Painting the Class 2 core with my soul was nothing like threading a Class 1 core. I had to take apart some of my own soul thread and use it to weave together the remains of the soul inside the core between my fingers.
Taking apart my own soul while using the rest of it to control something far beyond my current power is far more painful and mind breaking than I had imagined. My vision fills with a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. Tearing and weaving non stop like my life depends on it. Because it very much does.
Hours go by as my screams stop, not from resistance to the pain, but from my voice becoming too hoarse to make much sound anymore.
Nothing compares to this pain. I want it to stop. I however refuse to let myself give up. I died, came back to life, and survived nightmare after nightmare in this forest. I want power. I need power.
I am an enemy of the entire world and I refuse to let that title that I chose mean nothing. I don’t care about being the Demon Lord, I care about the choice I made in that temple with Alice. Me and her, nothing else matters.
Finally, after Gods knows how long I can see the soul in the core I had been weaving and painting over, settle in place. Then I black out.
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[ Lua! Are you okay?! ]
Rushing over to her friend, the wooden sprite panics, not knowing what to do.
Lua had been messing with that Class 2 core for a whole day now. She had been screaming the whole time until her voice gave out. Alice knew the pain from threading the Class 1 cores that reached her despite her lack of the necessary nerves in her wooden body. It was awful, she could not imagine how much it must hurt to tear apart your own soul and use it to control a Class 2 core of all things.
When she had heard Lucadon give her the instructions on what to do and how to do it, she was horrified. She wanted to tell Lua not to do it. That it was too dangerous. But the fearful yet determined look on Lua’s face kept her mouth shut.
She was regretting not speaking up sooner.
“Worry not little one, she has merely lost consciousness. The process went perfectly, better than expected even! She will wake up in time. Once she does you will both be able to ascend to far greater heights.”
Alice was still annoyed but the knowledge that Lua would be alright filled her with endless relief.
[ She has been pushing herself non stop since we left that temple. I am worried she will push herself too hard and end up dying for it. ]
Alice was blunt, and a bit rude, but she cared for her friend deeply. They had spent many months together and survived so much. Sometimes her facade of indifference and sarcasm slips and she can’t help but worry herself to death over her reckless best friend.
“Hmm, I suppose I find myself agreeing with your observations. Perhaps a break is in order… Hanging out with a demon, a plant, and a spirit can’t be good for a young girl like her. She needs to speak with other humans like her, strength isn’t everything.”
That has Alice looking up with confusion and hope. She really thought that the demon would keep pushing Lua until she was strong enough to take on the world. It has been a long time since Alice had been to a human city. A break would be nice indeed.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
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I can feel a small weight on my chest as the darkness around me recedes. Opening my eyes I find myself lying in bed with a little wooden doll curled up on top of me.
I try and reach out to pat her on the head when I realize I feel so weak that I can barely move my arm.
“I would advise against moving right now. Going from the peak of Class 1 to the bottom has left you rather weakened.”
Ugh.
Hearing the instructor from hell tell me it straight sucked. I knew this would happen when it explained the process to me. I just didn’t think The difference would feel so stark.
At the peak of Class 1 I could move so fast and had superhuman strength, it was an unbelievable amount of power. Now I severed all that power so that I could have a chance at advancing to a new stage.
I knew the Demon Lord Title would be nothing but trouble. I had accepted that it would benefit me in the long run. I just wish it didn’t mean having to use up all of my strength just to make one of my catalysts.
Straining to look around the room I see that it is completely dark out. Though I had been unable to recognize the passage of time while I was painting the core so I don’t know how long it has actually been.
I try to ask how long it has been since I started, but find my jaw barely working, nothing but a pale raspy whisper coming out.
Alice however notices the shifting of my body and finally realizes that I am awake.
Her little hands clutching my shirt, I can practically see the tears in her eyes as she hugs me.
[ I am so glad you are okay! Never scare me like that again! ]
I try to give out a chuckle at her behavior only for it to turn into a rough cough.
“It will take a little while before you can recover enough to start threading new cores to regain your strength. I recommend just sleeping until then. Alice will take care of you. After you ascend however I have decided that you should take a break from leveling for a while. Alice can fill you in on the details.”
Saying what starts out as a dreadful promise of more homework I relax greatly at the mention of a vacation. I am so ready for a break. I do however feel a little regretful at the thought of my leveling slowing down.
I need power to protect myself and that which I care about. The thought of wasting time that could be spent getting stronger hurts a lot more than I expected.
For now though, I just let my body relax and try to recover while Alice talks my ears, eyes? whatever, off with her little chat bubbles.
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A month later and I have finally made my way back to where I was before. The peak of Class 1.
Alice and I are sitting side by side with our final merged catalysts in hand. It is sweet that she waited for me. I will have to tease her more about that later.
[ Stop with the evil look Lua, I know what you are thinking. ]
With a huff the little wood sprite turns away from me grumpily.
So cute.
“Now my little students,” speaking with a reverent and proud tone, the archdemon claps its hands together to get our attention. “Place those catalysts against your cores and begin moving your soul threads in the way I instructed you.”
Doing just that I gently move the rock sized mass of crystal made up of all three of my catalysts to my neck. Reaching out with my soul has become far less painful now that I have done it so many times so I am able to do this without screaming anymore.
The threads of soul attach together and the mana from the catalyst runs along it, filling my core with incredible amounts of energy.
The space in my core that had been filling up with all my different spells and skills begins to condense. The thicker and more pure mana pressing it down to give everything more space. I can see the spell channels in my core warp and change as they rearrange themselves to adjust to the new power.
One of the best parts of advancing in Class is that your magic will grow in strength which allows spells to do far more than they had been able to do before.
I find myself grinning before a different kind of pain floods my body. I grit my teeth trying not to scream as my flesh begins to writhe and shift.
I knew this was coming and I had thought I was used to pain, but this is a whole different kind wrong. It was not just pain, but pure terrifying discomfort.
Ascending to Class 2 comes with more than just a boost in magic and power. It comes with body modifications as well.
These changes are made to make your body align with your magic. Some people can end up with all kinds of strange transformations depending on the magic they possess. I don’t know what mine will be as I have never heard of either of my magics in this world, but I hope I don’t end up looking strange.
My bones dislocate and pop back into place as I can feel my internal organs moving. My skin ripples before flattening back out. I decide to just close my eyes, as seeing such things happen to my own body is so disgusting that I fear I might get sick.
After a while the tangle of threads from my catalyst finishes its job and becomes a part of me. The writhing stops and I can feel my whole body tingling, like pins and needles after letting your leg fall asleep. And then that fades as well.
Opening my eyes I look down at my body to find not much appearing to have changed. I try and figure out what is weird about my body when I realize that my skin looks smooth, inhumanly smooth. I run my fingers along it when my hand moves faster than I had wanted, flicking unnaturally as it hits my arm.
What?
That is when I hear a voice speak up from beside me.
“Interesting.”
Looking over I feel my jaw drop at what I am seeing.