"Training is a lot harder than usual," Jared commented as he fell to the floor after pulling several kilograms of steel across the gymnasium.
"I heard an instructor say it was punishment for those who failed," Alex responded when he sat down.
"We didn't fail..."
"They didn't exactly say who did..."
"I need a vacation," Jared sighed.
"I just want someone to beat up," Alex stated. "Let out some frustration to relax."
"Line up for some sparring!" An instructor announced.
Alex grinned. "Well, it's my lucky day."
His opponent turned out to be a recruit who usually used a sword and shield but switched to a gun and shield for this sparring session.
"Isn't everyone bulletproof?" Alex asked nobody in particular.
"Core-enhanced bullets could still do some damage," the instructor mentioned.
Alex nodded in understanding and turned to his opponent. From what he remembered, this recruit could use wind magic. Should he expect bullets infused with wind elements?
"Begin!"
Bullets fired, but no traces of wind magic. A bullet hit his shoulder, but it barely stung. Alex raised an eyebrow, then grinned at his opponent.
"You're screwed."
He charged.
His opponent ran.
------
"Alex, I got the demonic core you requested instead of a personal weapon," Simon said as he arrived at the training room where Alex was lifting weights.
"Thank you," Alex placed down the weights and approached Simon. "Did they mention what kind of core it was?"
Simon shook his head. "They just handed me the case since I was your team captain."
Simon handed Alex the case. When they opened the case, they found a black sphere with purple swirls inside of it along with a folded piece of paper. Reading the letter, they found out that it was a demonic core for black magic and specialized in necromancy.
"..." Alex stared at the case containing a demonic core.
"They approved you getting a demonic core instead of a personal weapon but gave you another necromancy core," Simon narrated the situation, making Alex more annoyed.
"What will happen if I absorb this?"
Simon observed the core. "Depending on the stage of the core, it would either just enhance your current necromancy core, or upgrade it to tier two core."
"You know how you need two copies of a character in a game to further upgrade them? It's like that."
"I will get stronger?"
Simon nodded. "Yes. You're still upgrading your core after all."
"Is it worth it?"
"I'm not certain. I've never met a demon hunter that has a tier two core or above before."
"Really? Not a single person here has a tier two core?" Alex looked agitated. "No one!" he punched the wall.
Alex was getting really frustrated at this organization.
"I get it," he turned to Simon. "They're not taking me seriously since I'm not from a fucking demon hunter family."
"I don't think-"
Alex grabbed the core, absorbing it into his body. Simon watched as a few strands of Alex's black hair turned white. Alex grabbed the scroll and used his demonic energy to activate it.
Name: Alexander Gray
Race: Human
Augmentation: Strength, Agility, Durability
Core:
Black magic: Necromancy - Tier 2 - stage 1
* 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 - Tier 2 - stage 1
* Death knight – Tier 2 – stage 1
* Lycanthrope - stage 5
* Bone Armory - Allows you to create any weapon or armor using bones as material.
* Skeleton call - Allows you to summon skeletons (20) from the abyss to aid you in battle.
Shapeshift: Beast - stage 5
* Bloodhound - Physical abilities and senses are greatly enhanced in proportion to the stage of your core.
"You gained two skills and a new summon..." Simon whispered in amazement.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"When can we go hunt some demons?" Alex asked.
Simon smiled. "Tonight."
------
A black sedan stopped in front of a giant metal gate that connected to stone walls. Alex, Simon, and Alyssa stepped out of the car and looked up the towering gate.
"Are you sure there are demons here?" Alex asked.
"Not exactly," Simon replied, making Alex give him a flat stare. "This was an unresolved case. A group of tourist rented the mansion for their vacation, but they disappeared without a trace."
"Poor souls," Alyssa clasped her hands in a prayer.
"The authorities couldn't find any clues and eventually handed over the case to the organization."
Alex sighed. "Let me guess. You know someone from the people that disappeared," Alex figured out. It was confirmed when he noticed Simon's expression darken.
He wasn't going to lie. Alex wanted to go out on a mission to vent some frustration violently. That meant killing some demons, not solving a mystery. But he could understand why Simon was doing this.
"Let's get this over with so I can go back to the base and beat up another trainee instead," Alex headed towards the gate.
"He's joking, right?" Alyssa turned to Simon in concern.
Simon ignored her. "I need to talk to the guards!" Simon rushed away.
Simon approached the guards and showed them some paperwork. The guards called someone on their radios before opening the gate.
"Why is this place so guarded?" Alyssa asked as they entered.
She noticed several armed guards patrolling the mansion. For an empty mansion, it was very strange for such a high number of guards to be present.
"When the organization first investigated this place, they discovered a high concentration of demonic energy, but no demon," Simon answered. "And considering the readings found here, they're on guard."
"You're saying there's a possibility there's a powerful demon here?" Alex asked.
"Yes."
Alex nodded. They began exploring the mansion with Simon leading while carrying several devices. Alex followed behind him with Alyssa beside him to make sure he could quickly respond to any threats towards them.
"Have you done this before?" Alyssa asked Alex.
"Huh?"
"Bodyguarding," she clarified.
"Yes. I worked as a mercenary for a rich guy. Delivery, pick up, escort, any job that wasn't technically illegal and could be passable as doing a favor for a friend."
"Have you... killed people?" Alyssa asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Alex admitted. "The items I dealt with were valuable, and many people wanted to steal them. Some of them were even demonic humans."
"Was it necessary?"
"Me or them," Alex shrugged, and then he suddenly stopped. "Hey."
Simon turned to Alex. "Is there something wrong?"
"Did you detect anything here on your fancy gadgets?" Alex asked as he glared at the wall.
"No, all the readings have been pretty consistent-" Simon didn't get to finish as Alex punched the wall so hard that it caused a small shockwave, drawing the attention of the guards.
"What's going on?!" One of the guards rushed to the scene.
"I'm not an expert in construction, but I don't think a normal wall would be still standing after that," Alex commented when they all noticed that there was no damage to the wall.
------
Alex grew more annoyed every second they remained confined in this room. After the incident with the wall, the guards called into the organization, and many people arrived.
"How did you notice it?" Simon asked.
"For some reason, that wall felt threatening," Alex answered.
"The wall felt threatening?" Simon repeated in confusion. "Anyways, you found such an important discovery."
"Why didn't they tear this place down?" Alyssa asked. "Wouldn't they have discovered this earlier?"
"That's because this place belonged to someone they can't recklessly cross," Simon revealed. "One of the seven deadly sins."
"... this place belongs to a demon that powerful?" Alyssa looked surprised. "Wouldn't that explain the amount of demonic energy here?"
"Maybe so, but the demon denied ever coming here and said he only bought the property recently at the time," Simon explained.
"An organization that hunts demons had a conversation like that with a demon and did nothing?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "Are the reliability and credibility of this organization really going down?"
"Not every demon is an enemy," Simon mentioned.
"They should have called it a bad demon-hunting organization," Alex grumbled as he crossed his arms.
A moment later, a loud explosion shook the whole mansion. They heard a few screams, causing Alyssa and Simon to panic. "What's going on?!"
They tried asking questions to the guards who ran by the room's door, but they were all rushing towards the scene. They looked back and saw that Alex was still sitting on the chair.
"Weren't you waiting for something like this?" Simon asked.
"They don't want us to get involved any further, remember?" Alex was clearly petty.
"They might die!" Alyssa exclaimed.
"Aren't they trained guards?"
"We still need to help!" Alyssa wasn't going to step back from this.
Alex sighed and grumbled as he left the room. When they arrived at the scene, several guards were found unconscious in front of a hole in the wall. Looking inside, they found many coffins attached to the walls and one coffin in the middle of the room, surrounded by unconscious guards.
Alex turned to Simon and Alyssa. "You two need to leave," he said as all three of his demons were summoned.
The death knight was a giant black skeleton that was wearing gray armor and wielded a great sword. The lich also turned into a black skeleton with a purple flaming skull. There was no change for the werewolf.
"Get them out of here," Alex pointed to the unconscious guards.
The lich used the curse of binding to send out several tendrils to pull the guards away from the coffin, and then Alex and the lich used skeleton summoning to create many skeletons to carry all the guards out of the mansion.
"Next, those coffins," Alex pointed to the coffins attached to the walls.
The werewolf leaped into the air and used its claws to hold onto the wall as it tore open one of the coffins. It revealed a man wearing a floral shirt and tacky pants. He had a camera around his neck, which hinted that he could be a tourist.
"They seem to be in a state of preservation, master," the lich spoke, catching Alex off-guard.
"The fuck? You can talk the whole time?"
The lich shook its head. "I gained sentience after your necromancy core reached the second tier."
"Did the organization know it had this effect?" Alex wondered. "Anyways, do you know what's going on?"
"The coffins most likely hold humans being used as food by the demon within that coffin," the lich pointed at the one in the middle of the room. "The humans are still alive since only their vitality is being drained, and due to their number, a small enough portion is being drained from them to be able to be replenished over time."
Alex hummed. "Maybe Simon's friend is among them," he muttered. "Can we kill the demon in the coffin?"
The death knight stepped forward. "If you command, master."
"You can talk too..."
Alex sighed. There was no point in stepping up himself if the demon was just going to stay in the coffin.
"Go ahead."
As the death knight approached the coffin, the werewolf had already grabbed all the humans in the coffin and handed them over to the skeletons to be evacuated.
The death knight approached the coffin but when it was about to destroy it with its great sword, it exploded.
"Who dares?" a man with pale skin and long black hair floated in the air as the weaker skeletons were destroyed by the explosion.
Alex grinned. "I fucking dare!" the destroyed skeletons were turned into armor that covered Alex's whole arms and most of his upper body.