being shown in his account.

Alex wasted no time and called a taxi to his next destination. He got off in front of a hospital and headed inside.

"Haven't seen you for a few weeks," one of the nurses recognized him.

"Got a new job," Alex replied. "How is she?"

The nurse looked down. "No change."

Alex nodded. "I see..."

"I'll leave you be," the nurse said. "Her mother just went out to buy some things. She'll be back soon."

Alex nodded and went inside the room. Laying on the bed was a young woman with long black hair. Alex took a seat by the bed. "It's been a while," Alex muttered. "You just need to wait a little while longer, Ashe."

A moment later, the door to the room opened, and an older-looking woman came in. "Oh, it's been a while, Alex. How are you?"

"I'm good, Aunt Cass," Alex replied. "How are things on your side?"

Aunt Cass sighed. "The doctors still don't know what to do, and Shina's getting frustrated at everything lately."

"Did something happen?" Alex asked in concern.

"The company she works for started firing employees suddenly, so she's been running around looking for a job."

"What about rent and the hospital bills?"

"We'll figure something out," Cass assured him.

Alex was about to take out his phone, but Cass stopped him.

"You already helped enough with the bills last time," Cass stated. "You need to take care of yourself. I heard the place you were staying at just got demolished."

"You don't need to worry. I got an amazing job that pays a lot and gives me a place to stay. Let me help," Alex glanced at Ashe. "You're the closest thing I have to a family."

Cass sighed. "Even if I refuse, you're just going to go pay downstairs, won't you?"

Alex just shrugged. "A hospital never refuses money."

"Make sure that you still have money for yourself," Cass gave him a stern look.

Alex gave a thumbs up. "You don't need to worry about that."

After chatting with her, Alex went down to pay the hospital bills before leaving. The next place he wanted to visit was a friend. Alex arrived at an abandoned mall.

"They need a better place for this," Alex grumbled as he headed inside, only to stop when someone fell from the third floor. "Just one day..." Alex pinched the bridge of his nose as he went inside.

The first floor was pretty quiet, but once he reached the second floor, Alex saw several bodies on the ground. "Hey!" A large man wearing tactical gear aimed a rifle at him. "Hands up!"

He was interrupted by a knife embedding itself in his head. "Been a while since the last time I killed someone," Alex muttered as the knife returned to his storage watch and then back to his hand.

A random guy came running down the stairs, and Alex grabbed him by the collar. "Don't hurt me!"

"What's going on?" Alex questioned.

"S-some random guys suddenly barged in and started looking for something called mental core," the guy did his best to answer.

"Where's Kier?"

"I don't know. Maybe the third floor. That's where he usually sets up recently."

Alex tossed the guy away. "Get out of here."

When he reached the stairs, a group of four people began firing at him. But their eyes widened when they noticed the bullets not hurting Alex.

"A demon hunter!" one of them yelled. "Get the boss!"

"What gave me away?" Alex asked with a smirk as he charged.

He grabbed one of them by the head and slammed them on the wall before kicking another one. Another one tried to stab him, but it failed to pierce his skin, and then Alex knocked them out with a backhand. One of them ran away, but Alex didn't bother to chase them since he had his own goal for coming here.

He arrived at the third floor and began looking around. Well, it's more like smelling around. Thanks to the bloodhound's ability, Alex could trace the faint smell of his friend. After following the scent, Alex found himself staring down a group of people aiming their guns at him.

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"I thought it was already established that guns won't work on me?" Alex commented.

A bald man with a scar going across his face stepped forward. "I'll be dealing with you," the man's hand began emitting purple smoke.

"Ooh... a magic trick."

The man charged at Alex, sending quick jabs that barely did any damage as Alex blocked them. But it didn't take long for Alex to notice that those attacks weren't meant to damage him. It was to apply the toxin in his hands.

"Black magic: Shadow toxin," the man revealed.

"Fantastic," Alex said sarcastically.

Alex's arms began to turn purple as the toxin began to spread. It felt like his arm was being constantly dipped in boiling oil. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Painful, isn't it?" the man smirked. "You shouldn't have underestimated me and my men."

Alex looked at the man. "What men?" he asked with a smirk.

The man's eyes widened when he noticed that his men were bleeding on the ground. "What?!"

Alex's undead surrounded the man. "You thought I was alone?"

"How is this possible?!" the man yelled as the undead surrounded him. "I have three cores! I should be stronger!"

"Damn... aren't you a spoiled brat," Alex commented.

The man gritted his teeth and charged at Alex, but the moment he extended his arm to punch, a great sword slashed down on it. The man yelled in agony as his arm fell to the ground.

"I found it odd that I didn't smell another demon hunter when I arrived," Alex stood before the man. "Simon mentioned something once. Having a lot of cores wasn't always a good thing. You should have enhanced them." Alex smirked as he swung his knife.

The man's body fell limp before it began to crumble. Alex was about to walk away when he heard glass falling on the floor.

"Hm?" Alex raised an eyebrow as three cores were left on the ground. "Do cores drop when a demon hunter dies?" Alex asked the lich.

The lich nodded. "However, they rarely retain their ability and become empty shells filled with demonic energy."

"They're like demonic energy crystals?" Alex figured.

"In a way, yes. But they retain the branch of their ability. I suggest using the cores to enhance the cores corresponding to them."

Alex observed the three cores. One of them was from the black magic branch, while the other one was green, and the last one was white.

"What's green and white?"

"Green is for enchanters, while the white one is the color of a personal core."

"The one that just gives an overall enhancement based on your augments?"

The lich nodded. "Correct, master."

"Okay," Alex wrapped his hand in Aether before grabbing the cores and storing them in his bracelet.

"Bro!" Alex turned to see Kier running up to him. "You're alive!"

Kier had short black hair and dark brown skin. He was average in height and was quite skinny. He was wearing a red shirt and forest-green cargo shorts.

"Well, I don't remember dying," Alex replied sarcastically. "What happened here? I thought this place was under the radar."

"I don't know," Kier shrugged. "They just came in and started demanding a mental core."

"You don't have it?"

Kier shook his head. "I do things on demand."

"Why didn't they kill you?" Alex asked, noting that most other vendors were dead on the floor.

"They only killed the ones that tried to fight back," Kier replied. "I thought they were demonic humans, so I didn't fight back."

Alex nodded. "Fun fact. Demonic humans actually got their powers from demons," Alex mentioned.

Kier looked confused. "What? That's bullcrap."

"Real demons," Alex pointed to the lich and death knight.

"Holy molly! How did I not notice those things?!"

Alex snapped his fingers, and all his summoned creatures turned to dust. "You'd be surprised by the amount of bullshit I've seen."

"I thought the whole demon thing was related to drugs," Kier commented as they began making their way out of the mall. "By the way. Where have you been? I heard the place you were staying at demolished."

"In a way. I joined the military."

Kier held in a laugh. "You? Fighting for your country? They must be paying you gold."

"Something like that," Alex smirked. "I'm surprised you haven't asked me about my demons."

"Asking questions is bad for my business," Kier replied.

Alex shrugged. "Do you know who might have the mental core?"

"Can't say I do. This is the first time I've heard of it today," Kier answered. "To be honest. I'd rather not get involved. I'm lucky enough that you showed up."

"How'd you know I dealt with those guys?"

"You were the only person alive?"

"Touche," Alex nodded.

------

Cristina glared at him as she stabbed the antidote into his arm. Alex had a high pain tolerance, but she somehow made that needle hurt more than it should. "Next time you're here. I'm strapping you to a bed," Cristina threatened before pulling out the needle and leaving.

"You really made her angry," Simon commented from the side. "By the way. You've been here more than me in the years that I've worked here."

"Had things to do," Alex replied as he watched his skin return to normal.

Simon nodded in understanding. "You mentioned something about cores?"

"Yeah," Alex showed Simon the three cores he got from the incident at the mall. "You think I can exchange this for necromancer cores?"

Simon raised an eyebrow. "You want to tier up your core?"

"After thinking about it. Increasing tiers looked like the better option," Alex replied.

That made Simon sigh. "Remember when I said increasing the tier wasn't the best option?"

"Yes?"

"I lied," Simon admitted. "Increasing the tier of your core was the standard way of doing it."

"You're confusing me here."

"You're growing too fast," Simon stated. "And normally, that's good. But growing too fast carries too big of a risk."

"I see where this going," Alex scratched his head. "Increasing the tier of my cores strains my body."

"How did you know?"

"I've seen enough fictional novels," Alex replied. "Any chance I could get a specific skill?"

Simon shook his head. "Completely random. That's why there are still skills that we haven't discovered."

"Should I absorb these?" Alex gestured to the three cores inside his bracelet.

"I suggest you absorb the white one and the green one for now."

"What does the green one do?"

"Enchanter. It's a support type. Buffs and healing."

"Neat," Alex took out the core and absorbed it.

He felt a strange tingle wash over his body. He shivered as it passed.

"That wasn't pleasant," he commented before taking the white core. "Wait, where does this go?"

Alex was answered by his whole body spasming in pain.

Simon didn't seem fazed at the sight. "It goes to the first core you integrated with."

"I'm starting to hate you," Alex managed to say.

------

"Is everything set for the field exercise?" Valery asked as Argon entered the room.

"All set," Argon responded. "It's a tier 1 demon lair, so the recruits should be fine."

Valery scoffed. "You know damn well a batch of heirs wouldn't be fine by themselves."

"One of them has potential, so they'll live," Argon stated.

"The necromancer? or the Garuda heir?" Valery said.

"The necromancer is injured," Argon informed her. "He might not participate."

"That's unfortunate," Valery sighed. "I wanted to check that brat out."

"Not my problem," Argon grabbed his gear. "Have the recruits on stand-by in the dispatch bay," Argon said to his radio as he left the room.

Valery grumbled as she followed.