I finally open my eyes after a long rest and am greeted by Ember as I do.

"Good morning, you've gotten back into your habit of oversleeping lately."

The white clouds and crisp air of the dungeon's sky brushes past my face at a calm speed.

I stretch to rub my face, but the feeling of pins and needles all over my body makes my movements much more difficult.

Even so, it's not nearly as bad as before I knocked out. Letting out a light cough and feeling the soreness in my abs squeeze tight as I sit up, I reply to Ember.

"How long was I out...? don't tell me it was longer than a day."

The grumble of hunger from my stomach and dry mouth tell a different story.

There's a chuckle from Ember, but he replies in a half-serious tone moments after.

"Just over three days... That Red Hydra Buff is more dangerous than I thought. It may give you power, but if we're alone on the battlefield, you're going to have to use it only when absolutely necessary. These side effects aren't something you can afford to deal with on a whim. If I were to absorb one, I'd wait until my next rank up before even thinking about attempting it."

I nod, biting my bottom lip. Ember has a point. His statement makes me rethink asking him to absorb the last remaining Soulstone. If even he thinks it's too dangerous, I won't push him to do it either. Ember is naturally powerful enough without it. I'll have to save it for when he's ready and really needs it.

Considering this fact, there are two other main things that are less urgent but still lurk at the back of my mind. The first is my trip to Valor City is delayed. Although my hibernation was cut short, I did tell my teammates it'd take over a full week, so this detour actually evens things out.

The second thing is I won't get to show off to the bartender that I cleared every quest in a single night. Three days will have to do, it's probably far less suspicious this way too.

I smile at the thought, then another comes to mind.

"The loot!"

With my eyes wide open in anticipation, I reach into my item storage and pull out everything that dropped in the Demonic Rift.

Sitting on Ember's back while clouds still pass me on both sides, I carefully examine the three obsidian-textured purple stones first, and place the small black key and smooth ring beside them to check out last.

I use all of my perception skills, but not a single detail comes up. When activating my Demonic Energy manipulation skill, I feel an eerie pressure coming off each of them unlike anything the regular non-glowing black stones showed before.

Even so, I can't absorb any energy from them, or even get a hint at what these rocks can do.

Letting out a sigh, I open my link with Ember.

"Do you know anything about these gems? You mentioned each boss would drop them before... but I can't figure out what they do."

"Tier 2 Demonic Stones? What can you do with them? Ha! All sorts of things..."

My eyebrows raise as Ember goes on.

"That is... if you were a true Demonic Monster. I don't think you'll have the ability to fuse with these stones without giving up your ability to wield mana as your base power source. So, I don't recommend it."

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My excitement leaves me as fast as it came, but Ember keeps explaining.

"However, I have heard of master craftsmen fusing stones like these into armor and weapons. Similar to your Firestones and The Flame Emperor's Sword. Certain Demonic items are capable of being upgraded too."

At this news, I activate my Mythic Grade crafting skill and reach into my item storage to pull out my dagger.

Going through a process like this never occurred to me, but now that I think about it...

"My dagger can turn into a weapon like that Minotaur's swords."

The moment these words leave my mouth, I activate my Demonic Energy vision in my left eye out of instinct, and keep all my perception skills active in my right.

Instead of blue text, I can see faint system messages popping up over the dagger in light purple text as well.

It works all the same as the mana system.

The actions happen in real time. The item in front of me is re-named to [The Midnight Dagger] and a series of options to upgrade it pop up just like with my sword.

I pick up the purple stones, and just as Ember said, [Tier 2 Demonic Stones] pop up as their identity in the system.

Upgrade Item: [The Midnight Dagger]

Additional Raw Imbuement Material: [3x Tier 2 Demonic Stones]

Additional Skill or Special Attribute Imbuement: [See Available]

Stat Bonus: [+15 Units Capacity]

Complete: [YES][NO]

My eyes are glued to the text before me.

I don't utter a word, just read the system messages over and over to make sense of it.

I click into [See Available] and the only skill that pops up is Demonic Energy Manipulation. Seeing no downsides to this, I choose to accept here too. Then, pick [YES].

A flash of blue, purple, and white light glows bright in front of me and the gems in my hands start to fuse into the dagger.

I try to use my All-Seeing Eye to understand the process, but even to my refined gaze, it just seems like energy is swirling faster and faster until it stops.

Once it does, the white light dissipates, and all that remains is a weapon before me.

"It's different... but I like it..."

Grinning, I grip the new blade in my hand tight. It looks as if it's grown almost 30% larger, and its black color is somehow even darker than before.

I try to focus and find a pocket of demonic energy around to test it out, but to my surprise, there isn't a drop remaining in this dungeon.

It all must have left with the rift. Even the small amount of energy I had in my core has dissolved away as I slept.

Nevertheless, I still stare down at the new blade in awe, wondering how this rise in capacity will affect its use.

I know the previous capacity was 5 units, and when I wielded it fully, it allowed me to battle with 60 units total. Without the blade in my hand, my attacks and pool of Demonic Energy was a small amount less dense, making my use less efficient. With another boost of 15, making its capacity 20 in total, that brings my full wielding capacity up to 75 units. The same as the Minotaur I just defeated...

This leaves me with some questions.

With this new weapon upgrade, will I be able to send out energy attacks like the Demonic Boss? If so, does this mean my strength while using Demonic Energy alone has increased close to the strength of that beast too?

With these, and many other questions racing through my mind, I still place the Dagger back into my storage.

"There will be time to figure these things out later."

My eyes fall to the key and ring next.

I try a similar technique of using inspect and appraisal while activating my demonic vision on these items, but they don't show any signatures or readings back at all.

I throw them into my crafting skill, and still have no results either.

After a few minutes of tinkering, I decide it's a lost cause and ask Ember after placing them both into my storage too. He responds.

"The ring, I'm not too sure of. You may need to channel Demonic Energy into it to find out its power. That key on the other hand is definitely a Rift Key."

"A Rift Key...?."

"It's a sign that you've completed the Demonic Rift trial. If you hold onto it, that key may open up another trial if you channel enough energy into it."

My eyes light up at the thought, but Ember shuts me down instantly.

"Don't even think about it. Considering the strength of the one you just faced, the next trial will most likely be a Tier 3 rift. You'll need to get much stronger before trying something like that. I've seen a few Tier 3 trials in my day, but haven't met a Demon capable of passing the test. Don't lose that key, I can only imagine what kind of loot it'll drop."

This upgrade to my Demonic gear, and possibilities of future treasures puts a smile across my face. Both of us are in great spirits as we near the exit portal of the dungeon.

Once we touch down, I open up my storage for Ember to enter, then I step out through the blue exit portal with my next mission on my mind.

I'll be handing in my quests back at the bar.