[28th of May, 1547 PS]

Early in the next morning, Henry woke up.

[Daily quests have been refreshed.]

He had just woken up when he got this system message.

'So they do refresh every day.'

Henry decided to open the quest menu, as that was probably where the daily quests were.

[Quests:

Main quests:

1-Defeat all 72 demon kings:

First demon king: Bael (incomplete)

Second demon king: Agares (incomplete)

Third demon king: Vassago (Incomplete)

......

2- Find the legacy of Pope Johnathan the Fourth, the first Demon Slayer (incomplete)

Sub Quests:

1-Save Ella Hellwalker in the 12th region of Hell (incomplete)

2-Achieve Knight Level Sword Mastery (incomplete)

3-Achieve Squire Level mastery with either magitech guns or bows (incomplete)

4-Complete the training with demon hunter Eve Forger (incomplete)

5-Enter Hell for the first time (incomplete)

Suggested quest: Complete the training with demon hunter Eve Forger

Daily quests:

1- Swing your sword 10000 times (incomplete)

2- Kill 30 demons (incomplete)

3- Train with Eve Forger (incomplete)]

'They're the same as yesterday. I assume once I unlock quest rewards, I'll be able to get the rewards every day.'

Henry looked forward to unlocking quest rewards even more now.

Henry then closed the window and took a quick shower. He then prepared a quick breakfast and ate it.

'Let's do the sword swings now, before I get beaten up by Captain Eve and get tired.'

Henry started the sword wings. He had the Daily Quest window constantly open and in his periphery to count the swings for him.

An hour and a half later, he had completed the quest, so he packed his things and went back to the Cathedral. He saw Priest Rico there, so he greeted him then entered the training room.

"Captain Eve, I'm here."

Eve was holding her sword, slashing at a practice dummy. "Ah, Hellwalker. Good morning, I'll be with you in a second, just need to complete my ten thousand slashes."

"Sure, take your time."

While Captain Eve was training, Henry looked around the room. He noticed the Demon Hunter Corps members training. They each had different levels of aura and weapon mastery, but he could tell they were all above Knight level. Even the mages seemed to have learned Mind's Eye somehow.

'Wait, how'd I know they had Mind's Eye? I just felt like they did. Could it be that my Will can feel other Wills now that it's strong enough?'

While Henry was deep in thought, a member of the Demon Hunter Corps walked towards him. He was a handsome green-eyed man of average stature with wavy black hair. He wore a set of light leather armor and held a bow.

"Heya, kid. I'm Joseph, the vice captain of the Demon Hunter Corps. Heard you're coming with us in the next expedition. So, what do you know about Hell?"

This snapped Henry out of his trance. "A-ah, nice to meet you, Mr. Joseph. I know that it's divided into 72 regions, each region controlled by a demon given the title of Demon King, and the greater the demon king's number, the weaker they are. I also hear each region is very different and has different kinds of demons in it."

"Well, that is true, but it's not nearly enough for an aspiring Demon Slayer. Do you know the 72 demon kings?"

"Ah, yes. The first, Bael, the second, Agares, the third, Vassago, and so on." Henry didn't actually know the names, but he read them off the list of missions in the main quest window.

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"Good, good. Now, do you know anything about the regions themselves?"

"No, I don't."

"Understandable. Here, take this book. It contains a record of all 72 regions and their details. There's a second volume on the different demon species, but I don't have it on me now. You can ask the captain for it later. Also, I heard from Father Rico that you're looking for the legacy of pope Johnathan the Fourth, and he wrote these books, so you could learn something from them." Joseph handed Henry a large, thick book with a black leather cover. It had a big red hexagram on it, a sign of demons, along with the words "Encyclopaedia Daemonica Vol.1: Infernum" written in large on the cover.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Joseph. What's with that name though?"

"Ah, the book was actually written in an ancient tongue taught to priests, not Vorusian, the multicontinental language made by the world's first ninth circle mage we speak. Don't worry, the actual content is translated, they just didn't change the name because it sounded cooler."

"I see. Again, thank you."

"You're welcome. To be honest, I relate to you greatly. I lost my mother to a demon contractor, so I know what you feel. Thus, I really like the idea of someone killing all demons, unrealistic as it is."

"Ah, actually, if it's not too much, can I ask another question?"

"Sure."

"Why is it that despite the Demon Hunting Corps having been killing demons since the formation of the Church of Light, not a single demon king has been slain?"

"That...." Joseph leaned in to whisper something to Henry. "Never ask that question inside the Cathedral. You can ask the Captain later when you go get your sword from the Powerholders' Market"

Henry found this sudden shift in attitude, but he nodded anyways. It was very strange seeing the confident, almost cocky Joseph get so scared.

Joseph then left to continue his training.

Henry just continued hanging around the room until Captain Eve finished her training.

"Alright, sorry for the wait, Hellwalker. Here's your potion. Remember, you have to actually try to dodge today."

"Yes." Henry grabbed the bottle and downed it. Soon, he was senseless again.

[You have entered sensory deprivation training. From now on, every hit you take will give you 1 Sword Mastery exp, and each hit you avoid will give you 10 Sword Mastery exp.]

Henry readied himself mentally. It helped a lot that despite the possibility that Eve could be breaking his bones right now, he could still maintain concentration. He tried to recall the feeling of when his Will was expanding.

'Back then, I felt very...aware. Actually, even now I can feel like my five senses have improved, which is good. I've always had subpar eyesight'

Phew....

Silence...

Don't think...

Henry felt his mind clear up slightly. He could now sense his breathing somehow.

'I need to feel more than just my breathing.'

More time kept passing, with each minute, Henry's sense grew more accurate. He couldn't feel the strikes yet, but he could now feel his heartbeat, his breathing, as well as the wall behind him. He could see one more piece of the room appear in the dark space of his mind with each passing second. It was as if he was put inside the room's blueprint, it was a version of room that just consisted of straight lines and the outlines of a few objects.

Even more time passed, Henry had no idea how long it had been, but he could tell at least an hour had passed, and no longer than three hours, as that's the potion's duration. He was now alone with his thoughts and the blueprint-like room. All four walls were now visible, along with the door and windows. He could also see more of the training dummies become visible. If Henry knew what a computer image was, he'd definitely compare it to a computer image loading in bit by bit.

That's when suddenly, something clicked. He could now see every single human in the room, including Eve. They looked like the stick figures Ella would draw when trying to draw humans, being just outlines. Eve's figure was especially recognizable, and Henry could now see her slashing at him with the bamboo sword. This made him feel some form of pain which he knew was purely mental, as he still had no senses.

'Ignorance really is bliss. Anyways, I can finally see her. Now, let's try to dodge.'

Henry "saw" Captain Eve's next attack. The Mind's Eye was like watching in the third person's viewpoint, so he could clearly see his body react to his commands and stand up. He then got into proper combat stance.

As the bamboo sword drew near, Henry jumped away from its trajectory, however, it seems he has yet to get used to seeing himself in third person, as his direction was a little off, and he ended up getting hit anyways,

'Dammit'

Captain Eve wasn't using her complicated, unpredictable swordsmanship, as Henry couldn't dodge that even with his normal five senses, let alone his new Mind's Eye. Her movements were clear and obvious. The whole challenge was in seeing them clearly enough to expect their trajectory.

Henry then saw Eve go in for another attack. He knew he couldn't react quick enough to dodge this time either.

'Come on, think of something....Wait, I totally forgot I still have my sword.'

Henry quickly drew his sword, and out of pure instinct, he used the military sword technique.

'Severin Empire Military Swordsmanship, Fourth Form: Cyclic Slash!'

He spun around rapidly with his sword in a defensive stance, and Eve's sword was blocked with Henry's half broken sword.

'That's not all!' He then exploited the chance of when Eve was repelled by the force of her own blocked strike and went in for a quick diagonal slash.

'Hiyah!'

The attack struck Eve, but her armor absorbed the strike. Henry hadn't channeled any Demon Slaying Energy after all.

[You have dodged an attack during Sensory Deprivation Training. You are now an advanced Squire!]

[You have dodged an attack during Sensory Deprivation Training. +10 Sword Mastery Exp. Currently: Advanced Tier Squire Level: 10/1500 Exp]

[Congratulations! You have discovered the hidden option of the Sensory Deprivation, "Parrying". Parrying an attack during Sensory Deprivation Training gives 100 Sword Mastery Exp]

[You have parried an attack during Sensory Deprivation Training. +100 Sword Mastery Exp. Currently: Advanced Tier Squire Level: 110/1500 Exp]

'Hell yeah!'

Eve, however, didn't wait for Henry to celebrate. She went in for another strike, this time a horizontal strike towards his torso.

However, Henry was now in the zone. He quickly crouched beneath the slash and rolled far away. He then went in for a stab at Eve, but she easily deflected his attack this time.

'Damn, that first parry must've been a fluke. I guess I better not get used to it.'

And so, Eve and Henry kept fighting until 30 minutes later, his senses began to come back.

"Good job, Hellwalker. I honestly didn't expect you to do it today."

Henry was sprawled on the floor, breathing rapidly. "Thanks captain."

"Alright, now that we've awakened your Mind's Eye, let's begin working on your actual swordsmanship, along with using Mind's Eye to improve it."

"Yes." Henry stood up.

"Here." Eve threw a metallic water container towards Henry's back, as she was behind him. He then found himself reflexively turning around and catching it mid-air.

'Damn, I really did feel it and see its exact position. I must reach Knight level as quickly as possible, to awaken the true potential of Mind's Eye.'