Asher did get his vision back, but he was seeing everything in shades of green, dark to light, or in between.
But what shocked him more was the place he was standing in. He was no longer standing in his room or even the castle but in a strange hellish, deserted, rocky place that was hot enough to melt iron instantly.
However, Asher was not at all bothered by the heat and instead looked around with a stupified face. There were no skies above but only an endless mirror that reflected the hellish land below, which was littered with raging volcanoes that spewed green lava, black trees with no leaves but only green flames on their branches, and lakes of green lava over this endless land.
Asher couldn't figure out where he was, let alone make out how large this place was.
But what caught his attention was when he saw his own reflection up in the sky. His clothes were the same as before but what shook him to the core was the appearance of his own body.
He didn't look like a night elf or any demon at all. All he could see was his own skeleton, top to bottom, which was continuously blazing with eerie dark green flames. His eyes were dark and hollow, just like that of a skull. He had no nose, ears, lips or skin, or anything that resembled his true appearance.
It was as if his flesh had entirely burned off, leaving behind only his skeleton, which was lit on fire, yet he didn't even realize it. Even the color of his skeleton didn't seem normal and was pitch black, as if it got charred by the flames. He was feeling beyond horrified by what he was seeing.
"No…what kind of sick joke is this…" He mumbled in a deep, husky voice that had low tones that scraped like knives on metal as he clutched his face, only to feel his solid, bony face.
This was enough to make him realize that this was not only real but a nightmare as well.
[ You have successfully activated the Hellbringer form -> +150% INT ]
[ You are now in the Dimension of the Damned ]
[ You have gained two Passive Ability ]
Passive Ability : [ Forged in Hell - Your bones were forged from cursed flames and cannot be destroyed by ordinary means. Even if dismembered, you won't lose any HP and can reattach dismembered bones at will] / [ Dimension of the Damned - You can enter this dimension at will to punish your foes and scorch their souls for eternity. In this dimension, you are invincible. ]
[ You have gained two Talents ]
Talents : [ Vengeful Lifestealer - When your HP falls below 30%, any successful attack from you will leave a cursed burning effect on your enemy, dealing 1% of your HP as damage and letting you steal the HP they lost (0/8)] / [Hell Master - You can enter the Dimension of the Damned once in a day (0/10) ]
[ You have gained a Skill ]
Skill : [ Resentful Slash - The cursed blade will try and cleave your foes on its own with a burst of flames. Upon successful attack, they will suffer bleeding effect of 2% of your HP for 6 seconds (0/6) (Cost: 50 MP) ]
"No shit…This can't be…" Asher was at a loss for words as he saw all these notifications pop up one after the other in his mind. If he had his eyes, he would literally be blinking non-stop.
He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, only to realize he couldn't even breathe or didn't need to.
"I should check my stats," Asher thought with suppressed exhilaration to confirm things,
Level : 1
Rating : 15
Life Crystals : 4
HP : 95 / 95
MP : 246 / 250
STR : 19
DEF : 38
INT :50
DEX : 20
"It is fucking real! I can feel my mana…" Asher roared in elation since not only he no longer had to feel despair about being manaless because not only was he able to use mana again, but his mana stats got a significant boost of 150%.
He looked at the stone ring glowing with dark green light and pressed it against his bony teeth as if trying to kiss it. He knew there was no point in wondering why or who gave him this ring. All that mattered was this beautiful ring paved a path for him forward.
This ring also gave him amazing abilities, talents, and skill. He never thought he would get this lucky.
He realized this hellish place he was standing in was the Dimension of the Damned. He found it quite surreal that he had personal access to such a unique and dangerous dimension where he was the Master. But he inwardly smiled, thinking about how such a place would suit him. He could make his enemies literally rot in hell before snuffing away their lives.
For all these advantages, he no longer felt bothered about his harrowing appearance. As long as he got what he wanted, he was willing to let this be permanent.
He flexed his ring finger as the ring transformed into its dark green ring blade form, and he took a look at its stats,
[ Weapon Name : Blade of Damnation || Enhanceable]
[ Grade : ??? ]
[ Status : Linked || STR +0% || DEX +0%]
[ "Forged from a soul filled with resentment and hatred, it shall feed on any dark emotions of the bearer's enemies to condemn their souls to eternal damnation and bestow strength on the one who deserved to wear this cursed ring" ]
"Huh…I really got a cursed artifact?" Asher didn't know if he should feel lucky or not, but in the end, he felt that it was better to have a cursed item as long as it gave him more benefits than losses.
He knew the description of the ring he had just read about was actually left by the one who forged it. Still, he didn't really understand the true abilities of this ring or how it would bestow him strength since he considered himself deserving after the ring chose him.
And as if to tease him, it was showing 0% stat bonuses, yet at the same time, Asher felt there had to be some reason behind it.
But he felt this ring blade was perfect for him, especially considering how much resentment he was carrying within him. And since it was 'Enhanceable', it only meant he could further upgrade this weapon to keep up with him, though he was not sure about its limit.
He decided to take a look at its other stats,
[ Level 1 ]
[ Damage : 50 ]
[ Range : 5 meters ]
[ Durability : 230 / 250 || Blood Sacrifice Required ]
Asher's brows raised as he finally understood why this ring was cursed. He would have to sacrifice his own HP to make sure this weapon won't become useless, which was unlike any other weapon he had used in his past life. So if the durability came down to 0, he would have to sacrifice 250 to get it back to its top shape.
But the problem was he had only 95 HP in total. To satisfy this bloodthirsty ring, he would have to sacrifice almost his entire life at least twice over.
[ Durability : 230 / 250 ]
Asher also observed something strange. The durability of this soul artifact and his MP had the same value, and it seemed to be decreasing by 1 every three seconds! Was it because he was in his Hellbringer form?
Doesn't that mean he would run out of MP within 12 minutes or so? What would really happen once he runs out of mana?
The only good thing he could see was this weapon would never need a replacement nor a blacksmith to fix it. It was basically indestructible as long as he kept feeding it his blood.
But he was pulled away from his thoughts when he suddenly received a quest!
[ Quest Available ]
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"A quest?" Asher had his suspicions before, but now he was sure that Demons also receive quests just like Hunters.
According to humans, it was the angels giving quests to humans to give them a chance to protect their world. So for Demons, who was giving these quests?
[ Quest - Your brethren had successfully planted their seeds in an underground area in the Severed Realm. But Hunters have already reached that place and plan to destroy the seeds your brethren had planted. Only one shall accept this quest, and it will be up to those who accept this quest to make these Hunters tremble and die under the might of a Demon. ]
[ Restrictions : Only those below Level 3 may accept ]
[ Difficulty : Not-so-Easy || 3 Hunters are present. Levels Unknown ]
[ Rewards : 10 Life Crystals, +2 Talent Point, +2 Skill Point ]
[ Accept? ]
'A limited quest?' Asher's thoughts focused as he knew a limited quest like this one would be first come, first serve, and seeing these rewards which can benefit him, he accepted it in his mind before someone else could. He also wondered if this 'Severed Realm' was the name of planet Earth. It had to be.
Seeing how the difficulty level was named 'Not-So-Easy', he felt it quite amusing and could see the system thought this quest was hard for someone of his level, not that he was surprised.
But his eyes shone with a vengeful glint upon seeing the name 'Hunters' considering what happened to him in his past life. He now loathed that title to his core. He didn't care about the 'Not-So-Easy' difficulty since he was someone who never shied from challenges nor someone afraid to take risks.
But most of all, he had invaluable experience from his time as a Hunter. Surely it would prove to be an edge for him against F-rankers despite being a level 1 himself.
[ Accepted ]
'Oh shit!' But only then he realized that if he disappeared now, then those people in the castle might get suspicious if they didn't find him in his room.
But he calmed down, thinking that he would just find a way to get out of this castle before seeing through the quest. However, as a Demon, how would he reach the place where he was supposed to finish the quest?
His eyes blinked in confusion as a notification popped up in his mind suddenly,
[ 4 Life Crystals utilized. Initiating instant teleportation ]
"Eh?" Before Asher could realize it, he felt as if his body was getting pulled to someplace else as his surroundings disappeared.
He felt his head spinning and couldn't make sense of things until he felt his body crashing down on a stony surface.
*Thud!*
[ You have reached the quest location ]
[ Quest has begun. Failure is death's ally. ]
'Yeah, no shit,' Asher grumbled as he stood up and saw that he was in a deserted subway station with the only difference that demonic mana filled this place and reeked of death. This was surely a place on Earth...Whoever thought he would be standing on his previous home planet so soon? And who would have ever thought he would end up being the demon boss in a quest? A level 1 boss at that...It almost felt like a joke to him.
He saw blobs of demonic mana, which was something he had seen a lot as a Hunter. So he could guess that these blobs of mana would soon give birth to demonic creatures that would try and creep outside this subway to devour humans. So he realized his mission was to get rid of the Hunters who might come here so that these creatures could be allowed to be born. But of course, he knew that even if they were born, they would be too weak and might kill a few civilians before some Hunters got rid of them all.
However, he didn't really care what was going to happen after. All he was concerned about was his own quest.
Now that he was already here, there was no point in regretting it. He will have to complete this quest lest he gets killed by Hunters and quickly as well to return before anybody finds him missing. But he relaxed since he knew everybody must be sleeping there at this time of the night.
[ Do you wish to have a Demon Alias? If not, your real name will be considered ]
Asher immediately thought in his mind, 'My alias shall be 'Hellbringer.'
[ Now the entire demon realm will come to know you as the 'Hellbringer' and so shall your foes ]
Asher knew that aliases existed for Hunters as well to not separate their personal identity but mainly to make a name that would carry their achievements as a Hunter. He also knew Demons had aliases too, since when hunters and demons battle each other, they can at least see the alias of the other one.
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the subway, two young men and a woman not older than 18 entered, wearing armor and wielding a sword, two daggers, and a spear, respectively.
"Ugh, look at what those ugly demons did to this place. It fucking stinks!" One of the men with a lanky figure and cropped hairstyle said with a disgusted look while lazily swinging his daggers.
"Rufus, this isn't your first rodeo. If you wanna stay in F rank forever, just leave now instead of being a douche," The girl said with an annoyed look as she brandished her sword. She had above-average looks with a bun hairstyle.
"Rose is right. We three got no money to join the academy, but that doesn't mean we can't make it through the scholarship next year. But first, only by completing quests like these can we get a good track record to get a scholarship. Rose, don't worry. I will be supporting you every step along the way since you have the best chance to get in, considering you are a Level 4, unlike us Level 2's. Just two more levels, and you will already be in the E Rank," The other young man said with a look of adoration. He was tall and had average looks, and was carrying a spear.
Rose gave a smile as if she liked hearing his words and said, "Thank you for having so much confidence in me, Kenny. It's very hard to level up, considering we awakened our mana circuit late. But I am sure you will get in as well."
"H-Hey, I was simply kidding, Rose. I will, of course, support you and be there for every quest," Rufus said with an awkward look and then added, "It's just that we already have four successful quests in our profile. Do we need more to get a scholarship?"
Rose clicked her tongue as she looked at him, "Rufus, how dumb can you be? Do you have any idea what the profiles of those who get scholarships in the Hunter Academy look like? You will feel despair just by taking a glimpse. That is why I want to—I mean us to complete as many quests as we can within these few months. Even if we do not take risks of trying difficult quests, we might still stand a chance if they see how dedicated we are in completing a lot of quests within a short time frame."
Kenny firmly nodded, "Yes, Rose knows what's best for us. We are lucky we got to accept this easy quest before anyone else could. All we have to do is get rid of some demon nests and go back home and have some beer. The loot is decent too. But if you are too lazy to help us, you are free to back out, like Rose said. We two can finish this on our own."
"Fuck off! I never said I wanted to leave. I plan on seeing this through with Rose. Don't go ahead and assume things," Rufus said with a grumpy look as the two glared at each other.
"Shh, silence you two. Get ahead and make sure the path is clear. I want to finish this simple quest within 10 minutes max. I got stuff to do," Rose said with a twitch of her nose.
Is this gonna be a simple quest for them? :#
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