Cain had left the two girls at the inn as he raced through the night streets, his destination is not the lord mansion but instead the city plaza! There lays his ticket to the lord's mansion!
Making sure to stay hidden in the shadows, he made his way until he reached an abandoned well hidden behind one of the stalls in the plaza! The Well was covered by a large wooden plank as veins grew over it!
'It must have been closed for decades!'
Cain slowly opened the lid making sure to not make a lot of noise, At some point, he even used [Soundless]!
Opening it didn't take long and Cain didn't waste time, hopping right in and closing the lid behind him!
The lord's family, like any other noble family, were afraid of being attacked and killed in a war! that's why the mansion had a secret exit to allow the lord and his family to run in case of an emergency!
The secret exit leads into a cave system that extends until the city's outskirts! Luckily this Well is connected to the same cave system! Cain and the other people who survived the Catastrophe found it after the fact as they were searching for survivors!
As he reached the bottom of the well, [Darkvision] with this Cain could see in the darkness.
His destination shouldn't be that far away as he is already close to the mansion, all he had to do was make his way through the dangerous cave below!
'They didn't think about this very well!' Cain said to himself as he spotted some slimes, rats, and what looked like alligators.
Slimes and rats were quickly dispatched with his sword which left the alligators.
The alligators were chilling by a small pond that was leftover from the stream that fed the Well in the past. On a close inspection, they can't be normal alligators as they had four eyes and spiked tails!
Cave alligators are a type of monster that lives inside caves, topping the food chain there! Adventurers rarely run onto them but they were still widely known! The reason for that was that they were stable monsters in the dungeons, you can almost swear you will have to fight them at least once when exploring a dungeon!
Cain knew how to fight them so they shouldn't be a problem!
1, 2, 3! 'Just three it is doable!'
[Short invisibility] The monsters could see in the dark so Cain had to go invisible to surprise them.
Taking quick steps, Cain stabbed the first alligator between its scales close to the neck. [Lightning grasp] using the first tier spell to electrocute the monster causing its body to shake violently, exposing its soft stomach! Cain finished it by giving its organs a taste of fresh air!
Of course, the other two didn't stand still and charged at Cain the moment they saw him appear!
[Lesser Empowerment], [Swiftness], [Enchanting: Ringing Sword].
VROOOOOOOM! Cain's sword rumbled as he dogged the two alligators. His quick swordwork had left one of them missing a jaw, Blood splashed and Cain finished the second one by slicing its back!
[Short invisibility] right in front of the last one, Cain disappeared! The alligator died before he could see Cain again!
{You have leveled up!}
------------------------------------
<Name: Cain Lisworth><Race: Human><Level: 4/20><Exp: 10/6500>
<HP: 28><MP: 576><SP: 34>
<Available stat points: 2>
<Strength: 11><Dexterity: 12><Constitution: 12>
<Intelligence: 18><Wisdom: 13><Charisma: 15>
<Magic>
[Enchanting]
<First-tier Magic>
[Firebolt]
[Fireblade]
[Burning hands]
[Bonfire]
[Frostbite]
[Lightning grasp]
[Lesser healing]
[Lesser Empowerment]
[Swiftness]
<Second-tier Magic>
[Short invisibility]
[Soundless]
[Darkvision]
[Firelance]
[Scorching Rays]
------------------------------------
Cain was thrilled with joy, This was the first time he get to increase his stats! Each four level you get +2 stats to allocate wherever you want!
<Intelligence: 18> ==> <Intelligence: 20>! Cain maxed his Intelligence without a second thought, It was the ideal thing for someone who relied on his magic most of the time!
His mind felt as clear as the blue sky, he could see everything around him clearly! the memories from his past life flashed front of his eyes like a lightning bolt! His mind has reached the peak of human capability.
His blue eyes glittered like gems, indicating his crystal clear mind!
Cain smiled as he had reached one of the milestones to stop the catastrophe, The <Have a big brain> enough to process Ninth-Tier Magic! He couldn't use it yet because he was still a low level but he had at least got one of the requirement!
Cain wasn't type to waste time here admiring himself so he rushed toward the mansion, On his way he face other alligators and small monsters.
The fight with one of the Alligators went like this with Cain now having 20 Intelligence!
Without even using magic, Cain simply walked toward the monster, a smile on his face!
GRAWWWW! The alligator charged opening its maw for a big bite. The attack was supposed to be fast but it seemed slow to Cain!
'I have already fought you guys before, I already got bored from you attacks!' Cain didn't get any faster, neither did the alligator get slower. It was just that his perception speed increased!
Just like how a martial artist could dodge a punch that he saw thousands of times even if it seemed blazing fast to others, Entering the zone! That was Cain's stat of mind at all times now that he reached 20 intelligence!
The alligator didn't stand a chance.
After just a few minutes Cain reached the end, he could hear water flowing above his head! Climbing the cave wall and crawling inside a crack he entered what seemed like an abandoned room.
The room was made entirely from bricks!
[Darkvision] wasn't enough so he turned the lights by casting [Enchanting: Light] on his sword!
Cain inspected the walls looking for the secret entrance, It didn't take him long to find it, a push-able section of the wall! 'Classic!' He thought, turning the lights off.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed the wall.
Light poured out from the crack followed with steam, Taking a quick look, he was in the lord mansion's bath!
'Someone is using it? I hope it's jack, It will make my job easier!' After making sure no one was close, Cain used [Short invisibility] to sneak out, he was beside the bathtub!
[Soundless] Cain walked slowly, no one was in the hot tub, they should them be washing themselves in another section. Just tracking the sound of water, he managed to see them!
The moment he saw them, he instinctively Covered his mouth and hid behind a wall. His heart was beating fast, his stomach was turning upside down, he felt as if he wanted to throw up!
What he saw could only described as horrendous, 'Calm down, Calm down, you have seem worse!'
There was three people inside the bath, a girl who looked in her late teens or early twenties, Cain couldn't tell for a reason! the other two were maids washing her body.
The maids were nice, even though a bit old! The problem was the girl, just looking at her was enough to make him sick!
Half of her skin looked as if it was burned and the other half was full of blisters, her nails have already fell off! here eyes were blood shot enough that he couldn't tell their color, and her blond hair was already falling!
She was sitting on a chair, bleeding as the two maids tried to carefully wash her!
If he didn't already know who she might be, he would have thought she was a zombie!
'Is that the lord's sick younger daughter?' He though, instantly inspecting her from afar.
-------------------------
<Name: Alice Forberg><Race: Human?><Level: 2/20><Exp: 10/900>
<HP: 2><MP: 22/22><SP: 3>
<Strength: 4><Dexterity: 3><Constitution: 3>
<Intelligence: 12><Wisdom: 18><Charisma: 3>
-------------------------
She is level 2? I guess her father didn't spare any expense on trying to heal her!
Leveling up can restore HP and heal most diseases, so her father must have tried making her level up in hope she will get better.
It works by hiring adventures and soldiers to capture a live monster and restrain it, after that the sick person will be one to kill it! and repeat until that person level up!
The catch was that Exp get divided between the people who participated in the kill! Capturing a monster alive required more people then just killing it, you also needed people to transport the monster to the sick person, as well as the one paying for all of this!
Having her level up must have costed him a fortune, no less than a thousand gold pieces!! It seems that leveling up failed to heal her condition though!
All of her physical stats are below 5 due to her failing body! And her 3 Charisma was also due to her look!
'High wisdom?' I guess being in her stat, willpower is the only thing keeping her alive!
It was them when Cain noticed something weird, beside her race is a '?' mark!
'What is that?...Human?...'
<Enchanting: Reinforced appraisal> Cain used Enchanting to force his system to work at higher power, he wanted to learn what that '?' mark meant!
After flickering in his eyes, the mark disappeared and instead of it appeared another word.
<Race: Human, (True race: Devil)>
'The...' Cain froze in place in shock, this was a bad new on many different levels!
If you like this story and want it to keep releasing chapters, please don't forget to support it with power stones and comments!
What do you think of Cain now having 20 Intelligence, is 2 stat points each 4 levels too much or too little?
It's starting, The 'Devil Tears' Arc!
'Why there is a devil here?' Cain's 20 Intelligence wasn't enough to make sense of what he just witnessed!
The two strongest things below gods besides dragons as those are a whole another problem!
Angels and Devils are the opposite sides of the same coin, both created directly by gods and held great power! The only difference is that Devils are rebellious while angels are obedient!
As a certain dragon lord once described them, Angels and Devils are like girlfriends to a god! One is a crazy psychopath that wants your head for love! And the other is so submissive that it says yes to everything!
If they were so dangerous that even gods had to send them to hell, then I have no business starting a fight with one!
'Should I kill it?' Cain thought, 'No, the question is if I can'
From the stats alone, Alice looked so weak that even Sofia could kill her with a single punch, she was barely holding to life!
Deception and deceive are a devil's strongest weapons, this whole sickness might be an act! 'Was she hiding her race intentionally? What is she planning?' Cain could imagine himself attacking Alice just for her to transform into a terrifying abomination and suck him into the depth of hell!
'Is jack being manipulated by her? Did I just stumble upon the real cause of the catastrophe?' Cain's brain was firing at max speed, trying to figure out what is happing, this was unexpected satiation!
"You two… Would you mind leaving me alone?" Alice spoke, in a pained voice, her vocal cords almost failing.
Cain's brain stopped working as he heard her speak, 'what is she thinking?'
"But malady…" One of the maids tried to speak.
"Please, I just want some time alone!" Hearing Alice's voice, they complied.
'Were alone? What is that thing about to do?'
Alice barely managed to turn her head, looking in Cain's direction.
"I have a feeling I am being watched, Care to show yourself as well?" Alice said, clearly talking to Cain.
Cain's heart started racing, drawing his blade and stilling himself. 'This might be the place where he dies!'
Slowly walking out and facing Alice, Cain's face was hidden with a piece of clothing.
"How did you know I was here?" Cain asked, he had already assumed it was due to her devil senses and is just trying to get more info.
"I didn't know, just had a hunch that I was being watched!" Alice's answer was surprising, 'Is she trying to hide her powers?' Cain didn't buy her answer.
"You're oddly calm for a girl who had been caught naked in the bath by a stranger!" Cain said, trying to point out the fact she isn't acting normal.
"My revolting body is nothing to look at, I have already given up on life so I stopped caring, whatever happens, it's my fate!" A deep sadness can be felt in her voice, even Cain could feel it.
'Something is wrong, I can't feel any malicious intent from her' Cain though, there was something even deeper behind her, 'Shall I try something extreme? I still haven't gotten anything from her!'
Cain gulped before speaking, "What if I said I am here for your body, devil!?" Cain asked trying to enrage her, make her reveal her true form.
"I will gladly give it up then, for me that is a dream come true!" Her response was strange, throwing Cain in a loop. Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, talking was taxing for her body.
"Sadly, I don't sense those feelings in you! Disgusted to the point of calling me a devil!"
'What should I do now? She is making fun of me!' Cain started doubting himself, 'Let's do it! She must reveal herself if I attacked!'
"You seem to be mistaken, I want your dead body! I came here to slay you!" Jack has to wait, if this devil was the mastermind then he would just be another victim!
Using all his strength, Cain swung his sword at her neck at a blinding speed, Awaiting for the Devil to show its true form.
…
No devil showed up, panicking, Cain stopped his blade just a few millimeters in her neck.
Blood started sprouting out, the wound wasn't deep but it seems to have hit a vein! Even so, Alice didn't move an inch nor flinch.
"Won't you end my suffering, Take my head off!" She said calmly, not even bothered by the blade stuck in her neck.
"Don't feel pain?" Cain asked, grinding his blade slowly in her neck.
"I have already gotten used to it, even now, the pain in my left leg is still greater than you slowly slicing my neck!"
'No, I have to stop, something is seriously wrong with this girl!' Cain pulled his blade from her neck.
[Lesser healing] Cain didn't mean to heal her, Healing magic is a type of holy magic, and Devils can't stand it, he expected her to start rolling in pain before showing her true identity.
The wound on her neck healed, this magic shouldn't heal devils but damage them!
At that moment Alice manages to see white strands of hair poking from Cain's cover.
Cain instantly linked the threads, grabbing Alice from the neck and pouring as much healing magic as he could directly into her.
[Lesser healing], [Lesser healing], [Lesser healing], [Lesser healing], [Lesser healing]…
She wasn't able to breathe as he squeezed her neck yet her pain seemed to fade a bit so she didn't resist.
'Her body didn't disintegrate from the extreme overflow of holy magic, she instead got a bit better?' There wasn't any visible change in her, Cain just saw her shaking fingers calm down.
Finally releasing her she was coughing, desperate to breathe! "How do you feel?" Cain asked.
"What…did you do to me…the pain has gotten better?" Alice could feel less pain, it wasn't a big difference but it was something!
Cain's mind finally calmed down a bit, she can't be a devil if she felt better with holy magic.
"I just poured as much healing magic I can into you!" Cain replied.
"Please…Can you do it again?" She was begging, this was the first time she felt a strand of hope.
Of course, this wasn't the first time someone cast healing magic on her, it's just the first time it did something.
Cain didn't use any special magic, he just used the regular [Lesser healing]! The difference between him and the other healer is that he didn't just cast it once or twice, he did it tens of times in a short period! <MP: 75/576> A feat only possible with a 19 intelligence or more!
The other thing is that he cast it directly into her! Usually, when using healing magic, you need to keep a distance between your hand and the target, about one foot. The reason for that was control, it's harder to control healing magic the closer you get to the target and might cause the spell to fail. But there was a catch, the closer you managed to get to the target the more potent the magic will get!
"Sadly I can't, I already consumed the majority of my Mana!" Cain replied.
A clear sadness is seen on her face, a face she should have made when Cain was about to slice her neck instead! The look of someone scared from pain.
"I…I understand…" She whispered, barely able to speak.
"I will be taking a part of your hair, you don't mind right?" Cain said socking her.
"Why do you need it?" She asked.
"I can't trust you yet so I will not say, Chose, trust me blindly or stay the way you are!" Cain said, He knew about devils but didn't fight one before, he had heard the story of many heroes who died to one! Those heroes weren't stupid and yet they got deceived, he has to proceed with caution!
Without saying any other word, Alice took a strand of her hair that had been cut before by Cain's sword and handed it to him.
"I have no other option, I'm truly thankful for the moment of bliss you granted me!" Alice's face seemed calm, finally showing a hint of happiness.
Cain's mind was on another plane entirely, 'Jack has to wait, this is a bigger problem!'
At the time being, Jack was technically harmless without the bandits. But the existence of a devil is not!
Something was not right and proceeding to kill Jack right now might cause problems.
'Today I acted without confirming the situation and almost got Sofia and Selena killed, Let's take things slowly!'
Cain just snatched the strand and left, 'I have to get to the bottom of this mess!'
...
After Cain had left, Alice smiled, putting her hands together.
"He has come didn't he, Amaterasu-sama!"
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