Amanda’s fist collided with the wall of the mothership so hard that she swore that she heard the bones in her hand crack due to the sheer force of her punch. However, her mind, drowning in rage as it was, hadn’t yet made her fully aware of the pain that she was supposed to be feeling right now.
That old bastard had left her behind. She kept ranting that same phrase to herself over and over in her head.
A man she had never met before suddenly absconded to a whole other universe with her son who she’d only recently been reunited with after years apart and the man hadn’t even bothered consulting her about it. The only consideration he’d given her was that apparently a ship would come and pick her up in a month’s time and bring her to wherever it was that her son was currently headed.
She was beyond apoplectic; she was downright murderous at this moment. It was taking every ounce of control that she had to punch the seemingly indestructible walls of the mothership, and not one of the irritating people who populated the ship’s interior. For it seemed like all that everyone on board wanted to do was whine and complain about how terrible their lives were, talk endlessly about how many people they’d lost, and just generally sit around and mope about how tough they’d all had it recently.
The sound of all that incessant wailing had long since begun to grate on Amanda’s nerves. The people around her were so terribly pitiful and weak, and even those who postured and pretended to be strong were weak, she just knew it. Some hid it better than others, but it was as though Amanda had some kind of 6th sense not available to anyone else that informed her in no uncertain terms that everyone around her was as miserable and downtrodden as people could get.
She wanted to. No, she needed to get off this damn ship and reunite with her son again, but that was impossible as of right now. She may have been capable of hotwiring a car or two back on Earth when in a jam, but she was no longer dealing with 21st-century technology, and so she thus highly doubted that she’d be able to hotwire a spaceship and successfully pilot it to wherever she needed to go.
Plus, if what Lucas had told her before was true, then pursuing the path of demonic cultivation would get her into enough trouble with the authorities of the universe as it was, and more trouble and negative attention from the powers at be never helped anyone to get what was rightfully theirs.
So, for all intents and purposes, she was stuck on this accursed ship, and that realisation served only to inflame her seething anger even more. So much so that if she still had her demonic cultivation, she had no doubt that her vision would have turned red by now and that she would have lost control of herself, and at least a dozen of the passengers onboard the mothership would now lie dead – most likely including herself.
It was whilst she was brooding in her anger, that her eyes began to scan the interior of the ship much more closely. At first, this was merely incidental as her full concentration was focused on thinking up new curses that she would sling at the grandfather of her child when she finally reunited with her son, but after a few minutes of staring at the walls, she was entranced by the subtle etchings that were delicately carved into them. The etchings were almost invisible to the naked eye, and Amanda had to channel her full concentration to just about make out their shape.
Yet, paradoxically, the more she focused on the etchings, and thus the less actively angry she grew, the more the etchings began to fade back into the background of the ship walls’ paint job. This stumped her at first until she realised that these etchings must be some kind of mystical etchings, as that was the only explanation of why and or how the etchings were apparently responding to her emotional and mental state. This realisation led her to experiment with modulating both her anger and concentration simultaneously, trying to find the best combination of both mental states so that she could best make out the carvings’ full entrancing form.
She stood there for what felt like hours, just staring at the wall in total silence. She felt like she was back in high school, but unlike back then she was actually studying, and that was most unlike her. She had no idea why she felt it so necessary to know the form that the mystical runes took, but just as she had been ushered into the demonic cultivator fold, she felt a sort of magical pull on her mind demanding that she continue studying the marking until she understood them.
And, after finally striking the correct balance between her anger and her concentration, almost as if by luck, a flood of new system prompts appeared before her as the etchings began to glow in the recognisable shape of a ginormous flame.
You have acquired a skill: [Basic] Mana Sense (Sight) (Lvl:1)
You have acquired a skill: [Basic] Mana Manipulation (Lvl:1)
You have acquired a skill: [Basic] (Fire) Rune Mastery (Lvl:1)
You have received the trait: Fire Magic Affinity (Lvl:5) | Rarity: [Rare] | Effects: You advance fire magic-related skills and classes 50% faster.
Amanda felt a ton of new knowledge flood her brain and she suddenly understood a part of what the rune that was glowing before her meant. She stared at the rune with newfound amazement, as not only did she now realise just how powerful magical runes could be, but she had also been given just enough information by the system to know that the rune in front of her had to have been inscribed by a true master of runes as the flaming rune was so clear and powerful.
Amanda stood in stunned silence for a couple of minutes as thoughts whirled in her head. Magic, she had really just learned how to use fucking magic, she thought to herself. Despite all the anger that she felt about her current situation, this new development almost washed away all of her anger as it was replaced by a sort of childish glee. After all, it wasn’t like just anyone could learn magic or acquire any kind of power through the system, that was a fact that she’d learnt firsthand back on Earth. So, in a way, for perhaps the first time ever, Amanda felt oddly special.
This feeling of being different from everyone else, of being better than most also helped her let go of her not so inconsiderable anger towards the other inhabitants on board the Imperium mothership. For they, unlike her, were not special. They were the unwashed masses of the past and present, destined for an unremarkable life desperately toiling away in some worthless job whilst all the while harbouring resentment in their pitiful hearts for those who were stronger and more powerful than them. When she looked at them this way, she no longer found their misery irritating or grating, and instead, all she held in her heart for them was pity and contempt.
Whereas the forces of the universe themselves seemed to lead her from strength to strength, the remaining population of Earth had been positively crushed by the price that the will of nature be exacted on all those who wished to thrive and live comfortably – that price being the necessary endurance of an untold depth of suffering. Where she had endured and overcome, they had stumbled and faltered, and thus their destinies could not be more different to one another. Thus, what response or emotion other than pitying contempt was warranted?
“Excuse me, Miss Fitzgerald, but I was told to inform you that the ship intended to bring you to the capital in a month’s time is no longer available and you will be…” The robotic voice that had interrupted her thoughts was cut off as a fire-coated fist collided with the speakers contained in its mouth, Amanda then jumped on the robot and began pounding it into the ground with her fists – the overwhelming anger from earlier returning in an instant.
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There was no way she would allow that accursed man to take her son away from her for good without putting up a fight. She had to find a way off this damn ship, and to her son’s side, and now this damn robot had just informed her that her only shot at being reunited with Lucas anytime soon had just been made “unavailable”. She knew that he was probably behind it, and all of a sudden, she no longer felt guilty about her words from before, as although she may have gone too far with her words, this was too much!
By the time her anger dissipated, the robot sent to inform her was nothing more than scrap metal and she noticed that she had new system prompts, one of which sent pleasurable sensations throughout her whole body.
You have gathered enough Qi and have entered the [Lesser Devil] realm of Cultivation!
Current Realm: 4th Step of the [Lesser Devil] realm
Reward: N/A
Your Class [Demonic Berserker] has ranked up!
Current Grade: [Trained]
Progress to next rank: 0.1%
Class Evolution Unlocked:
Hellfire Berserker |Rarity: [Rare] | Grade: [Rookie] | Description: You are a demonic seedling whose rage-fuelled affinity for the destructive power of flames has been recognised by the system. As a Hellfire Berserker, you shall raze cities with your rage. Current Class Bonuses: 1.5x multiplier to EXP gain, 1.5x multiplier to Fire magic skill exp gain, and you deal 300% more damage when sufficiently enraged as well as taking 75% less damage.
Would you like to Evolve Your Class?
YES / NO
Amanda didn't even have time to fully read through her new system prompts, as the sound of an alarm blaring in the background initiated old reflexes that had been burned into her very DNA - she had to run. And fast.
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After what felt like aeons discussing the workings of the multiverse with Jergras, Lucas was feeling both terrified and paranoid.
As it seemed that the demon had left out quite a few details in their first interaction about just how severe the Imperium and the rest of the multi-verse were when it came to punishing those who followed the path of demonic cultivation. The Imperium and its allies would show no mercy to any who walked the path. Jergras filled his mind with stories of whole schools of innocent children being slaughtered by the Imperium's men, just because one of the teachers had been suspected of being a demonic cultivator. For even the suspicion of wrongdoing was sufficient in the Imperial officer's mind to convict one of being a demonic cultivator.
The demon also revealed a lot about his own upbringing back on the demonic homeworld, informing Lucas of his race's tragic past. Long ago, before the rise of the heavenly dominions, the demonic race had been a peaceful group who obviously had their flaws but otherwise were pretty standard in terms of moral character. Demon mothers married demon fathers and their love eventually would produce a demon child, and most of the average demon's life back then in the good old days had been defined by family, friendship, and the pursuit of deeper meaning. However, this quaint existence was brought to an end by the sudden appearance of the system in the universe.
Jergras didn't elaborate much on what the system was exactly, or where it came from, but what he did say was enough for Lucas to wonder just what the purpose of this whole system was. According to Jergras' telling, the system kind of popped into existence one day and automatically began its reign of terror - enticing every species in the multiverse towards greater and greater heights of power and violence. There had apparently been quite a few changes in the system back in the ancient past, but such developments ceased a long time ago.
Lucas had asked the demon so many questions in the time they spent together, one of the questions he'd asked had been about the ranks of demonic cultivation. The demon had laughed cavernously at his enquiry before turning on a dime and the seemingly ethereal entity's face turned serious and he had leaned in towards Lucas and whispered harshly, "There are 13 major realms, just like with regular cultivation, but if you want to live long enough to even attempt to reach the upper realms kid, I highly recommend keeping hush hush about such things - especially around True Demons like myself."
The demon proceeded to give Lucas an unfaltering glare that spoke of consequences should he not heed the demon's advice. Lucas had learned by now that there were just some things that the demon would not talk about, and after this question, he learnt that the specifics of higher-level demonic cultivation were among them. However, by now, he'd probably asked the demon every question that he had about every other subject, as they'd spent quite a long time stuck in what he now knew to be his cultivation realm, so he decided to ask the demon about the subject again but in more of a roundabout way.
"Jergras, sir, who is the most powerful demon/demonic cultivator in the multiverse?" Lucas asked forwardly.
The demon looked at him dangerously for a brief moment, and Lucas swore his cultivation realm began to shake from the sheer power the demon in front of him was exerting. But the shaking soon stopped as the demon seemingly decided against eviscerating Lucas for his question and so instead replied with, "Why, of course, the esteemed founder of the Abyssal Sect. Who else would it be kid?"
"Is he a true demon?" Lucas asked, this time anxious as he was almost certain that he was treading into dangerous territory.
"Of course," Jergras replied flippantly, indicating to Lucas that perhaps this was something the demon didn't mind this conversational subject too much.
"What's he like?" Lucas asked, gulping as he did so.
Jergras burst out into his characteristic snide laughter, every chuckle full of contempt and condescension.
"Are you a complete idiot kid?!" The demon eventually asked in complete astonishment.
Lucas' lack of response to this question sent the demon into another laughing fit. Lucas didn't understand what was so funny. He had known some stuff about the former Prime Minister of his country from when he had been stuck at home watching TV every now and again, so he didn't understand why the demon wouldn't know anything about the leader of his supposed faction/country.
A few minutes later, the demon's laughter came to an end and after he had collected himself, the demon stated, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Why would I, an up-and-coming middle manager within the grand Abyssal sect, know or have ever met the esteemed founder of the Abyssal Sect in person? Was your world prior to the system so backwards that it didn't have even the most basic hierarchy and or aristocracy?"
Lucas felt his face flush with embarrassment for some reason. He tried to defend his question from the demon's critique but his response came out a little bit pathetically, "I meant like do you know what's he like as a ruler and or how powerful he is."
The demon smirked in response before saying, "As all-powerful demonic rulers go, I'd say he is pretty much typical. Though, that is to say not that much because he is the only person who fits that description. And as for his power..."
The space around Lucas began to shake violently, and a maelstrom of pure dark energy formed a hellish-looking symbol before his very eyes. Jergras' sulphur-yellow eyes were glowing with an intensity that rivalled anything that Lucas had ever seen before and the raw power and pressure that the demon was exuding made Lucas' body begin to quake in fear. Tears in his cultivation space began to open up, seemingly sending pulses of unimaginable pain directly into his avatar's skull. But, just before Lucas was certain that he was going to die, everything suddenly returned back to normal and Jergras was staring down at him with a satisfied look on his face.
Once Lucas' senses fully returned to him, he realised that Jergras was now in the midst of giving a semi-lecture, "In demonic society, we do not measure one's power by using the accursed realms described by the foolish blind system. Instead, we use a far more objective measuring system. Whereas an individual's realm of cultivation might be artificially high due to the consumption of powerful heaven-imbued elixirs, or the receiving of a particularly powerful boon/bloodline, when you do as we demons do, and holistically measure our cultivation by how well it matches up to the Esteemed Founder's power, there is no artificial means in the whole multiverse that can make you seem more powerful than you truly are in front of the demonic grandmaster's all seeing eye."
Jergras lowered his gaze and smugly nodded his head as he saw that Lucas was listening to his words attentively, and then he finished his speech with a bombshell piece of information, "For reference, kid, according to my people's perfect measurement system - I am almost ten million times weaker than the esteemed founder. Don't..."
The demon's words were cut off as suddenly ethereal green light burst through the walls of Lucas' cultivation space and judging by the look on Jergras' face, this was not a good thing. Lucas tried to stand up and do anything to bat off the invading light with his weakened arms, but as soon as his hand touched the green energy - a familiar pain began to rack Lucas' body. It had felt like aeons since he had experienced the pain of the void that he had been stuck in after his fight with the dungeon boss went wrong, and so he was totally unprepared for the agony to consume his whole consciousness once again. He barely lasted a minute before he was screaming out in agony and strangely enough, his vision began to turn black.
The last thing he heard before he slipped away into the darkness, was Jergras shouting a pained "Fuck!" before the demon evaporated into a cloud of golden smoke - disappearing completely from Lucas' cultivation plane.
Then, Lucas felt everything disappear. His pain, his thoughts, even his incorporeal avatar form, it all just vanished.