ã€ŠOrigin of Evilã€‹


 1 Welcome!

    "Motherfucker!"

    Dorian woke up in fright, his entire body tensing as he sat up on his bed.

    His breathing was ragged and sweat driveled down his face, soaked his shirt and mattress. Dorian took a couple seconds before calming down, realizing this was a dream. He looked at his phone and realized it was 6.00 am.

    Dorian calmed down his breath and wanted to go back to sleep, but as he laid down he shivered from how cold the mattress was.

    With no other choice left, Dorian picked up some clothes and went to take a shower. Although it would probably piss off his family, he couldn''t stand the smell of his sweat. He opened his room''s window to freshen the air in his room and headed toward the bathroom.

    Dorian was a pretty basic guy who led a pretty basic life. 17 years old, average face, in last year of high school, he had no girlfriend nor passion.

    His family, though was much more special. They were quite rich, his father being a neurosurgeon and his mother a politician. Well, she wasn''t really anyone important but she was only starting.

    He also had two siblings, two sisters. His big sister was following their father''s way and doing medical studies. As for his young sister, she was only 15 but was already an internet celebrity. Dorian had helped her for a few videos but he tried keeping out of it.

    And among this family of extraordinary people, there was Dorian. He was just too average. It''s not like he was a bad person or anything like that, but he was utterly boring compared to them.

    His family wasn''t bothered by this and they all loved him the same, but Dorian himself was unsatisfied with his life. He didn''t want to be average and do nothing with his life. But sadly, Dorian didn''t have anything incredible to him.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian pushed those thoughts aside and started his shower. As he felt the water hit his skin, he thought back about that dream. It had been unbelievably realistic, and Dorian was glad that ''his'' mother in the dream wasn''t his real mother, as he was already pretty shaken by what happened.

    When Dorian got out of the bathroom, all freshened up, he heard the TV was on. He had waken his parents it seemed.

    But Dorian didn''t immediately went to see them and instead changed his sheets. Only then did he go downstairs, to the kitchen.

    There, all his family was sitting around the table, watching the TV with rapt attention. Only when he arrived did they look away.

    Dorian apologized with a smile "Sorry for waking you up."

    They all nodded, but appeared to be too tired to actually answer back. This made Dorian smile even more as he too sat down.

    Like this, Dorian finished his morning routine and soon was on his way to his school along with his little sister.

    His little sister, Gabriel, or Gabby for short, was looking absent minded as they walked. Dorian nudged her and asked "What''s on your mind?"

    Gabby looked at him and replied "I''m wondering what I should do after school. Should I go to University? Or continue streaming and making videos?"

    Dorian smiled and said "Well I would say you should do what pleases you. Why would you want to go to a university?"

    Gabby shrugged and replied "To get a job."

    Dorian asked "Aren''t streaming and making videos jobs too? As for as I know, currently you earn more money than your classmates ever will."

    Gabby seemed enlightened by his words as she suddenly smiled and pecked at Dorian''s cheek and said "Thanks bro!"

    Dorian smiled to her and said "That doesn''t mean you can stop working at school." Gabby nodded with a little laugh.

    It didn''t take long to the two siblings to reach their school. They separated, and Dorian straight away headed to his classroom.

    On the way, he greeted a few people, while sighing in his mind. From an outsider''s point of view, he certainly looked like someone who was very social, but actually none of those people were his friends.

    While in school, he would hang out with them as not to get bored, but once he got out of school he wouldn''t speak to them, nor would them. It was like a silent agreement, they are friends at school, but once outside they don''t know each other anymore.

    Hours went by, and another boring school day ended. Dorian walked back home, morose about his day. School, just like his entire life, was boring. Teachers were boring, students were boring, he was boring¡­

    Dorian came straight back home, where his sister was the only one back home, streaming in her room. But as he passed by her room and was about to enter his, he heard her cry out "Bro, can you get me noodles please?"

    Dorian sighed and turned around and opened her door. She turned back in surprise, and Dorian said "You finished them yesterday."

    Gabby looked at him with pleading eyes as she asked "Could you buy some please???"

    Dorian sighed and said "Alright." Gabby giggled and said "And that is the best bro EVER!!"

    Dorian rolled his eyes and closed the door, leaving her to her fans. He was actually glad she had asked him to do something, he didn''t want to go back to his room and do nothing.

    Unfortunately, he was a little too quick and only earned ten more minutes before he came back to his boring room, where he finished his boring day.

    After dinner, that evening, Dorian immediately fell asleep, unaware of what was waiting for him.

    ¡­

    Dorian woke up, but found out he wasn''t in his room. He wondered whether he was in a dream like last night, but the instant he thought about it, he realized he wasn''t.

    Dorian intended to observe his surroundings, but before he could his vision suddenly darkened and lines of words appeared, accompanied by a robotic voice:

    [Creating an ID...]

    [Please choose an username.]

    Dorian couldn''t understand what was happening, was he really not dreaming? He wanted to pinch himself, but found himself unable to move. With nothing else to do, he focused on the words. He found them very game like, but what username could he choose?

    After thinking for a few seconds, he finally chose one, and as he wondered how he would input the name, another row appeared, along with the voice.

    [From now on you will appear as Boring Guy.]

    [Welcome to the Dreamland!]

    [The rules are simple. From now on, every time you fall asleep, you will spend a month in the Dreamland. If you survive, your reward is waking up for one week.]

    [But that is only if you survive.]

    What the hell? Dorian''s attention couldn''t get off the ''if you survive''. Was he actually in danger? Wasn''t he in a dream?

    New rows of words appeared:

    [You are in a dream, you are in Dreamland. But if you die in Dreamland, then your heart will stop beating and you will die.]

    Dorian felt some fear, but strangely he could also feel some excitement within him. Wasn''t that the chance he was waiting for? To get out of his boring life? Dorian didn''t really know how, but he asked what he was supposed to do in this Dreamland.

    [Great question, Boring Guy! You will be sent to different Dream Worlds where you will be tasked with a mission which you may complete on your own or in group. Succeed the mission, and you will be rewarded with Dream Points. Fail the mission, and you will be punished.]

    Dorian found this Dreamland to be quite similar to a game in how it worked. He now wondered about the Dream Coins'' use.

    [Dream Coins may be used to trade with other Dreamers or the System to buy equipment, skills and abilities.]

    Dorian smirked as his game impression grew stronger and stronger.

    [In those worlds you need to fight for your life. Enough chit chat, now is time for your first Dream World. Good luck.]

    All the previous lines of text disappeared, new ones appeared, but the same voice said:

    [Boring Guy: First Dream World.]

    [Generating the world¡­]

    [Mode: Solo]

    [Background: Your home was destroyed by the war and you now have to survive in a dark city filled with scums and lowlifes.]

    [Mission: Survive for a month.]

    [First World entry, 500 DC offered. Because this is your first world, you may exceptionally open the shop before entering the world.]

 2 Preparations

    The lines disappeared again, and now a search page appeared. In the top right corner was his DC, on the top left his name, and the rest of the screen was for items.

    There were several categories, being equipment, skills and abilities.

    However, only the equipment one was available as the others were grayed out. With no other choice left, Dorian opened the equipment window.

    Dorian began browsing through the articles and eventually realized that the shop seemed to have been filtered. Although he didn''t go to the end page as there seemed to be an infinite amount of articles, none of them actually went above 500 Dream Coins.

    Moreover, even using the search engine Dorian couldn''t find any gun. They either were all worth more than 500, or just unavailable to him right now.

    But something else that Dorian noticed was how the items were ranked. The worst were grey, and a few exception were green, but they formed only a minority.

    But whatever the item was, they were always presented the same way. For example, let''s take a simple sword which costed 150 Dream Coins:

    [Name: Steel Sword]

    [Type: Melee Weapon]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Attack: 20]

    [Requirement: 12 Strength one handed/ 8 Strength two handed]

    [Effect: Swiftness lvl1]

    [Durability: 100/100]

    [Remark: This may be the most basic sword there is, it can still easily kill an average human.]

    [Price: 150 Dream Coins]

    When he looked at the price of the weapon, Dorian realized the System had been quite generous with him. Weapons were the most expensive things he could buy, followed by armor pieces.

    Dorian browsed through all the articles and decided he would spend every coin he had, he didn''t want to die because he wanted to save money.

    Dorian ended up buying the steel sword, as well as a steel dagger, spending 150 Dream Coins on each, or 300 Dream Coins. That dagger had similar stats to the sword, except that instead of the swiftness effect, the dagger had a bleeding effect.

    By focusing on those, Dorian learned that swiftness didn''t really make his sword faster, but more smooth. Although he wasn''t sure he understood what that meant, bleeding was much clearer. Stabbing or slashing would make the target blood and thus loose health and stamina over time.

    With the remaining 200 Dream Coins, Dorian bought a backpack for 50 Dream Coins, food and water supplies for 10 Coins, metal bracers for 50 each, those are said to be able to block ordinary sharp weapons and lower damage from blunt weapons or even light caliber bullets, if he could move quick enough to block the bullet of course.

    For the last 40 Dream Coins, Dorian bought two types of consumables:

    [Name: Band-aid]

    [Type: Consumable]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Heal 25 Hp in 4 seconds, stop bleeding.]

    [Remark: That''s a band-aid.]

    [Price: 10 Dream Coins]

    [Name: Fruit Juice]

    [Type: Consumable]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Recover 25 Mp in 4 seconds. Quench thirst to some degree.]

    [Remark: Everyone drunk this at least once.]

    [Price: 10 Dream Coins]

    Although Dorian didn''t have any skill or ability that asked him Mp, he still decided to take those two juices instead of other band-aids. Maybe it wouldn''t be useful to him, and he may be taking a danger, but Dorian preferred to be able to cope with all situations.

    Once he finished all his Dream Coins, the System automatically shut itself down, and the black screen covering Dorian''s vision finally disappeared.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian finally discovered where he had landed. The room he was in was dark, and very oppressive. There were no windows, only dark grey walls full of dirt and dust, a ceiling with a dimly lit bulb that gave Dorian''s almost no vision.

    The room itself had no furniture, if not for the bed, which was entirely made out of rock, very uncomfortable.

    Dorian sat up and looked at the stuff on the dirty ground. Everything he had bought was there, and he was glad to see the band-aid were in the backpack. He was afraid it would become dirty and infectious if it was put on the ground.

    The room felt more like a prison cell in his opinion, and if the door was replaced by bars then this would definitely qualify as one if it already didn''t.

    As Dorian got up to grab his stuff, he suddenly heard a huge explosion, closely followed by tremors. The walls creaked, dust fell from the ceiling and Dorian felt as if the house was about to fall on his head.

    Dorian didn''t waste time and ran to the backpack, threw it on his shoulder, and grabbed the sword and dagger with the other hand.

    He hurried to the only door within the room. Unlike the rest of the room, the door was made of wood, and from the smell and the color of the wood, Dorian easily deduced it was rotten and easily breakable. So he didn''t waste time to open it with the handle but instead charged at it.

    As he had expected, the door didn''t stop him and broke into pieces. The shock from Dorian''s charge seemed to be the last stroke that broke the camel''s back, because as soon as he was out, the walls broke and the room fell on itself.

    As for Dorian, he looked back in a mix of fright and excitement. As promised, this Dreamland was dangerous, but for Dorian that only meant more adventure and fun.

    Getting a hold of himself, Dorian looked away from the newly formed dust cloud and observed his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the way the passer byes ignored what happened to his house, as well as the explosion.

    A few ones looked like they were talking about the explosion, but they were too far away for Dorian to hear them.

    Secondly, the way they dressed, as well as the houses around, helped him determine in what kind of world he was in.

    From what he saw, he was in what seemed to be the Dark Age period of this world, which was good news for Dorian as this made one less worry for him, guns. Although they could become incredibly useful weapons, Dorian knew he was defenseless against them.

    Of course, since this is a mystical world, Dorian did not naively believe swords and bows were the only weapons there, there could very well be magic or superhumans.

    But from what he saw until now, although the term ''game'' was never used, this Dreamland looked very alike to games in his own world, and from his many hours of gaming Dorian understood that the difficulty had to match the level.

    A game that is too easy is boring, but an impossible one is too. Not difficult, the impossible ones. So for an average human like Dorian who entered this mystical realm for the first time, he most certainly wouldn''t be matched against magic this soon. Maybe there was a chance of him encountering magic during this month, but if it does happen then it would be toward the end of the mission.

    Another thing Dorian guessed, but wasn''t sure of, was how his stay in this world would be like. Like in all games, there should be side missions to award him additional experience and rewards. As for the main mission, because he was asked to survive, then there would certainly be dangerous people chasing after him, and the longer he remains here, the stronger those enemies would get.

    Of course, all of this was on the premise this world was indeed game like. If it wasn''t, then all those deductions and his guesses would be made false. Then, he would have to observe the situation longer and make new guesses. So despite having seemingly understood the world around him, Dorian still decided to be prudent and not rely on his guesses to make plans, or he would inevitably die.

    Dorian couldn''t help but grow more and more excited about adventuring this new world, but first decided to check something very important to any gamer, or any dreamer if it existed.

    Dorian tried to open his status.

 3 Thugs

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: None]

    [HP: 130/130]

    [MP: 80/80]

    [Strength: 12]

    [Agility: 14]

    [Vitality: 13]

    [Intelligence: 8]

    [Perception: 15]

    [Remark: For any attribute the human average is of 10.]

    [Skill: None]

    [Ability: None]

    [Equipment: Steel Sword, Steel Dagger¡­]

    As he watched his status, Dorian almost felt offended when he saw his intelligence. However, he was quite proud about his other attributes, though he didn''t know what perception was about.

    Fortunately, there was a little option that allowed him to understand what each attribute did:

    [Strength: This attribute will affect your base attack power and raw strength. Along with Agility and Vitality, this will affect your stamina.]

    [Agility: This attribute will affect your speed, attack speed and balance. Along with Strength and Vitality, this will affect your stamina.]

    [Vitality: This attribute will affect your defense against attacks, resistance against poisons and diseases and your amount of HP (Base HP= Vitality*10). Along with Strength and Agility, this will affect your stamina.]

    [Intelligence: This attribute will affect your memory ability, and your amount of MP (Base MP= Intelligence*10).]

    [Perception: This attribute will affect your speed of learning and reflexes.]

    [Hint: Your body has been changed in inexplicable ways and now perfectly matches your stats. You may want to get familiar with your new body. Good luck.]

    Now Dorian was able to understand what all those attributes meant. As for the last hint, it''s probably what explained how he got out of that room so quick.

    "I''m talking to you!"

    Dorian, who was reading his status with his head lowered, was surprised to hear someone shooting at him. He raised his head and was stunned when he saw the situation he was in. Five men were standing in front of him, with one in front of the others, most certainly their leader.

    The five thugs all had a sword on their hip, except that the quality was obviously very bad. They were chipped and would probably have trouble going through someone. Moreover, none of them had a sheath. The four in the back had sneers on their faces, and looked like they already expected Dorian to handover his belongings.

    Dorian asked "What did you say?"

    The thug at the front, the most menacing one, said angrily "Hand over your sword and your bag!"

    Dorian looked down with a frown and saw he still had his sword in hand. He looked at the leader and asked "Why would I hand it over to you?"

    The thug grinned sharply and took out his sword, and said "You either give it willingly, or I will have to take it by force."

    As he said that, one of his lackeys behind said with a laugh "Give it to us boys, our boss was a soldier before, don''t think you can take him on!"

    Dorian looked carefully at all the thugs, trying to analyze the situation.

    The thug leader was the most dangerous of the group, he was the only one with his sword out, and looked like he was the only one who had his sword out, and also the only one who looked like he knew how to use it.

    For now, he was Dorian''s biggest problem, because as the lackey said, Dorian couldn''t hope to defeat an ex soldier who used his sword on the battlefield without having ever fought with a sword before.

    Then, if he actually succeeded in eliminating the leader, there were still the four thugs¡­ Dorian couldn''t help but lament and doubt his earlier guesses. Was the difficulty really going to go from low to high? Because Dorian couldn''t see how the average person would get through this situation.

    But as Dorian was thinking about what to do, the thug leader took a step forward and kicked Dorian in the stomach.

    Dorian was caught unprepared and felt something hit his abdomen. However it wasn''t as painful as he though it would be, before he realized that this was probably from the increase in defense he got from the attributes. Still, he looked at the thug leader with venom in the eyes and all the plans he had to flee disappeared.

    The thug glared back at Dorian, ignoring the hatred in his eyes. Dorian unsheathed his sword and handed it over to the thug.

    The thug, when he saw how new the sword was, couldn''t help but marvel at his luck for having found such a good sword.

    He used his free hand to grab the sword, when Dorian suddenly moved. A dagger appeared in his palm and thrust at the thug at a lightning speed.

    The thug couldn''t even react as the dagger went through his clothes and entered his flesh.

    Dorian had aimed for the heart, but because it was his first time doing this, the dagger went slightly off course and pierced through the thug''s lung instead.

    Dorian didn''t bother with him anymore and before the four behind could understand what happened, he made a quick step forward and slashed out with his sword.

    His sword was aiming at two of them at the same time. The first one couldn''t dodge in time and had his throat slit, but the second one was able to sidestep, only getting his shoulder slashed open.

    But Dorian didn''t leave them the time to regain their spirit and before they could draw their swords he kicked the injured one in the chest, with a strength enough to cut off his breath for a second.

    But the thugs weren''t dumb either, and by the time their ally got kicked, they had already unsheathed their sword, placing it in front of themselves. It was obvious to anyone looking none of them ever used them.

    But Dorian never did either. The earlier slash was only made thanks to his newfound dexterity which came from his Agility state and the changes made, just like his defense.

    Looking at the two in front of him, Dorian was pretty sure he would be able to defeat the two with his superior attributes, but he would undoubtedly suffer injuries, and with how dangerous this world looked like, Dorian would rather not get injured.

    So Dorian decided to scar them. He looked at the frozen thug leader behind him, who had a dagger planted in his chest, and stabbed at him.

    The thug leader didn''t even move as Dorian''s sword went through his body, killing him on the spot.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    He took out his dagger from the still standing corpse, putting it back where he had hid it first when he was looking at his status, and used his sword to bring the corpse in front of him.

    Then, with a kick the sword got out of the body, which was launched toward the two scarred thugs, who jumped to avoid him.

    Dorian used the opportunity to rush at one of the two and skewered him on his sword while he was on the ground.

    Then, Dorian rushed as fast as he could toward the last one who was about to get back up.

    The thug barely got on his feet when Dorian tackled him to the ground, using his rugby lessons at school. The thug tried to brawl with Dorian on the ground, but Dorian''s superior fitness allowed him to overwhelm the thug and finally plunge his dagger in his heart.

    Although all of this only took a few breaths to happen, Dorian''s breathing was ragged with exhaustion. Still, he forced himself to his feet and took his dagger out, resulting in a splash of blood.

    Some got on his clothes but Dorian didn''t care and went to his sword. He was surprised to see that the last thug was still alive despite have the sword through him.

    Dorian took out the sword from the body and slit his throat, ending the fight.

    Dorian then proceeded to clean his weapons with their clothes. In the middle of it, he heard many footsteps coming his way. At first he was afraid those were other thugs, but was relieved to see the newcomers had uniforms.

    Dorian looked at the surrounding mess and wondered how he would explain to the police what happened. On the other hand, he was surprised at how cold blooded he had been. In all the books and comics he had ever read, the characters would be shocked and would freeze the first time they killed another human, but strangely he didn''t feel anything.

    Dorian pushed this out of his mind as it didn''t really matter for the moment, and smiled at the incoming officers.

 4 Deal

    Charles was in a bad mood recently. The Red Scorpions had recently become more and more brazen, but most importantly increasingly influent.

    The total number of gang members went from half a dozen to more than a hundred in less than a month, and there was no sign of stopping. The local officers already had trouble dealing with them, so if their number were to surpass those of the police then that would become a true calamity.

    Recently those thugs always seemed to escape from him, and he failed to catch any this week.

    Right now, Charles was running around with his squad searching for the culprits of the huge explosion that just took place. The Red Scorpion Gang had burned the shop of someone who supposedly refused to pay protection fees.

    The flour inside created a small explosion, very quickly followed by another one, a bigger one, but of unknown origin. It seemed the gangsters only meant to create the small explosion but the big one wasn''t supposed to happen because two of them died in the explosion.

    And as Charles was patrolling with his troops, panicked civilians alerted them of an aggression. Of course, they rushed at the scene, hopping they would get to catch the gang members.

    But when they arrived, Charles felt chills when he saw the scene. Five body on the ground, all covered in blood, with expressions of fear on their faces.

    Next to one of them, a youth who didn''t even look like an adult yet was calmly cleaning a sword, using the clothes of the victim. The youth was smiling at him, and that made him nervous.

    The youth, was Dorian of course. He had tried smiling because he felt this was the best thing to do to avoid any misunderstanding, but it seemed his lack of social skills came to bite him.

    He got up and sheathed his sword, before making his way to the police officers, hands in the air. Then, with a colder face this time, he said "I was attacked by those thugs and was forced to defend myself."

    Charles looked at the bodies behind Dorian and said "Defense huh¡­ Where do you live?"

    Dorian made a helpless smile and answered "My hometown was destroyed by the war, and I was forced to come here. I don''t have a home for now."

    Charles nodded and asked "What do you do in life?"

    Dorian almost answered he was a student before realizing school in this world probably was only for nobles. So he said "I was about to become an apprentice under a blacksmith, but I never got to actually learn anything."

    Charles nodded and said "We won''t charge you for killings those scums, we should probably reward you to be honest. But now you will have the whole Red Scorpion Gang after your ass. For your information, they are the biggest gang in the city. I have a deal for you, would you be interested in hearing it?"

    Dorian looked at Charles'' sincere face and said "Sure, but why don''t we get out of here before that? I don''t think staying here is a wise idea for me."

    Charles nodded and said "Follow us to the station. But first, we need to bring those corpses back, we can''t let them here."

    Dorian nodded and said "I''ll help." He went next to the nearest corpse, which happened to be the one of the leader, and as he squatted down to pick him up, Dorian noticed a book was hidden beneath the corpse, shining with a weak light.

    Dorian suddenly became excited as he had a good idea of what this book was, and decided to put it in his bag. Once done, Dorian picked up the corpse and followed the police.

    The city wasn''t very big so they arrived quickly to the station, but on the way Dorian had the time to think about a few things.

    First, his clothes. He hadn''t noticed it until now but his clothes had changed to match the era he was in. But his bag hadn''t, which resulted in the thugs calling it strange. It meant that in the future he would have to be careful about what he revealed to others in the world.

    Secondly, Dorian believed that this encounter with the thugs wasn''t a coincidence, but something arranged by the Dreamland. No matter how the situation was solved, he would end with enmity with the gang.

    Had he handed over his sword and bag, the police would have arrived and arrested them, and they would have blamed him for some reason.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Had he decided to fight, but if he was unable to deal with them, then the result would be the same, except that he could have kept his stuff.

    So this encounter was probably a test of sort. Fail it, and he would have lost his belongings, and maybe his life if he wasn''t careful. Succeed by surviving, then he would get to keep his stuff and would be asked the deal.

    But for him who had succeeded perfectly, by killing all of them, he needed another reward. This reward was the loot. The book he had picked up was most certainly a skill or an ability, that would only be rewarded to those who could kill the group, or at least the chief.

    So in the end, the probability to die was minor, only the results would change. Though, Dorian was curious about what would have happened if he didn''t bought anything in the shop and arrived empty handed.

    Lastly, Dorian had some time to think about the world he was in. This obviously wasn''t some normal middle aged world, there were some elements that didn''t belong here. For example, the police. It should have been the army owning the city.

    Also, the city he was in was in the middle of a fight, between the Red Scorpion Gang and the police. His mission may be to survive, what he had to survive against was the gang, so the conflict was closely related to him.

    So it didn''t take long for Dorian to understand what the captain''s deal would be. This conflict was the most obvious way to hand out side quests.

    Finally, as they made their way to the station, apart from scheming Dorian also checked on something he was curious about: the legendary observe skill. And after some tries Dorian actually succeeded in using this ''skill'' on his sword. It had displayed everything about the sword.

    Then, he tried to observe the different on the thug he was carrying. Unfortunately, none of the equipments on him could be observed, meaning they had no special attribute.

    The only thing he was able to observe was the sword, and the only thing he learned was that this was called a chipped sword. But it had no stats.

    When Dorian arrived at the station, he was finally able to drop the dead guy on his shoulder. He may have benefited from his new attributes, carrying a dead body was still exhausting, moreover he had just gotten out of a fight.

    At the station, Dorian followed Charles to his office. The fact he had one showed the importance Charles had as there were only three offices in the whole station. Actually the rest of the station was more of a temporary prison than a working place.

    As Dorian expected, once alone Charles said to Dorian "The deal is simple. You look like you know how to defend yourself, and you already have enmity with the Red Scorpion Gang. If you join us as an officer, then you will be admitted in the dorms. In exchange, you have to help us keep this city under the law."

    Dorian and Charles looked at each other, before Charles asked with a smile "Are you in?"

 5 Hitman

    Dorian looked at Charles in the eyes and asked "Are there any other option? To be honest, I won''t stay in this city for long."

    Hearing him, Charles started frowning so Dorian quickly said "But I guess that against the Red Scorpion Gang, you are ready to accept any kind of help, right?"

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Charles'' frown lessened a little and asked "What do you have in mind?"

    Dorian shrugged and said "Well, I could deal with Red Scorpions, in exchange of a reward of course."

    Charles'' face returned to normal and he asked "So you want to be paid for killing gangsters, a hitman in other words¡­ How much are we talking about?"

    Dorian smiled and said "I don''t care about money, but I would like books similar to this one." As he said that, Dorian reached to his bag and took out the book he had taken from the thug''s corpse.

    Charles looked at it but didn''t see anything special, unlike Dorian who was seeing a weak grey halo of light. Dorian handed it over to Charles, and used observe on the book as Charles looked through it.

    [Swords for beginners volume 1]

    [Type: Ability Book]

    [Rarity: Novice]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Once used, learn the skill: Basic Swordsmanship.]

    [Remark: The most basic lesson on swordsmanship.]

    When Dorian closed the status page of the book, he heard Charles ask "You wish to study swordsmanship? Learning from my men would be easier than by reading books."

    Dorian smiled and said "Thanks, but I''m alright, books are fine. And I will also take books on how to use daggers. Movements are great too."

    Charles nodded and said "I see what kind of books you want. Perhaps you want to become a warrior? If you do, then I am sorry but I don''t have any of those manuals, they are far too precious, if I had them I would sell them or use them myself."

    Dorian tilted his head and asked "Warrior? Manuals? What are you talking about?" Charles facepalmed and said "Right, I forgot you should come from the countryside, don''t you? Warriors are those men and women with superhuman capacities. As for those manuals, they are the secret of becoming one."

    Dorian was greatly interested once he heard this. He wondered at first whether he was talking about other Dreamers that had come before him, but rejected the idea because that seemed unlikely, those warriors seemed quite present and spread in this world.

    Dorian thus shook his head and said "That would have been interesting, but if you don''t have them then it''s alright, just pay me with books like this one."

    Charles nodded and handed him back the book. Before Dorian could leave the office he said "If you think all those gangsters are the same as the ones you killed then you are deeply wrong. If you chase the rest of the gang, be careful of the Leaf, he is their assassin, he took the lives of many of my men."

    Dorian nodded in thanks and left the room. As soon as he closed the door, he heard the sound of a notification, a row of words appeared before him:

    [Side Mission accepted! (Hitman)]

    [You have refused the Mission (Officer) and accepted a higher leveled mission.]

    [Mission Content: Kill members of the Red Scorpion Gang. Final Rewards will be influenced by the amount of members killed.]

    [Deadline: End of the main mission.]

    Dorian did not immediately headed out but instead went to the toilets first. Once he entered a putrid smell entered his nose, and Dorian was reminded that this wasn''t a modern world.

    But he tried to ignore the smell and looked at the book in his hand. He wasn''t really sure how he was supposed to use it, so he did the most sensible thing to him.

    He opened it. On the first page, a message was written:

    [Turn the page to accept, close the book to cancel.]

    Dorian didn''t hesitate and turned the page. The book emitted a grey light only he could see, and Dorian felt knowledge entering his head.

    This continued for ten seconds before the book shut itself, the light disappearing from it. Dorian tried opening it again, and discovered that it had become a normal book. He tried reading it, and it indeed explained the stances and included some experiences. But Dorian couldn''t learn anything from it as he discovered everything was already in his mind.

    Dorian unsheathed his sword, curious about what he had learned. He tried to slash, and immediately felt the change. The sword was much faster than before, and Dorian felt like he could continue with other attacks to make a combo.

    He went through the new knowledge and managed to learn his approximate level. That thug leader he killed hadn''t managed to learn the entire book, and yet he could become a soldier. So basically Dorian was now slightly above the average soldier in swordsmanship.

    The improvement was incredible and only served to show how amazing this Dreamland was. Dorian then opened his status:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: None]

    [HP: 130/130]

    [MP: 80/80]

    [Strength: 14]

    [Agility: 16]

    [Vitality: 13]

    [Intelligence: 8]

    [Perception: 15]

    [Skill: None]

    [Ability: Basic Swordsmanship (Level 1/10)]

    [Equipment: Steel Sword, Steel Dagger¡­]

    Learning [Basic Swordsmanship] had actually enhanced his strength and agility by two points! Although the upgrade wasn''t much, he had already dominated the thugs with a strength of two points higher than them, so with the upgrade it would be even easier.

    Moreover, for now wielding his sword with one hand was possible but used more stamina, but now with 13 of Strength it became easier to use it.

    But Dorian was also surprised by the Level behind his ability. He saw that an explanation was available.

    [All abilities are split in the grades of: Novice, Adept, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, Perfect and Nirvana. Those grades represent your ability and technique. Then, each grade is further split in ten levels. The difference between each level is very little compared to the one between grades, and represents the familiarity with the level. But a Novice lvl 1 ability isn''t much different from a Novice lvl 10 ability.]

    [Basic Swordsmanship: Novice]

    [Level 1/10: 0/100 Exp to level up.]

    Dorian looked away from the status page and slashed against the walls. He made ten continuous attacks before looking back at the status page. He discovered that the Exp needed to level up his swordsmanship couldn''t be earned by slashing randomly.

    Dorian sheathed his sword and finally got out of the toilets, before leaving the station as well. Once out, Dorian began thinking about what he should do.

    Honestly, right now he had a pretty good grasp of everything in this dungeon. Clearing it meant surviving for a month, and this was probably quite easy to do. If he hid then they wouldn''t be able to find him. This was only the first level after all, it shouldn''t be too difficult.

    But Dorian didn''t care about clearing the mission. Although he was forced to enter Dreamland, surviving was very unappealing to Dorian. He wanted to feel the thrill that came with danger, blood and death.

    And after those 17 years of existence, Dorian had finally found something he seemed good at, that is surviving and killing people. So just surviving wouldn''t do it.

    Moreover, if he just stopped at barely surviving, then he wouldn''t get enough rewards, and without rewards he wouldn''t get stronger, but the worlds would get more and more dangerous, so barely surviving would only lead to his death.

    That''s why Dorian didn''t care about the main mission this time, what he aimed was not surviving, but perfectly clearing this world. And from what he observed until now, there were two paths that could be taken to get a perfect clear.

    One would be to join the police side and use any kind of way to kill the Red Scorpion, he wouldn''t even have to kill the entire gang, all he had to do was to kill the leader.

    The other way was to join the Red Scorpion and kill the commissionaire or whatever the name of the boss of the police was. But Dorian wasn''t too sure about that way as he would need to meet the Red Scorpion to be sure of, something he would rather not.

 6 Side

    Dorian decided to complete his own side mission. He would kill all the thugs and finish by their leader. This would complete his side mission and allow him to get even more rewards.

    To do so, he first needed to find a hideout. Although he wanted to complete the mission as fast as possible because the sooner he completed it, the better the rewards, rushing too much would kill him.

    Exterminating the gang would take a few days at least, and he wasn''t a superhuman without the need to sleep, eat or drink, so he needed to find a hideout. And if he were to be injured he would need this place to hide and recover.

    So Dorian began walking around the city, trying to find a safe place. Unfortunately, this was an ancient kind of city, so all the houses were barely big enough to take in its inhabitants, so hiding in those was impossible. And there didn''t seem to be any spare houses with no one inside.

    After a few minutes, Dorian was surprised to find a huge mansion in the middle of the city. That''s when he realized a vital point he had forgotten: This was a middle aged city, there had to be a city lord, right?

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    And although the chances weren''t high, this could potentially form a third power. The most probable situation was that the police was under the City Lord, but another smaller, but more problematic, possibility was that the City Lord was yet another power.

    They shouldn''t be fighting on the open, but the City Lord could be waiting for the two monsters threatening it to weaken each other, before eliminating them easily.

    If this were the case, then if Dorian completed either mission perfectly he would have the City Lord after him. Of course, this was only if the police and the City Lord were led by two different people.

    But all of that didn''t matter much right now, he hadn''t even started making plans. Dorian continued searching for two hours but couldn''t find any hideout. He had tried breaking in a few shops but Dorian painfully found out that he was unable to get in.

    However, he made an interesting discovery. At some point he reached one of the ramparts and climbed on it. At first he was surprised by how sparse the guards were on the walls, but once he climbed it he understood why.

    The city he was in was actually on top of a cliff! Anyone who wanted to invade the city would only be able to take one way.

    The attackers would have to fight while moving upwards, giving them a disadvantaged. Moreover, if they really tried to come, only a small amount of soldiers could come at the same time. If this small amount of soldiers really came up they would be fired arrows at, followed by soldiers.

    So the city was pretty much impossible to invade, from the outside at least.

    But other than that, Dorian also made an interesting encounter. He happened to stumble upon a Red Scorpion gangster group.

    They were only three of them, but Dorian decided not to take any risk. He approached them like any other passerby.

    But once he neared them, his stabbed one of them in the kidneys with his dagger. The two quickly drew out their swords, showing their skill.

    Dorian had actually stumbled on what seemed to be a group of elites. But that was just fine for Dorian. He took out his dagger from the first victim and sheathed it back, drawing out his sword. Meanwhile, the guy stabbed fell to the ground, bleeding out.

    The ensuing fight was far harder than Dorian thought it would be. Despite the two of them being unable to cooperate and his superior attributes, he was still injured during the fight.

    He found out that he wasn''t as good as he thought he was with the sword. In actual fight, he only knew about the stances and how to use them, but he lacked the experience. In the end, he was able to kill one of them with a sneak attack from the dagger he hid.

    As for the second one, although he was better with the sword compared to Dorian, Dorian got him thanks to the attributes. Dorian had actually grown a bit complacent and this made him realize that he wasn''t as invulnerable as he thought.

    However, Dorian also discovered something about those ''elite'' gangsters as he liked to call them. He had felt that their attributes were higher than normal people. Not to the point of becoming equal to him, but they were probably as strong as Dorian was when he entered the world.

    Dorian was once again reminded of how close to death he actually was when he decided to fight against the five first robbers. Had he missed the first ex soldier, the police would have certainly arrived too late.

    And that also helped Dorian realize how rare ability books were. He had only gained one by perfectly finishing that test. So for the mission he is currently doing, that is killing the gangsters, he probably wouldn''t get many ability books.

    After killing them he also realized another problem of his. To get his reward, he needed to bring the corpses to the police station. But dragging them was just too long, however he didn''t have any other mean of transportation.

    Dorian knew about a way, but he couldn''t do that. That was to decapitate the bodies and bring only the heads. But that was too far.

    Although the killings didn''t bother him too much, that was mainly because he didn''t really have a choice and Dorian pictured them as characters in a game, not real people. But to decapitate them¡­ that was going to far, Dorian didn''t see himself handling that.

    Moreover, although the surrounding people seemed used to the fights and didn''t react strongly to them, decapitating someone was not the same thing.

    So Dorian had to stick with the first idea, and that was to drag the corpses back to the station. And that''s exactly what he did after applying one of his band-aids on his injuries, restoring his health back to full.

    He was afraid other gang members would come to attack him on the way but he was able to reach the station in one piece.

    There, Charles clearly looked stunned when he saw the two corpses, but nodded at Dorian and said "Good job. I spoke with the head of your case and we decided that you would get a book every ten of them. And don''t worry about dragging the corpses, we will know it if you get one."

    After that, Dorian was too tired to continue searching the rest of the city and decided to go to the best place he had discovered, the City Lord mansion.

    He hadn''t searched it in depth but out of all the places he visited, this one was the biggest, and there was most certainly a good hiding place somewhere in there.

    And that''s how Dorian arrived in front of the City Lord Mansion, again. Of course, he didn''t enter it but instead walked around it, searching for a way in. But it seemed he had underestimated the builders and the security of this era.

    No matter how much he searched, he couldn''t find any opening. It was with disappointment that Dorian left the mansion. The only way in was the door, which was guarded by guards constantly.

    So as the night fell, Dorian was still walking on the street. At first he didn''t think it would be that bad, but as time passed the temperature became colder and colder, until a point Dorian felt like he arrived accidentally arrived in Siberia.

    Dorian wished they had invented sewers, at least it would have kept him a little warmer.

    In the end, Dorian was forced to sleep outside, well, not really sleep. It was so cold that Dorian couldn''t even fall asleep. His clothes were great for daytime, but they didn''t protect him in the least during the night.

    Hours went by, and at some point of time Dorian started feeling sleepy. But he forced himself awake, he couldn''t fall asleep. He knew that falling unconscious in the cold never was a good idea.

    Finally, Dorian successfully passed the night, and watched as the first rays of the sun melted the layers of frost that appeared during in the night. Meanwhile, he finally realized how difficult it would really be to complete this perfect clear.

 7 Steal

    To be honest, when he first compared the deal he was offered by Charles, the main difference he noticed was that in Charles'' proposition, he would be protected by other officers, while in his deal he would be on his own and would need to kill to get rewards.

    But he had disregarded the quarters offered by Charles. Only after having spent the night in the cold did he understand how important this was.

    He himself had almost died from the night, and he had a Vitality higher than the average human. A truly average person would have certainly died.

    When he saw the sun shine on him and felt the temperature slowly increase, he did not move immediately but instead stayed sit. The truth was that his body was almost frozen, and he feared he would injure himself if he moved.

    Dorian was unwilling to spend another night like this one, and he actually knew a way to solve this problem, but it simply went against his ground rules. If he entered a random house and slaughtered those inside, then he would be able to sleep in a warm bed.

    But he was against slaughtering innocents. He strangely didn''t feel much after killing the gangsters, but just thinking about killing innocents made Dorian disgusted.

    Dorian had a lot of time to think during the night, and he actually came up with an hypothesis about his strange behavior. He couldn''t be sure about his indifference to murder, but he guessed that having felt nothing but boredom for years played its part.

    As for his unwillingness to kill innocents, he was sure this came from his parents. His father is a doctor, and at home, when he felt bored, Dorian actually happened to talk about human life with his father. And somehow, all those years of exposition to the importance of human life made him unwilling to kill innocents.

    Of course, those were simply theories. He couldn''t say for sure right now. All he could say was that he was cold, and the following day would be a hard day.

    Because he had nothing else to do, he decided to check his status:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: None]

    [HP: 110/130]

    [MP: 60/80]

    [Strength: 12 (14)]

    [Agility: 13 (16)]

    [Vitality: 11 (13)]

    [Intelligence: 6 (8)]

    [Perception: 13 (15)]

    [Skill: None]

    [Ability: Basic Swordsmanship (Level 1/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 1. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.

    -Hungry: You haven''t eaten and lack energy. All attributes dropped by 1. If prolonged, the drop in attributes will worsen with time.

    -Thirsty: You haven''t drunk and lack energy. All attributes dropped by 1. If prolonged, the drop in attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: Steel Sword, Steel Dagger¡­]

    Dorian was stunned as he looked at his status. He didn''t expect his attributes to lower so much. All attributes dropped by two, and his agility by 3?

    He had returned to the physical capabilities of an ex soldier. Now, the only advantage he had over the ex soldiers was his reflexes. Otherwise, his attributes were the same and his swordsmanship was inferior to them.

    Dorian realized he had yet underestimated the danger of the way he chose. The excitement he had felt when first entering this world began to slowly weaken, getting slowly replaced by the fear of death. But he pushed that down, and tried to stay optimistic.

    But no matter how much he tried to convince himself, he knew that from now on, the next month would be hard to survive to, let alone perfectly clearing the mission.

    With his normal attributes, had it not been for the element of surprise he wouldn''t have been able to kill the last group he fought. Now that a night had passed, Dorian knew for sure that all the members of the Red Scorpion gang knew his face and would attack on sight.

    Had he been as strong as he thought he had gotten, with superior swordsmanship and his attributes, then that wouldn''t have been a problem.

    But right now, his swordsmanship was below elite members, his stats only equal to them¡­ So the situation was quite bad for Dorian. And he didn''t even have the option of hiding, the hunger and thirst would quickly kill him, and if he found some food then the cold would do it.

    So now, Dorian had no other choice but to fight, and to win. If he didn''t fought, he would die. If he fought, the chances of dying were high, but there was still some sliver of hope.

    And that was assassination. Dorian had no chance of surviving in a frontal assault. So now Dorian was left with only the sneaky way.

    But among all those bad things though, there was one point Dorian could actually rejoice about. He had seen that his swordsmanship''s experience had actually gone up from 0 to 6.

    That meant he could upgrade his skills by using them. After some time, Dorian succeeded in standing up.

    He walked toward the market of the city, paying attention to his surroundings, making sure no gangsters were in sight. But there weren''t much risks because it was still very early in the morning and the temperature was still cold.

    The climate around here had really surprised Dorian as he wasn''t prepared for it. Where he lived, the temperature within the day and at night weren''t much different, but he knew that in some countries the difference in temperatures between day and night could be enormous.

    As Dorian arrived at the market, he searched around for clothes. It would be hard for him to find a home for the next few nights, so if he wanted to live through them he would need heavier clothes that could keep him warmer.

    And also, Dorian needed some kind of cloth to cover his face, so that he could walk on the street.

    But Dorian had no money on him, so he didn''t go to the few opened shops and instead headed to the closed ones. After inspecting some of them, he was glad to find out that the security system in most of them was horrible.

    Dorian actually thought of using those as a shelter for the cold, but once he entered those he immediately dismissed the idea. For some reason, the temperature inside was even colder than outside.

    So Dorian took everything he needed and stuffed it in his backpack, including a kind of veil that hid his face.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian didn''t feel guilty for stealing. He knew however that this would probably put in trouble the owners, so he only took what he needed and wasn''t greedy.

    This one was harder to break in, and there was even a dog inside. Dorian was troubled as he didn''t know how to knock it out, and it would soon get awakened by his smell.

    But he didn''t want to kill it either, so Dorian didn''t know what to do. He decided to start packing food and see how it went.

    But as he expected, before he could finish taking what he needed, he heard a barking behind him, and as he turned around he saw a black dog rushing at him.

    Dorian didn''t want to hurt it, but he wouldn''t put himself in danger for his conscience. So he kicked the dog with all his might, sending it flying backwards and shutting its mouth.

    Then, Dorian continued packing food. But he heard yet another bark, and the sound of rushing footsteps. Dorian grew angry and he suddenly unsheathed his knife out of anger and turned around all of a sudden, kicking the dog again.

    But this time, as it was sent flying back, Dorian followed it and stabbed it in the stomach, twisted the knife, and cut it open, and stabbed its throat to silence its dying wails.

    As he took back his knife, Dorian said quietly "You should have shut up you dumb dog¡­" Then, he finished taking food and drinks before jumping out.

 8 Learning

    Dorian was happy with his harvest as it would last him for three days. Taking anymore would have been a waste as none of the food he saw could last more than three days.

    Dorian wished he could continue doing this for the rest of the month, but after seeing today''s stealth the merchants would all tighten their defense and it would become impossible for Dorian to steal again.

    But this was enough for Dorian. For the next three days, he would only have to deal with the hypothermia and would only lose a point of Agility. In three days, Dorian believed he would be able to discover the whereabouts of more gangsters.

    Once he killed them, he would be able to take his food from them. What was harder was finding a hideout, because once he killed any gangsters, the others would come check his house.

    But he would worry about that latter, now was time for hunting. Still, Dorian checked his status to make sure his negative effects were gone away.

    Indeed, all of his attributes had gone back to normal except for his agility which remained one point lower than normal.

    What surprised Dorian the most though was a new icon appearing next to his skills. It said:

    [New Abilities!]

    The text was shining, as if it wanted to attract Dorian''s attention to it. Of course, Dorian was curious about it and focused on it, causing it to expand into a window.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [You have discovered a new feature!]

    [Through previous experience and practice, you are able to learn abilities without abilities books!]

    [Warning! This may only apply within your first world. Those can only be Novice abilities.]

    [You can upgrade your abilities to the next level with practice, but to upgrade the rarity you need an ability book of the next rarity. But for the time you are within the first Dream World, you may use experience to upgrade the rarity of a skill.]

    [Tip: learning skills on your own is slower than with a teacher.]

    Dorian didn''t expect such things to be possible. That would make everything easier. But that also made him doubt about something. Back when he received the [Hitman] side mission, he had refused the other one.

    Because the one he chose is more difficult, it must have better rewards. At first Dorian thought that the skill books were the reward, but now that he learned that skills can be learned, and it would even be faster with instructors, Dorian began wondering what would his reward be.

    Dorian pushed that out of his head as he knew it wouldn''t really matter in the end, as long as he completed the mission he would get to see.

    He closed the message window that opened and finally discovered what his new abilities were.

    [Basic Dagger Mastery (Level 4/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 2/10)]

    As Dorian looked over the skills, he felt new knowledge enter his head, again. The way he stood began changing unconsciously and Dorian felt new moves enter his head. Also, he suddenly started becoming aware of certain fatal areas on the body he was unaware of before.

    Once he integrated everything, Dorian looked at his levels. He now felt the difference between a level 1 ability and a higher leveled one.

    Indeed, it wasn''t the amount of knowledge that changed, but he always felt a little awkward with his sword and uneasy, but now Dorian felt his moves would be a lot smoother with his dagger.

    Dorian closed the system and started working. He first put on the veil he had taken earlier, hiding his entire face except for his eyes and above. Then, he took out another cloth that included a hood with it, finally hiding everything except for his eyes.

    Moreover, this cloth was good because it was bigger than Dorian''s body, so it allowed him to hide his dagger easily, and also to maneuver his body easily within the cloth.

    Most importantly, Dorian didn''t look suspicious as he had seen many commoners clothed like this. So once again, Dorian became a nobody in the crowd, his enemies unaware of his hidden fangs.

    This time, Dorian did not wander aimlessly in the city but headed where he had killed the gangsters the day before.

    As he expected, he saw multiple groups patrol around that area as he arrived. He did not immediately attack but continued moving around them, analyzing their patterns and finding about their strength.

    After close to half an hour, Dorian concluded that there were two groups of five useless thugs led by one elite, making them groups of six, as well as another group of three entirely composed of elites.

    He also discovered and understood their patterns. Dorian had already chosen his target, it was one of the groups of six. For some reason there seamed to be some kind of conflicts between its members and they were quite spread out.

    So Dorian waited another five minutes for them to be as far away from the two other groups as possible, and started his attack.

    Dorian looked at the scattered thugs and made plans. He looked at the Elite leading the way, and decided not to attack him first because he had two others with him.

    Sneak attack him would be easy and Dorian was pretty sure he would kill him, but then everyone would be alarmed.

    And Dorian would rather face one elite in the end than five common thugs.

    So Dorian walked toward the only thug who was on his own. The thug didn''t expect himself to be attacked and only felt a sharp pain before a hand grabbed his mouth, muffling his screams and a cold blade slit his throat.

    The hand disappeared, and the thug tried to cry out in pain, but nothing came. Then, he died.

    But Dorian was already behind another thug by that time. 15 of agility wasn''t a joke, he wasn''t just 50% faster than the average human, just like 20 of strength isn''t two times stronger than 10 of strength, the difference is much bigger.

    So although he wasn''t yet a superhuman, 15 was already nearing the limits of humans. To kill that thug, he had used knowledge from real life. The first strike to the kidneys, which would be extremely painful, then grabbing his head to muffle his screams and raise his head, before slitting his throat, destroying both his vocal cords and about anything that transmitted blood in there.

    Right after doing that, he had jumped over to a group of two common thugs who hadn''t heard their colleague die. Dorian stabbed the heart of one of them, twisted his knife, shattering his heart, and used his other hand to put it over the other''s mouth.

    The other one acted on instinct and used all of his strength to hide his neck, not even trying to bit Dorian''s finger. But he felt a cold blade go through his side, reaching his heart, before shattering it too.

    Dorian, who had just killed three of the group, began running toward the last three. At the same time, someone finally realized what was happening and cried out in horror. Those people may be used to bloody scenes, seeing three people getting murdered on the street still wasn''t easy.

    So before Dorian could reach them the three final thugs turned around and saw their dead comrades. But fatally for them, they didn''t associate the running Dorian with the killer. After all, many other people were running out of fear.

    Dorian thus reached them easily, and jumped at the elite. Then, Dorian was simply too quick for the elite who didn''t have the time to unsheathe his sword as Dorian''s dagger went through his eye.

    The two thugs hurriedly retreated, but one of them wasn''t quick enough and got his guts opened by Dorian''s sword. The last thug looked at Dorian like he was looking at a demon and started running, crying out for help.

    But Dorian was way faster than him and he caught him before he could even make ten meters, ending his life.

    Dorian then hurriedly went to pick up his dagger, searched through the corpses and left.

 9 Title

    Unfortunately, Dorian hadn''t found anything interesting on the corpses except for a few coins, which were a currency of this world, and a sub par dagger.

    Moreover, Dorian looked down on his clothes and realized he had forgotten something. As he fought, blood had spilled on him, so now he looked very suspicious, it would be hard to surprise them again.

    So Dorian took of the coat he had on him and put it back in his backpack, returning to the crime scene he had caused. Even though he was the one who killed them, because the coat covered his whole body, no one recognized him as the killer.

    Between the corpses, Dorian saw that the other group of six were searching for the killer, and checking the corpses. Dorian joined the other people on the street and looked at the gangsters, waiting for them to move.

    After some time, they began questioning the people around and left in the direction Dorian left. They didn''t expect the attacker to be within the crowd though. As they passed next to him, Dorian unsheathed his steel dagger as well as his new dagger and attacked.

    He used his steel dagger to pierce through the elite''s heart, and then used his other dagger to stab another guy. The other four unsheathed their weapons and attacked Dorian, but they were too slow for Dorian. With 15 in Perception and Agility, those ordinary strikes were simply not threatening.

    Dorian took his daggers out of the bodies of the thugs, and lowered his body, dodging all the attacks and killed another one thug. He was so fast that before they could attack again, he had the time to kill another one, leaving only two alive.

    As expected, the two didn''t continue fighting but fled and cried for help too. This time, Dorian didn''t chase them but instead threw his daggers at them. Dorian wasn''t good at this but thankfully they weren''t too far away so both his daggers hit one of their legs.

    Then, Dorian picked up the swords of the dead and threw them too, until no swords were left. But the two thugs were dead too, and couldn''t make a sound anymore.

    Dorian, like before, took his weapons back and searched through the dead bodies. He found another stack of coins, two more sub par daggers, but most importantly he found out the elite''s gloves were shining with a grey light.

    He left the scene quickly and fled far, before hiding himself behind a house.

    Dorian was able to check his rewards now. He opened his status and as expected, he discovered he had new abilities. But what surprised him though was the fact he had new skills.

    He first went to his new abilities.

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 2/10)]

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [Basic Dagger Mastery (Level 4/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    Countless knowledge went through his head and in less than a minute Dorian integrated with everything. The Throwing Mastery didn''t make him learn much but his stance should be better now.

    He also learned about movement techniques, but it wasn''t a great upgrade either, all it taught him for now was how to conserve his stamina better, and allowed him to be slightly more flexible, but according to its own description, to put it to best use Dorian would need to use skills.

    What was a great upgrade was the Sneak ability. It was unexpected, even for him, for the ability to be at level 5 right away, but as he went through his new knowledge he realized how vast it was. It wasn''t just hiding in the shadows, but also in the light.

    There were more ways than hiding in the shadows to sneak, just like what Dorian did earlier. There was also another change that wasn''t appearing on his status, but which Dorian felt, and it was related to his Dagger Mastery. Although he didn''t up a level, Dorian still felt new knowledge, and that was about dual handling daggers.

    Once he finished reading about his abilities, he went to his new skills.

    [Kidney Strike: Paralyses the target for one second, does 200% of damage. Cost: 5 MP]

    [Fade: Mask your presence and make yourself inconspicuous. Cost 1MP/Minute]

    [Hint: The strength of your skills will depend on the level and rank of the related ability.]

    Dorian realized he had gained skills for both his Sneak and Dagger Mastery abilities. Both would be useful, but as Dorian looked over them he realized that he was slowly becoming an assassin.

    But it didn''t bother Dorian, he had no problem against becoming an assassin. And having those skills didn''t mean he wouldn''t get to fight head on either.

    Finally, Dorian looked at his last spoil of war, the gloves:

    [Name: Leather Gloves]

    [Type: Armor]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Defense: 10]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Strength +2]

    [Durability: 87/100]

    [Remark: Those gloves seem to hold a certain strength to them¡­]

    Dorian didn''t hesitate to change his gloves he has stolen that weren''t even graded, and put those on. He didn''t feel anything, but he knew his strength had become stronger. It had gone from 14 to 16 after all.

    Moreover, he now had a great protection for his arms, his forearm had those bracers and he now had gloves for his hands.

    He may have only checked his status and putted on a piece of equipment, Dorian still felt as if he had powered up by a lot. But even then, he didn''t rush at the remaining three elites immediately, because although he knew he could kill them, he needed them to spread the news faster.

    And if he killed them so easily, it would give a glimpse of his strength to the enemy, and they would send stronger enemies. Since now, the two elites he killed were killed by surprise, and the others were lackeys and good for nothings.

    So for now, all they know is that Dorian is about as strong as three elites. They know that Dorian was almost unable to kill two elites and was even injured, and it was impossible to grow much stronger in such a short period of time, so they would certainly underestimate him.

    If Dorian attacked the group of three now and easily killed them, he would expose his strength and stronger enemies would appear.

    Moreover, today Dorian killed 12 gangsters, adding in the two elites from the day before, he was at 14. In other words, he is now able to get a book from the police.

    So that''s exactly where he decided to go. Meanwhile, at the crime scene where Dorian killed the twelve gangsters, a group of three elites arrived.

    They didn''t do anything to the corpses and instead departed, running toward their base. In under an hour, more than 30 gangsters swarmed the surrounding streets, searching for the killer.

    Moreover, only a few lackeys were here, the majority were ex soldiers. And leading those thugs, were two men clothed in a red robe. All the surrounding thugs looked at those two with both fear and excitement.

    It''s because those two were among the stronger ones of the Red Scorpion Gang, and also a reason as to why they joined the gang. They were part of the 13 Stingers.

    On the other side of the city, Dorian was already within the police station, and was waiting for his reward. He had arrived quite some time ago, but the police captain, whom he learned was named Charles, had to make sure Dorian had really killed ten of them to give out the reward.

    And now, the news had already spread through the whole city that someone was killing the Red Scorpion Gang.

    Dorian heard footsteps and looked up to see Charles walking his way, a thick book in hand. Dorian was relieved to see the book was emitting a grey light. Charles smiled and handed out the book, saying "Here you go Butcher."

    Dorian looked at Charles strangely, when he heard a robotic voice sound out in his ears:

    [You have earned the Title: Butcher!]

    Dorian rolled his eyes and took the book before leaving the station. Once out, he opened the book, and another notification struck him.

 10 Butcher

    [To stab or not to stab? volume 9]

    [Type: Ability Book]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Once used, upgrade the ability [Dagger Mastery] by one level.]

    [Remark: This book can be used to enhance any level within Basic rank, but can''t upgrade the rank of the ability.]

    But instead of learning it, Dorian put it in his backpack. The experience needed to level up from level 1 to 2 is lesser compared to the experience needed to level up from level 2 to 3, so the amount of experience needed to get to level 10 would certainly be even bigger, so Dorian decided to save it for later.

    Dorian moved out and went to a more secluded place, and used his new Sneak ability to find a good hiding spot before opening his status.

    There wasn''t anything new, except for the previously empty Title section was shining. Dorian focused on it and rows of words appeared, along with the same voice as usual:

    [A Title is gained when the Dreamer earns a certain amount of reputation. Those titles have different benefits depending on the quality of the title. A title may be used instead of the username if wanted.]

    Dorian only had a single option, and that was the Butcher:

    [Butcher: Able to produce a killing aura. This may be used to suppress people mentally. The more people you kill, the stronger the suppression becomes.]

    This title was a pleasant surprise for Dorian. This new ability did not cost anything and would be useful against both weak and strong enemies.

    Dorian closed his status and got out of hiding. Following this, Dorian started sneaking around the city, avoiding the place where he had killed the gangsters, and began killing weaker members around the city.

    Like this, time passed quickly and soon four days had passed. Dorian had killed more than 30 members by himself. He had only killed this many members because he always avoided large groups.

    This allowed Dorian to save energy and his supplies were able to last for one more day. But now, he was again suffering from hunger and thirst.

    In the middle of the night, Dorian was unable to sleep and thus opened his status:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 140/150]

    [MP: 110/120]

    [Strength: 15 (16)]

    [Agility: 12 (16)]

    [Vitality: 14 (15)]

    [Intelligence: 11 (12)]

    [Perception: 14 (15)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Dagger Mastery (Level 6/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 6/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 1/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 3. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.

    -Tiredness: You haven''t slept for multiple days. All attributes dropped by 1. If you continue not sleeping, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    The Tiredness was to be expected, he hadn''t slept more than 7 hours since he got in this world.

    Within those days, Dorian made new discoveries. First, the enhancement of attributes. When he first learned the [Basic Swordsmanship] both of his Strength and Agility had been enhanced. But then, after learning the other skills his attributes didn''t went up anymore.

    Then, he discovered that through those nights in the cold, he got the [Ice Resistance] ability which upgraded his Vitality. That''s how Dorian made the speculation that Basic abilities could only upgrade his attributes to a certain extent before being blocked.

    And the limit seemed to be different for every attribute.

    The other discovery was that he developed this Ice Resistance. He used the opportunity and also used a flame to obtain the Fire Resistance. They seemed to be rare skills, so getting them now was certainly benefit. Each of them had upgraded his Intelligence by two, and his Vitality by one.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Especially Ice resistance, it allowed him to survive the nights. And those resistances seemed different from the other abilities, they really became more potent every level.

    The last discovery was more worrying, and that was that every day, the temperature was getting colder, and so were the nights. Despite his level 2 Ice Resistance, Dorian almost died last night, again. Moreover, his hypothermia became worse and now his agility dropped to 13.

    But even though he was becoming slower, he was actually getting stronger. First, all his abilities got their level upped, especially his sneak. Almost every time he attacked, Dorian used [Sneak] and [Fade] to sneak up on them, and then [Kidney Strike] to kill them.

    For ordinary soldiers, just the Kidney Strike would instant kill them, and for Elites he needed to follow up with slitting their throat.

    Of course, he wasn''t able to avoid fights everytime, and one time he was ambushed by two groups. What ensued was a hard fight which Dorian barely won. He used his last Band-aid there.

    While he thought of those four days, he couldn''t help but curse his luck. His loot had been abysmally small, he had only gotten one Sneak ability book, and no equipment. Out of more than thirty dead people!

    Fortunately, he got his rewards from the police station and got two ability books, one for [Dagger Mastery] and the other for [Swordsmanship]. He kept them aside of course.

    As for his last reward, he would need to go to the station next day.

    So overall, the upgrade of his skills allowed him to overcome the drop in agility and keep his overall strength to degrade. But what allowed him to become stronger, was his title.

    Since he got the title, Dorian killed over thirty people, so his killing aura got stronger, and so did the suppression. By now, even elite gangsters were being suppressed by his aura and would become slower and weaker.

    As for the lackeys, most would flee and avoid the fight. Only the bravest would fight, but they would do so with lowered stats, lowered to the point they become unable to lift their sword.

    Dorian finally closed his status and kept himself awake. He wished he could sleep and erase that Tiredness effect, but if he did so he was afraid he would never wake up. Fortunately, the upgrade in his Vitality allowed him to stay awake longer.

    Dorian pushed the snow off his body and got up, and began exercising through the falling snow, the moonlight shining on his body.

    Like this, the night passed by, and the first rays of the fifth sun appeared. Until now, Dorian was still hesitating whether he should be finding himself a house.

    He needed food, that was for sure. But for a house, he wasn''t sure. Sure, it would erase the danger from the cold and allow his stats to come back to normal.

    But if he took the risk and remained outside, he could upgrade his Ice Resistance. Of course there was the Hypothermia which worried him, but it didn''t seem to be killing him for now.

    In the end, Dorian decided to remain outside. Had he been a coward, he wouldn''t have chosen the more dangerous perfect clearing and followed the path the Dreamland made for him.

    Dorian headed toward the police station, and entered it like it was backyard. None of the officers said anything as they knew who he was.

    Dorian directly went to Charles'' office, but he was surprised to see the office''s door was opened, and three officers were within.

    They all looked at Dorian as he came next to them. He asked "What happened here?"

    One of the officers replied "Sir Butcher, Captain Bowman went missing, we are searching for clues. Can you help us?"

    As the officer said that, Dorian received a notification:

    [Side Mission accepted! (The Missing Captain)]

    [Mission Content: Find Charles before its too late!]

    [Deadline: Three days.]

    Of course, he wouldn''t refuse a side mission so Dorian looked at the officer and said "Alright, what do you know?"

 11 Amanda

    The officer looked back and replied "Last evening the captain never came back home, but we saw him leave. See that beautiful lady in the corner, she is the captain''s daughter. She came this morning to ask us where the Captain was. She just learned he was supposed to come home last night."

    Dorian looked in the direction the officer pointed and saw a red haired young beautiful woman was sitting there, fidgeting from nervousness.

    As if she felt his gaze, she looked their way and locked eyes with Dorian. She looked into his cold, indifferent eyes and lowered her head in fright.

    Dorian looked back at the officer and asked "Where is Charles'' wife?"

    The officer looked a little offended by the way Dorian called his captain, but still replied "She must be at their house."

    Dorian said "I''ll go see her. I suggest you not to declare openly Charles as missing, you will push more people in the Red Scorpion Gang''s hands. But add his wife to the suspect list."

    The officer frowned and said "I don''t receive orders from a hairless brat." Dorian''s face frosted and he released his killing aura onto the officer, who stepped back.

    Dorian said "I remember Charles saying that apart from his office, one was owned by the chief, and the other by another Captain. Where are they, I haven''t seen them since I arrived."

    This time, the officer didn''t play cocky and replied with a hurried voice and wide opened eyes "The chief spends his day at the City Lord''s mansion, and Captain Aymeri was assassinated right before your arrival."

    Dorian frowned, scarring the officer, and asked "Why hasn''t anyone replaced him?" The officer hurriedly replied "His position is said to be cursed, the two last Captains died within a week once they became Captains. So no one wants to take the position."

    Dorian retracted his killing aura and said "Did Charles have any enemies among the officers?" The officer shook his head hurriedly and said "The only people who could wish for the Captain''s harm is the gang."

    Dorian nodded and turned toward the red haired girl. She was about the same age as him but looked innocent, as if she was still a rose untouched by the world.

    Dorian sighed inwardly, he had only spent five days in Dreamland and he had already started changing so much.

    He walked next to her and said "Hello, I am a friend of your father. I want to help you find him, and for that I need to come to your home. Can you lead me there?"

    The girl said "I don''t know you. I never saw you with my dad, who are you?" Dorian replied "I go by the name of Boring Guy, some call me the Butcher, but my real name is Dorian."

    The girl''s eyes opened wide as she said "You are the Butcher?!" Dorian nodded, and the girl got up saying "My dad talked about you. Can I see your face?"

    Dorian, who had the veil on, said "No. Lead me to your house miss." The girl pouted and said "Fine. And call me Amanda, Miss sounds weird."

    Dorian nodded and said no more. Amanda walked out of the station, Dorian in her footsteps.

    As the two walked in the street, Dorian looked around for any sign. If Charles really walked back home last night, they must have used the same path, so Charles must have disappeared on this path.

    But Dorian couldn''t get much. Despite being so early in the morning, some people had already gotten up and were on the streets. Although they weren''t filled with people, the amount of people was enough to erase any footsteps from last night, and Dorian wasn''t an expert in tracking so he couldn''t use footsteps.

    He couldn''t find any trace of blood though, and if by the time they reach his home he still doesn''t find any then Charles must have either been overpowered by someone much more powerful who knocked him out too quickly, walked out on his own or simply didn''t come back using this path.

    As they walked, both Amanda and Dorian kept silent. Amanda had a bored face and looked at Dorian, as if she wanted to say something, but as she saw him look around carefully she kept quiet.

    As for Dorian, he was in middle of searching around when he suddenly felt danger. Through the past few days of survival and killing, Dorian developed a sixth sense for danger, and currently he was feeling a great danger coming toward him.

    As it neared, Dorian realized it wasn''t coming for him, but for Amanda. He stepped closer to her but did nothing, waiting to see where the danger came from. If he acted now the danger would escape and he would lose the opportunity of finding this hidden opponent.

    Amanda, unaware of what was happening, said "We are nearing the house, it''s just around the corner¡­"

    But as she was in the middle of her sentence, she saw from the corner of her eye a black clothed person jumping at her.

    Dorian finally acted and took Amanda behind him and kicked at the black clothed man.

    But he didn''t expect the man to easily dodge the kick and slash out at Dorian''s leg. Because of his lowered Agility, Dorian didn''t have the time to retract his leg and the dagger slashed his leg.

    The dagger went through his flesh like a hot knife through butter and blood splashed out. Dorian finally retracted his leg, his eyes never leaving the black clothed man. This man was so fast that Dorian believed that he probably equaled him in term of agility.

    This was already stronger than any elite he had seen. But what was more shocking was his dagger. With 14 of Vitality, although Dorian''s defense couldn''t be said to be impervious to blades, even if Dorian used all his strength with his dagger he wouldn''t have been able to make such a clean slash.

    Dorian looked at the man in black with wary eyes, paying attention to any moves he could make. But just then he heard the robotic voice of Dreamland''s system say:

    [You have been poisoned! You will lose 5 HP every second for ten seconds!]

    Dorian''s face turned grim as he said through his mind "Show my HP!"

    He then heard:

    [100/150]

    Dorian''s face became even darker. The situation was too dangerous. Within ten seconds he would lose 50 HP and be at a mere 50 HP. And the assassin just showed that one slash was enough to cleave 50 HP out of him.

    And the opponent didn''t look weaker than him, he even seemed to be stronger! Dorian looked at Amanda behind him and saw her frightened face, he grunted and took out two daggers.

    Amanda suddenly cried out "I know him, he''s the Leaf! You can''t beat him we must run!"

    Dorian replied "You can''t outrun him." Dorian locked his gaze with the Leaf''s eyes and did not move. He had already seen how taking the initiative turned out, so he would rather avoid doing that.

    The Leaf grunted and rushed at Dorian. The Leaf smiled when he saw another kick coming toward his face, and easily dodged it, but as he prepared to slash at the leg, he realized that Dorian hadn''t kicked him, but actually sent his shoe flying!

    Dorian took a step forward and threw his sub par dagger at the Leaf. This time, he didn''t have the time to dodge and was forced to block.

    The dagger forcefully hit the Leaf''s dagger, making him stagger, when he saw another dagger coming his way. The Leaf blocked it again, but this time he almost lost the grip on his dagger.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    So when he saw a third dagger coming at him, he put his entire strength in the dagger and hit the flying dagger.

    But the flying dagger was unexpectedly weak, so the Leaf''s dagger didn''t stop and opened his defense. As the Leaf realized his mistake, another dagger, a deadlier dagger, flew toward the Leaf.

    The Leaf grunted in pain and forcefully stopped his dagger, placing it to block the last flying dagger. But because of that, he couldn''t completely stop the dagger which bypassed his own and pierced his right shoulder.

 12 New Equipmen

    When Dorian''s last dagger went through the Leaf''s shoulder, his sword had already been unsheathed and was heading toward the Leaf''s heart.

    But Dorian''s agility had been lowered by too much so the Leaf barely had the time to place his dagger in front of Dorian''s sword.

    However, he was holding his dagger with his right hand, and his right shoulder had a dagger in it right now, so the amount of strength he could put in it was meager.

    But it was enough to make Dorian''s sword deviate. Dorian''s sword slashed at his side, not killing him but injuring him.

    Not letting the Leaf''s breath, Dorian took another step forward and elbowed his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and knocking him back.

    The Leaf was already injured and the shock caused his muscles to soften, making him drop his dagger. Dorian turned around and sent a kick to the Leaf''s chest area, sending him flying backwards and falling to the ground.

    He then approached him but did not drop his guard, making sure the assassin wouldn''t throw any weapon at him.

    He looked into the Leaf''s eyes, and saw despair in them. Dorian felt nothing seeing that, and raised his sword.

    His sword fell toward the Leaf''s face, nothing capable of stopping it.

    Dorian''s sword hit, but he was stunned when he felt his sword be stopped and then slid off, slashing the ground. This opened the veil the Leaf was also wearing, revealing a peculiar mask.

    It was what had just saved the assassin''s life, and it didn''t even have a chip on it after Dorian''s strike.

    Dorian took his sword from the ground, but the Leaf had already gotten up, trying to flee.

    But he suffered from too many injuries which forced him into limping. But he didn''t care, because he himself had injured Dorian''s leg and he knew Dorian would be even slower than himself.

    But Dorian simply squatted down and picked up the two sub par daggers and threw them. Each of the daggers pierced through the back of his kneecaps, forcing the Leaf into a kneeling position, and to cry out in pain.

    Now sure he wouldn''t be able to flee anymore, Dorian picked up his Steel dagger and last sub par dagger before slowly limping toward the Leaf.

    He arrived behind him and took out both his daggers at the same time, causing blood to shot out of the wounds and making the Leaf fall to the ground.

    The Leaf looked at Dorian, who was standing above him, sword raised, and said in a weak voice "Have mercy¡­"

    Dorian looked at him in the eyes and asked "Why?"

    The Leaf coughed and said "I have a family¡­" Dorian rolled his eyes and said "tell me where your headquarters are."

    The Leaf coughed again and said "Will you let me leave?" Dorian replied "Would you?"

    The Leaf sighed and coughed out blood, before saying "You can''t kill us all¡­ The Stingers will come. Our headquarters are within the old windmill, we dug a base below it."

    Dorian nodded and asked "Are you responsible for Captain Bowman''s disappearance?" The Leaf shook his head and said "I was not. Could you grant a dying man''s wish though?"

    Dorian frowned and asked "Why would I? You tried to kill me and poisoned me." The Leaf replied "Indeed, you have no reason. But I beg you, if you really intend on killing the gang then take care of the 10th Stinger, he holds my family hostage."

    Dorian heard the sound of a notification and realized he had another side mission. Dorian looked at the assassin thoughtfully and asked "Did you join the gang because of them?"

    The Leaf shook his head and said "No, I just wanted to get the manual, but that bastard began using me as I grew stronger."

    Dorian nodded his head and said "I will do what I can. But I can''t promise anything about your family, by the time they learn of your death their own probably won''t be far."

    The Leaf coughed again and said "I was too weak. Then please kill the Tenth Stinger for me." Dorian looked around and saw that about five people had stopped in the street, looking at Dorian and the Leaf.

    Dorian looked back at the Leaf and said "Alright. Die in peace." Dorian''s sword teared through the Leaf''s bloodied cloth and punctured his heart.

    The Leaf began bleeding out quickly but his eyes were calm. As he died, Dorian looked at Amanda, and saw her pale face. He said "Come nearer, we don''t know if there are others nearby."

    As she came close to him, Dorian looked at the Leaf''s corpse, and his loot. And it didn''t disappoint him. There were two ability books under the Leaf, both emitting a grey light. With a glance Dorian discovered the two to be for Sneak and Dagger Mastery.

    He also found a vial of poison, the very poison he had been struck with. He of course took it as it would come in handy in the future. He also found some bandages and other healing tools.

    There was also the leather armor he weared, but it had been ruined when Dorian killed him. That''s why he had stabbed his face at first, to not damage the armor.

    But now he couldn''t use it anymore. Dorian was glad to see the shining boots though. He looked over them and discovered that they gave +2 to Agility.

    Dorian directly put them on, not caring about the glances around. Now, only two things were left, and they both shone with a green light. One was the dagger, and the other was the mask.

    Dorian first looked at the dagger:

    [Name: Sampau''s Claw]

    [Type: Melee Weapon]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Attack: 50]

    [Requirement: Basic Dagger Mastery (level 5)]

    [Effects: Soundless lvl 2]

    [Course Change: Able to completely stop the weapon and use the same amount of strength to strike in another direction. Cost 15 MP, requires 15 Strength]

    [Durability: 500/500]

    [Remark: Forged from the claw of a deadly Sampau, this weapon is just like its material''s owner: unpredictable.]

    Now Dorian understood how the Leaf had blocked his throwing dagger, he had used Course Change. But he must have had a strength lower than 15, resulting in a loss of strength and injury.

    It was only the dagger and Dorian was already very satisfied by his finding. This would allow him a great power up, be it for assassinations with Soundless, or head on fight with Course Change.

    Dorian sheathed his dagger on his backside, next to his steel dagger. For his weapons, Dorian had his sword on his hip, his two daggers on his lower back, and two sub par daggers hidden with his bracers. That''s how he could throw so many daggers at Leaf, he had two in hands and two in his bracers.

    After putting back everything in place, Dorian''s gaze finally turned to the last equipment, the mask. The mask was entirely black, except for the dark red like blood spiral. There were only two openings, for the eyes. Dorian opened its status page:

    [Name: Saain''s Face (Replica)]

    [Type: Mask]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Defense: 20]

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [Requirement: Perception 12]

    [Effects: Perception +4]

    [Durability: 487/500]

    [Remark: Saain is the God of Sight]

    Dorian looked at the Leaf with pity. What Leaf excelled at was sneak attacks, but unfortunately he fell upon Dorian who had an extraordinary Perception, which allowed him to perceive the danger ahead of time.

    Dorian took of his veil on put on the mask. He was glad to see that his sight wasn''t obstructed by the mask and he could see as well as without it. And for the first time Dorian really felt a change, his perception was upgraded so much that now Dorian felt like his senses became more refined.

    Dorian was surprised by the Replica term in the mask''s description, that mean there must be a stronger object out there, but Dorian wasn''t greedy and was already satisfied with what he got.

    Having put everything on him, Dorian checked his status.

 13 Infiltration

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 55/150]

    [MP: 100/120]

    [Strength: 15 (16)]

    [Agility: 14 (18)]

    [Vitality: 14 (15)]

    [Intelligence: 11 (12)]

    [Perception: 18 (19)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade]

    [Ability: ¡­]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 3. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.

    -Tiredness: You haven''t slept for multiple days. All attributes dropped by 1. If you continue not sleeping, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Looking at his depressingly low HP, Dorian took out multiple health regenerating items and nursed himself back to health.

    This fight had been very dangerous, but the rewards were very well worth it. Dorian looked at Amanda and said "Lead the way."

    But Amanda was looking at him dumbstruck, not moving, as if she couldn''t understand what just happened. Dorian released a bit of his killing aura and said "Lead the way."

    The awoke Amanda as she looked down and started walking again. They didn''t have to walk for long before they reached Amanda''s house.

    Dorian wanted to ask her questions, to understand why would the Leaf target her, but he decided to remain silent, she probably wouldn''t say, and Dorian didn''t have any leverage to make her talk.

    As they arrived in front of a modest house Amanda opened the door and asked "Mom, you''re in there?" A female voice replied "Come in!"

    Amanda looked at Dorian and nodded before entering the house. As they entered, Dorian saw a beautiful woman with fiery red hair coming their way. She looked at Amanda with a smile before freezing when she saw Dorian.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    But Amanda immediately said "It''s alright mom, it''s not the Leaf. Can we sit, so I explain what happened?"

    The woman nodded, but her body was tense, and her gaze never left Dorian''s body.

    Then, Amanda started explaining what happened, from the moment she arrived to the police station to the attack. Once she was finished her mother got up and bowed to Dorian "Thank you kind sir for saving my daughter and helping our family."

    Dorian shook his head and replied "Don''t bow, I''m helping Charles because he is my friend. And if I do find him, how am I supposed to tell him I let his daughter in harm''s way?"

    The woman raised her head and said "I am Lucie, Charles'' wife. You wished to see me?"

    Dorian nodded and said "It is about your husband. Do you know whether he had enemies?"

    Lucie shook her head and said "The officers must have told you, Charles'' didn''t have any other enemies than the Red Scorpion Gang¡­"

    Dorian shook his head and said "I don''t care about what the officers said, you are his wife, he must have told you things. If you want to ever see your husband again, then tell me who is his enemy."

    Lucie''s face became conflicted, as if she hesitated whether to tell him or not. Seeing her hesitation, Dorian added "If you don''t tell me I will stop wasting effort searching aimlessly."

    Lucie sighed and said "Alright, he does have an enemy¡­ Marcus, the City Lord." Dorian frowned and asked "How could they be enemies? Aren''t they supposed to be on the same side?"

    Lucie shook her head and said "Yes, they are supposed to be. But the police chief, who is the City Lord''s lackey, ordered Charles to stop chasing after the Red Scorpion Gang. But Charles never stopped. Do you think they are the ones responsible for this?"

    Hearing her, Dorian starting massaging his temples as he said "What kind of shitty situation did I put myself in¡­" Then, with a sigh Dorian got up and said "Alright, I''m done with you. Be careful and take care of your daughter."

    Dorian didn''t wait for her response and directly headed outwards. As he left the house, Dorian started walking away before entering stealth, and returning back to the house, still in stealth.

    He waited next to the house for half an hour, but no one came. Only then did Dorian leave the area heading to his destination.

    However, Dorian did not go to the City Lord Mansion to search for Charles, but instead headed toward the old windmill, where the Leaf said their base was.

    If the ones who abducted Charles wanted to harm him, they would have already done it, so Dorian did not hurry there but instead decided to attack the gang.

    Right now, they shouldn''t have received the news already that the Leaf was killed, and if they did, they couldn''t know he had revealed their base location to Dorian.

    Dorian ran while in stealth all the way until he arrived at the windmill. There, he saw that someone was entering it. Dorian waited outside, and after a minute or so he entered it himself.

    The inside was deserted, and no kind of base could be seen. No one would search for a base here. But Dorian already knew this was here.

    He searched on the ground first, but because he found nothing he started searching on the walls. After some time, as his hand was feeling the wall, his finger seemed to pass on a strangely smooth area.

    Dorian pushed on it, and a circular piece of the wall was pushed back. Dorian heard an opening sound, and when he looked behind him he saw the ground open itself, revealing a passageway.

    Dorian did not tarry and entered the passageway, the opening closing itself once again.

    The tunnel was very dark, and if his not for his enhanced senses Dorian believed he would be completely lost in there. But that did not bother Dorian, it was even to his advantage. Thanks to his stealth ability, adding in his [Fade] skill, Dorian was sure that even an elite soldier wouldn''t see him if he looked straight at him.

    Dorian explored the tunnel, until he finally found some light. On the way, he found several other tunnels, smaller ones, but Dorian decided to remain on the main path.

    He couldn''t help but wonder how the gangsters could navigate in those tunnels, a normal person would simply be blind, and even an elite soldier would barely be able to see their own hands. Only someone like Leaf with the mask enhancing his Perception would be able to see about a meter in front of them or so.

    But Dorian was happy that he finally found some light, however he quickly realized something was wrong. The light was moving.

    Dorian looked around and hurriedly shifted into a nearby sub tunnel, and pressed his body against the wall, as well as using [Fade].

    Dorian heard the footsteps coming closer and closer, as well as the light becoming brighter. Dorian listened attentively and was able to notice two different footsteps.

    Dorian slowed his breathing, his muscles tensed and his eyes sharpened, shining with a cold light.

    Dorian suddenly saw two elites appear, walking next to each other, a torch in their hands. Dorian''s body sprung up like a spring, and in an instant he appeared behind the two elites.

    Dorian didn''t used any weapon and instead used his hands to chop at both their neck, making them faint.

    Before they could fall to the ground, Dorian grabbed the two torches and lit them off, returning the tunnel to its previous darkness.

    Dorian put the torches in his bag and dragged the two unconscious bodies in the sub tunnel. He then used his knowledge from his skills to awaken one of the elites, with [Sampau''s Claw] on his neck of course.

    The elite woke up quickly and was shocked when he found himself in darkness, but he could feel a cold feeling on his neck, and then heard a voice say "I will ask you questions, and you will answer. If you dare raising your voice, I will torture you then kill you."

    The elite nodded, but quickly stopped as merely doing that had cut open his skin. Dorian understood still and asked "Do you know the Leaf?"

    The elite nodded, so Dorian asked "Do you know the Stingers?" He nodded again. Dorian asked "Who are they exactly?"

 14 Magic

    The elite suddenly giggled. This made Dorian frown, wondering whether the man had gone mad. But the elite said "You are thinking about going after them? Laughable! Laugh¡­"

    However, he was interrupted by Dorian''s harsh slap, which broke a couple of teeth which the elite was forced to spit out. He looked back at Dorian and saw cold eyes starring at him, a red light shining in them.

    Dorian said with a voice which seemed to come from hell "Try raising your voice again, and I will make you eat your own flesh."

    The elite''s eyes widened, but he wisely shut up. Dorian said "Now tell me, who are they?" The elite, this time, said "They are the vice leaders of our gang, only below Boss Red Scorpion. However, they are the ones who make the real decisions, they have many subordinates, with direct guards, the weakest stronger than me, and the strongest are unfathomable."

    Dorian frowned and asked "How strong is the Leaf in this hierarchy? And how many Stingers are there?"

    The elite replied "The Leaf¡­ He is the strongest after the Stingers. And there are 13 Stingers."

    Dorian asked "Are they really that strong? Is there an exception among them?" The elite shook his head and said "You don''t understand¡­ The Stingers are chosen because of their strength, and anyone is welcomed in challenging them, if they don''t fear death. But no one ever tried, not even the Leaf. Do you want to know why?"

    Dorian didn''t answer, but the elite continued nonetheless "Because all the Stingers practice a manual! All of them are superhumans, capable of feats you wouldn''t even dare imagine in your dreams!"

    But Dorian was unfazed by what he said, and asked calmly "What about the Red Scorpion?" The elite shook his head and said "Well he is pretty mysterious, we don''t get to see him often. Never, actually. But rumors say that he is even stronger than the Stingers, though because there are 13 Stingers they overwhelm his authority."

    Dorian nodded and said to himself "So basically, if I kill those Stingers the gang will crumble on itself¡­" He looked back at the elite and asked "Are they all in here? I mean the Stingers?"

    But the elite shook his head and replied "No, they are on missions outside the city, recruiting fresh blood. Currently, only the Tenth Stinger is in the city. Try going after him if you don''t want to live anymore."

    Dorian asked "How do you move around those tunnels? I saw no torch at the entrance, and those tunnels look like labyrinths."

    The elite looked at Dorian strangely and said "So the rumors are true, you truly aren''t from this city." Dorian shook his head and asked why. The elite replied "It''s common knowledge here, that the Boss is a superhuman. But he isn''t a warrior, he is a mage!"

    Dorian nodded and said "He did something here? Threw a spell?" The elite nodded and said "We all have a relic on us which leads us unconsciously to the Main Hall."

    Dorian looked at him straight in the eyes, releasing once more his killing aura and ordered "Give me yours."

    The elite didn''t resist and took out a coin and tossed it to Dorian. As he grabbed it, Dorian was able to open its status page:

    [Name: Enchanted Coin]

    [Type: Miscellaneous]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Defense: 0]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: This coin allows you to join the Main Hall.]

    [Durability: N/A]

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [Remark: This is nothing but a coin with the simplest enchantment on it.]

    Dorian looked at the elite strangely and said "You seem a little too cooperative. Where''s the catch? Why would you threaten your entire gang so easily?"

    The elite smiled and replied "That''s simply because I''m a spy sent in by the City Lord." However, his words didn''t have the reaction he expected, as Dorian''s face remained stone cold.

    Dorian asked "Do you have any more useful info for me?" The elite shook his head, but Dorian asked "What about the police Captain? Where do you detain him?"

    The elite looked shock for a short instant before his face returned to its calmness, but it was too late as Dorian had already seen what he wanted. The elite remained silent before sighing and asking "How did you know so soon we are the ones who got him?"

    Dorian replied "I already asked the Leaf before killing him." This time, the elite didn''t bother masking his shock, as he said disbelievingly "You killed the Leaf?! How is that possible, your strength far outmatches the one in the reports!"

    Dorian slapped him once again, making him loose a few other teeth, and said "I told you to shut up. Where is Charles?"

    The elite coughed blood along with another teeth and said "He came to us on his own, and even attacked the City Lord, but we don''t know why, so we are detaining him for now."

    Dorian frowned but before he could talk the spy said "We checked, he wasn''t drugged, under a spell or any other kind of influence. He attacked the Lord with a sane mind. For now, we determined that he is either a member of the Cult of Syses or a spy sent by Celevaria."

    Dorian frowned and asked "Why would Celevaria sent a spy? Same for the Cult?" Actually, this was the first time Dorian heard of Celevaria or of that Cult, but he could guess.

    The Dark City, which he was in, was under one of the Kingdoms at war, although he didn''t know its name. Celevaria was most certainly the Kingdom at war with the one governing this city. After all, Dorian had learned when he entered this world that this area was at war.

    As for the Cult, he had absolutely no idea of what it was, nor its objectives, but this city was useless. The citizens barely respected the law, a gang was on the verge of taking over the city¡­ This city was even on a cliff, sure it was almost impossible to attack, but it was almost as hard to simply get in or out the city. So this city had basically nothing interesting for Celevaria, unless they wished to kill their men for fun.

    As for that Cult, the situation wasn''t much different. When he thought of a cult and its goals, the first things that went through Dorian''s mind was spreading their faith, killing non believers and being showy about it, or preaching their God by following its command.

    But this city was useless, no one would care if it got destroyed, there weren''t that many people in the city, so the Cult wouldn''t have any reason of attacking either.

    The spy shook his head and said "As you know, the Cult of Syses follows the God of Assassins, Syses, and is an assassination organization itself, and they strike everywhere. They are our main suspects. As for Celevaria, I can''t tell you why they would want to attack the City Lord as it is a secret, and I don''t want to be beheaded."

    Dorian nodded, but those information didn''t really matter much to him. He probably wouldn''t get in contact with the Cult before departing from this world, as for that City Lord, his identity didn''t matter either, he wasn''t related to his mission in any way.

    Seeing that Dorian was silent, the spy said "Now, can I go? I need to make my report." Dorian shook his head and said "I think you misunderstood something."

    The spy frowned and asked "What?" Dorian''s hands blurred and in the next instant the spy''s neck was twisted, his life ending in a split second.

    But Dorian still said "I never said I would let you go¡­"

 15 Runemaster

    After killing the spy, Dorian was overjoyed to see there was loot. There were actually two books! As expected of a spy, one was for Sneak. But what made Dorian really happy was the other ability book, because it was another one for the Dagger Mastery.

    Currently, Dorian''s Basic Dagger Mastery was at level 6, and he already had 3 ability books so he could upgrade himself to level 9. But with this new book, this allowed Dorian to max up his Basic Dagger Mastery to level 10!

    Dorian put the Sneak book in his backpack and took out the other Dagger Mastery book. Dorian used them one after another, and soon all had been devoted, and Dorian was level 10. He even discovered that the experience he had accumulated in level 6 hadn''t disappeared, so he didn''t even had to start from scratch in level 10 now.

    This time, Dorian felt a huge difference, although he hadn''t changed the quality of his ability, the four levels increase still allowed him to have a huge power boost.

    Right now, Dorian felt that he could take on the Leaf without using shady tactics, but in actual head on combat, and he wouldn''t lose. The Leaf''s Agility were only slightly higher than Dorian''s, and his Dagger Mastery was about the same level.

    Now, as long as Dorian could accumulate enough experience in this world, he would be able to upgrade the quality of his Dagger Mastery. And for such an advantage to only be available in the first world, the cost to normally upgrade abilities to the next quality was most certainly high.

    After checking he hadn''t missed anything on the spy''s corpse, he started taking off his clothes and put them on himself. Before long, Dorian had taken off his mask and was camouflaged as a gangster. They didn''t really have a strict uniform, but Dorian''s clothes were too special and would get his cover blown.

    Still, he kept on everything that gave him attributes, because they couldn''t be seen or had been taken from other gangsters. The only thing Dorian had to reluctantly take off was Saain''s Face because it was the Leaf''s.

    Once he had everything on him, Dorian dragged the two corpses with him further in the sub tunnel which seemed endless. After a minute or so of walking, Dorian dropped them and took out the Enchanted Coin.

    He started walking randomly, and before long he found himself entering a big underground room, which was lit up by many torches. But when he made his way through the tunnels, he couldn''t help but get interested in magic.

    He finally understood how the gangsters could travel through the tunnels. Because for someone who doesn''t see anything, even if he has the coin he would still walk into walls. He had tried it himself, but he discovered that his body would walked sideways, as if stuck in an illusion. The feeling was very strange though because he never felt his body controlled.

    He was relieved though to find out that by forcing it, he was still able to touch the walls, or that would have made the magic in here too strong. But Dorian didn''t doubt that for a more accomplished mage, they could probably control his every movement without him even realizing it.

    That was quite scary for Dorian, but he also understood that if he ever encountered someone this powerful, it would be in the far future, in many more worlds. By that time, if he hasn''t died he should have become much stronger and able to counter this kind of attack.

    For now, Dorian tried not to worry about the future, but to focus on growing as strong as he could, to get the best result possible within this world.

    The ''Main Hall'' in front of Dorian was quite big, about as big as a soccer field, with several pillars standing around, holding the ceiling from falling down.

    Dorian checked around and when he was sure no one was around he neared one of the pillars, curious about what he saw.

    From afar he couldn''t see clearly, but as he neared the pillars he affirmed his guess. On the pillars were red runes. Dorian looked at each and everyone of the pillars and noticed that it would always be the same set of runes everywhere.

    Although he didn''t know anything about magic, Dorian guessed that those were magic runes meant to reinforce the pillars, and most probably were at the origin of the tracker on the Enchanted Coins.

    Dorian took out one of the ability books he used earlier, on the Dagger Mastery. Once he used an ability book, it wouldn''t vanish but would return back to being normal books.

    Dorian opened the book at the first page, where illustrations and texts were written, explaining how to do certain moves. Dorian wanted to take note of the different runes, but he didn''t have any paper nor pen.

    It must be said that this was the Middle Age, otherwise known as the Dark Age back on Earth. During this period of time, only a very small amount of people, nobles, knew how to write and read, so paper were very rare, as well as expensive.

    As for a pen, it didn''t even exist, there were only feathers and ink. But Dorian didn''t carry those around. For the paper, he could manage with the ability book, but for the ink¡­

    Dorian took a dagger and cut open his finger, blood dripping down. He ignored the pain and started writing down the rune set he had noticed.

    It took Dorian half an hour, as well as 10 HP, for him to finish writing down every rune. But as he finished and was about to put his book back in his bag, he was stunned to see that the book was now glowing with a grey light!

    Of course, the first thing Dorian did was opening its status:

    [Name: Used Book]

    [Type: Miscellaneous]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Defense: 0]

    [Requirement: Blacksmith lvl 1]

    [Effects: Use this book to engrave the effect ''Reinforcement'' on an equipment.]

    [Durability: N/A]

    [Remark: This book has been enchanted with Ancient Magic.]

    Dorian couldn''t believe what happened. He quickly checked his own status and discovered that he had earned a new ability:

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 1/10)]

    Through his newly acquired knowledge, Dorian discovered how to carve runes, as well as a certain understanding of them. Basic Runes weren''t very strong for most, but could help a lot in certain situations.

    What was even better was that Runes didn''t necessarily have to be used on a book like this, he could also use them on other objects to directly enchant them. For example he could carve the ''Reinforcement'' rune on his clothes if he wanted to.

    Well, almost. To carve runes, ones need to draw the symbol using magic. However, Dorian didn''t know how to use it. Fortunately, blood was rich in magic so it could be used instead, but it would be very tiring.

    Dorian wanted to draw some runes on his equipment but he didn''t have the time. Unable to use the book, he put it back in his bag and chose one of the tunnels before entering it. He didn''t have any idea of which one he should take so he picked the biggest one.

    This time, the tunnel had torches, and was much shorter. Before long, he arrived in front of a wooden door. This door was of a deep green, and gave off a strange feeling.

    Dorian tried listening for any sound through the door, but heard nothing. Still, he didn''t open the door because of the strange vibe it gave off. He couldn''t really explain it, but he had a feeling that if he opened this door, he would be in trouble.

    So Dorian walked back and started inspecting all the tunnels. Because he couldn''t see the sky nor did he have a watch, Dorian didn''t know how much time passed until he found the right tunnel.

    There, at the end of the tunnel, Dorian saw an opened door. He had of course rushed in, he couldn''t let this trip be a waste.

    But as he entered, he couldn''t help but gasp in shock.

 16 Fighting the beas

    Unlike the other times, there wasn''t an eerie silence in this room. Instead, Dorian could hear a ragged breath. But he couldn''t care less about that for the moment, because the thing in front of him was taking all of his attention.

    A tall figure, about two meters tall, covered in hairs, sharp claws¡­ For Dorian, there was no doubt about the nature of this creature, it was none other than the terrible Werewolf.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    It was currently facing off against a man, who was trembling all over, staring in fright at the beast. Dorian had entered the room in Stealth mode, along with Fade, so the Werewolf didn''t notice him, but the man looked at him.

    Fortunately, for Dorian, before the man could utter a word, the Werewolf jumped at him, tearing him apart with a single claw.

    Dorian was ready to assault it when suddenly it turned around, staring in Dorian''s direction. Dorian could finally see its face, which was covered in blood, the man was probably not its first victim today.

    The beast suddenly said with a raspy voice, which was more akin to a growl than an actual sentence "You¡­ I smell you, intruder¡­ A hiding rat, let me TASTE YOUR FLESH!"

    With a howl, it jumped at the entrance of the room, using both its claws to destroy Dorian''s hiding spot. But as soon as it did, the beast noticed something strange, there was no blood.

    But it was too late, as it felt two daggers slash at its back. One of the daggers did nothing more than a scratch, not even tearing the flesh, but the other went through without a problem, slashing apart one of the beast''s back muscles.

    The Werewolf howled in pain and turned around, slashing at its attacker, but he was gone. Rage filled the beast and it started releasing a red aura, which seemed to strengthen it.

    Dorian, who was hiding in a corner, looked on with a frown. He just discovered that only his [Sampau''s Claw] could actually damage the beast.

    But if he struck a weak point then it would most certainly still damage it. But now, with this red aura, if it strengthened its defense too, then even weak points would stop his Steel Dagger.

    Thoughts converged in Dorian''s head, and plans were created. As the Werewolf finished its transformation, Dorian threw one of his sub par daggers.

    But he didn''t threw it at the wolf, but at a vase nearby instead. The beast instantly jumped toward the vase, tearing apart everything around.

    This allowed Dorian to confirm his fears, the beast had really gotten faster, and stronger. So it was either an overall enhancement, and Dorian was pretty much screwed, or it was berserk mode of sorts that increased attack and lowered defense.

    Dorian then threw another dagger, at another corner of the room. The wolf seemed to have lost its intelligence though, as it lunged again at the sound, falling for the same trap.

    As it was ravaging the area, Dorian ran to his previous dagger, grabbed it and attacked the wolf. This time, he used both his daggers to execute Kidney strike, each one aiming to one kidney.

    But his fears revealed to be accurate, as this time even his [Sampau''s Claw] could barely pierce through the flesh, and couldn''t even reach the kidney.

    But Dorian wanted to rely on the paralysis effect this skill brought to cripple the beast.

    However, he had miscalculated this time. As he side stepped to attack the beast''s weak points, he was shocked to see the beast move. He didn''t have the time to react and the beast clawed at him.

    All Dorian could do was to slightly turn around, causing the claws to only hit the right side of his chest. This still sent him flying though.

    Dorian''s body crashed into one of the earthen walls, making the room tremble, and fell to the ground, blood spraying around. The beast licked its claws, enjoying the taste of Dorian''s blood.

    Dorian could barely remain awake, his eyes threatening to close themselves at any moment. But thankfully, or not, the pain finally came in and Dorian was brought out of his reverie, the agony waking him up.

    Yet, despite the immense pain he felt, Dorian forced his body to roll away, barely dodging another attack from the Werewolf.

    Dorian thanked his luck when he discovered that the Werewolf''s claw went through the wall, and it had trouble taking it back.

    He wanted to go into stealth, but his blood would attract the beast, and it wouldn''t even need its eyes to locate him.

    The room suddenly shook violently, and Dorian saw the Werewolf taking its arm out of the wall. It suddenly gave him an idea.

    Dorian looked around and chose an untouched wall, before glancing at the beast. It was already rushing at him. Dorian threw the dagger he had picked up earlier, toward the beast''s eyes.

    The beast reacted on instinct and covered its eyes with its arms. As the dagger went into contact with its flesh, it broke itself, doing the wolf no damage. The beast grinned and attacked in front of it with both claws, covering a large area with its long arms.

    But damaging its eyes had never been Dorian''s aim. When the beast covered its eyes, it also blocked its sight, and it thus failed to see Dorian roll away, running toward the door.

    The Werewolf''s immense strength teared open the wall, going deep into it, and causing the already weakened room to be damaged even more.

    The beast didn''t understand what was happening though and looked around in confusion, wondering where its prey went.

    Using its snout, it turned around and saw Dorian at the door of the room.

    It ran on all four to reach Dorian when the trembling room started breaking down. The wolf finally seemed to regain some of its intelligence as it picked up its pace, trying to get out as fast as possible.

    But it was too slow. A big rock fell on one of its hind legs, crushing it. The Beast looked at its leg viciously and decisively slashed it apart before jumping through the door.

    That wasn''t enough though. Before it could completely get out of the room, the room completely fell on itself, and the beast''s lower body was crushed under the ruins, leaving only its upper body.

    Dorian looked at the dying beast in relief, and fell on the ground himself, unable to move. But as he thought he had finally won, he saw despair.

    The dying wolf howled and its body began transforming, its muscles and bones shifting, its hairs disappearing. It finally transformed into a man. But more importantly, he had his two legs.

    The man looked at Dorian and said with a weak voice "You little rat, you almost killed the great Arteon!"

    He began walking toward Dorian who asked in an even weaker voice "Who are you?" Arteon replied "I am the dignified 10th Stinger, Arteon, as well as this region''s Alpha Wolf! You can be proud of dying by my hand!"

    Dorian smiled and said "Good, you are my target. Could you listen to a dying man''s last words though?" Arteon frowned but still said "You are a great warrior, you deserve this honor. Speak, be quick!"

    Dorian asked "Where is the Leaf''s family?" Arteon laughed out loudly and said "So that little shit asked you to save his family? Too bad, I already ate them!"

    But in the middle of his laughing fit, he stopped abruptly, before coughing blood and kneeling. He continued coughing before asking with rage "What have you done to me!"

    Dorian forced his body to get up and said with a smile "I poisoned my daggers, so the poison is still taking effect despite your form change¡­ Interesting."

    Arteon''s eyes grew wide in rage as he said "You treacherous bastard, you have no honor! What kind of warrior are you?!"

    Dorian walked toward Arteon and said "The kind who survives, idiot wolf." Before Arteon could say another word, both of Dorian''s daggers stroke, beheading him.

 17 Rescue

    As Arteon''s head fell to the ground, multiple lights shone on his body. At the same time, he received a notification saying he had just completed a side mission.

    But Dorian didn''t care, it wasn''t the most urgent thing for him right now.

    He took off his bag with difficulty, his entire body aching, his bones hurting and obviously displaced and broken.

    As he took it off, he saw that the side of the bag was slashed open, rendering the bag useless. Arteon noticed with pain that most of the contents of his bag had disappeared, probably buried under the rocks.

    Fortunately, he still had [Saain''s Face] and a few healing items. But he had lost all of his ability books, his clothes and some other stuff.

    But if he died, then this wouldn''t have any use. He put on [Saain''s Face] and looked at his status:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 16/150]

    [MP: 60/120]

    [Strength: 11 (16)]

    [Agility: 10 (18)]

    [Vitality: 10 (15)]

    [Intelligence: 7 (12)]

    [Perception: 14 (19)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 4/10)]

    [Basic Dagger Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 8/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 7/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 1/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 3. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.

    -Tiredness: You haven''t slept for multiple days and made a great effort. All attributes dropped by 3. If you continue not sleeping, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.

    -Heavy injuries: You have sustained heavy injuries, all attributes dropped by 2.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Dorian''s eyes glued to his skills. He couldn''t believe by how much they were raised. His Basic Dagger Mastery had made great strides toward the next rank, and the other skills he used, Hand to Hand Combat, Sneak, Throwing Mastery and Movement Mastery had all experienced a huge growth in levels.

    Then, Dorian used every health restoring items he had on him, nursing himself back to health. That made his Heavy Injuries condition disappear, and allowed him to recover somewhat.

    Only then could Dorian finally focus on his loot. As he looked at the beheaded body, Dorian couldn''t help but sigh. Hadn''t it been for the poison on his daggers, he would have truly died today. That also made Dorian re-estimate the Stingers strength.

    If they were all as strong as this then it would be very hard for Dorian to destroy the Red Scorpion Gang. Then there was the even more fearsome Red Scorpion, the gang leader. He was even stronger than the Stingers, who could only overwhelm him by fighting 13 against one.

    Dorian shook his head and looked at the different colors. The majority of it was green, and a few white ones.

    Among the white ones, one was a book, and the other was a red pill. The book was for Hand to Hand combat, so Dorian kept it in his jacket''s inner pocket.

    Then he examined the red pill.

    [Name: Fiery Poison]

    [Type: Consumable]

    [Rarity: Grey]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Deals 150 fire damage if consumed.]

    [Remark: This will burn your insides. Literally. Can kill most normal men.]

    As he saw this, Dorian began to understand how fearsome and ruthless the Red Scorpion really was. To make sure his subordinates wouldn''t reveal information, he gave them this pill, so that they would kill themselves.

    Dorian pocketed the pill of course, this could always be useful, he didn''t have to use it himself but it could be useful for assassination.

    Now, there only remained the green items. Three of them to be exact. A wolf pelt, a red robe and a pair of gloves.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian first looked at the Wolf Pelt:

    [Name: Werewolf''s Hide]

    [Type: Material]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Remark: Taken from a werewolf, this has multiple uses.]

    This was the first time Dorian saw this kind of item, but he had already guessed that this existed. Those thoughts started back when he read the book he had enchanted, that required the ability Blacksmith.

    He put down the pelt and took the robe. It was already red to begin with, but it had been bathing into the blood, making its color even deeper and darker, looking like the rob as actually made of blood.

    [Name: Scorpion''s Shell]

    [Type: Armor]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Defense: 10]

    [Requirement: Own a killing aura.]

    [Effects: Strength +3, killing aura strengthening]

    [Evolution Requirement: Drench this item in the blood of the Stingers (1/13)]

    [Remark: At first this robe was nothing more than a cosmetic object, but by being drenched in the blood of a magical being, it has gained mysterious strength.]

    As he looked over it, Dorian immediately put it on. The robe had at first an unpleasant smell of blood, but once he equipped it the smell disappeared, and instead he felt his control over his aura strengthen.

    But he could also feel perverse thoughts attack his mind, trying to turn him into a mindless murdered. But his killing aura seemed to work as a defense against it. He now understood the reason for this strange requirement.

    Then, his gaze fell on the last item, the glove.

    [Name: Arteon''s Revenge]

    [Type: Armor]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Defense: 35]

    [Requirement: Strength 15, Basic Hand to Hand Combat level 5]

    [Effects: Strength +5]

    [Revenge: Use to summon the spirit of the Alpha Wolf for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.]

    [Durability: 500/500]

    [Remark: After suffering from an unjust death, Arteon''s spirit refused to join the other world and took the form of gloves to unleash his rage upon the world.]

    As he looked at the weapon, Dorian took off his [Leather Gloves], losing their Strength +2 effect, used the ability book he had just picked up, raising his Basic Hand to Hand Mastery to level 5, before putting the new gloves on his hands.

    Having finished his loot, Dorian looked at pelt on the ground, troubled. Now that his backpack had been destroyed, he couldn''t bring much on him. Right now, the only things he had on him were:

    [Steel Sword], [Steel Dagger], [Saain''s Face], [Sampau''s Claw], [Leather Boots], [Scorpion''s Shell], his old Metal Bracers and the [Fiery Poison]. He had lost both his sub par daggers too.

    Dorian stretched his body, amazed at the magical health regeneration items. A few minutes ago he had multiple broken bones and fractures, but now that his health was restored he was back in peak condition.

    He looked at the severed head, and found out that his previous pity had disappeared. He looked back at the wolf pelt and an idea emerged. He folded it and used it to store the severed head before throwing it over his shoulder, and departing.

    He met with another group of normal gangsters, and Dorian used the opportunity to test his new strength. The group of six gangsters barely lasted ten seconds before having all died.

    At that moment, all Dorian wanted to do was to sleep, but now wasn''t the moment, he still hadn''t saved Charles.

    So Dorian walked to the City Lord''s Mansion. He would have ran there if he could, but the tiredness was too much, he felt that if he made another effort he would grow even weaker.

    So after one whole hour, Dorian reached the Mansion, which was guarded by numerous guards. As Dorian approached, not even the bravest ones dared to approach him.

    In the eyes of the people around, Dorian was a demon aiming to kill everything in sight. But Dorian was too tired to rein in his killing aura and thus let it all out. Adding in his robe''s strengthening effect, he truly did look like a demon.

    As he approached the guards in front of the huge door of the mansion, Dorian said with a coarse voice "I seek an audience with your lord."

 18 Scorpion in the dark

    None of the guards dared to block his way, so Dorian entered the mansion without a problem. He entered a huge hall, which was the room the City Lord received his subjects and guests in.

    Right as he entered, Dorian felt multiple gazes focus on him, as well as danger. Dorian knew that if he made one wrong move then all the guards hidden or not would jump on him and kill him.

    The guards hidden weren''t much of a threat because he could feel them, and would be able to take care of all of them if he was in prime condition.

    But now he was too tired to fight all of them, moreover he had no reason to do it as he wasn''t here to fight.

    What actually scared Dorian was the man and woman standing on both sides of the City Lord, and the City Lord himself. The two guards felt a little stronger than the Leaf, and slightly below Arteon in werewolf form, while the City Lord felt a little stronger than the fully transformed Arteon.

    That meant that there were at least three superhumans in the City Lord Mansion. But there were probably more or the 13 Stingers would have killed them long ago.

    Dorian walked to the City Lord and stopped a few meters from the throne, but he did not bow to show his stance. The two guards'' hands, which were already grabbing their sheath, tightened and looked like they were about to draw out their sword.

    Dorian ignored them and looked straight at the City Lord. He was a middle aged man with a trimmed beard and a mustache, as well as curly hair. He was somewhat fat, but Dorian didn''t underestimate him for that as he was probably a great warrior, or at least had great strength.

    The City Lord seemed curious about Dorian, and after some time asked "I believe you are the one known as the Butcher?"

    Dorian nodded and said "I have killed one of your enemies, I would like to exchange his head against someone."

    The City Lord laughed and said "Yes, you killed the Leaf¡­ Who is it that you want?" Dorian replied "The Captain of the Police, Charles Bowman. I know you detain him."

    The City Lord''s laugh abruptly stopped and the two guards unsheathed their weapons, each one jumping at Dorian.

    Dorian didn''t expect them to attack but reacted accordingly and took out his daggers. Looking at them, Dorian was relieved to see that they didn''t excel in Agility. He parried both swords with his daggers, and realized their strong point was their strength.

    But Dorian''s Strength, even if weakened, had reached 18, and they both equaled him. Because they were two he couldn''t block each sword relying on strength alone, so he stepped forward and pushed both swords on each side, making them miss.

    Then, using his initial inertia his slashed at both their thighs, injuring them both. Dorian then prepared to finish them, but the City Lord cried out "Enough!"

    The three stopped moving and the two guards limped back to the City Lord''s side, who said "Don''t, go to the doctor you two." They nodded and left, limping and looked at Dorian with scary eyes.

    Dorian looked at the City Lord and expected to see anger on his face but he looked calm. He said "While you indeed have some strength, the head of the Leaf isn''t enough to save that man''s life. He tried to kill me."

    Dorian frowned and asked "What would it take to free him?" The City Lord laughed and said "It would at least take a Stinger''s head!"

    As he said that, the surrounding people snickered, thinking of killing the Stingers was a fool dream. They thought that Dorian probably didn''t even know who they were.

    Dorian ignored them and showed the wolf pelt to the City Lord and said "Will this be enough?" He took out Arteon''s head and showed it to the City Lord, who froze.

    The City Lord then looked at an attendant next to him and said "Check this head. If it''s Arteon''s then release Bowman immediately."

    The attendant stepped forward and after a bow he took the head from Dorian''s hands. The City Lord said "Friend, if what you say is true then you have truly done me a favor. Please wait for me for confirmation."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian nodded and didn''t move. The two of them didn''t have to wait long before seeing the attendant coming back with a confused Charles.

    Charles had obviously spent unpleasant days in this mansion, but that was to be expected, at least there didn''t seem to be any lasting damage. As Charles approached Dorian received another notification saying he had completed a side mission.

    The City Lord smiled and said "If you have any other business as such don''t hesitate in coming here." Dorian nodded and took Charles with him outside.

    Charles remained quiet until they reached the streets when he said "Thanks."

    Dorian patted his shoulder and said "I still need you to give me my rewards. Come, I''ll take you home." Charles nodded and tried to make himself presentable. They didn''t take long before arriving at his house.

    His wife teared up when she saw Charles and went to hug him along with her daughter. Dorian let them with their reunion and intended to leave, but before he could Charles said "I owe you, is there anything I can do for you?"

    Dorian was about to decline when Lucie said "We insist." Dorian thought about it and said "Well I could use a bed." They nodded and led him inside.

    The family of three didn''t bother him. Soon after, Amanda left the house, leaving to join her friends. Left alone, the couple sat in the living room. They had quite a big house thanks to Charles'' job and were allowed to have bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room, all separated.

    Lucie looked at her husband and said "He is asleep. Tell me, what got in your head? Why did you attack Marcus?"

    Charles clenched his fists and replied "I''m done with that bastard, we should have killed him long ago." Lucie shook her head and said "We can''t, not right now. You know that in his mansion we can''t touch him, and even outside its going to be difficult."

    Charles sighed and said "I know, but I lost my cool thinking about that bastard¡­ I''m sorry honey, I won''t be rash again." Lucie smiled and took his hand and hers, saying "It''s alright hubby, at least you managed to get out¡­ How did you do that by the way?"

    Charles smiled and said "I was lucky this time. The kid is stronger than we thought, he actually managed to kill Arteon, and exchanged his head against my freedom."

    Lucie''s eyebrows rose in surprise, and she said "Looks like we really underestimated, I already thought I had understood his strength¡­" Charles tilted his head and Lucie explained what happened with the Leaf.

    Hearing everything until the end, Charles smiled and said "To think you would send the Leaf to test him. My beautiful scorpion, you really are a scheming one aren''t you?"

    Lucie rolled her eyes and said "And you''re a blockhead. But still, the kid is interesting. Maybe we could teach him a bit if he is convincing¡­"

    Charles smiled and asked "What do you have in mind?" Lucie replied "Let''s give him a task. If he can kill the Stingers, then you will give him your manual."

    Charles shrugged and said "That''s a good idea, I don''t feel his Life Essence has any pattern and yet it''s so strong¡­ To gain such strength without practicing from a manual is very impressive, so if he gets one he should be able to go far."

    Lucie nodded and said "Right, but this task is extremely difficult, even we have been unable to clear the Stingers so far. Honestly I don''t see him succeeding."

    Charles nodded and remained silent for a couple seconds before saying "I have an idea. I have been fired from my job, so I won''t have anything to do in the following days, so maybe I could follow him discreetly, and if he ever needs help I can come out."

    But Lucie shook her head and said "Even the Leaf couldn''t sneak up on him, I doubt you could do it. And even if he is your friend, he can''t be allowed to know the truth for now. But we can help him in other ways¡­"

 19 Im still cold though...

    Dorian was so tired that he only woke the next morning. After checking his status page, he was glad to discover that his tiredness had gone away. He was still cold though.

    He also discovered that his body seemed to have changed in some ways, but he couldn''t pin point how so he let it be.

    As he woke up, Dorian found Charles sitting by the window, watching the snow fall outside. The weather was getting colder and colder everyday, so Dorian wasn''t really surprised to see snow appear.

    Charles turned to look at Dorian and said with a smile "You''re awake. Good. Hungry?" Dorian didn''t make manners and nodded. Charles told him to serve himself, everything was already on the table. Well, it was mostly bread and butter, but it was still great for Dorian.

    As he was busy eating, Charles said "I still haven''t given you your rewards for killing those gangsters, here you are." Charles threw two books over, which Dorian grabbed midair.

    His mouth full, he asked "Why are there two of them?"

    Charles replied "One of them is for the ten kills, and the other is a special reward for killing the Leaf and Arteon."

    Dorian looked at the two books, checking their nature. He was shocked by what he saw though. Both the ability books shone with a green light, which meant they were of the Adept rank!

    But as he scanned both books, he realized he had been wrong, they weren''t both ability books, one was a skill book.

    [Journey to the Kong Mountains]

    [Type: Ability Book]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Once used, learn the ability: Meditation (Adept).]

    [Remark: This is the tale of an old monk on a pilgrimage.]

    Dorian didn''t doubt this ability would bring him something useful, but he wondered how could meditation be classified as an Adept ability.

    Before Dorian could open the second book to check its status Charles said "I was informed before that you are a good assassin and can sneak up on your enemies pretty well. So this is for the times where hiding can''t do it."

    Dorian nodded, this would be more useful to him. Back with Arteon, it was his smell which gave his presence, but Dorian doubted there would be another werewolf amongst his enemies. And even if there were, they would have to be transformed to smell him, so he didn''t really need another skill for sneaking.

    What the last fight made him realize though was that if he went up against the Stingers, head on, his strength right now wouldn''t be enough.

    He opened the book to check what was the skill:

    [The Strength Behind Balance]

    [Type: Skill Book]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Requirement: None.]

    [Effects: Once used, learn the skill: Force Share.]

    [Remark: This skill may be only of the Adept rank, it is something useful even for the most powerful. Using this skill enough times may allow you to learn the ability [Balance].]

    Dorian looked at the skill book in surprise, he didn''t know a skill could help learn an ability. Maybe his other skills could too? Anyway, that was for the future, he hadn''t even learned the skill yet.

    But he didn''t learn the skills right away, and wanted to put away the books but realized he didn''t have any place to put them.

    Charles laughed and said "You lost your strange bag?" Dorian nodded and said "Unfortunately it was shredded by Arteon''s claws."

    Charles nodded and said "I remember seeing you having a wolf pelt yesterday, where did you put it?"

    Dorian replied "It''s tied around my waist." Charles asked "Can I see it?" Dorian nodded and opened his robe, and untied the pelt, handing it to Charles.

    After a minute of inspection, Charles said "If I''m not wrong you took this from a werewolf¡­ This is Arteon''s skin?"

    Dorian nodded, and Charles said "Do you know what werewolves are?" Dorian was stunned by the strange question, but replied "They aren''t just men transforming into walking wolves, biting people and infecting them?"

    Charles laughed out and said "Where did you hear that a werewolf''s bite was infectious? Werewolves are men or women blessed by the Wolf Goddess Gu''Dir. This blessing allows them to turn into those beast forms."

    Dorian asked "So basically they are blessed by a god which gives them more power¡­ Can someone be blessed by more than one god?"

    Charles had stopped laughing, but he still had a smile on his lips as he replied "First you need to understand there are several levels of blessing. For example, Arteon was only given the lowest of blessings and he already became a superhuman. But there are higher blessings, which are much more powerful. So yes, it is possible to get several ones, but just getting the weakest ones is already rare. And getting a powerful one is better than getting ten bad ones."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian nodded, and Charles said "But I''m digressing. What I wanted to say is that this blessing uses Life Essence and transforms the body thanks to it. That means that any part of a werewolf is filled with Life Essence, including the hide. Now, if you want I will use this to make you a special bag."

    Dorian shook his head and said "I don''t have any money¡­" But Charles interrupted him by saying "You just saved my life, you think I would dare charging you for something so trivial? Besides, it wouldn''t cost much, getting the werewolf''s hide is always the hardest."

    Dorian nodded and asked "What will the bag do that makes it special?" Charles replied with a smug smile "It will have a separate space in it! Amazing, isn''t it?"

    Dorian looked at him in surprise and asked "You can do that?" Charles shrugged and said "It''s not that hard actually, as long as you know enough about runes and have sufficient materials, anyone can do it."

    Hearing his words, Dorian was suddenly reminded how his own ability of Runemaster. He quickly tried to search for a way to make such a bag, but didn''t find any and thus blamed it on his lack of knowledge.

    So Dorian said "If it isn''t a problem for you then thank you for the effort." Charles shook his head and said "Now that I have been fired, I''m afraid if I set foot outside my house the Red Scorpion Gang would kill me, and most police officers take me for a madman or a cultist, so you''re doing me a favor by making me busy."

    Dorian nodded before asking "By the way, why exactly did you attack the City Lord? Need my help?" Charles smiled and replied "Don''t worry about it, it''s nothing important, it just blew out of proportions because of the commissionaire¡­ If I really had a death grudge with him, do you think the City Mayor would have let me go?"

    Dorian squinted his eyes and said "No, and that''s what''s bothering me. He let you go so easily, your daughter gets attacked by the gang, I feel there is something big hidden, but I keep missing it¡­ Be careful, I think there''s a huge conspiracy around here, don''t get caught in."

    Charles nodded and said "Don''t worry, I don''t plan on endangering my family. And between the two of us, I don''t think I''m the one in the most danger."

    Dorian nodded, before asking "Is your task still going on by the way? Now that you aren''t Captain anymore¡­"

    Charles replied with a short nod "Yes, the gang needs to disappear." Dorian asked "What about the innocents? You must know there are some innocents among them, some manipulated."

    Charles replied "What I asked you to do was to kill the members of the gang. I never said to exterminate them, but to destroy the gang. You were the one who proposed to kill the members."

    Dorian shrugged but then heard a notification, and heard the voice say his mission contents had changed.

    But he didn''t open it but asked "What would it take to destroy them? Do I need to kill every Stinger as well as their chief?"

    Charles replied "I don''t think you really need to kill all of them. Honestly, if you kill half of the Stingers, a power struggle will start between the Red Scorpion and the Stingers, which will push the organization to its end. If you kill even more Stingers then Red Scorpion will take back his leadership, and you would have to kill him."

 20 Superhuman

    Dorian didn''t stay much longer in Charles'' house after that conversation, and instead went outside to test his abilities. But first he checked his new mission, to see what had changed exactly.

    [Mission Content: The Red Scorpion Gang had been plaguing this city for too long and must be removed. You can choose how to do it, as long as the job is done. Rewards are now fixed, but extra rewards are still available.]

    As he looked over it, Dorian couldn''t help but wonder whether the earlier period was a test. It shouldn''t, because this change of mission only happened after he saved Charles, which wasn''t a fixed event.

    Hadn''t he been able to save Charles, would he have his mission changed? And about that part saying that his rewards were fixed, are they based on what he did so far or it doesn''t matter?

    Dorian shook his head in frustration, for now the only thing he knew was that he had to destroy the Red Scorpion Gang, and that he would still receive an ability book every ten gang members he killed.

    After walking some distance, Dorian hid behind a rather large house, and while cursing about the fact there weren''t dark alleys he learned his new skill and ability. But he also received a notification saying he had gained an attribute point in Vitality, Intelligence and Perception.

    Dorian decided to open his status as it had been quite some time:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 160/160]

    [MP: 130/130]

    [Strength: 21]

    [Agility: 15 (18)]

    [Vitality: 16]

    [Intelligence: 13]

    [Perception: 20]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Dagger Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 8/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 7/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 1/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 3. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Dorian smiled as he looked at his stats. Comparing to the first time he arrived in this world, he had become multiple times stronger. He also felt something special, about his stats.

    His Strength and his Perception, he could feel that they had somehow changed¡­ As if the gap between 19 and 20 wasn''t just a point difference. Back when his Strength passed the 20 points threshold, he hadn''t felt anything, but Perception was attributed to senses so he guessed it was the reason for this change.

    Another guess he took, was that this 20 points threshold was probably the difference between the strongest human and the weakest superhuman, which was huge.

    Dorian didn''t close his status page but looked at his new skill instead, he still didn''t know what it did.

    [Force Share: As the name implies, you are able to transfer the strength you put on one part of you body to another. 10 MP for every Force Share.]

    Even looking at the description, Dorian wasn''t really sure he understood what it did, and what better way to try it than on enemies?

    So like that Dorian set off, looking for comrades to play with.

    He expected to take a long time to locate them, but he was stumped for words when he discovered a new capability that came with the enhancement of attributes.

    As he was walking between houses, in a ''street'', well mostly a road sandwiched between rows of houses stuck so tight that they looked glued together, he felt a special tingling.

    It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, it was like a feeling that told him that behind that row of houses, there was danger.

    He had already unlocked the ability to sense danger quite some time ago, but this was different. Before he could only perceive ''active'' danger, but now he could feel ''passive danger''.

    An example would be that before he could only feel the danger of a dagger flying toward him, while now he can feel the potential danger from the person capable of throwing that dagger.

    As he felt his senses tingle, Dorian, uncaring for people''s judgment, simply used his powerful attributes and jumped on top of the three meters tall house and looked at the source of the danger.

    For once, he didn''t see a group of gangsters, but a lone one, sitting against a small fence, clung with a civil.

    The two were in the middle of what seemed to be a sweet conversation:

    The boy said "Celina, what did your father say?"

    The girl was making circles on the boys chest as she said "I didn''t talk to him yet¡­" The boy sighed and replied "You know you can''t escape it any longer, we already agreed we would tell him instead of him learning by himself."

    The girl shook her head and said "You know him, he will be a pain and lock me at home. I don''t understand why he doesn''t want me to be in a relationship with a boy, it''s not like I''m promised to someone."

    The boy kissed her forehead and said "You''re as stubborn as he is, why don''t you let me say it?" The girl shook her head and replied "You know who he is¡­ I fear he may overreact, and harm you. No, I need to tell him myself, so that he gets time to think about it."

    The boy smiled and said "You''re worrying too much, even though he is an upper echelon in your gang, he won''t just beat me because I asked for your hand will he?"

    The girl sighed "I don''t know, he is a control freak." The boy looked pensive for a second before asking "Why are you staying in the gang?"

    The girl frowned and asked "What do you mean?"

    The boy replied "The Butcher." The girl scoffed and said "I''m not afraid of him, all he can do is attack the good for nothings sneakily."

    The boy was about to talk when he felt a pain in the neck, and blacked out.

    The girl suddenly saw the bottom of a dark red robe next to hair, and as she looked up she felt her breath stop.

    A hand slowly came over to her neck, before it grabbed it, and lifted her off the ground, her face opposite a white mask. But all she could see, were those eyes. Those chilling, cold eyes.

    Dorian asked "Your father¡­ Who is he?" Suddenly being remembered about her father seemed to refill the girl with some courage as she replied with a choked voice "Don''t¡­ you dare¡­ hurt me you¡­ mongrel. My father is¡­ a Stinger!"

    Dorian nodded and asked "Which one?" The girl replied "The¡­ one who will¡­ tear you apart." Just as she finished her sentence, she felt pain overcome her senses.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    She looked down and saw that one of her fingers was bended in a weird way. She tried to cry out in pain but the palm on her neck had tightened so much she couldn''t make a sound.

    After suffocating her for five seconds, Dorian released her neck. The fall woke her up from her drowsiness. When she fell, she wanted to cry out in pain but held herself, as she felt that if she did, she wouldn''t end well.

    She then heard the same cold voice ask "Your father¡­ Which Stinger is he?" The girl said this time "You fool¡­ You don''t know the power they have. But if you want to die¡­ He is the 7th Stinger."

    Dorian nodded and looked at the agonizing girl. He lowered himself to her level and said "Don''t you fear death?"

    The girl''s face changed but she tried to hide it and said "I''m not afraid of cowards like you!" Dorian looked at her, intrigued.

    He got up and grabbed the boy he had knocked out and threw him on the ground, in front of the girl and said "Then do you fear his death?"

 21 Seed of Hatred

    The girl threw herself over to the boy, and sighed in relief when she checked his breathing, he was still alive.

    She looked at Dorian with venomous eyes and said "You piece of shit, what do you want!" Dorian replied "I want to destroy your gang, and to do so I need to kill your father."

    The girl was stunned and couldn''t come up with words, she couldn''t believe he really said that. Seeing she didn''t say anything, Dorian moved his foot above the unconscious boy''s head.

    This woke the girl from her daze as she cried out "Wait!"

    Dorian rolled his eyes from under his mask, and said "What?" The girl said "I can help you, but don''t hurt him please!"

    Dorian looked at her curiously and asked "You are willing to help me kill your own father?" The girl made an ugly face as she replied "What do you even know, if he wasn''t so strong I would I done it myself!"

    Dorian looked at her unimpressed and asked "Where is he?" The girl replied "In our headquarters, at the north of the city¡­"

    Hearing her, Dorian suddenly stomped his foot, crushing the boy''s head to a pulp, sending pieces of his skull and brain matter flying everywhere.

    Before the girl could make a sound, he moved quickly and strangled her, again. But this time he couldn''t see her previous fear. Now, there was only grief, hatred and despair. Lots of them.

    The two stared at each other, one cold as ice and the other as fiery as fire. But the fire was being choked, and the flames were gradually disappearing.

    Honestly, Dorian wanted to kill her, he just had to apply a bit more of strength and he would be able to crush her neck. Then he would just have to continue on his hunt. It would all be simple and straightforward.

    But he did not, and released her, again. This time he wasn''t as violent as earlier and lowered her down. Before taking his hand over from her neck, he said "Be quiet, I''ll show you something."

    He released her, and was surprised to see that she actually didn''t speak. But then she began coughing. Dorian realized that even if she wanted to, she couldn''t talk.

    As she coughed her lungs out Dorian waited, not moving an inch. Only after ten whole seconds did the girl stop, and ask in a weak voice "I will kill you¡­"

    Dorian asked "Because I killed the boy?" The girl''s hatred flared up hearing him, and Dorian said "You were the one who did it. I asked you a question, and you lied. So he died."

    Before the girl could retort anything he added "I already infiltrated your headquarters, your real headquarters under the windmill, and I killed the Tenth Stinger there. And your father is outside the city."

    The girl suddenly lost her footing and fell to the ground, and began to cry. Dorian looked down at her. He didn''t enjoy doing this. He had become accustomed to killing people, and even bloodier scenes such as decapitation or other stuff like that.

    But making people feel despair wasn''t something he took pleasure in. So he lowered himself and raised the girl''s head, saying "Stop crying, do you think you will take your revenge by crying? Do you think crying will give you strength? Get up, strengthen yourself, and take revenge."

    The girl, who had her head raised, cried even harder as she shouted "What do you want! Leave me alone!"

    Dorian pointed at the dead boy''s corpse and said "Go look at his body. Search his body. Grieve. And then understand the truth."

    He did not leave her any choice and threw her on top of him. As she landed, the girl didn''t move. She was feeling so much despair that she had lost her will to even live.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian patiently waited behind her, but after a couple minutes of inactivity he moved next to her and began searching through the boy''s jacket.

    Then, he found a small dagger hidden, and brought it up to the girl, saying "Do you recognize this?" But she didn''t talk. Dorian looked at her empty eyes and released his full killing aura, directing it directly at her.

    But there was no response. Dorian felt a headache coming in, he had been a bit too heavy handed¡­

    He said "Do you want to know how I found you? I have good senses, which allows me to sense danger. And I sensed you two. But do you want to know who exuded danger? It wasn''t you, harmless fly. It was the boy. Now, how do you explain this."

    Those words finally seemed to make a ripple appear in her empty eyes, and her soul seemed to come back to her as she said "You are lying."

    Dorian asked "Why would I? Are you even worth it for me to lie?" She said "You are lying."

    Dorian showed her the dagger and said "Doesn''t this dagger make you suspicious? You are blind then, because it is the proof that will help you understand the truth."

    She glanced at the dagger, and said "Everyone has a weapon on them." Dorian moved the dagger closer to her eyes and said "Just from looking at his clothes I can guess he is poor. Then tell me, how did he get such a refined weapon?"

    What she didn''t know, was that in Dorian''s eyes, the dagger shone in a grey light. For it to be even a grey colored item meant it was really good. For example, the sub par daggers Dorian used weren''t even of the grey quality and yet elites used them.

    So for a young boy to have a grey weapon was suspicious.

    And the girl seemed to catch on this point because her voice became hesitant as she explained "He must have found it somewhere and hid it¡­"

    Dorian smiled seeing that what he was doing was working, so he added another strike "Then what a coincidence, your boyfriend found a refined dagger. Your boyfriend, out of all people. But don''t you think there exists another, more probably possibility?"

    She looked at him, and Dorian added in the finishing blow "Think about it, who has the motive, the means and the opportunity to plant a spy next to you?"

    Dorian knew the answer, and looking at the rising hatred in her eyes, he knew that she did too. But what he didn''t expect was for her to start beating the dead body.

    Dorian looked at she released all her pent up emotions on the corpse, ruining it even more. She wasn''t especially strong, from the danger she released she was only as strong as an average human, but her hatred seemed to fuel her strikes as she began ruining the corpse.

    And Dorian watched on, content of what he did. Honestly, this was too much trouble for him, he would rather deal with the gang in the old good ways, but it would be too difficult, and time consuming.

    Moreover, Dorian was still thinking how to get great rewards fro his mission, and the only way he thought of, other than perfectly clearing the mission, was to do it quickly.

    So when he heard about the girl''s identity, a plan came to his mind. If possible, then he would try to turn the girl against her family. He knew it would be difficult, but Dorian saw all the right tools.

    A young girl in love, in her rebel phase, unhappy her father don''t let her live as she wishes, a suspicious young man as the lover¡­ Honestly, to manipulate such a young girl, those were all he needed.

    And it seemed to be going in the right direction. First threaten her and make her understand that he could end her life any time, then kill her lover to create an emotion capable of overwhelming both her thoughts and reason, and then use this overwhelming emotion.

    Now, all the hatred and grief she felt toward Dorian, or at least a major part of it, had been shifted to the one who spied on her, the one who ''betrayed'' her, her father.

    Of course it''s not that easy to push someone to commit patricide, but let''s not forget that we are talking about an impulsive teenager.

    Dorian felt sick destroying a family like that, he knew that the girl''s father was a normal father, he just sent a guard to protect his daughter, which showed his love for her, but the girl couldn''t understand this kind of things on her own, she is too angry and young.

    But even if he felt bad, Dorian still did it, because if there was one important thing for him now, that was to keep his life. And to keep it, he needs to become stronger. So yeah, basically this family became a sacrifice for his power.

 22 Force Share

    As the girl gradually slowed her hitting speed, too tired to continue, Dorian said "So your name is Celina, right?"

    The girl didn''t speak and continued hitting the corpse, despite her growing weaker and weaker. Dorian didn''t get angry but said "Do you think you can take revenge by yourself? If you want to then you will need my help, and if you don''t talk I don''t see us doing it."

    She finally stopped hitting the corpse and looked at Dorian, asking "Yes." Dorian nodded and said "Alright, Celina, are you sure you want to do this?"

    She didn''t say anything but kept staring at Dorian, the hatred in her eyes were a good enough answer for him. He nodded and said "Where is your father?"

    She replied "The Stingers are completing a mission outside. My father''s group is doing secret operations against Celevaria. They will return in three days, at night."

    Dorian nodded and asked "And the rest?" She said "A day or two later."

    Dorian said "Alright, until your father comes back, you will do as I say. First return home, and tomorrow, when this young boy will fail to meet you, you will need to act concerned. You will keep the act until your father returns. For what happens next, we will meet a few hours before your father''s return."

    Celina nodded, and asked "What will you do?" Dorian replied "I will continue hunting the Red Scorpion Gang. I will need to kill as many of them as possible."

    Celina frowned, obviously displeased Dorian would kill other gangsters, but she remained quiet. Still, Dorian said "My aim is to destroy the gang, not exterminate it. But when your father comes back with half of the Stingers, I would rather fight them alone than with 50 gangsters."

    Celina realized he was right, and thus said "I can help you then." Dorian nodded and she continued "There are about 110 members left, not including the Stingers. My father will come back along with three other Stingers. Follow me, I will show you where the others patrol."

    Dorian frowned and said "We can''t appear together. Do you have a map of the city?" She nodded and said "I have one, at home."

    Dorian nodded and said "Alright, I will follow you there. Then you will show me where they patrol on the map. Is there anyone else at your house? Mother, brother, sister, guard¡­"

    She shook her head and said "No one¡­" But then she added before spitting on the ground "Although there''s certainly another spy sent by that bastard!"

    Dorian nodded and said "Lead the way." He then jumped on top of the house and began using his Sneak ability, as well as Fade.

    Like that, Dorian followed Celina to her house. Dorian was actually impressed by her acting skills, her previous rage and hatred seemed to have disappeared, and although she couldn''t smile, she was making an indifferent face.

    It didn''t take long for the two to reach her house. There, she took out a big yellowed paper, the city''s map.

    Following that, Dorian finally understood why he missed so many gangsters before, they weren''t covering the whole city but only a part of it, and they would never go far from their patrol spot. After all, there was still the police which was chasing after them.

    So they would change their patrol point everyday too, following a strict pattern which Celina happened to know.

    This was a big help to Dorian, as now he could finally hunt down the members to his heart''s extent.

    After agreeing they would meet everyday, early in the morning, Dorian left her alone, in her house, as he began his hunt.

    This time, thanks to Celina''s information, Dorian was able to find a group fully composed of elites, with someone at the Leaf''s level, which he decided to name expert, leading them.

    Right now, to Dorian elites were not much more threatening than normal goons. He could have sneak attacked them and kill the expert before finishing off the elites, but Dorian wanted to test his new skills and abilities.

    That''s why he appeared in front of the group, his two daggers in hand, exuding a powerful killing aura which was blasting at the group.

    Of course, they instantly went in alert, but seeing how they didn''t flee they probably weren''t yet aware he had killed Arteon, or didn''t know he was the one who did it.

    The expert sneered and said "Butcher, you actually dared showing your face¡­ Oh, I have been searching for you, but you always seemed to be able to escape from me. But today, I will avenge my fallen brother by drinking your blood and eating your flesh!"

    Dorian ignored him and began walking toward the group, one step at a time. The expert wasn''t a fool though, nor was he overwhelmingly arrogant as he yelled to his men "You bunch of pussies, who''s ready to kill that son of a bitch with me!"

    The elites behind roared in unison "We are!" The expert laughed and unsheathed his swords, quickly followed by the 8 elites behind him.

    Dorian''s pace didn''t fluctuate in the least as he kept looking at the walking dead men in front of him. The expert sneered and said "You arrogant piece of shit, you think you can win by defending?"

    Right as he finished talking, he began running toward Dorian with a terrifying speed, followed by his men. The reason he had said Dorian was arrogant was that because Dorian used weapons with a short range of attack like his daggers, blocking was difficult for him.

    And walking like he did would force Dorian to block the incoming attacks. In the expert''s eyes, what Dorian should have done was rushing at them in full speed, using his daggers'' advantage in attack speed to attack them.

    But of course, other than feeling a little offended from being looked down on, the expert was happy Dorian wasn''t serious.

    As the fastest of the group, the expert arrived in front of Dorian the first, and swung his sword at Dorian with an unnatural precision, he obviously had great attainments in swordsmanship.

    Unfortunately, he was against Dorian. As he looked at the sword making its way to his neck, Dorian slashed one of his daggers at the sword.

    The expert snickered and put even more strength in his strike, sure he would have the upper hand.

    But as he felt the dagger against his sword, and the strength behind it, he felt his hand go numb. Yet right as he expected his sword to leave his hand, the strength suddenly disappeared.

    Before he could react, he saw a fist coming toward his chest. He was wary of Dorian''s strength, as he had felt it just a moment ago, and thus tried to block the fist.

    But it ended up being too fast, and it hit his chest. Suddenly, he was sent flying backwards, into the rushing elites.

    But he never felt his body fall to the ground, because he died the instant the fist hit his chest. And he never understood why.

    Actually, Dorian had used his new skill, [Force Share], to transfer the strength in the expert''s sword and his own, toward his fist. So the expert was struck by Dorian''s 21 points of Strength, as well as his own, which resulted in his inside getting smashed apart by Dorian''s fist.

    The rest of the elites abruptly stopped, but Dorian didn''t leave them a single chance of living, and rushed at them with his daggers, this time only using his Basic Dagger Mastery to kill everyone of them.

    The spoil of the battle wasn''t really great, as Dorian only got a Swordsmanship ability book, as well as boots that only gave a +2 to agility, which was similar to Dorian''s [Leather Boots].

    The swordsmanship ability book wasn''t interesting either because Dorian had decided he would fight using daggers, as he felt the sword wasn''t made for him.

    Still, he kept the two objects because he could potentially sell them in the future. Before arriving to this world, he had used the shop, and there was the option to sell things, he just had nothing on him at that time.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian also discovered something interesting, it was that the blood that splashed on his robes during the fight, had actually been absorbed by it. It didn''t strengthen it, but it still allowed Dorian to push aside one annoying thing.

 23 Runes

    The three days went by in a flash, and Celina''s father would come back in a few hours. The sun was already about to disappear from the horizon, and Dorian arrived at Celina''s house to plan for her father''s death.

    During those three days, Dorian made a great use of his time. First he killed 34 members of the gang, almost destroying the entire gang by himself. Of course, they hadn''t just waited to be slaughtered, earlier that day all the remaining experts had tried to ambush Dorian.

    Unfortunately for them, Celina had warned Dorian, who led an ambush himself, killing all of them.

    He had gotten a lot of loot, which he kept in his newly made bag. Charles had been very quick and did a good job:

    [Name: Spatial Bag]

    [Type: Storage Item]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Storage space: 5*5*5 meters room]

    [Remark: This bag was made with a werewolf hide, crafted by a skilled craftsman.]

    Even though he had gotten so many loot, Dorian was able to put everything in the bag, and that was really convenient. He didn''t change any of the items he had on him as he never found anything better, but he still kept them to sell them latter.

    Along with those, he found many books, including the three rewarded by Charles, which were all Basic abilities. Skills were rare, so he found none. But the books were still helpful as they helped his abilities to upgrade.

    His status had thus changed dramatically:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 160/160]

    [MP: 130/130]

    [Strength: 21]

    [Agility: 17 (18)]

    [Vitality: 16]

    [Intelligence: 13]

    [Perception: 20]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 8/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 3/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 1/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 1. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    The ability books were often the same ones, but they still made his skills crazily go up. This power up was very important, and Dorian felt stronger than ever.

    His Dagger Mastery passing to the Adept Rank was amazing too, Dorian felt his whole understanding about daggers change, as well as the way to use them. Many unnecessary movements were eliminated, and his blows became stronger.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    But it also made him realize that the Basic skills were a mere warm up that only allowed him to overwhelm weak opponents. He also understood why it was so easy to get those skills books, it was because to go from Basic to Adept was very difficult.

    Honestly, his Dagger Mastery had barely reached the Adept rank after three days of non stop killing, using only his dagger. It would take a long time for the rest of his skills to advance to the next rank.

    It also helped him realized that those ability books weren''t as valuable as he thought, and he wouldn''t be able to sell them for much.

    As for his Hypothermia becoming better, it was thanks to his Ice Resistance getting stronger. He hadn''t found any books for it but now it even snowed during the day, so his Ice Resistance was constantly getting strengthened, although it wasn''t by much.

    His meditation ability was very useful as it allowed him to rest his mind during the night, without letting himself fall asleep, allowing him to ignore the danger from the night.

    So thanks to those three days of hunt, Dorian was able to become a true superhuman, no normal person could hope to match him.

    And that was the problem. Dorian actually grew bored again. His stay in this world had begun with excitement, as he had seen the endless challenges waiting for him, and thought boredom was finally a thing of the past.

    Then, came the fear of death. Dorian was faced with his first encounters with death and became scared for his life, driving him to become stronger.

    But in those three days, Dorian gradually became bored. All he did was stalking, killing and return to stalking.

    The enemies posed no threat to him anymore, and the repeated actions was seriously annoying Dorian.

    So when he arrived at Celina''s house, he was incomparably excited, because he knew that danger was coming, and that meant boredom would soon be over.

    As soon as he arrived, he saw that Celina was waiting for him, impatient too as it seemed. Dorian directly said "You did great in the past days, and now the time we have been waiting for is coming."

    Celina looked at him, her rage appearing back in her eyes.

    Dorian smiled and said "Great, you haven''t lost your resolve. So what we will be doing is simple. Do you know what this is?"

    He took out a red pill, it was the [Fiery Poison]. She shook her head. So Dorian explained "This is a pill known as Fiery Poison, which will scorch the insides of anyone eating it."

    She looked at it excitedly and asked "You want me to feed it to him?"

    Dorian shook his head and said "No, he knows what the pill is, and I''m not sure if it can be grind into powder, so let''s make it simpler."

    He pointed at a little rune on the pill and said "This is a magic rune. This allowed me to change the nature of the pill so that when it is crushed, it will magically form a fire arrow."

    In the past three days, he had also been practicing his Runemaster ability on rocks to create this pill, which was why it had leveled up to level 3.

    He handed the pill to her and said "Right as he comes back, before he can become aware of the losses the gang suffered, when he is still with the two other Stingers, you will join him. Then, you will talk about your ''lover''s'' disappearance, and beg him to help you find him. At that time, go for a hug, and crush the pill. The fire arrow will kill him."

    She looked at the pill in wonder, but did not question him as she didn''t know anything about magic. All she could do was trust him.

    Then, the two began waiting, waiting for the Stingers to come¡­

    Three hours later, the night fell, and three red robbed figures were making their way in the city. The guards guarding the door had already been disposed of, replaced by hidden gangsters.

    Robert, the leading one, said "Those bastards were tough to deal with, but we finally arrived home¡­ I swear, when we are finished with this shitty city I will never set foot on a mountain ever again!"

    Another Stinger on the side chuckled and said "Tenth brother, you know it won''t be long before our objective is done. First brother will soon take action."

    Robert nodded but suddenly stopped because of what he saw ahead. His daughter was there, looking at him with teary eyes. Worry instantly overwhelmed him as he rushed at her, moving so fast that Celina could only see a blur.

    Robert instantly asked "What happened?" His two colleagues joined him, looking at Celina curiously. Celina said with a sobbing voice "It''s Hughes¡­ He disappeared dad, I think the Butcher got him!"

    The three asked at the same time "The Butcher? Who is that?" They didn''t know about Dorian because he had appeared after they were gone.

    Celina cried even harder and threw herself to her father, hugging him. Robert took her in his arms of course, and asked "Sweaty, I''m sure he is fine, I will send men searching for him right now, alright?"

    But Celina didn''t say anything. Robert stroked her hair and asked "Celina?" But the only thing he heard was "I''m sorry."

    Celina crushed the pill.

 24 Monster?

    Celina was not born in the Dark City, but her father brought her there young, so she never remembered leaving the city.

    It wasn''t the best, but she led a happy childhood in it, made friends, enjoyed her youth¡­

    But then, the war began, and everything became a nightmare. During the first year of the war, soldiers of Nevaria camped the city, which was under martial law by then.

    But even after they left, refugees arrived. Criminality rose, and gangs such as the Red Scorpion Gang appeared. Celina''s father, Robert, joined the Red Scorpions and was given a high position because of his strength as a previous mercenary.

    That''s when her relationship with him started deteriorating. At first the gang wasn''t much different from the others, they robbed some people and fought other gangs. But when they became the last remaining gang, after having absorbed all the other ones, the Red Scorpion leader became greedy and wanted the city for himself.

    Although she never saw him, Celina still disliked Red Scorpion for what he did. But then there was his father. She knew what he did over the years. The innocents he killed.

    She wanted to leave, but she had nowhere to go. She was trapped in this city because of the war. Then, she met Hughes. He was handsome young man with whom she fell in love quickly.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    When her father first learned of their relationship, he was against it. Celina thought it would get better but he began chasing Hughes everytime he saw them together.

    So they began seeing each other in secret. And after a year, she wanted to marry him, she knew he was the man of her life. But then, it all crashed down.

    The Butcher arrived. He killed Hughes. Then he showed her Hughes real intentions, and her father''s mistrust. The anger and disgust she had for her father''s actions for the gang only fueled her hatred, and she collaborated with the Butcher.

    Until she stood in front of her father, she never had faltered in her belief that her father must die. But when she actually saw him, when she saw his scarred face, her resolve had been shaken.

    She then actually hesitated. But she knew she had gone too far, and that if she wanted to live, she needed to kill them. So she crushed the pill.

    Unfortunately for her, she never realized she got played, because the moment she crushed the pill, it exploded.

    Her body exploded along, body parts flying everywhere. As for Robert, although he was a superhuman, the pill exploded less than ten centimeters away from him.

    The explosion sent him, as well as the other two Stingers, flying, injured to different degrees. Before they could even land, the other two Stingers had their throat pierced by a dagger each, dying without even understanding how.

    Dorian appeared from the shadows, checking on the corpses. He was surprised to see that Robert was barely clinging to life.

    Dorian approached him, and Robert growled "You¡­ What did you do to her¡­" Dorian lowered himself next to him, and broke his neck.

    He didn''t want to talk to him. Because he was already feeling guilty enough. Dorian saw the multiple green glows from Robert''s body, but he didn''t pick any. Dorian had a bottom limit, and the other two Stingers would be good enough.

    Dorian still sprayed some of Robert''s blood on his robe, until the evolution requirement turned to two.

    He then went for the two other corpses, and did the same with their blood, turning the requirement to four.

    He looked back at the explosion''s origin. He had gone too far. Dorian felt the regret overwhelm him. Dorian looked away, but images of Celina''s body exploding kept flashing in.

    When he first killed, he didn''t feel anything.

    When he decided to use her, he didn''t feel much.

    When he made the plan, he didn''t feel anything.

    When he created the pill, he didn''t feel anything.

    When he gave it to her, he didn''t feel anything.

    But when he saw Robert''s panic-stricken appearance, when he saw the two hug, and when he heard Celina''s sorry, he felt it. The pain. He didn''t know where it came from, regret? Pity? Self-hatred?

    He didn''t know, all he knew, was that by each passing moment, he felt pain.

    He didn''t even have the heart to loot the two other Stingers in the end, he just left.

    He wanted the night to pass. At a moment, he thought about using Celina''s house for the night. And the pain got ten times worse.

    He sat straight in the snow, and tried to meditate, but he couldn''t. The images of Celina''s face, her exploding body wouldn''t disappear, and he couldn''t calm his mind.

    So he tried to sleep. But he couldn''t close his eyes.

    He buried his face in the snow, and that actually seemed to work in cooling down his mind. He once again tried to meditate, and the pain seemed to slowly go away.

    Dorian kept meditating until he couldn''t feel the pain anymore, and finally opened his eyes. The sun had risen. The rooster was crying. And the pain came back.

    But this time, it was different. It didn''t get worse with time, it just sat there, at the back of his mind, and everytime he was about to forget it, it would stab his heart, reminding him of it.

    That day, Dorian grew tired. He looked at his status, but no condition other than Hypothermia appeared.

    Dorian got up, shaking the snow off himself. He took off his mask, his robe, his boots, his daggers, his bracers and his gloves, and put everything in his Spacial Bag.

    The snow was cold, his bare feet in direct contact with it, and it felt good. His strength dwindled, but then he felt a little bit stronger. He looked at his attributes, and saw the problem. Basic abilities could upgrade an attribute until it reached 15.

    And when he took everything off, his strength became 13. Before, because it was above 15, he didn''t get the upgrade, but now that he took everything off, it went up to 15, which means his Strength would grow to 23 when he put everything back on. But that wasn''t all, because he also upgraded his Basic Dagger Mastery to Adept Dagger Mastery, adding one more point for both Strength and Agility.

    So his status became the following:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 160/160]

    [MP: 130/130]

    [Strength: 16 (24)]

    [Agility: 17-1 (19-1)] Take 1 away because of ailment

    [Vitality: 16]

    [Intelligence: 13]

    [Perception: 16 (20)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 8/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 3/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 3/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 1. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    For his attributes, the ones within brackets were his attributes with his equipment on, and the other were his natural attributes.

    Dorian was surprised by his level 3 meditation, because upgrading by even one level an Adept skill seemed impossible through experience alone, and yet he had advanced by two here.

    But looking at the nature of the ability, his deep grief was probably what pushed it to its limits and allowed it to be upgraded. It was the same with other skills, making practical use of them was the best way to gain experience.

    As for the reason why his Agility didn''t go up earlier, Dorian decided to put it on the Dreamland''s manager because he really wasn''t in the mood to think who could have made that mistake. (Definitely not the godly author...)

    But Dorian wished he hadn''t gained those two levels, he would rather have not done what he did.

    As for the reason why his Agility didn''t go up earlier, Dorian decided to put it on the Dreamland''s manager because he really wasn''t in the mood to think who could have made that mistake. (Definitely not the godly author¡­)

    For today, Dorian decided he would rest. No Butcher today. Today, there was only Dorian, the lost soul who just arrived in Dark City.

 25 Mundane

    Until now, Dorian had never really paid attention to the city, he had treated it like he treated cities in games: He knew where quest givers gathered, the basic outline of the ''streets'', and knew of a few important buildings such as the City Lord Mansion or the police station.

    Though, Dorian decided he would live normally today. So he he first began wandering in the empty streets. Without his equipment on, he was very cold, but it actually didn''t tale long for his Cold Resistance to level up to level 6, almost making the cold disappear.

    Like that, Dorian soon arrived to the city''s main center of interest, where people spent most of their days. Because it was so early, not many people were here, and only a few shops were opened. One of them was the bakery, so Dorian decided to make his way there.

    He was attracted by the fabulous smell that came from that place. And he happened to have a lot of coins with him. He wished the town had any hotel for the nights, but the city was far too secluded for anything like that.

    As he entered the shop, the smell intensified and Dorian''s eyes set on the different pastries. Their looked strange and their name was foreign. For example the Guli, an elliptic shaped green pastry filled with some kind of cream.

    As he looked at the different pastries, a middle aged man with a bit of fat approached and asked with a smile "You are quite early, the first customer of the day. I wished my son was as resolute as you. What can I do for you boy?"

    Dorian looked up and smiled sincerely "I just arrived in the city, and to be honest I''m quite lost in this city, my hometown is very different from here. What is this¡­ Gio? Jyom? I don''t know how to pronounce it."

    As he said that, Dorian pointed at what looked like bread. The man smiled and said "Jion. You aren''t from the surrounding Kingdoms are you? Which Kingdom do you hail from?" Dorian replied "A faraway land, I doubt you know of it. I came here to visit an uncle, but the war forced me to come here. How long have you been here?"

    The baker replied "I have always lived here, I didn''t come here because of the war. So, anything else with that Jion?" Dorian shook his head and said "It''s alright."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    The baker packed it up and said "That will be one silver." Dorian took out a silver when he heard stomping from above. He looked up in surprise and the baker said "We live upstairs, this should be my son."

    Dorian smiled and gave the silver coin to the baker. With a nod, he left the shop and looked around the plaza, searching for something to do. In such a foreign environment, it was hard for Dorian to find anything interesting to do, he had no idea what people in this era did for amusement.

    But as he looked around, he heard the door of the bakery behind him slam open, and before he could turn around he felt someone crash into his back. Unfortunately for that person, although Dorian had removed his equipment, his Strength and Vitality attributes were still terrifying, enabling his feet to stay on the ground.

    Dorian looked back and saw a young girl had bumped into him, and she was holding her bum in pain. At the same moment, a young man''s voice was heard approaching rapidly "Leticia, wait! Hey, what are you doing on the ground¡­ Who are you?"

    Dorian looked as a young man barely older than him spoke to the girl, then to him. Dorian nodded his head slightly and said "Good morning. I am no one special."

    The guy shrugged and said "Thanks for stopping her though." He looked down and helped the girl up and said "Leticia, I told you to stop running."

    The girl looked away and said "I don''t want to hear your voice, jerk!" Dorian shook his head and began walking away, this was none of his business.

    But as he made his way out of there, he heard the girl say "Hey you! What''s your name?" He turned his head and saw the girl coming after him. He tried to stop his face from going cold as he replied "Dorian."

    She nodded and said "Then sorry Dorian for bumping into you, it was my mistake." Dorian looked at her surprised. He didn''t expect her to apologize, he thought he had fallen upon an arrogant miss.

    He said "Don''t worry, it''s fine. Have a good day." But he was again stopped from leaving, but by the boy this time who asked "Did you just arrive in the city?"

    Dorian nodded, and the young man laughed "Great, my name is Florian! If you just arrived I guess you don''t know anyone. Why don''t you join us, my friends and I currently lack a person for what we want to do."

    Dorian was about to reject when he realized this was a chance. So he replied "Sure, when?" Florian shrugged and replied "When are you free?" Dorian smiled "I''m living alone and unemployed, all I have is free time."

    The girl suddenly said "What luck, you live on your own! I wish I could, my parents would stop nagging me everyday¡­"

    Dorian said nothing to that girl''s remark. Had he been here alone because his family died he would have been offended, but he was here on a mission so he couldn''t care less about a girl''s complaint about her parents.

    Like this, Dorian followed the two around, and learned a bit about the odd pair. They were a couple, they both lived in this city before the start of the war and were childhood sweat hearts. The reason they had been arguing was because Florian had to cancel that day''s activity, because they lacked a person, so Leticia was pissed at him for lying or whatever bull crap he said.

    Thanks to them, Dorian also got to meet other people of their age, and finally discovered what they were up to. After gathering 8 people, including Dorian, Florian and Leticia, Florian led them all to an old abandoned house, which was in ruins.

    Dorian had noticed it when he had been searching for a place to settle, but had discarded the place because the house didn''t give any protection against the cold as there were holes everywhere, moreover it threatened to fall on itself at any moment.

    As the arrived near it, they hid as they looked at the house with apprehension and excitement. Except for Dorian, who asked "What are we doing here exactly?"

    A cute girl who was only 15 called Rose exclaimed "Didn''t anyone tell him what we are doing?!"

    An older boy, Leon, hushed "Quiet! Are you mad?!" Rose lowered her head and said "You still should have told him¡­"

    Next to her, the oldest of the group, Natasha, who was in her early twenties, said "Dorian, do you know the Butcher?"

    Dorian nodded, of course he did, as it was him!

    Natasha said "He has been seen sneaking around here, the rumors says that this house is his hideout!"

    Dorian made a shocked face, but he laughed inwardly. He liked them.

    A brutish looking boy on the side, called Kevin, said "Are we going or not?"

    The last boy of the group, Flint, said "Of course we are. But how? Natasha?"

    The leader of the group was Natasha, so of course the choice ultimately came to her. After thinking for a bit, she finally said "We try to sneak in. Follow my lead."

    Had it been the Dorian from before experiencing the Dreamland, he would have cried out laughing looking at the youngsters trying to be sneaky. But even with the dulling of his emotions that occurred after he arrived in this world, he still let out a smile.

    For someone who upgraded his [Basic Sneak] to level 10, calling this Sneak was an insult to the ability. Still, he followed them, pushing down the urge to activate [Fade] and use Sneak, and followed them in their game.

 26 Exploration

    The group quickly arrived near the abandoned house. As the group were nearing the entrance they suddenly heard a wail.

    Everyone tensed up, a few already stepping back when Dorian said "Don''t worry, it''s just the wind going through the house."

    As they heard him, everyone calmed down as they realized he was saying the truth. They would normally have been able to tell the difference between a wail and the wind, but they were so nervous and tensed right now that their minds were muddled.

    It was another story for Dorian though, as he knew beforehand that this wasn''t the Butcher''s house.

    Natasha patted Dorian on the shoulder and asked "Why don''t you lead the way? You seem more¡­ experienced."

    Dorian shrugged and quickly approached the entrance. As he arrived before the broken door, he turned around and looked at everyone before asking "Do we open the door, or do we get through that window?"

    There was indeed a window, but it was a little too high and Dorian didn''t really see them jumping over it. So it came with no surprise when they unanimously replied "Door."

    Dorian looked back at the door and tried to find a way to open it. Had he been alone he would have kicked it open, but he was afraid that if he did so, they would run out screaming for their moms.

    In the end, Dorian grabbed the door with one hand and used the other to punch the old decaying wooden bonds. As expected, they broke straight away, letting Dorian lift the door, allowing him to open the way.

    The others looked at him impressed and made their way inside. Once sure everyone was in, Dorian quietly laid the door against the wall.

    This house was quite big, and could probably be called a mansion in this world. When Dorian joined the others, Rose said with an excited smile "This house used to be a rich merchant''s home, until some mishap happened and he disappeared. Since then, no one destroyed this house because it is said to be haunted!"

    Dorian smiled and asked "Do you believe in ghosts?" Rose scoffed "Of course I don''t, those are tails to scare the kids!"

    Dorian''s smile widened but he said nothing, quietly inspecting the house. At first glance, it didn''t seem to be very interesting, there wasn''t anything worth it in here.

    At some point, they reached a set of stairs, leading to the first floor. They stopped and Natasha said "We should split up, one group searches above, the other continue on this floor."

    The others nodded and Florian asked "Who''s willing to go up there?" This time, no one raised their hand. Seeing this, Dorian stepped toward the stairs, and looked at the others.

    Soon after, Flint joined him, followed by the couple Florian and Leticia. Now, the group was split in two. Dorian nodded to Natasha and began climbing the stairs, which creaked under his weight.

    Thankfully, the four of them were able to reach the first floor above safely, without the stairs breaking down.

    Dorian randomly went to one of the rooms, and found himself in a dilapidated child''s room. He looked behind him and saw the others were heading towards different rooms, so he decided to explore this part.

    The room was quite big for this time period, as it was as big as Dorian''s in the real world, maybe even bigger.

    He walked to the bed, which took most of the place, and patted it, creating a cloud of dust. Several insects came out from the quilt and below the bed.

    Dorian shook his head and looked around the room. The walls had holes in them, and were grey because of all the time that passed. But Dorian was able to discern that the original color of the walls was blue.

    That meant this merchant was really rich because colors like blue were quite hard to make and thus costly, and for someone to color a whole room in blue¡­

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    There were also toys, wooden swords, wooden horses and small soldiers. Except for the sword, the rest of the toys weren''t much different from Earth.

    There were a few pieces of furniture, and Dorian wanted to move a few of them but decided not to as he feared the house would really fall down on their heads if he did so.

    But as he kept looking around, he saw the edge of a box on top of a piece of furniture taller than himself. It was well hidden by the darkness and he would have missed it if he hadn''t paid enough attention.

    He tiptoed to reach the box, which was pretty light, and put it on the bed. It turned out that it wasn''t a box, but a small chest. Which was locked.

    Dorian tried looking around for the key but found nothing, so he turned to the other option, break it open. But now that all his equipment was in his Spatial Bag, his strength had returned to 15, which was good but far from breaking a chest.

    And Dorian didn''t want to put on his equipment, so he had to think of a way to cleverly use his strength.

    What first came to his mind was crushing the chest under a big weight, but he eliminated it as it could destroy whatever was inside the chest.

    Dorian thus eliminated this option, and turned toward another one, the lever. He needed to find something that could work as a crowbar, and use it to break it open¡­

    Suddenly, Dorian slapped his forehead because of his stupidity. He said to himself "Stoop being dumb Dorian! This is not the real world, you have advantages!"

    Dorian took a needle he had seen earlier and inserted it in the lock, trying to fiddle with whatever was inside. After a good five minutes, Dorian opened his status, and saw a new ability:

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    New knowledge appeared in his head, and Dorian had become able in the art of lock picking.

    He got up and approached one of the wooden furniture and teared apart a small piece of one of them. Then, using this small piece of wood and the needle, Dorian successfully unlocked the chest.

    Dorian was curious about what was inside when suddenly he heard a cry from downstairs. He sprinted out of the room and saw the three others were also out of the rooms, rushing toward the sound.

    Before Dorian could say anything to them, they all sprinted down the stairs. The stairs were very fragile, and they almost couldn''t support their weight when they walked carefully on them, so it didn''t take to be a genius to guess what would happen when three people ran on them.

    But those three had never encountered any danger before, and hearing their friend cry out made them panic, making their thinking process near nonexistent.

    As soon as they all got on the stairs, with a breaking sound they all started to fall down. Dorian jumped from his stair to the one below, landing firmly on the ground.

    He went to check on the ones who fell worried, but was relieved to see that they were fine. They could have easily hit their heads or been pierced through by something sharp below the stairs.

    The three were groaning in pain, but Flint managed to say "Don''t wait for us, go check what happened."

    Dorian nodded and began running around. But he didn''t know where the voice came from. His first instinct was to look outside the house, but saw no one.

    As he searched, he wondered what could have happened to the ones downstairs. It could have merely been one of them being extremely afraid of spiders and who fell upon one, but if it had been something like that he would have seen someone.

    But now, he had searched through almost all the pieces, but found nobody. As he was between two rooms, he saw the other three had joined him, Florian was limping and the other two helping him.

    Dorian nodded to them and opened the room he was about to check. How surprised was he when he discovered the dark entrance that seemed to lead straight to hell.

 27 Cave

    Dorian threw a quick look at the others before advancing forward. He didn''t expect anything to actually happen here, after all he knew this wasn''t the Butcher''s home, so what dug luck would it be to fall upon scary things?

    But it looks like today wasn''t their day. Dorian stepped down in the darkness, descending the stairs. Actually, once he was in he could see a little, but even his vision was severally undermined.

    He helped the others down the stairs, and led the way. They formed a line by holding hands as to make sure they wouldn''t lose anyone.

    The tunnel wasn''t very long, and soon they saw light again. They followed it until they reached a strange place. It was an enormous grotto that was plunging deep into the earth. The whole cave was bathed in a strange green light that seemed to chill everyone.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    At the entrance of the grotto, Dorian spotted Kevin and Natasha were on the ground. He quickly joined them and was relieved to see they were simply unconscious. With a little shake they woke up with a gasp.

    After quickly calming them down, Dorian asked "What happened?" Kevin looked pretty shaken but Natasha was able to answer him "We discovered this cave, and searched a bit¡­ Until we were attacked."

    Dorian frowned and asked "Who attacked you?" This time, Kevin replied, still looking afraid "Demons! It was demons!"

    Dorian rolled his eyes and looked at Natasha, but saw that she wasn''t denying, but instead said "They attacked us and took Rose and Leon away."

    Dorian shook his head and said "Whoever they were, we need to find them now. Though, I wonder what this cave could possibly be¡­"

    He looked at the ones behind who were slowly catching up and said "Take care of the two of them, I will go search for Rose and Leon."

    The others didn''t object, they were already too scared to advance any more. After all, hearing that demons were ahead, they wouldn''t just go sacrifice their life meaninglessly.

    They tried holding Dorian back, but quickly understood they wouldn''t be able to do it.

    So Dorian ran down the cave alone, following the path that looked man-made. As he made his way down, Dorian couldn''t help but admire the beautiful sight created by the color of the air, mixed with the light emitted by the different gems on the walls.

    It didn''t take long for Dorian to reach the bottom of the cave, and how surprised was he by what he saw. The bottom of the cave was actually a big pond, with mystical orange water.

    On the water, was a platform on which an altar was erected. Below the altar, Dorian could see both Leon and Rose, the two were currently being tied by four strange creatures.

    They looked humanoid, but the skin they exposed was red, they had claws instead of hands and had two horns on their foreheads. Dorian now understood why they had been called demons earlier.

    He didn''t know what they were up to, but Dorian knew that he couldn''t let them do whatever they wanted to do with Rose and Leon.

    So he activated [Fade] and entered Sneak mode, quickly approaching the group.

    No one was able to see him approach until he broke the neck of one of demons. The three remaining ones looked at him in fury, and Dorian was shocked by their eyes.

    They had no pupil, all Dorian could see was a flame in their eyes. He felt his control over his body leave him and he entered a strange place, a dark place.

    Suddenly, a light appeared, because a big flame lit up in the sky. But the surroundings still looked as dark as before for Dorian¡­

    Dorian was suddenly exiled from this space as he felt something hit his chest, and send him flying. He barely had the time to see that one of the demons had hit him before he hit the ground, pain wrecking his chest.

    Apart from the pain, Dorian felt shock. He had 16 of Vitality after all, it shouldn''t be easy for a normal human to hurt him this much, lest sending him flying.

    Dorian got up but this time did not look at them in the eyes. Looked at their feet, Dorian started rushing at the three demons.

    As he approached them quickly, Dorian noticed that the three seemed to take a step forward, preparing for an attack.

    Dorian waited for a short moment, before rolling down. Dorian stopped in front of one of the demons and punched its knee, forcing it to kneel, and broke his neck too, before rolling away.

    But as he did so he heard someone say "Wow Wow Wow! Calm down! Stop it!" Dorian stopped moving in confusion but kept looking at their feet, as he didn''t trust them one bit.

    One of the remaining demons said with a human voice "Why are you attacking us? We didn''t attack you!"

    Dorian scoffed "Those two are with me, you attacked them. Hand them over and I won''t kill you." The other demon said "Why are you so violent, let''s talk this out¡­ We don''t have to always resort to violence you know?"

    Dorian could almost feel the demon roll its eyes as it said that. Dorian gritted his teeth and said "What are you demons trying to do?"

    The first demon said with an offended tone "We aren''t demons! You humans truly are the most racist race, along with the elves. We are Sadunites, not demons! We serve the great God of Fire, Sardun, not that evil devil."

    Dorian frowned and said "I don''t care what race you are from, you tried to bewitch me just now!"

    The second demon, no Sadunite, said "Man, you just killed our friend! Of course we will retaliate! You humans really are the worst scums this world has to offer. First you are always waging wars among yourselves, you invade our mountains, you even profane the gods themselves!" the last sentence was said with a spit.

    Dorian didn''t know what to say, it seemed humans really were scums in this world. But he still said "It''s not my fault, you are the ones who abducted my friends!"

    The first Sadunite said "Alright, that''s not leading us anywhere. We give you back your friends, and you leave us alone, alright?"

    Dorian frowned and asked "Why should I believe you?" The Sadunite replied "We were about to offer those two humans to the great Sardun, but now that you killed those two we can just offer them, so we don''t have any use for those two humans."

    Dorian pondered before saying "Only if you let me watch your offering to the gods. And tell me about that thing you did to me."

    The second Sadunite replied with a sigh "You humans are even greedier than the Dwarfs¡­ Alright, bring those two away, we will be waiting for you."

    Dorian asked "Won''t the two of you do anything? I just killed your friends." The first Sadunite laughed "Of course not, we would rather become your friend than your enemy. And Gu always ate everything, that dumb pig¡­"

    The two started talking bad about the two dead Sadunites, so Dorian ignored them and approached the two teenagers, on guard against any movement from the two.

    Only once he took the two away from the altar did Dorian relax and start bringing the two up the cave.

    This time it took him a little longer to go up the cave because of the two he had to carry, but he still joined the others in under five minutes.

    Once he arrived they flocked toward him, but before they could say anything Dorian said "Take care of those two, and go back home, the danger has been eliminated. Don''t speak of this to anyone."

    Natasha tried to say "But we must¡­" However, before she could finish her sentence Dorian took out all his equipment from his Spatial Bag. They looked in shock because they didn''t expect Dorian to take out so many things from such a tiny bag. But they didn''t recognize the things he took out though.

    Dorian quickly put on everything on him, returning to his cold Butcher persona as he said with a deep voice "No. One. Shall. Know. Understood?"

 28 Mind Magic

    The others were simply too scared to move. They could have fled while Dorian was putting on his equipment, but fear had paralyzed them as they started to understand who he really was.

    So when they heard him talk, they all were woken up from their stunned state and nodded before running, carrying the two unconscious teens.

    Dorian shook his head and sprinted down the cave, this time much faster than before, allowing him to join the Sadunites quickly.

    The two dead Sadunites had already been tied to the altar, while the two alive were waiting for Dorian. As soon as he arrived he said "Tell me about that spell of yours."

    The Sadunite replied "You¡­ What kind of person are you? Whatever, just look into my eyes."

    Dorian hesitated once he heard him, but resolved himself and looked straight into those strange flames. Instantly, he was drawn back into that black space lit up with the flame.

    He then heard the voice of the Sadunite "This is your mind. And this flame is part of mine. When you look into my eyes, you allow me to attack your mind with mine. This is called Mind Magic."

    Dorian asked "Can you teach me?"

    The Sadunite laughed and replied "To think a human would lower himself to ask a Sadunite to teach him, laughable."

    Dorian frowned and released his killing aura by instinct. Dorian felt a great tremor, and saw a massive wave of blood appear out of nowhere, rushing at the flame. In an instant, the red wave overwhelmed the flame, extinguishing it and returning Dorian to the real world.

    The Sadunite who launched the spell grunted in pain and asked "What the fuck, what kind of psycho are you?!"

    Dorian could now look into his eyes with his killing aura activated, and he asked "Can you teach me?"

    The Sadunite replied "This skill is unique to our race."

    Dorian said "What about Mind Magic. Teach me." The Sadunite frowned and said "Are you kidding me, you just used it!"

    Dorian retracted his killing aura and said "Teach me."

    The Sadunite stared at Dorian for a couple seconds before saying "Alright. Don''t reject me this time."

    Dorian felt himself return to that dark space, and heard the Sadunite say "Really strange, your mind being made of void really means you don''t know Mind Magic, but how did you create such a strong killing aura then?"

    Dorian replied "None of your business. What should I do?" The Sadunite replied "As I said, we are within your mind right now, and to use Mind Magic you need to be able to use your mind. To do so, you need to condense your mind energy into a fitting form. For me, it is this flame."

    Dorian asked "How do I do this?" The Sadunite replied "This is very difficult as you need to empty your mind. Then, there are two options. You either slowly transform your mind, or you use the strength of someone else mind to do it faster."

    Dorian knew there was something fishy, so he asked "Is there any other difference than the time taken between the two options?"

    The Sadunite replied "Of course, the fast way is much more dangerous. When you do it the fast way, you can''t stop the process, while the slow way allows you to stop at any time. The problem is that if your mind loses its empty state, you must stop. If it''s the slow way, there is consequence. But if you do it the fast way, then your mind will be heavily injured if not destroyed."

    Dorian didn''t hesitate in answering "We are doing it the fast way. How long will it take?" The Sadunite was surprised by Dorian''s resolve, and said "10 minutes."

    Dorian nodded and said "Let me out."

    Dorian returned to the real world and sat down, and said "Let''s start." He entered into a meditation state, while keeping his eyes open.

    He felt himself depart from the real world again, but this time it was much more different. He felt he had some kind of control over his mind this time, instead of how powerless he was earlier.

    Suddenly, two flames appeared in the dark space, and Dorian felt like he could extinguish them any time he wanted. But he did nothing, he just watched.

    The two flames started emitting a powerful pressure, and they began sucking the dark space toward them. But they didn''t absorb it, and instead gathered it at a spot in front of them.

    Dorian felt some of the control he had disappear, but he didn''t react and watched on. As the minutes passed, the spot in front of the flames had transformed, no longer being the dark void it was earlier, but started gaining some color.

    It was white. The white gas started becoming bigger and bigger, until it reached a state a little bigger than the two flames.

    Then, the suction force stopped, and was replaced by a pressure that felt like a mountain. The white gas was being refined, compressed smaller and smaller until it became a small white ball, only the size of a fingernail.

    But Dorian was unsatisfied with how small it was, and thus used his control over the surrounding space to pour more of the dark void into the white ball. He heard to voices say at the same time "What?"

    Dorian didn''t care about their surprise and poured enormous amount of dark void into it. His speed was much faster than the two flames, and the white ball started becoming bigger and bigger.

    One of the two flames said "Strange, this is weird. I don''t know what your doing human, but continue doing this, the bigger the ball is, the stronger your mind will become. But we won''t be able to help you anymore, you have taken too much control. The bigger your ball is, the better your potential will be. When you are finished, you must break open the light ball."

    The two flames left, leaving Dorian alone. He continued pouring dark void in the ball, he didn''t know how much time passed when he finally started feeling full.

    It was a strange feeling, it was like he eaten too much, but it didn''t come from his stomach.

    But even though he was starting to feel full, he didn''t stop and continued, he wanted to fill this white ball as much as he could.

    After some time, the light ball started ignoring the dark void, so Dorian stopped and looked curiously at the now head sized white ball. He was stumped, he didn''t know how he should break it.

    He tried commanding it, but it didn''t work. He tried using his control over the dark void to break the light ball, but it didn''t work. After some time, Dorian decided to use his only mind attack: his killing aura.

    The blood tide appeared again, only that this time it looked much bigger than earlier. Dorian slammed it into the white ball, engulfing it. But he was disappointed because when the white ball reappeared, it only had a small crack that repaired itself quickly.

    Dorian focused on tide and began shrinking it, condensing it.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    The tide was originally several meters tall and wide, but after Dorian''s modification it shrunk to become about as big as a human chest.

    But it looked much more solid now. It crashed into the white ball with much more force, and instead of engulfing it this time it pushed it back, before slamming into it again.

    Numerous cracks appeared on the white ball''s surface, which quickly began healing themselves, but the blood tide crashed into it again, before pushing it back, crushing into it, pushing it¡­

    The healing eventually couldn''t keep up with the damage, and after some time the white ball broke open with a loud crack.

    Dorian felt his mind explode, and white energy left the shattered ball. It quickly gathered together and began forming a white flame.

 29 Mind Palace

    Dorian opened his eyes abruptly, and looked at the two Sadunites. He said "I have done it. What now?"

    One of the Sadunites said "Good, what is it?" Dorian replied "A white flame. Any importance?" The Sadunite replied "It is very important. It is good your is a flame, the way you will approach Mind Magic will be similar to ours."

    Dorian frowned and asked "What do you mean?"

    The Sadunite replied "There are several paths to Mind Magic. Some practice telekinesis, telepathy, mind attacks¡­ You must pick a path that is suitable for you, and to know the right path you mainly deduce it from your mind''s shape."

    The other Sadunite intervened "Now, we will teach you a spell that will allow you to project your mind''s flame into our own minds. This is the most basic form of attack, and will allow us to understand more about your shape."

    Dorian nodded and looked at the two patiently. The Sadunite who just talked said "Now what you need to do is visualize your flame. Try to make it as realistic as possible."

    Dorian closed his eyes and tried to recall what the flame looked like. He then heard "When you are done, open your eyes and imagine that flame leaving your mind and throwing itself at our eyes."

    Dorian continued visualizing his flame until he found it detailed enough, and opened his eyes. He looked into one of the Sadunite''s eyes and projected his flame into it.

    He felt his mind leave his body and enter the Sadunite''s. He entered that familiar space, but instead of the dark void, everything was red.

    Moreover, he saw an orange fire, next to a shabby looking house.

    He heard the Sadunite say "Impressive, your flame is even bigger than mine, you have a lot of potential for a human. Now, try to destroy the house."

    Dorian looked at himself and realized that he had come here not in his human form, but as the white flame. So to destroy that house, he simply rushed at it, and tried to burn it.

    But he strangely passed through it without doing any damage. Dorian frowned and tried something else, he detached a part of his flame and controlled it to become a long blade, which he threw at the house.

    This time, the fire didn''t go through, but hit the house. It made a little tear on the wall it hit, not enough to go through it but still made a tear.

    But what was interesting was that after the initial impact, the area around the tear began burning under the white flame, which grew bigger and bigger.

    Dorian didn''t doubt that if left alone, it would burn the whole house. But as it was burning, the red flame passed by, and extinguished the white fire.

    With a weaker voice than usual, the Sadunite said "Your mind shape is special¡­ The main flames seems to be nonexistent, whereas your attacks destroy. If I had to take a guess, I would say that your body has a great affinity for the Space element, as well as for the Fire element."

    Dorian retreated back in the sky and the Sadunite said "It seems we were wrong, your path isn''t the same as ours at all. What we do is mainly mind attacks, such as what we did to you earlier. But it looked like yours is telekinesis, or anything that meddles with the material world."

    Dorian asked "Can you teach me?"

    The Sadunite replied "I can''t, but Jok''ii can." Dorian asked "You have been helping me a lot, may I know what''s your name?"

    The Sadunite replied "I am Jun of the Tenth Tribe. You?" Dorian replied "Dorian Hunt, from the Earth Kingdom. You don''t have a surname?"

    Jun replied "We Sadunites only have a first name followed by our tribe." Dorian asked "Is the Tenth Tribe powerful?"

    Jun shrugged and said "Depends on what you mean by powerful. Out of the 26 tribes, we are ranked 19th in term of influence."

    Dorian nodded, and asked "Why are you helping me? I want a real answer, because no ones gives this much help without a purpose, whatever their race is."

    Jun smiled, although Dorian couldn''t see it, and said "I do indeed have a reason. The two you killed, they were part of the 7th Tribe. Although we aren''t enemies, we don''t really have a friendly relationship either, the only reason we stayed together was that we are trapped here."

    Jun continued with a somber tone "I helped you because I think you could help us¡­"

    Dorian interrupted him "Do I really look like this kind of person? I just killed two people of your race without asking any question. I did worse things up in the city."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Jun replied cheekily "Exactly. I don''t need a fragile sissy who wants to save the world and promote world peace, I need someone who stops at nothing to get the job done."

    Dorian shook his head and replied "Unfortunately for you, I am changing my ways."

    Jun said "What I am asking you first is to help me escape this mountain."

    Dorian heard the notification of a new side mission appearing, which was to save the two Sadunites. He accepted it and said "It shouldn''t be too difficult. All I have to do is getting you out of the city and you can walk down the mountain."

    Jun shook his head and said "We could have done that on our own. But it isn''t that simple, because we have been bound to this mountain by a powerful spell."

    Dorian asked "How am I supposed to help you?" Jun shrugged and replied "It has something to do with the Heart of the Mountain. We don''t really know what we should do so we keep feeding it. Your human friends were supposed to be the sacrifice, but now the two bastards from the 7th Tribe are the sacrifices."

    Dorian nodded and said "I will see what I can do. Now, let me out, after I learn Mind Magic I want to see how you deal with the sacrifice, and I will return to the city. I will later return here to help you."

    Jun said "It''s not like we really have a choice¡­ If you want to leave this space, all you have to do is to will it."

    Dorian did as he was told, and he indeed returned to his body. He looked at the other Sadunite, whom he learned was called Jok''ii, and said "I wish to learn telekinesis. Can you help me?"

    Jok''ii nodded and replied "When you were in Jun''s head, you must have seen the house he had. This was a mental construct. What you will try to do is to use your flame to gather Mind energy and transform it into a basic construct. The better your construct, the stronger your mind power will be."

    Dorian frowned and asked "What does the flame''s size have to do with Mind Magic?" Jok''ii replied "The bigger your Mind Shape is, the faster you will be able to gather Mind energy."

    Dorian nodded and asked "How do I enter my mind?" Jok''ii then taught him quickly how to do it, and Dorian started constructing his own house. But it was taking too long, he felt like he would only get the foundations in several hours, so he tried to think how to accelerate the process.

    Then it came to him. Meditation.

    He exited his Mind and this time tried to enter his Mind while meditating, and started constructing his own Mind Palace as they called it, even though it more looked like a ruined beggar''s house than anything else¡­

    Dorian was overjoyed to see that the speed at which he gathered Mind energy multiplied by manifold and he began constructing his house.

    He did not know how much time went by when he finally finished the foundations. He opened his eyes and saw that the two Sadunites were sleeping.

    Dorian wanted to wake them up at first, but considering how kind they had been to him he decided to let them sleep. So, he opened his status.

 30 Surge in Intelligence

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher]

    [HP: 160/160]

    [MP: 210/210]

    [Strength: 15 (23)]

    [Agility: 16 (18)]

    [Vitality: 16]

    [Intelligence: 21]

    [Perception: 16 (20)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Throwing Mastery (Level 8/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 3/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 2/10)]

    [Condition: -Hypothermia: Cold energy has infiltrated your body. Agility dropped by 0. If left untreated, the drop of attributes will worsen with time.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Dorian couldn''t help but check several times his status. There was something weird going on. His Intelligence, wasn''t it supposed to be at 15? How comes there is a 21 written there?

    In the end Dorian was forced to accept that this was real. Then, he tried to search how this could have happened.

    It had to be related to Mind Magic, but even the level 2 Mind Magic couldn''t do this much, right?

    After thinking for some time, Dorian attributed this to him feeding his white ball which later transformed into the white flame. Maybe this had helped enhance his Intelligence?

    But Dorian also noticed that unlike his other attributes, his Intelligence was shining with a light gold light. He focused on it, and a window appeared:

    [Your raw Intelligence attribute has reached 20! You can now choose a sub-skill for said attribute:

    Wise I: Your MP are upgraded by 10%

    Efficient: All spells are enhanced by 10%]

    Dorian''s face wore a grin right now. Whether he took [Wise] or [Efficient], both would be useful to him. [Wise] would allow him to use more skills, whatever their nature are, while [Efficient] would facilitate his path as a mage.

    But he didn''t know which one to choose. Honestly, Dorian knew that he wouldn''t get to use good spells for a while, the spells he would learn right now wouldn''t be influenced a lot by a 10% increase. But in the future, if he were ever to launch tornadoes or infernos on his enemies, an enhancement of 10% would absolutely be terrifying.

    On the other end, an enhancement of 10% MP would be useful even now, and even later on it wouldn''t be useless.

    So basically, [Wise] would allow him to have a slight power up instantly, while [Efficient] would be more useful the more time passes.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian first thought of taking [Wise], but eventually decided on [Efficient]. The reason is that he felt that encountering an item that offered effects similar to [Wise] would be more easily found than one presenting effects similar to [Efficient].

    And Dorian also felt that [Efficient] could allow him to break through certain limits.

    If he understood how magic worked well, then the main differences should be the level of mastery, for example [Basic Mind Magic] and [Adept Mind Magic] would be two different levels of magic, even though the earlier one didn''t seem to exist.

    Now, when Dorian gets to level 10 of [Adept Mind Magic], no matter how much Intelligence he has, his spells will always have the same amount of power, that is the peak of Adept rank. So adding more MP allows him to throw more spells, but that can be easily covered with adding more points to his Intelligence.

    However, if his spells are 10% more effective, then that means that they go beyond the Adept Rank, and while they may not necessarily be as powerful as spells of the next rank, they would still have broken the limit of their ranks, and that is something that can''t be done in any other way.

    So that''s why Dorian selected the sub-skill [Effectiveness], although it wouldn''t be useful for some time.

    After that, Dorian checked on his new skill, Mind Invasion, and learned that this was the way he had used to enter Jun''s mind. Next, he also learned about the way he should level up his [Adept Mind Magic].

    All he needed to do was to construct his house. By the time he has finished it, he would have reached the level 10. To reach the next rank, he would need to create something more, but he doesn''t know what yet.

    But to Dorian, that also meant the two Sadunites were at least at the top of the [Adept Mind Magic], proving of their power. Although, Dorian felt that a level 10 [Adept Mind Magic] couldn''t match a level 10 [Adept Dagger Mastery] because the Sadunites had barely injured him when he killed two of them, and Dorian didn''t doubt that if he hadn''t stopped, he could have killed them as long as he didn''t look in their eyes.

    What Dorian didn''t take into account was the difference in attributes. After all, the Sadunites were even weaker than average humans in term of physical strength, and only had above average Intelligence.

    But Dorian didn''t know of this difference, because back when they fought he thought one of the Sadunites had punched him while he was under the spell, and for a punch to send him flying and injure him, it must be pretty powerful.

    What he didn''t know was that it wasn''t a punch, but a strike coming from Jok''ii telekinesis.

    Once he finished analyzing his new status, Dorian started training with his daggers. He used the walls around as his targets and trained. Although training his Mind Magic would enhance his Intelligence, he couldn''t really do much with it.

    Instead, his Dagger mastery would allow him to enhance his Agility. Even though his speed of advancement would be slower, it still would advance anyway.

    Dorian trained like that for two whole hours, thanks to his outstanding stamina, and he would have continued if not for the disturbance.

    While he trained, he heard voices coming from up the cave, many of them.

    The two Sadunites soon woke up, and the look on their face was grave. Jun looked at Dorian and said "See why we kill humans? The ones you let go told the others, and now that they know of our existence they will kill us. Even if we survive this assault, we are unable to leave this mountain so we can''t escape."

    Dorian frowned and said "My bad. Leave it to me, I''ll take care of them. I assure you, they won''t dare come back. I understand my mistake."

    But even though he said that, if Dorian knew this would happen he still would have let the others go.

    But there were no if in this world, what was done was done, and now Dorian had to take care of the trash. Dorian looked at the two Sadunites and said "I need your help. Stand next to the altar, and wait for them to come. Can you defend yourself against them?"

    The two nodded, Jok''ii said "Jun can take control of the bodies of the weaker ones, and I can push some others with my telekinesis."

    Dorian frowned and asked "What use will this be?" Jok''ii replied with a laugh "The water, it''s as hot as boiling water. Honestly, we wanted to throw you in it when we fought, but your spirit was too powerful to control your body, and your physical body too strong for me to push you in it."

    Dorian felt goosebumps as he learned how close he was from death just now. But he didn''t hold a grudge against the two, they were protecting themselves.

    Still, he asked "Jok''ii, how many objects can you use with your telekinesis?" Jok''ii replied "Depends on their size and weight."

    Dorian took out a sub par dagger he had and asked "Those daggers, can you use it to kill? And how many can you wield at the same time to kill?"

    Jok''ii replied "One. I have enough mental strength to use more, but I wouldn''t be able to focus on them, I can''t yet split my mind to do several actions."

    Dorian nodded, doing several things at the same time wasn''t difficult, but splitting one''s mind in two wasn''t the same, as it would allow someone to write and read at the same time for example, or read from two texts at the same time, or even write two different things at the same time.

    Anyway, it was very difficult, and Dorian couldn''t do it either.

    He threw his dagger at Jok''ii, who managed to stop it before it hit him, and started preparing himself.

 31 Plenty of sacrifice

    Dorian couldn''t help but sigh as he faded in the shadows. He had promised himself that today he would be Dorian and not the butcher, and yet he had already killed two people and was about to slaughter some more.

    But he would rather break the promise he had made himself rather than letting Jun and Jok''ii die because of his mistake. What he intended to do was to kill those intruders and leave none alive so that the others in the city won''t know what happened.

    Then, when they will be told that this is the hideout of the Butcher and demons by those kids, the adults will think that they were traumatized by the ''near-death'' experience and will ignore the demon part.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Though, Dorian''s real identity was probably screwed, although he didn''t really care as the reason he put a mask on first wasn''t to hide his identity but allow him to sneak attack Red Scorpion members.

    Dorian started climbing quickly one of the walls thanks to his ability [Basic Movement Mastery] which was at level ten, and spotted the cautiously advancing intruders. They were Red Scorpion members.

    After all, the authorities had no reason to attack this place, the City Lord had no enmity with Dorian. Dorian continued to climb and arrived behind them, but he did not attack and instead tailed them, waiting for them to reach the two Sadunites.

    The group was composed of thirty elites, they were chasing after the Butcher after all, but that wouldn''t be enough.

    The finally arrived to the bottom of the cave, and the ones in front of the group froze in shock at the two Sadunites'' sight. After all, even though humans knew of other species, Sadunites seemed to be rare or just too much like demons in appearance.

    Anyway, the elites proved themselves to be past soldiers because even though they held some shock at first, they recovered quickly and resumed to make their way to the two ''demons''.

    They looked pretty confident, and the on who seemed to be the leader said out loud "You¡­ Who are you?!" Jun replied "We are Sadunites and we are trapped here. We mean no harm."

    The leader sneered though and said "Sure, why are those two tied there?" Jok''ii replied with a frown "You red robed friend killed them."

    The leader shuddered and multiple voices said weakly "The Butcher was here!"

    The leader''s grip tightened on his sword and he said "Die demons!" Jun sighed and said "We tried to help you."

    The gangsters started running toward the two Sadunites, when suddenly one of them backstabbed another with his sword. The gangsters were shocked but immediately put it on the demon''s fault. They ganged on the brainwashed elite.

    But as they did so, a dagger suddenly flew by and another had his throat slashed open. The soldiers looked at the dagger in fear, but fortunately for them it was only one dagger.

    The brainwashed elite was immediately killed, and the remaining elites looked at the two Sadunites in anger. After all, their friend was killed by them. But this time, they learned their lessons and didn''t look straight in their eyes.

    That made them vulnerable to the flying dagger, but there were thirty of them so they would kill the two Sadunites before all dying.

    But as they were running at the two, a shadow suddenly appeared behind them. It was Dorian of course. Armed with his two daggers, he rushed in the group of elites and went right through them.

    Before they even saw him, five elites were killed, and Dorian had arrived at the front of the group, and used his strength to stop the charging group.

    But there were still more than twenty elites, so Dorian could only stop a part of them. His spread arms suddenly crossed each other, slashing three of the elites'' throats.

    Then, he rolled backwards, dodging the swords about to pierce through his body. At the same time, Jun possessed yet another elite about to attack Dorian, while Jok''ii killed another.

    Dorian grinned at the two''s support and rushed back through the group. Although he couldn''t stop them, his strength was enough to let him go through their group.

    His action caused the group to split the group in two, and also put Dorian on the back of the group again, leaving them no chance to escape.

    For the following minute, a slaughter took place. Dorian did most of the work, his abilities allowed him to simply tear through that group and kill them with no real danger. With the two Sadunites help, it was really easy.

    Even the two Sadunites were in no danger because every time a gangster tried to approach them and they couldn''t stop him, Dorian would throw one of the weapons that littered the ground at the attacker.

    Bodies littered the ground, dismembered limbs and heads every here and there. Dorian looked at the blood that seemed to form a lake.

    He almost didn''t feel anything. That kind of scared Dorian, he feared he was becoming a cold blooded monster, or was he one already?

    Dorian sighed and looked at the two Sadunites. Jun and Jok''ii were actually throwing up. Dorian was surprised, then angry at himself for being surprised. He had just followed every other human, he had assumed they wouldn''t be disgusted by the slaughter because they weren''t humans.

    But actually, Sadunites had feelings too, and none of the two were seasoned fighters, this was probably one of the rare fights they ever had considering the way they fought.

    For example, Jok''ii who only targeted the throats of the elites. But that made it way harder for him to hit, he would have been more efficient if he had targeted the joints and crippled them.

    To Dorian, it made him think of zombies. A newbie zombie hunter would target the heads because only a hit to the head would kill it, but a true fighter would actually aim for the knees. This would cripple the zombie and it wouldn''t be much more dangerous than a dead one.

    So in the end, going past the fact Jun and Jok''ii weren''t humans, it was perfectly understandable they would throw up.

    Dorian didn''t go to them but instead checked the corpses on the ground. He didn''t take any risk, and started kicking the corpses. But in the end, all of them were really dead.

    Dorian looked at the two and saw they weren''t throwing up anymore, although they both looked a little pale¡­ Well, as pale as they can get.

    Jun looked at Dorian and asked with a small smile "Are you cold blooded or did you throw up in your mask?"

    Dorian smiled and said "Take a guess." Jun shook his head and said "Let''s begin the sacrifice, shall we?"

    Dorian nodded and asked "What do you do exactly?" Jok''ii replied "We are throwing those bodies in the water to let the Heart of the Mountain absorb it. The only way for us to be freed is to either destroy the heart, or feed it enough energy to free ourselves. Because we can''t destroy it, we give it corpses to strengthen itself."

    Dorian looked at the corpses behind and said "Those corpses should help then. Why do you tie them up though?"

    Jun replied "Because when we throw multiple of them, they tend to get everywhere and the Heart takes too long to swallow them, its attraction force is very weak. So if we tie them together, and drops them above the Heart, they don''t get everywhere and it''s much faster."

    Dorian nodded and asked "Is there any correlation between the sacrifice''s strength and the energy absorbed?"

    Jun shrugged and said "We don''t really know, the heart never talked to us or anything. In theory, the heart absorbs the latent Life Essence in sacrifices. So as long as the sacrifice has practiced from a manual, its Life Essence should be stronger and the energy absorbed better."

 32 Troubling situation

    Because the two were not doing well, Dorian proceeded to tie all the elites together. Because there wasn''t enough, and that Dorian didn''t have any with him, he had to use their clothes to tie them together.

    Once he was finished, he said "Jun, Jok''ii, I think we messed up." The two looked at him curiously and asked "Why?"

    Dorian replied "How are we supposed to throw them in the water? Moving more than thirty men and women isn''t something that can be easily done."

    The two said "Argh, yes, it will prove to be hard¡­ Any solution?"

    Dorian nodded and said "We need some kind of platform to put them on and drag them. It would be great if we had wheels, but I don''t know where we could get them. For the platform, I can take a few things in the house upstairs."

    Jun frowned and asked "Will that really help? The platform needs to be quite big." Dorian shook his head and said "I''ll manage."

    He waved his hand to the two and made his way up the cave, coming back to the dilapidated house. But he was surprised to hear voices outside.

    He looked through one of the broken windows and saw that a mass of people had gathered there, about ten weak gangsters.

    But as he looked at them, he spotted the fallen tree they were sitting on, and his eyes brightened. He would use logs as wheels!

    Dorian rushed outside and quickly took care of the gangsters. This time, he made sure he didn''t sever any limb, because back with the elites it had been annoying to tie the fallen arms and heads.

    He left them on the ground, he didn''t really fear they would run away. They were dead and no one would risk picking up their corpses.

    Dorian resumed to search for wooden objects he could use to make a big enough platform. As he looked at the fallen stairs, Dorian suddenly remembered that chest he had opened.

    Thanks to his super strength, Dorian jumped above the hole in the stairs and went to that bedroom.

    The chest was still there, waiting for him to open it. Honestly, Dorian was excited by the chest, had it been real life he wouldn''t have bothered, it was just a locked chest in a child''s room, it probably would only have some pocket change or a doll inside.

    But this was Dreamland, where everything seemed to be a game, and in a game, a locked chest always had great things in it. Moreover, this chest was in a ''forbidden zone'', the haunted house which turned out to be a demon''s lair.

    Step by step, Dorian approached the chest, and opened it. When he saw what was inside, Dorian couldn''t help but curse at himself for jinxing it.

    What was in the box? A doll.

    Fortunately for Dorian, it wasn''t just a simple doll, at least it shone with a green light, so it shouldn''t be useless, but still, it was a doll.

    Looking at it, even if it was of a green rank, a doll couldn''t be that useful. And Dorian wasn''t interested in Voodoo tricks either.

    Still, it was loot, and Dorian wouldn''t just leave it there, maybe he could sell it for a high price to the right buyer. And who knows, maybe this could be useful to him.

    But as he took the doll in hand, he suddenly froze. In front of him, on the other side of the bed the box was on, was a little boy. He looked barely eight. And he was smiling cheekily at Dorian.

    Just the fact that a little boy appeared here was strange. But what was stranger, was that Dorian could see through him.

    Like that, two people stood in front of each other, a boy grinning and a young adult frozen there.

    Suddenly, the boy opened its mouth, but no sound came from its mouth. The boy seemed to understand the problem and approached the wall next the door, and started writing using his finger.

    And like magic, everywhere his finger touched, the wall would turn red. Using this strange magic, the boy wrote on the wall: Let''s play!

    Right then, Dorian felt two ice cold hands grab his ankles, dragging him into the ground. He tried to move, but found out his legs were frozen.

    And before he could try anything else, the hands violently pulled. The ground couldn''t resist and broke apart, Dorian falling to the floor beneath.

    Dorian barely had the time to regain the control of his legs before he crashed in the ground, again, cracking it this time, but not breaking through it.

    Dorian backed away from his landing spot and looked around in alarm, before he saw the attacker. Or, the attackers.

    In front of him stood five translucent figures, one being the boy from earlier. They all stood together, and looked like a family. A ghost family.

    A fat man as the father, a slender woman as the mother, the grinning boy as the son, and the creepy twins as the daughters.

    All traces of warmth and cheerfulness had disappeared from the boy''s face, and like the other members of his family he was smiling like a devil, ready to pounce on Dorian.

    Dorian thought fast, he knew he didn''t have much time. The moment they attacked, if he hadn''t found any solution then he was dead.

    Against ghosts, he had no idea what to do though. His first instinct was to go for the Sadunites, but they were blocking the way.

    At this moment, no matter how strong he was, Dorian knew that it didn''t matter. But as he thought of that, Dorian wanted to slap himself. Who told him those ghosts weren''t afraid of physical attacks? It''s not because on Earth it is believed ghost can''t be touched that it stands true here.

    Anyway, Dorian didn''t have any time left to find another solution as the ghosts were already flying at him.

    Dorian''s hand went in his bag and took out two sub par daggers which he threw at the ghosts. But when he saw the effects, Dorian paled. The daggers went through them without injuring them.

    But he didn''t despair, and jumped using the ground as support, narrowly avoiding the ghosts attacks. But the mother was slightly late compared to the others and hadn''t pounced on his initial spot, so as he landed from his jump, he was faced with the ghost mother.

    By instinct, Dorian slashed at her using his two main daggers. He was shocked though when he actually felt his daggers touch something. One of his daggers slashed open the mother''s face, and the other stabbed her kidney.

    But no blood appeared, just that the areas he touched transformed into a fog. At the same time, her hands grabbed Dorian''s chest. Yet this time, Dorian wasn''t frozen, and he actually felt that he could touch her.

    So he kicked her away, sending her flying into the opposite wall. This time, she didn''t go through it and instead harshly collided with it, making the house tremble. At the same time, she exploded into a fog.

    With a newfound confidence, Dorian looked at the rest of the family, who now looked at him in fear. Dorian didn''t have any mercy and he rushed at them, attacking them madly. Only when they all transformed into fog did he stop. Of course, it hadn''t been easy because they resisted.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    But he knew his troubles had just began, because he could see that they were quickly forming their bodies again.

    Dorian didn''t wait for them though and immediately left the room, heading back to the underground cave. Before going though, he didn''t forget to pic up the doll he had dropped when he fell. He went to seek help from the two Sadunites, they were much more knowledgeable than him.

    On his way down, Dorian looked at the status of the cursed doll.

 33 Spirit Mark

    [Name: Cursed Doll]

    [Type: Miscellaneous]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Upon touch, the user is cursed by a Spirit Mark.]

    [Durability: N/A]

    [Remark: Who told you to touch someone''s else stuff? There''s a reason for this to be locked¡­]

    Dorian looked at his status, and indeed there was a new condition there, just below his Hypothermia:

    [Spirit Mark: You have been hit by a curse and your soul has been marked. Spirits are chasing you!]

    Reading this, Dorian could feel a headache coming. He was afraid this Spirit Mark would be much more annoying and dangerous than one could think. He had just awakened the spirit family upstairs, but what if they weren''t the only spirits who would attack him?

    Anyway, he hurried down the cave. The two Sadunites looked at Dorian curiously because he came back so fast. But Dorian then told them exactly what happened to him.

    When he was finished, Jun said "Really unlucky, I wouldn''t have thought there were spirits upstairs. But I''m curious, you were able to injure them?"

    Dorian nodded and said "Yes, that was strange. When I first threw those daggers they did nothing, but then when I attacked them in close combat I could hit them."

    Jun nodded and said "And you didn''t use Life Essence or Magic?"

    Dorian shook his head, and Jun said "Then I see only one other reason, your expertise with your daggers must have reached the second level. That''s impressive for someone who can''t use Life Essence."

    Dorian said "Does it matter? I came back because I want to ask if you know a way to take care of my Spirit Mark, and a way to kill those spirits. I don''t want to be attacked each time I enter the house¡­ Will the spirits attack others?"

    Jun shook his head "No, the spirits upstairs aren''t just any spirits, they were directly summoned from Hell by the spell thrown on the doll. They can only attack and be attacked by the ones who have touched this doll and received the Spirit Mark."

    Dorian sighed "Too bad, they would have made a good defense."

    Jok''ii, who had remained silent until now, smiled and said "There is a way to use them though¡­ But it''s dangerous."

    As he finished, Jun looked coldly at Jok''ii who immediately shut up, but Dorian had already heard it "What way?"

    Jun continued glaring at Jok''ii for a second before saying "It doesn''t matter, it''s too dangerous."

    Dorian frowned and said "But they can stop anyone under a Stinger''s level."

    The two Sadunites looked at Dorian curiously and asked "What''s a Stinger?" Dorian pointed at his robe and said "This was taken from one of them. The ones who attacked, they are part of a gang known as the Red Scorpion Gang, and the leaders of this organization are known as Stingers. There are 13 of them and they all have Life Essence. They all are super humans."

    Jun frowned and said "If they come here then we will definitely die. We could handle a lone one but 13 of them¡­ Mind Magic isn''t suited for large scale battles."

    Dorian nodded and said "I already killed four of them, and the rest aren''t in the city for now. But if when I''m gone a group of gangsters come you will definitely die. And I intend on going out, so you need those."

    Jun seemed to still hesitate, but after some time he sighed and relented "To kill the spirits, you either need a level 3 expertise in weapons, Magic or Life Essence. The only way for you to kill the is thus to use Mind Magic. Penetrate their soul like you would do with a mind and destroy everything with your flame."

    He took a breath in and added "To use them, you must subdue them. To do so, you need to draw them inside your mind, which is easy, and subdue them by pressuring them."

    Dorian said "That doesn''t sound much more difficult than killing them." Jun nodded "It isn''t. But that is the process for spirits coming from the mortal realm. For the spirits coming from the Hell realm, they are all contracted under a demon. And the moment you subdue those spirits, you will conjure this demon to our world."

    Dorian''s eyes grew wide as he said "A demon? Are you serious? An actual demon?" Jun nodded and said "Unfortunately, yes. And you can''t even know the strength of this demon until it appears. If you can survive this encounter then the spirits will stay in your mind and you will be able to use them anytime. They will even feed on that dark void, growing stronger with time."

    Dorian remained silent, trying to balance the pros and cons. It would undoubtedly be a huge advantage to him to have subdued spirits, and if they have the ability to grow then they will be useful until the very end.

    But here we are talking about a demon. And judging by the two''s faces, demons aren''t jokes. Dorian asked "Do you know anything about the powers of demons?"

    Jok''ii replied "Low and Mid Class demons are only fighting using their bodies. Only High Class demons, which is basically nobility in Hell, are able to use magic."

    Dorian asked "Are High Class Demons the only ones able to make contracts?" Jun nodded "Yes, but lower ranked demons can ask High Demons to make the contracts for them."

    Dorian nodded and asked "What are the chances for the demon to be High Class?"

    Jun laughed and replied "None. You don''t know how strong a High Class demon is. They wouldn''t bother contracting such low class spirits. No, the master of those spirits is most certainly a Low Class demon, and the chances for it to be a Mid Class demon are abysmally low."

    Dorian asked "How strong is a Low Class demon? And a Mid Class?"

    Jun replied "There are huge differences between the demons in a same class. There is also the age of the demon that must be included. But a mature Mid Class demon can easily slaughter everyone in this city. A Teenage one would be unable to contain everyone and some would escape."

    Dorian asked "Do you mean that a teen Mid Class demon is stronger than all the Stingers combined?"

    Jun nodded "Way stronger. There are slightly more than a thousand people in this city, the demon wouldn''t be fast enough to kill everyone before they escape."

    Dorian sighed and asked "Well then we are dead if it is a Mid Class demon. What about a Low Class one?"

    Jun said "This one¡­ You have a chance, a slight one. An Adult Low Class demon should be slightly stronger than the strongest person in this city, and a young one wouldn''t be able to contract spirits."

    Dorian asked "Alright, I have decided, I will conjure the demon. But I will need your help." Jun sighed and asked "What can we do?"

    Dorian asked first "Can the spirits get out of that house? And can I conjure the demon anywhere I want?"

    Jun nodded "Yes, both questions." Dorian nodded and said "Then we will do things in order. First, you two will help me make that damn platform, while I occupy the spirits. Once we have finished the sacrifices, we will start our plan."

    The two nodded and the group made their way up the cave. When they arrived, the spirits had reformed. Dorian destroyed them into fog once again and helped the two find enough wood.

    While they were doing so Dorian asked "If they can follow me anywhere, why didn''t they follow me in the cave?"

    Jok''ii replied "We have set arrays in this house. One of which alerts us when someone gets in the house. I guess one of the others arrays block those Hell''s spirits from entering the cave."

    After that, they finally finished making the platform. It was smaller than planned, only able to put 15 men on it, but it was enough. They dragged the ten corpses outside and use the platform to drag them down the cave.

    The most difficult part was passing through the entrance linking the house and the cave, but they did it eventually.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

 34 How nice

    Sacrificing all the corpses indeed took a long time, and by the time they were done night had already fallen. Dorian couldn''t help but be fascinated when he saw the Heart of the Mountain.

    It was shaped like a human heart, its outer layer transparent and its innermost center shining with an orange light. It was much bigger than a human heart though, it was more than three meters tall.

    Moreover, when he looked at it, Dorian could feel a potent power coursing through it. Much bigger than anything he had ever seen.

    After the sacrifices had been done, Dorian said "The plan is as such. I happen to be a Runemaster. Using some runes, we will set a trap for the demon. It isn''t immune to fire, is it?"

    Jun replied "Well actually yes, it is. To a normal fire that is. But if your runes have created the fire¡­ Then I think its effects will be weakened, but not useless."

    Dorian nodded and said "No matter, I''ll use something else. How does the demon appear?"

    Jun said "Here''s the problem. When it appears, it does so by opening a portal, which is highly destructive towards its surroundings. So even if you write a rune and conjure it on it, it will be destroyed by the portal."

    Dorian frowned and said "That is problematic. Doesn''t matter, I''ll figure something out. To subdue the spirits, once I have suppressed them, how do I make them stay? Do I need to sign a contract?"

    Jun shook his head and replied "There''s no need for any spell. Once you have dominated their minds, all you need to do is to mark their soul with your mark, the white flame, and throw them in your mind house. This is where they will stay when they aren''t summoned."

    Dorian nodded "Good. While I go prepare, help me by shredding the weapons and armors, turn them into scrap of metal."

    The two nodded and immediately started working.

    As he looked at the weapons and armors, Dorian couldn''t help but feel that something weird was going on. Despite having killed a little more than 40 gangsters, with 30 elites, he almost didn''t get anything. He barely had a few grey quality items and some basic ability books which allowed him to upgrade his [Basic Throwing Mastery] to level 10.

    The only really valuable thing he got was a skill, but it was for swords so he decided he would sell it. But as his books related to swords accumulated, he couldn''t help but be tempted by it, the swordsmanship books were the most common after all, he already had enough to upgrade it to level 10 and some spare.

    But Dorian''s logic told him that the rarer a thing is, the more valuable it is, and on the contrary the less it is, the less valuable it will be. So he didn''t use the books and kept them, to sell them later.

    However, Dorian suspected that the more he killed a type of enemy, the less he would get from them. It seemed that for now, the only source of treasure he would get when he killed would be from Charles.

    Now that he thought of it though, Dorian wondered where Charles would get his books. He wasn''t in the Police anymore, and while at his house Dorian hadn''t seen any special book or any other kind of item.

    But he decided to trust him, there was little to nothing he could do, nor was there any sense in suspecting him, he had only helped him since he arrived after all.

    With those thoughts, Dorian went up the cave, destroyed the spirits and got outside. He felt that it was colder than last night, but his [Basic Ice Resistance] level had gotten high enough to not have his Agility attribute drop anymore.

    This was good news, as right now Dorian''s Agility was nearing what he believed to be the superhuman limit, 20 Attributes points. Seeing how strong he was with 23 of Strength, 20 of speed should be amazing.

    But of course, what Dorian awaited the most was for his base attributes to reach 20 so that he would get other special skills like with intelligence.

    Once outside, Dorian started gathering snow, making snowballs. All of them were the size of fists, and he made five of them. He could make many more, but he wouldn''t be able to put runes on them all.

    After all, he couldn''t just write the runes and be done, there needed to be a sacrifice. The easiest way is to use blood, but it can only be the blood of the caster.

    But with the strength of the runes he was about to make, plus their size, Dorian couldn''t use his blood unless he wanted to suffer from blood loss.

    So Dorian returned to the market where he had stolen food when he first arrived. This was the only place he could think of to take what he needed.

    But as arrived in the market, the doors around suddenly burst open.

    Dorian looked around surprised and expected Red Scorpion members to assault him. He didn''t mind it, it would be easier than to search for them.

    But that wasn''t them. They were ordinary citizens. A few armed with short knives and cleavers stood in front, while some had bows behind.

    One of them shouted "Here he is! Kill him!" But even though he said that, none of them dared to move. Dorian didn''t do anything either, he just looked at those surrounding him. Apart from the obvious fear, he could see anger on their faces.

    So he asked "Why are you attacking me? I don''t remember harming any of you. I am even dealing with the scums of this city."

    A thin middle aged woman replied with a sob "The scums¡­ Those are our sons, murderer!" Dorian looked at her, making her shrink back, and said "Your sons? What should I have done? Should I have ignored them? Ignore them when they tried to kill me?"

    No one answered him. Dorian sneered and said "Anyway, what can you do? I killed hundreds of people who could kill ten of you, do you think you can do anything to me?"

    A man replied "We can''t, but the Lord can!" Dorian rolled his eyes and said "I''m cleaning the plague infecting this city for him, why would he arrest me? Now, of you would let me, I''m here to take something. You either stop this joke, and I pay for it, or I will take it by myself."

    Dorian didn''t plan on buying it at first, but now that they were here he might as well do it. But as they were about to retreat, a man aiming his bow at Dorian''s back felt his hands numb and loosened the string, releasing the arrow.

    Dorian felt danger and the sound of an arrow flying. He stepped back, dodging the arrow, and threw a dagger at the shooter. He could barely see the dagger flying at him before it entered his throat.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Everyone was shocked, but then the ones in front roared and rushed at Dorian, while those behind fired their arrows at Dorian.

    But they were ordinary people in the end. Of the 12 arrows fired at Dorian, only three threatened him, while all the others missed him and actually hit the rushing villagers.

    But even for the three dangerous arrows, Dorian unsheathed his daggers and blocked each of them. Then, he rushed at the attacking villagers.

    But right as he was about to kill them, Dorian stayed his hand, and only knocked them unconscious. They were only angry parents, although their sons and daughters indeed tried to kill him, he still killed them, so killing their family too¡­ He decided to be light.

    Even though it was a little harder not to kill them, it was still done easily by Dorian. When he took care of six of them, the rest fled in fear. Only one unlucky man died this night because he couldn''t hold his arrow.

    When he finished them, Dorian went to steal the things he came for. They were herbs, special herbs that were usually used to treat colds and frost bites.

    As he left, Dorian muttered with a smile "They even left the door opened, how nice of them."

 36 Subduing the spirits

    Of course, the spirits all followed him closely as the wards had been lifted. They were quite fast, being a little slower than Dorian, which was probably as fast as the best sprinters on Earth, maybe a little faster.

    Although 19 of attribute is the upper limit of human realm, it doesn''t mean the best person in the mortal world is at that stat. It is the best person in all of history who had that stat.

    So Dorian was already the fastest person in the world, unless there are other Dreamers on Earth. But as he thought about it, Dorian couldn''t help but doubt that.

    He indeed suspected there were other Dreamers to sell his stuff to, but seeing the power he could probably get in the future it seemed improbable for other Dreamers to be on Earth.

    Dorian was even learning magic! If there were other Dreamers on Earth, surely they would have made quite a ruckus, wouldn''t they?

    The only way to stop this would be to create an organization that controlled all the Dreamers, but it didn''t seem possible to Dorian. Maybe that finding all the Dreamers is possible with some skill or ability, but how could they have the time to create the organization?

    After all, they are leaving for the Dreamland every week, and with how dangerous the missions were Dorian doubted someone ever did more than 50 missions.

    50 missions is 50 week, that''s not even a year. So how could this organization be created if even the strongest dreamers die in about 3 months in the real world?

    That''s why, Dorian doubted the fact there were other Dreamers, or there would only be a few of them. But if Dreamers aren''t on Earth, then where?

    Does that mean there are other lifeforms in the Universe, and that they are the Dreamers?

    Unfortunately, Dorian could continue this thread of thoughts as he had arrived at the bottom of the cave. Behind him, flew the spirits. The Sadunites were so slow though that he couldn''t see them.

    Dorian quickly disposed of the spirits, turning them into their fog form, but did not assimilate them yet, he waited for the two.

    Now that he had the occasion, he tried to examine the fogs. Trying to move his hand through it, he didn''t feel any resistance but he did disperse the fog a bit. He couldn''t help but wonder whether a great gust of wind would kill the spirits? Or maybe that is the legendary scattering of the spirit?

    Even with his daggers, Dorian couldn''t do anything to the spirits in this form. He played with them, but stopped after a while because it was utterly boring.

    Fortunately, the two had finally arrived, panting. Dorian smiled and asked "Are the wards activated?" The two nodded, so Dorian turned to the spirits and used Mind Invasion.

    Since they turned into the skills, he didn''t need to concentrate and take his flame out for the skills to activate, he simply needed to will for it as well as the amount of flame he wanted to take out.

    As soon as his flame appeared in the outside world, the fog spirits lunged toward it, as if they hadn''t eaten for a month and saw a chicken.

    Dorian split the flame in five different parts, and enveloped all the spirits with it, entering their mindscape.

    This time, it was very different from before. The air smelled rotten, and in the middle of each spirit''s mindscape was a person, their mortal form.

    But it was currently howling, trying to get Dorian out from their minds. A single one wasn''t anything much, but suffering from the five at once directly destroyed his presence, the spirits regaining their freedom.

    Dorian understood he had been too greedy to try to subdue them all at once. With a slightly paler face, that the others couldn''t see, he drew out a bigger flame and only used it on one of the fogs.

    In it, he saw the mother of the family. She would have been a beautiful lady if she wasn''t howling right now. But the damage from the howl was almost negligible, and Dorian neared her.

    As he arrived next t her, he finally saw fear in her eyes and she tried to flee, stopping to howl, but it was too late. She barely made three steps before Dorian made contact with her, igniting her whole body.

    The white flame melted her body, not into fog this time but in actual flesh and blood. Dorian ignored the gruesome scene and continued until the bones and flesh formed a piece of contract. He felt that he now had a choice.

    Either he burned it, and he would be done with her, or he replaced it, and he would have a spirit for himself.

    But Dorian did none of those two, and actually left her mindscape. In the material world, the fog had thinned and seemed about to disappear.

    Dorian the did the same with all the spirits, one by one, turning all of their mortal bodies into the contracts.

    Then, he again split his mind into five parts. This time, the spirits couldn''t attack him, so he wasn''t afraid they would reject his mind again.

    He looked at the five different contracts, his mind under a great strain from the concentration needed. But he couldn''t do them one at a time, because the moment he changed one of the contracts the demon would be summoned.

    So he was forced to do the five at once if he didn''t want a spirit to attack him in the middle of the battle. Dorian''s flame touched the five contracts, but this time it didn''t burn. Instead, at the bottom of the contract, was a fingerprint made with blood. This was the demon''s signature.

    This signature burned and was replaced by a white flame.

    Dorian heard a loud wail, it didn''t sound human. He hurriedly left the spirits mindscape and felt his new control over them. But because of the owner change, they were now too weak to be of any use to him so he sent them into his own mindscape to recover.

    Then, he hurriedly said "Jok''ii, put the barrier when I tell you to!" He didn''t check to see whether the Sadunite heard him, but he didn''t care and instead used his white flame to levitate the big bowl filled with water from the cave.

    Dorian waited, a couple seconds passed, when suddenly the space in front of him where the spirits were a moment ago had a strange change. It was like a mirage, the light seemed to be distorted by something.

    Suddenly, a black foot within a metal boot appeared out of nowhere, followed by a leg, then a whole body.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    A two meters tall being so black that it seemed to be made of darkness itself appeared, clothed in a terrifying looking armor.

    But as it appeared, it remained frozen and didn''t move. Dorian used his mind to turn the bowl above it upside down, releasing all the burning water on the demon.

    Before the water even reached the demon, Dorian used his telekinesis to pick up the five snowballs he had made.

    But he didn''t throw them right away, and waited for the water to touch the demon. As the water first touched the demon''s head, it suddenly released a wail that made everyone''s mind shake, but fortunately they were all trained in Mind Magic and resisted it. But if a normal person withstood this wail they would probably be stunned for a while.

    But it was only the beginning of the torment for the demon. The water acted in a weird way going against the mechanics of fluid and instead of splashing everywhere when it impacted with the demon''s helmet, it instead glued to his body and seeped through the opening of its armors, flowing down its body quickly.

    Before the second of stun passed, all the water had hit the ground, and the demon was wailing in agony from the pain. Dorian threw all the snowballs at the demon, and just before they hit it he said "Now!"

    Dorian didn''t see anything change, but he trusted Jok''ii.

    The demon, who had been stunned by Jun, finally regained its control, only to see five snowballs hit its body. Before it could laugh at his enemies, they exploded.

 37 Demon

    A wave of cold assaulted Dorian and the two Sadunites. The snowballs exploded, but instead of flames, a strange white gas appeared. Earlier on, Dorian had used the paste he created and used it to draw the explosion runes. The nature of the herbs was what turned the explosion from fire oriented to ice oriented.

    The demon, who was in the gas, rapidly began to freeze, turning stiff. But that wasn''t all. The moment the snowballs exploded, the shards they had put in all got ejected, some hitting the demon, and others missing him.

    But that''s where Jok''ii''s reflecting shield became useful. The shards that missed the demon got reflected at an even higher density toward the demon.

    The demon''s skin was hard, and it had an armor, but because of the hot liquid then the frost its defense became weaker, allowing the shards to pierce into it.

    And Dorian discovered an unexpected effect of the reflecting shield, the white gas that was freezing the demon was also reflected by it, keeping the demon inside it.

    When the second finally finished, the demon''s black and red armor had already turned into a shade of blue. But the demon wasn''t dead. It looked at Dorian with its yellow eyes filled with fury, and punched at Dorian.

    The fist was stopped and sent the other way around, making a weird sound, but the shield also broke. The demon didn''t lose time and rushed at Dorian with an extraordinary speed.

    Because its body was frozen, it made cracking sounds as it rushed, it had certainly been slowed down by the frost.

    And yet, it was so fast that the two Sadunites could see a blur. It wasn''t the case for Dorian though. He stepped back and drew out his two daggers, rushing himself at the demon.

    The demon raised its hands and slapped at Dorian. No, clawed. Dorian saw at the last moment that the demon actually had sharp claws that looked as sharp as his best dagger, the [Sampau''s Claw].

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    His daggers collided with the hand, and Dorian actually felt a Strength greater than his. He reacted on reflex and using his Dagger Mastery, Dorian twisted both his daggers.

    The claw passed between the two daggers, with an even greater force than before, heading for Dorian''s head. The demon was delighted, but then felt a horrible pain on its wrist.

    When the daggers let the claw passed, it used the opportunity to sever the wrist''s tendons, making its hand now useless.

    Still, the strength behind it was still there, and Dorian had to dodge that hand. Using his Force Share skill, Dorian suddenly lowered his body, and using it another time Dorian used all his strength and energy to punch at the demon''s crotch.

    The part was covered by an armor, which blocked the fist, but the hit was so strong that the vibrations created still passed through.

    The demon replied with an angry kick at Dorian, far too fast for Dorian to see. But he had expected it. When he punched the demon, because he put his entire strength in his punch, his legs lost all the strength and he fell to the ground, thus dodging the demon''s kick.

    Time seemed to slow down as Dorian looked into the demon''s eyes, the two stared at each other for what felt to be minutes but were actually milliseconds. The demon saw Dorian''s position, and he knew what was going to happen. Dorian did too.

    Using his arms as supports, Dorian launched both his legs at the Demon''s ribs, which weren''t protected by its armor. The crushing kicks directly shattered the ribs, sending the demon flying.

    Dorian jumped up and looked at the fallen demon who was raising itself with difficulty. He didn''t let the Demon breath and rushed at it, using its injuries to his advantage.

    It''s right fist''s tendons having been cut open, he jumped on its right, in such a position that punching him with its other fist would open up all its defenses. But he detected something suspicious.

    As his daggers approached its neck, its didn''t panic, nor did it kick him. But right when his daggers were about to decapitate it, Dorian felt an immense pain and was sent flying away. As he flew away, he saw what attacked him. The demon''s right fist.

    He couldn''t understand how it attacked him until he saw the wrist himself. It had already healed. Dorian froze for a moment, dumbfounded at the demon''s recovery ability, and thus couldn''t land properly on the ground.

    As his back hit the ground and slid on it, Dorian heard rapid footsteps coming at him. Using his sliding motion, Dorian made a roll back, the demon''s attacking fist hitting the ground.

    Using his Force Share, Dorian suddenly stopped from going backwards and instead lunged at the demon, his daggers going for its throat.

    This time, the demon had no other choice but to protect itself. But Dorian suddenly released his daggers and suddenly grabbed two other daggers, performing another skill, Kidney Strike.

    Because the daggers he used were sub par daggers, they couldn''t pierce through the demon''s skin, but it wasn''t his aim. When the daggers hit it, it suddenly froze, suffering from the paralysis effect from the skill.

    Using again the force share, Dorian''s hands moved at an unnatural speed and grabbed his daggers that were still in mid air and slashed the demon''s throat.

    All of this happened in a couple tenth of a second, the demon couldn''t even understand what was happening to it. Dorian felt resistance, and knew it would be impossible to decapitate it so quickly so instead he slashed its throat from ear to to ear, before attacking it right arm, just below the shoulder, the only part along with the wrist that wasn''t covered in armor.

    The paralysis effect gave him one second, and using this second he cut off the demon''s arm. When he tried to decapitate it, its cervical blocking his daggers. But the arm was easier to cut, the inclination for the cut was better. After all, the demon was taller than Dorian by more than a head, so hitting its neck made it difficult to apply his entire strength.

    After cutting the limb, Dorian jumped back just in time to dodge another kick. But he realized that using only his daggers was going to be difficult in future fights. They were great for group fights, but on one on one, his daggers reach made it less effective.

    He couldn''t help but question his decision about not learning how to wield the sword. But now wasn''t the moment.

    The demon looked at Dorian without making moving. It was like it wasn''t feeling any pain from its lost arm.

    But this time, it wouldn''t recover so fast, if it ever recovered. And the fight was as good as won. The demon suddenly ran towards Dorian¡­ Who easily avoided it.

    Because it had lost its arm and wasn''t used to it, his balance was all messed up and as a result it got slower, weaker and less stable.

    Right after dodging its lunge, Dorian kicked its ankles, sending it to the ground. Another problem with daggers, striking a fallen opponent was dangerous. Dorian didn''t really felt like crouching next to a demon with claws and sharp teeth to attack, he probably would get attacked first.

    So he used one foot to crush its remaining hand, crushing it. When he took back his foot, he saw that the hand that had become a mess of bones and meat wasn''t recovering at a visible speed this time.

    Now that he had incapacitated the demon, he sheathed his daggers and lowered himself and grabbed it by the throat and lifted it from the ground. He looked at the two stunned Sadunites and asked "Is there anyway to subdue it like the spirits?"

    Jun replied "Only if its willing to."

    Dorian turned to look at the demon, releasing his entire killing aura at it. He said "Are you willing to submit?" But his only answer was a mouthful of blood spit at his face.

 38 Hur

    Fortunately, Dorian was wearing a mask so the blood splashed on it, giving it a scary look. The demon laughed with a choked voice.

    Dorian looked at it straight in the eyes and said "You¡­ Alright, I''ll hurt you a bit."

    Dorian took out his [Sampau''s Claw] and showed it to the demon who was still laughing. With a sudden slash, Dorian gouged out the demon''s right eye, making it scream. Looks like living in hell didn''t make it invulnerable to pain.

    Dorian approached his dagger to the other eye, and finally the demon showed some fear. Then, putting down his dagger, Dorian took out the eye he had slashed open.

    The demon screamed in pain and terror as its blinded eye was taken out of its orbit. Then, looking at the wide opened mouth, Dorian put the eye he took out in it.

    The demon tried to spit it out, but as it was about to, Dorian used his hand to smack its shin, forcing its mouth shut. A part of its tongue got bitten off by the sharp teeth, and the eye was forced in.

    The demon looked at Dorian with a begging look, as if it wanted him to finish it. Dorian tilted his head and asked "Don''t you come from Hell? You should be used to pain. Whatever, I''m done with you."

    Taking back his [Sampau''s Claw], Dorian slashed open its left chest. Putting back his dagger, Dorian plunged his hand in its chest. He grabbed a beating object, a beating heart.

    His grip around it tightened, and the heartbeat started increasing. The terror in the demon''s eye started increasing.

    Dorian suddenly pulled, tearing the heart out of the demon''s chest, before showing it to the demon. The light in the demon''s eye started to fade, but the pain in its eye didn''t disappear even when its breath stopped.

    Dorian suddenly received a notification:

    [Congratulations for achieving a hidden objective! You have earned a new sub title!]

    [You have killed a demon from Hell, you have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad!]

    [Because you have achieved a hidden objective, your mission''s completion rate has increased by a great amount.]

    When he heard the first notification, Dorian was ecstatic, his Butcher Title had already helped him a lot so a new title would of course be welcomed.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    But the second notification made his mood dive into hell. To be cursed by a High Demon, how unlucky could one be? If an adult Mid Demon could kill everyone in the city without any survivor, then how strong could a High Demon be? Could it directly wipe out the mountain itself?

    But after thinking for a moment, Dorian understood that it was impossible, if such a powerful being were to chase personally after him he would die without even being able to retaliate, and what kind of game would force the player into an impossible position?

    Though, this reinforced Dorian''s conviction that he would return to this world later on, because for him the only way this cursed could really be used against him would be if demons regularly came to attack him, or the High Demon would come when he crosses a certain amount of attributes.

    But either way, if he never comes back in this world, then there is no point in this curse.

    Finally, the third notification helped his mood get better. If there was a completion rate to his mission, then his earlier assumptions that perfectly clearing this mission would indeed give out more than if he did it following the script.

    Moreover, if there is a difference in completion rate then there would be a difference in rewards, and getting more rewards means he would be able to get stronger faster, and thus do better than others in his next world.

    Dorian could already see a pattern would appear in the future, the strong would get stronger and the weak would get weaker. If someone does poorly in his first mission, then he won''t get enough rewards and won''t be able to get stronger, but the next mission will be even more difficult, resulting in poorer results and this would go on in a vicious circle until the Dreamer dies.

    But Dorian also wondered what would this hidden achievement would get him. He was already on the road of getting a perfect clear, so if he succeeds and gets a perfect clear, what will he get? Can someone go beyond a perfect clear? Or would his hidden achievement be wasted or compensated?

    No matter what, this was still good news. And yet bad news at the same time. It was great that he knew the existence of such achievements, but what worried him was the difficulty. After all, this demon was totally beyond the power scope of this mission, it shouldn''t have been here hadn''t it been for Dorian''s luck.

    Now that he had made peace in his mind and calmed his emotions, Dorian took a look at his status, to see what the rewards he got were about.

    He wanted to look at his subtitle but something grabbed his attention, below his Hypothermia, his Spirit Mark had been replaced by High Demon''s curse:

    [High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.]

    Honestly, he expected the first part, but the second one made him reconsider his argument about whether he would come back to this world. Though, it really was a crazy ability to send demons through different worlds and dimensions.

    Next, he of course looked at his new subtitle. He was first explained that a subtitle was a special kind of title that would be constantly active. A Dreamer can only have one Title at a time, and would have to manually change it if he wants to.

    However, a Dreamer can have an infinity of subtitles at the same title, all giving effects. That''s why despite the degrading name, a subtitle is much more rare and useful than a Title.

    His subtitle was the following:

    [Demon Slayer: Demons will more easily feel oppressed by you. Their attributes will be lowered by 10% if intimidated and their recovery ability will be temporarily lessened. Moreover, as a recognized Demon Slayer, you may receive certain privileges with races enemies with the demons. Demons will attack you on sight, and often be made a primary target.]

    Honestly, this subtitle was quite good except for the part about being attacked on sight, better never get in hell. But the rest was very good to him, and would even help him in future fights. If he had this title before fighting with this demon the fight would have been easier.

    Dorian finally dropped the demon on the ground, now that he was finished with looking at everything he got. Well, not everything. He still hadn''t used the best thing he got out of this fight. That''s right, the demon''s corpse.

    He was sure that the entire body was a treasure. Be it the claws and teeth, they could be used to create great weapons, and the skin and the bones should be great for armor.

    Originally, he would have thought that this was it, there wouldn''t be anything else he could use. And yet, he was surprised.

    To kill the demon, he ripped its heart out of its chest. And right now, he still had it. And it was glowing in an amazing blue light.

    [Name: Low Class Demon''s Heart]

    [Type: Consumable]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Effect: Eat this heart to receive +5 of Vitality. Small chance of learning the skill Demon''s Regeneration.]

    [Requirement: This item may only be consumed thrice in one''s life, and the longer it is left unused, the worse the effect will become.]

    [Remark: This is a fresh heart recently taken from a demon while it was alive, allowing it to keep all of its vitality.]

 39 Bloodlines

    Dorian was amazed, this was the first time he saw a blue grade item, and it really deserved its grade. To add 5 points to Constitution, up to three times no matter how high the stats already is¡­ It was something he never saw before.

    However, seeing the requirement he knew that he couldn''t waste time or it would lose its effects. So without any hesitation he took off his mask and took a big bite out of it. He ignored the horrible taste and texture and swallowed it down.

    He quickly finished the whole heart, and when he did he felt a cool wave spread over his body. It felt extremely comfortable despite being cold.

    But as it reached his spine, something felt wrong. A strong warm wave exited his spine and clashed with the cool wave. Several notifications rang:

    [Dreamer has eaten a Low Class Demon''s Heart, triggering a special bloodline awakening¡­]

    [Error, another bloodline has been detected in the body¡­ The two bloodlines aren''t compatible.]

    [Warning, the energy released by the two bloodlines are starting to overwhelm the Dreamer''s current limits. Destruction of the bloodlines underway¡­ Error, destruction impossible.]

    [Dreamer, two energies are waging war in your body and are threatening your safety. Because they have already fused with your very own cells it is impossible to destroy them. This puts you in great danger as if left unchecked, your body will be destroyed.]

    [Searching for a solution¡­ Negative, the Dreamer has no Dream Coins available and thus can''t be treated. Searching for a solution¡­ One available. Does the Dreamer want to know of it?]

    Hearing all the notifications, he couldn''t help but curse. What the f*** is going on? All he wanted was to get those bonus attributes points, he didn''t even aim for that bloodline¡­ Heck, he didn''t even know he could get a bloodline, he thought he could only get that special skill¡­

    Still, he didn''t want to die so he had no choice and accepted to hear the solution.

    [Dreamer has to use a particularly potent external energy that will be enough to overwhelm both of your bloodlines and forcefully merge them. Only one energy source has been determined accessible to you, it is the Heart of the Mountain.]

    [But even then the energy is way too powerful, and once your bloodlines having merged the leftover energy could harm you greatly. Do you still wish to proceed?]

    Dorian nodded and the system continued:

    [The Dreamer must dive into the water and reach the Heart of the Mountain. Then, Dreamer has to let it absorb you. Then, unleash your bloodlines.]

    Dorian couldn''t help but shudder when he thought he would have to jump into that terrifying water. But as he was about to take off his clothes he found out he couldn''t move a finger.

    [The Dreamer''s body has been paralyzed because of the bloodlines, giving back control.]

    Dorian suddenly felt he could move again, but every time he did so he felt a strong pain. He quickly took off everything he had on him, ignoring the pain.

    Jun suddenly exclaimed "What are you doing? Are you so happy you killed a demon you decided to get off your clothes?"

    But Dorian couldn''t care less about the red being and directly dived into the orange water. Instantly, pain assaulted his senses, he felt like he had been thrown into acid.

    His body quickly sank, but the pain only intensified the more he approached the Heart. His bloodlines, which were clashing against each other, began intensify as if they sensed the danger.

    But they weren''t fast enough. Dorian''s body touched the Heart, and all the pain disappeared. The Heat didn''t feel solid but slimy. Dorian moved his limbs to enter it even faster.

    Once his entire body was submerged in the heart, he felt like it was trying to corrode his body. But his Vitality was above average, so it wasn''t so easy to do it.

    Most importantly, he felt the energy around him. The only problem was that he had no mean to channel it for himself. He had been told to unleash his bloodlines, but what did this actually mean?

    So he had to improvise a little. The only way he had to control what was happening inside his body was his Mind Magic and his Meditation, so that''s exactly what he did.

    Entering meditation, he entered his mindscape. He was surprised to feel a little suppressed, as if his mind was under gravity or something like that. His mindscape was still the same though, there was no trace of either of his bloodlines.

    So he used the white flame, but instead of spreading it out of his body he pushed it deep inside his body. He began gaining a view of his own innards, his muscles, his bones. That was the first type of vision.

    But there was also another type, which allowed him to see the energies inside his body. He could see a big black energy had spread through his body and was surrounding his spine. The biggest energy though was the blinding white energy around his spine.

    But those two weren''t the only two energies in his body. There was a little amount of white-bluish energy all over his body, which he assumed to be the cold energy talked about in his Hypothermia. He could see that it was trying to erode his body but was unable to.

    Finally, there was a fourth energy. The energy of the mountain, glowing with an orange light. It was becoming bigger every second, quite slowly but still remarkable.

    Still, he focused his attention on the first two energies and moved his white flame towards them. Splitting it into two, each part of the flame went into the black and white energy.

    Then, using his flame, he tried igniting it like when he had first taken control of a dagger with telekinesis. And fortunately, it seemed to be the right solution. The two energies started getting agitated, as if they started boiling.

    The energies quickly started expanding, the area of friction between the two was becoming more and more violent.

    This also seemed to draw a reaction from the other two energies. But the cold energy quickly calmed down and settled itself, stopping any activity.

    But the mountain''s energy became bigger and bigger too, as if it couldn''t accept being overwhelmed by the other two energies.

    It expanded quickly and began surrounding the black energy. It tried to fight back, and it was successful at first as it was stronger than the heart of the mountain, but unlike the latter it didn''t have an unlimited amount of energy.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Every time they clashed, the black energy was dissipating a little every time, while the mountain''s energy would also dissipate, it was recovering even faster. So after some time, the black energy couldn''t hold on and began being overwhelmed by the mountain''s energy.

    But that wasn''t all, it was still fighting with the white energy, which began winning too because of the fight between the dark energy and the mountain energy.

    The mountain energy slowly began gaining territory, the dark energy becoming weaker and weaker. Unfortunately, the mountain energy, unlike the white and dark energy, was harmful to his body, trying to corrode it.

    The dark energy finally couldn''t hold on anymore and stopped resisting, and started getting assimilated by both the white and mountain energy, letting the two becoming stronger.

    But Dorian couldn''t just let the mountain energy get stronger, so using his flame he led the dark energy towards his white energy to let it absorb it all.

    But as he did so, he felt that his flame wanted to absorb it too, as if it would make it grow way stronger. But he held on his urge, as if he did so he would be unable to defend against the mountain energy.

    The white energy quickly absorbed the black one, becoming stronger and stronger. Dorian''s flame was soon whole again and merged in the white energy.

    Then, a fight between the white energy and the mountain energy began.

 40 Tenacious

    As soon as they met each other, the white energy crushed the mountain energy while the later tried to corrode the white energy. As expected, the mountain energy lost even more badly than against the dark energy as the white energy had absorbed the dark energy.

    But Dorian now understood the issue of there being too much mountain energy mentioned by the system. But there was nothing he could think off that could help him. But he had to try something, because he knew that if the white energy was destroyed, the mountain energy would destroy his body from the inside and absorb him like the other corpses.

    He left his meditation state and opened his eyes. He was currently inside the heart, and he couldn''t move a muscle. But as he looked at himself he was horrified. His skin had melted off and his row flesh was being eaten.

    Dorian forcefully calmed himself down and opened his status, to search for any way of coping with what was happening to him.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Bloodline: Not yet determined]

    [HP: 180/210]

    [MP: 200/200]

    [Strength: 15 (23)]

    [Agility: 17 (19)]

    [Vitality: 21]

    [Intelligence: 20]

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [Perception: 16 (20)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Hand to Hand Combat (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Basic Fire Resistance (Level 5/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 5/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Absorption: Your body is currently being absorbed by another entity. If your body is unable of chasing out this energy then death is the most likely outcome.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    He was surprised by his HP, losing his skin wasn''t as terrible as he thought, but still losing 30 HP so quickly¡­

    Also, finally losing that Hypothermia status was a good thing, that is if he can get out of this alive. He looked at his abilities but couldn''t find any that would help him with this. Then, he remembered his Vitality.

    It was indeed glowing, because it had crossed the 20 stat limit. He hurriedly opened it, and like last time he had two options this time:

    [Resilient: Any form of damage is reduced by 10%]

    [Tenacious: Any negative status effect is lessened by 10%, with some chance of negating lesser ones.]

    Had it been normal times, he would have of course chosen the [Resilient] sub ability because it reduced all damages even those of negative status effects, but right now the other one was the only choice for him, so he selected the [Tenacious] sub ability. Maybe that it would be able to negate that mountain energy?

    Dorian didn''t see any difference outside his body so he decided to check inside. And somehow, his white energy had become stronger, and the speed of erosion from the mountain energy had slowed down.

    He was happy about it but still worried because eventually the white energy wouldn''t be able to sustain itself anymore.

    Looking back at his status, he searched everywhere for a solution, until he found something. He had no idea of whether it would work or not, but he could try. That was the skill [Force Share]. Its description was that it could control the energy in his body and use it for another action. The mountain energy wasn''t his, but he could use the force of the punch of his enemies so maybe it could work.

    He activated the skill, aiming his attention on the orange energy. And it miraculously worked! The energy began being siphoned towards his left arm, filling it with energy.

    But as he absorbed it, the Heart of the Mountain tried to fill the void left, sending in even more energy. Dorian could feel his arm was aching, but he continued absorbing it. He did it five times, consuming a lot of the mountain energy. But his arm was hurting too much this time, and he had to evacuate the energy lest he wanted his arm to explode.

    Maybe because of the immense power granted by the mountain energy accumulated in it, he could now move his left arm freely. So he did the best thing he could think of, he punched. He was currently inside the heart, so maybe he could destroy it from the inside.

    He punched with a strength and speed he had never seen or felt before. It was in fact so fast that he couldn''t even follow his punch, and only saw the result. All the energy was ejected from his fist and struck the Heart.

    Dorian feared it couldn''t damage the heart because it was its own energy, but it seemed he worried for nothing. The heart immediately cracked open and the energy rushed out of it, dispersing in the water around. But it seemed it wasn''t the same mountain energy anymore, but instead changed into kinetic energy.

    Even though the Heart was cracked, it wasn''t broken and still kept Dorian inside it. Dorian wanted to use the same tactic, but he was afraid. The earlier punch was stronger than any punch he could ever do with his current body.

    So much that his entire arm was hurting, his muscles were close to tearing and bones to break. It was greatly injured. For now it was fine, as he could probably recover if he recovered his HP.

    But what if it didn''t? Then he would have lost an arm. Now, if he does the same tactic, then he either the same arm, thoroughly crippling it, lessening the chances of using it ever again, or used his other arm and ran the risk of losing the usage of both his arms.

    As for his legs, it was out of the deal. He could do without one of his arms, but not without one of his legs.

    But what choice did he have, he didn''t want to die. So it was with reluctance that Dorian directed the mountain energy towards his left arm, again. He pain was even worse than before, but Dorian knew he had to hold on.

    Three circles of energy restoring after, his arm was hurting like hell, but the Heart had almost no energy anymore. Using his flame left in the white energy, he tried to command it into attacking the mountain energy.

    And it actually did. The mountain energy was quickly exterminated in his body, more was trying to come in but the white energy kept it all out easily. Dorian knew this was only a temporary solution as soon the white energy would get depleted, but that was fine.

    Dorian drew out his fist, and punched out. Instantly, a force only slightly weaker than before struck out. But even though it was a little weaker, the Heart was weakened by a lot and already cracked. So without surprise, it couldn''t resist the punch and shattered in pieces, as if it were solid.

    Said pieces began getting absorbed by the water around, and would certainly form a new core in thousands if not millions of years.

    As for Dorian, he had regained control of his body and senses, and was in a very bad shape. His left arm was thoroughly broken and crippled, every bone in it broken in many pieces and his flesh turned into paste. Even his skin was pierced by shards of his bones.

    His skin had disappeared, and the pain was finally registered by his brain. His row flesh exposed to the acid like hot orange water felt a hundred times worse than lemon juice on an open wound.

    Dorian tried to struggle out of the water, but he was too tired to move. Dorian began despairing, was he going too die after all of this?

    But as he raged about his death, he suddenly felt his blood boil. With a quick look inside his body, he saw the white energy spread to every part of his body and merged with it, healing it.

    At the same time, a notification appeared. Hearing it, Dorian said to himself "To think I of all people would get this¡­"

 41 Huge upgrade

    [You have unlocked the following bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [Congratulation for having survived against a Gold Rank sentient item, hidden achievement completed. Reward: +2 to all attributes.]

    Although he felt weird having a holy bloodline all this time with all the horrible stuff he did, he still felt happy having unlocked it because it gave him the strength he needed.

    While the white energy, the Low Class Holy Fire Angel bloodline, healed his body at a quick speed, it also filled his body with enough strength to move.

    Dorian ferociously swam upwards, it was quite hard even with his strength because the water here was more akin to lava than water, so it was hard to move through it.

    But after half a minute of efforts and on the point of suffocating, Dorian finally reached the surface and grabbed the ground. Putting in a last effort, Dorian pulled on his arms and exited the water, launching his body out of the water completely.

    He heard two shriek, coming from Jun and Jok''ii, probably because of how he looked, but he ignored that and said with a rocky voice "Warn me if someone enters the cave¡­"

    He didn''t care to listen to their answer and closed his eyes, looking at his status. This time, there weren''t any attribute that got past the 20 mark but there was something new. He had a [Crippled] status.

    It said that he had received injuries that would need a special way of healing to recover, meaning that even having full HP wouldn''t do anything. This was the case for his left arm and his skin.

    But Dorian was relieved because his bloodline was apparently healing him.

    Dorian looked at his bloodline in detail, curious to see what the effects could be.

    [Low Class Holy Fire Angel: The Angels, like the Demons, are one of the strongest races to exist. They are the equal of Dragons, Phoenixes, Leviathans and other races. They form what is known as the Legendary Races. Legendary Races have different advantages over other races. Becoming an Angel has given you the following skills: Holy Fire Life Essence, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration. It also gives you abilities. Being a part Legendary being removes Angel Form, but grants you: HP+200.]

    Dorian looked at his new status page:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 346/500]

    [MP: 186/220]

    [Strength: 18 (26)]

    [Agility: 19 (21)]

    [Vitality: 30]

    [Intelligence: 22]

    [Perception: 18 (22)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Basic Swordsmanship (Level 3/10)]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Movement Mastery (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 5/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.

    -Crippled: Some parts of your body have been injured to the point of becoming crippled and will thus need you to find some way of special healing to recover them. The affected parts are your left arm and your skin.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    When he saw his status, Dorian felt like becoming crazy. Was that really him? 500 HP? 500 HP! Fuck, would he even die if he were decapitated?

    And what was that, 30 Vitality? Could steel weapons even pierce through his skin now? Well, he didn''t have any skin right now, but when he gets it back, would they be able to?

    Dorian tried to calm himself down and searched for a reason to all of this. First, his HP. 200 from his bloodline, and 300 from his vitality. That was absurdly high, but comprehensible.

    Now, his stats. His Strength had been raised by one, certainly because his Hand to Hand Combat turned into Adept Rank. Now, the most absurd thing, his vitality.

    How exactly in the world did it get to 30? Looking at his abilities, his gaze locked on his Fire Resistance. That was the only reason he could think off. His Holy Resistance had just appeared, so it couldn''t have given out anything. But his Fire resistance was actually raised, so did it mean that for every level up his Fire resistance got, that was a +1 to his vitality?

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Then, did that mean that the limit for Adept attributes is 30?

    Right now, Dorian was quite sure that if he tried to burn himself with a lighter, the flame wouldn''t be able to do anything.

    Now, with those stats, Dorian was sure he could take on the demon head on and not lose. And that''s counting his Crippled status. To defeat it though he would need all the strength he could use and equip all the equipment he had.

    Dorian opened his Spatial bag and used every HP recovering item he had. Because of his incredible amount of HP, now he would have to use many of those to recover to max HP, or he would have to wait for his Low Regeneration to heal him.

    By the way, looking at the speed his arm and skin were healing, the Crippled status would disappear in three days. By then, every Stinger should have come back. Then, Dorian would take care of them all With his current stats, he was pretty sure he could take on all the remaining ones.

    And that''s including his crippled status. Indeed he would be disadvantaged with just stats, but he had just looked at his skills, and god they were overpowered.

    [Kidney Strike: Stab your enemy''s Kidney. Paralysis for 1 second and Heavy Bleeding dealt. Cost 10 MP per use.]

    [Fade: Erase your presence. Cost 10 MP per minute of use.]

    [Force Share: Transfer the energy within your body for any use you want. Cost 10 MP per use.]

    [Mind Invasion: Invade someone else mind. Cost 5 MP per use.]

    [Telekinesis: Manipulate an object to make it levitate. MP cost depends on the number of objects, precision, and weight.]

    [Angel Wings: Makes Angel Wings appear on your back. Grants Agility +50%, and 200% movement speed in a straight line. Costs 1 MP per second of use.]

    [God''s Sight: Gives you an invisible third eye. Grants Perception +50%, and the ability to see the Spirit Plane. Cost 1 MP per second of use.]

    [Low Regeneration: Your Angel bloodline allows you to heal your injuries passively. As long as a limb isn''t cut it can be restored. Uses your energy to heal you, be it the nutrients or Life Essence.]

    [Holy Fire Life Essence: A mystical energy characteristic of Knights. This energy has multiple uses you shall discover yourself or will be taught to.]

    With how strong [Angel Wings] and [God''s Sight] were, both his Agility and Perception would get past 30, and he was sure that the demon didn''t have any stat above 30, even its strongest stat, its Strength. But it was introduced as the strongest being in the city, so Dorian would roll on his enemies.

    Of course, the two Sadunites weren''t really the most accurate for strength comparison, because even though the demon had higher attributes it wasn''t really intelligent, Dorian easily played with it and was able to defeat it, even though he used traps.

    So the strongest people in this city were probably a little bit stronger than the demon, but that was it. At top condition, Dorian could defeat the demon using only stats. But if he fought intelligently then even three demons together wouldn''t be able to do anything.

    After all, for something that uses only its attributes to fight, it is overwhelming for those weaker, but against stronger opponents they can''t do anything. Someone able to equal them in strength though with weaker attributes but higher skills would be more dangerous.

    So in the end, even after including in every variable, there was nothing in this city that could stop him, be it the City Lord or the Red Scorpion. He had better attributes, certainly better abilities. Before absolute strength, they wouldn''t be able to do anything.

 42 Change of weapon

    Because he didn''t have anything to do, Dorian decided to ask some question to the system.

    He asked in his head "System, tell me, what''s that Angel Form I didn''t get? And why didn''t I get it? Is there anything special to Legendary Races?"

    The system replied:

    [Angel Form is a special transformation that will give you an Angel body temporarily and give you immense strength for a short duration. The reason you didn''t get it is because your bloodline is innate and not transfused. As for Legendary Races, the Dreamer shall discover by himself.]

    Dorian frowned, without brows because they disappeared and asked "Shouldn''t it be the opposite? An Innate Bloodline should have better skills than a transfused one, right?"

    [Someone with a transfused bloodline will never equal someone with an Innate one. The first reason is that an Innate Bloodline evolves, whereas a transfused one can''t. Moreover, there exists a way to gets stronger for you that don''t exists for someone who transfuses his bloodline. For a transfused bloodline, it can only get stronger by transfusing a higher graded bloodline. However, for you, you can also raise the density of your bloodline until becoming a true angel, other than upgrading your grade.]

    Dorian nodded and said "So if I''m getting it right, the transfused bloodline is better in the short term, but the innate one is better for the long term?"

    [The Dreamer is right. This transformation doesn''t really makes the user become an Angel, it only replicates it. That''s why it places a burden on the body and can only be used for a certain amount of time. But for the Dreamer, once the density of your bloodline become high enough your body will truly transform into an Angel''s, becoming a permanent transformation.]

    Dorian smiled and said "That''s good then. How do I increase the density of my bloodline? And it''s grade?"

    [The Dreamer shall discover by himself.]

    Dorian expected it and asked "For my bloodline, I''m not just a Low Grade Angel, I am a Low Grade Holy Fire Angel. Does this mean that I am even better than an average Angel?"

    [No, Angel, like Demon, is the term for the entire race. There exists many kinds of Demons like there exists many kinds of Angel, and they all specialize in different fields. The demon you fought and ate the heart of was a demon that specialized in its life force. The system called it a Low Class Demon because it didn''t feel the use of giving it its true name.]

    Dorian nodded and asked "So what is the specialty of the Holy Fire Angel?"

    [The Holy Fire Angels are the most battle inclined Angels, the Angel army is mainly composed of those Angels. They specialize in their Holy Fire attacks, and are good fighters. The strongest ones are even known of destroying and creating stars much bigger than your sun.]

    Dorian''s eyes grew wide as he asked "Doesn''t this go against what you said earlier? Aren''t those Angels way stronger than others?"

    [The system only said they are good at fighting. Unlike the other Angels, they are unable of healing anything, and even their own regeneration is low grade amongst Legendary beings. The reason you received Low Regeneration is because your bloodline absorbed the demon''s. So although Holy Fire Angels are good at fighting, they are no better than humans for everything else, or even worse.]

    Dorian asked "I thought it was impossible for the two bloodlines to merge?"

    [They didn''t, the skill came from the item you ate. And it isn''t impossible for bloodlines to merge, only some bloodlines. A Legendary bloodline can''t merge with anything else, but lower graded bloodlines can.]

    Dorian asked "Isn''t that a disadvantage for Legendary Races?"

    [No. But the system can''t explain.]

    Dorian sighed and said "It doesn''t matter. Anyway, thanks for answering my questions." The system didn''t reply.

    Dorian didn''t have anything to do and was tired so he tried to fall asleep.

    But he couldn''t help but think of what he went through. So far, 9 days already went by. In only 9 days, he had become so strong that he could finish his main mission. The last Stingers should arrive during the 11th day, and Dorian''s arm would be healed by the 12th day.

    If everything went well, then he would have perfectly completed his main mission in only 12 days. What would happen then? Would his mission end prematurely and send him home earlier, or would it leave him in this world, letting him explore it fro the remainder of the month?

    This world was dangerous, he knew it. There ought to be much stronger people than the ones in this city, but Dorian still wished he could stay in this world. He felt curious about this world and what it could offer him. Moreover, he now had a great way of descending the mountain, his wings.

    With those thoughts, Dorian slowly fell asleep on the ground, his body recovering slowly.

    By the time he woke up, his skin had already completely recovered, but his arm was still hurting as much as before. He looked at Jun, who had shaken him awake, and asked "How long did I sleep for?"

    Jun replied "A day. Now wake up, there are people coming."

    Dorian nodded and was about to move when he remembered his Spirits. He looked into his mindscape and saw the family of five there. He smiled and commanded them to attack those who entered the cave.

    As soon as he did, they disappeared and came in the material world. The rushed up the cave, flying up quickly and going through the obstacles.

    Dorian actually felt a connection with the spirits, and could feel their position and well being. The spirits soon reached the intruders and attacked them. But then something unexpected happened.

    The spirits got injured. That meant a superhuman using Life Essence or Magic was there. Dorian hurriedly called them back and waited for the intruders to come.

    While doing so, Dorian put on all his equipments, even though he was confidant he would rather make sure nothing went wrong. Still, he wondered who was attacking. Had some Stinger come back earlier?

    Once he finished putting everything on, Dorian wanted to take out his two daggers by instinct when he finally remembered his left arm''s state.

    He was troubled, he couldn''t use it. Of course, with how proficient he was with his daggers, he could use a single one but that would leave him uncomfortable.

    He pondered, should he really use his daggers? He had already been hesitating for some time already, to pick up the sword or not.

    First, the dagger is more of an assassination weapon than a head on one. Using a weapon to clash head on is like using a sword to assassinate someone. It was possible, but no really great.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Until now, he had always hesitated. He was already comfortable with his daggers, but the earlier fights proved him that it really wasn''t a great choice. It was the most obvious against the demon.

    To attack the demon, he always had to put himself in danger to attack it, because every time he had to hit it, he entered its range first, so he had no possibility of taking the offense, he always had to be on the defense, to dodge before attacking.

    Of course, the dagger also had its advantages, because it was smaller the wind resistance was lesser and thus the weapon was faster, but that wasn''t really enough to hold up to the sword.

    And even if he were to take up the sword, it didn''t mean he would abandon the daggers. After all, he would assassinate people with his sword.

    So like that, Dorian''s hand moved away from his dagger and instead went in his spatial bag, taking out ability books for swordsmanship. He quickly absorbed them until he maxed out his [Basic Swordsmanship] to level 10.

    Even though it was still below his Dagger Mastery, it was more than enough for anyone in this city. Even if he met someone with Adept fighting abilities, he could still rely on his attributes.

    Now that he had maxed his swordsmanship, Dorian stood his ground, waiting for the intruders to come. And who knows, maybe those aren''t enemies?

 43 Revelation

    Gripping his old grey rank [Steel Sword], Dorian felt himself being a little uncomfortable. Because he couldn''t use his left arm, it left openings in his stance. Moreover, his sword was supposed to be used two handed.

    This could be countered by his impressive strength which allows him to manipulate it easily with one hand. But the problem isn''t here.

    Unlike what many thinks, one handed swordsmanship doesn''t just use one hand, the other hand is used to counter balance the sword swinging arm. So being unable to use his left arm would limit his skill with the sword.

    So again, even though he had maxed his [Basic Swordsmanship], he would more be using his strength and speed than his techniques. But that doesn''t mean maxing his swordsmanship was useless, because it doesn''t only teach him techniques, but also how to cut the most effectively, how to hold the sword right and also to use the sword well as whole.

    Finally, the intruders approached him. Dorian immediately recognized one of them as the personal bodyguard of the City Lord, which he had seen when he went to save Charles.

    As they approached, weapon in hand, Dorian released his killing aura and asked "What do you want?"

    There were five people, and they were all superhumans. Three were below Arteon, the werewolf Stinger, in term of strength, one was equal and one was even above him.

    But to Dorian, they were all vastly inferior to the Demon in term of danger. Even if they had techniques, they couldn''t possibly best him. Though, that''s if they are alone. Now, Dorian wondered, could he beat them if they work together, and without using his bloodline skills?

    But it seemed he wouldn''t get to know it because one of the three weakest, the City Lord''s female bodyguard, said "Sir, we have been sent here by the Lord to inform you that in two days, we shall launch an assault on the last remaining Stingers as well as the Red Scorpion. We are here to ask whether you will take part in it?"

    Dorian took back his killing aura and said "I will." The female nodded and the five made their way up the cave. As for Dorian, he put his sword back into his spatial bag and looked at the two Sadunites.

    He took off his mask and smiled "Why are you two still here?" Jun asked "What do you mean?"

    Dorian said "I destroyed the Heart of the Mountain, so you are free to go." Indeed, he had received a notification already saying he had completed a side mission, that of freeing the two.

    Jun scoffed "You would be like a lost lamb if we left you alone. Don''t thank this benevolent being, it''s in my nature."

    Dorian let out a chuckle hearing him and said "Do you want to come with me when I finish that gang? I can help you go down the mountain then."

    Jun didn''t answer and instead asked "What do you intend on doing after you deal with the problems here?"

    Dorian shrugged and replied "I''ll depart from this city. I will then explore a bit unless I''m called back."

    Jun tilted his head and asked "Called back?" Dorian nodded and said "Actually, I''m not here because of a coincidence or because of the war. I was sent here for a mission, well more of a test than a mission."

    At the same time, Dorian asked in his head to the system "Can I reveal the existence of the system to other people?"

    [Dreamers may only talk about the Dreamland to other Dreamers and their servants.]

    Jun asked "What was your mission?" Dorian smiled and replied "Survive for a month. But if I eliminate all the threats early on then I don''t know what will happen. Either I will be called back immediately, or I will be allowed to explore around for the rest of my time."

    Dorian had already asked the system in the past and but it didn''t answer.

    Jun looked at Jok''ii, who nodded, and asked "If you can adventure around¡­ Can we come with you?" Dorian looked into his fiery eyes and replied "Of course, it would be funny having you two around."

    The two looked happy at his answer, but Dorian said "You can''t get out of here until then though, we wouldn''t want you to scare everyone."

    The two nodded and Dorian said "I will take care of a few problems above today and tomorrow. I''ll come back here before departing from the city."

    Jok''ii asked all of a sudden "Can you take us with you to the fight? It looks like a great fight is about to take place."

    Dorian shrugged and replied "If you want." Then he started walking up the mountain, heading to the city above.

    It was the middle of the afternoon and yet it was snowing outside. But with his current Vitality, Dorian could walk around naked and he wouldn''t feel the cold.

    He headed towards Charles'' house, to check on him. As he arrived there, he actually saw Amanda walking out of the house. On the way there he had changed into civil clothes, he had still kept his equipment though, the only things he took off were his mask and his robe.

    He approached her and greeted her with a smile "Hey, what are you doing?"

    She looked at him surprised and said "Hey, I''m going out. Do you want to come, I wouldn''t mind some protection." Dorian smiled and replied "Sorry, I''m here to see your father. Maybe some other time?" She shrugged and walked off.

    Looking at her back, Dorian wondered how could she interact so easily with him. Was it because he had saved her, she didn''t see him as the Butcher?

    He shrugged it off and knocked on the door. After a moment, a worried looking Charles opened the door. Charles face turned into shock upon seeing Dorian but he masked it and asked "I thought you forgot about me. Come in, come in."

    Charles entered the house and Dorian followed him, closing the door behind him. As he followed Charles he saw Lucie who was also looking at him warily. She had the exact same reaction as Charles before smiling and saying "Good to see you Dorian."

    Dorian nodded confused and sat at the table with the two. The atmosphere was unusually tense and no one talked. After a moment Charles said "Dorian, you¡­ changed. What happened to you?"

    Dorian looked at him and replied "Nothing much, fought with some people and did some unspeakable things. Now tell me, why are you so on guard."

    The two looked at each other, in the eyes. What was weird was that they kept looking for too long. Ten seconds later Charles turned back to him and said "You do have the capacity of feeling danger, right?"

    Dorian nodded and Charles said "We felt a great, unprecedented danger knocking at our door. Of course we were on guard. But to think it was you¡­"

    Dorian frowned and said "You did? You two?" He looked at Lucie and said "I don''t feel any danger coming from you, how could you possibly feel mine? Same for you Charles, I don''t mean to be disrespectful, but your aren''t really strong enough to feel my current strength."

    Lucie smiled and with a flick of her finger, Dorian suddenly felt danger coming from the two. And it wasn''t just any danger, both of them almost rivaled the demon!

    Lucie said "Let me reintroduce myself. I am Lucie Bowman, also known as the Red Scorpion, level 2 Mage." Dorian''s eyes grew wide as he heard her revelation.

    On the side, Charles said "And I am Charles Bowman, level 2 Knight. I didn''t want to hide it from you, but there was no point in showing it to you."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian got a hold of his emotions and asked "Why didn''t I feel anything before?" Lucie replied "Your senses aren''t strong enough, they need to be at least at level 1 to feel past my enchantments."

    Hearing her, Dorian realized that he had never met them with a Perception attribute of 20 or more. He asked "What are those levels you are speaking about?"

    Charles replied "This is how Knights and Mages are classified. But now, let''s talk business."

 45 Willpower

    For the rest of the day, Dorian used his sword as much as he could, hunting the gangsters group by group. Unfortunately, they were too weak to create any challenge for Dorian.

    He didn''t regret the fact he slayed every expert level gangsters like the Leaf, because it wouldn''t have made any difference. The gangsters hardly walked the streets, and they had deserted their previous headquarters under the windmill.

    And even those Dorian saw, they would flee at first sight, no matter how many of them there were. To deal with this, Dorian offered a deal to every group he saw: If they could last more than ten minutes against him then he would let them go.

    Of course, to actually learn something he had to hold his hand. But when it reached nine minute he would stop slowing down his skills, but not use his attributes. And even though in the end he only used his abilities rather than his attributes, none was able to live.

    Still, it provided good experience for Dorian. Not enough to get to the Adept level, but still good.

    The sun was giving its last lights, and Dorian was about to go back home, when he heard a sound. It sounded like a metallic object falling to the ground, and it was about 50 meters away. Normally he wouldn''t have cared, but he was about to go back to the cave so he decided he might just check as well.

    Jumping on a house, he passively used his Stealth not to make less noise, but so that his footsteps would be lighter and he wouldn''t fall through the roof of one of the houses. It had happened once to him, as a kid on Earth.

    He had been playing with other kids at hide and seek and found a marvelous hunting spot, the roof of a house. But he actually broke the roof and fell through it.

    Anyway, he made sure not to break anything as he made his way to the sound. How surprised he was to see a group of five gangsters hurrying away from the scene.

    With a great speed, Dorian rushed at them and blocked their path. They all looked at him shocked, panic overwhelming them.

    Dorian said "Have you heard of the deal?" They looked at him in confusion, of course they wouldn''t now, all the ones who heard it died.

    Dorian said "Fight me. If any one of you can last more than ten minutes against me then you can all go. "

    They looked at him with doubt, and said nothing so Dorian threatened them "If you prefer, I can kill you now."

    They shook their heads vehemently and began hushing to each other. Dorian didn''t care to pay attention to what they said and instead counted from ten to zero in his head. When he hit zero, he said "Time is over. First warrior."

    One of them stepped forward and unsheathed his sword. Dorian was a little disappointed, he had only seen swords until now. But among this group, there was actually someone who used another weapon. But he didn''t step up first.

    His first opponent was a youth, he probably never had been in a fight. Many of his opponents were like that, after all most of the gang was composed of those people. They would flash their sword and rob people, never having to fight.

    And those were probably the sons of the merchants who attacked him. For those ones, they were useless to his training so Dorian directly uses his ability.

    Dorian said "Begin." The youth charged at Dorian, crying his lungs out, sword raised with both hands. Dorian could see his arms were shaking a little, but he didn''t know if it came from fear of just the weight of the weapon. Probably both.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian unsheathed his sword and suddenly stabbed out. The sword dropped from the youth''s hands, which moved around the blade piercing through his throat.

    Dorian took back his sword, cutting the palms holding the blade, and letting the blood splash from the neck. With a kick, the still alive boy was sent flying a few meters away, now incapable of interfering with the fight.

    Dorian then said "Another one. A skilled one."

    They didn''t take long to choose, much to Dorian''s delight, the elite who used another weapon. She was a woman, probably in her early thirties, and she had a spear strapped to her back.

    She took it out and said "I used to be part of the cavalry of¡­" Dorian cut her off "I don''t care. Fight."

    With that said, he stepped towards her, wanting to take the initiative to attack. And there, the advantage of the spear over the sword appeared. Before she could enter his range, he entered hers, so she attacked first, thrusting her spear towards his throat with a great precision.

    Dorian parried the blow, sending the spear head to the side, and entered close range. Now, he had the advantage, because once he got in such close proximity, using the spear was hard.

    Dorian made a slash attack, which the woman barely defended against by putting the shaft of her weapon in the way of his sword. Dorian was impressed by her speed and precision, her Agility was most certainly at the level of an expert.

    But in the end, she was an elite, because all her other attributes should be at ten, give or take. So despite parrying his blow, her strength wasn''t enough, and his sword went through her defense, slashing the top of her shoulder.

    Of course, he had gone easy with his blow, he wanted the fight to last. So he only dealt a shallow cut to her shoulder. Dorian was glad to see that the will to survive remained strong in her eyes, despite how big the disparity was between the two of them. It was rare to see. Maybe he would really let her survive.

    His sword having just hit her, his guard looked right opened, so she took of her hands away from her spear and jabbed at his throat.

    And because his left arm was limp, and his hand was holding the sword next to her shoulder, it was impossible to block her jab using his hands.

    So he went for the offensive, and took another step forward, bumping his shoulder against her chest, which pushed her a few steps back. She almost lost her spear, with her life, in the process.

    He really was satisfied with this opponent, him only being able to use one hand put her spearsmanship above his swordsmanship, as he couldn''t really use it. Unfortunately, the mastery of the weapon wasn''t everything in a fight.

    His Movement Mastery, Hand to Hand Combat, and superior Perception which he couldn''t limit, were all way above her, so she couldn''t do anything to him. Still, he was enjoying this fight, it allowed him to progress a little bit more than with others.

    Minutes passed, and soon nine minutes had been reached. The group were hopeful, the fight had lasted so long, there was only one minute left.

    But the woman was on the brink of falling unconscious, her body wasn''t responding as fast as it used to, and Dorian guessed that she was probably only holding on thanks to her will.

    He still intensified his attacks though. His sword would charge from above before snaking its way down her raised spear and slash her arm, it would stab at her leg, be blocked, but his elbow would crush her nose.

    For 45 seconds, she got beaten so hard that Dorian couldn''t believe she was still standing. Even though he only dealt superficial wounds, the amount of injuries was impressive, and massive amounts of blood were flowing out of her body.

    Now, she was only standing up thanks to her spear, and even that was hard. But her eyes, they still had that flame, the will to survive. Dorian wondered what pushed her to surpass such pain to try to survive. Still, he would make her any gift.

    He raised his sword high, something dumb to do against a spear user as they could pierce your through in an instant, but she was too tired to move.

    She looked at the raised sword and painfully raised her spear, ready to block his attack. With a smile no one could see, he brought down his sword. Time seemed to slow down for the woman as the blade descended, like the Sword of Damocles. Was she really going to die here? Using the last bit of her strength, she put everything in her hands, hoping to block.

 47 Final Battle 1

    The time had come. The lights of the 12th day had just risen, shining on the mountain.

    Dorian rose up from his meditation and woke up the other two Sadunites. Once up, he informed them "The day has come. Follow me, the battle shall take place soon."

    The group of three walked up the cave, and once at the exit Dorian took back his spirits before heading out.

    Among the three, Dorian walked rather solemnly, but the two Sadunites were obviously very excited, they were giddy.

    In another part of the city, a group of ten people walked side by side, all dressed the same except one wearing a veil. The sight of the ten walking together was very awe inspiring.

    And they weren''t alone, behind them was a small army of more than 70 soldiers, following diligently the leaders of the group. For many of them, it was the first time they saw all their leaders gathered at the same spot.

    Finally, the third combat group, the City Lord and his troops. Marcus was leading the group, dressed under a silver battle armor, which looked as hard as expensive.

    He was followed by his 11 guards, all superhumans, and 130 foot soldiers, some being policemen.

    And the three groups were walking in the same direction, the city''s main market. No one had to say that the battle would occur here, because it was the only place big enough to hold such a big fight, and even there it would be crowded.

    As Dorian, Jun and Jok''ii arrived, the other two groups were already facing off, looking at each other with murderous eyes. But all the heads turned around, to look at the newcomers. Having more than two hundred battle hungry people looking at you was quite the sight.

    Jun and Jok''ii felt uncomfortable, but Dorian didn''t really care and left the two Sadunites there, out of the battle''s reach. Still, to be sure nothing would happen to them, he also left all the spirits with them. Even though the spirits probably wouldn''t be able to stop the truly strong opponents, they wouldn''t be able to kill them quick enough to stop Dorian from stopping them.

    Dorian advanced towards the two groups, before stopping next to them, waiting for them to launch the war.

    Dorian tried to examine his opponents but there were too many people, and he couldn''t judge the danger individuals emitted. Still, he was able to feel that no one was strong enough to be his match.

    Lucie only looked briefly at Dorian before focusing back on the enemy army. After a moment, a staff appeared in her hand, and it lit up with a green light.

    Marcus obviously saw that, and roared "Attack!" He didn''t move though, nor did any of his Knight guards. Only the 130 soldiers did move, roaring madly.

    On the other side, Lucie roared "Attack!" too, and the light on her staff intensified. The city army feared a spell would strike them, but the green light instead spread over her own troops.

    They seemed to have become faster all of a sudden, and as the two armies met, the gangsters obviously were stronger physically. However, the city soldiers were real trained soldiers, who knew how to work with each other, thus thanks to their cooperation they were able to match the gangsters.

    As the fight between them escalated, Marcus took out the large sword that rested on his back. The sun''s light reflected on it, showing off its beautiful azure color.

    He didn''t say anything and instead began running towards the battlefield, followed by his guards.

    On the other side, Lucie raised her staff again, and another green light appeared. This time, the spell was launched much quicker, and it was an offensive one. Five soldiers fighting were suddenly split in two, killed on the spot.

    Next to her, the Stingers began running towards the battlefield too, as silent as death itself.

    As Marcus entered the battle, everywhere his sword passed by, death wouldn''t be far behind. One of the Stingers suddenly separated from the group and appeared next to Marcus with a ghostly speed, attacking him.

    The Stingers blocked the other guards from interfering, beginning a fight too. Marcus didn''t care about the dagger coming at him, and didn''t bother to defend, going for the offense instead.

    The Captain''s dagger penetrated the armor slightly before stopping, not injuring Marcus in the least. Meanwhile, Marcus'' great sword was about to hit the Captain.

    He was forced to dodge the blow, he knew he couldn''t take on such a blow. A fight then began between the two level 2 Knights, ignoring their surroundings and killing soldiers as they fought.

    This left Lucie alone, who was channeling spells, killing groups of soldiers. She didn''t even care about sparring the gangsters, she would just throw what Dorian guessed to be wind blades at the crowd.

    Although, she didn''t kill that many people, because she didn''t use that much spells, she probably was saving her MP, or whatever was this world''s equivalent.

    Dorian looked at the ongoing fights, and finally decided to enter it. Unsheathing his sword, he rushed through the soldiers, killing the gangsters he saw, running towards the Stingers.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    He wasn''t surprised by the Stingers'' Captain because he had already known of his existence, but more of Marcus'' calm.

    Still, he didn''t have time to think about this and engaged one of the Stingers. This Stinger was a woman, with short blond hair and who fought with a rapier, a long thin sword.

    As he appeared next to her, she said with a grin "Here you are, come hand in your life." She then stabbed out with a great speed.

    Even with his Perception, the speed of the thrust was great. But speed wasn''t anything. Sweeping his sword before him, he didn''t even aim for the rapier.

    His sword collided with the rapier, pushing it out of the way. The woman tried to bring the rapier back with her speed, but the strength behind Dorian''s sweep made it go too far.

    So as Dorian''s sword went for her, she couldn''t block. His sword hit her chest. But it didn''t go through, because there was an armor under the robe. Still, the impact sent the woman flying back and broke some ribs.

    As Dorian was about to finish her, another two Stingers came to block him. Those two weren''t much stronger than her, but their cooperation made them more annoying to deal with.

    As Dorian was gaining the upper hand, he had time to look around and see how the battle was going. After a quick look, it became obvious that thanks to Lucie''s continuous spells, the gangsters were winning.

    Even if the guards were more than the Stingers, the latter had buffs over them.

    On a side, a two Stingers were fighting against a single guard, and were winning by a large margin. For anyone looking, this guard would most certainly be the first casualty among the Knights.

    And yet, in the middle of their fight a shadowy figure appeared and pushed the two Stingers afar. This revealed to be Charles.

    Dorian was surprised to see him fight with Marcus'' men, but he just took it as him playing schemes. Anyway, it wouldn''t matter to him.

    But for the overall situation, Charles'' arrival changed a lot of things. Because of his strength, he was able to to dominate almost any fight. Every Stinger he fought against was defeated quickly, but weirdly none were killed.

    Dorian stopped paying attention to them and focused on fighting the two against him. He put in a little more effort and soon the two became injured, and although one was able to leave, the other was unable to escape and became the first Knight casualty.

    As Dorian used the blood on his robe, he was surprised to see the woman he beat had come back. Looking around, he saw that the Stinger that escaped was actually being healed by Lucie.

    Marcus let out a sudden roar, which created a shock wave that pushed everyone around him, including the Captain, and rushed toward his bitter enemy, Lucie.

    He didn''t care for any of the incoming attacks, letting them all hit his armor, and battered all those blocking him with his sword.

    At the same time, Charles moved out too, rushing towards Lucie too.

 48 Final Battle 2

    Lucie was about to find herself against both Marcus and Charles together, in close combat. As a mage, close combat wasn''t her forte, so she would die even against one of them, not to say two.

    And the Captain couldn''t lose her, otherwise it would be one level 2 Knights against two, or three if Dorian is counted.

    Marcus reached her first, and he swung his great sword at her. The sword stopped half a meter from Lucie, impacting against a blue barrier. The barrier stopped the strike, but was shattered in return.

    Then, Charles arrived. The Captain was about to come too, but before he moved he was surprised by what happened. Charles, instead of attacking Lucie, attacked his own ally, Marcus.

    Charles'' sword hit Marcus'' armor, piercing it and cutting into his flesh. Thankfully, Marcus was a great warrior and was able to dodge a little, resulting in only a little superficial cut.

    Still, he looked at Charles with red eyes and bellowed "Die, traitor!" Marcus began attacking Charles, while trying to get closer to Lucie, but Lucie was attacking too so it became impossible for Marcus to approach her.

    However, Marcus was stronger than both of them, he had a greater defense, greater strength, greater regeneration and his speed wasn''t far lacking. So for the moment, no winner could be seen from their fight.

    The Captain didn''t go to help Lucie seeing Charles was on their side, and instead attacked Dorian, who was again fighting with a Stinger, about to kill him.

    The Captain pushed the Stinger away from Dorian''s sword trajectory, saving his life, and attacked Dorian himself. Dorian stepped to the right, evading the stab, and kicked at the Captain''s legs.

    The Captain was able to jump to dodge it, but now that he was in mid air he couldn''t dodge anymore. Dorian slashed his sword at him, but another Stinger attacked him, forcing him to spin around to block.

    As he spun, Dorian was able to take a quick look at his surroundings. All the remaining Stingers seemed to have reached a consensus, and they were all rushing at him to kill him.

    So, Dorian decided to stop holding back, and go at full power. Well, excluding his Life Essence and Bloodline Skills that is.

    In less than a second, Dorian was surrounded by the 7 remaining Stingers, including the one he forced to flee earlier, and also their Captain.

    Dorian stood straight like an arrow, his sword held vertically in front of his body, almost touching his nose, and he closed his eyes.

    For such a fight, with so many enemies, fighting using only his sight was impossible, he needed to use all his senses. So when he closed his eyes, he used his other enhanced senses to pick up on all his enemies positions and movements.

    The Stingers were looking at him, as if they were waiting for him to move. After a moment though, their patience grew weary and they attacked.

    Of course, they were part of the same team and were used to work with each other, so they didn''t attack one by one. Still, not all of them could attack at the same time, there wasn''t enough place.

    As the different weapons approached him, Dorian finally opened his eyes and slashed out with his sword, parrying two attacks and using the impact to shift his body to the side, dodging another two attacks.

    He wasn''t able to attack though, because as soon as he dodged the earlier attacks the four others attacked him too.

    Dorian was thus forced to block them too, unless he wanted his body to turn into a sieve. The eight enemies started all attacking, one after the other, and formed a never ending assault, always having at least one person attack.

    Dorian was defending himself, but had no opportunity to attack. For now, his defense hadn''t been breached, but he couldn''t keep up with this, he would undoubtedly make a mistake at some point.

    That''s why Dorian created a mistake on purpose, allowing a sword to hit his side, cutting into it. In exchange, Dorian was finally able to attack.

    And now that he didn''t hold back anymore, one attack was way more than enough to kill a Stinger. So one of them suddenly got beheaded. Then, the situation returned to what it was, Dorian defending and the Stingers attacking, just that Dorian was now injured and the Stingers one less.

    After a moment, Dorian''s sword couldn''t take on the assault anymore and broke. The Stingers didn''t expect what happened next though. The shards of the broken weapon flew out like thrown daggers, and hit every one of them, with the Captain being the only one able to dodge them.

    That was barely enough to injure them, and wouldn''t affect their performance, but they were stunned. So they didn''t see their fallen comrade''s sword fly by, decapitating yet another Stinger before landing into Dorian''s hand.

    Dorian didn''t get the time to look at the sword''s stats, he was only able to see that it shone with a green glow.

    As they continued fighting, the Stingers thought they would get the advantage because Dorian''s injury would worsen, but they were stunned to see that instead of aggravating, his injury was healing instead.

    The same frustration applied to Charles and Lucie, who despite attacking Marcus again and again, injuring him, his injuries would heal themselves even quicker than Dorian.

    Marcus swung his sword, pushing Charles back and again tried to rush Lucie, but a spell was launched from her staff. Marcus expertly moved his sword in front of him, blocking the spell. Although he avoided getting injured, he was pushed back by a few meters, his silver boots marking the ground.

    Charles tried to attack Marcus, but again his sword wasn''t able to get past his armor. Only when he infused his sword with Life Essence was he able to pierce through it, but he didn''t have an infinite amount of it.

    The only places Marcus'' armor didn''t cover were his neck, which he protected the most, and the joints which were a little too small to hit, even with Charles'' ability with the sword.

    Marcus ram his shoulder into Marcus, pushing him back, and instead of attacking Lucie he attacked Charles instead. Lucie still launched one of her spells at him, but Marcus was able to injure Charles'' arm.

    Thankfully for the couple, it wasn''t his strong arm but the other, so he was still able to fight.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Back to Dorian, with every second his abilities were getting stronger. Although he didn''t receive notifications for his abilities'' power up, he received two notifications telling him he had both his Strength and Agility pure attributes reach 20.

    For his Strength, it was of 18 before so two abilities must have leveled up. Swordsmanship and Hand to Hand Combat. And he could clearly feel it, as the difficulty suddenly decreased, and the threat from the Stingers reduced a lot.

    As for his Agility, it was obviously his Movement Mastery that got enhanced, as he felt it also became easier to dodge the attacks.

    Although he didn''t have the time to check the sub skills and assign them, the power up in attributes and abilities was enough to make Dorian''s advantage even bigger.

    The rest of the Stingers quickly died, and after a moment only the Captain and the second strongest Stinger remained.

    After blocking one of the Captain''s strikes, Dorian moved toward the Stinger and stabbed his sword in his chest. The Stinger didn''t even defend, and instead tried to grab Dorian''s sword. He didn''t just use his muscles, he used all of his Life Energy, as well as his own life, to reinforce his hands and his stomach, making them much harder.

    This killed him on the spot, but his grip on Dorian''s sword had become good enough to stop him long enough for the Captain''s sword to hit Dorian. So, Dorian was unable to pull back his sword and was forced to use his metal bracer to stop the dagger.

    At the other end of the battlefield, Lucie saw the situation, and saw an opportunity. She moved her staff from Marcus and instead pointed it towards the group, and poured all the mana she could muster in an instant, overcharging the spell as it flew toward the three struggling figures.

    They barely had the time to see it before it hit them.

 50 Final Battle 4

    Seeing the deal was done, Dorian cracked his neck and said "Come now." Dorian released every limit he put on his body, and his Life Essence exploded outwards, making dust clouds appear.

    The three flinched a little feeling the power of the aura he released, but they released their own Life Essence nonetheless. Although they were weaker, there were three of them so the aura they released was able to go toe to toe with Dorian''s.

    Dorian unsheathed his new sword, and rushed at Marcus. Marcus, who was the slowest among those present, had no chance of dodging, and that wasn''t his style anyway. He put his sword across his body, trying to block Dorian''s strike.

    Dorian''s sword collided with the heavy sword. Marcus was confident about his physical strength, but when he felt the strength behind the sword attacking him, he knew he stood no chance against him.

    He tried to push the sword away, but it was too strong and bypassed his defense, lodging itself into Marcus'' shoulder, piercing it completely. The grade 2 armor had been slashed like wet paper.

    Marcus hurriedly stepped back, the sword leaving his body, while Dorian slashed behind him. His sword stopped the daggers from the Captain, completely canceling the strike. But he couldn''t kick him away because Charles came swooping down, slashing his sword downward on Dorian''s head.

    Dorian stepped away and dodged his strike, only for Marcus'' great sword to descend on his head. Dorian was confident he could stop that strike, even with the ridiculous weight of that sword, but he still decided to dodge away.

    That''s because there was the Captain waiting in the shadows, the moment he blocked Marcus'' sword he would be unable to move for a fraction of a second, enough for the Captain to strike him.

    Even with his Perception, Dorian was unable to find the Captain. If he activated God''s Sight, he would be able to find him, but he couldn''t use it.

    As Dorian attacked Charles, he looked around for any new threat. There was none, except for the hidden Captain, but he was able to see the situation on the minions side. With the Knights'' help, Marcus'' side was winning an overwhelming victory, and it wouldn''t take long for the gangsters to be defeated.

    If they decided to join in the battle, against so many opponents Dorian wouldn''t have any choice but to activate his skills, but then even the numbers would become meaningless.

    Charles tried to defend himself against Dorian''s strike, but Dorian was way too strong for him and the sword approached his neck. But as he was about to cut his neck, Dorian felt a sudden danger come from Charles'' sleeve.

    Dorian used Force Share to suddenly stop his strike and transform it into an elbow strike, which hit against Charles'' arm.

    The elbow hit something hard, probably made of metal, but it broke it and Charles'' wrist at the same time.

    As Dorian stepped back, he saw a strange device fall from Charles'' sleeve. After looking more attentively at it, Dorian recognized it as a small crossbow. It was probably attached to Charles'' wrist, and was about to shoot a dart at Dorian. A poisonous one, looking at the green liquid on the edge.

    Dorian felt something approach him from behind, and without looking he kicked the ground below it so hard that it shook, making the one behind him slightly loose his balance and allowing Dorian to make a rotational kick.

    Turning 180¡ã, Dorian''s foot hit the undefended side of the Captain. The Captain, who was an assassin, didn''t have a great defense, and the place Dorian hit was unprotected. The Captain shirked in pain and was sent flying into another shop''s wall, destroying it. This time, he didn''t rise up. If he wasn''t dead, he was crippled at least. Dorian was pretty sure he felt all of his ribs break.

    Marcus arrived slightly too late, and couldn''t save the Captain, but he still took his chance and swung his sword at Dorian. But Dorian had seen him coming, and defended against the strike.

    Dropping his sword, Dorian reinforced his hand with Life Essence to make sure it wouldn''t get injured, and grabbed the sword, stopping it. He had underestimated the power behind the sword which cut open his hand and injured his bones, hurting him.

    But he had still stopped the sword using one hand. With his other hand, Dorian jabbed at Marcus'' kidneys. The palm didn''t pierce the armor, but the skill Kidney Strike worked, paralyzing Marcus. Then, Dorian punched Marcus in the middle of the chest, putting his entire Life Essence into his right arm''s muscles and bones this time, making his strength even greater.

    The grade 2 armor caved in, and Marcus was sent flying too, although he didn''t get into a wall and instead fell on the ground.

    This time, even though his sword could pierce through his armor, the sword wasn''t the best weapon against someone using a metal armor, blunt weapons were better. That''s why he punched him instead of cutting him.

    Right now, even though Marcus probably wasn''t dead, even with his regeneration he wouldn''t be able to get up for at least a day.

    That left only Dorian and Charles left, facing each other. Well, it wasn''t really a one on one, because the fight between the minions had ended, and Marcus'' men were all looking at Dorian fiercely.

    But contrarily to Dorian''s expectation, or not, Charles didn''t attack him, and instead rushed toward Marcus, aiming to finish him. Honestly, by this point, Dorian wasn''t surprised anymore by Charles'' betrayal. It looked like he had been wrong about him, and the Charles Dorian saw was only a disguise.

    Dorian thought it was a pity, he really took Charles as a friend. But he turned out to be a filthy snake. So Dorian decided that unless he offered a great deal he couldn''t refuse, he would kill Charles. Although Charles couldn''t harm him personally, he could still create problems for Dorian.

    Charles was a level 2 Knight, and he wasn''t far from Marcus so he was too fast for anyone to stop him. But when he saw Charles approach him, Marcus didn''t panic and grinned instead.

    Even as Charles'' sword descended on Marcus'' unmovable body, he still grinned. And his green accentuated when Charles'' sword was stopped by a blue barrier. Charles'' attacked again, but he could do nothing against the sword.

    Marcus said "Don''t tire yourself out, you can''t break through this. I knew you would betray me, Charles. From the beginning."

    Charles frowned and stopped attacking as he said "Your nothing but a drunkard, who was it that advised you?"

    Marcus shook his head and said "You''re a fool. I made you believe I was an idiotic drunkard because I saw your true nature at once. Now, you can die."

    Charles sneered "You think they can kill me?"

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Marcus replied with a grin "You really are nothing more than a fool. I was earning time, for them to do their job. Now, you are finished."

    Charles and Dorian both looked at the minions at the same time, and were shocked by the sight.

    They had all formed groups, led by a Knight each, and were holding their hands in a prayer like form. Surrounding each group was a blue gas, which transformed into a liquid the closer to the ground it was.

    The blue liquid like thing was now forming some kind of symbol, but only from the sky could someone really see what shape it was making.

    Dorian didn''t know what it was, although he guessed it was related to magic, but Charles knew what it was seeing his panicked face. He tried to rush at them to stop them, but before he could the shape finished.

    Dorian prepared himself to activate his skills and fly off, but he felt a familiar feeling. It was similar to what he felt when the demon he killed was summoned.

    He looked at the center of the shape the blue liquid formed, and saw the space distort. Though, this time the distortion was greater than last time, it looked like the thing trying to come out was massive. When he saw what it was, Dorian was shocked.

 51 Final Battle 5

    Some time earlier¡­

    Marcus was finished with his meet up and said "Good, go and prepare for tomorrow''s battle! Robert, you stay with me and help me finish this bottle!"

    As he said that, he took out yet another bottle as everyone left, except for Robert. He poured in the wine in two cups, and once he was sure everyone had left his face turned serious as he asked "Have you been able to investigate?"

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Robert took his glass and said before taking a sip "That Charles is definitely shady, I didn''t manage to find any evidence, but he will definitely try to betray you if he can."

    Marcus nodded and said "Good, he still thinks he has total control over the situation. How are the troops doing?"

    Robert asked with a concerned face "Aren''t you afraid of losing so many soldiers, my Lord? They are vital in managing this city."

    Marcus shook his head and said "It doesn''t matter, delivering this to the King will be enough for me to get out of this shit hole and go to the capital. And I intend on bringing your with me. I''m not going into the court alone."

    Robert nodded and said "The training has gone well. This dimensional magic is very hard to pull off, but using their life as a sacrifice will make the process way easier. We definitely will be able to summon and control a rank 3 lifeform, we just don''t know which one yet."

    Marcus smiled and said "With a monster as strong as the average level 3 Knight, we will definitely win that battle." Then, Marcus took his own glass and the two began drinking, Robert reporting things he noticed to Marcus.

    Back to the present, a large being exited the space rift. As he looked at it, Dorian could only hide his surprise thanks to his mask. In front of his stood a mythical creature, renowned and believed to only be a legend on Earth.

    A five meters tall humanoid body, covered in hair, looking a little bit like an ape but much more straight in its stance. Deep blue eyes, white fur and a tall body. Dorian instantly recognized this as the Abominable Snowman, aka the Yeti.

    This Yeti looked around with rage in its eyes, probably looking for preys to unleash his rage on. He first looked at the people who summoned it, but all were dead except for two, and those two were its masters.

    It then received an order from its masters. Kill the two humans. The Yeti wasn''t just a dumb beast. Although not at the level of a human, it was able of understanding many kinds of commands, even slightly complicated ones.

    So when it was told to kill the two humans, it immediately knew who the targets were. And unlike humans who live protected in cities for their whole lives, the Yeti had lived on the edge of death in the wild its entire life, so it had developed an instinct for danger no human can hope to come close to.

    And when it received its command, the Yeti felt like smashing its masters to death. The human who was stepping back was fine, the Yeti could swat him like a fly, he would die with no effort.

    But the other human¡­ The Yeti could feel that if it tried to do anything to him, it would die. It couldn''t defy its masters'' orders, but it definitely could earn time.

    So the Yeti ignored Dorian and his overwhelming killing intent, and instead went for Charles.

    Dorian didn''t move to help Charles, although he was surprised by the monster summoned he wouldn''t help someone like Charles. Moreover, that gave him time to recover from the injury he inflicted on himself earlier on against the Stingers.

    Charles retreated madly upon seeing the Yeti rush at him, but he was way too slow to escape from his hunter. As it arrived near Charles, the Yeti tried to slap Charles.

    The thing is, the Yeti''s hand was bigger than Charles'' chest, so it was very hard to avoid. And yet, at the last moment Charles was able to dive under the hand, evading the strike. What he didn''t know was that the Yeti could have killed him, but it was so afraid of fighting Dorian that it slowed its hand down on purpose.

    Still, it couldn''t disobey on purpose, not too much at least, and thus continued attacking. The Yeti kicked down, which Charles dodged again. But this time, the strength behind that kick was so strong that the ground trembled and little broken stone shards were sent flying everywhere.

    Charles fell to the ground, his legs punctured by small stone shards. But he did not make a sound, as if he wasn''t feeling the pain.

    The Yeti approached Charles, who couldn''t move away, and finished him.

    And yet, just as the Yeti was about to hit Charles, a shadow flashed by and the Yeti was forced to step back, a gash opened on its chest, dying its white fur red.

    Everyone looked at the attacker. Next to Charles stood an old man with no weapon in hand, and yet his hand was bloodied. He was licking the blood off. Charles forcefully got on his knees and said "Master, you''ve saved me."

    The old man laughed eerily and said "Good my little slave, you have done a good job¡­" The old man turned into a shadow and arrived before the confused Yeti, slashing its chest open again, this time managing to make it fall on the ground.

    Then, the old man moved again, arrived next to Robert who was helping Marcus up. This time, Dorian had a clear view on what was happening. The old man coated his hand with Life Essence and used it as a blade to injure the Yeti.

    The Yeti howled as it fell, but couldn''t get up fast enough to protect its masters. The old man''s hand was stopped by the barrier protecting Marcus though.

    Seeing this, Marcus sighed in relief and said "You fool, even if you have that weird technique that allows you to be faster, only a level 3 Knight can¡­ destroy this¡­ barrier."

    As he spoke, the old strange man had slashed yet again, and this time the barrier shattered in front of the strike.

    Marcus and Robert panicked, but they didn''t get to plea for their lives as the old man decapitated both of them with a swipe of his hand.

    The Yeti, who was rolling on the ground, calmed down a little, as if it was relieved its masters died, and remained on the ground.

    The old man glanced at it quickly but didn''t do anything and instead turned to Dorian and said "Young man, you have really surprised me. I barely arrived into this shitty town and I''ve met someone as strong as you. Tell me, what''s your name."

    Dorian replied "It is common courtesy to present yourself first." The old man laughed and said "Right, you are absolutely right. I am Sir Ludwig Latveria, patriarch of the Latveria family. We are a clan of assassins."

    Dorian nodded and said "I have several titles, such as the Butcher or Boring Guy, but my name is Dorian Hunt. I am not part of any special organization, although I was sent here for a mission¡­"

    Ludwig smiled and said "Good, I will remember your name, I always remember the names of the geniuses." Dorian smiled and said "Funny. Are you sure you want to do this?"

    Ludwig nodded, and Dorian asked "First, tell me, did you enslave Charles or something? Or is he acting out of his free will?"

    Ludwig tilted his head and said "Is he your friend? Yes, he has been bewitched. And I''ll give you a free tip: the only way to free him is to kill me."

    Dorian smiled and said "That''s very kind of you. You can die now."

    Ludwig grinned, but froze all of a sudden. Then, his head fell off to the ground.

 52 Loo

    Charles suddenly felt a huge headache, which lasted barely a second before feeling free once again. He looked around in dismay, confused at what happened. Then, he started remembering what happened. What he did.

    He frantically searched until he found her. Lucie. As he arrived near her, he fell down, crying. He held her body, trying to find a breath or a pulse, but she was dead, there was nothing left.

    Meanwhile, Dorian stood away, his wings unfolding back. Using his wings, along with his Life Essence¡­ had felt amazing. But as he looked at the crying Charles, he didn''t feel the happiness, but felt pity.

    No matter what happened, seeing a man who was forced to kill his wife, even he felt something. But he didn''t go help him, that wouldn''t help and he had better stuff to do.

    Looking around, countless lights shone, of various colors. For Dorian, this was probably the most magnificent sight his eyes ever fell on. From white to blue, passing by green, there was of everything.

    Dorian straight out ignored all the white lights, there were too many of them. Even for the green lights, there were more than ever before.

    So Dorian set his attention upon the few blue lights.

    They came from few corpses: The Captain of the Stingers, Marcus, Lucie and Ludwig. Dorian decided to head towards the Captain first, as he was the closest.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Approaching him, Dorian saw his twisted expression. His death definitely hadn''t been gentle. Well, Dorian had crushed his inside with a kick, so of course it wasn''t nice.

    There were multiple objects of interest on him. His boots, his bag, his cloak, and his pair of daggers.

    First, Dorian looked at the boots:

    [Name: Telaria''s Wings]

    [Type: Boots]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: E]

    [Requirement: 20 Vitality]

    [Effects: Agility +6, allow you to jump higher.]

    [Float: It allows you to float slightly in the air, or slow down a fall. No cost or cooldown.]

    [Remark: Those boots are said to have once been weared by Adonis the Great, and were of a great value to him. Whether it is true or not, you shall guess.]

    Seeing all the great effects, Dorian didn''t hesitate in changing his old boots and putting on those. It instantly lifted his Agility to 26.

    He didn''t get to try it out though, as he continued looking at the other equipments. What followed was the green cloak.

    [Name: Shadow Cloak]

    [Type: Cloak]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Defense: F]

    [Requirement: Basic Stealth (10/10)]

    [Effects: Makes your Stealth one level higher.]

    [Shadow Shift: Transform into a shadow to gain speed. Agility +8 for five seconds.]

    [Remark: This was crafted by a talented craftsman, a little too talented¡­]

    Dorian would have been interested by this if he didn''t already have his [Scorpion''s Shell], as the two couldn''t stack. Although five seconds weren''t a lot, +8 to his already great Agility would make it more than enough to kill someone. This was an assassin''s stuff, made to assassin people. And the stealth effect was good too. But this was doomed in being sold by Dorian.

    Next, Dorian looked at daggers, and was surprised to see that they identified as a set, it was his first time seeing this.

    [Name: Tina and Tima]

    [Type: Melee Weapon]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Attack: D]

    [Requirement: Adept Dagger Mastery, 20 Perception.]

    [Effects: Soundless lvl3]

    [Precise Strike: When both daggers strike at the same time, it ignore 50% of the armor.]

    [Durability: 968/1000 and 896/1000]

    [Remarks: This pair of identical daggers were found in a ruin by its original owner, their true origin is unknown. Did it come from an ancient civilization, a temple, or did it just used to be another adventurer''s?]

    This, he was interested in. The skill on the weapon was perfect for him, as this was how he assassinated people. There was one thing that was problematic though, could he equip those on?

    He only got past 20 in Perception with his mask, but was the requirement about his pure attribute?

    Dorian tried wielding them, and was relieved to see that he could use them. Still curious, Dorian kept them in hand and took off his mask.

    But nothing happened, he still could wield the daggers, despite his Perception no longer being good enough. Dorian tried to use them again.

    He immediately felt weird, all his senses seemed to have been sabotaged. He cut his own hands while swinging the daggers, as if he had never used a dagger before¡­ No, even someone who never used them wouldn''t cut themselves.

    Dorian put the mask back up and asked the system "System, can you explain what just happened?"

    [The requirements on different equipments are of different natures. The attribute related requirements don''t have to be met to use them, but accidents could happen. Only certain requirements, like ''owned by X'' can make an equipment unusable.]

    Dorian asked "What are the effects for the different lack in attributes?"

    [A lack of Strength makes you unable to lift it, a lack of Speed will make you slow as a snail, a lack of Vitality will tire you out extremely quickly, a lack of Intelligence will give you a headache, a lack of Perception will mislead your senses.]

    Dorian nodded and thanked the system before going back to his looting.

    There only remained the bag, which was similar to Dorian''s in uses except the space inside was smaller. Inside were medicines, food, reports, maps, some books and the armor he was given earlier.

    Dorian immediately took the armor out, he was interested in this grade 3 armor. But there was something off, there wasn''t any light coming from it. Inside the spatial bag, when Dorian looks through it he can see the lights, but there wasn''t any around this one.

    As he held it and inspected it, he heard a voice next to him say "It''s fake, I''m good at making artifacts, I can make fake ones too."

    Dorian looked at Charles, who was carrying his dead wife in his arms, and said "You alright?" Charles sighed and said "No. I''m sorry for attacking you, I didn''t mean to."

    Dorian rolled his eyes and said "I freed you, of course I know you didn''t mean to." Charles shook his head and said "I still need to apologize."

    Dorian shrugged and said "If that''s what you want then you can give me your wife''s spatial ring, with the staff."

    Charles looked lost for a second, before looking longingly at the ring on his wife''s hand, and the staff that rested on her.

    Seeing his hesitation and reluctance, Dorian added "I''m not a specialist, but seeing how guilty you feel, everytime you will see those you will only think back of your mistake, not of her. First find redemption, and once that''s done you may take both the ring and the staff back from me."

    Tears started forming once again in Charles'' eyes, but he looked resolute at the ring and took it from his wife''s hand, then made the staff disappear into it before handing it over to Dorian.

    Dorian took the ring, which shone with a blue light. Lucie had two blue items on her: The staff, the ring and her robe. But Dorian wasn''t so cruel he would take off that dress, even if he got it all he would probably have to sell it, because he got something better.

    Looking at his [Scorpion''s Shell] evolution requirement, it was only missing one. The Captain''s blood. After accepting the ring though, Dorian first decided to look at its status. It was basically the same as the spatial bag, only that the space available was bigger.

    Instead of 5*5*5, it was now 20*20*20. Still, he wouldn''t discard his bag as it didn''t take much place, but it offered a lot of possibilities. Dorian tried putting the bag into the ring but felt a force stop him from doing that.

    He expected that, that would be too simple to put spatial devices inside spatial devices. Dorian then proceeded to put order in everything he got.

    He put all the medicines in his wolf spatial bag, the food in the spatial bag from the Captain and everything he would sell in the Dreamland inside his spatial ring.

    When he was finished, he started walking towards Marcus'' body.

 53 More loo

    Of course, before going he slashed open the Captain''s wrist and sprayed blood on his robe. The blood was absorbed as always, and the robe suddenly took a shade darker. He also looked at the staff''s stats.

    [Name: Scorpion''s Shell]

    [Type: Armor]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: D]

    [Requirement: Owned by Boring Guy.]

    [Effects: Strength +6, killing aura strengthening]

    [Blood Clone: Creates a clone of yourself with all of your skills and 50% of your attributes. Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

    The equipment had become really good, especially the skill, to be able to make a clone could have a lot of uses. It was a shame it could only last 30 seconds, but it was still great for combat.

    [Name: Staff of Agun]

    [Type: Magic Weapon]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Attack: D]

    [Requirement: 20 Intelligence, Any Adept Magic]

    [Effects: Smart lvl3]

    [Channel: Instantly recover 100 MP. Cooldown: 5 hours]

    [Durability: 780/1000]

    [Remarks: Agun is a renowned wizard who gained his fame by creating the Wing Lance spell.]

    Dorian did not put the staff in his spatial ring and instead in one of his spatial bags, to make sure he wouldn''t sell it by accident.

    Dorian looked at the body near his feet. Marcus. He had a green armor, his blue great sword, a green earring and two blue rings.

    Dorian first looked at the green items. The armor wasn''t anything amazing, Dorian barely looked at its status before putting it into his spatial ring. The reason was that its durability was nearing zero.

    So, Dorian took a look at that earring.

    [Name: Golden Earring]

    [Type: Earring]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Defense: F]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Perception +3]

    [Durability: 500/500]

    [Remark: This was made of gold then enchanted.]

    There wasn''t anything special to that earring, but it still added three points to Perception so Dorian tried putting it on. Putting on equipment could be weird some times, and this was one of such times.

    Although Dorian never pierced his ears, the equipment just attached itself to his ear without any pain. Dorian didn''t know whether it had pierced his ear or not though.

    Although the upgrade was nice, this wasn''t what interested Dorian the most. What Dorian wanted to see, were the sword and what was inside the ring.

    Dorian took the sword first, which he lifted quite easily.

    [Name: Azure Dragon (Replica)]

    [Type: Melee Weapon]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Attack: D]

    [Requirement: Basic Swordsmanship (Level 10), 20 Strength, 20 Agility]

    [Effects: Crush lvl3]

    [Overwhelming Strike: If your Strength Attribute is stronger than your opponent, then 50 additional damages will be dealt. If your Strength is weaker, then this strike will gain an armor penetration bonus of 30%.]

    [Durability: 968/1000]

    [Remarks: Marcus'' favorite sword, he wouldn''t let anyone touch it. This is a replica of the sword of the current king of Nevaria.]

    This was undoubtedly the strongest status page he had seen. The skill was simply overpowered, well overwhelming, no matter who he striked he would get the advantage. That also helped him understand how the sword had cut into his hand, because Marcus'' strength was lower than Dorian''s, the armor piercing effect had come into place.

    Speaking of this, Dorian suddenly remembered something. He had forgotten about his sub skills for Agility and Strength.

    Dorian put away his green light sword into his Spatial Ring and strapped the Azure Dragon on his back. Despite hiding his emotions most of the time, Dorian could hardly hide his pride at the moment. His weapon was a replica of the weapon of a King.

    Dorian opened his status, which had changed drastically.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 410/500]

    [MP: 216/220]

    [Strength: 21 (32)]

    [Agility: 20 (26)]

    [Vitality: 30]

    [Intelligence: 22]

    [Perception: 18 (24)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 5/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    He was no longer the weak boy who just entered this world, he had now basically become a monster surpassing every limit set for this place. And he wasn''t finished, he still had to take the loot from Marcus'' Spatial Ring, which should contain the artifact, but also Ludwig''s body.

    For his Agility, the two sub skills were:

    [Swift: Makes your movement and attack speeds 10% faster.]

    [Agile: Gives you perfect balance and makes you 10% more flexible.]

    Again, Swift was interesting, a buff on his speed would be good, but Dorian still felt that would be wasted, he already had enough ways to make himself faster. But he had nothing for his balance and flexibility until he unlocks the [Balance] ability.

    That was a dilemma that Dorian saw and read a lot. Should one become a jack of all trades, master of nothing, or become an extreme master in something, but lack in all other areas?

    Most of the time, main characters, because they are the main characters, don''t have this problem and were able to be jack of all trades while being better than everyone else in every way possible.

    But this was the real world, and Dorian knew that he had to make a choice. And his choice was to be a jack of all trades. The reason for that is that he believes that no one can save him better than himself.

    The most glaring weakness of an extreme master is their weakness in other fields, but if they are part of a team then they can ignore that weakness.

    But Dorian didn''t believe in that. For him, no one would better protect him than himself. And that''s why he decided to cover all fronts rather than depend on others. It''s not that he is an introvert that doesn''t intend on speaking to anyone, but he couldn''t put enough trust in someone to trust them with his life.

    And if he continued on this path, even as a Jack of all trades he would be able to dominate everything.

    After picking [Agile], it was the Strength turn:

    [Destruction: Deal 10% more damage to materials.]

    [Hurt: Deal 10% more damage to characters.]

    This time, Dorian didn''t have any reason to choose the seemingly weak one. Honestly, [Destruction] seemed rather useless, he would rather make more damage to enemies than the environment.

    He could see some use in Destruction as it would make more damage to his enemies armors, but why would he do that, what is he going to loot if he destroys everything?

    So without hesitation he finished picking out his skills.

    Now, Dorian looked at the two rings. After getting a closer look, he was able to see that both rings weren''t the same. One was a Spatial Ring like the other, but the other one looked different. Of course, Dorian checked them both.

    The first came as a Spatial Ring, as expected. Normal people wouldn''t see the differences between the rings, but Dorian could even without the status, thanks to his status as a Runemaster. For such artifacts, forgers like Charles would be in charge of making the ring as conductible to mana as possible, while the Runemaster would put the runes allowing for the ring to become a Spatial Ring.

    While the first one was normal, the same couldn''t be said about the second.

 54 Servan

    [Name: Ring of Venus]

    [Type: Ring]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: D]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effect: +5 Vitality]

    [Life Steal: When hitting an enemy, 10% more damage will be dealt, ignoring defense, and will be given back as health.]

    [Durability: 500/500]

    [Remark: Venus ascended millenniums ago relying on her body to become the Goddess of Lust.]

    This was really a great item for Dorian, who put it on immediately. Because he had a very big HP bar, Dorian could last longer than anyone in a fight, and since he planned on using [Azure Dragon] from now on, he would make big damages, meaning he would get a lot of health back everytime he hits the enemy. And the +5 to Vitality was welcomed as well.

    Dorian then looked at the final [Spatial Ring]. In there, was the famed artifact that whole kingdoms fought for. If it was enough to make one of the kingdoms win the war then it got to be amazing. But Dorian knew that such an item was probably one of a great power, and he wanted to be as prepared as possible, so he decided to loot Ludwig''s body first.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Yet, as he made his way to the old man''s body, he felt the ground tremble a little, and saw a mass move on the side. Turning his head around, he saw the Yeti from earlier hadn''t died from its injuries, but had recovered from them instead.

    But it didn''t look like it wanted to attack, Dorian even thought he saw a hint of apology within its eyes. At that moment, the two Sadunites approached Dorian and Jun said "You¡­ You are a fucking angel?!"

    Dorian looked at him and said with a smile which he couldn''t see "I didn''t see any reason of telling you, and I thought I may as well keep the surprise."

    Jun shook his head and said "So you were never in danger against that Demon. We were lucky it wasn''t a Mid Class Demon though. I guess your bloodline is also the reason you broke the heart and didn''t die."

    Dorian smiled but said nothing, they didn''t have to know that he only awoke his bloodline after getting out of the Heart.

    At this moment, Jok''ii asked "What species of Angel are you?" Dorian replied "A Low Class Holy Fire Angel¡­ But I''m also part human."

    Jok''ii nodded and said "I thought so. I guess you never went to Paradise?" Dorian asked "What is Paradise? Like Heaven?"

    Jok''ii shook his head and said "Paradise is a place within our realm where all Angels live. But no one except the Angels know how to get there. Situated there is the legendary Amund, the Life Stone."

    Dorian tilted his head and Jok''ii understood he had to explain again "There is a legend saying that every lifeform comes from the great Amund."

    Dorian asked "Is it true?"

    Jun laughed and said "Absolutely not. But Amund remains the oldest being in all of the planes, and he has a special power which allows him to see whatever place it wants. It is said that it has the answer to everything. Anyone who is able to find Paradise on their own will get to ask a question to Amund."

    Dorian asked "Has anyone succeeded?" Jok''ii nodded and said "Of course, Adonis the Great has done it."

    Dorian smiled and said "Adonis the Great¡­ He seems to be an interesting persona." Jun rolled his eyes, well as much as he could since he had flames instead of pupils, and said "The greatest legend of our continent, of course he is interesting."

    As they talked, they felt the ground tremble and the Yeti was walking their way. Dorian put a hand over [Azure Dragon] handle and watched the beast approach vigilantly.

    It looked at them and issued a roar. Dorian was ready to test out his new sword and cut it in two, but Jun suddenly said "He is greeting us."

    Dorian looked at him and asked "You understand his language?" Jun scoffed and said "We Sadunites of the 10th Tribe are the most knowledgeable beings on this plain excluding the Great Amund."

    Dorian shrugged and said "Can you tell him anything?" Jun replied "Use your brain." Dorian looked at him straight in the eyes and asked "Do you want me to beat the shit out of you?"

    Jun replied, not afraid in the least "I meant that literally. Mind Magic. And you should stop threatening people all the time, or if you do put some heart into it¡­"

    Right as he finished, Dorian unleashed his entire blood aura, which received a massive upgrade from the bloodbath and the upgrade of [Scorpion''s Shell], on Jun. The air around Jun took a slight red tinge, and Jun began to sweat.

    He growled "Stop that asshole!" But Dorian ignored him and used his [Mind Invasion] on the Yeti. The Mindscape was a normal one, and Dorian tried talking to the Yeti.

    The Yeti actually replied "Greetings great warrior." Dorian looked down at it and said "Do you have a name?"

    The Yeti replied "I''m Tibo." Dorian nodded and asked "What do you intend on doing from now on?" The Yeti shrugged and said "I don''t know, I was making a snow castle when I got sent here."

    Dorian said "If you want, I will travel around, do you want to follow me?" Tibo said "Will you hurt me?" Dorian shook his head and said "No, why would I do that?"

    Just as he said that, Another presence entered, which Dorian recognized as Jun, who was soon followed by Jok''ii.

    As they entered, Tibo ignored them and said "Okay I''ll follow you."

    Jun said "How, you intend on taking this young Yeti as a pet Dorian?" Dorian looked at him and asked "Young Yeti?" He turned back to Tibo and asked "How old are you?"

    Tibo replied "Three Moons old." Dorian thought for a bit before agreeing this meant three months. He looked at Jok''ii and asked "When is a Yeti''s prime? And how strong are they?"

    Jok''ii replied "Depends on the specimen, their strength will also make it change. But in general a Yeti will grow to become as strong as a level 9 or 10 Knight."

    Dorian looked at Tibo with interest, he wanted to bring it out of this world. If he could make it grow quickly then he would have a very strong follower. He didn''t know how strong level 9 and 10 are, but the stats should at least be in the 60s'', or maybe the gap between the later levels are bigger and they are in the hundreds.

    Dorian tried to ask the system while not addressing to the others "Can I bring a being out of this world and make it follow me?"

    It took some time before the system finally replied:

    [As long as a being becomes your servant, you can bring them in every realm, like the spirits you caught.]

    Dorian looked at the Yeti and said "I have a solution for you to understand me everytime we talk, do you want to try?"

    The Yeti nodded, so Dorian said "You will have to accept my flame so that you will become my servant. Then, I will be able to use that little bit of flame to talk to you."

    The Yeti shrugged, it clearly didn''t understand what being a servant meant. And Dorian wasn''t going to explain it to it. Tibo slightly flinched as the flame engraved itself on him, but that''s all. When he was finished, Dorian received a notification saying:

    [Congratulation for making an Epic Beast into your servant! Awarded the skills: Telepathy, Command.]

    Dorian wasn''t sure whether an Epic Beast was better than a Legendary one, but it probably wasn''t as a Yeti shouldn''t e stronger than a Dragon. Still, it was amazing. As for the two skills, they were simple. One allowed him to talk to his servants'' minds without using Mind Magic, and the other to order them more easily.

    Finally, there was a new option that allowed Dorian to check on Tibo''s status.

 55 Mission Finished

    [Tibo]

    [Race: Yeti]

    [HP: 260/260]

    [MP: 100/100]

    [Strength: 29]

    [Agility: 24]

    [Vitality: 26]

    [Intelligence: 10]

    [Perception: 20]

    Although Dorian was only able to see Tibo''s attributes, it was enough for him to guess about how strong it really was. Ignoring Intelligence, all its stats were at least 20, with Strength being at 29.

    Also, it seemed making it his pet has set back its health to max value despite the earlier fight. Dorian got out of Tibo''s mind and patted its arm because its head was too high, and asked "Can you understand me?"

    Tibo nodded dumbly, a lost look in its eyes. Dorian patted him again and walked toward the dead Ludwig. The latter didn''t have much on him honestly, his sword was only green and he didn''t even have any spatial storage.

    In term of equipments, the best thing he had on him were the blue bracers. Thankfully, Dorian was able to put them on without taking off [Arteon''s Revenge], as the latter were gloves and those were bracers. Thinking of [Arteon''s Revenge], Dorian remember its skill, which allowed him to summon a spirit wolf.

    With all the recent events he had actually forgotten about that skill, and never got to test it out. And now was too late, he didn''t want to use it for nothing.

    The bracers had good attributes though, and its design was awesome. There was a spider symbol at the end of each bracer and they also had four hooks that could be used as blades.

    [Name: Arachne''s Webs]

    [Type: Armor]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: D]

    [Requirement: Vitality 25]

    [Effects: Agility +6, use the fangs to attack.]

    [Sticky: Able to stick anything to your bracer. If the target has a weaker Strength attribute, then they can''t get off. Otherwise, the difference in Strength will determine how long it will take to get off.]

    [Remark: Arachne''s webs are one of the most durable materials in all the planes of Rivomund, of course those bracers weren''t made of it but to be named after them, they must be of some use.]

    Dorian immediately put them on, resulting in a great increase to his Agility, and passed to the greatest loot on Ludwig''s corpse. Not the equipments, but the skills.

    Among the different skills, there were several green ones. Of course, no blue ones, but there being multiple green ones was already unprecedented.

    Among them was actually an [Adept Swordsmanship] ability book, which Dorian decided to keep for later uses. Actually, among them most were books for abilities he already had. Only two among them were different.

    One happened to be a movement ability which worked with his Movement Mastery:

    [Introduction to Wind Steps]

    [Type: Ability Book]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Requirement: Will always be at the same level as your Movement Mastery.]

    [Effects: Once used, learn the ability: Wind Steps.]

    [Remark: Wind Steps is an art that allows its user to be more flexible while running, allowing them to suddenly change directions while in a sprint.]

    This was interesting, he couldn''t train this ability and it would level up on its own instead. Yet, it still gave him one more point to his Agility.

    As for the other special ability he didn''t have, it was a sword manual.

    [Introduction to Swift Sword]

    [Type: Ability Book]

    [Rarity: Green]

    [Requirement: Will always be at the same level as your Swordsmanship.]

    [Effects: Once used, learn the ability: Swift Sword.]

    [Remark: Swift Sword is an art which allows their user to manipulate their sword like the wind, to be as sharp as possible while being fast.]

    Again, this allowed him to get another point for his Strength attribute. And with that, he had finally looted everything he could. Now was time to search inside Marcus'' storage ring.

    Putting it on, Dorian felt the connection between his mind and the ring establish, and he took a look inside. Many gold pieces were in there, there wasn''t any survival stuff like in the others, but only riches.

    After all, Marcus had a whole mansion, why would he put food in his ring? Dorian looked around, but there was no jewelry that exuded any light, this could only be used as a cosmetic or as money.

    Yet, there was one item that exuded light. And the color emitted, Dorian never thought he would see it so early. As a reminder, every item is classified from worst to best by the following colors: Grey, Green, Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Purple.

    And for now, the best artifact Dorian ever saw was blue. But this artifact, it wasn''t blue. Not green or grey. Is it Bronze? No. It is actually a Silver colored item!

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    There were only two stronger colors for items, that meant this item should be supremely powerful. With great haste, Dorian took it out of the spatial ring, which was slightly bigger than the others by the way.

    As soon as the artifact was out, Dorian checked its status.

    But he didn''t see what he expected he would see. Instead of the status of the item, he received a notification.

    [Congratulation for finishing the Main Mission ahead of time!]

    [You have eliminated every threat within the city and have recovered the secret artifact for yourself, and have thus completed every objective for the mission. You are now free to choose whether you want to return home right now or continue exploring this world for the remainder of your time here, that is 18 days.]

    Dorian grinned and said "So I get to choose¡­ Is there any difference in my final rewards if I choose one option or the other?"

    [The final rewards for this world have already been calculated, if you decided to stay in this world your actions will not affect any reward. If you decide to stay, anything you can gain more will have to be earned by your own work.]

    Dorian nodded and asked "When I exit this world, whether I do it now or later, will I be directly sent back to my world?"

    [You shall first make your first visit to the Dreamland HQ before being granted one week in your original world known as Earth.]

    Dorian nodded and asked "So if I stay here I won''t be on a mission anymore?"

    [Indeed.]

    Dorian asked "So if I die in this time, will I really die? Or will I be revived as long as I''m not in a mission?"

    [Whatever happens to your body while you are in the Dreamland, your body on Earth will receive the chance too.]

    Dorian asked "Will I keep my attributes on Earth? My Servants? My abilities and equipment?"

    [Everything you have gained and earned here have been engraved into your soul and will thus be directed to your home world. We advise you to hide your new circumstances though considering your planet''s situation.]

    Dorian nodded, of course he would tell. People would hunt him down for different reasons if he ever revealed his powers, and without even talking about Dreamers, armed military could threaten him.

    A small number would be exterminated, Dorian could probably destroy a tank by himself after all. But if they send more men in or are crazy enough to launch a missile then he is in deep shit.

    So yeah, he would rather avoid exposing his real powers into the real world, at least until he is able to take on a nuclear warhead head on and not die. Or fast enough he would be able to escape from any situation.

    But he didn''t have to care of that for now, and even when he would eventually have to, he would just need to put all his equipment into his Spatial Rings.

    Finally, Dorian stopped asking questions and looked at the artifact''s status.

 56 Departure

    [Name: Godly Idol]

    [Type: Divine]

    [Rarity: Silver]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effects: Upon use, the user will summon the spirit of Angma who shall give you a wish.]

    [Remark: This is a very interesting object, able to summon the spirit of a lesser god.]

    Dorian''s eyes grew wide when he read that last remark. A GOD! A Goddamn God! Whatever lesser part, that was a god!

    The item took the form of a mini statue made of gold, and looked very attracting. On the side, Dorian heard Jun say "This¡­ this is an idol!"

    Dorian looked at him, and Jun calmed down and said "If you use this item, you will summon the spirit of a god¡­"

    Dorian interrupted him "I know. I will use it, step back." They nodded and walked back. Dorian looked at the statue and grabbed it. He felt a strange power go through his body, and Dorian activated the idol.

    The power that coursed through his body suddenly stopped, then started boiling. It ran out of his body and gathered in front of him.

    A blue mist started appearing in front of Dorian, and quickly formed a blurry form. It didn''t form a clear figure, but was instead more like a blurry shape.

    Dorian then heard a voice come from the blue shape "Human¡­ or Angel? Hmm, interesting, you are part angel part human¡­ Why have you summoned me?"

    Dorian replied "What are the limits to my wishes?" The god, Angma, replied "Ask, and I will do it if I can."

    Dorian nodded and said "I want you to increase my bloodline''s density to the max, or its quality." Angma replied "This is impossible, attacking angels would mean my death."

    Dorian was surprised, even a god was scared of them. And why did he say that, he didn''t ask to attack them. Dorian asked "Why would you attack them? If answering my question takes my wish away, don''t."

    Angma replied "It doesn''t. To increase your density you need to absorb the bloodline from other angels, and to increase its density you must either do it yourself or absorb the bloodline of a stronger angel."

    Dorian nodded and said "Thanks for informing me. Then I want the manual of the Holy Fire Angels. I have Holy Fire Life Essence but I don''t have any mean of increasing it."

    Angma replied "Indeed, you need this. And I can do it. Are you sure this is what you want?" Dorian nodded, and Angma said "I shall thus grant your wish. Do not resist."

    The blue figure lost its form and rushed toward Dorian. He felt uneasy seeing the blue gas heading for him, but he was in front of a god, so he would rather follow what he said.

    Dorian did not move and the blue light entered his head through his orifices. But he didn''t feel any discomfort, and after a moment he felt he had learned something new.

    Angma disappeared and Dorian heard a notification:

    [You have learned the Ability: Holy Fire Manual]

    Dorian smiled and opened his status, admiring the changes since last time.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 500/500]

    [MP: 220/220]

    [Strength: 22 (33)]

    [Agility: 21 (33)]

    [Vitality: 30 (35)]

    [Intelligence: 22]

    [Perception: 18 (24)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Swift Sword]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Sneak (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Wind Steps]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 5/10)]

    [Adept Holy Fire Manual]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    Dorian felt¡­ satisfied, as he looked at his attributes. He had become truly strong. Every time he looked at his status, he felt this pleasant feeling.

    Dorian breathed in and said "Tibo, I will carry those two with me. Do you think you can keep up with me?"

    Before Tibo could say anything Jun said "You know, having it as a servant allows you to send it into your mind. Just like with the spirits."

    Thinking about the spirits, Dorian called them back, and they entered his mind. Using the same sensation, he tried to get Tibo in his mind. And he actually succeeded!

    After that, he began looting the corpses around, putting everything inside the Spatial Ring used to store everything he would store. He didn''t count how many green items he got, but it would give him a lot of money.

    Dorian looked at the two Sadunites and was about to grab hem when he heard footsteps again. He looked and saw Charles and Amanda, with Lucie''s body in Charles'' arms.

    Dorian nodded to Charles, and Amanda began walking toward him. She stopped a meter away from Dorian, but didn''t say anything. After a moment, Dorian asked "Did you know about your parents?"

    Amanda shook her head and said "I had no idea¡­" She had obviously cried, her eyes were red. Dorian said "Sorry for your loss."

    Amanda nodded, but didn''t move away. Dorian asked "Can I do anything?" Amanda said "I¡­ Can you take me with you?"

    Dorian didn''t hesitate to answer "No." Amanda looked at him in shock and said "Why?"

    Dorian shook his head and said "Think about your father, he already lost his wife, I can''t take his daughter away from him too."

    Actually, that was bullshit. The real reason Dorian didn''t want to take her was because of the possibility of him falling in love with her. The chances were slim, extremely slim, but they still existed.

    But in this moment, falling in love would only be a weakness. If anything happens to the Sadunites or Tibo, he would be saddened and maybe grieve a little, but he wouldn''t lose control over his emotions, and if needed he could kill them.

    But if he fell in love with a girl, he knew that he could be brought to do stupid things in the name of love, and his chances to die would definitely become bigger. So that was a no.

    Amanda looked down, and Dorian said "I will live through very dangerous adventures, and you only be a burden. If you get strong enough I may take you."

    Amanda looked at the two Sadunites and asked "Are they strong enough?" Dorian smiled and said "They could easily kill you, and are only slightly below your father."

    Amanda sighed and said "I will train myself¡­ See you later."

    Dorian nodded and said "See you later." Amanda walked back to her father and looking at her back, he was reminded of the woman he left in the cave. If she was able of waking up by herself, then she would live. Or maybe she won''t ever wake up.

    Dorian looked at two Sadunites and said "Grab my arms as tight as you can." They did as they were told, and then he hugged them against is chest.

    They were about to question him when Dorian activated his skill, [Angel Wings]. They looked at the majestic wings, and the two humans on the ground looked in astonishment.

    Dorian took off in the sky with no effort, his Strength was big enough to support both Sadunites and not have his speed suffer.

    With another flap of his wings, Dorian moved forward at a speed so fast the two on the ground didn''t see him anymore.

    Flying with his wings, Dorian''s agility was of 49. This was already very fast, too fast for people to see him. But there was also the 200% speed buff in a straight line.

    So in only one second, Dorian moved from the center of the town, the market, to the ramparts.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

 57 Exploration Mode

    The thing was, it wasn''t the city''s ramparts, but Marcus'' mansion. Fling at a great speed, he violently broke through the walls and violated the propriety. He directly went underground and found the treasury in no time.

    Any kind of lock was useless before him, and he just broke through the roof of the safe room to enter it. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a disappointment. The room was filled with gold, gems and all kinds of precious things, but there was no equipment or item.

    Still, Dorian filled one of his Spatial Ring with all the precious things in the room. The space available in the Spatial Ring was bigger than the treasury itself, so he was easily able to put all the gold with the things he would sell later on.

    As a reminder, Dorian had two Spatial Rings and two Spatial Bags. The Spatial Bags were used for medication and food, one of the Spatial Rings (Lucie''s) was used to store the things he would sell, and Marcus'' was for the rest.

    Once he was finished, Dorian didn''t bother with anything else and flew out of the mansion before truly departing this time.

    Dorian quickly bypassed the ramparts, and left the mountain. The two Sadunites were scarred as hell, the two crying for their mama. They were several thousands meters above the ground after all.

    How did they know that? Because the clouds were quite far below them!

    This was why it was always so cold in the city, and also why it was so reclusive and hard to reach: It was above the clouds. The mountain it was on pierced through the clouds, and that''s where humans decided to make a city.

    Of course, there were many roads and camps made all the way up the mountain for people to go up and down, otherwise ordinary people wouldn''t have been able to flee here. But it would take a long time. Only experts, Knights, like the Stingers, could climb this mountain in less than a week.

    But Dorian didn''t have this problem today. Flapping his wings, Dorian furiously dived down from the sky, moving at an unprecedented speed. The mix usage of [Angel Wings] and [Holy Fire Life Essence] created a barrier around him that allowed him to neglect the air resistance.

    Dorian quickly reached the clouds, and went through them. Those clouds were unusually large, and even after a few seconds he still wasn''t out of it.

    When he saw the cloud was becoming fainter, Dorian headed there, when he suddenly felt an unprecedented danger. It was bigger than anything he ever felt before. By far.

    It was so strong that his body froze, just like the two Sadunites. Only with a great effort was he barely able to move his eyes, and he saw¡­ an eye. A gigantic eye. It''s gaze seemed to pierce through the clouds, to look at him.

    Gigantic wasn''t the right word to describe it. It wasn''t just big, it was enormous. To make a comparison, when Dorian flew above the city, it appeared smaller than this eye. That big.

    Just as Dorian was about to fall and leave the cloud, he heard a powerful voice chuckle "Go, little angel."

    The eye closed itself again, and Dorian left the cloud. The danger disappeared, and he regained control of his body. But then, he realized something was wrong. The two Sadunite had disappeared.

    With his [God''s Sight] activated, Dorian took less than a second to see the two had fainted and were free falling. Dorian wasn''t scared though, because their falling speed was way slower than his flying speed.

    He caught them quickly, and sent a shock into their mind to wake them up. As they started regaining their senses, Dorian hurried to fly down. After all, he couldn''t keep his wings indefinitely, his MP was going down quickly.

    Still, he was able to take in a beautiful sight. Just below the clouds, he was able to see all the land. Even [God''s Sight] allowed him to see very far away.

    Large plains, villages, and large cities. There was everything. Far, far in the distance, Dorian was also able to make out a big tower that seemed to reach into the sky as well. Surrounding it, was a big city.

    Dorian slowed down a little to be heard and asked to the Sadunites "Do you know a city surrounding a tower?"

    Jun replied absentmindedly "Should be the capital of Nevaria, Celeste¡­" Dorian nodded and picked up the speed once again.

    In the end, Dorian reached the ground with only 18 MP left. He dropped the two Sadunites on the ground and deactivated his skills.

    They had landed in the middle of a small sized forest at the bottom of the mountain, they were only a few kilometers from exiting it.

    But now, Dorian needed to decide where he would go. He could honestly go about anywhere he wanted. Be it Nevaria, Celevaria, Charles'' and Lucie''s organization, all of their Knights were killed, except for Charles.

    Charles wouldn''t snitch on him, and the time a non Knight would take to walk down the mountain was too long for them to prevent the Kingdoms. By the time the Kingdoms discovered that Dorian had killed everyone, he would already be gone.

    So right now, Dorian only aimed to discover more about the world and grow even stronger if possible. But Dorian had already broken every limit that were supposed to exist, he transcended the first dungeon through sheer strength alone.

    If Dreamworld really went on like a video game, which it did until now, then the next world wouldn''t be that much harder, and Dorian''s current strength was enough to pass the next mission, without even improving until then.

    Some small advancement, and he would be able to clear it easily too. So in that sense, Dorian had broken the game. And that''s why from now on, he wouldn''t take extra dangers just to get stronger like he did earlier.

    Summoning the demon is a good example. Earlier, he had been desperate for strength, he needed it, so he took a risk and summoned the demon despite the danger involved. Thankfully it went well and he survived and got this huge upgrade, but it remained dangerous nonetheless.

    If he had another choice like this again, then Dorian would not take the risk and just kill the spirits. As he looked around, Dorian kicked the two Sadunites. However, he underestimated his new strength a little and kicked harder than he thought.

    The two cried out in pain "Why the fuck did you hit us!"

    Dorian smiled and said "My mistake. But time to wake up." The two rose from the ground, rubbing their ribs in pain. Dorian spread out his arms and said "Here you go, we have the whole world to visit, and we have 18 days ahead of us. You are the knowledgeable ones, so tell me, where should we go? Any interesting place?"

    Jun grabbed Dorian by the shoulder and looked at him straight in the eyes, and asked with a crazy voice "How can you be so calm after encountering that!"

    Dorian laughed lightly and asked, rubbing the back of his head "What are you talking about? The fall or the eye?"

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Jun and Jok''ii replied at the same time "BOTH!!!"

    Dorian burst out in laughter, and the two looked at him infuriated. Dorian waved his hand dismissively and said "I had everything under control, you wouldn''t have fallen to the ground."

    Jun grabbed his horns in frustration and asked "Do you even know what was that thing in the clouds?!"

    Dorian shrugged and replied "A big animal? A dragon maybe?"

    Jun hollered "You fool! The only Dragons that dwell in the clouds are Rainy Dragons, and they are only a couple kilometers long!"

    Dorian was stunned by the way he said that. "Only a couple kilometers long? That''s quite good already."

    Jun let go of Dorian in frustration and said "That was a god damn Roc! A Roc!"

    Dorian tilted his head and asked "Is it strong? I mean, I know it was. But overall, comparing it to the other beings within the realms, how strong?"

    Jun calmed down a little and replied "What kind of Angel are you to ignore so many damn obvious things?"

 58 Classification

    Jun rolled his eyes and said "As an angel, you know what a legendary being is, right?"

    Dorian nodded, so Jun asked "But do you know about their classification?" This time, Dorian shook his head. Jun said "There isn''t any legendary being stronger than the others, just that they have different starting points."

    Jok''ii continued "Angels, like Demons and Fairies, actually start pretty weak. For example, you, or the demon you killed. You are Legendary Beings, but in the future you will grow way stronger as time passes. You will then become a Mid Class Legendary being, a High Class, and so on."

    Dorian nodded and asked "Is that the classification?" Jun shook his head and said "The classification is about the starting point. An Angel starts off as a Low Class, but others start at Mid Class, or higher. In the end, it doesn''t truly matter, as all Legendary classes are capable of reaching the highest class."

    Dorian nodded and asked "What about the Roc?" Jun replied "The Roc¡­ is very dangerous. It is born a High Class Legendary being."

    Dorian nodded and said "He seemed powerful indeed. But I remember some time ago, before summoning the demon, you talked about a young Mid Class Demon. If they are born Low Class, how do you explain this?"

    Jun shook his head and said "Your base power doesn''t only depend on your race, it also depends on your parents, your bloodline. If your parents are both Legendary Beings exceeding the High Class, then you will most certainly be born as a High Class. Looking at you, your parents were probably Low Class, right?"

    Dorian chuckled and said "My parents aren''t Angels, they are human. For me, I awakened my bloodline as an angel when I absorbed the Demon''s."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Jun whistled "Wow, you''re a lucky one. And that explains a lot. How dense is your bloodline? And which class is it? Low Class certainly?"

    Dorian nodded "Yes, I am a Low Class Holy Fire Angel. As for my density, how do I know?" Jun laughed "Truly a fitting bloodline, the killer angel. As for your density, you can tell from how many parts of your body are no longer human, but angel."

    Dorian scratched his head and replied "I''m not sure¡­ It''s complicated?" Jun rolled his eyes and said "What is it?"

    Dorian replied "Actually, my bloodline allow me to use Holy Fire Life Essence, my wings and my third eye. But they aren''t really part of me as I use Life Essence to keep them on."

    Jun nodded and said "Understandable. For Life Essence, its obvious, no one has unlimited Life Essence. As for the wings and the third eye, you can''t keep them at all time because they weren''t originally part of your body and were added on later. Only when your bloodline''s density increases in the future will they truly become part of your body. But if the density increases and another part of your body mutates, then it will be definitive. For example if your toe changes, then you will have a constant angel toe."

    Dorian smiled at the comparison and said "So the Roc was dangerous. Moving on, where should we go? And where are we?"

    The two Sadunites looked around before freezing. Then, Jun turned around and shouted "Are you suicidal man!"

    Dorian tilted his head and asked "I''m fine. What happened?"

    Jun face slapped and said "I forgot, you know nothing. Why did you have to land in this particular forest?"

    Dorian shrugged and replied "As I said, keeping my wings on exhausts my Life Essence, so I had to land. And what about this forest?" Actually, the part about Life Essence was a lie. His Life Essence and MP were two different things, but if he talked about MP they wouldn''t understand anything so he changed it to something they knew about.

    This time, Jok''ii said "Whatever happen, do not hurt anything. At all." Dorian nodded and Jok''ii said "I have been here once, I can lead you out. Follow me, both of you."

    Jok''ii took the lead, and Dorian and Jun looked at each other astonished. Did the ever so silent Jok''ii take an initiative and revealed his leader side?

    Still, the two started following him. Dorian couldn''t help but admire the surroundings. Although he never was really of a trekking loving guy, this forest was amazing to him. All his life, he only saw dead forests polluted with and by men.

    But this forest, it felt alive. Everything was much more alive. The forest smelled of vitality, and it appeared enticing to Dorian. What he didn''t know was that this forest attracted all living beings, because it exuded a powerful energy of life.

    On the opposite, any kind of undead would feel repulsed by this forest, and would be weakened if they entered. The weaker ones might even die directly.

    As they continued making their way through the forest, Jun asked Jok''ii "Say, how did you end up here?" Jok''ii replied "My father. When I was young he came here for some research, and I came with him."

    Jun exclaimed "Your father interacted with them? And he left alive?" Jok''ii said "As long as you don''t harm the forest they won''t do anything to you. From what I remember they are actually quite nice to talk to."

    Dorian butted in "Who are you talking about?" The two turned to look at him and as they were about to answer they suddenly heard a loud roar, followed by the ground shaking.

    Dorian positioned himself in front of the two and looked in the direction of the commotion. He could feel something was running toward them, fast. A heavy thing running on all four. What was weird was that based on what he felt, on the weight he felt the animal had, the size didn''t feat.

    The animal he felt approaching, was even bigger than an elephant, give or take. But there aren''t elephants in forests.

    The trembling grew heavier, more intense. The trees starting shaking, and a shadow appeared between the trees. A massive shadow.

    The two Sadunites backed off and Dorian grabbed his new sword. But as he was about to unsheathe it Jok''ii exclaimed "Don''t harm it!"

    Dorian rumbled but let go of his sword, disappointed he wouldn''t get to try it, and looked at the approaching shadow. It wasn''t stopping. Dorian asked "Jok''ii¡­ What do I do if it doesn''t stop?"

    Jok''ii replied "Stop it?" Dorian rolled his eyes and said "Why didn''t I think of that."

    As the shadow entered a 20 meters range, its true nature was finally revealed to everyone. It was a huge bear. Like, really huge. Indeed bigger than an elephant.

    The problem was, it wasn''t slowing down. Instead, it had locked on them, and was accelerating. Dorian began worrying "Jok''ii, it isn''t slowing down. Jok''ii. Jok''ii!"

    But Jok''ii only said "Don''t hurt it. Just don''t."

    Dorian shook his head and looked at the incoming bear. It was as big as a truck, as fast as a truck, and probably stronger than a truck. Dorian wondered, would he be reincarnated if he was killed by this?

    But right when the bear was about to catch them, it was suddenly sent flying to the side. What shocked Dorian wasn''t the fact that such a huge bear was sent flying like a fly, but what sent it flying.

    It was¡­ a tree. With a face carved into its bark, it moved thanks to its roots. Dorian, as someone who read a lot of fictions, immediately recognized this as an Ent, a living tree, and understood why he couldn''t harm the bear.

    Ent were said to be the protectors of the forest, so if one of their protegees were to be attacked then they would all gang up on you and kill you. An Ent may only be a walking tree, it was still extremely powerful.

    And that''s considering they didn''t know magic. If the Ent knew magic, then you were pretty much screwed.

    The Ent ignored the three and rushed at the bear before pressing down onto it, holding it from moving. He also looked like he was trying to say something, but that seemed to require its focus and it could barely hold the bear down.

 59 Bear

    Dorian stepped toward the two fighting, and the two Sadunites tried to stop him but they were unable to. Dorian neared the Ent and said "I can help you keep him down."

    The Ent sent a brief look at Dorian before ignoring him again. Dorian said "You obviously will fail. Are you really going to endanger the forest because of your spite."

    The Ent talked for the first time "Human¡­ You stench¡­ the smell of blood and death. Humans are not accepted into this forest."

    Dorian sneered "Aren''t you supposed to be a protector of the forest? Then, if you let the forest be endangered because of your spite, you are not worthy."

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    This finally seemed to make the Ent react. After a moment of hesitation it said "Hold Gurek down."

    Dorian assumed Gurek was this bear. It was struggling under the Ent, the ground was shaking from all the movement. Dorian wanted to stop it, but it was too big for him to stop it.

    After a moment of thinking, Dorian decided to just go for it. He jumped on top of the bear and pushed with all his might. He heard gasps behind, probably because of how crazy he looked.

    To picture the scene, imagine a normal human jumping on a beast twice as big as the hulk. And it as as bad as it looked. The moment he landed on it, Dorian instantly felt the strength of the bear. It was to be expected, seeing its strength.

    Dorian jerked his head back, barely avoiding his head being teared off by the bear, and then did something crazy in the eyes of the Sadunites. Dorian¡­ headbutted the bear!

    Even the bear was stunned, though no one knew if it was because of the impact or the act in itself.

    This temporary stun allowed Dorian to grab it by the neck and flattening himself on it''s chest. He then used his other hand and his legs to block both of its arms. He also pressed his hip against the area just above its bladder, against the spin, stopping it from raising its

    This was a technique he had learned thanks to his ability Hand to Hand Combat. The Basic level of it allowed him to perfect his technique over humans, while breaking through into the Adept rank allowed him to diversify and adapt his technique to work on anything.

    And the technique he was using against this bear was originally meant for humans, to choke them until the fall unconscious, but he had changed it so that the bear wouldn''t be able to move its upper body despite its overwhelming strength.

    And its size put it at a disadvantage. Because Dorian was much smaller than it, he could hold this position, and the bear was unable to hit him because it couldn''t bend its body. The only mean to attack him would be to bite him, but he was also restraining this area.

    However, as might this position might sound, it wasn''t omnipotent. The bear was much strong than him, more than twice as strong, so Dorian wouldn''t be able to hold it down until it fainted.

    But that was alright, because it wasn''t his aim.

    As the Ent next to them continued chanting, Dorian felt the bear''s resistance weaken, and the red glow into its eyes did as well. Its breathing became more controlled and after a moment all trace of resistance had disappeared, and the bear looked serene.

    The Ent said "You can release him¡­ Gurek?" Dorian released it and went back next to the Sadunites. He was surprised to hear the bear speak though "Yes, I''m fine. What happened to me, Erendur?"

    It''s voice was rough and deep, and the air itself seemed to tremble from its voice alone. The Ent, Erendur, replied "You have been bewitched old friend. A sorcerer has entered this forest."

    Gurek growled and said "I''m truly getting old¡­" He taped his paw on the ground, and suddenly the plants around started swaying, and a green energy flowed toward him.

    Small wounds that opened when he was restrained by Erendur closed up and in no time he was as good as new.

    Erendur looked at Dorian and said "What do you want, human?" Dorian tilted his head and asked "What are you talking about?"

    Jok''ii stepped forward and said "Senior, this one isn''t like other humans, he is different." Erendur looked at Jok''ii and said "Sadunite¡­ I have seen you before. You are a member of the 10th tribe, if I remember well."

    Jok''ii bowed and said "Senior indeed remembers me. I and my cousin here guarantee for this human."

    Gurek said "You two are ready to go as far as guaranteeing him. Interesting. Are you three related?" Jun stepped forward and said "He saved our life when we were trapped, and he is our friend."

    Gurek laughed lightly and asked "The knowledgeable Sadunites were trapped? I wonder who was able to trick you?"

    Jun replied "We were linked to the Heart of the Mountain by someone, a mage." Erendur intervened "This might be the sorcerer who has been causing mayhem to the forest."

    Jok''ii nodded "Indeed, our souls were bound to the Heart, if a sorcerer has been sighted here then we might be talking about the same person."

    Gurek asked "The Heart of the Mountain, last time I checked it was only filled to one tenth. You were able to fill it to the brim? How many sacrifices did you do?"

    Dorian interrupted "Wait, so you were ready to endanger the forest because you smell the aura of death and blood on me, and now that we are talking about human sacrifice it doesn''t matter anymore?"

    Gurek and Erendur both looked at him and replied "Yes." Dorian frowned but Jok''ii said "Dorian, you haven''t been around, you don''t understand."

    Dorian looked at him and said "Then explain to me."

    Jun explained instead "Do you think it was a coincidence we felt wary of you in the beginning? It was because you were human. But first, tell me, where do you truly come from Dorian?"

    Dorian asked "Does it matter?" Jun nodded, so Dorian said "I come from another world, another realm."

    Jun nodded "I thought so. No one would ignore so many things. How to start¡­ Yes, I know. Have you heard about Adonis the Great?"

    Dorian didn''t have to think for long to remember where he saw this. A few minutes before, he read this name in a description. His boots''.

    [Name: Telaria''s Wings]

    [Type: Boots]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: E]

    [Requirement: 20 Vitality]

    [Effects: Agility +6, allow you to jump higher.]

    [Float: It allows you to float slightly in the air, or slow down a fall. No cost or cooldown.]

    [Remark: Those boots are said to have once been weared by Adonis the Great, and were of a great value to him. Whether it is true or not, you shall guess.]

    Here he was. But he didn''t know who he was. Dorian said just that.

    Jun said "Before, humans were only a small race within this world. But then, Adonis happened. He used his strength to dominate all the other races. Whoever it was, they were defeated by Adonis. Then, the current Human Era began. The thing is, humans are terrible. Using the deterrent known as Adonis, they plundered the land. Whoever this was, every race has suffered, and is still suffering, from humans."

    Dorian nodded and said "Understandable, in my world humans are pretty shitty too, we aren''t that far from destroying our own world."

    Jun nodded and turned toward Gurek "We didn''t have to do many sacrifices, Dorian was able to destroy the heart, freeing us."

    Erendur and Gurek looked at Dorian in surprise and said "He was able to do this? Impressive."

    Jun nodded and said "He is powerful, he could even help you with your sorcerer problem."

    Dorian looked at him with reproach and then said "No, we landed here by accident, and we are unwelcome, so we are going." Gurek and Erendur didn''t seem to have any objection, but before they could leave they suddenly heard a loud explosion.

 60 Discussion

    The earth below them shook wildly, and the two Sadunites fell to the ground due to their weak physique. As for Dorian, Gurek and Erendur, they all looked at the origin of the explosion with a frown on their face.

    When the shaking stopped Gurek said "Human, if you can help us deal with what caused that then we will award you."

    Dorian expected a notification appearing, about a new mission, but then remembered that he was in Exploration Mode so the experience would be way more realistic to him, with the only thing from the system being status.

    Dorian thus said "I''m curious to see what caused this. But if it gets too dangerous then I won''t risk my life for this forest."

    Gurek nodded "Of course." Erendur looked displeased behind, but said nothing, he understood that they needed help. He bent its body a little, its face facing the sky, and released a deep howl. It wasn''t guttural like Gurek, but felt more like a strange vibration.

    Seconds later, several similar howls responded, and Erendur said "Someone isn''t responding, he must be at the site of the explosion." Dorian couldn''t help but admire this way to communicate, although he had a bad impression of Ents.

    Gurek looked at Dorian and said "Jump on my back, you will slow us down." Dorian nodded and didn''t reject him. If he activated his [Angel Wings] then he would be slightly faster than them, but he would also need to activate [God''s Sight], as otherwise he would be too fast to see anything, and he would bump into trees at a speed fast enough to break bones.

    And Dorian didn''t have the necessary MP, and even if he did he would keep it for the incoming fight. Erendur extended one of his branches toward the Sadunites and made them climb on its shoulders. Seeing this, Dorian couldn''t help but be reminded of a scene where two half-men climbed on an Ent too¡­

    Gurek and Erendur took off at top speed. Dorian already knew about Gurek''s speed, it''s agility state was probably in the 40''s, but what surprised him was Erendur. Despite being a tree, he moved at an astonishing speed. His steps were wide, and he would cross several meters with each of them.

    As they made their way through the forest, Gurek said "I never got to thank you for helping me back there, human. Thank you."

    Dorian sat crossed legged on Gurek''s back, consuming MP regenerative items. Between two of them he patted the bear''s back and said "I would have like trying out my new sword on you, but my two friends dissuaded me from. So, I decided to help you, no need for thanks. And call me Dorian."

    Gurek laughed "You truly are special, Dorian. I guess humans are different in other dimensions. Speaking of this, I understand if you can''t answer me, but how did you cross dimensions to come here, and for what purpose."

    Dorian replied "It isn''t really a secret. I was originally quite a normal person. In my world, there is no such thing as magic or body strengthening. The strongest human there is not even a Knight."

    Gurek asked curiously "Then how did humans survive? Were there no monsters?" Dorian replied "Animals aren''t strong either. But to dominate our planet, we developed technology. We created weapons capable of destroying this mountain and the whole forest in a split second."

    Gurek said "Quite powerful indeed. I never thought there existed a world with no magic in it¡­"

    Dorian shrugged and said "Maybe there is, only that we haven''t discovered how to use it." Gurek moved past a tree and asked "If you were so weak, then how did you grow in what you are today?"

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    Dorian replied "I don''t really know much either. A mysterious organization or omnipotent being kidnapped me and sent me to this world. In exchange, I got some special gifts. I initially had a mission, which was to survive for a month in the city."

    Gurek asked "Aren''t you going against the rules then? You aren''t in the city anymore." Dorian replied "Do you smell the aura of death and blood on me?"

    Gurek nodded, and Dorian said "I found another way to complete the mission. If I kill all the threats, then isn''t it pointless to continue the mission?"

    Gurek sucked in a deep breath hearing him, but didn''t make any comment and instead asked after a moment "Don''t you feel anything, having killed so many of your kind?"

    Dorian replied with a laugh "I don''t really like humans that much either. And I''m not totally human. Moreover, there are rewards once I finish my mission. The better my performance, the better the rewards."

    Gurek asked "What kind of rewards?" Dorian replied "I don''t really know. There is one I know of, it is a special currency only usable in this organization I am in. We can buy all kinds of things with this currency."

    Gurek questioned "What happens now that you have finished your mission? Will you receive another?"

    Dorian replied "I will remain in this world for the remainder of the month, and once my time is up I will be sent back to my home world for a weak before being sent back into another world, for another mission again."

    Gurek sighed "Isn''t that pitiful? Will this go on until you die?" Dorian shrugged and said "I don''t know, I don''t know much yet. And even if it does go on forever then so be it. I was bored to death before this happened to me, my every days were depressing and I didn''t really fit in my world. So I consider this more of a boon than a curse."

    Gurek said "Everyone is different. I like peace and calmness, while you like action and violence. I can''t blame you for this though, who knows who is wrong, if there is any?"

    Dorian laughed and said "A true philosopher! But I have a question for you, how strong are you?"

    Gurek replied "Speaking in human classification, then I am a peak Level 3 Knight, and a Level 4 Mage." Dorian raised an eyebrow and said "You are an even greater mage than warrior? Why didn''t you use magic when we fought?"

    Gurek said "I was bewitched, the sorcerer made me berserk, so my mind was in chaos and I wasn''t able to use magic. Had I, you would be dead."

    Dorian nodded without hesitation "True that. Just fighting your physical form would have been hard. Not impossible, but very hard. But if you are even stronger as a mage then it would have been problematic."

    As he continued speaking, Dorian tried to analyze Gurek with his system. He was surprised to see a status appear before him. Before, when he had tried it on people in the city or on Erendur, it hadn''t worked.

    [Gurek]

    [Race: Great Bear]

    [HP: 3000/3000]

    [MP: 710/710]

    [Strength: 48]

    [Agility: 42]

    [Vitality: 47]

    [Intelligence: 62]

    [Perception: 39]

    Gurek was very strong, every single one of its attributes were higher than Dorian. Adding to that, there were the skills and abilities he couldn''t see, and the absurd amount of HP it had. Its race probably gifted it with a strong life force.

    Dorian was also able to take a guess on the relation between this world''s ranking system and the system''s attributes.

    Level 1 started at 20 attribute points, Level 2 probably around 30, Level 3 at 40, Level 4 at 50. But then, Level 5 wasn''t at 60, because Gurek was already past that and hadn''t broken through yet.

    Of course there was also the abilities and skills that mattered, but in term of raw stats that was about it. That also meant Dorian was able to classify his strength to this world''s system.

    He was a Level 1 Mage, a Level 2 Warrior except for his Perception. But when he activated [Angel''s Wings], then he would jump to become a Peak Level 3, as after the boost his Agility raised to 49,5. As for his Perception, it would be raised to 36, so it would within the mid Level 2 barrier.

    Of course, that was only in term of raw attributes. His abilities were higher than anyone at Level 2, he had many more, there were also his new skills. Adding in his equipment''s skills, and his Life Essence, he could kill a weak Level 3 without to much effort, and he could stand against a peak Level 3 like Gurek.

    But a Level 4 was too strong though.

 61 Track

    After that little conversation, the group quickly arrived on the explosion sit. Multiple trees were uprooted, there was a crater on the ground, and an Ent was on the ground.

    Erendur rushed over to the Ent, and extended out several tendrils. After a moment, he said "He is alive, but unconscious."

    Gurek approached and its head gave out a green glow. It accumulated around his head, and after a second of accumulation he sent it toward the Ent.

    The broken branches and burnt back recovered quickly, and in under a minute it came back from its miserable state to conscious.

    Erendur asked it immediately "Who attacked you?" The other Ent replied with a voice a little lighter than Erendur "I came here to chase the intruder¡­ He was a dressed in a black robe with a silver mask. He smelled¡­ human."

    As he said that, he looked at Dorian. Dorian ignored it and Gurek said "He is a friend. As for the attacker, it was a sorcerer we believe. Do you know anything about he''s destination or purpose here?"

    The Ent shook its head and replied "When I arrived here he was drawing something on the ground, but after seeing me he threw a spell at me which made the ground explode. But I think he is after us."

    Gurek nodded and started sniffing around while a green aura spread to the surroundings. He was probably tracking the sorcerer. However, Erendur wasn''t finished with the Ent, and said "You should have waited for the others, you are still too young in the end."

    The young Ent lowered its eyes and said nothing. Erendur scoffed and began searching for traces too. Seeing an opportunity, Dorian tried looking around too.

    Dorian couldn''t really make any sense of what he was seeing, but he looked our for foot prints, broken twigs, flattened grass or stuff like that.

    After a moment Gurek said "I have found him. He is heading toward the center of the forest. Erendur, I feel something wrong is going on. We should wait for the others."

    Erendur replied "I don''t need their help, and by the time they arrive the sorcerer would already have damaged the forest."

    Gurek sighed and said "I don''t understand, they have always been good with us, why do you hate them that much?" Erendur sneered but didn''t respond. Instead, he started walking.

    Gurek sighed but followed. Dorian asked "Who are you talking about?" Gurek replied "There are several leaders within this forest, leaders of their community. I lead the bears, while Erendur leads the Ents. I was talking about the other leaders."

    Dorian remarked "So Erendur is an asshole toward everyone." Gurek turned his head to stare at Dorian, but said nothing.

    With great speed, they went deeper and deeper in the forest, until they reached a temple. Gurek said "As I feared, he has entered the temple. I fear he is planning something big."

    Erendur replied "We must stop him." Dorian warned them though "You should be careful, the sorcerer has certainly trapped this entrance. Are there any other?"

    Erendur replied "There is one, but it is too far, it is a waste of time." Dorian said "I would rather waste time than lose my life. Tell me where it is."

    Erendur didn''t do anything, and Gurek had to say "You need to travel up north, you will see a fall. There is a passageway behind the water. Absolutely do not go through it, it is a trap. Dive in the water and you will see another path."

    Dorian nodded and looked at the two Sadunites and said "You two probably should wait here to inform the reinforcement of what''s happening." They both nodded and jumped from Erendur.

    Dorian nodded to Gurek and sprinted up north. When he made sure he was alone, he checked his status. And indeed, he had a new ability.

    [Basic Tracking (Level 1/10)]

    Dorian was able to travel at top speed without being slowed down by the trees. That was thanks to his Wind Steps, which allowed him to move like the wind and dodge the trees without losing speed.

    Dorian did not activate [Angel Wings], so it took him five minutes of running to reach the fall. The sight was majestic and beautiful, a true master piece from nature.

    Dorian didn''t hesitate to dive into the pond after taking a deep breath. He hurried down, and after a moment he indeed saw a water cave. Though, there was a problem. Of a slithery nature.

    Coiled at the entrance of the cave, was a big snake. Its orange eyes were looking at Dorian, bloodlust obvious. It was coiled up so Dorian couldn''t see its full length, but from what he could see it was a very big snake, bigger than any snake on earth.

    In a sense, those were good news as it was most probably a constrictor, and he would rather deal with an astonishing strength than venom.

    Dorian did not approach any further and tried provoking it to leave its post, but it wouldn''t move. Were it on land, Dorian would be able to kill it, but in the water his fighting capacity was just too low.

    After thinking for a moment, Dorian swam back up and searched for a stone around. After finding a big one, Dorian sharpened it until making a rough edge with his daggers.

    Once done, Dorian made four others, and then looked down in the water. Because of the water falling, the surface was opaque, and Dorian couldn''t see anything. But he knew where the snake was.

    Dorian took one of the rocks in each hand, and gathered Life Essence in his arms. After accumulating to the max, Dorian threw both the sharp rocks at the snake.

    The rocks were launched so fast that the water exploded in a geyser, and the two continued their way down the water. Dorian didn''t look at the results but instead continued sending all his rocks before diving.

    The snake wasn''t coiled anymore, its full body was wriggling in the water. Fresh blood could be seen from several spots on its body and one stone was still stuck in its body. But it was still alive.

    Dorian thought it would try to seek revenge, but it only retreated a bit, continuing to guard the entrance. Now, Dorian was lost. What should he do?

    Reviewing his abilities and skills, he decided to take one that wouldn''t cost him much. He could create a blood clone and make it distract the snake while he killed it, but that would be a bad choice. First, it was a blood clone so it might dissolve in water. And even if it doesn''t the cooldown is an hour long, and he might need it in the following fight.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    This made him think of another unused skill though. The one that came with [Arteon''s Revenge]. It allowed him to summon a spirit wolf, and even if the cooldown was half an hour long, it was too weak to help him in a real fight.

    Dorian proceeded to use the skill, and a phantom appeared next to him. It was a big white wolf, and felt as strong as Arteon''s himself. It was strangely able to ignore the environment and ran like it was n the ground despite being in water.

    It rushed toward the snake and attacked it. It was very brave, and very dumb. It was barely Level 1, while the Snake was Level 2.

    But Dorian didn''t use the wolf to kill the snake, only to distract it. As the snake coiled its body around the wold, Dorian arrived behind it and stabbed it with [Tina and Tima.] He had infused them with Holy Fire Life Essence, so they shone with an orange light.

    They stabbed into the snake easily, one of them going for the brain and the other for a random part near the head. It didn''t get to resist before getting killed.

 62 Devour

    As the snake died, Dorian wanted to put its body into his storage ring so that he could process the materials and sell them. But he was surprised that the trapped spirit wolf had escaped, and was about to bit the dead snake.

    Dorian didn''t do anything, curious to see what would happen. He was shocked by what happened next. The wolf bite the snake, and pulled. But it''s body didn''t move, instead an illusory snake was dragged out of the body.

    Dorian never expected the wolf to have this kind of ability, it was never mentioned in the equipment skills. But everything didn''t go as planned.

    After extracting what seemed to be the snake''s spirit, it didn''t just let itself get eaten, but instead fought back. And again, it was stronger when it was alive, so it was still stronger.

    Dorian felt like helping the wolf to see what would happen. They were spirits, so he knew how he could help them.

    With a mental command, the five spirits he had enslaved and kept in his mind were released. They were way weaker than the two, but their numbers allowed them to distract the snake, allowing the wolf to take the advantage.

    After weakening it a lot, Dorian ordered them to stop, and watched the wolf. It pounced on the snake and ate it. Or maybe absorbed would be a more fitting term. Once the snake had fully disappeared, the wolf seemed to have grown a little, and it looked somewhat more materialistic.

    Dorian sent back his spirits in his mind and searched for any change on [Arteon''s Revenge], but wasn''t able to find any change. So Dorian tried something else, that was to put the spirit under contract, just like he did with the spirit family.

    The wolf didn''t resist as it was dragged into his mind, and everything went smoothly. Only when he was about to finish the contract did a notification from the system appear:

    [If you make [Alpha Wolf Spirit] your servant, your equipment [Arteon''s Revenge] will be destroyed.]

    With a shock, Dorian stopped everything. He didn''t want that! Destroying the armor would make him lose 5 points in Strength, and that wasn''t acceptable. The wolf would need to wait for him to find better bracers.

    A second later, the wolf disappeared, coming back to his bracers. After thinking about it, it made sense. His five spirits from hell were able to evolve by eating other spirits, so why wouldn''t it be able to too?

    Dorian shook his head and went back to the surface to take a breath before going down again. The cave was dark like the abyss, no light was able to come in. Fortunately, Dorian''s Holy Fire Essence was of a fire and holy essence, both of which were known for their brightness.

    So applying it on his skin allowed him to create some light. But he also found out a new use by accident. Spreading the Life Essence over his skin actually allowed it to filter the oxygen around for his own use!

    It was in small amount of course, it didn''t allow him to breath underwater, but it still allowed him to stay longer underwater.

    The tunnel was narrow, and there were rocks that protruded out like blades. To a normal person, hitting one by accident could potentially open a wound. Not for Dorian of course, with his insane Vitality, but it would still hurt if he didn''t see them.

    Dorian had to swim for two minutes before finally reaching the end of the tunnel. Before coming to this world, the max Dorian could do was a minute, and that was by pushing it. But now, he felt like he could hold on for ten minutes, at least.

    He got out of the water and looked around. The light he emitted wasn''t enough to illuminate the whole room, as it appeared quite big, but from what he could see the room looked old. As expected from a temple.

    Dorian walked around aimlessly, looking out for any sign of entrance. He also paid attention on sensing the danger, and to be sure he even activated [God''s Sight] for a second to make sure nothing else was in the room.

    He continued until he saw a faint silhouette in the dark, he couldn''t make out what it was but it wasn''t moving. Approaching a little closer, he was able to discover what it was. A big bronze status, of what seemed to be a chimera.

    It had a lion body, except for a scorpion tail. It was lacking compared to the legendary Chimera from the Greek myths, but it still looked fearsome.

    Moreover, behind it was an entrance. Of course, Dorian entered it. Another tunnel appeared, but this time it wasn''t natural but artificial.

    Cracked walls beautifully decorated with ceramic surrounded Dorian. Thanks to his light, Dorian was able to see the different drawing on the walls. There seemed to be a story, but it was difficult to understand because he was reading it in the wrong way. Looks like he came from the exit.

    Still, from what he could see, it was narrating the feats from different beasts. Among them, was the Chimera from earlier. But there were also other mythical animals, like dragons, phoenixes, and other more mundane ones.

    At some point, he heard sound coming from ahead. It seemed people were fighting. Dorian stopped looking at the walls and started running in that direction. But he noticed that they were much farther than he thought because even after running for five minutes he still hadn''t found them, although the sounds were intensifying.

    The sound was probably able to echo so far because of the architecture. But there was a problem, the size of this temple didn''t match. He walked longer within this temple than from on entrance to another in the outside.

    He either had been making turns without realizing it, or the space in the temple was modified. Either way, magic was at work here, and that made this temple even more dangerous.

    After a couple more minutes of running, Dorian finally saw some light, and the opening toward another room. He picked up the pace and reached there in no time.

    Before him, was a magnificent hall. 16 Golden pillars stood erect, joining the ceiling and the ground. The walls were all painted red, with golden markings all over them. Meanwhile, against one of the walls, was a big throne, opposing the exit.

    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

    In the middle of the hall, three beings were fighting. Erendur, Gurek, and a black robed man. The black robed man was sending fireballs at the two, who were avoiding them as well as they could and retaliated in their own way.

    Erendur was just like Gurek, they were both strong as Knight, but were even better as mages. They both seemed to wield the element of nature itself. As for the sorcerer, he was launching countless fire balls, most of which hit the walls and the pillars with astonishing explosions.

    But the room was totally fine, there wasn''t any damage to be seen. In case some forgot, a single one of those fireballs was enough to blow a two meters deep crater in the ground, and uproot trees that probably were hundreds of years old.

    To compare with Earth''s armament, it was like someone was repeatedly firing shells from WW2 and the room was withstanding it perfectly. It only served to show how strong the materials were, or how good the magic spells protecting them was.

    The sorcerer wasn''t able to sense Dorian''s arrival, because the latter was approaching in sneak. Dorian arrived behind the sorcerer, and stabbed out with his daggers.

    However, they were stopped by an invisible barrier. The sorcerer look at him as soon as he attacked, and Dorian was able to see disdain in his eyes behind the mask when it saw the daggers being stopped by the barrier.

    However, that was immediately replaced with shock when a clear shattering sound was heard. This time, it was Dorian was sneered.

    What kind of joke was this, a barrier? His daggers had the ability to ignore 50% of armor when striking together, so barriers were the things he feared the less.

 63 Absorption

    With the barrier shattered, the sorcerer had become vulnerable. With another twist of his arms, Dorian stabbed the sorcerer once again. This time, there was no barrier to stop him. However, just as he was about to hit the sorcerer, he disappeared, leaving only a fireball in his place.

    Dorian didn''t have the time to dodge and could only protect himself from the explosion. Dorian was sent flying away by the explosion, but his robe had taken most of the damage. Yet he still suffered from mild injuries and had burns.

    Dorian rushed towards the sorcerer once again as soon as he got on his feet. He threw several daggers at the sorcerer, but they were all stopped by a new barrier.

    Dorian had to dodge another fire ball before he was able to attack the sorcerer once again. The barrier shattered once again, and the sorcerer blinked away. But Dorian was ready and had already moved back.

    As he appeared away the sorcerer sneered at Dorian before he felt his body get crushed. He barely had the time to see a big ball of fur before falling to the ground, most bones in his body broken.

    Dorian grinned at Gurek, although the later couldn''t see it because of the mask. He wasn''t alone in this fight, so he might as well use his allies. When the sorcerer first blinked away, he had gone in the exact opposite direction from Dorian.

    Assuming he would do the same, Dorian attacked the sorcerer while putting him between Gurek and himself without the sorcerer even being able to see anything.

    Dorian joined Gurek and Erendur as they began to heal the sorcerer. After a moment, the sorcerer woke up. He tried to escape, but his magic was blocked off by both Erendur and Gurek, and his physical body was broken.

    Gurek growled \"Who are you?!\" But the sorcerer didn''t say anything of course, and Gurek made a helpless face. Dorian smiled and said \"Why don''t you leave the interrogation to me? I assure you he will talk.\"

    Gurek looked at him and asked \"Will you torture him?\" The sorcerer flinched hearing that, and Dorian unleashed his whole killing aura as he replied \"Of course!\"

    Gurek looked at Erendur with hesitation before saying \"If its for the welfare of the forest, then I guess its fine.\" Dorian nodded and looked at the sorcerer in the eyes.

    He asked \"Will you talk?\" Seeing no reaction, Dorian stomped on his right wrist, making a clear crunching sound. The sorcerer cried out in pain, clearing any hesitation about him being a male, but he didn''t say anything.

    Dorian expected it though. He grabbed the silver mask and yanked, taking it off. The man cried out in rage as his face was revealed to the world. Dorian didn''t recognize him of course, but neither did the other two.

    It was one of the Sadunites who said though \"I know him, he was wanted in Celevaria. Let me remember, I think his name is Kevin Fawner. He is wanted for stealing something from the Royal Library. A hateful human, stealing from a holy place like a library.\"

    Dorian smiled at Jun''s small outrage at the end and looked at the man and said \"So your name is Kevin. Good, let''s play Kevin.\"

    Dorian grabbed his broken wrist, making him wail, and asked \"First, let''s check you aren''t drugged or delusional. Tell me, how many fingers do you see?\"

    Everyone, including Kevin, looked at Dorian weirdly. Was he serious. Kevin said after a moment \"Five¡­\"

    Dorian nodded and slashed one of the fingers with his dagger, and asked \"How many now?\" But Kevin was too busy crying in pain to answer him.

    Dorian shook his head and punched Kevin in the chest, shattering his rib cage, and said \"I. Asked. How. Many. Finger. Now?\"

    For each word Dorian sliced another finger, and when he was done with the first hand he cut it off and cut another finger from the other hand. But Kevin wouldn''t answer, his mind drowned in pain.

    Dorian infused his hand with Holy Fire Life Essence, and this time instead of increasing his strength he made his hand scalding hot and pressed on the severed limb. The wound cauterized, and Kevin fainted from the pain.

    Once the wound was cauterized Dorian slapped Kevin awake, who returned to his screaming. After doing the same with the other hand, and awakening him again, Dorian said \"Continue screaming and I''ll do the same with your feet.\"

    Kevin finally shut up, keeping his voice in, although it was obvious to all he wanted to shout his lungs out. Dorian looked at him straight in the eyes and entered his mind through a [Mind Invasion].

    Kevin''s mind was sophisticated, there were no constructs in his mind like Dorian because he wasn''t cultivating Mind Arts. Instead, Kevin had four big suns in the sky, probably representing his Level 4 Mage status.

    Kevin cried out from his mind \"You dare enter my Mindscape! May the Eternal Fire help me burn the heretics!\"

    Dorian sighed, yet another cult. The suns brightened and sent scorching rays of fire at Dorian''s flame. Unfortunately for him, Dorian practiced Mind Arts, so even with his much lower intelligence he was able to dodge the attacks and go for the offense himself.

    His flame quickly approached the four suns and split itself into four, each part going for a different sun. As they came into contact though, the white flame didn''t act like a flame would, but more like a strange slime.

    His flame covered the four suns, trapping them within, and began shrinking. Kevin began screaming, obviously he was in a lot of pain. Dorian felt pain too, because containing the suns hurt him, but he was testing out things.

    Since he became an Angel, his Mind Construct, the White Flame, had become even stronger. It looked like it had attuned with his body and Life Essence, as if they were trying to become one. But it was impossible.

    So when he heard the screams of pain, Dorian tried something weird. Absorbing the suns. After all, he was told the greatest Holy Fire Angels were known for absorbing stars, so why couldn''t he do the same with mind suns now that his White Flame and Holy Fire Life Essence were connected.

    And indeed, it worked. Dorian moved the flames toward each other and made them merge, so now his flame was covering all four of Kevin''s suns.

    One of the suns began shrinking, and for the first time Kevin was truly afraid as he shouted \"What are you doing! Madman, what are you doing! Let me go!\"

    But Dorian was too engrossed in the feeling to listen to him. His Life Essence was strengthening at a fast pace, pushing away limits and strengthening his body at the same time. Only after he absorbed one whole sun did he stop and ask \"Are you ready to talk? Or shall I absorb your mind and your soul before? I don''t care, I will get the information either way.\"

    Now, Kevin was truly scared. Dorian got out of his mind and stepped back. Kevin looked at the group with untold amounts of fear in his eyes, especially when he looked at Dorian.

    He then began explaining who he was and what he was doing here. Kevin was part of an organization of sorcerers worshiping something called the ''Eternal Flame'' which was a divine flame.

    The Eternal Flame made its disciples search around in temple because it was searching for something, and after years of searching it finally found what it wanted, it was in this temple. And Kevin and another acolyte were sent here to find the artifact.

    Hearing Kevin talk about his acolyte, everyone went on guard. There was still another enemy? After asking, Kevin replied that his acolyte was in the next room, the one in the dark beyond the tunnel. Dorian doubted that, because he came from there, but then Kevin said his acolyte was a Master of Snakes, he was reminded of the one guarding the entrance of the cave.

    Was it really a coincidence, or had he actually killed a lookout?

 64 Spirit Lord

    Once they were done with Kevin, and had received every information they needed, Gurek and Erendur spread a green gas all over the room, and it slowly spread inside the tunnel. After a moment Erendur said \"No trace of any enemy in the room, nor in the first 200 meters in the tunnel.\"

    Dorian nodded and asked \"You have no use for him, or his spirit, or his body?\" They looked at him weirdly again but all shook their heads.

    Dorian turned toward Kevin and said \"Let''s have some fun then.\" Dorian entered inside Kevin''s mind.

    There, the three suns were hovering in the sky, they light darker than earlier. Dorian had found a use for absorbing the suns in Kevin''s mind. Absorbing one allowed him to enhance his Mind Palace, changing it from a mere foundation to a foundation with the start of walls.

    This time, it was even easier for Dorian to trap the suns in because of their lack of power, and Kevin''s broken mind. The suns disappeared one by one, until they were all absorbed. Kevin had now become a vegetable, his mind literally broken.

    Still, he had some user for the broken mind, as it still housed Kevin''s spirit, which should originally be quite strong due to him being a Level 4 Mage. Exiting Kevin''s mind, Dorian broke his neck, killing him.

    Pushing his senses to the max, Dorian saw a faint transparent being leave Kevin''s body. Dorian quickly entered the meditation state and attacked the spirit. He successfully entered its own mind. Actually, it was the same as Kevin''s physical body, and thus was as weak.

    Moreover, Kevin had lost his intelligence, so he was unable to defend himself. All the spirit could do was try to resist, but even that was for naught.

    Dorian smashed Kevin''s consciousness on the ground, and started writing a contract. Kevin''s spirit seemed to know what this was, as he began struggling. But Dorian didn''t let him go and once he was finished with the contract, he branded it on Kevin''s forehead, making it his slave.

    Dorian exited Kevin''s spirit and looked at it. Now that he was his, Dorian was able to see him much clearer. Dorian commanded it to enter his mind, and Kevin followed the order.

    Finally done, Dorian was now able to start looting the body. But something felt wrong, the room was too silent. He looked around, but they were still here. Though, they were all ogling him.

    Dorian asked \"What''s up folk?\" That seemed to break them from their stunned state, and Jun said \"Dorian¡­ Do you understand what you just did?\"

    Dorian shrugged while returning to his loot and said \"I did what you taught me?\" Jun asked \"You did the same thing with the spirits of hell?\"

    Gurek intervened \"Spirits from hell?\" Jun looked at him and said \"Back in the Dark City, Dorian touched a cursed item and a demon sent his spirits to attack Dorian. We taught him how to change the ownership of the contract to make them his.\"

    He then turned back toward Dorian and asked \"How did you do the same thing, there was a contract inside his mind?\"

    Dorian shook his head and said \"No, I just wrote it myself. Is there a problem?\" Jun sneered \"A problem? Truly, you are blessed with ignorance. Jok''ii, you are more knowledgeable than me about this subject, you should explain to him.\"

    Meanwhile, Dorian was finding a few equipments on Kevin. Honestly, he didn''t have much, he certainly expected this to be an easy mission. He didn''t have a Spatial Ring, and only a meager amount of food on him.

    For his equipment, both his robe and his shoes were green rank. He had a third equipment though, another ring, and this one was blue.

    Dorian searched one more time through the entire body to make sure he wouldn''t miss anything while Jok''ii began explaining \"As you know, living beings are categorized in Levels in this dimension, and most beings are split into either Mage or Knight. But there are sub classes, for example assassins, warriors, monks¡­ There is no true classification for this, but anyone can be put into one of those categories.\"

    Dorian got up from the ground and walked toward the severed fingers, more precisely toward the one with the ring on it. Jok''ii continued \"For mages, there exists a special class, known as Spirit Lord. They are very rare, because not many can become one.\"

    Dorian lowered himself to pick up the ring and said \"Let me guess, I am a Spirit Lord. Their specialty is enslaving spirits. Then tell me, are all demons Spirit Lords, or was I lucky to kill one.\"

    Jok''ii replied \"You are right. As for demons, the one you killed wasn''t a Spirit Lord, but the demon he served was a Spirit Lord. That''s another point for Spirits Lords, they are able to gift spirits to others.\"

    Dorian nodded and asked \"Are Spirit Lords strong? Is there any limit to them? What about the spirits, do all being have a spirit?\"

    While he said that, he looked at the ring''s description.

    [Name: Gatherer]

    [Type: Ring]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: D]

    [Requirement: None]

    [Effect: +5 Intelligence]

    [Focus: For 60 seconds you will be able to draw mana 50% faster.]

    [Durability: 468/500]

    [Remark: This ring was recently manufactured as a reward. Too bad its owner became careless.]

    Looking at the ring, Dorian finally understood how Kevin was able to launch so many powerful spells so quickly.

    Jok''ii on his side said \"Spirit Lords are walking armies. Although there is a limit to the number of spirits your mind can house, the limit is quite high and will become higher with your mana. The strongest Spirit Lord to ever exist was said to be able to unleash millions of spirits.\"

    Dorian slipped the ring on and asked \"That''s how Spirit Lords fight? With numbers?\" Jok''ii shook his head \"No only. There are two main paths for Spirit Lords. One is quantity, absorbing as many spirits as possible. The other is quality, taking only a few spirits in and making them absorb the spirits of others.\"

    Dorian said \"They are quite weak. I will need to get many other spirits for it to become useful.\" He then opened his status.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human/Angel]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 500/500]

    [MP: 220/220]

    [Strength: 22 (33)]

    [Agility: 22 (34)]

    [Vitality: 30 (35)]

    [Intelligence: 28 (33)]

    [Perception: 18 (24)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Swift Sword]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Tracking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Sneak (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Wind Steps]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 6/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 9/10)]

    [Adept Holy Fire Manual]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Sub Skills:

    [Hurt: Deal 10% more damage to characters.]

    [Agile: Perfects your balance and make you 10%]

    [Tenacious: Any negative status effect is lessened by 10%, with some chance of negating lesser ones.]

    [Efficient: All spells are upgraded by 10%.]

    From this encounter, Dorian was able to find a few things, interesting things. First, absorbing the mind of others was useful, but he would need to either absorb a lot of minds, or a much more powerful one to advance.

    Dorian''s mind magic had gone from level 7 to level 9 despite having absorbed the mind of someone much stronger. After all, Dorian''s Intelligence was at 26 before this fight.

    As for Kevin, he was a Level 4, and was able to fight to a tie against Gurek and Erendur fighting together. Even counting the skill from his ring, he must have a much higher Intelligence attribute, he was probably in the 70''s.

    There was a gap of around 50 in Intelligence, and he only advanced by two levels. He only gained two in Intelligence despite the difference.

    And there was another thing, about the Exploration Mode.

 65 Lords of the forest below the mountain

    The other thing Dorian was able to discover, or rather confirm, was the change from Mission Mode to Exploration Mode. It was said at first that this would be more real, and Dorian now understood how.

    Apart from the limit the strongest being in that world would have, there was also the drop. Despite Kevin being the strongest enemy he ever faced, being a Level 4 Mage, his loot was poor.

    Kevin would be able to wipe out the Dark City with enough time, and yet be it Marcus, Lucie or the Captain, they all had more loot than Kevin.

    That meant the strength of the opponent will not influence the loot. Right now, Dorian could kill a god and not get anything, but he could also kill a being weaker than Level 1 and get the strongest items in the realms.

    Of course, those were extreme examples just to portray the situation, Dorian didn''t have any hope of it actually happening. Looking at the corpse of Kevin, Dorian couldn''t help but shack his head. He had truly been lucky this time.

    In normal circumstances, killing Kevin would be impossible. Even though Mages are weak against assassinations and are more suited toward group fights than individual fights like this, a Level 4 Mage was still way stronger than Dorian.

    If Gurek and Erendur weren''t distracting him, Dorian wouldn''t have been able to approach Kevin. Kevin had thrown dozens of fireballs, and Dorian had suffered injuries from only one of them. Five or six of them would be enough to kill him.

    Adding in that blink skill, it would have been impossible to kill Kevin by himself. A Level 4 Knight would be even more fearsome, because Knights train for individual fights. If it were a Knight, Dorian wouldn''t have been able to kill him so easily.

    Anyway, he now hoped that this ally of Kevin would have more loot. The [Gatherer] was a good equipment, Dorian liked it, but for such a strong opponent to only drop this¡­ At least he will be able to sell the green items.

    For this ally though, Dorian felt conflicted. Because he was the one sent to pick the treasure, he should be stronger than Kevin. But then, why didn''t he attack Dorian?

    Or was there some kind of other entrance? After all, he was alone in that room. There was no other light in the room, so how could there be someone else in that room?

    Dorian was in meditation when Erendur said \"We should go capture this Master of Snakes.\" Dorian shook his head and replied \"No, we should wait for reinforcement. The enemy inside is of an unknown strength, we can''t just go in.\"

    Erendur sneered \"I don''t need them.\" Dorian shrugged and said \"You can go if you want, but I will stay here to wait for them.\"

    Erendur frowned and looked at Gurek, but the latter said \"Don''t let your anger cloud your judgment, we can''t go in there.\" Erendur said \"I will go, whether you come or not. We can''t let him escape.\"

    Gurek shook his head. Erendur grunted and got in the tunnel by himself. Dorian ignored him and used his Holy Fire Manual. At first, Dorian didn''t know what use it would have. But now, he understood. This manual was actually able to strengthen his body.

    But the speed at which it did so was different from people in this world. Instead of just strengthening him bit by bit, it would strengthen him every time he passes a rank. The levels would in turn enhance the amount of Life Essence he had.

    Basically, going from Level 1 to Level 10 will enhance the quantity of Life Essence, as well as his control over it, while Level 10 to Level 1 will enhance the quality. And enhancing its quality enhances his body.

    Unfortunately, Dorian was currently at Adept Level 1, so he would only be able to enhance the quantity for a long time. There was one thing to celebrate though, this ability was categorized as a Special Ability, and he would thus not need higher ranked ability books to enhance it.

    Gurek looked at his old friend entering the tunnel alone but didn''t move. If they needed the reinforcements help, they also needed theirs. If he went with Erendur and got killed then the reinforcements would probably be unable to deal with the foe.

    That''s why he had to stay. He closed his eyes and laid on the ground waiting. As for the two Sadunites, they sat on the ground too, and just waited. They couldn''t help in anyway right now. Sadunites aren''t a race known for their fighting ability, they dedicate their lives to knowledge.

    In most situations, their knowledge was useful, such as when Dorian almost attacked Gurek. If he really harmed him, then Erendur would have attacked him, and Dorian would be hard pressed fighting against the chief Ent.

    But right now, they most certainly wouldn''t be the least bit useful. They didn''t know in what kind of temple they were in, nor what kind of enemy they would face.

    The group only waited for ten minutes until they heard steps coming their way. But Dorian didn''t pay attention to that, because he discovered something to his status. He actually had unlocked a third¡­ well, bar.

    He had his Health Points, or Hp, and Mana Points, or MP. But now, there was a third one. LE, short for Life Essence. He tried infusing his body with Life Essence, but there was no decrease in his bar.

    The system then spoke on its own:

    [You have discovered and absorbed a new kind of energy. Because you learned and practiced the appropriate ability, a new bar has been added. In the future, for some skills you may be able to use LE instead of MP.]

    Dorian asked \"Why didn''t I lose any LE when I infused my body with it?\"

    [Because you didn''t move. The LE just circulated in your body, so no amount was lost. You will lose LE if you use Life Essence to power up your moves, or your regeneration or your senses.]

    That made sense. Dorian closed the system and looked at the newcomers. There were four of them. There was one big antelope, a white one, with a man saddling it. There was also a giant crocodile. The last one was a big gorilla.

    Dorian''s gaze of course focused on the man, and he discovered something. This wasn''t a human. Those long, pointy ears only belonged to one race, the Elves.

    Dorian got up from the ground and heard Gurek say \"Lune, Sundamar, Crocus, Phil. It''s good to see you.\" They all nodded and the big gorilla asked \"Where is that old bark?\"

    Gurek sighed and said \"Let me explain to you what happened. We chased down the one who attacked the forest, we learned he is a sorcerer. We defeated him and extracted information from him, and learned he is part of an organization seeking something in the temple. We also learned there is another enemy deeper in the temple. Erendur went there alone.\"

    They nodded and the Elf said \"I see we have Sadunites here¡­ Welcome to our forest.\" He bowed his head slightly, as did the other three. The two Sadunites waved their hands frantically and said \"Don''t, we don''t deserve this.\"

    The four smiled and then turned toward Dorian. Gurek said \"Don''t worry, he is special. He is human, but not from our dimension. Long story short, he has been sent from another dimension to accomplish a mission here. Right now, he is exploring. He helped us bring down the sorcerer.\"

    Dorian nodded toward them and Gurek continued \"His name is Dorian.\" He then looked at Dorian and said \"There are five lords in the forest. Erendur is the lord of the trees in the center of the forest, I am the lord of the southern region, Crocus is the big crocodile and the lord of the swamps in the northern region, Phil is the gorilla and the lord of the western part of the forest, and Sundamar is the Elven King, who co rules the east with Lune, the antelope.\"

 66 History Lesson

    The Elven King, Sundamar, looked at Dorian with interest and asked \"Human from another dimension, Dorian. Tell me, how are Elves doing in your world?\"

    Dorian looked straight at him and replied \"There is no magic in my dimension. Nor Life Essence. Elves doesn''t exist. Nor do talking animals. There aren''t even any Level 1 being. My world is very different from yours. However, we haven''t explored our whole dimension.\"

    Sundamar let out a smile and said \"How mystical. I wonder how you came to this world¡­\" However, Crocus, the crocodile, said \"He is a friend of Gurek, you can ask Gurek later. Now, we need to go save that stubborn tree.\"

    Sundamar nodded and patted the antelope below him and said \"Lune, help us with that tunnel will you?\" The antelope suddenly started emitting a bright white light, akin to the glow of the moon in the night.

    Sundamar looked at the others and said \"Follow Lune, she is the bright light in our lives!\" Dorian saw Gurek roll his eyes on the side, and thought he heard him say \"Simp¡­\" Probably misheard.

    Though there were news. Lune wasn''t an antelope, but a doe! Where did those horns come from then? Aren''t only males supposed to have big ass horns like those?

    Well, he is in another world. Dorian approached the two Sadunites and walked in the back of the group. He looked at Jun and asked \"Do you happen to know of a power, that existed a long time ago, whether its destroyed or not now, that worshiped beasts? Or composed of only beasts?\"

    Jun shrugged and said \"There are plenty. Hundreds, at least. Why?\"

    Dorian said \"While coming here, I found a few things. There was a giant golden statue of what I call a Chimera. It had a Lion body with a scorpion tail. Also, the tunnel we are in tell a story, about different beasts. Legendary ones, like dragons and phoenixes. Don''t tell me there are also hundreds of powers with multiple legendary beings?\"

    Jun looked at Dorian astonished and said \"Multiple legendary beings? Well that makes it simple. I know of two powers like that. One was in another realm, and the other in this realm. For any kind of forces, building a temple in another realm is a big deal, and they wouldn''t abandon it, unless they have gone extinct.\"

    He looked at the walls on the sides and said \"The one in the other realm is still standing, and the one in our realm has disappeared. If I had to take a guess, then this temple used to belong to the force in our realm. Do you know what was their name?\"

    Dorian shrugged and said \"No, Beast Palace?\" Jun laughed and said \"There actually exists a place known as Beast Palace nowadays, but they are nowhere near as powerful as those who built this palace. But no, they called themselves Monster Paradise.\"

    Dorian asked \"What do you know about Monster Paradise? That could help us.\" Jun nodded and said \"It was created a few thousands years ago. It was created by the different races sovereigns to fight against Adonis the Great. It was basically the alliance of all the magical beasts in the world against humans. This was called the Great War, and it shook the realms. Not just ours, all of them. Heaven, Hell, the Spirit Plane, all the material realms¡­ It was a truly catastrophic war.\"

    Dorian asked \"Were humans this powerful? To go against all the races?\" Jun sneered and said \"Of course no. The human race was weak. Adonis himself was powerful, but nowhere near enough to dominate all the magical races.\"

    Dorian asked \"Then how did humans win, and Monster Paradise fall?\" Jun sighed and said \"I can''t tell you that. There are things you don''t understand about this dimension.\"

    Dorian was surprised, Jun had actually refused? \"Why can''t you tell me? If its a secret I won''t say it.\" He took a joking tone as he said that, as if he were a kid.

    But Jun shook his head and said \"It''s not that I don''t want to tell you, but I can''t. You don''t understand the powers some beings in this world have. Just know that if I tell you anything, I will die before even telling you.\"

    Dorian was shocked and said \"Then don''t! Damn, what kind of power is needed to do something like that.\"

    Jun said \"That I can tell you. This is a power that qualifies as a curse. Anyone hearing the secret, will be put under the curse, and if they try to tell the secret in any kind of form, they will die.\"

    Dorian asked \"Then how did you learn about it?\" Jun said \"This curse is powerful, but not omnipotent. Powerful beings of the realms are able to survive from the curse, so they can tell the secret. Usually they avoid, but our race has paid a dire price to know about it.\"

    Dorian asked \"What''s the point? Your generation might know it, but what about the next?\" But Jun shook his head and said \"We Sadunites have a very special way to transmit knowledge amongst ourselves, so special that it is able to bypass the curse. But it only may be done to our own tribe members. Mark my words, I said tribe, not race. Only the Tenth Tribe and the First know about this secret, the others don''t know about it.\"

    Dorian smiled \"Tell me, within Mind Magic, there has to exist a spell that allows to read memories, right?\" Jun nodded, so Dorian asked \"What if I read the memories of someone who know the secret?\"

    But Jun said \"As I said, any attempt at transmitting the secret will result in the person''s death, whether they intended to do it or not.\" Dorian frowned and asked \"What if I read a spirit''s memories?\"

    Jun frowned, but then remained silent. After a moment he said \"You know what, this might actually work. This curse works against the living and the non living, but what about a spirit? This is a special kind of existence, which can''t be considered living or not. But I''m afraid it might not work, the curse was set in place by very powerful beings. They must have thought of this.\"

    Dorian frowned, but then he thought about something else. He said \"What if I have the help of an even stronger being?\" Jun frowned and said \"I can''t tell you who made the curse, but what I can tell you is that finding something more powerful is impossible.\"

    Dorian smiled and said \"Can the caster of the curse travel dimensions?\" Jun now understood. He began smiling and said \"Yes, that is stronger than the caster. Can you get their help?\"

    Dorian shrugged and said \"Not directly, unless I pay a heavy price I cannot bear right now I guess. But even that is a theory. But I''m losing myself. I don''t need their expressive help. When I brand something with one of my contracts, such as the spirits or Tibo¡­\"

    \"Tibo?\"

    Dorian nodded and explained \"Tibo is the Yeti. When I brand beings, they become my servants, and I can take them with me during my travels. I doubt that the contract will stop the curse from working just because it is linked to the system. After all, the servants can die. But what if I make it tell me the secret, when I''m making the contract?\"

    Jun asked \"What do you mean?\" Dorian explained him \"To make the contracted being my servant, the system must certainly use some kind of energy, its own energy. And that curse, it must be the same. Tell me, once hit by the curse, how do you die?\"

    Jun replied \"You just drop dead.\" Dorian nodded and said \"As expected. There are two possibilities. Let''s call the energy that kills you the death energy.\" Jun nodded and said \"That''s actually what its called.\"

    Dorian smiled and said \"Good. Now, the possibilities are as such. You either have a Death Mark on you that contains death energy and that will explode once you try to tell the secret. The other is that there is a sensor in your mind that will warn the caster ahead of time. The second possibility seems a little difficult to pull of, what if multiple beings try to tell the secret at the same time, it will get messy. So let''s assume its the first.\"

 67 Extrapolating High School Science

    Dorian said \"So right now, what we know is that my organization will send a wave of energy when I make a being my servant, and the death mark explodes with death energy once the person has the intention to tell the secret. Now, one is an energy that travel dimensions to fiddle with a being''s mind, while the other is an energy that kills whatever touches it. See the problem?\" However, both Jun and Jok''ii shook their heads.

    Dorian suddenly stopped and said \"Sorry, I forgot you aren''t from my world for a moment. Let me explain. When two energies meet, there will usually be two kinds of reaction.\"

    Dorian lifted a finger and said \"First, they ignore each other or cooperate, that''s when they are of the same nature, or of a very similar one. This is clearly not the case here.\"

    He raised another finger, and said \"Second, they enter into a conflict. They mess with each other and that will provoke a reaction, which is an explosion most of the time.\"

    Jun and Jok''ii remained silent, so Dorian continued \"However, I discovered something new, something that could change the way my entire world works. Energies can be triggered by other energies, and manipulated. That''s what I''ll try to do here, I will use different energies to mess with each other.\"

    Jun scratched his head and asked \"Honestly, you''ve lost me¡­ Can we help in any way?\" Dorian shook his head and said \"No offense, but as knowledgeable as you are, you are no match with my dimension''s humanity. You would need years of learning to really help me. Honestly, even I am in unfamiliar territories.\"

    After all, Dorian was just a high schooler in the past, and not the brightest one either. However, the rise of his Intelligence attribute seem to have enhanced his thinking process, he could remember things he couldn''t before, and make links between events and things he learned way more easily.

    After a moment, Dorian said \"There is a way for you to help me actually. Do you know of any kind of energy I can access easily that can rival the death energy in strength? Whatever its nature is.\"

    Jun replied \"There are some, but using them is hard¡­ Anyway, how can you be so sure about all of that?\" Dorian said \"From an unwanted experiment I did with my own body. Do you want to know how I awakened my bloodline?\"

    As soon as he said that, he saw everyone in the group flinch a little, they had obviously all been listening to his earlier explanations. Dorian stared at them, and after a moment Gurek said awkwardly \"Your civilization seems really advanced, sorry for sneaking. But you talked about a bloodline?\"

    Dorian smiled, which they couldn''t see, and said \"I indeed awakened a bloodline, I am not entirely human. Now that I think of it, Sundamar, there might have been Elves on Earth a long time ago, after all I awakened an innate bloodline from a being we thought as mere legends¡­\"

    Sundamar looked at Dorian weirdly and said \"You do know I''m a King right? Don''t you have some etiquette?\" Dorian said \"From how I see it, you are more of a chieftain than a King, but whatever.\"

    Sundamar actually blushed when he heard Dorian instead of getting angry, he even seemed a little embarrassed. Dorian asked \"What about you, Elven King. What''s your story?\"

    Sundamar looked away and said \"Fine, let go.\" Dorian rolled his eyes and said \"You two, come in my mind.\" The two nodded and sent part of their consciousness in his mind, keeping the bare minimum in to keep walking.

    Dorian began explaining in his mind \"Back then, when I killed the demon, I ate its heart because I knew it would give me benefits. And it did. But do you know what came with it?\"

    The two didn''t, so Dorian enlightened them \"The Demon''s bloodline. Usually, it should be impossible to assimilate the demon''s bloodline just from eating its heart. But here comes in my theory about energies. My Angel bloodline inside me awakened, and reacted with the demon''s one. My theory is that they reacted with each other because of their opposite natures.\"

    Jun asked \"Then what was the reaction? You said earlier two opposite energies will create a reaction. Shouldn''t they have exploded?\"

    Dorian replied \"Indeed, two energies of opposite natures will interact with each other, just like a positive charge will interact with a negative one¡­ Sorry, you can''t understand that. To simplify it to you, two forces of opposite natures will interact with each other in special ways. Let''s take light and darkness.\"

    Dorian was in his mind, so he was able to create things in it, they weren''t real, and didn''t have any effect on others minds or the material world. It was a kind of self illusion. Anyway, Dorian created two globes, one made of light, the other of darkness.

    He then said \"As you know, light and darkness are fundamentally different, and can''t be fused. Light chases away darkness, and darkness swallows the light. They have a very chaotic relationship. Here, the reaction is the same. Angel and Demon are as opposed as light and darkness, so when the two bloodlines meet each other, they fight for dominance.\"

    Jok''ii suddenly said \"But Light and darkness are inseparable. One can''t be mentioned without the other, because even thought light creates darkness, it exists because of the lack of darkness. Same for darkness, it exists because of the lack of light.\"

    Dorian smiled and said \"Good, you are following. Now you wonder, if light and darkness are inseparable, then is it the same case for Angel and Demon. From what you know, they aren''t, right?\" The two nodded.

    Dorian said \"What if they were? Just that you don''t know. I have another theory. Where does life come from. You already said before that the legend of Amund the Stone of Life giving birth to the ancestors is a mere legend, then do you know where life comes from?\"

    Jun replied \"Not really. Maybe the gods, maybe we just appeared. We don''t know.\" Dorian nodded and said \"From my world, people believe we come from either God itself, or the more popular one is that we appeared through evolution, small bacteria evolving into a small lifeform in the ocean, which grew bigger and bigger, left the water, walked the land¡­ It is a very long process that took millions of years. But your world is different, people seem to believe way more in the gods than in my world. It''s normal, your civilization is too ancient, not advanced enough.\"

    Dorian saw their flame fluctuate when he mentioned the gods, but he continued nonetheless \"Humans in this world may come from the same origin as those in mine, I mean through evolution. But what about the others? You must understand that the probability of life appearing by itself on a planet is so low that it appears impossible. For us to later become humans, the probability is even smaller.

    And now, what''s the situation in your world? Life has developed, and it has created the exact same humans, and so many other races. The probability for the exact same two races to appear out of random like that¡­ It is virtually impossible. And there are even more functional races, as well as magic? That''s simply impossible, the probability of something like this happening must be so low even I don''t know how to say it, I can write its formula but you won''t understand.\"

    Even though he said that, he still wrote something: 1 out of 10^999^999^999^999^999

    When talking about extremely big numbers, new ways to write them had to be created. The number Dorian had just written, if written completely, without the mathematical powers, but with every digit, then the number would be so big that not talking about a sheet of paper, even using the entire universe as a sheet wouldn''t be enough to write this number.

    And now, this is the probability Dorian was talking about.

    Jun said \"Dorian, seriously, you''ve lost us, I don''t understand jack shit about what you are talking about.\" Dorian smiled and said \"Doesn''t matter. What I want to say, is that the probability for life to exist on this planet, the way it does, is impossibly low. So, that means a higher existence manipulated things here. What I am trying to tell you, is that gods exists, and I just proved it.\"

    Just as he said that, he received a notification.

    [Warning! Warning! You have been targeted by several extremely powerful lifeforms!]

 68 World Rewards

    Dorian was shocked, what the hell?

    [You just have broken a primordial law of this world, and have thus alerted the ones controlling the laws.]

    Dorian frowned, was that the secret? Gods existed? Then he was enlightened. Gods were the ones who controlled the primordial rules of this world, and that''s how they put the death mark over people. They didn''t have to tire themselves to personally curse everyone who knew about the secret, they changed the world in a way that simply intending on telling the secret would kill you.

    However, Dorian was curious. Why didn''t they want their existence to be revealed, proving they do exist would only strengthen the faith their servants have towards them. But he received another notification.

    [Warning! Warning! The laws of the world itself are trying to kill you! Immediate evacuation proceeding! No cost because the main mission has finished.]

    Dorian hurriedly pushed the two Sadunites out of his mind, while leaving a short message \"I have been called back.\"

    Dorian suddenly disappeared from the spot. However this time, he didn''t fall unconscious, but instead saw the transportation. It wasn''t just an instant teleportation, but instead a travel at a very high speed. Judging from what e saw, he was going faster than light itself as it was distorted into all kinds of shapes around him.

    But then, the world suddenly slowed down all of a sudden. The light caught back, and the speed at which Dorian moved decelerated a lot. He saw himself trapped into a strange aura. It was coming from a¡­ giant?

    Dorian was currently in the void, and there was nothing except him and that giant being. It looked human, and emitted a white light, bright enough that Dorian wasn''t able to see what the giant looked like. All he knew was that it had a human''s shape.

    Light coalesced around one of its hands, and a huge death ray of lay was launched at Dorian. Dorian weirdly was able to process the idea in time despite its speed. He couldn''t avoid that, neither could he survive. His instinct told him that if this ray were to ever hit Earth, his planet would get vaporized into mere atoms.

    Who else other than a god could make such an attack? So his hypothesis was right, gods do exists. And this one is chasing him.

    And yet, just before it could hit him, it was stopped by an invisible shield. The might death ray crashed into the shield and disappeared. Dorian could hear what sounded like a gasp from the divine being, weird because sound doesn''t transmit through void¡­

    Then, the divine being tried to flee, but it was barely able to fly for a few meters when suddenly it was slashed in half. That''s the last thing Dorian saw before he started traveling at a speed greater than light again.

    But he was shocked. The divine being that appeared so mighty, was actually chopped in half like a vegetable? How strong was Dreamland exactly? And even that didn''t matter before his other question. Why?!

    Dorian was insignificant, sure he had learned about their secret, but so had many others. But they didn''t have a damn god chasing after them! He knew the god wasn''t fast enough to catch up to him when transported by Dreamland, so he must have been following after him before the transportation.

    So why would a god follow a mortal like him? Did it feel he came from another dimension, or the existence of the system? But right as he wondered about those issues the system replied:

    [They cannot find out about Dreamland, it is impossible for such puny gods. We hid your arrival very well too. If the gods have targeted you it is because of another reason you shall discover yourself.]

    Dorian sighed, at least he could put that out of the way. Now, what could he have done that offended the gods? Perhaps, going into that temple? But he wasn''t the only one. Or was it his interaction with the god who came from the idol?

    Now that he thought about it, there was indeed that. But why would a god attack him afterwards? Even if that god stole the manual from the angels, it isn''t that big of a deal, right? He is a god, he should be allowed to do certain things.

    But as he thought about the god who came out of the idol, he indeed looked like the one who attacked him. Although he wasn''t able to see the details of the giant god because of the light it emitted, they both looked humanoid and there was one thing Dorian was able to see.

    When it got chopped in half, the light disappeared. Dorian barely had the time to see anything because he was immediately sent back to his trip, but he saw one thing: that god was bald. And the one who came out of the idol was bald too!

    Adding in the lack of wings, Dorian become more and more sure that bald god was indeed the one who attacked. Now to ask, why did he attack? For that, Dorian really had no idea. Theories, sure, but no certainty.

    As Dorian kept thinking to himself, he suddenly felt a strange sensation, which lasted for about five minutes before he finally stopped. He also received a notification.

    [You have left your first world''s dimension and have now entered the Dreamland.]

    So that weird feeling was what traveling through dimensions felt like? The light became normal once again and Dorian found himself into a familiar room. His room.

    But after a single glance he noticed something had changed. His door. Because his parents are really well off, the house was modern and expensive. So was his door. But now, it had been replaced by an old wooden door which paint''s had been partially erased with time.

    It drew a sharp contrast with the rest of the room, and Dorian understood he wasn''t on Earth, but in Dreamland. Indeed, he soon received a new notification.

    [Congratulation for finishing your first mission! You are now an official Evolver!]

    [First World''s rating:

    Main mission completed (F¡úD)

    Side Mission completed, The Missing Captain (D¡úC)

    Side Mission completed, Revenge (C¡úB)

    Side Mission completed, Rescue (B¡úA)

    Side Mission completed perfectly, Hitman (A¡úSS)

    Hidden Objective completed (SS¡úSSS+)

    Kill Marcus, Lucie and Captain (SSS+¡úEpic)]

    [Calculating the rewards¡­ Done.

    -13 attribute points or 7 ability points

    - 10 000 Dream Coins

    - Mutation Agent *1]

    [Thank you for participating into Dreamland! We hope you had a great experience, and will rest well during the following week. You can either spend your time here in Dreamland or back in your home world. To return to your home world, lay in your bed.]

    Dorian muttered \"Well, that''s a lot of things¡­ Let me check my reward first.\" He opened his status and there was a small window there with his rewards. He tried to open it, but he was told he first needed to choose whether he wanted the attribute points or the ability points.

    Among the two, ability points were obviously more valuable, because there were only half the number of attribute points, and even if there wasn''t this, it was still obvious ability points are better, because leveling up the right ability is like adding an attribute point.

    And yet, Dorian decided to take the attribute points. The reason is simple, for him in early game one should take the attribute points, and only in end game does one need to take the ability points.

    During the first ranks, that is Basic, Adept and Expert, leveling up a skill through practice should still be doable, but from Master to Nirvana ranks, leveling up the skill by training would start take way too much time. So using Ability points when one is in the first three ranks is a waste.

    The opposite is true for attribute points. At first, a difference of a few attribute points makes an extremely big difference. For example, someone with 20 of Strength will absolutely crush to the ground someone with 10 of Strength, and they have only a difference of 10 in Strength.

    But would someone with 1000020 in Strength crush someone with 1000010? Of course no, the difference would be abysmally low. That''s why taking attribute points in the later stage would become less and less useful. Of course, that doesn''t mean attributes are useless in the end, just that adding in ten at a time is less useful than leveling up a skill of the Grandmaster Rank.

    And Dorian was pretty sure that in the later stage, for one to enhance their attribute, they would have to use special items, like the one he took, [Low Class Demon''s Heart].

 69 Marke

    Now that he had chosen, the window opened itself and Dorian found a syringe in his hands. Analyzing it, he got the following page:

    [Name: Mutation Agent]

    [Type: Consumable]

    [Rarity: Bronze]

    [Effect: Injecting this agent will allow you to mutate that part. Mutation will definitely be beneficial, and the stronger the part about to be mutated, the lesser the effect.]

    [Requirement: Place the needle where you want the body to mutate, and inject the agent.]

    [Remark: This was produced by an ancient civilization mixing magic, technology and faith to boost the strength of their race''s embryos. Strongest effect with organs in the process of forming themselves.]

    That looked interesting, Dorian thought he could use this. The Bronze rarity served to prove how great the mutation could be. Of course, a part of Dorian''s mind was a little worried, because it would use mutation, but if the system offered this to him then he probably could use it.

    Dorian put it in his safe Spatial Ring, the one where he kept the important stuff he wouldn''t sell. There were also the 10 000 Dream Coins. When he first arrived into the world of Dark City, he had 500 Dream Coins offered to him, and yet now he earned 20 times more.

    That didn''t seem like a lot to him, as a grey colored [Steel Sword] had costed him 150 Coins, the most Dorian could buy right now should be a Blue equipment. That should be something incredible for the usual people when they get out of the first world, but for him blue equipments weren''t attractive. He would take them, but wouldn''t buy most.

    As for his Attribute Points, Dorian decided he wouldn''t put them in right now. Both his Perception and Intelligence were a mere two points away from the limit of Basic and Adept ranks respectively, so he wanted for them to be upgraded naturally before assigning his points.

    As for Strength, Agility and Vitality, they were still further away and already had a big leeway on the two other attributes, especially Perception. His Perception was his only attributes below 30 with the equipments on, and the only below 20 in term of pure attributes.

    Then, he didn''t go check the system to spend his Dream Coins, but decided to head outside. He went for the door, and it opened to a whole new world.

    Dreamland was¡­ strangely colored. It was as if it was only made of white and black. Around him were many houses, tens if not hundreds of them, all forming a circle around what looked like an elevator.

    Looking around, Dorian actually wasn''t alone. There were people getting out of their houses, others coming back from the elevator, and the rest just hanging out there.

    Dorian himself headed for the elevator and got in it. There were already several people in it. He looked at the buttons, and instead of digits he saw names: Market, HUB, Central Plaza.

    Although he was curious about the last two, Dorian first decided to head to the Market. He pressed the button and looked at the people around him. They were all humans, and all dressed as weirdly as him.

    One wore a mix between a Spartan and an Athenian armor, another seemed to wear an alien armor, another had no pieces of armor of the same set¡­ They all looked very weird.

    Dorian didn''t even feel the elevator move, and in under ten seconds a voice, which he recognized as the system''s said \"Market.\"

    The door opened, and indeed, he was in front of the market. It didn''t look alien to Dorian, instead it looked very normal. Stalls formed alleys where people could walk and look at the different items on display.

    Dorian walked to it, and instead of directly taking a stall, he began walking around. Items of all kinds existed. Their rarity varied too, but the most powerful items were Bronze rarity. Most items were Green, followed by Grey, then Blue and Bronze.

    As for their prices, they varied of course, and some items would sometime be more expensive than items of a higher category. One of the less expensive category were the consumables, and armors were more expensive.

    That was understandable. A consumable had a limited amount of uses, while an Armor was much more durable, and would do a better job at keeping your life. Well, in most cases.

    But within the market, there weren''t only people selling their stuff. There was also an Auction House, which Dorian wasn''t able to enter because no auction was ongoing right now.

    But most importantly, there were other kind of businesses. Smiths, Alchemists, Hotels, Bars and Restaurants¡­ This time, Dorian decided to visit them and get information.

    At the corner of the street, there was a bar called ''Joe n Jane''. He decided to enter it at random. After all, was there a better place than a bar to get info?

    The bar was filled with people, the tables were filled with people, and even the bar didn''t have much place left.

    Yet, as soon as he entered, Dorian felt everyone in the room look at him. Some were just below his notice, they were even weaker than him before he entered Dreamland. But there were others, they felt strong. Truly strong. Especially the man and the woman behind the counter, their presence felt the most threatening.

    Dorian was able to remain calm though, because he had already been targeted by the pressure of the Cloud Dragon, and they were still way weaker than it.

    Dorian could see that different people looked at him differently. Some with greed, others with pity, others with disdain and the rest with alertness.

    Dorian was able to hear one of the weaker ones say thanks to his enhanced hearing \"A Newbie, who is going to rob him this time?\"

    Dorian frowned, and was about to release his killing intent over the whole room, but decided not to. He would rather not offend everyone here. So he ignored the people, the silence, and looked around.

    There was a menu, with different beverages along with their effects and their prices. The cheapest only costed 1 Dream Coin, and was a regular bear.

    As for the most expensive drink in the bar, it was written in gold:

    [Name: Christ''s Blood]

    [Type: Consumable]

    [Rarity: Bronze]

    [Effects: Recover 5000 HP and MP in an instant, heal all injuries.]

    [Remark: This magical beverage was created by ''Jane'']

    [Price: 200 000 Dream Coins]

    Dorian smiled, the price was understandable. After all, this could save the life of anyone, and put them back in their peak fighting state. This could even regrow limbs. It also showed that this Jane must be a powerful person to craft such things. He wondered though, was it her behind the bar, or was she employing people?

    Next to the menu, there was a list of rules, only three of them: No killing, No smoking, All damage must be repaid.

    As he looked at the rules, a group of five people got up from their table. They were all dressed the same, into beasts'' hides. They all looked like barbarians.

    They walked toward Dorian and blocked his path. A tall blond guy, who looked like their leader, said \"Transfer all your Coins to us, and give us your equipment. You have ten seconds before we start thrashing you.\"

    Dorian didn''t say anything and instead released his killing aura. He focused it on them, and made it infiltrate each of their minds with his Mind Magic.

    Their defenses broke instantly, because they were simply too weak. The strongest among them was weaker than Marcus.

    In a split second, Dorian transformed his killing intent into five giant tides of bloods in their minds, and crushed their mind. He didn''t kill them or leave them brain dead though, as he left a sliver of their minds behind.

    This all happened in a split second, and half a second after he released his killing intent, Dorian had made a step forward, and the five were on their knees, unable to move.

 70 Predator

    Dorian walked past the five and went for the bar, while they finally fell face first on the ground. Dorian silently withdrew his killing aura and as he reached the bar, he asked \"Where can I find information?\"

    The man, probably Joe, said \"We don''t accept your kind in here.\" Dorian frowned and asked \"What do you mean?\" Joe sneered and replied \"Leave before we force you to.\"

    Dorian said \"What the hell is wrong with you. What do you mean my kind?\" Joe didn''t reply but put both hands on the counter and said \"Leave.\"

    Dorian ignored him though and looked at the woman and asked \"What''s the problem with your little bitch?\"

    The woman frowned at him, releasing some killing intent herself, but the guy beat her to it. He barely released any killing intent before jumping across the counter to attack Dorian. Killing intent and killing aura are different.

    Killing intent can be emitted by anyone as long as they intend on killing someone, while killing aura is much more rare as it is a form of mind attack on itself.

    Looking at the man jumping toward him, Dorian held no fear. He could see he was fast, faster than him. But not by far, and that''s not counting his angel skills.

    Still, he didn''t need them. He could sense the people in this room were strong, but they clearly weren''t the strongest this realm had to offer. The strongest ones were only at the level of Gurek, and that''s only talking about physical threat.

    And even in a fight, Gurek would crush them thanks to his physique. Dorian unsheathed his sword for the first time at a lightning speed and swiped it before him.

    Even though Joe had a faster movement speed, Dorian had learned Swift Sword, so his attack speed was higher. Joe didn''t fear anything and simply blocked in front of him by crossing his arms, revealing two identical bracers.

    Dorian smiled, his opponent was seriously underestimating him. His sword reached Joe first, and collided harshly with him. From the first instant, Dorian felt his strength was below his opponent''s. But that was all for the better, as it would activate [Overwhelming Strike] second effect, 30% armor penetration.

    At first, Joe looked confidant, but then he felt a strange energy slam against his bracers, and forced them apart. The instant he bypassed Joe''s defense, Dorian sent all his Life Essence toward his arms and his weapon, and smashed it against the undefended chest of Joe.

    The latter had his chest cut wide open, but before blood could come out the cut was cauterized by the fire aspect of the Life Essence. That didn''t help Joe much, because his blood would coagulate below his skin.

    Still, that was a problem for later, because the smash didn''t just cut his chest open, it also sent him flying to the wall behind the counter. He smashed several bottles, and the wall behind cracked because of the impact.

    Dorian didn''t feel like having someone out for revenge, so he tried to end it here. He invaded Joe''s mind, and attacked. Joe wasn''t much of a mage, his resistance as a strong warrior allowed him to defend against most magic attacks, but now that he had his defense smashed away and he was stunned by the impact, his mind was left open.

    As Dorian proceeded with ravaging his mind, Dorian felt danger and returning to the real world, he saw an icy dagger heading toward him. He hurriedly left Joe''s mind and dodged the dagger, before looking at the woman behind the counter.

    She was looking at him with a cold gaze, but wasn''t saying anything. But Dorian didn''t feel threatened, because her power level was even below Joe''s. She was a cook after all, she probably relied on her team so far, giving them drinks and food in exchange of their protection.

    For the teams, Dorian was able to deduce this from the groups that gathered together, especially the ones who attacked him. It was too much of a coincidence for a whole group of people to wear the exact same equipment if they didn''t go to a world together.

    That''s why Dorian deduced that Evolvers could form parties, and go to their worlds together.

    Dorian locked his gaze with the female and said \"He assaulted me first. Tell me what you meant by my kind, and I''ll go.\"

    The female frowned but still said \"We don''t welcome Predators like you.\" Dorian tilted his head and asked \"What''s a Hunter?\"

    She replied \"There are two categories of people in Dreamland: The Predators, and the rest. Predators are evil fuckers like you who stop at nothing to get what they want, and kill wantonly.\"

    Dorian smirked and said \"So the rest are the naive kind who can''t survive on their own, and the Predators are the winners? Fine, where do I get my information.\"

    She spat on the ground and said \"Fuck off, I already said enough to a scum like you. Find them by yourself.\"

    Dorian rolled his eyes and said \"You should choose your words in front of me, I''m the one in power after all. Whatever, you provoked this.\"

    She looked at him vigilantly, but then heard a body fall to the ground next to her. Joe''s. At the same time, transparent figures left his body and entered Dorian''s.

    She rushed toward Joe and searched for a pulse, but found none. He was dead. Dorian ignored her and left the bar. Meanwhile, everyone in the bar were looking at Dorian''s back view with hatred and fear.

    But he didn''t care. He had already gotten some information. As for the part of him being a Predator? Well, he was more proud than anything. Why would he want to be like the rest? Being a Predator meant being powerful.

    Joe and Jane probably had gone through multiple worlds, judging from the best beverage she was selling, she must have gone in at least 5 or 6. And yet, they were still so weak to fall in front of someone who just came back from his first.

    Dorian knew he was powerful, but he also knew that he wasn''t the strongest. Normally, someone who went through more than three worlds should be able to overwhelm him. But it seemed he had underestimated the mentalities of the people around here.

    Or at least, he fell upon the weak ones. He was sure there were people as determined as him. As for finding someone stronger than him and who only went through their first world?

    Dorian decided to assume there was one, but he found it hard to believe. Even his growth had been lucky, he didn''t only grow so strong thanks to determination, but also luck. And from the number of people he could see, it wasn''t possible they were all from his world, most must be from alternative world.

    And that meant that maybe, in some worlds, there was already magic so they could strengthen themselves before entering Dreamland. But again, he didn''t know enough to take a decision right away.

    After leaving the bar, Dorian left the area he was in, because he would most probably be rejected by everyone. He didn''t know how they recognized or judged him to be a Predator, but if those in the bar could do it, then others probably could.

    Yet, as he kept thinking about it, he went back on his steps and headed for the smith. The reason is, how did they find out he was a Predator?

    When he first entered, they probably didn''t know, or the five wouldn''t have attacked him. Maybe it was from the fight they were able to deduce it?

    That''s why he went to try his luck with the smith. If he was fast enough, then he wouldn''t get the info about him, and he would be able to get his own information.

    Dorian entered the smithy and took very little time to look around. Still, he was able to see it was nicely decorated, with red and black being the primary colors.

    The smithy was actually empty of people, except for a petite girl sitting behind a counter, surrounded by fierce looking weapons.

 71 Free Area

    Dorian headed for the girl directly, and asked directly \"Can you repair my equipment? And what do you have for sale?\"

    The girl said \"A newbie? Fine, you need whetstones to restore your equipment''s durability. I can sell them to you. There are different rarities, and will restore a certain amount of durability depending on the grade. A grey whetstone can restore 10 points and be used five times.\"

    Dorian nodded and asked \"How much?\" The girl replied \"10 Dream Coins.\" That was fair. So Dorian said \"I''ll buy four hundred of those.\" The girl raised an eyebrow and said \"You sure? That''s 4000 coins.\"

    Dorian nodded and asked \"How do I pay you?\" The girl seemed to look into the void before an interface appeared before Dorian. On it, he could see their deal. He quickly accepted and four hundred whetstones appeared in the space ring he had chosen.

    What would happen if one didn''t have a spatial item? Well, that was none of his problems. He looked around the store for the items on sell. The equipment would be displayed, and its status page was next to it.

    Unfortunately, the best item in the shop was blue grade, and was uninteresting to Dorian.

    [Name: Megaton Chest piece]

    [Type: Armor]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: D]

    [Requirement: Vitality 20; Strength 20]

    [Effects: Vitality +8, Agility -3]

    [Fire Aura: Surrounds your body with a fire aura, which lightly burns everyone around you for 10 seconds.]

    [Remark: A good armor, protects you great, but it''s weight will make you slower.]

    It wasn''t the only blue equipment though, as there was another one:

    [Name: Megaton Axe]

    [Type: Melee Weapon]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Attack: D]

    [Requirement: Basic Axe Mastery (Level 10), 20 Strength, 20 Agility]

    [Effects: Crush lvl3]

    [Fire Slash: Slash out a fire blade out of your axe. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]

    [Durability: 1000/1000]

    [Remarks: An axe big enough to slash through a lot of things.]

    This weapon had requirements pretty similar to his own weapon, but the skill wasn''t as good. Nowhere near as good. Still, for the girl to have crafted it, she must be somewhat useful. He nodded to her and left the shop.

    While he left, he looked at his status to see what he could possibly need:

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human/Angel]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 500/500]

    [MP: 220/220]

    [LE: 100/100]

    [Strength: 22 (33)]

    [Agility: 22 (34)]

    [Vitality: 30 (35)]

    [Intelligence: 28 (33)]

    [Perception: 18 (24)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Swift Sword]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 2/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Tracking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Sneak (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Wind Steps]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 6/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 9/10)]

    [Adept Holy Fire Manual (Level 1/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Honestly, he didn''t really need any item to boost his stats. But he could use some consumables. However, as he headed toward the Alchemist who sold potions, he saw someone from the bar go in there. It was too late.

    With no other option, Dorian decided to go explore further in the market, to discover. The farther he went, the less shops he saw, and the less items he could see. However, at some point he had seemed to have crossed a line.

    The shops started getting important again, but they somehow looked darker. Curious, Dorian entered one of those, and this time only a few gazes focused on him before ignoring him.

    Again, he had entered a bar. This one was much less crowded, so Dorian was able to sit at a table. Soon, a waiter came to him and asked \"What can I get you sir?\"

    Dorian looked at him and replied \"A glass of water will do.\" The waiter nodded and said \"It will be one Dream Point.\"

    A window appeared before Dorian, asking him whether he wanted to complete the transaction. He selected yes, and the waiter left.

    As he waited, Dorian activated [God''s Sight], but no one could see it because the mask hided the third eye.

    He didn''t do it for the eyesight, but for the upgrade to his Perception, which enhanced his senses and allowed his hearing to become better.

    Indeed, he began hearing the conversation of those around him, and was able to find some information.

    He had actually entered the free area, where everyone would be accepted, including Predators. Of course, it doesn''t mean everyone here is a Predator, but one could meet one quite often here.

    But he was able to learn about something important. There were several categories of people, based on their strength and the number of worlds they did, they would be placed in several areas, and be blocked from reaching other''s areas.

    Evolver was the lowest status one could have, and were thus the weakest people. Dorian didn''t know who or what the name of those above was, but they were said to be really a realm above.

    He was also able to confirm the existence of parties, but then his drink arrived. He was surprised with how good the water was, it felt purer than any water he ever drunk before.

    He got up and left the room. He had also learned how to create his own stand, and to put articles.

    He will need to pay to get a spot, the nearer it is to the entrance, the costlier it is. Dorian didn''t start calculating the prices and possible benefits or something like that. He just took the cheapest stands in the market, in the free zone available to Predators, and started putting items on sell.

 72 Eden

    After putting everything on sell, he left the stand because he didn''t need to be there for people to buy, and it was impossible to steal from him.

    He left the market and headed for the HUB. After getting out of the elevator, all he saw was a big paradise like garden. A few steps in, he actually saw a sign: Eden.

    Dorian wondered, did the Eden from religions come from here? However, after a moment he received a message saying:

    [The HUB is a platform only accessible to people from your home world. Our services decided to create this garden from your world''s mythology.]

    Well, if he wasn''t sure about whether people from his world ere taken for Dreamland, he now had his confirmation. He could already see people talking to each other. Dorian didn''t intend on talking to them, but one of them saw him and came over.

    She was an attracting girl dressed with clothes that didn''t leave much to imagination. Clearly not a warrior. She smiled and said \"Hi, are you new?\"

    Dorian asked \"Why?\" She pointed above his head and said \"Look.\" Dorian looked up and saw that a white crystal had appeared above his head. Before he could ask the girl said \"This is a crystal that appears above the head of newbies. My name is Carla, what''s yours?\"

    Dorian looked back at her and replied \"Dorian. Where are you from?\" Since he arrived in this world, in Dreamland, he had been cold and reserved because he was in a foreign place. But now that he actually saw fellow earthlings, he couldn''t help but feel closer.

    Carla replied with a smile \"France. You?\" Dorian smiled and said \"Same, what a coincidence. Can I ask you some questions about¡­ all of this?\"

    Carla laughed and said \"Sure, we should help each other in such a dangerous place.\" But as she said that one of the guys she was with just before yelled \"Carla! Come here!\"

    Carla looked back and disgust flashed on her face before it became smiling again. She looked at Dorian and said \"Sorry, I need to go. Why don''t we contact each other later?\"

    Dorian looked at the guys behind. There were four of them, they were all Asian and the tallest of the bunch seemed to be their boss. Dorian grabbed Carla''s shoulder and asked \"You need help?\"

    Carla looked at Dorian in shock, before chuckling sadly and saying \"You really are a newbie. You should mind your business, I don''t want you to get hurt because of my problems.\"

    Dorian looked at the four guys and asked \"So they are problems. And because I am a newbie doesn''t mean I am an idiot, I won''t just help you for free. If I kill the four of them, you have to tell me everything you know about Dreamland. Absolutely everything.\"

    Carla was about to refuse, but then she looked at the four guys and said \"Don''t, you will get killed¡­\" Dorian stopped her and said \"I won''t. Do we have a deal?\"

    Carla bit her lower lip, which made her face look even sexier, and she said \"Alright. Don''t get killed please.\"

    Dorian nodded and looked at the four guys. He didn''t say anything and started walking toward them. One of the lackeys sneered at Dorian and said \"Scram boy, if you don''t want to get killed.\"

    Dorian looked at him and said with a voice that sent chills into their spines \"I won''t lie to you, whatever you do you will die.\"

    The leader looked at Dorian and said \"We are four, you are alone. What do you even intend on doing? Scram, before we kill you.\"

    Dorian shook his head and said \"You are too weak for me to take care of you personally.\" He waved his hand, and the spirit of the Alpha Wolf appeared next to him.

    As soon as it appeared, it began rushing toward the four of them. The captain sneered and took out a gun, and fired at the wolf. Dorian focused but he wasn''t able to follow the bullet, it looked like following his bullets with his eyes needed a higher perception.

    He briefly activated [God''s Sight], boosting his Perception to 36. He was able to see the blur of the second bullet, but he still couldn''t see it clearly. It looked like he would need a Perception of around 40 to follow bullets with his sight.

    Well, it''s not like he would be defenseless against bullets, his Perception was enough to clearly follow the muzzle of the gun and the subtle moves of the finger on the trigger. Adding in his quick thinking from his high Intelligence, Dorian was able to trace out the trajectory of the bullets, so he could dodge them. If eh ever let his opponents the time to shoot him.

    The four continued firing at the wolf, but after a moment the leader of the four laughed and said \"Boys, stop shooting. We aren''t hitting it, it isn''t even material. It is an illusion.\"

    He aimed his gun at Dorian, followed by the three, and said \"Any last words?\"

    Dorian grinned and said \"You are right when you are saying it isn''t corporeal, but you are wrong saying its an illusion.\"

    Right as he said that, the wolf reached the four and jumped on one of them. The guy ignored the wolf, and kept his gun on Dorian. The next instant, his body fell to the ground, and the wolf took out his spirit from his body.

    Taking the spirit out of someone''s body forcefully like that wasn''t that easy usually, but he was so weak that the wolf didn''t have any trouble doing it. The difficulty of doing so depended on the strength of the body, and the strength of the mind. If both were weaker than the wolf, then it could devour them easily.

    The Alpha Wolf didn''t absorb the spirit right away but instead attacked the other three. They tried shooting at it, but it was to no avail. In under ten seconds, all their bodies fell lifelessly to the ground, and the wolf started absorbing their spirits.

    After a moment, Dorian decided to summon Tibo too. Carla was already looking at Dorian like he was a freak for summoning such a powerful monster despite being a newbie, but when she saw Dorian summon the five meters tall Yeti, she felt like she would pass out.

    Dorian patted Tibo''s leg and said \"Go, you can eat them. Then follow me, and be obedient.\" Tibo nodded and walked over to the corpses.

    Dorian turned back toward the pale Carla and said \"I completed my end of the deal. Do yours.\" Carla nodded and asked \"Should we talk around a coffee?\"

    Dorian asked \"There are coffees here?\" Carla nodded and said \"Follow me.\" She lead the way and Dorian followed her. After a moment she said \"Thank you.\"

    Dorian nodded and said \"Answer my questions later if you want to thank me.\" Carla nodded and asked \"So you are a summoner? I wonder, how did you get so strong in your first world? From what I know, summoners are weak during their first few worlds, because they are alone.\"

    Dorian smiled and said \"Yeah, I''m a summoner. And I just got lucky.\" He hadn''t corrected her, because making others believe he was a summoner was useful. Others would think that his servants are the only danger, where in reality he is the most dangerous. This could be a strong trump card.

    As for Carla, she didn''t really buy Dorian''s answer. Being lucky wasn''t enough here, but she didn''t say anything because he was the one who helped her, not the other way around.

    As they made their way through the giant paradise like garden, Dorian looked at the different plants with wonder. He knew none of the plants around, they all looked more fantastical than the others. Had anyone ever seen a fifty meters tall flower with seven petals all colored of different colors?

    He also saw some other humans around, and this time it was different from back in the Market. This time, there didn''t seem to be any limit to the strength of the people here.

    At some point, he had seen someone flying in the air, without any mean of transportation, and the danger he felt from this person was stronger than the Cloud Dragon.

 73 Roses Nectar

    After meeting a few other people, the two finally reached their destination. Before Dorian the leaves separated, and a city appeared before him. The different buildings and houses were made entirely of wood and leaves, and yet they seemed more solid than any metal building from Earth.

    Carla led Dorian inside and said \"Here, we don''t make any differences based on your origins. In Eden, everyone is human, and from Earth. That''s all.\"

    Dorian asked \"Can everyone understand each other?\" Carla nodded and replied \"Whatever language someone is talking, it will be translated to something you understand. Here, I just said that in Spanish.\"

    Dorian raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything. Since they entered the city, Carla greeted quite a few people, she looked popular. After a moment she said \"It is forbidden to harm anyone in the city. Remember that.\"

    Dorian nodded, that was understandable. Soon the two reached the center of the city, and she brought him into one of the different coffees inside. Dorian was surprised at the number of people he could see, they looked like they were at least in the hundred of thousands, if not millions.

    The bar they entered in was in fact inside a giant rose, and was named as such: Rose''s Nectar. Seeing the name, Dorian couldn''t help roll his eyes, what a bad naming sense. Roses don''t have nectar.

    Still, the insides were as beautiful as the outside, the walls were violet instead of red, the chairs and tables a light green and the people inside looked happy and joyful. There were many couples though.

    Carla led Dorian to a table and before they could talk a waitress came over and asked what they wanted. Dorian wasn''t really in coffee so he ordered a tea while Carla asked for a black coffee. Dorian also noticed that the employees here were all females.

    Dorian asked \"Are those people really all from Earth? How come they haven''t been discovered by the masses yet?\" Carla twirled her hair and replied \"There exists an organization, who manages this city, in charge of hiding the truth from ordinary people.\"

    Dorian frowned and asked \"How can they even do that?\" Carla asked \"What do you mean?\" Dorian said \"First, are there really members so powerful they can hide the truth from the entire planet? And we are sent to do a mission every week, it''s impossible for someone to protect Earth for years.\"

    Carla opened her eyes wide and asked \"What did you say?!\" Dorian asked \"What?\" Carla said \"You have a mission every week?\" Dorian shrugged and said \"Yeah, don''t you?\"

    Carla fell back on her chair, making her bountiful tits giggle, and said \"Oh boy¡­ Do you know when was my last mission?\" Dorian shook his head so she replied \"Seven months ago. I was sent to Dreamland three years ago, and seven months ago I did my 3rd mission.

    Dorian frowned and asked \"What about me? That''s unfair.\" Carla laughed as she held her face and said \"I understand now, it all makes sense, why a newbie is so strong¡­ You should be a Predator too, right?\"

    Dorian hesitated, was he going to be thrown out again? He would rather not cause trouble with the powerful people in Eden. But Carla said \"Don''t worry, we aren''t pussies on Earth, we don''t discriminate against Predators. To be honest, we probably have more Predators than Sheep.\"

    Dorian said \"I am one. Although, I don''t really understand what this means, the person who told me about this did so just after I killed her husband so well¡­ And what is Sheep?\"

    Carla laughed out again and said \"I hope that was one of those bastards from Edolas! As for Predator and Sheep, those are the two status of Dreamers in Dreamland. If you ask outside, people would tell you Predators are solo players, and Sheep are the others, the normal people.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is that true?\" Carla grinned and said \"Of course not! First, she probably didn''t mention Sheep, because she is embarrassed. For the system, it doesn''t matter whether you are a Predator or a Sheep, you can do the same things. The only difference between the two, is that Predators get extra missions, that is to kill Sheep. That''s why, the Sheep hate the Predators.\"

    Dorian looked at her in the eyes and asked \"Who are you?\" She smiled devilishly and replied \"A Predator of course.\" Dorian smiled and asked \"You seemed quite weak in front of those guys.\"

    Carla rolled her eyes and said \"You stole my preys, bastard?\" Dorian raised an eyebrow, she was a quick one to change. And a great actress, if what she was saying was true.

    He said \"Then how strong are you?\" Carla shook her head though and said \"You misunderstood. I am weak. I''m as powerful as you see me. In a hand to hand fight, they could have killed me easily. But not everyone fights in the same way.\"

    As she said that, she lightly brushed her breasts, making it sway, and she began releasing an aura. Dorian felt it was familiar and foreign at the same time. It felt like his killing aura, but the expression wasn''t killing, but attraction, sexiness.

    Moreover, Dorian saw something interesting. He could see a pink gas like substance spreading from her body to him, and he instinctively knew that was her aura.

    Dorian let out a smile and decided to release his killing aura, to see how it would fare against her aura. Instantly, a blood like gas spread out from his body, and clashed against the pink aura. It took only a fraction of a second for the pink aura to get crushed and for Dorian''s aura to transform into the familiar tide and crush against Carla.

    She became pale, and began panting so Dorian took it back. Now, she looked at Dorian like he was a monster, and said \"You even have an aura? That shouldn''t be possible¡­\"

    Dorian shrugged and said \"Well it is. Now tell me, what did you intend on doing?\" Her face regained colors as she said \"As I said, we don''t all fight the same way. My main strength is my charms. I have some skills that allow me to transform my beauty into mental attacks. As for those guys, I wanted to absorb their vitality by having sex with them.\"

    Dorian chuckled and said \"Sorry for stealing them then. They were Sheep?\" Carla nodded and said \"One of the rare Sheep, and you stole them.\"

    Dorian asked \"Rare? Aren''t there more Sheep than Predators?\" She replied \"In the Dreamland, in general, there are indeed way more Sheep than Predators. But Earth is special I guess, because we have way more Predators than Sheep. We are one of the stronger worlds in Dreamland.\"

    Dorian asked \"How do you know that?\" Carla smiled and said \"There''s a lot you don''t know. But I should tell you later, you don''t have to know now. What I meant to say is that there are 95% of Predators among earthlings, so findings Sheep is hard.\"

    Dorian tilted his head and said \"Sorry then. But you still haven''t answered me, why do I have to go there every week?\"

    She smiled and said \"Right. I don''t know the specific reason, but what I can tell you is one of the system''s reasons. It has seen in you a great potential, and wants to train you hard, so to make sure you won''t slack it put this rule for you. As for the other reason, I think there will soon be a major event, and you will be useful for said event.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is that good or bad?\" She giggled and said \"Good, of course. But don''t get on your high horses, having the time limit doesn''t mean you will become the strongest. Most people with this limit die. To be honest, the further someone like you went was the 7th mission, and that person had to enter every month.\"

    Dorian asked calmly \"So you think I''ll die soon?\" Much to his surprise though, she shook her head and replied \"Actually, no. I think you will go far. You are already nearing the limit of Evolvers and yet you have only gone through your first world. That''s really impressive.\"

    Dorian smiled at the compliment and asked \"What is that Evolver thing? I heard about it but no explained to me.\"

 74 Realms of power

    The waiter came back with both their drinks, and Carla said \"Everyone sent to Dreamland is a Dreamer. This is our name, our identity. But Dreamers are further split in different categories based on their strength and the number of missions they accomplished.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is this a hierarchy coming from the system or did the Dreamers create it?\" Carla replied \"The System. It is for several reasons, one being making sure the strongest wouldn''t attack the weakest.\"

    Dorian asked \"What about Eden then? We passed by several people far stronger than any Evolver.\" Carla nodded and said \"Eden is special. Every world with Dreamers originating from it have a world like Eden, and everyone is allowed there. The reason we can all see each other is first because the conflicts between people of the same world is rare, and there are limitations too.\"

    Dorian drank from his tea, and asked \"Why create this world? And what are the limitations?\" Carla looked down on her coffee and said \"Not everyone''s world is as safe as ours. There are some world who have been invaded or even destroyed, so people needed a new place to live in. As for the limitations, we can''t harm each other, and the deals are limited.\"

    Dorian frowned and asked \"How so?\" Carla said \"The strongest Dreamers are unimaginably powerful, and can get Purple items quite easily. Imagine one of those powerhouses has his child entering Dreamland, he will just give a Purple consumable to his child. That would break the balance.\"

    Dorian said \"So they only allow deals between those of similar strength¡­ So that''s what the Evolver thing is about? I was about to kill them because they were Evolvers too. But if I evolve to the next realm, then I won''t be able to do anything to them?\"

    Carla nodded \"That''s it. Of course, there are special circumstances. Always remember: the system isn''t just a program, it is an intelligent being. Following some circumstances, it is possible for you to attack someone of a different realm. \"

    Dorian asked \"Such as?\" Carla replied \"As you know there are big differences between the strength of people in the same realm, there exist even some people able to cross realms and fight those of a higher realm. Well, those realm crossing fighters are one such exception.\"

    Dorian nodded \"Makes sense. By the way, how strong am I compared to other Evolvers? What is the limit of an Evolver?\"

    Carla said with a fierce expression \"I''ll tell you later, let me finish my explanation first.\" Dorian rolled his eyes and said \"No need to get agitated.\"

    Carla growled but still said \"Another condition is personal relationships. First is the guild wars, if two groups of Dreamers fight each other, then every member can attack everyone else. Another is if one of your closed ones is attacked by someone much stronger. You killed those four guys easily for example, so you see how much stronger you can be compared to others in the same realm. If you have a feud with someone of a higher realm, then you can attack his son who is in your realm and kill him. If you do that, the stronger one will be allowed to kill you as soon as you try to kill his son.\"

    She then said \"Back to you, you are strong, you near the limit of the Evolver realm. The realms are as follows: Evolver, Ascendant, Transcendent and I don''t know the following ones. Every newbie is an Evolver.\"

    Dorian finished his tea and asked \"How do I become an Ascendant? And is there any advantage?\" At the same time he ordered for another tea.

    Carla said \"There are different requirements for Predators and Sheep. The thing in common, is the attribute point value. To become an Ascendant, at least one of your pure attributes must have reached 30. This is also the limit in term of pure attribute for an Evolver. Even if you eat consumables or level up skills, your attribute won''t go past 30.\"

    Dorian nodded, and in his mind he couldn''t help but get excited. His vitality had already reached that limit, and his intelligence wasn''t far away.

    Carla continued \"But that''s only one requirement. Another is to have unlocked at least one type of special energy.\" Dorian asked \"What''s a special energy?\" Carla replied \"Don''t worry, you will know when you get one. It will create a third bar below your HP and your MP.\"

    Dorian remembered, hadn''t his Life Essence created a new bar as well? So it was a special energy? He asked \"What about magic?\"

    Carla replied \"Magic isn''t a special energy, because it is something every living being in existence possess. A special energy is something accessible only to a certain kind of people.\"

    That was the case for his Life Essence. Life Essence in general, was probably not a special energy because it could be used by anything as it was basically just internal energy. But Dorian''s was special, because it wasn''t the basic Life Essence, but Holy Fire Life Essence, something that can only be used by Holy Fire Angels.

    That meant he already filled two requirements for becoming an Ascendant. He knew he had done really great in his first world, but he didn''t know it was to this point. Being able to reach the next realm so quick was unbelievable.

    Carla said \"Special Energies are rare, and usually they are given out as rewards during the fifth world. Of course, if you perform excellently before then you can get it earlier. Those two were the shared requirements for both types of Evolvers. Predators need also to have completed at least one Hunt.\"

    Dorian said \"Hunt? Is it a mission where we are supposed to hunt some Sheep?\" Carla smiled seductively, like she always did, and crossed her legs, lightly brushing against Dorian''s leg under the table, and said \"That''s it. The system will send you on a Hunt when it deems you strong enough.\"

    Dorian asked \"Have you participated in a Hunt before?\" Carla shook her head and said \"Not yet. I''m not in a guild, and I''m not strong so I haven''t yet.\"

    Dorian asked \"Do you know how it''s like?\" Carla nodded and said \"Again, it depends on your strength, and whether you are on your own or not. The number and strength of the target will depend.\"

    Dorian couldn''t help but wonder, how did she know so much? Still, he didn''t ask, and instead said \"Are those all the criteria for becoming an Ascendant?\"

    Carla said \"Not really. This is what you need to take part in the Graduation Mission. This is another special mission in which you will have a special mission. If you succeed, you evolve. Otherwise, I don''t know. I don''t know much about this because you are only allowed to speak of it with those who have passed it, and I haven''t.\"

    Dorian asked \"You said earlier the limit for Evolvers is 30, but is there a limit with equipments on?\" Carla shook her head and said \"The limit is only on pure attribute. If you activate a skill that boost your attributes or just use equipment to bypass the limit, then you are still within the rules.\"

    \"Does those rules still apply on Earth?\" Dorian asked. Carla replied \"Of course. They apply everywhere.\"

    Dorian said \"You talked about guilds. What are those?\" Carla said \"Just like in games, Dreamers will form a group together to go on missions together and support each other.\"

    Dorian asked \"What if a member is much more powerful than the others? Can an Ascendant do a mission with an Evolver?\"

    Carla replied \"Yes they can, but the mission they will receive will be different. They will also receive rewards based on their strength and the number of worlds they went through.\"

    Dorian asked \"When advancing to the next realm, is there any advantage in going faster?\"

    Carla said \"It won''t give you better results because you did it earlier, but the difficulty of your worlds do not depend on your strength, but on the number you went through. For example, let''s say you found some way to become a Transcendent in your first world, your second world would be as difficult as anyone else'' second world. And evolving will help you gain power, so doing fast mean you will be able to get better ratings in your worlds.\"

 75 Guilds

    It looked like he needed to go as fast as possible, but he still asked \"Does everyone receive the same upgrade in strength when they evolve?\"

    Carla shook her head \"No, they don''t. The upgrade you will receive will depend on your strength. When you cross realms from Evolver to Ascendant, your pure attributes will increase by a percentage, so the higher they are, the better it is. But that''s not the only reward. However, the information I have, it is a costly one.\"

    Dorian said \"You are supposed to tell me everything you know.\" Carla asked \"Why should I tell you? You didn''t really save my life, I''m not indebted to you.\"

    Dorian replied with cold eyes \"Because I can kill you.\" Carla froze for a second before saying with a helpless smile \"Good point. Still, I can''t just tell you for free. Let''s make a deal.\"

    Dorian smiled coldly under his mask and asked \"Why should I listen to you?\" Carla clenched her teeth and said \"Listen to me, it will be beneficial to you too. You know, I talked about the guilds?\"

    Dorian nodded so she continued \"As you know, I am currently on my own, and I''m not a fighter, so I need someone''s protection. This is what I offer. You create a guild, and I join it. If I join, we will go to our worlds together, and you will have to protect me. I won''t be useless though, as I have other uses.\"

    Dorian stared at her, and thought about it. He had been alone in his last world, and he had seen how difficult it was. He had succeeded on his own because he could learn any skill just by practicing it. But from now on, if he needed any particular skill, and he will, the only way for him is to luck out and find a skill book.

    However, forming a guild would allow him to concentrate on becoming stronger. So he asked \"How do I create a guild? Is there a cost? What can a guild bring other than its members, and what are the rules?\"

    Carla said \"Creating a guild is simple, you can do it through the system. As for the cost, it is 2000 Dream Coins. It is a bit expensive, but it''s worth it. Being in a guild changes the way you will go through your world too, because having more members allow you to do more side missions, and get a better reward. At the end of the mission, your rewards will be group ones, instead of individual ones.\"

    Dorian asked \"What about the rules? Is there any fundamental rules?\" Carla nodded \"If you kill a guild member you receive a penalty, and betraying the guild is another penalty. Other than that, the rest of the rules are set by the Guild Master.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is there any downside?\"

    Carla said \"Of course. I told you about the guild wars, they are basically a fight between two guilds. The guild who wins gets rewards for their victory. Moreover, killing someone else in Eden will block any reward, but when you kill another Dreamer in a Guild War or in a mission, you get all their Dream Coins. That''s why some Guilds will target newly formed guilds, to take their rewards.\"

    Dorian said \"No need to worry about this. Is that it?\" Carla nodded, so Dorian looked at his status. He had 23 000 Dream Coins on him. He was surprised, but then saw that several of his items had been sold.

    He looked back at Carla and said \"I will create a guild and take you in. Now, tell me that piece of information.\"

    Carla bit her lip, as sexily as always, and said \"I guess I should trust you will keep your words, if we are going to form a guild¡­\"

    She asked \"Shall we go? To a more private place?\" But Dorian shook his head and activated his [Mind Invasion]. As he entered her mind, he was surprised.

    It wasn''t empty. There was a big statue on the ground, depicting a naked woman. Carla. Just next to it, Dorian could see the spirit of Carla.

    She said with surprise \"Where am I?\" Dorian appeared in his flame form, and said \"In your mind. This is an ability of mine. Now, tell me.\"

    Carla looked at her statue with curiosity but she still said \"Do you want to know why there are so many predators on Earth?\" Dorian said nothing so she said \"There are requirements to become a Predator, with the biggest one being potential. The reason we can be so many is because of bloodlines. Earthlings almost all have the bloodline of a higher being, and they just need to unlock it. Being a predator means you have a bloodline, just that it is still sealed.\"

    Dorian asked \"A bloodline is a requirement to become a Predator?\" Carla shook his head \"No. But Earth is originally weak, we have no magic or special energy, all we have is technology, which is not really our own strength. That means our potential to become strong warriors is very low. But bloodlines change everything, because this gives us a much bigger potential. In other worlds, they already have training allowing them to become superhumans, so they have the potential to become a Predator without a bloodline.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is there a reason for us having more bloodlines?\"

    Carla said \"Difficult question. I heard a theory though. When they get stronger in those worlds, they mutate as they evolve and their blood changes, which slowly caused the disappearance of bloodlines. But for us, because we have always been the same and haven''t evolved a lot, we got to keep our bloodlines. It''s just a theory though.\"

    Dorian said \"Do you know your bloodline?\" Carla shook her head \"I need to unlock it to discover it. Or if I find a higher ranked bloodline, I will swap for it. But it''s very difficult and you need a lot of luck to unseal your bloodline. Usually, the fastest ones who unseal their bloodlines are Ascendants, most do it when they become Transcendent.\"

    Well, it looked like he was an exception. He asked \"You talked about ranks? There are ranks for bloodlines?\"

    Carla said \"Of course, not all bloodlines give the same powers. They are classified with stars, a One Star bloodline is the weakest, and a 10 Stars is the strongest.\"

    He wondered what rank his bloodline was, but he didn''t ask as he wanted to eep secret the fact he had a bloodline, so he said \"So that was the information? The bloodlines? What about them, what do they have to do with the evolution?\"

    Carla replied \"First, Evolving is in truth the name we give to the process of someone entering the Dreamworld. When someone goes from Evolver to Ascendant, it is an Ascension. Then, from Ascendant to Transcendent, it is Transcendence.\"

    Dorian nodded \"Yeah, whatever.\" Carla smiled and said \"You look like a child sometimes. As for the bloodlines, you have a chance to unseal it when you go through your Ascension. And if by some miracle you already have unlocked it, or a part of it, you can force a mutation and get a little closer to your bloodline.\"

    Dorian couldn''t help but think of his Mutation Agent. Was that its use? Could he use it during his Ascension and get an even stronger mutation?

    He then asked \"What about the Ascension? Can we do it in group?\" Carla replied \"As I said, there is a special mission to Ascend. You can bring your guild with you, and if some of them want to they can also try to Ascend at the same time, but they will receive a different mission. The other members can try to help them pass their mission.\"

    That was convenient, he most certainly wouldn''t need help for his own, but he could help his guild members go through their own. For example Carla, he could just help her sweep through her mission.

    As he thought about that, he asked \"Is there a limit? Or will there be any consequences? Otherwise, you can just invite someone much stronger to your mission.\"

    Carla said \"Everytime you get in a world, there are two factors: The number of worlds you entered will determine in which world you will be, and your personal strength will determine your mission. So if a much stronger person enter to help, the world will not be as dangerous to the powerful person, but his mission will be much harder.\"

    Dorian couldn''t help but say \"What about us? You went through more worlds, but I''m stronger.\"

 76 Guild Creation

    Carla said \"When entering a world as a group, we have to select a team leader. The world will depend on this team leader. If you select me as the team leader then the world would be fitting for a fourth difficulty world, but if you are then it will be a second world difficulty. But either way, your mission will be more difficult than mine.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is the difference between those worlds great? Because the world I was in my first world, was crazily powerful.\"

    Carla replied \"The first world is special, because it is your own world. This is the only world where you will be alone and no other Dreamer can enter, and also the only one where you can go back. That''s why that world has a high difficulty. But your mission was simple. Actually, the first world is your biggest opportunity, because this is where you will get the most loot and skills in Dreamland. In comparison, your second world''s difficulty will be lesser, but your mission will be slightly harder.\"

    Dorian thought he understood. In the world of Dark City, there were gods and beings of such power they could destroy everything. But his mission was set in the Dark City, where the strongest people were just strong Evolvers, and he didn''t even have to meet them, his mission only asked him to survive, something which only asked him to interact with normal people.

    It had gotten so difficult only because Dorian tried to get better rewards.

    He asked Carla \"If I am the team leader, and you come on a mission with me, will it count as your fourth world?\" Carla nodded, so he said \"Isn''t it an easy way to pass worlds then? What if a Transcendent come with me and set me as the Team Leader? No matter how difficult his mission is, the world itself will be weaker than him.\"

    Carla replied \"That''s a bad idea. If you do something like this, Dreamworld will react, and increase the difficulty of that world. That''s why it''s always better to form groups with people with about the same number of worlds passed. If you take someone who has gone through too many, then you will most certainly die.\"

    Dorian said \"What about me? If I get much stronger than I am supposed to be for my level, will there be such changes?\"

    Carla said \"I don''t really know, I don''t think it ever happened. But if you get so strong, to the point you surpass the strength of your current world, then maybe you will be set on Hunts of much stronger people, or just skip through worlds.\"

    Dorian asked \"Now that I think about it, I got attribute points. But I was also proposed ebility points. What if I level up an ability, will the points I should have gotten be lost forever, or will I get them when I cross to the next realm?\"

    Carla sighed \"You sure have a lot of weird questions. But yes, the points will be stored, and when you cross to the next realm you will get them. But you must know that for attributes over 30, only Expert abilities will allow you to strengthen yourself.\"

    Dorian said \"Can you say a little more about that? I know that Basic abilities can help until 20, and Adept until 30. What about those above?\"

    Carla replied \"For an Expert ability, the limit is 50. For Master, it is 70. For Grandmaster, it is 100. After that, I don''t know.\"

    Dorian smiled and asked \"How do you know so much?\" Much to his surprise, she actually answered his question \"As I said, my strength isn''t in my fighting ability, but somewhere else. That is, intelligence gathering. You wouldn''t believe how simple it is to get information here. There are lots of lusty people here, be they men or women, so I offered my body in exchange of information. Probably the near death experiences made them like that, who knows?\"

    Dorian said \"You don''t mind saying you are a prostitute?\" She shrugged and asked \"Do you?\" Dorian smiled again but shook his head \"I don''t want an innocent cutie as my guild member. If I were to ask you to charm someone and sleep with him or her, would you do it?\"

    She said \"As long as it is human, then I can. I want it to count as contribution of course.\" Dorian asked \"What do you mean?\" She smiled and said \"Right, you don''t know. After missions, most guilds put a part of their own wealth into the guild''s bank. Then, if any member need something, they can use their contribution to get some of those coins.\"

    Dorian said \"That''s clever. Sure, that would count as contribution.\"

    Dorian drunk his remaining tea at once and said \"Alright, how do I create the guild?\" Carla replied \"You just need to ask the system.\"

    But before he could, he saw a window appear in front of him. It presented the different aspects a guild could offer, what he would gain, what he would lose, and some other information. Overall, there was pretty much everything Carla had told him, except some things.

    At the bottom of the window, he saw his current balance, and the cost for creating the guild. He didn''t think twice and accepted.

    The window closed itself, only to be replaced by another one. He needed to customize a few things, such as the name of the guild, its emblem, and some rules.

    Dorian didn''t really pay much attention to the first two, but focused on the last one. There were a large amount of different rules, and in the end he selected a few ones. First, any transaction between guild members would need his or an appointed person supervision. Second, harming a teammate with the intention to help is not punishable. Third, anyone intending on giving information about the guild without his approval would be killed.

    They were only three, but Dorian thought it was sufficient. Now, he needed to set the name, and create an emblem. He should go for the name first, but he just had a great idea for his emblem.

    He didn''t need any tools to draw it, as he just made a mental image of his emblem, and it appeared. It was a red Carolingian cross with a black background. The Carolingian Cross is a Celtic symbol used in France and represented balance, unity and the eternity of God. He didn''t think of himself as a god, but it wouldn''t be bad if his opponents underestimated him because they think he has a god complex.

    Now, for the name. He wanted something fierce, something that would instill fear. He wanted that in the future, anyone hearing that name would get chills, and barely dare pronounce it.

    Suddenly, a name came to Dorian''s mind. Origin Of Evil. He instantly liked it. It sounded dark, but that was exactly what he wanted. Would people dare attack a guild with such a name? Well, he ran the risk of having righteous guilds or religions going after him, but well, it''s either them or the bad guys.

    And from what he knew, in stories the good guys wins because of the power of friendship. Except that, there is no such power here. Well, actually there probably is, but that''s off topic. What he meant was that to survive, playing nice wouldn''t do, so he might as well go the opposite way.

    The best defense, is attack. Isn''t that a popular slang? Well, that''s exactly what he was going to do. Before other guilds can harm his, he would destroy theirs.

    Now that everything was done, he confirmed the operation, and 2000 Dream Coins were deducted from him. At the same time, he received a notification.

    [Congratulation for establishing your own guild, Origin Of Evil!]

 77 Hope Empire

    A new option had appeared to him. No one told him anything, nor did he receive a notification, but Dorian just knew that from now on, if he wanted, he could access his guild''s interface at any moment.

    And he did so. A new window opened, showing him the list of members, with only him on it. There was also several options, and one of such was the guild''s management, which now allowed him to invite people in his guild.

    He looked at Carla in front of him, and using the system he sent an invitation. A few seconds later, he received a notification.

    [Evolver ''Bloody Jade'' has joined your guild!]

    Seeing the name, he couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow. That sure was better than his own. He heard Carla chuckle and say \"That''s a strange name you got there¡­ You really want me to call you like that?\"

    He shook his head and said \"Call me Dorian.\" She smiled and said \"What now?\" Dorian got up and said \"I have put some items for sell. I will go see how it goes, and buy some things. What about you?\"

    She got up too and said with a smile \"I coincidentally have something too, why don''t we go together?\" Dorian nodded and the two left the shop. On their way out Carla waved at the lady behind the counter, probably the boss.

    He couldn''t but ask \"How come you know so many people? Don''t tell me you had sex with so many people?\"

    She laughed and said \"Of course no. People are nice because they are scared.\" Dorian asked \"Why would they be?\"

    Carla said \"You are one of the only ones here who mask himself. Most people don''t mind revealing their identity.\"

    Dorian asked \"Isn''t that dangerous? Even if you don''t mind people attacking you, they could attack your closed ones.\"

    Carla shook her head though \"That''s the thing, they can''t. I told you about that organization managing Eden and Earth. We are actually all part of it. It envelops every Dreamer on Earth, and we are all under its rules. If you try to harm someone else family then you will die.\"

    Dorian said \"What kind of rule is that, its just dumb. If someone has nothing to lose then this rule won''t have any effect. And it would only allow strong people to bully weaker ones. If one of the top ranking people try to hurt someone''s family, no one can kill him.\"

    Carla shrugged and said \"What did you expect, did you think weak people have a say in this? Only the strong have a say in things, so what if someone stronger bullies you?\"

    Dorian smiled and said \"Then that makes everything easier. By the way, what''s the organization''s name?\" Carla replied \"Hope Empire.\"

    Dorian looked at her and asked \"Excuse me?\"

    Carla chuckled and said \"Yes, Hope Empire. The leader is the Emperor.\" Dorian remained silent for a moment before asking \"How does succession work? If the Emperor dies, who will take his place? His children, or the strongest?\"

    Carla replied \"Children. Currently, the strongest expert on Earth isn''t the Emperor himself, and yet the Emperor rules. I don''t know why though.\"

    Dorian said \"That emperor, how is he?\" Carla said \"Quite good, for the world we live in.\" Dorian sighed and asked \"How can an Empire exist in this world? I mean, people die everyday during their missions, how can a government hold? And with how people live, how can they accept the orders of an Emperor?\"

    Carla shrugged and said \"It just does. And they listen to him for their own good. You know, there are a lot of death in Dreamland, but not as much as you think. Most people know when they reach their limit, and at that moment they don''t come in Dreamland anymore, and instead focus on becoming stronger here. There are people who haven''t gone in Dreamland for years.\"

    Dorian said \"Really a strange world¡­ Earlier, you said people are afraid of you. Why?\" Carla replied \"Because of what I do. Some of the info I got, it was from powerful people. Really powerful. And some of them have taken a liking to me. They scare most people, so the others become kind.\"

    Dorian looked down at her and asked \"Then, did I shoot myself in the foot by accepting you? Will I have strong people chasing me because they are jealous?\"

    Carla grinned and said \"Yeah, that''s it.\" Dorian frowned and said \"Why shouldn''t I kick you out right now and kill you then?\" As he said that, he released some of his aura.

    Carla shivered a bit before calming her emotions and saying \"Killing me would make things even worse. But that''s not the main reason.\"

    Dorian withdrew his aura and asked \"What is it?\" As he said that, they stepped into the elevator, which was empty. As he pressed the Market button, Carla asked \"Aren''t you curious to know why I was guild-less despite all those strong people following me?\"

    Dorian nodded \"Actually, I am. Why ask to come with me, when you have them already? They should have proposed you to come.\"

    Carla approached Dorian and said \"They did. And I refused all of them.\" She stuck her body against Dorian, and even he couldn''t deny the fact that he was getting excited. Still, he kept a cool face and asked \"Why?\"

    Carla smiled and touched his chest as she said \"They were lacking something, and I didn''t want to shackle myself. You, you are different though. I like you.\"

    As she said that, she suddenly grabbed his genitals. Dorian grabbed her shoulders and pushed her body away, and said \"Be serious. Tell me the real reason.\"

    Carla smiled devilishly and stepped back \"I really do like you. You are strong, you have potential, and most importantly, you aren''t crazy over me.\"

    She took his hand in hers, she took off his glove and said \"You don''t know how it is. All the others, they look at me with tenderness, they want to gift me the world and would sacrifice almost anything for me. That''s their weakness, and also why I can''t go with them. But you are different. You see me as a person, not a doll you need to pamper.\"

    Dorian said \"Isn''t that what most girls want? Getting pampered?\" Carla twirled her fingers in his palm and said \"I''m not most girls.\"

    Dorian smiled and too back his glove, putting it on, and said \"Do you have some kind of goal?\" Carla kept her close proximity with Dorian and said \"I have one I guess¡­ I want to create the biggest intelligence agency to ever exist.\"

    Dorian nodded and said \"We shall work for that then, that would be useful.\" Carla smiled and finally stepped back as she said \"Will you show your face?\"

    Dorian asked \"Does it matter to you?\" Carla said \"It would be nice to know what you look like, and we could talk in the real world too.\"

    Dorian hesitated before saying \"Maybe later, for now we can talk using the system''s messages.\"

    This was a new function Dorian had discovered. He could talk with his teammates through a special channel. The messages couldn''t be read by anyone.

    Carla said \"If you want to keep your privacy, so be it. Here, we have arrived.\"

    The door of the elevator opened, to the market. Carla and Dorian walked in, and Dorian asked \"What are you doing here?\" Carla replied \"I need to buy an item, at the auction.\"

    Dorian looked at her curiously and said \"I only saw one auction house, and it didn''t allow Predators in.\"

    Carla smiled and said \"Follow me, and you will see.\"

 78 Consequences

    Carla took the lead as they passed by the different shops. At one point, Dorian actually saw the bar where he had killed five people. He couldn''t help but ask \"You said people killed in Eden won''t drop anything, but what about those in the market?\"

    Carla replied \"Everyone is at the same level in the Market, so of course they drop something.\" Dorian asked \"You see that bar, over there? I killed five people in it, and they didn''t drop anything.\"

    Carla asked \"Did you check the bodies after you killed them?\" Dorian shook his head, so Carla said \"If you had, you would have seen a glowing white gem on their forehead. Touching that gem will transfer all of their Dream Coins to your account and make their stuff master less, which means free to pick for everyone¡­\"

    As she spoke, she looked at the bar he was talking about, and suddenly stopped. Dorian stopped next to her and asked \"What are you doing?\"

    Dorian was able to see with a glance that she had paled. She asked \"Did you cause ruckus in there, ''Joe n Jane''?\" Dorian looked at the bar and said \"Yes, why?\"

    Carla swallowed and said \"Well, I truly hope you didn''t anger the owners, or we are screwed!\" She turned toward Dorian and asked \"What happened?\"

    Instead of answering her though, Dorian asked \"Why are you scared of a bunch of Sheep anyway?\"

    Carla replied \"Why? Are you serious?\" Dorian just frowned, so Carla sighed and said \"Really, they say ignorance is a bliss, bunch of assholes¡­ Okay, the owners, Joe and Jane, they are a husband and his wife, they are the ones behind the bar all the time.\"

    Dorian nodded, he was right then, the one he killed was really Joe. Now, what was the problem?

    Carla continued \"The both of them, Joe is a strong Evolver, I heard that he is strong enough to be in the top 100 among Evolvers despite being a Sheep. Remember, Sheep aren''t necessarily weaker than Predators, they just don''t have as much potential.\"

    Dorian asked \"Is it impressive? To be in the top 100?\" Carla widened her eyes and said \"Impressive? Do you know how many Evolvers there are? Let me tell you, I don''t even know because there are so many! Just on Earth they number in the hundreds of thousands, and there are millions of worlds which have Dreamland taking people from them. Now, is top 100 impressive?\"

    Dorian looked at her and asked \"What''s the best mission rating you got? Or the best you ever heard of? Fro example, the number one Evolver, which rating did he get?\"

    Carla replied \"Me? The best I ever got was a C, and I''m pretty good. The first Evolver? He had A grade! Can you even fathom how difficult that must be?\"

    Dorian asked \"What about the best you heard of?\" Carla said \"The highest? Let me tell you, this is simply impossible. It comes from Earth''s God, our number one expert. He had a Perfect rating. Do you know how difficult it is to get such a rating? It is the rating above SSS+!\"

    Dorian raised an eyebrow, he didn''t know that. He himself got Epic, passing from SSS+ to Epic. He didn''t know if there was any grade in between though. It looked like there was one now. That meant his first mission was at least one grade higher than the best mission Earth''s mightiest expert did.

    Dorian said \"So what, he is in the top 100. If that''s all, then it isn''t much of a problem.\" Carla rolled her eyes and said \"You really underestimate the people here, he could cripple you with only one hit. But hey, let''s say you get lucky, and he can''t beat you. The thing is, he is not the worst of the couple, Jane is.\"

    Dorian couldn''t help but smile when he heard the part about him getting crippled in one hit: the exact opposite had happened. But what was she saying now, Jane is more powerful? Then why didn''t she do anything?

    As if she could read his mind, Carla said \"She isn''t stronger than her husband, but she is much more dangerous. Her brother, he is an Ascendant.\" Dorian shrugged and said \"So what? He can''t attack me until I become an Ascendant, and by then I should be strong enough to beat him too.\"

    Carla shook her head and said \"No, you don''t understand. Have you looked at the bar''s menu? Did you see the ''Christ''s Blood''?\"

    Dorian nodded and said \"Yeah, it stuck out to me. First, seeing a Bronze item for sell was surprising, moreover it made mention of the Christ, I thought they were from Earth.\"

    Carla shook her head and said \"They aren''t, it''s just that Catholicism isn''t just an earthly thing, many religions are spread among different worlds. But think about it, do you think an Evolver can get a Bronze item, and even sell it?\"

    Dorian shrugged and said \"Why not?\" He actually had one, the Mutation Agent. Although he was an exception because he had gotten it from the mission''s rewards, it was still not something impossible to get.

    However, seeing Carla''s face, it should be. She said \"Well, believe it or not, but you can''t just get it. Even among Ascendants, a Bronze item is coveted, and they would very rarely sell it.\"

    Dorian asked \"Isn''t Jane the one brewing it?\" Carla facepalmed and said \"You, sometimes you¡­ Forget it. She can''t. It can only be her brother who gave it to her. Want to know why he can do that?\"

    Dorian nodded, so she revealed \"Because he is the top 1 Ascender. The strongest one. Now, do you think you will become the strongest Ascender the moment you ascend?\"

    Dorian shrugged and said \"Who knows?\" Carla growled in anger but didn''t do anything, and just asked \"What did you do in there?\"

    Dorian said \"Well, to start, I entered the bar. Everyone looked at me. Then, a group of guys tried to rob me. I killed them, without spilling a drop of blood.\"

    Carla sighed in relief and said \"Good, we shouldn''t be in trouble¡­\" Dorian interrupted her \"Then, the couple behind the bar told me to go because I was a Predator, which I didn''t even know the definition of, and threatened me. Kind of.\"

    Carla paled again and frantically asked \"What did you do?\" Dorian replied \"Not much, but then he started annoying me, so I insulted the guy. Joe''s his name. He tried to attack me, so I killed him. Really, your so called top 100 is only so so. He was even weaker than Tibo, not say me.\"

    Carla almost fainted when she heard he attacked, but now hearing what he was saying, she just thought he was lying. She asked \"Who''s Tibo?\"

    Dorian said \"I didn''t tell you? I think I did¡­ Anyway, it''s the Yeti you saw eat the four guys'' flesh. Your preys.\"

    Carla looked at the bar and said \"You are saying your ape is stronger than Joe?\" Dorian replied \"He is not an ape, he is a baby Yeti. And yes, he is. Really, that Joe, I only had to swing my sword once, and he dropped dead.\"

    Carla wanted to refute when she saw the door of the bar being kicked open, a woman storming out of it. Carla easily recognized her as Jane. And looking at her, she was running toward them.

    She stepped back and asked \"Are you serious?!\" Dorian smiled looking at the bloodshot eyes of Jane and said \"You thought I was kidding? Of course I am serious. Now, I wonder, what gives her the confidence of attacking me?\"

    Carla looked at the woman up and down and said \"Be careful of her spear, I think it might be a strong item she got from her brother.\"

    Dorian shrugged and attacked her mind. However, before he could enter hers, he felt a resistance appear, and a ring on her finger shone.

 79 WAR!

    Dorian took his Mind Flame back and looked at the ring curiously as the woman approached him. So items could be used for this?

    Thinking about it, it made sense. Otherwise, how could weak people, or people who focused on their bodies and didn''t have the necessary energy for spiritual beings, survive?

    As Jane was a few meters from him, she stabbed with her spear. Dorian smiled and lightly stepped back, floating like a leaf in the wing as he dodged the spear. He saw shock appear in Jane''s eyes, and was tempted to just punch her in the face and kill her, but didn''t and instead summoned Tibo.

    The giant Yeti appeared between the two of them, and he had already received his orders. Jane barely had the time to put her arms before chest before the Yeti''s palm slapped her. She wasn''t sent flying, instead she was just bashed to the ground.

    She spit out a mouthful of blood as she felt the bones in her arms break. Tibo was stronger than Joe, and Joe was stronger than Jane, so she couldn''t really do much against Tibo. Moreover, trying to take Tibo in a contest of Strength, it wasn''t really a good idea. Even if one had the same value of Strength, Tibo would still win because of his size.

    So for her, who have a weaker Strength attribute, clashing with Tibo was just asking for death. Of course, she didn''t have a choice here. The blood she spit barely touched the ground when Tibo grabbed her in his big hands and locked her in.

    He brought her to Dorian''s level. She looked at Dorian with hate, and said \"You better never try to ascend!\"

    Dorian said \"Just to be clear, you provoked me. Then, I provoked you back. Your husband attacked me, I killed him. You attacked me, I will kill you. Isn''t that fair?\"

    She grimaced and spit at him. The blood she spitted landed on his roe, which absorbed it. Dorian slapped her, knocking a few teeth, and said \"Why shouldn''t I kill you? Do you have something you can exchange for your life?\"

    She gritted her teeth and said nothing, her hate only accentuating even more. Dorian shrugged and said \"Whatever, I can just pick it from your corpse.\"

    Jane widened her eyes and exclaimed \"Wait I have¡­\" However, before she could finish her sentence, Dorian had grabbed her throat, and broke her neck.

    Whatever she was going to say, the probability she had something valuable not on her was pretty low, and that may involve some danger so he might as well give up on it, it''s not like she has anything that could really interest him, except for that special beverage.

    Tibo released the limp body and returned in Dorian''s mind. Dorian looked at Carla and said \"Well, I guess now we are in trouble. It doesn''t matter, I will just get as strong as possible before ascending, and that should do it.\"

    Carla felt her legs become weak as she said \"I was so fucking wrong, how are you ever going to become an overlord?\"

    Dorian kicked Jane''s dead body, waiting for a reaction as he said \"Why are you so stressed out? If he is so strong, then let''s take some more guild members, we all take the Ascension together, and beat the shit out of him.\"

    However, as soon as he said that, he received a notification:

    [Heaven''s Wrath is waging war against Origin of Evil! Your two guilds are now allowed to kill each other in almost every situation! Every member of the enemy guild will have a red crystal above their heads. To end the war, the two guilds must sign a treaty, or one disband.]

    Dorian scratched his head and said \"Well, I guess that won''t work¡­ It''s his guild right?\"

    Dorian looked at Carla, still kicking Jane''s body, and saw that she was squatting, holding her face in her hands. He noted that she often touched her face when she felt nervous, that was interesting.

    He said \"Come on, it''s not that bad.\"

    Carla sighed and said \"We''re dead. Deader than dead. He is the guild master, and he has ten thousands guild members, one tenth of them being Ascendants. That means, we now have 9000ish Evolvers wanting to kill us both, and there are several around already.\"

    Dorian looked around and indeed, there were some names around. A few dozens, nothing too threatening. He said \"Don''t worry, they can''t do anything to us¡­\"

    However, he stopped in the middle of his sentence because he saw something surprising. Howevering above Jane''s head, was a red crystal. He let out a short laugh and kicked harder than before and said \"I don''t know how you did not die, but you are really unlucky. Had your brother waited a little longer, I wouldn''t have known you were alive, and you would have survived.\"

    As he said that, she finally moved, and her neck twisted back into place. She tried to say something, but Dorian didn''t let her. He stomped on her face, crushing it. Brain matter exploded, covering the surroundings.

    This time, the red crystal disappeared, and he found a white crystal was sitting in the mess that was her head. Dorian lowered himself and picked it u. However, the moment he touched it it disappeared, and he got a notification:

    [You harvested Evolver ''Jane''. Earned 72 351 Dream Coins, and 3 Ability Points. Her items have now become ownerless.]

    Dorian was surprised by the Ability Points, for her to have 3 of them she must have accumulated them. Then, he started looking at those around greedily. Although they certainly wouldn''t have as much Coins or Ability Points, they numbers made up for it.

    Still, before anything he looked down. He found the earing in the remains of her head, which shone with a blue light, as well as the spear that was blue. Was that really something given to her by her brother? That was disappointing then.

    As for the rest of her stuff, it was only green quality, and she didn''t have any spatial device. Still, Dorian decided to loot all her items in his ring, he would sell those. Clothes disappeared from her body, and she soon became naked.

    Her guild members around finally couldn''t take it anymore, they yelled in anger and took out their weapons. All kinds of weapons appeared, some guns, cold weapons, and even futuristic weapons.

    Carla stuck to Dorian, but despair flooded her mind. There were probably hundreds of people around, and with what Dorian did not only the members of Heaven''s Wrath were targeting them.

    Dorian looked at them coldly, and said \"Carla, stay close to me.\"

    He cracked his neck, and said \"All of you, you have ten seconds to leave. In ten seconds, all the remaining people will die.\"

    When they heard him, the people around suddenly started laughing, ridiculing him. Dorian just said \"I warn you, there will be no survivor. Not. A. Single. One.\"

    That sent chills in some of their spines, but their numbers reassured them.

    Silently, ten seconds passed, and Carla said \"We''re dead¡­\" Dorian smiled coldly and said \"Actually, I lied to you. I''m not really a summoner.\"

    As he said that, he released his entire Killing Aura on everyone around. This was a kind of mental attack, and it suppressed people easily. Most f those around flinched, and paled, while the weaker ones spitted blood, falling to the ground.

    Dorian took out his sword, and activated his two skills, [Angel Wings] and [God''s Sight]. He also summoned Tibo and the five ghosts. He also activated all the skills on his equipments, summoning the spirit of the Alpha Wolf, the Blood Clone and boosted the speed of drawing mana by 50%.

    No one saw Dorian move, but what they saw were the people sent flying, their corpses dismembered. What followed was one of the biggest bloodbaths ever witnessed among Evolvers.

 80 Unstoppable Slaughter

    Dorian had reached the enemy''s ranks so fast that none of them had the time to shoot him, and now that he was in the middle of them they just had no way of shooting without hitting their allies first.

    So those closer to Dorian took out their melee weapon, while those a bit further away shot at Tibo, who looked like the biggest threat. The bullets hit Tibo, but he was able to enter through their ranks. Although its big body made it an easy target, it also allowed it to kill more people with each attack.

    Moreover, hovering around him were the five spirits, which were absorbing spirits left and right. There was almost no one able to hit them, and when they found one who could, Tibo would kill him.

    On the other side, Dorian''s Blood Avatar was slaughtering everything in sight, using the angels skills too. Although it only had half of Dorian''s attributes, it was still way too much for the people around. There was also the spirit of the Alpha Wolf which was tearing people''s spirits out of their bodies.

    Dorian finally got to test out his new sword, for real. It was almost as big as him, and was so heavy that no normal human could hope to lift it. But in his hands, along with his special ability [Swift Sword], it flew around as if it were weightless.

    However, everytime it hit someone, those around would be reminded that this isn''t a feather, but a sword. The bodies were cut in half, other exploded¡­

    With each kill, Dorian felt his Killing Aura become stronger, and he soon entered into a frenzy. His eyes became red, his muscles bulged, and he seemed to become a little stronger again.

    Blood flew everywhere, and the dead bodies and dismembered limbs started piling up. Despite the fear they were feeling, they didn''t back down, because of their numbers. And that was just fine for Dorian.

    After 30 seconds, the Blood Clone and the Spirit of the Alpha Wolf disappeared. Tibo and the spirits were still there, and they were doing good. For the spirits, only a few could hit them, and even when they were hit, absorbing other spirits would heal them.

    However, they had stopped absorbing spirits, because they were full, and were just pulling them out of the owner''s bodies, trapping them. As for Tibo, it had a high regeneration, so its health wasn''t falling too quickly.

    Meanwhile, at some time, Carla had joined in. She didn''t looked despaired anymore, but grossed out and hopeful. She was fighting using her nails, she seemed to have a special skill that allowed her nails to become sharper and longer.

    As for Dorian, he was the most efficient of the bunch. The corpses around him had formed a literal mountain, the blood had formed a pond, and he was still slaughtering to his heart''s content. The thing was, it never seemed to have enough.

    Everytime he killed someone, his bloodlust would only become stronger instead of getting squelched. Out of the 500 Evolvers present, already 300 of them had died. That meant the group had been killing ten of them every second.

    And that was about right. Dorian himself was definitely doing a good part, due to how fast he was. And the others weren''t bad either, adding in the fact their opponents weren''t strong, it was easy.

    Some started trying to escape, and Dorian knew he couldn''t stop them by himself. So with a flap of his wings, he appeared next to five spirits, and split his Mind Flame in tens of parts. Each of them assaulted the spirits trapped out of their bodies, as well as those trying to fly away.

    Because he created so many of them, each piece of Mind Flame was very weak, so weak in fact that anyone''s mind could defend against them easily. However, Dorian''s overwhelming killing aura weakened them greatly, allowing him to enslave them all quickly.

    As all the contracts were imprinted on their minds, Dorian suddenly felt weak, and a big headache came on him, and he almost passed out. But the strange frenzy he was locked his mind awake and allowed him to remain conscious, returning to his slaughtering.

    He ordered Tibo and all the spirits to block anyone trying to escape, and took on the remaining two hundred by himself. Carla didn''t receive any orders, but she understood what she had to do seeing the spirits behavior.

    At the same time, she couldn''t help but be horrified by what was happening. When she first saw Dorian, he had felt special, so she approached him, and purposefully provoked the fight.

    Then, her instinct told her that Dorian was a man with a great potential, so she decided to enter his guild. If her instincts were right, then she might become a high ranking member in a future Overlord''s guild''s.

    However, all this time, she had been confident that she was the one in control. That he was special, but that was it. That''s why when he killed Jane, she despaired. But then, he revealed his true colors.

    She had never seen such a slaughter. Dorian was so fast that no one could see him or his sword, all she could see was the blood splattering everywhere. That''s when she understood that she was wrong. Dorian was far stronger than she ever imagined.

    Then, she started becoming afraid when she saw him enslave the spirits of his enemies. Most people who have gone through a few worlds are no longer afraid of death, and have accepted that they can die anytime.

    But that was because it was the end. Having your mind enslaved however, meant that even after death, they would serve someone, and become mere puppets. This was a terrible fate no one wanted to suffer. In general, those who enslaved others'' spirits were frowned upon, or even hated.

    Now that she thought about it, the guild''s name was really a fitting name. Origin of Evil. Dorian seemed to be everything people hated here. But that was just fine with her, because along with the fear, came excitement and joy.

    To be so strong after going through only one world, wasn''t this just the most talented person ever? Now she understood why he had that time limit of 7 days. There were things she didn''t tell Dorian, and one such thing was about the limitation.

    It was indeed used as a way to help some Evolvers get stronger in a short time, to make sure they will use their entire potential for a certain potential event.

    But there was another way, another reason. A rarer one, but it still existed. Some individuals were such monsters, that even the System deemed them to be a threat, and thus make this limitation. It isn''t to strengthen them, but instead to weaken them.

    If Dorian had all the time he wanted between each mission, then he would be able to max out all of his skills before entering the second world, and that would just break the balance.

    From what she saw, she already knew the general direction the next mission would take. Dorian had obviously reached the peak among Evolvers, and now even the strongest ones can only contend with him, but not threaten him.

    The only ones left, are Ascendants. And that''s probably going to be his next mission: Hunting Ascendants.

    The strongest Evolvers were stronger than the weakest Ascendants, so it wasn''t that far of a stretch to make them fight each other.

    As Carla, Tibo, and the nearly 80 spirits formed a circle around all the remaining Evolvers, Dorian slaughtered them quicker and quicker. Now, they were even closer to each other, so with each swipe of his sword he was able to kill even more of them.

    Their numbers swindled down quickly, and when only one hundred were left, they totally stopped fighting and tried to flee. However, Dorian just wouldn''t let them.

    One minute after the beginning of the fight, 500 dead bodies formed mountains on the ground, blood flowing everywhere. Dorian slowly exited his frenzy state, and ordered the spirits to absorb the spirits of the dead that hadn''t left already.

 81 Frenzy

    As Dorian completely exited his frenzied state, he first checked there was no survivor. Even if he hadn''t entered this frenzied state, he would still have killed them all because he wanted to keep his true strength a secret.

    Sure, people will know that he is extremely powerful, powerful enough to kill those 500 people, but they won''t know what his strengths are.

    At the same time, Dorian couldn''t help but wonder, why do people take him so lightly? Even though they couldn''t feel his complete strength through the danger he emitted alone, it should already be a good indicator. And yet, none of them seemed to worry.

    He shook his head, it wasn''t the time to think about it. Dorian felt his headache becoming bigger and bigger, contracting all those spirits at the same time had really token a huge effort.

    He summoned all of them back, along with Tibo, and said \"Carla, I will be staying here for some time. Go do what you were supposed to do, I''ll be here for some time.\"

    She nodded and hurriedly walked off, scared other people would arrive. As for Dorian, he wanted to meditate, because that was the only way he knew how to alleviate his mind''s pain.

    When he had killed, he had thrown the bodies around, and they formed mountains. Dorian sat in the middle of them, and began meditating. He was sent into his own mind, where he was able to recover. He instantly felt the effects, his pain had lessened.

    However, he was shocked by what he saw. His house, which was still in construction, had finished. It still looked shabby, but it was finished and didn''t look like it would fall at any moment.

    Dorian quickly opened his status, and indeed, it had changed a lot.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human/Angel]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Guild: Origin Of Evil (Guild Leader)]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 550/550]

    [MP: 340/340]

    [LE: 150/150]

    [Strength: 26 (37)]

    [Agility: 26 (38)]

    [Vitality: 30 (35)]

    [Intelligence: 29 (34)]

    [Perception: 18 (24)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 5/10)]

    [Adept Swift Sword]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 1/10)]

    [Basic Tracking (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Sneak (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Wind Steps]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 7/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Fire Manual (Level 2/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Indeed, his Mind Magic had upgraded, probably because of how many spirits he contracted at once. It put his Intelligence only one point away from the limit of 30, so now all Dorian had to do was level up his meditation once and he would have two attributes at the limit.

    His fighting skills also crazily leveled up, especially his [Swordsmanship] and his [Movement Mastery] which were both upgraded by three levels. That reflected on his attributes, which all went way past the limit of Evolvers.

    Even though other people most certainly had good equipment too, Dorian doubted that all the Evolvers in the top 10 were dressed almost entirely in Blue equipment.

    Now, after checking on his items on sale, putting the others he got for sale, he would head out to find ability books, or even skill books if he found some. Next, he also needed a certain kind of equipment, but he didn''t know if they sold some here.

    Dorian suddenly remembered he forgot something: taking the white crystals on the dead people''s foreheads. He couldn''t help but lament, doing it 500 times was going to be a hassle. So he tried out an idea.

    Summoning a spirit, he ordered it to touch one of the white crystals. He was surprised to actually receive a notification saying he had earned Dream Coins!

    Once again, Dorian released all of his spirits and ordered them to take all the white crystals. In under a minute, Dorian had received so much Dream Coins he probably became one of the richest individuals among Evolvers.

    The ones he killed were rather weak, so they didn''t have much Dream Coins on them, but there were so many of them that they still gave him about 200 000 Dream Coins. He also got a few Attribute Points and Ability Points, but not many. That was because he could only get them from the ones who were at war with him, and they were only about a hundred of them. Because most people used them right when they get them, Dorian only got 2 Attribute Points, and three Ability Points.

    It was still great, but out of 500 people it wasn''t much.

    Dorian continued meditating until he felt his headache clear away. However, when he did so he didn''t immediately left meditation, because he felt something new had appeared in his mind.

    When the headache was cleared, the black matter surrounding him had started accumulating, and pierced into the ground next to the house he made. The black matter disappeared, showing what it had done.

    Actually, it wasn''t much. Out of the ground, a little tree emerged. It was barely ten centimeters tall, and it only had one branch, which was bare of leaves. No, actually, there was one leaf. A single, red leaf. But when he looked at it, Dorian instinctively knew that it represented his entire killing aura, compressed into a single leaf.

    Next to it, a bud had formed, but no leaf appeared yet. Dorian was curious about this tree, but he after checking nothing new appeared on his status, Dorian just shrugged it off. Still, Dorian discovered without much surprise his Meditation had gone up a level, not really surprising since it cured such a headache. That boosted his Intelligence to 30.

    As Dorian left his meditation state, he saw that people had started accumulating around him. Dorian ignored them since none came close to him not tried to take his loot away.

    Dorian looked at the different items that laid on the ground. He didn''t expect much, but he was still disappointed to see there wasn''t a single blue item, and only some green items.

    In fact, the number of green items was so low that he could probably fit them all into his Spatial Ring. And that''s what he did. After putting in all the green items, Dorian started picking the white items. He only took the smallest ones, as to take as many as possible.

    When his ring reserved for the things he would sell was filled, Dorian used all his spacial storage items until they were all filled with equipment. The people around looked on with greed, one of them even tried to take an item, only for a nearby sword laying down to decapitate him. That dissuaded everyone else from taking something.

    In the end, Dorian was able to take everything. After all, his spatial bags could store 125 cubic meters of objects each, and his spatial rings 8000 cubic meters each.

    Dorian left the scene, his sword on his back, and seemingly swimming in blood. The people made a way for him, not daring to enter into a 20 meters range from him. Dorian smiled and passed through, the feeling of absolute power exuding off him.

 82 Limi

    Dorian was able to safely reach his shop, with no one bothering him. However, no matter where he went, the people he crossed looked at him, talking to each other. He was able to hear a few of them, and learned what he did was spreading across the realms like a plague.

    Once at his shop, Dorian was surprised to see that almost all of his equipment had been sold, despite the spot it was at. Looking at his Dream Coins, he had 600 000 of them now. He put all the items he picked up earlier, and looked at the loot he got from Jane.

    A Blue rank Earring, and a Blue rank Spear. The Earring was the most interesting for him, because it was a special equipment, like rings, of which you could have several ones. One can equip two earrings at the same time, one on each ear, and ten rings.

    As for the spear, it wasn''t as interesting as he didn''t fight using the spear. He didn''t put it for sale though, because first he didn''t know how much it was worth, and because of how rare it is he might use it as a bargaining chip later if he ever needs to.

    He first looked at the earring.

    [Name: Fairy''s Glitter]

    [Type: Earring]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Defense: F]

    [Requirement: Intelligence 20]

    [Effects: Intelligence +5]

    [Fairy''s Protection: Protects you from one magical attack weaker than 100 Intelligence. Cooldown: 6 hours.]

    [Durability: 1000/1000]

    [Remark: A Fairy''s spirit is said to be trapped into this earring.]

    This, Dorian didn''t doubt it came from Jane''s brother. It was a really powerful artifact, even if it only protected against one attack, no Evolvers could possibly have 100 in Intelligence. And just like with Dorian, if someone attack with a magical attack and see no damage is done, they will just attack differently, because it is impossible to know it can only protect you from one attack.

    Dorian put it on immediately, as he really liked it. Even the design looked cool, taking the appearance of a wings sitting behind the ear. No could see it because of his mask, but he still liked it. Now, he needed to look at that spear.

    It looked very cool too, it was a straight yellow spear with blue lightning bolts decorating it. The blade at the end of the weapon was of a light blue, and glowed a little. Just looking at it made him feel some danger unexpectedly.

    [Name: Zeus'' punishment]

    [Type: Special Weapon]

    [Rarity: Blue]

    [Attack: C]

    [Requirement: 20 Strength, 30 Vitality]

    [Lightning Bolt: Once it strikes someone, a magical bolt of lightning will be summoned and smite the one hit.]

    [Durability: 1/1]

    [Remarks: A one use weapon which can deal devastating damage to someone.]

    He now understood why she looked so shocked and despaired when she missed him. Had she, he would have suffered from this weapon. And even he didn''t know what would have happened had that hit.

    Still, it was now in his possession, and he would put it to good use. Storing it in his Spatial Ring, he intended on keeping it. This would serve as a great way to kill stronger unexpectedly.

    He was disappointed though not to get what she used to revive herself. It was almost sure that not to die from having her neck twisted, she used that consumable, [Christ''s Blood]. What a waste.

    Dorian put the spear back in his ring and decided it was now time to go explore the market. He had only discovered the Sheep part of it, and had stopped at the edge of the Predator one.

    Now, he had to venture a little deeper. The first few shops he saw were stalls just like him. He stopped at a few of them, hopping he could get something great from them, but he discovered that they barely sold anything, and those things were of a subpar quality.

    Thus, he had no choice but to ignore the first few and venture deeper. Honestly, the shops here didn''t really look different from the ones in the Sheep area, and yet the atmosphere was gloomier.

    At some point, he finally stopped seeing stalls, as they changed to official shops. He ignored all the smiths as he didn''t need them, but instead looked out for Alchemists and people who sold abilities and skills.

    For Alchemists, it was rather simple, because most of them had shops and the name of their shops always had a word like brew or potion.

    For the skills and abilities, it was both simpler and harder. Dorian had already received a notification earlier when he was selling his items that he could either sell them only for those who personally came to his shop, or put them in specialized shops.

    If he could sell them using his own stall, he would get all the Dream Coins paid. If he uses a shop though, a part will go to said shop. Even though he lost some coins, Dorian still used the shops because it would be much more efficient to sell.

    And with the number of skills and ability books people sold, as well as equipment and some special consumables, the number of specialized shops were incredibly high.

    So finding them was easy. However, finding the specific book was harder, because there was literally all kinds of skills and abilities.

    Dorian didn''t waste his time with the first specialized shops and instead went for the biggest in the Evolver area, Pandora''s Box. It was also the shop where Dorian had put his items for sale.

    It wasn''t very far, despite being the best shop in its category. After five minutes of walking, he reached the shop. It looked majestic, it was an eight floored building decorated with golden lions as well as diamond eastern dragons coiling around the building.

    Dorian entered the shop and as soon as he entered, he couldn''t help but marvel at the beauty of the interior, which was even better than the outside. It was less eye catching, this time gold and diamond weren''t used, and yet it still looked better than the outside.

    The atmosphere was very calm, and despite the amount of people in the shop it was completely silent. From time to time, they would hear birds sing, although they couldn''t see where they came from.

    Dorian headed toward one of the counters where skill and abilities were sold, and started browsing through what was offered. In Dreamland, only a few items would be shown in the real world. Most of the items would be digitalized and their description would have to be specifically searched by the customers.

    Dorian looked through the items sold, but none were interesting for him, they were useless for the most. He even found some of the things he put for sale himself. Some may think, why not buy as many skills and abilities as possible if he had the money for it?

    It wasn''t this simple. Someone couldn''t have an infinite number of abilities and skills, depending on their strength and realm of power they all have a limit.

    Dorian didn''t know what was his current limit, but when he had absorbed the last few abilities he had felt a certain restraint. After informing himself he had learned about this limit. That''s why, Dorian couldn''t just buy everything in sight, as that would be useless. He better buy the skill books for the skills he already has.

    Leaving this counter, Dorian headed toward the next floor, taking he stairs. As he tried moving up he felt the air become heavier¡­ No, he was getting heavier. Had the gravity increased?

    Still, he didn''t have a problem moving, but that would bare access to most people. Dorian now understood how this shop worked.

    The higher one went, the better the items sold would be. But they needed to meet certain requirements to buy those items, and the increased gravity was one of those.

 83 King

    Dorian arrived on the second floor, and there were indeed less people here. Still, the difficulty wasn''t that hard, only the weakest of the weakest were stuck downstairs.

    Dorian quickly glanced at a few items but concluded that he still wasn''t high enough. After all, he was searching for Adept and Expert abilities, so it wasn''t for the weakest people. The only basic skills he needed were rather rare, being Lock Picking, Tracking, Ice Resistance and Runemaster.

    Once he got enough ability books to level them up to level 10, he still needed their Adept Rank version to rank them up.

    But whether it was Basic or Adept rank, they were quite rare so he would need to go to higher floors as they would undoubtedly be costlier.

    Still, he didn''t pass straight through the floors because he still searched for an item. That item was a storage he could use to preserve ingredients, such as Demon''s Hearts. That would allow him to keep them fresh when he kills the demon that will be summoned to attack him in the future.

    But he wasn''t able to find anything in the first 3 floors. He made his way up to floor 4, and instantly the number of people diminished a lot. Dorian was able to determine that being here demanded one to have 20 of Strength, more or less.

    The items in this floor were much more interesting, and a few Adept Rank books appeared, as well as Green items. There were only a few, but it was still great.

    Fortunately, Dorian was able to find the books he searched for. There weren''t as many as he wished, but there were still some. He bought all of them, and continued searching. After half an hour, he finished going through everything sold on this floor, and he had found some other stuff.

    Spending 10 000 Dream Coins, he had found enough books to max out his Lock Picking, Ice Resistance and Tracking. The first two didn''t have any effect, but his tracking allowed him to boost his pure Perception to 20.

    This allowed him to pick another sub skill. The two proposed were:

    [Wild Instinct: Allow you to pick on danger more easily.]

    [Fortify Senses: Enhances all your senses by 10%.]

    Dorian didn''t hesitate one second and picked [Fortify Senses]. Although picking on danger was useful, he knew very well that it couldn''t always be trusted, the best example being him as others can''t feel the danger coming from his bloodline.

    But senses, they could help him with all sorts of things, and moreover it would go well with his Tracking skill.

    He was also able to level up Runemaster to level 8 because he found only 4 books for it. However, he wasn''t able to find his item.

    Dorian headed up to the next floor, the fifth floor. The gravity increased again, up to 25 of Strength. Anyone with a lesser attribute would fall to the ground.

    Dorian was fine though. This time, there were more green items and Adept Skills. He found several ones that interested him, such as [Swordsmanship] and [Movement Mastery]. They were pricier, but Dorian bought them.

    For a total of 110 000, he bought 5 [Adept Swordsmanship] books and 6 [Adept Movement Mastery]. Each book costed 10 000 Dream Coins. And Dorian could understand it. Even for him, he didn''t have many Green books to sell.

    The only ones who dropped them were the Knights and Mages. In other words, the ones who dropped Green books also dropped Blue equipment. But Blue Equipment is very rare here, so of course they are expensive.

    Still, every minute more Dream Coins appeared in his account because they were selling downstairs. It might look like Dorian was having an unfair advantage and was breaking the balance, but he actually wasn''t.

    Although he has much more money than others, they don''t need to buy books. They would level up their abilities from level 1 to level 10 through training alone, because they could spend years outside. The only time they would need to buy books was when they passed a rank, for example basic to Adept.

    That''s why, even though he had hundreds of thousands of Dream Coins, Dorian wasn''t breaking the balance. He was training fast, sure, but he also had to go in Dreamworld every week, so of course he must go faster. If he went at the same pace as others with his abilities he would die by the 3rd or 4th world.

    Dorian felt himself get empowered, and he looked at his status. He was almost perfect. Almost. He closed it and searched for another ability book. The Tracking ability book.

    Finding nothing on this floor, he went up to the 6th floor, where he found what he seeked. But even after searching for 20 minutes, he only found 4 [Adept Tracking] ability books. He shook his head and after making sure the item he seeked wasn''t here, he went up to the 7th floor.

    The limit there was at 30, which is the max an Evolver can get to. Even if they used equipments, they wouldn''t get that much stronger than 30. Still, Dorian felt fine in this environment.

    Here, he was able to find the remaining 6 books. He bought them too. They were 20 000 DC each, because Tracking was a rarer ability it was twice as expensive as Swordsmanship. That meant he spent 200 000 DC on those books. But he felt it was worth it.

    Dorian absorbed the ten books at once, and once he absorbed every one of them, he felt an unprecedented power course through his veins. Dorian released a low growl, and an aura bursted out of his body.

    But it wasn''t the killing aura he was so familiar with, it was a different kind. The killing aura felt like a blade was placed under your neck, and was cutting your mind piece by piece before skinning it.

    But this aura, it was different. It felt heavy, as if the world was weighing on you. The ground below Dorian''s feet creaked a little, and the few people capable of standing on the floor began falling to the ground, kneeling.

    His aura suddenly peaked, and they fell to the ground. Then, it began to recede, before finally entering his body again. He breathed in, and closed his eyes.

    He stayed motionless for a few seconds, and the people around started getting up, looking at Dorian in fear. To be able to stand on the 7th floor, they were among the strongest in Dreamland. In fact, they all were in the top 100 among Evolvers.

    And yet, this man had made them kneel and fall through his aura alone. Who was this person?

    Suddenly, Dorian opened his eyes, and an unprecedented brilliance appeared in them. His original blue eyes had gained a shade of grey.

    He smiled, ignoring those around, and opened his status.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human/Angel]

    [Title: Butcher Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Guild: Origin Of Evil (Guild Leader)]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 550/550]

    [MP: 350/350]

    [LE: 150/150]

    [Strength: 30 (41)]

    [Agility: 30 (42)]

    [Vitality: 30 (35)]

    [Intelligence: 30 (35)]

    [Perception: 30 (36)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Swift Sword]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Tracking (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Sneak (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 4/10)]

    [Adept Wind Steps]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 8/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 8/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Fire Manual (Level 2/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    But that wasn''t all, as there was a new notification next to his Title section. He opened it.

    [You have earned the Title: King]

 84 Bronze Ring

    [King: Able to produce a dominating aura. While this is activated, the people looking at you will feel intimidated. The stronger and more confident you are, the stronger the aura will become.]

    The instant he saw the title, Dorian liked it. After all, who didn''t want to be king? But at the same time, he was worried. One can only put one title at a time, so would his killing aura disappear? He doubted it though, because of that tree in his mind.

    Still, Dorian tried it out. He felt a little thing change, and tried to use his killing aura. He could use it, and on the same scale as before. Why couldn''t he put several titles at once then?

    This time, the system answered his doubts:

    [The limitation on titles only works on some of them. Your titles [Butcher] and [King] allow you to use auras by inserting a part of it in you, so it is definitive. No matter which title you have equipped, you will be able to use your auras. This is the first kind of title, that grants you a power, they can''t be limited. The second kind, are the titles that enhances an attribute for example, or a skill. Those need to be equipped for them to work.]

    Dorian nodded, that was great for him. But that also meant his two titles were useless. If he could use the auras whether they are on or not, then he might as well change the next time he gets one.

    Closing his eyes, Dorian took a quick look in his mind. More precisely, he looked at the tree next to his house. As he expected, the thing he felt change in his mind wasn''t the title, but that little tree. Next to the branch on which the red leaves grew, another branch appeared. On it, a white bud was starting to grow.

    It was now sure, this tree was made for his auras. But he wondered, was there a limit to the number of branches? Of leaves?

    Dorian exited his mind and looked at the people around him. They were a little too weak, how could those people be so high in the shop? With an attribute of 30 in Strength, they can''t even stand a little bit of his aura.

    What Dorian didn''t take in account was that not everybody was like him, upgrading every attribute. Most of the people here, they had a high strength, but lower attributes. And for someone who prioritized Strength, the attribute they would use the less was without hesitation Intelligence, so of course with a low Intelligence stat they can''t cope with his aura.

    An aura was nothing more than a spell, and like all spells, it''s effectiveness depended on two things: The mastery of the spell, and the caster''s Intelligence attribute. That''s why, although Dorian never used his King Aura before, it was still to hard to bear for them.

    Dorian''s intelligence wasn''t just at 30, but at 35 thanks to his equipment. That means, for the people in the room, it was just like a mage with an Intelligence of 35 had thrown a spell they never practiced with before at them. It was extremely powerful for their weak mind.

    Dorian looked away from the other people on the floor with a sneer and started walking up the stairs for the next floor. Meanwhile, the people looked at his back in astonishment. Who was this? For someone to be so relaxed on the seventh floor of Pandora''s Box and yet have such a high Intelligence attribute, how could they not know of him? Had a new powerhouse risen silently?

    Dorian reached the next floor, and felt the gravity increase again. This time, he needed 35 of Strength. There was only two other people on this floor. One was a Caucasian with a katana on his side, dressed in black robes, his dark hair tied up in a ponytail, while the other was an African American man who was so muscular that even if Dorian and the Caucasian stood next to each other, he would still be larger than them.

    His first impression of the two was that the Caucasian was a calm man ready to cut you in two at any moment, while the black man looked like he would crush anyone in his way. The two looked at Dorian in surprise, but said nothing and went back to shop.

    Likewise, Dorian did the same and started browsing through the things he saw. For the first time, he saw Blue Rank Items. He continued searching, and was only able to find a few Blue Rank Items.

    Unfortunately, there weren''t any Expert ability books, but there were no Basic either, there were only Adept abilities and Green skill books.

    As he browsed, Dorian searched to replace the Green Items he had on him. There was the mask/helmet, the gloves and an earring. Currently, he only had three Green items on him. That could be considered top notch among Evolvers.

    If he was able to find those, then there was also the item he sought, and then he still had place for 6 rings. Even with all his money, Dorian doubted he could buy all the items he wanted though¡­

    As he searched around, Dorian was glad to find the item he was searching for, which actually came in the form of a ring. Someone had probably been to a world similar to him, as this ring was similar to his own, but even better.

    [Name: Space-Time Ring]

    [Type: Storage Item]

    [Rarity: Bronze]

    [Storage space: 2*2*2 meters room]

    [Remark: This ring can store a small amount of objects, but any item stored will be frozen in time.]

    [Price: 500 000 Dream Coins]

    The storage was really small compared to the others, but he didn''t care, as it was just fine for him. It was impressive though, an Evolver had managed to stumble upon a Bronze rank item. It was the only one he had seen so far, it probably came from someone very strong, one of the strongest Evolvers.

    Although understandable, the price was very expensive. Looking at his current amount of Coins, he was at 502 000 and some DC. He had used more than 300 000 DC already, but he was selling many items at the same time, so he had successfully gained back some. But now, if he bought this item then he would be broke.

    Dorian clenched his teeth and bought the item. He had to get it. He didn''t care about the other items, he could do without them. But this, it was very rare, Bronze items would probably be bought by anyone spotting it and having the money to buy it.

    And even if someone didn''t have enough, they could sell the information. So Dorian had no choice but to buy it now. That also meant he would have to leave, as even though he still has a lot of items that would allow him to earn some DC again, it would need time. His hottest items had already sold, the rest would take longer to sell if they hadn''t sold already.

    As the ring appeared in Dorian''s hand, he hurriedly equipped it on one of his fingers, when he heard steps from coming from the staircase.

    Another person was coming? Dorian couldn''t help but be surprised. Seeing two other people here at the same time was already a surprise, after all to come here one needed to be one of the strongest Evolvers. Anyone coming here could beat Joe easily like he did, as when he did so his Strength wasn''t even of 35.

    That meant there were four people, including him, able to one shot Joe with Strength alone, despite Joe being in the top 100 Evolvers. How rare was that?

 85 Wolf?

    Dorian looked in the direction of the staircase, and saw a man. He was lean, and rather tall. He had black hair, they covered most of his face. However, Dorian could see he was wearing glasses. What was strange, was that he wasn''t wearing any equipment.

    His clothes looked normal. Honestly, Dorian''s first impression of the man was that he was frail. He would have added weak, if it weren''t for the place they were in, and most importantly his eyes.

    As he slowly walked up the stairs, the two locked eyes. What he saw was intelligence. Not that illusive intelligence from the attributes, but true unadulterated intelligence. At the same time, he felt a danger like no other.

    Except that this danger didn''t come from his newly acquired sixth sense of danger. No, it came from the little voice at the back of his mind. That little voice told him, that this man was dangerous. Extremely so.

    But as they looked at each other, Dorian felt something unexpected. Something, he didn''t think he would feel again. That something he seeked yet couldn''t find. Excitement!

    The man in front of him looked wary though. Calm, but on edge. Dorian let out a smile and looked away, back to his purchase. The man with glasses looked at Dorian''s back with alarm in his eyes, and said \"Rock.\"

    The tank like black man nodded and said \"Boss, we have found a Bronze item, a space time device like you asked.\"

    Glasses nodded and asked \"Where is it?\" Rock looked at Dorian and said \"Next to him. 3rd row.\"

    Dorian looked back at Rock, then Glasses and said \"I''m King. Who are you.\"

    Actually, back when he first unlocked his [Butcher] title, Dorian learned that he could use his title instead of his actual username. Presenting himself as [Boring Guy] would make less of an effect, so he decided to present himself using his actual title.

    Glasses looked at Dorian up and down with an interested gaze, and replied after a moment \"I am Erudit. Have you seen the item?\"

    Dorian wondered whether this was his title or his username. But he was surprised at the coincidence though. Erudit wasn''t just a meaningless word, in French it meant scholar, which was the first impression the man gave him.

    Was it a mere coincidence, or was he from Earth too?

    Dorian showed his hand, and said \"I bought it.\" Glasses frowned and said \"I need it. How much for it?\"

    Dorian took his hand back and shook his head \"Not for sale. And it costed me 500 000 DC, I doubt you can repay me¡­\"

    Erudit put his hands in his pockets and said \"I have 500 000 DC ready, can I buy it?\" Dorian sneered and replied \"Why would I sell it to you? And even if I did, I wouldn''t sell it for only 500 000 DC, or I would just have wasted my time. And my time is very precious.\"

    Erudit tilted his head and asked \"You don''t know who I am, do you?\" Dorian sneered \"Should I?\"

    But Erudit didn''t answer, and instead said \"You don''t know me, you are probably a newbie, you can''t have gone through than two worlds without hearing of me. But you have enough DC to buy this item, so you must be strong. To be this strong, with only this much worlds¡­ You don''t seem to be lying either. Indeed, your time must be precious.\"

    Dorian rolled his eyes and was about to say something when Rock asked \"Boss, why is his time precious?\" Instantly, Dorian''s eyes shifted to Rock, then back to Erudit.

    Erudit took it as him having to explain, so he said \"The people with the most potential have time limits, they only have a limited time to enter the worlds. Just like you, you can''t stay out of a world for more than three weeks.\"

    Dorian frowned at Rock. If what Erudit was speaking truthfully, then this Rock was a potential danger. Erudit said \"Since your time is precious, let''s not waste any more. How much do you want?\"

    Dorian smirked and said \"I won''t sell it, I need it myself.\" Erudit replied \"Everyone has a price.\" Dorian said \"Indeed, but Dream Coins have a lesser value compared to this object for me. So no matter how many Dream Coins you offer, I won''t sell the item.\"

    Erudit pushed his glasses up and said \"So I need to trade something else¡­ Why can''t I take it by force then?\" Dorian replied \"Why are you asking me?\"

    Erudit smiled for the first time, and said \"I think I understand. You are strong, and you have become arrogant because of said strength.\"

    Dorian''s eyes froze as he said \"Arrogant? You''re the one to talk.\" Erudit a that little annoying smile, just seeing it annoyed Dorian. He said \"You named yourself King, isn''t that arrogance?\"

    From the corner of his eyes Dorian saw both Rock and the swordsman had tensed, it looked like they were together after all. Dorian said \"Then yes, I am arrogant. But does it change anything? Here, let me tell you something: The three of you aren''t enough.\"

    However, Erudit wasn''t annoyed in the least. Instead, his light smile widened a little as he said \"It''s two against you. I am weak.\"

    Dorian looked at him surprised, why was he saying that? Did he want to make Dorian take pity on him? No, he wasn''t that dumb.

    Dorian grabbed the hilt of his sword, almost making the two act, but he didn''t unsheathe it, instead he said \"Enough games. I''m not selling it to you.\"

    Erudit shrugged and said \"Too bad. Would you be interested in joining my guild then?\" Dorian''s grip on his sword lightened a bit as he said \"I already created my own.\"

    Erudit shrugged and said \"It doesn''t matter, you can still join mine. Do you love authority that much?\"

    Dorian shook his head slowly and said \"Whether I want to join or not, it doesn''t matter. You won''t be able to accept me in your guild.\"

    Erudit asked \"Why is that?\" Dorian replied \"My guild is named Origin of Evil. If you didn''t hear of me yet, you will.\"

    Erudit''s eyes widened a little as he said \"It''s you, you are the Wolf.\" Dorian chuckled \"The Wolf? Is that the name you people gave me? Not bad, slaughterer of Sheep, the wolf is indeed a good choice.\"

    Erudit regained his bearings and said \"Indeed, accepting you in my guild is difficult. My Ascension is already going to be hard enough, adding you in wouldn''t be the wisest choice¡­ But aren''t you afraid of giving out your identity this easily? You must be aware you are chased.\"

    Dorian nodded \"I am. But it doesn''t matter, because I am invincible amongst Evolvers. Not even your two bitches can do anything against me.\"

    As he said that, Erudit seemed a little agitated, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but before he could Dorian felt a wind come from his left.

    Had it been before entering the shop, his Perception and Agility would have been too low to react, but now, he could clearly see the calm swordsman was the one attacking.

    He had moved so fast that it almost looked like teleportation, and now his sword was descending on Dorian''s head. Unfortunately for him, even though the swordsman was fast, faster than Dorian even, he still wasn''t enough.

    Dorian didn''t dodge. Instead, he raised his hand and grabbed the sword midair. The attack was powerful, and the cutting power was great as it was able to cut through Dorian''s glove and enter a few centimeters in his hand. But the moment it came in contact with a bone, the sword stopped.

    Dorian smirked. As he expected, this swordsman main attribute was Agility. For him to have an even stronger Agility attribute than Dorian, it meant he had even better equipment than him, or at least more of it enhanced his Agility.

    Because it was almost impossible for someone to have Bronze equipment among Evolvers, it probably meant this man had focused almost all his equipments on Agility. But at the same time, he had a strong enough Strength attribute to stand here, so he must have some for Strength.

    But in the end, it must only be one or two of them, because to keep up with his own speed, the swordsman must have a pretty good Perception attribute. And Dorian considered himself an exception, he must be one of the only ones to have all his stats at 30. This man must have only one or two stats at 30, probably Agility and Strength. So he must have also used several equipments for his Perception.

    Dorian concluded this man''s major attribute was Agility, and that for the power of his attacks he relied on his sword. But Dorian''s Vitality reached 35, and his Strength 41. That''s why he was confident his Strength would overwhelm the swordsman''s and stop the sword, and his Vitality would lessen the damage.

    And Dorian didn''t want to reveal his wings, so it would have been difficult to dodge the man''s sword. Even if he could, the man was faster than him so he would have striked once again, hitting this time.

    All of that pushed Dorian in grabbing the sword. Now, although there was blood, the wound wasn''t that bad. Moreover, because of his vastly superior Strength, the swordsman couldn''t move.

    Of course, it was also to show off, as a scared enemy was an easy prey.

 86 Escape

    Dorian grinned at the swordsman in front of him. He tried to take his sword back, but there was no way Dorian would allow him. Dorian yanked the sword, attracting the swordsman toward him, and kicked at the swordsman.

    Despite seeing his foot, the swordsman didn''t even try to get away. No, he did, but he refused to let his sword go.

    As his foot hit the swordsman''s chest, Dorian let the sword go. He felt the bones shatter under his foot and the man got sent flying.

    Then Rock arrived on him. Following logic, the swordsman must specialize in Speed and Perception, Rock in Strength and Vitality, and Erudit in Intelligence. Although it wasn''t 100% sure, it didn''t really matter to him¡­

    Dorian looked at the approaching Rock, still unmoving. Rock lifted his hand, and formed a fist. Dorian was surprised to see a white aura form around the fist.

    It looked strong. Moreover, he could feel that the fist seemed to attract him¡­ Still, it wasn''t strong enough. As the fist approached his head, Dorian suddenly ducked down. However, he was surprised to see Rock react.

    The white aura surrounding the fist moved toward Rock''s elbow, and his fist suddenly stopped, only for the elbow to start falling down towards Dorian''s back.

    Dorian was stunned. Rock ad the same skill as him? This looked exactly like his skill [Force Share], along with a strong level in Hand to Hand Combat.

    Unfortunately for Rock, Dorian had this skill too, and he knew how it could be used. As the aura neared his back, Dorian formed a spear with his two fingers, and stabbed at Rock''s kidneys, strengthening his fingers with Life Essence.

    Rock didn''t bother to evade, as he had faith in his defence. What could two fingers do to him? And as expected, Dorian''s fingers just bounced off the muscles.

    However, Rock''s elbow, which was a few centimeters away from Dorian''s back, suddenly stopped. Panic appeared in his eyes, as he realized what was about to happen. Unfortunately, even though he knew, it was no use.

    But as Dorian was about to hit Rock, he suddenly felt a huge force strike him from his side, sending him flying. But as he looked, there was nothing there.

    He didn''t even have the time to stop himself when it hit him again, flattening him on the ground. Although he didn''t know where it came from, he looked at Erudit. He was looking focused, looks like he is the one doing it.

    Dorian wanted to attack him, but he felt a force press him on the ground. Erudit smiled, his face a little paler than usual, and said \"You really are too arrogant. Had you bothered to ask who I am, you would have understood. I am the owner of this place. And there are multiple arrays around that surpass any Evolver, which I can use at will.\"

    Dorian said \"You really are useless, I bought the item in your own shop.\" Erudit frowned and said \"Still arrogant huh. Do you think I won''t kill you?\"

    Dorian rolled his eyes and said \"You are getting arrogant.\" As he said that, he bursted his Life Essence out of his body. Life Essence was weird. Other than being a special energy, it allowed him to boost his abilities.

    The thing is, he didn''t know by how much. He could feel that he was faster, stronger and more resilient, but his attributes didn''t change.

    Still, his rise in power was undeniable. Dorian rose against the pressure on his back, although with some difficulty, he still rose. He looked at Erudit, grinned and said \"Next time, you won''t have your arrays¡­\"

    Erudit looked shocked but he still said \"You¡­ Although its impressive for you to resist, do you think you can escape? Even if you go down the stairs, the pressure will be the same. Do you think you can fight against Rock and Hatari at the same time? In your state?\"

    Dorian looked at the fallen swordsman and said \"Hatari¡­ Looks like he is out of service for now. I broke his chest bones, his rib cage¡­ And I can get out whenever I want.\"

    Dorian unsheathed his sword, and said \"I could fight you, but I am indeed at a disadvantage. See you soon, Erudit.\"

    Dorian turned around and suddenly slashed out at the wall. Although it was sturdy, Dorian''s sword was a weapon of destruction.

    The wall crumbled in front of the might of his sword. Dorian turned around t look at Erudit, and saw he was turning red. Looks like this wall was quite expensive to repair. He nodded and said \"Pray we don''t meet in a world¡­\"

    Dorian jumped out. Instantly, the pressure disappeared from his back. He heard Erudit cry out from behind \"You will die because of your arrogance, sooner or later!\"

    Dorian smirked and suddenly turned around in the air. When he had jumped, he had grabbed one of the pebbles from the destroyed wall. Using the force of his spin and some Life Essence, Dorian threw the pebble at Erudit''s face.

    The later looked at the pebble shocked but he didn''t have the time to move away. But before it could kill him, Rock put himself in front of Erudit. The pebble hit his left peck, harmlessly breaking on contact.

    Dorian smiled and flew down. Although he jumped from the 8th floor, for him the fall wasn''t anything. As he landed, the people around looked at him astonished. What just happened?

    But Dorian ignored them and was about to go away when he heard a familiar voice call him out \"Guild Leader!\" Dorian looked, and saw Carla walking toward him. What a coincidence, they met here. She really did her thing quickly.

    Dorian waited for her and asked \"You finished what you wanted to do?\"

    She nodded and walked next to him. The two left the scene and headed toward the elevator. After some time Dorian asked \"What will you do now? Return in Eden?\"

    Carla shook her head and said \" No, I''ll return to Earth. I¡­ I need to do something there.\" She looked a little down, but Dorian didn''t say anything. First, it wasn''t his business. Secondly, Carla was in her late 20s, while he was only 17. On Earth, problems couldn''t really be resolved with strength, not with the organization there.

    So a teen still in high school couldn''t really help a 20 something years old. Moreover, from her look it didn''t seem to be a problem related to the realms, but a real life problem. Whatever, if she needs help she''ll ask him.

    The two arrived at the elevator and asked \"How do we return on Earth?\" Carla replied \"We need to return to our room. You just need to get in your bed and will to come back on Earth.\"

    Dorian squinted his eyes and said \"Will I just wake up?\" Carla looked at him and said \"Yeah, why?\" Dorian asked \"I remained some time here, not much but still. What if I stayed here for three days, would I have slept for 3 days on Earth?\"

    Carla sighed and said \"It''s really weird, time is dilated in all kinds of forms. The time that passes will depend on who you frequent, your guild¡­ Dreamland will do its best so that your closed ones won''t notice your absence. If you life with someone else who isn''t part of Dreamland then you will probably wake up a few hours after you fell asleep.\"

    The two entered the elevator, and Dorian said \"Dreamland is really weird.\" Carla closed the distance between them and said \"Should we contact each other on Earth?\"

    Dorian looked down at her and said \"No. My life in Dreamland and my life on Earth are different. I don''t want them to get mixed. Is there someone capable of discovering my true identity on Earth?\"

    Carla shrugged and said \"I think among the strongest ones in the Empire should be able to find out if they focus on you, but they wouldn''t, so you should be good.\"

    Dorian nodded and said \"Great. We can talk with the system if you want.\" Carla smiled and said \"Sure.\" The cabin opened and she got out, waving at him, before it closed again and he headed toward his own house.

 87 Back Home

    As he reached his own floor and made his way to his house, Dorian remembered he forgot asking a question. Hoping she would answer, he sent his question to Carla through the system \"How do you do with your equipment in the real world?\"

    Fortunately, she quickly answered \"Your equipment will stay in your room, don''t worry no one can get in it.\"

    As long as he could keep his equipment protected, Dorian didn''t care about bringing it back home. Dorian reached his house, and saw people glance in his direction as he walked. But none dared to approach him.

    Dorian got in his room, which looked like his own bedroom. He looked around a little, but there really wasn''t much to do here.

    In the end, Dorian headed to his bed and laid down. He was a little tired since he didn''t get proper rest since the battle against Marcus, Lucie and all the Stingers, but he could cope with it until now since his attributes were so strong.

    But just laying in this bed transformed his light exhaustion into an irresistible need of sleep. He felt like he was a normal person again and he hadn''t slept for over two days.

    Quickly his consciousness faded away as he drifted off to sleep¡­

    BEEP BEEP BEEP

    Dorian groaned, damn alarm let me sleep some more. Then, the memories flooded his mind. He sat up abruptly, processing everything that happened. As his mind cleared, Dorian wondered whether what he went through was real or not?

    Dorian tried to see his status, and it actually appeared before his eyes. Dorian suddenly started laughing. All this time, there had been that fear dwelling in the back of his mind that all of this was a dream or some kind of illusion. But now, he knew it was real!

    Still, to be sure he tried to activate [Angel Wings] and looked in the mirror. He never got to see himself when he used the skill, but he really looked cool!

    The magnificent white feathery wings reflected in the mirror, and gave him a holy feeling. Usually, when he used it with his robe and mask he must just look frightening as his Killing Aura often came along.

    But now that his equipment was removed and he only had a boxer on, he really looked like an angel. He deactivated the skill and continued looking in the mirror. If everything from before wasn''t enough to prove the existence of Dreamland, his body was.

    The day before, on Earth, his body was slim and not really fit. But now, his body was packed with muscles. Fortunately his muscles weren''t the bulging kind, they didn''t make him bigger. Instead, they were compact, so except for his arms his silhouette didn''t change much.

    Adding in the fact that he liked his privacy and very rarely showed his body to anyone else, including his family, no one should see the change.

    He picked some clothes and headed downstairs to his kitchen, while checking his phone. He noticed that he had actually only slept for 12 hours on Earth.

    Thanks to his incredible Perception of 30, Dorian knew that everyone was still sleeping. It was Saturday after all, there was no reason to get up so early. Now that he thought of it, Dorian looked at his phone. Why did it ring? He didn''t remember setting up an alarm.

    He looked through his alarms and concluded he had just mistakenly activated the alarm the day before. How dumb. He started toasting some bread and as he looked at his computer, he was tempted to search for paranormal events.

    After all, he only saw them as fake things created for views, but what if they were actually created by other Dreamers? Also, who was the Emperor of the Hope Empire. Who on Earth could he be?

    But in the end he refrained from doing any of this. Although the chances were slim, what if people used it to determine his real identity in the future?

    Right now it wouldn''t have any effect, but what if someone has a divine ability that allows them to know where he approximately was living, then used his online searches to determine he was the Wolf? That was fare fetched, but Dorian would rather not take any risks. And he already knew about the existence of other Dreamers on Earth, he didn''t really need to make a research.

    Also, he began to ponder on what he could do about the danger he emitted? If he could feel the danger from others, the opposite should be true. And with how strong he had become, he had absolutely surpassed the level of any natural human. It shouldn''t be much of a fetch to say that he was the strongest Evolver.

    Just through his attributes he should be among the strongest, but adding in his [Angel Wings] and [God''s Eye], there shouldn''t be any Evolver capable of resisting.

    But he was going off tracks. He needed to find a way to mask the danger he gave off. As he kept thinking he prepared his toasts and started watching the TV. According to what he was seeing, the world remained the shit place it was before.

    Then, the anchor started speaking about a new video game that was about to be released, a fantasy themed RPG. Dorian smiled, his little sister would probably spend the next month streaming this game.

    But as he watched the trailer, he remembered something. Lucie had successfully hidden the danger she gave off using magic, probably coating herself. And Charles had done the same, using Life Essence. Why wouldn''t he be able to do the same.

    He closed his eyes and concentrated on his Life Essence. He made his flow around his body, just lie when he used his ability [Holy Fire Manual]. Then, he tried to picture his Life Essence as a cloak that covered his whole body and stuck to his skin.

    To do this he had to flow a part of his Life Essence to a part of his body, and the skin around that part would be coated by the cloak. It took him 5 minutes to cloak his entire body and cover his whole skin. Fortunately, when he did he received a notification.

    [Evolver ''King'' has created a new skill! Please name it.]

    That was possible? That led to many possibilities. Dorian focused on the notification and gave the skill a name. The notification disappeared, and Dorian opened his status. Indeed, there was a new skill.

    [Cloak: Use your Life Essence to hide your true strength. Costs 5 LE per hour.]

    The price wasn''t too expensive, he could hold on 30 hours, which was more than enough. The only problem was if he needed 5 minutes each time to activate it then it couldn''t be used in extreme situations, he would need to prepare himself.

    When the skill was activated he felt a little weird, as if he really had something stuck to his skin, but he could ignore it if needed. Still, he was in his house right now so he didn''t need it. Taking it off, he chilled of in front of his TV.

    Most people must be happy when they come back to Earth, thinking they have finally left that hell hole of a Dreamland. Some may think that Dorian wouldn''t be the same, but he actually was.

    Although he liked Dreamland, and the fun and excitement that came with it, Earth felt good too. He discovered that what he felt as boring before, became calming now. He had lived almost three weeks in constant action, so some rest was good too.

    About an hour later, as he was surfing the net on his computer, he heard a door being opened upstairs, as well as footsteps. He didn''t need to look to know who that was. His Perception helped, but it mostly came from the 17 years they lived together.

    Looking away from his computer he looked at his older sister walking down the stairs and said \"Hey you.\"

    Emily didn''t expect her brother to be up, but she was still half asleep so she just groggily replied \"Hey.\"

 88 Calm

    Dorian stretched his neck as much as he could to look at his sister. He hadn''t realized yet, but he had missed her. As well as the others. He smiled and asked \"How are you doing lately?\"

    Emily stopped and turned around, looking at Dorian weirdly. She asked \"What''s up with you?\" Dorian smiled and said \"Nothing, I just want to know how you are doing. Is it strange for a brother to care about his sister?\"

    Emily rolled her eyes and turned to the kitchen again as she said \"Nothing new really. I don''t really have the time to do anything else than study.\" Dorian went back to his computer and asked \"Do you regret?\"

    Emily replied \"No. I knew since the beginning it would be hard. Are you sure you are okay?\" Dorian chuckled and said \"Never better. So you don''t have any problem?\"

    Dorian heard the sound of cereals being poured as Emily said \"Why? You will protect your big sister?\" Dorian smiled evilly, before returning to normal and saying \"I just want to say, if you ever get into some troubles, don''t hesitate to come see me.\"

    Emily approached and sat on the sofa next to Dorian''s couch and said \"I doubt I even have the time to create troubles for myself, but sure.\" Dorian smiled and said no more, tossing the TV''s controller to her.

    Emily caught it and said \"Great throw kid.\" Dorian looked at her with a smile but stayed silent. As for Emily, she powered the TV on, but she stared at Dorian while eating her cereals.

    After a moment, she asked \"You got a girlfriend? Is that why you are acting weird?\" Dorian snorted \"No, still happily single. What about you, how is it going with Thomas?\"

    Emily shrugged \"Nothing special.\" Dorian smiled and asked \"Still stuck up?\" She looked at him warningly and said \"Don''t say that.\" Dorian smiled even more, but he remained silent. Her sister had been dating this guy, Thomas, for a month or two now.

    Actually, he was the only one in the family who knew about it, and it was because of an accident. Once, Dorian was shopping for some clothes when he ran into them. Then, he ate with them under Thomas'' invitation.

    That''s when Dorian learned that he was really arrogant. Not talking about his way to order people around, just the look in his eyes was terrible. Personally, he didn''t like the guy, but he didn''t want to get in conflict with his sister over an idiot, so he kept the appearances.

    When they were in private though, he would insult him a bit. After all, who does he think he is to date his sister? Just because his father is the CEO of some company doesn''t mean he can get everything he wants.

    But Dorian had to force himself to stop thinking about him, as he began wondering whether he could tear him apart bare handed, and that wasn''t good.

    He focused back on his computer and said \"I''m fine, stop staring at me. I just found a passion, so I''m in a good mood.\"

    Emily smiled triumphantly and said \"I knew it, there is indeed something. Tell me, what''s this passion of yours?\"

    Dorian said \"Not telling.\" Emily squinted her eyes and made a funny face, which she thought was scary, but Dorian ignored her. Instead, he was looking at guns online.

    He wondered, could he take items from Earth to Dreamland? So he asked Carla. Again, she was quick to answer.

    [Carla: You can take items from your original world to Dreamland, but they have a limit. Again it depends on your strength, but Evolvers are limited to Green items.]

    Then, it could be interesting to take a gun with him. Dorian lacked a way to attack from far away, and a gun could be a good choice for this. Or, he could take some throwing knives. He favored more the throwing knives as he already has the corresponding ability to the Adept level.

    But it still helped to look at the different guns online. Even though he didn''t use them, others did, and it could help to be able to differentiate between them. For example, knowing which rifle can is a semi automatic, and which one can spray bullets like crazy.

    And it didn''t ask a lot of work from him as with an Intelligence of 30, as he didn''t have his equipments, his memory was incredibly high, so he only needed to look at the weapons for ten seconds before memorizing it.

    When he was finished looking at the weapons, Dorian deleted the historic in case anyone checked. He knew people talented enough could still see what he looked at, but there was no such person in his family.

    Dorian didn''t buy the throwing knives online though because that would really be different from just looking at weapons'' characteristics. Dorian placed his computer on the table next to him and got up.

    He stretched a little and said \"I''m going to the grocery store, you need something?\" Emily asked \"Is there any coffee left?\" Dorian replied \"No, I think mom and dad will go to the mall today or tomorrow.\"

    Emily said \"Then take some. Same as usual. Thanks.\" He nodded and went upstairs to his room, changed himself and got out of the house. Even though it was about 9AM, it felt quite warm outside since they were in April. Now that he thought of it, his birthday would be in a month. Well, more than that for him.

    As he made his way to the grocery store, Dorian remained on the lookout for any danger. He was curious, would he meet a Dreamer?

    However, as he reached the store nothing happened. That was to be expected, most Dreamers should be staying in Dreamland, either in Eden or in a mission.

    Dorian bought what he needed, and came back home. He thought he would be disappointed with not encountering anything, but was surprised to find out he didn''t feel much. Looks like calm suited him too now.

    Dorian cam back home, and saw that both his parents were up. Dorian smiled and greeted them. Unlike his sister they were both fully awake, his father groaning about the lack of coffee and his mother reading the newspapers.

    Dorian first gave his father his coffee and went to seat with his family. As he sat his mother asked \"Have you thought about what we talked?\"

    Dorian looked at her confused. What did they talk about? Searching in his memory, he remembered. What did he want to do after high school?

    Dorian smiled. Before, this was so important, it determined youngsters'' future and many would get stressed over it. And yet now it seemed so unimportant¡­ Anyway, there remained about 2 months of school left, so about 7 or 8 missions.

    Following the evolution of his strength, in 7 or 8 missions he should at least become a Transcendent, or even the realm above that if he was lucky. By that time, he should already be nearing the peak of Earth''s strength. Then, school, jobs, universities¡­ they wouldn''t really matter anymore.

    By then, he should be strong enough to have some authority in the Hope Empire, so he should be able to get a fake job from them to explain some things and easy up his life.

 89 Mercenaries

    Dorian looked at his mother and said "I don''t know yet." His mother sighed and said "You need to hurry, soon the universities will close their doors."

    Dorian nodded and said "Don''t worry, I''ll think of it. But what about you, how is it going." She shrugged and said "Monteil is annoying me to no end, as usual, but overall I''m doing fine considering the current shit storm because of the upcoming elections."

    Dorian smiled and asked "Will you take part in them?" Elizabeth smiled and said "Why not? How does it sound, Mayor Hunt?"

    On the side Henry chuckled and said "It sounds great honey. Now, do any of you kids have something planned this weekend?"

    Dorian looked at his father curiously and said "I don''t." Emily shook her head too. Henry asked "Good. Then we should go see your grandparents, they have been missing you."

    Dorian raised an eyebrow. It had indeed been a long time since he saw them. So he said "Sure, why not?"

    Henry smiled and looked at Emily, who shrugged and said "If you want." Henry grinned and said "Good! Now they will stop harassing me." Dorian rolled his eyes and headed for the stairs as he said "What a cold heart¡­"

    Henry protested "Hey!" but Dorian ignored him and headed for the bathroom and took his shower. As she heard the water start running, Elizabeth folded her newspaper and asked "Is he acting weird?"

    Emily slapped the sofa she was on and exclaimed "Right?! He has been acting weird all morning!" Henry laughed "Let the boy be, he looks fine."

    Elizabeth frowned and said "But why did he change so suddenly¡­ Did he get a girlfriend?" Emily shook her head and said "I asked him, he said no. He said he found a new passion, but he wouldn''t tell what it was. But I think he is lying, yesterday he was still so morose, don''t tell me he found a passion alone in his room?"

    Henry rolled his eyes and said "Why can''t you two just enjoy it? Anyway, he looked bored all the time, it''s good to see some emotion on his face, don''t you think?"

    Elizabeth bit her lips but said "I guess¡­"

    The morning passed quickly as Dorian spent it in his room, playing video games. In the afternoon, his sister woke up, she must have been streaming all night again, thought Dorian.

    She was barely up when the family got her in the car, and they headed for their grandparents'' house. His grandparents had a nice house on the coast, but they weren''t far away from Dorian''s house.

    As a kid Dorian liked going there, mainly because the moment he stepped outside he would be on the beach, and also for all the sweets his grandmother gave him.

    But then as he grew up he became a little reluctant over going there, as it was becoming boring. Well, about every teenager were reluctant to go see their grandparents so it was no real surprise.

    Dreamland had helped Dorian grow mentally though. As for his sister, Gaby, she was a teen but she still liked going to their grandparents'' house because the beach allowed her to do great videos, and her fans seemed to like their grandparents.

    As they spent the hour in the car, Dorian felt he was lucky he didn''t gain much weight from Dreamland. In the car, his father drove and his mother sat next to him, while the three kids had to be together behind. When they were kids it was fine, but now that they were all grown up they had less and less place.

    Had Dorian gained mass, the trip would have become very uncomfortable. In the middle of his trip, Dorian was listening to music, looking out the window. They were in the high way when he suddenly felt danger.

    And it wasn''t just any danger, but a very dangerous one. It came from a white van. But after he focused on the danger, Dorian discovered that the danger did not come from the man driving the van, but what was inside.

    Focusing to his max, Dorian used his magic to feel what was inside the van. Guns. And armored people. Terrorists? Dorian wouldn''t have acted normally, but they were going in the same direction as them.

    He closed his eyes, and sent a portion of his mind attack those in the van. In total, there were five people armed to the teeth, and the driver. Dorian first used the biggest parts of his mind to attack the five behind.

    They turned out to be ordinary humans, so as he entered their mind they couldn''t even defend themselves and had to rely on their natural defenses. Dorian didn''t waste time, and directly killed four of them, and gathered his Mind Flame into the mind of the last man.

    His corporal body was trembling madly, and his spirit form was obviously confused, looking at the giant white flame in the sky. With 30 in Intelligence, Dorian had become a real monster at mental wars.

    His voice resonated in the other man''s mind "What did you intend on doing with those weapons?" His mere voice made the spirit form tremble, but the man still said "We¡­ we have a job¡­" Dorian snorted loudly, that was enough for him. Those were probably mercenaries.

    But he didn''t kill him immediately. Earlier he had learned that he could create skills, and he had a good idea just now.

    His White Flame spread out and trapped the man''s spirit form in it. But he didn''t damage it, but instead tried to take control of him. Unfortunately, the man''s spirit broke, and he died.

    Creating skills was harder than he thought. He left his body and came back to his own body. He left the conductor alive for now, as he didn''t want to create an accident in the middle of the road, not with his whole family there.

    But a few minutes later, as his dad left the highway, Dorian sent a spirit into the white van. As his parents'' car went further and further away from the van, he ordered the spirit to stun the man.

    Like this, there would really be an accident. If the man survived, then the police would find all the guns and arrest him, and if he dies¡­ too bad for him, he shouldn''t have done what he did.

    "Dorian, did you put makeup on?" Dorian looked at his sister in shock. "What are you talking about?" Gaby touched his face and looked at her own finger before saying "It''s weird, you didn''t put any cream¡­ Emy, don''t you find that he looks more handsome today? Mom?"

    Emily and Elizabeth both looked at Dorian, while Henry threw a quick look in the rear view mirror. Emily held her chin and said "Now that you are talking about it, he does look a little different¡­"

    Elizabeth nodded and said "His skin looks more fair. And his expression too." Gaby nodded and said "See bro? What did you do? Did you take my stuff?"

    Dorian sweated, how sharp were those women!! Still, he kept a calm face and said "No. I just started working out."

    Gaby tilted her head and said "Really? When?" Dorian scratched his head when a memory appeared. "I started a few months ago. You remember last time we went to the pool with grandma and grandpa? How you made fun of my skinny body?"

    Gaby rolled her eyes and said "I was joking." Dorian smiled and said "I know. But I decided to work out since then. I guess it helped with my health. And I eat healthier now."

    Henry, who was driving, said "That''s good, working out really helps. You know my friend, Thompson? He recently released a book on the human''s psyche, and in there he talks about this too. While working out, if you really believe from the bottom of your heart it will be good for your health, then effects like this will appear."

    Dorian nodded and said "I didn''t know about that. But I guess it comes from here. But why do you need to poke your nose in my stuff?"

    Gaby grinned and said "I just care for my big brother, is that a crime?" As she said that she took a hold of his arm, making a cute face. Dorian sighed and said "I guess not¡­"

 90 Damn Bro!

    "Flash news: an accident took place on highway 5, the conductor of a van passed out and his vehicle crashed. But the police was shocked to find that in the van were five men armed with military weapons. The police did not share anymore details, apart from saying that a tragic event has just been narrowly avoided¡­"

    Henry changed the station and Emily said "Wow, we could have crossed those people!" Henry grumbled "The world these days¡­ Fortunately they had this accident." Next to him, Elizabeth stroked his arm.

    Behind, Dorian was hiding a smile. Although no one knew he was the one who did it, he still felt happy. Didn''t every kid wish to become heroes? That''s why, Dorian felt a little proud. As for any innocent victim from the accident? Well, there would have been more deaths if he hadn''t acted. Sacrifice the few to save the many.

    It didn''t take much longer for the family to reach Henry''s parents'' house. It was a big house on the coast, right in front of the beach. And it looked like they were lucky today, as the weather was good, there was no clouds in sight.

    As the family got out of the car, a golden retriever came running at them. It jumped on Henry who began laughing. At the door, two elderly people were standing, smiling at them.

    As Dorian pocketed his earphones, the golden retriever, Carl, came to his feet and began circling around him. Dorian smiled and lowered himself to pet it when it suddenly said "You grew up kid."

    Dorian froze in shock before acting like nothing happened and proceeded to pet Carl. However, inside his head, was only mayhem, and chaos. WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. F?! Why the hell was the dog talking?!

    Gaby walked next to Dorian and patted Carl "Who''s a good boy: Who''s a good boy!" Carl played along and acted all excited. Dorian didn''t even think about him mishearing, all his attributes were at 30, how could he possibly mishear?

    He pretended to let it go and walked toward his grandparents house, along with his family, but countless thoughts sped around in his head.

    Still, on the outside he smiled at his grandma and kissed her before hugging his grandfather, and got in the house with everyone. As they began talking, Dorian tried to think about what was happening.

    But as he thought about the different possibilities, he realized he didn''t know enough. The most probable possibilities though were either this dog somehow entered Dreamland and got strong enough to gain intelligence, or the dog was in fact a shapeshifter, or one of his grandparents was a Dreamer, and Carl is a familiar.

    As they arrived in the house they all went to sit in the living room as Dorian''s grandma, Pauline, went to grab some drinks.

    Dorian''s grandfather, Benjamin, said "I heard there was an accident on the fifth, you were there?" Henry shook his head and said "We missed them fortunately."

    Benjamin nodded and said "It''s weird still, he just passed out like that, just like magic¡­ I guess we were lucky."

    Dorian instantly understood his grandfather was a Dreamer. Now the question remained, was his grandmother one too?

    Dorian felt his heart rate intensify as panic slowly crept on him, before he calmed himself. Why should he worry? True, his grandfather being a dreamer was weird, but did that mean it was bad? It might actually be a good thing.

    Dorian took back control and asked with a smile "What have you been doing lately papy?" Benjamin laughed and said "Oh, nothing special, we mostly spent our days here¡­"

    The family began chitchatting, as if everything was fine. After some time though, and some coffee, Pauline said "Why don''t we go take a swim? The weather is just right."

    At those words Gaby laughed and said "Just what I was thinking about Mamie! Emily, come with me!" She took Emy''s hand and dragged her away, to take their swimsuits.

    Dorian, Emily and Gabrielle always have spare clothes here due to the time they spend here, and that included swimsuits. Dorian got up and said "I''ll change myself too."

    Dorian smiled and walked away, going for his room. As he left he tried to hear what they were talking about, something that shouldn''t be difficult at all, but found out all he heard were blurred words!

    Obviously, they were masking their conversations. His grandfather was doing so at least. Downstairs, Elizabeth smiled to Henry and asked "Should we go to?"

    Henry took her hand and said "Yes, I''ll join you in a second." She nodded and walked away too. As she did, the atmosphere turned more serious, and Henry asked "You have something to tell me?"

    Suddenly, Carl, who was sitting on the ground next to him, said "It''s about Dorian." Henry raised an eyebrow and asked "What is it?" Carl said "He entered Dreamland."

    Henry looked at Carl shocked and said "That''s impossible! He.. he is¡­" Pauline sighed and said "You don''t know because you never entered, but we felt him before even seeing your car. We have a special sense towards danger, and he is screaming danger. He can hide it from most people, but only to those who are about as strong as him."

    Henry fell against the back oh his seat, looking dejected, and empty. Pauline smiled and said "It''s alright, there''s no need to worry."

    Henry shook his head and said "You told me how it is there, I know its dangerous." Benjamin shook his head and said "Don''t worry, we will talk to him. As long as he doesn''t go in, then he is fine. No one would dare hurt him here, so its alright. But still, I need to ask you, did you notice any change in his behavior? If so, when?"

    Henry opened his eyes wide, that''s why he was so weird this morning? With a sigh, he said "Yes, actually. It all happened this morning. Yesterday, he was the same as usual, and looked bored. But this morning, he appeared all happy and joyful. He said he found a new passion¡­ Oh god¡­"

    Benjamin and Pauline looked at him shocked though. Pauline asked "Are you sure? Are you sure the change happened during the night?"

    Henry nodded, and seeing his parents face he asked "Is there something wrong?" Benjamin suddenly laughed and said "There''s no problem, you don''t have to worry! Now stop thinking about it, he will be perfectly fine! Go change yourself, the beach will change your mind."

    Henry nodded halfheartedly and headed for his old room. But on the way he did his best to hide his internal conflict, he didn''t want to worry his wife for nothing.

    A few minutes later, Dorian got out of his room, still clothed. However, he had a swim short under his jeans. In the living room, everyone was already waiting.

    Gaby was almost jumping on the spot, already changed in her bikini as she hurried him "What took you so long! Let''s go!"

    Everyone smiled at her enthusiasm, even Henry who was feeling a little down. As they reached the hot sand, Dorian took his shoes off, and observed his grandparents carefully, as well as Carl.

    Once they set their beach towels, Gaby started streaming and said "Hello to you guys and gals, today I''m at my grandparents'' house, and you know what that means! Wow, you are coming fast! So, my brother started working out, but he never shows his body, but now he doesn''t have anymore choice, so let''s see if he worked hard enough! Grandpa, what do you think?"

    Benjamin smiled and said "I have faith in my grandson." Gaby grinned and said "We shall see! Dorian, show me your body!"

    Hearing her, even Dorian felt embarrassed. He understood she was on live, and needed to be energetic, but was there really a need for all of this? Dorian looked around for some help, but saw no one was ready to.

    Emily and his mother were gloating at him, his father looked as serious as ever, and his grandparents were grinning just like Gaby.

    With no choices left, Dorian sighed and took his shirt off.

    "Damn bro!"

 91 Origins

    The family were all in the sea, playing together. Dorian''s grandma had even taken a ball from the house so they were all playing together. At some point though, Dorian felt someone trying to invade his mind. Instinctively, he tried to resist, but then felt the mind power was familiar.

    Moreover, it was so strong that any defense he put in place was useless before it. And yet, it didn''t try to barge in. So Dorian opened his defenses, and sent in his mind. Still, he left a part of his consciousness behind to operate his body, that was something he learned to do thanks to his 30 in Intelligence.

    Inside his mind, Dorian saw the hundreds of spirits were roaming aimlessly around his Mind Palace. As for Tibo, he was sleeping against the small Mind Palace. But then, Dorian felt a newcomer.

    There, in the sky, a giant hammer that seemed to be made of the finest steel descended. From it, Dorian heard his grandfather''s voice "Dorian, I see you know the Mind Arts too, that will make things easier."

    Dorian felt conflicted about his grandfather, because in his heart that was still his kind elderly grandfather, but his paranoia from Dreamland also made him wary. Still, Dorian tried to force the paranoia away and replied "Papy, I didn''t expect you to be a Dreamer as well."

    The hammer suddenly started transforming until morphing into Dorian''s grandfather. Benjamin smiled and said "On the contrary, I expected one of you kids to become one eventually."

    Dorian manipulated the dark matter around and created two simple chairs, and transformed into his human form too. The two sat and Dorian asked "How?"

    Benjamin said nothing, but suddenly a pair of wings appeared on his back. Dorian recognized them as the Angel wings he too had. Benjamin said "Your bloodline is too scarce to feel it, but with my level of bloodline I can feel you have awakened yours¡­ How did you awaken it?"

    Dorian didn''t answer, and instead asked "How long have you been a Dreamer?" Benjamin laughed and said "If you wonder whether I am still your grandfather, then yes I am. I entered Dreamland in 1756."

    Dorian froze in shock. Seeing his reaction, Benjamin laughed and said "I know, what a surprise! But now you know that I have always been the same since you were born. Since your father was born. Actually, I met your grandmother when I was there."

    Dorian sighed and said "Mamie is a Dreamer too¡­ How old is she, if that isn''t too indiscreet? Also, am I also your grand kid, or great great grand kid or something?"

    Benjamin shook his head and said "Your grandmother was born in 1798. And you really are my sole grandson, your father was our first child. For a long time we have feared having a kid due to how Dreamland is."

    Dorian lowered his head and asked "Before I tell you what happened to me, can you tell me a bit of yours and grandma please?"

    Benjamin laughed and said "Sure. Well to begin, I was born in 1736, my father was a blacksmith and I learned from him. When I turned 20, I was introduced to Dreamland. There, I gradually became stronger, but I can''t tell you much about that. What I can tell you though, was that I played a pretty big part in the revolution. As well as in Robespierre''s death. Actually, Robespierre was a Dreamer too, and he tried to kill me because of some petty problems¡­ That ended with his death, as you know."

    Dorian tilted his head and asked "Wasn''t he decapitated?" Benjamin smiled and said "Do you know about the Hope Empire?" Dorian nodded "A bit, I know the basics."

    Benjamin continued "Well, know that behind every influential leader, there was the Hope Empire. So changing history isn''t that hard. After Robespierre''s death, I started hanging out with Napoleon, we did a couple missions together for the Hope Empire and rose in the ranks. He was even given the position of Emperor, which he liked quite a bit. Unfortunately, he was killed by an enemy world¡­"

    Dorian interrupted and said "Wait, slow down¡­ You did missions for the Hope Empire? An enemy world? What are those? And most importantly, you knew Napoleon?!"

    Benjamin laughed "There are many things you don''t know yet, but I can''t tell you until you grow stronger. When you Ascend, I will be able to tell you some things, and when you Transcend I will be able to tell you pretty much everything."

    Dorian asked "What rank are you?"

    Benjamin smiled "I can''t spoil you the surprise, can I? All I can tell you is that I am one of the 12 Council Elders, which are just below the Emperor in term of power, is that enough for you?"

    Dorian was gobsmacked "Are you kidding me?" Benjamin shook his head and said "Impersonating as someone of my rank is a very grave crime, with a punishment worst than death. When I was born, I didn''t have a last name. Do you want to know why we are called Hunt?"

    Dorian smiled and asked "Tell me." Now, all traces of doubt and vigilance had been dropped. That was still his grandfather he loved, he hadn''t changed, he still narrated his stories the same way, although those ones were new and more exciting than child stories. But now that he thought of it, the stories his grandfather had counted him when he was a child, were they actually some of his adventures? Too bad he was too young to remember anything¡­

    Benjamin said "To reach my place, you do not only need power, but influence and achievements to your name too. For me, I had reached the strength and influence necessary a long time before being promoted. What allowed me to be promoted, was a particular mission. One of the older Council members had actually been found out to be a traitor, and a double agent. I chased this man through two dimensions and for 69 years before finally killing him. That''s how I became known as the Hunter, and was given the name Hunt."

    Now, Dorian was grinning from ear to ear. He said "I didn''t think my Papy was so awesome! To be honest, I thought I would have to face alone everything that would be about to come, but seeing you too are a Dreamer¡­ You don''t know how relieved I am."

    Benjamin smiled warmly and said "I will always be there for you, be it you, your sisters or your parents."

    Dorian nodded, and asked eagerly "What about Mamie?" Benjamin put his forearms against his knees as he began explaining "You see, Pauline has very different origins from mine. You remember about me saying Napoleon was a friend of mine?"

    Dorian nodded, so Benjamin said "Well, in the end he wasn''t only a friend, but my brother in law. You have Imperial blood in you."

    Dorian opened his eyes wide. Imperial blood, him? But as he thought about the idea, he realized it wasn''t that big of a deal. What was an Emperor in front of an Angel?

    Benjamin designed him with his head and said "Now you know everything about me, tell me about you? How many missions did you went through? How did you do?"

    Dorian froze a little, and said "Hum¡­ I''m not sure you want to hear what I did¡­ I somewhat made a name to myself too¡­" Benjamin raised an eyebrow and said "Really? That''s my grandson haha! But don''t worry, I won''t judge you. But I can understand your reluctance, so let me tell you one story of mine. If you don''t judge me, I won''t judge you."

    Dorian nodded, so Benjamin said "First, both your grandmother and I are Predators, you are one too, right? You aren''t one of those filthy¡­ How do you feel about the Sheep, before I say anything bad?" Dorian grinned "Don''t worry, I''m not one of them. I think my next mission will be a Hunt. And when you hear my story, you will understand you can trash them as much as you want, I won''t judge."

    Benjamin laughed loudly "You really are my grandson! So as you know Predators have additional Hunt missions, and my story was during one of them."

 92 Origin II

    Benjamin said "The mission was simple, there were two guilds of Sheep at war, and my mission was to kill both teams. Your grandmother was with me. The world we were in was pretty weak, compared to our power levels, so we used one of the local kingdoms to rest. Your grandmother, being the beauty she is¡­ Oh right, our appearances are fake by the way, we use them to integrate into society."

    As he said that, he suddenly transformed. The once old man turned into a handsome middle aged man with a strong body, and shoulder length blond hair tied in a ponytail. He looked younger than Dorian''s own father.

    Then, Benjamin returned to his old appearance and said "Anyway, your grandmother is really beautiful, and we hid in that king''s palace because the two guilds were in said kingdom, so it was the best place to gather information. And that damn king actually tried to drug Pauline to take advantage of her."

    Instinctively, Dorian felt some hate build up, and some of his killing intent was released from the tree. Now that he learned about his grandparents, Dorian felt a never before felt link with them, he felt much closer to them than in the past.

    Benjamin laughed and said "Yeah, I had pretty much the same reaction as you back then. A little more sinister maybe. I didn''t kill him directly. Instead, I fought all the Sheep in the Capital, destroying as much as I could. In the end, all the Sheep were wiped out, along with the entire Capital."

    Dorian raised both eyebrows and said "Then I think I inherited more from you than I thought." Benjamin smiled and said "What''s your story then?"

    Dorian said "Well, taking Earth time, my first mission was last night, and I only did one so far. I was put in a fantasy world filled with legendary beasts and living gods. Of course, my mission was simpler, I had to survive for a month in there."

    Benjamin nodded "That''s a pretty common mission. But you are telling me you grew this strong with only one mission?" Dorian smiled and said "I won''t spoil the story either."

    Benjamin was stunned before he began laughing. Dorian smiled and said "So, I was dropped in what was called the Dark City, which turned out to be a city on top of a mountain, above the clouds. You know, when I saw the system for the first time, I immediately assimilated it to a video game. So, I acted like would in a video game if I wanted to become strong. I wasn''t satisfied with just completing my mission, I wanted to do it perfectly."

    Benjamin nodded "That''s the mindset of the strong. Only those who think like that ever achieve something. Dorian nodded and continued "In that city, there were two powers in place, and one was a gang. So I hunted down the weaker members while the stronger ones were away. I gradually became stronger until I met the truly stronger one. That''s when I met with a problem, the difference in strength between the strongest and the second strongest was too big for me to just face off against the strongest."

    Benjamin asked "What did you do then?" Dorian replied "Simple. I was lucky to be honest. One day, I found the daughter of one of those strongest, and she was pretty riled up against her father already. All I had to do was rile her up a little and I was able to turn her against her dad. Then, using an ability of mine I turned her into a kamikaze, without her knowledge. In the end, both her and her father exploded into pieces. Unfortunately, my mind wasn''t strong enough back then, and I lost an opportunity to get stronger. Fortunately it didn''t matter in the end."

    Benjamin said "I do recognize myself in you." Dorian smiled and said "After doing what I did, I was disgusted by my powers, and tried to live a normal life. That allowed me to find out two beings of another race, which became my friends and taught me the Mind Arts. I also met a family of spirits, and that''s where it becomes interesting."

    Benjamin was all ears, so Dorian said "In the world I was in, the spirits were either free, or under the control of a demon. Those were under a demon. So when I broke their contract and took them for myself, I summoned the demon. I killed it, and it dropped its heart. I consumed it because its descriptions only said that I would get 5 points to my Vitality and maybe a skill. But then, I made a strange discovery. The bloodline contained in the heart interacted with my own bloodline, which I was unaware of, and they began fighting, using my body as their battleground."

    Benjamin frowned "That''s something very dangerous!" Dorian nodded and said "I realized that if I just allowed them to continue I would die, so I forced a reaction. I jumped into a strange organism known as ''Heart of the Mountain'', which was much more powerful than me, and the bloodlines. Then, I did some experimenting. I discovered those bloodlines were nothing more than energies, and so I treated them as such. In the end, I was able to devour the other energies with my bloodline, and that allowed me to awaken my angel bloodline. Although, right now it is of a low class and density."

    Benjamin nodded and said "It is always so in the beginning. Do you know how to strengthen it?" Dorian replied "Pretty much?" Benjamin said "For the density, I had to use special objects made for this purpose, so it is difficult. As for the quality, it is much more simple, you only need to absorb a stronger bloodline. Or in some rare cases you can find a special art that allows you to strengthen it over time, but those are rare, I don''t even have one myself¡­"

    Dorian said "I think I have one. In that world there was a special energy called Life Essence. And angels have their very own type of Life Essence, as well as their special manual. Using it on a long period of time allows me to strengthen my Life Essence, but also to evolve my bloodline."

    Benjamin opened his eyes wide and said "You really do?! You really are amazing! Tell me, how did you get it?"

    Dorian smiled and said "I was a bit lucky once again. After awakening my bloodline, a fight took place among the different leaders of the forces of the city I was in, over an artifact. Unfortunately for them, I was much stronger and killed almost everyone, got Tibo over there, and the artifact. That artifact was the real deal as it was a Silver Rank Divine type item that allowed me to summon the spirit of a god for one wish. I was a bit skeptical about him being a god, but he turned out to really be one. For my wish, I asked him to give me this manual."

    Benjamin grinned and said "That wasn''t luck, it was you acing your beginner world. What happened next?" Dorian replied "My main mission was finished, all the ones who could threaten me were dead, so I started Exploration mode. Unfortunately, I barely got to visit anything before I was ejected out of that world?"

    Benjamin asked "Ejected?" Dorian nodded "Yeah, apparently I offended the gods of that world and they tried to kill me using a seal, but the system interrupted them and sent me out of that world. On the way out, the god had I summoned the spirit of tried to kill me I think, but was killed by the system."

    Benjamin slapped his thigh and said "Fighting gods in your first world, even though they were probably false gods, it''s still very impressive."

    Dorian smiled, although he didn''t understand the part about false gods, he probably couldn''t answer his questions so he said "And its not finished. My return to Dreamland, Eden¡­ it was even crazier."

 93 Talk

    Benjamin asked "What grade did you get for your mission?"

    Dorian smiled and asked "What do you think?" Benjamin said "You completed the main mission ahead of time and did some missions, so I would say¡­ Amazing?"

    Dorian asked "What''s before and after Amazing?" Benjamin smiled and said "There is SSS, SSS+, Perfect, Amazing, a few others."

    Dorian grinned and said "I got Epic." Benjamin smiled and said "That''s impressive, only a few ever get this, but for you to get it in your first world¡­ Epic indeed."

    Dorian smiled and said "After I came back here, I explored a bit, and once in the Market area I had to kill some Sheep, nothing major. Then, I headed to Eden, where I met someone with whom I created a guild. Then, once I came back to the Market, I was targeted by the wife of the man I killed, whom I killed too."

    Benjamin''s face turned serious as he said "So you really are the Wolf? Your guild, it''s Origin of Evil?" Dorian nodded, and asked "Is it bad?"

    Benjamin suddenly started laughing and said "Bad? Of course not, Predators and Sheep are in a constant war, killing those Sheep was good. And if that Lightning Star guy dares to target you once you ascend, we can kill him."

    But Dorian shook his head and said "I want to challenge him myself. And with [Angel Wings], even if I can''t kill him he can dream about killing me. Anyway, I killed and enslaved the spirits of the Sheep who attacked me, and got their stuff before going to buy some things. Then, I upgraded my attributes and abilities before I was confronted by a guy called Erudit and his lackeys, you know who he is?"

    Benjamin nodded and said "He does know some tricks, but he isn''t much of a threat. His two men though, Rock and Hatari, they are respectively the number 1 and 2 among Evolvers."

    Dorian smiled and said "Then Evolvers are really too weak. I beat the two of them easily without even using my skills. As for that Erudit, if we weren''t in his shop he would be dead."

    Benjamin looked at Dorian curiously and asked "How are your attributes?" Dorian focused a little and made his status window appear before him. It wasn''t really the status window, but an illusion he created with his mind, like the chairs they were sitting on.

    Benjamin looked at Dorian in shock and asked "All your pure stats are at 30 after only one world?!" Dorian smiled and said "I found the right ability books, and I had enough DC."

    Benjamin shook his head and said "You don''t understand. Dreamland will change the way it sees you, and your next mission will be very dangerous. I suppose you will be sent to hunt Ascendants."

    Dorian nodded and said "I guessed so, but it doesn''t matter. Evolvers, Ascendants, and soon Transcendants, whoever they are, I will crush them."

    Benjamin shook his head and said "You don''t understand, Ascendants are really too powerful, you can''t just kill them this easily¡­ You need to train in the real world for at least a few months or even years before going."

    Dorian scratched his head and said "That''s the problem, I don''t really have this choice. Dreamland doesn''t let me choose, I have to get in Dreamland every 7 days."

    Benjamin frowned and said "That''s problematic, you need to be careful. They may be Sheep, the gap between Evolvers and Ascendants is a big one."

    Dorian shook his head and said "I have faith in myself. And there is still that world, I can grow stronger using the elements inside."

    Benjamin thought about it for a moment before saying "Indeed, that''s what you should do. Do you know how worlds and missions difficulties work?" Dorian nodded, so Benjamin said "For Hunts, it is different. Even though it is your mission, you won''t be in your world, but in the other person''s world. That''s why, the world you will be sent in won''t be a 2nd difficulty world, but more a 5th, 6th or even 7th."

    Dorian shrugged and said "Does it matter to my mission?" Benjamin nodded and said "A lot. With how strong you have become, the resources you get in a 2nd difficulty world would be very minor, you would have way less objects. But since it is a more difficult world, even without the mission you should be able to get great rewards from the world itself, allowing you to get stronger."

    Dorian nodded and said "I''ll do that then. But I wonder, is there any way to get items from you?" Benjamin shook his head and said "No, in the same way you won''t be able to share your manual with me, it is impossible for people of vastly different strengths to give each other items. You need to be in the same rank, or the limit is at one rank difference, but the price paid is too high."

    Dorian asked "What about training me? If we have an ability in common, you can teach me to improve my experiences points faster, right?"

    Benjamin shook his head and said "Again, it is impossible. You can train with someone else, but it won''t enhance your experience points. The only ones who can teach Dreamers are the originals in the world, and Dreamers can only teach people who haven''t come in contact with Dreamland."

    Dorian sighed "That''s a lot of restrictions. Well, anyway, that was my story. But let''s talk about the Hope Empire, do you know who the Emperor is?" Benjamin nodded and said "Of course, but I can''t tell you, you shall see later."

    Dorian shrugged "It doesn''t matter. What role do I play in there, exactly?" Benjamin replied "Even though you are my grandson, you still have to start at the bottom layer. For now, you can''t play any role, but once you become an Ascender I will tell you more."

    Dorian nodded and said "It''s alright. I have another question though. Do I absolutely need to be asleep to enter Dreamland?" Benjamin nodded and said "You do. It is called Dreamland after all, it wouldn''t make much sense if you could enter there awake."

    Dorian asked "What if I want to go back to Dreamland before going to my next world?" Benjamin replied "You need to will for it before falling asleep, and you will waken up in Dreamland."

    Dorian said "Good. Now, I think we should return to our bodies and enjoy the day. That''s why we came in the first place." Benjamin smiled and nodded.

    Meanwhile, the other members of the family didn''t know a thing about what just happened, except for Pauline of course who could feel everything.

    For the rest of the day, the family spent their time together, normally. Only after dinner did they leave their grandparents house. Once home, Dorian got his first real sleep in a long time. He didn''t make any dream, and woke up as normal the next day, still on Earth.

    He spent the next day doing nothing, just chilling in his room. It was enjoyable. Like that, the rest of the week quickly passed, until it had been seven days on Earth. For the others, it was a totally normal day, but for Dorian, it meant he would go back in Dreamland. He would go to his next world directly though, but rather join Carla in Dreamland first, receive the money for what he sold, and maybe shop some things.

 94 To a new adventure

    As Dorian arrived in Dreamland, he looked at his balance. He had 200 000 Dream Coins, and all his possessions had been sold. It looked like Erudit hadn''t removed his items out of spite. Or maybe he didn''t know who put which item on sale?

    Anyway, Dorian was satisfied with what he had. If he wanted to buy some things, he could still use the system''s own shop. Although the prices would be more expensive, at least he could buy something. For the shops in the Evolver area, most of them didn''t sale what he needed, and he was banned from those who sold great things.

    Of course, there should be other shops that could provide him with good items, but he only had two hours until he would be sent into his next world. He could even enter a bit earlier if he wanted.

    Anyway, he didn''t have time to search for good shops. Instead, he would make sure Carla could prepare as much as she could, he didn''t want her to die, it would be hard to find a spy as good as her. And getting one who came from Earth would be even harder.

    So Dorian sent her a message, telling her to meet him at the beginning of the market area. She quickly replied, saying she would meet him there. Once the two reunited, Dorian sent her an invitation to form a party.

    To enter a world together, they couldn''t just be in the same guild, they needed to form a party. As she joined him he said "The next mission will most certainly be a Hunt, and the prey will be Ascendants. You are ready for this?"

    He expected her to hesitate, but was surprised to find out she just nodded. Satisfied, he added "Now, you can''t just go in there with how weak you are¡­ Let''s do some shopping, you need to get stronger. Tell me what you need."

    Carla smiled sweetly and asked "Are you becoming my Sugar Daddy?" Dorian frowned and replied "I don''t want a dead weight with me. Stop talking nonsense and lead the way."

    She pursed her lips and said "You are no fun." but she still walked ahead. As they passed through the Sheep area, Dorian didn''t even care about hiding, he directly showed his might by unleashing his King aura.

    Although his Killing Aura was stronger, his King Aura would get stronger by pressuring others successfully, so that was a perfect opportunity.

    The result was that no one dared to enter into a 20 meters radius from Dorian, avoiding him like the plague. As they did, he looked over to his status, as he had done some training, and also to see which ability books he should be watching for should he be lucky enough to find them.

    [Boring Guy]

    [Race: Human/Angel]

    [Title: King Subtitle: Demon Slayer]

    [Guild: Origin Of Evil (Guild Leader)]

    [Bloodline: Low Class Holy Fire Angel]

    [HP: 550/550]

    [MP: 350/350]

    [LE: 150/150]

    [Strength: 30 (41)]

    [Agility: 30 (42)]

    [Vitality: 30 (35)]

    [Intelligence: 30 (35)]

    [Perception: 30 (36)]

    [Skill: Kidney Strike, Fade, Force Share, Mind Invasion, Telekinesis, Angel Wings, God''s Sight, Low Regeneration, Holy Fire Life Essence]

    [Ability:

    [Adept Swordsmanship (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Swift Sword]

    [Adept Hand to Hand Combat (Level 3/10)]

    [Basic Lock-picking (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Tracking (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Dagger Mastery (Level 1/10)]

    [Adept Sneak (Level 2/10)]

    [Adept Throwing Mastery (Level 3/10)]

    [Adept Movement Mastery (Level 5/10)]

    [Adept Wind Steps]

    [Basic Ice Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Fire Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Resistance (Level 10/10)]

    [Basic Runemaster (Level 8/10)]

    [Adept Meditation (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Mind Magic (Level 10/10)]

    [Adept Holy Fire Manual (Level 4/10)]

    [Condition: -High Demon''s Curse: You have been cursed by the High Demon Guntad for killing his subordinate. Because you are unworthy of himself coming to kill you, he will regularly send demon subordinates at your pursuit regardless of the world you are in, except for your home world.

    -Dark vulnerability: Because of your bloodline, you suffer 50% more Dark Damage.]

    [Equipment: ¡­]

    Right now, what Dorian needed the most were Expert Rank ability books to upgrade his abilities to the new rank. He already had 6 abilities that could be upgraded to the next rank, and he wouldn''t even lose points as he get them once he Ascends.

    Unfortunately, there was no one among Evolvers who sold Expert Rank ability books, and he couldn''t buy them in the system''s shop as the items there were limited to Blue Rank and Adept Rank.

    That''s why, he could only hope he would find the appropriate Adept and Basic ability books, or the rare Blue Rank items out there. The problem was, Blue Rank items sold for around 50 000 DC, and if he wanted Carla to get a serious power up he needed all of the 200 000 DC he had.

    After some time they reached deeper in the Predator area, and Dorian took off his aura, there was no need for such a thing here. Carla led him to a¡­ perfume shop?

    Sensing his confusion, Carla said "We aren''t on earth, perfumes here are not just cosmetics. They can be used in various ways, to entice, to poison, to confuse¡­ They are of a great use."

    Dorian nodded and the two entered. The interior smelled really great, Dorian couldn''t put a name on the smell he was sniffing, but it was undoubtedly great.

    Carla seemed to know the place as she directly went for the counter, where a lady greeted her warmly. Carla replied politely before asking "I''m here for¡­"

    In the end, Carla ordered for three kinds of perfumes: One would make sneeze anyone smelling it, apart from the user, another would create a thick smoke as soon as it comes in contact with flames. Those first two were Green items, and costed only a few thousands.

    As for the last one, it was more rare, and even though it was still of a Green Rank, its price was several bigger. This last perfume would make all the ones smelling it enter a frenzy, attacking everyone around, be they allies or enemies.

    The total was of 49 000 DC, which Dorian found to be a fair price since they took several vials for the first two, and the last one was bigger than the other two.

    Although this wouldn''t directly enhance Carla''s strength, it would still strengthen her survival abilities. Moreover, they could be used differently from perfumes, of he wanted Dorian could also dip his throwing knives in one of those perfumes and throw them.

    They would have the same effects. By the way, Dorian had been able to buy a set of well designed knives, they were only of white quality but those were proper throwing knives with a perfect balance that would still deal a lot of damage. He was able to buy them thanks to his grandfather.

    After that, Dorian and Carla went for an ability shop. There, Carla bought several ability books, which she used to pass her abilities to the next levels. Actually, the two spent all the remaining DC on those.

    Moreover, Dorian was surprised to find ability books for his Runemaster skill, enough to level it up to the Adept Rank.

    Looking at his abilities, Dorian sent a relieved look at the last one, the [Adept Holy Fire Manual]. This ability was super rare, thus would be very difficult to rank up. But Benjamin explained to Dorian how wrong he was.

    Actually, his ability was much rarer than he initially thought. It was actually unique. Beginner worlds were unique to their users, and since the ability Dorian picked belonged to a special energy from a special race into that world, it was considered unique and would be the only one in the entire universe to own it.

    That''s also why Dorian''s grandfather lamented he didn''t have one such ability, because even with all the power he had, he couldn''t buy a unique ability, he needed to find it himself.

    Back to Dorian, because they were unique, those kind of abilities didn''t need ability books to rank them up, but rather for the user to make a breakthrough, going from one rank to another.

    Once they finished their shopping, only an hour remained. Dorian led Carla out of the market, and into his room. They didn''t need to do that, but once the mission was finished, they would appear in the spot they left, and he wanted them to appear in a safe place.

    As Dorian chose to cut the timer off, it immediately hit zero, and the two found themselves in the familiar dark place, a new notification appearing before their eyes.

    [Party Leader: Second Dream World, Apocalypse]

    [Generating the world¡­]

    [Mode: Multiplayer, Hunt]

    [Background: Desperate Originals have been asking for help against the ruthless invaders, and you are the answer to their prayers.]

    [Main Mission: Kill the Sheep.]

 95 For those waiting...

    @@So I was bored today and decided to check on the novel, and found out about someone checking everyday for updates. Thus I''ll make it clear, don''t. Maybe one day I will pick this up again, but it definitely won''t be soon. But even that isn''t sure, so consider this novel to be dropped.

    @@