I watched from atop my throne as the secret base was thrown into a frenzy of activity. Moonwash was now doing my nails after having made the rest of me presentable for my big day. My face, my dress, and everything else were made fit for a demon queen, with half the materials used having come from our own hunts and foraging. I also wore my favorite ‘Freedom’ and ‘Victory’ necklaces too, they somehow went well with any outfit. I could only grin evilly at the effect my full ensemble created, and I loved the compliments I received for it too. I truly was fucking amazing.

My mom and dad had arrived a week prior, and they were still hard at work finishing up their preparations. From banners and flags all congratulating me for my eighteenth birthday, to a picture-perfect feast laid out on the table and ready for me to eat. They had piled a mountain of presents off to the side ready for me to open later.

Baston had made plant formations depicting me in the various stages of my life, from cute to increasingly dangerous. Other than my getup, Moonwash had also contributed a sprawling painting that she’d been working on for at least a year, showing all of my greatest triumphs. It had some of my exploits as a human, where I was more wary, more cautious. The ones after I’d become a demon were more raw, more wild, more primal. I was still the underdog in so many of the fights, but I approached it all with the pride of a queen, the confidence of a total conqueror.

I loved that journey, and all that it represented. I knew that I was pining for demonhood from the get-go, but I did appreciate my time as a human all the same, even if it had to come to a total end.

Luine ran around the place, helping everyone with their own preparations, meanwhile Elfrafim asked so many questions, as she was very interested in our own traditions. Traditions which were unnaturally familiar to me, for Shanayah has ruled these lands for centuries.

The elven way of doing things turned out to be decently similar to ours, except a tad more focused on unique activities, chosen by the birthday-person. It could be anything, from the obvious fighting and hunting, to sewing and cooking, or even just eating and drinking… their favorite juice. It could not be wine. They apparently decided to at least bar the more adult things from the main party, otherwise young elves would seldom get a chance to ever experience a birthday party for themselves!

That would be a damn shame. The point of elven birthday parties was to get to know a valued member of their disparate and ever-shifting community better. The person of the day would decide on their favorite activity, and their fellows would give an attempt at joining in. It could be serious, it could be in jest, it could mainly just be as spectators. The goal was to have fun and maybe even learn something new along the way!

“Speaking of alcohol,” I strode across the vast continuous hall of our home base and towards the table once my nails were done and as pitch black as my happy little soul. I was going to grab a bottle of wine for myself, but I decided to wait for the birthday cake while engaging in some fun conversations. They didn’t want me to participate in the preparations for my own birthday!

Which was fine. I wasn’t that enamored with such activities.

“Haell. You’ve really grown well.” My father patted my head. I was still small to him despite having already grown to my full height of a hundred-eighty centimeters.

“Yeah. I have. And it’s thanks to you, too. Thank you for sticking with me with all my antics, even though I knew that you never were the most fond of swordplay.”

“Oh Haell,” my dad hugged me. “I’m glad you enjoy it. I’m glad you’ve found the things that make you happy and are pursuing it. It worries me how dangerous those things are, but I’ll not keep you away from them. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry. I do.”

“Hey, Haell!” Mom came up to me next, and offered me another hug. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve already done amazing things, and I’m sure you’ll do many more. But don’t rush it, make sure you survive, and I’m sure you can kick even a dragon’s ass!”

“Haell yeah!” I cheered and returned the hug.

There were more greetings from the others, but we’ve been seeing each other’s faces every fucking day for three years now. We were kinda sick of it already.

“Look! Look! She’s gonna blow the cake!” Elfrafim bounced on her feet in sheer excitement.

I shook my head and laughed, not sure what was so exciting about this, but I added more theatrics to meet her lofty expectations. With a deep breath and braced against the table, I blew hard enough to actually dislodge a few flecks of the frosting.

There came the sound of clapping, from Elfrafim’s direction, soon followed by the others.

I had a very nice party, with even better food, and the best company.

~~~

“You want to do what!?” Dad asked, horrified. We had all gathered in the living room a few days later, and I announced my plan.

“I want to do another evolution.”

“But… you’ve already achieved your dream. You’re a demon. You are powerful, more so than literally anyone else even close to your level. Why do you need to do more?”

“I’m an imp. That’s the lowest kind of demon. Which is telling in itself, it’s like the Status System is taunting me!”

“It’s taunting you…? Haell, what you did was a very dangerous procedure. Just altering one Mutation in that way is an uphill battle. All at once is madness, and you were only lucky enough to survive it once.”

“It’s not just luck. At least, I don’t believe it is. You know how long I’ve wanted this. And I think… something deep within me resonates so strongly with demonhood.”

“...I don’t know Haell,” Mom expressed her own concern. “I’m very proud and happy with what you’ve made for yourself and I’m so excited for your future… but what future would that be if you die?”

“But I won’t. I felt it when I evolved into an imp. The Mutation enhancement process, which was said to be hellishly painful almost never came. It was present for only a few moments, until I took upon my horns and confirmed the change into a demon. Or an imp, in this case.” I paused. “And then it turned into sheer and utter ecstasy, of becoming a new me, stronger, clawing my way towards a state of being that I have always wanted. I draw ever closer, and I can crawl even further.”

“But you don’t know if it’s safe!” My mom pleaded. “I’d support you if you really wanted it, Haell. But… like those fire molars of yours, we can get you better ones! Or metals that are more receptive to curses. Materials!”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Mom. But… I really want to. There’s more though, to why I think it’d work. Chief of which is my leveling speed.”

“It’s very impressive. Unheard of, even.” My dad furrowed his brow. “But I don’t see how that’d help you survive another species evolution?”

“But I wasn’t always this much of a prodigy. Far from it. And while I did progress faster than everyone, most of that could actually be attributed to my grueling training regime.”

“Ah! Haell, did we go too far!?” My mom asked, suddenly panicked. “I just wanted to help…”

“Of course you didn’t go too far,” I smiled, reassuring her. “You know as well as I do that it was all my idea, and I would have it no other way.”

“Oh! Good!”

“Anyway. As I was saying, my leveling speed has very clearly changed. How fast is it now, compared to an evolution ago? What has changed since then?”

“Well,” Dad said, “you mentioned that you were so close to level 20 you can taste it…”

“Demon!” My mom suddenly shouted. “Imp! Your leveling has hastened like a charging hornse ever since your species has evolved!”

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I nodded. “Precisely. We don’t know the mysteries of how leveling works, it’s a mixture of many things. But I think this proves that being a demon, or well an imp, really agrees with me. And becoming a more complete and stronger demon would agree with me even more, I think.”

“...That might be true,” Dad conceded, “but it could also be because of this major change in environment. Moving away from Latarus, living in the middle of a forest, I know of how much time you spend training or otherwise fighting.”

“...Shit. You might be right.” I scratched my head. “But I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’ve reasons to believe in my hypothesis. My gut tells me this is the right move. So just as I risked it all once, I’m prepared to risk it all again.”

The memories of how I was nearly left crippled by my sacrificial menace magic resurfaced in my mind, and I realized that I really wasn’t prepared for the consequences of that risk.

But I’d take it anyway.

Dad sighed. “Fine, Haell. I don’t much know what it’s like to be this passionate about something, but I will not be the one to hold you back. Just think about our advice, and remember that there is absolutely no shame in backing out, now or on the very eve of doing it.”

“I know what it’s like!” Mom said. “Or, I wish I did, but all my life I never really fought for my dreams like you did. So you're really lucky, Haell. Make sure you succeed, now that you’ve said this much. It’d be mighty embarrassing otherwise!”

“Of course, Mom, Dad!”

I hugged them, and reassured the rest of my group.

Luine and Baston were already just used to my antics. Elfrafim was a mix of worry and sheer utter hype. Moonwash was already thinking about how to help me. Astan was… He was very smart, and definitely seemed sapient already, but I didn’t think he fully understood. Still, he was in support, so that’s good.

~~~

My parents came and went. My birthday was over and it was time to get back to the endless grind for power. Luine was shadowing me today, just like old times. Not that there was anything wrong with Elfrafim, but there was just something reassuring with having a friend I’ve known since forever in my corner, even if she was… well, for all intents and purposes, weaker. No offense meant.

It started in my throat, a low rumble that reached the zenith of a growl. I rushed into the forest, prompting the monsters to run away from the sheer presence that I alone exuded, merely due to the passive traces of menace mana I leaked. Their retreat was no use however, as I quickly caught up to a deer, and slaughtered her entire herd like a blender. A murdle took its chance to get the literal drop on me, but I reduced it to a fine mist floating in the air.

Tarzairs climbed the trees rapidly, small primates with somewhat good nature magic. They would just flee, I knew, and their magic was more suited to temporary restraints that would allow them to sprint through the canopies. But they were all lower leveled, so I stacked my eyes, aura, and then a barrage of bullets, freezing them where they stood.

A quick exertion of my legs to near breaking later and I’d leapt and climbed my way over to them, ultimately getting near a dozen, but many more were able to escape.

It was no matter, my friends would come back for their short horns and repositories later. Nature mana was very valuable to us.

The carnage naturally continued after that, and I fought creature after creature, from birds with beaks more akin to industrial machinery, to a creature who was a mix of primate and canine that hunted in pairs. Wolves, tigers, and the usual fanfare that would not look out of place back on Earth were also present, and I had a lot of fun just getting back into the groove of things after my long break from these sort of slaughters.

I kept on going as my body began to tire, my very bones and muscles aching from overuse. But all I’d been fighting were small fry, I was nowhere near satisfied despite their quantity, and the many new scratches in my armor.

Finally, I managed to find a good stopping point. Or rather, it found me, as a rocuin(pronounced as rockin’) burst from the rocks just as I passed a bunch of boulders. I did not have the time to dodge the spray of stones that followed, only to brace myself as I was sent flying away into a tree. But it was on my terms, and I emerged largely uninjured. The distance bled out a lot of the force applied.

I took a quick moment to examine my foe. It looked like a gigantic brown and gray penguin, squat like a dwarf with a very hunched back. The upper half of the creature’s head was covered by a skull-shaped crystalline mask which I knew to be a magical focus. It showed its powers a moment later as the rocuin headbanged, sending a spray of earthen spikes barreling towards my direction.

I hurriedly dashed away from the attack, yet still found a few grazing blows to my back that drew blood and scraped off big chunks of my armor. I did not allow that to halt my momentum as I continued to sprint, with more rock projectiles following in my wake. My enemy just kept on banging its head, waddling to face me as I ran. I circled around and drew my sword, sending a few confusion shots that barely affected the rocuin who just kept on rockin’.

I growled and then hid behind some trees. Some particularly large projectiles managed to get through one trunk after much of its mass was shaved off, but none could get through the next. Even the ones that did manage to hit me only dented my armor, but did not pierce through.

Birds took flight and flew away, as loud impacts continued to echo through the forest. Rocks and stone sank into the trees around the rocuin, gradually creating a large clearing around the monster as I continued to run circles around it, unable to get closer. It pained me to admit, but this was my only recourse against an opponent like this.

The strategy just felt… cowardly, which truly did not fucking matter in a life-and-death battle. I was supposed to know that, and it annoyed me how I almost acted like I didn’t. I certainly wasn’t like this before!

As fast as the feeling came, I accepted it and allowed the shame to wash through me. I’d come to love battle, I was no longer able to remain as calm as I once did, but that did not come without a boon. My more turbulent emotions had become a literal source of strength for me, and I loved the power that it gave. So long as I remembered to be in control of my impulses, there was no problem.

Being unfair and conniving is actually far more menacing than just fighting fair and upfront.

I grinned, my rational mind and my instincts finally in glorious harmony once more. The rocuin kept on bobbing its head into an unheard tune, now pumping its prehensile wings along with the beat. The projectiles of rock sped up further, with even larger specimens mixed within.

I dodged and fell back further, but one in particular almost did me in. What saved me was jumping up, allowing the boulder to carry me away as I met it with my sword. My arms broke, but the boulder finally came to a stop, along with me just a few steps away from it.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately resumed moving despite the pain as more pieces of stone impacted right where I landed. It took a few more long minutes until the rocuin had depleted its stock of mana, or at least the amount it was willing to expend at range.

Once the projectiles stopped, I kept a wary eye out and began to heal myself with a nature wand painfully clutched in my fingers, but I hurriedly jumped back when another rock was lobbed in my direction.

I had a feeling the rocuin would still have more mana to spare, and it was good to have some confirmation. I retreated and got my arms healed, before coming back to the clearing with a large boulder in the middle.

I chuckled. I already knew the level 20 monster could camouflage itself as a rock. I lobbed confusion bullets at it until the rocuin finally stirred back to life. It headbanged again to send more projectiles right at me, but I simply repeated my earlier tactic of running around. Only problem was that my menace bullets were far harder to make if I wanted it to shoot far, and the enemy very clearly still outranged me. Oh, and the rocuin seemed barely affected by my own attacks.

I pushed on regardless, peppering my enemy with confusion bullets as the trees around me were shredded. I mixed in some fireballs as well, but the monster proved to be very resistant to the flames and the heat. Eventually, I had no more cover to hide behind if I wanted to still be able to hit my target, but I still dove behind the trees further away, readying menace bullets that would never hit from the distance.

I only came back when I had a bullet ready to shoot.

The fight became a game of whack-a-Haell as I tried to surface into the clearing and attack while the other party tried to whack me with rocks whenever I was in sight. This lasted for a fun few minutes as the rocuin’s aim grew steadily more unsteady and numerous, wasting even more of the mana in the process, until the projectiles that met me gradually dwindled down into nothing.

Not convinced that it had exhausted all its reserves, I moved a bit closer and unleashed as many menace bullets as I could in one continuous barrage. The mana in my blood flowed to my command, depleting slowly, but sapping away my opponent’s sanity in the process.

The rocuin tried to dodge, and saw some success at first, but it wasn’t built for speed and was already mentally impaired from all the confusion attacks that had hit it. Finally, the creature lobbed another rock at me while trying to run straight ahead. I ran away while continuing to pepper it with menace bullets as I dove back into the treeline. The vegetation was trampled and felled by the monster’s passing, its powerful body knocking over trees, but not without slowing. The opening allowed me to get even more hits in from safety until my opponent was eventually just flailing blindly, unable to comprehend what was happening anymore.

I saw my opportunity and struck. I attacked the rocuin from the flank, finding less purchase than I expected. The monster’s hide was tough, but nothing insurmountable. I put more power into the next strike, uncaring of the damage to my arm that would surely add up. This time, I scored a nasty gash across its side, prompting a savage grin to blossom on my face. The paradigm had finally shifted to one where I was the predator and it the prey.

I loved this moment the most.

I repeated the same maneuver, attacking the rocuin from all sides. The occasional rock spike greeted me as the monster stomped around, but they were all wildly off target. I’d also switched my magic for the weakening effect of my menace magic, making the monster’s offensive even more ineffectual. I and Moonwash had finally figured out what was actually happening with the weakening curse of my magic just a few days ago, with the help of my past life memories. It slowed and diminished all the capabilities of my target, until finally their very vitals ceased to function. It was not just a powerful debuff, but a killer in the right hands.

I was very good at killing.

The rocuin proved tanky, lasting for several minutes, but it eventually slowed down and slumped in defeat.

As tradition, I ended the fight with a good beheading. I even fully broke my arms for it, having long learned how to hold back enough for the injury to be very much healable.

I always love a good beheading.