Ethan stepped cautiously into the small town, determined to find out what had happened. The streets were as silent as a tomb, every building standing empty and abandoned. Suddenly, a frenzied cry echoed from one of the deserted taverns—a roar that sounded as if some beast were trapped inside.
"Hmmm?" Ethan frowned. Could the town have suffered a beast attack? That didn’t make sense. He quickly sent his wolves inside first, letting them scout the eerie tavern while he charged ahead to investigate.
But then—everything froze. Ethan’s heart hammered as he peered around the doorway. In front of him, one of his wolves stood motionless, its ears perked and eyes fixed on a horrifying sight.
The wolf had already snapped the source of the sound in two. There, sprawled on the cold, dusty floor, lay a small body, torn in half. Crimson blood pooled around the severed parts, stark against the faded wooden planks. The creature was disturbingly human-like, with only a pair of demonic eyes.
Ethan’s breath caught in his throat. For a moment, he couldn’t move, his mind reeling at the sight. This wasn’t just another beast attack—it was something far more sinister. As he stared in disbelief, his mind raced with questions.
But there was only one obvious answer. The demons roaming around the forest were people from this very village.
Ethan’s heart pounded as he stared at the torn, bloodstained body. In that horrifying moment, the pieces fell into place: these "demons" weren’t creatures at all—they were the people of this very village, twisted and corrupted by some dark force.
The same dark force that creeped out of the mines. The same dark force that had been affecting the beasts in the forests. Now it had finally spread to the people in the village.
The realization sent a chill down his spine. The gentle rustle of the wind in the empty streets now carried an ominous weight, and the silence of the town felt even more suffocating.
He took a step back, swallowing hard. The last time he had left this place, it was a lively town with people laughing and chatting freely. He couldn’t help but shudder as he remembered the faces of the men he had teamed up with to kill the panther.
Even though they were strangers, they had been nice to him and chatted with him freely. They weren’t bad people at all. Now, standing in this desolate, cursed village, that memory felt like a distant echo.
Ethan clenched his fists as frustration and guilt started to bubble up within him. All of this was because of him?
He knew he did not directly cause any of it but if he had checked out that mine the last time or at least informed someone about it, maybe all of this could have been prevented. He had been selfish because he had to be and the consequences were now suffocating him.
Ethan remained still for a long moment before drooping his head and laughing. That little bit of magic had really gone to his head. He was at the lowest rank, at the bottom rung, only now learning the ropes of this world and yet he dared to take the responsibility of something like this?
He was too weak to even feel guilty for this. In this world only the strong had the right to save someone else. No, he did not want to save anyone. He did not plan on becoming anyone’s savior and yet his heart clenched and his mind was filled with rage and anger.
He did not want to be weak anymore. He did not want to feel guilty and frustrated like this ever again. He turned around and headed back into the surrounding forests. He immediately released all of his minions and asked them to scout the forest.
An entire town of demonic humans. He did not know why but he had the urge to take them all for himself. Maybe down the line he could find a way to reverse what had happened because of him.
"Fuck. I am being so dumb!" He shouted in frustration and kicked a stone on the ground. He was being stupid and angry, but he did not care. He needed to make this right. He sat down in front of the small town as one by one all of his minions returned with a lesser demon.
An almost dead lesser demon but still alive. Ethan raised his hand without any expression and killed each and every one of them personally before adding them to his army.
He had 25 levels and each level gave him a summoning capacity of 5. That meant he could take 125 minions in total. He had enough space in his summoning list but it was not enough for an entire town.
He needed more. He needed to break through today. He needed to break through now.
The only thing that could give him those experience points was whatever was inside that abandoned mine. At least that’s what he thought.
But just as he reached the 125 limit, he was still able to summon yet another minion. It did not make sense but he did not care. He took every single lesser demon that his minions brought his way and added them to his command list.
Time quickly passed by as all of his minions scattered around the forest and scoured the area with a frenzy. With every kill, everyone was slowly leveling up. Ethan was also leveling up in his mage class.
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Perhaps the extra stat points from each level in the mage class was allowing him to grow his summoning list beyond what he should be able to. But in that moment, he didn’t care.
Every single lesser demon that his minions had gathered, he added to his command list without hesitation. It was going to be that much more difficult to step into the next rank but it did not matter.
There were plenty of demonic beasts still lurking in the forest. Each demonic kill gave more experience points. There was going to be a bloodbath today and he was not planning on stopping.
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