Chapter 3: Devil Hunting
No POV:
"What..?" Axel stared at the screen in confusion. Was he dreaming?
His body was still battered and he could feel the pain from breathing alone so there was no way he was dreaming...
The screen flickered again.
[Host is in critical condition. Initiating Healing Protocol...]
Just then, his body was enveloped by a wave of warmth.
His wounds healed, his broken bones began mending, the blood began to evaporate.
In its place was a rush of vitality coursing through him like a tidal wave. He had never felt this good in his life.
[Complete.]
He looked at his hands. He patted himself down...
His body no longer hurt. Except for a slight sting he felt on the right side of his face, every other thing seemed fine.
[Generating Host Profile...]
[Complete.]
[Would you like to view your status window?]
Staring for a moment, he clicked on "Yes"
The next moment, a new screen appeared in his field of view..
[Name: Axel]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Hybrid human]
[Level 1: 100/1000 Exp]
[Points in possession: 100pts]
[Available Skills: Hunter’s Eye LV 1. Upgradable]
[Skill type: Combat]
[Description: A skill that allows the host to check the status and ability of his opponent.]
[Skill duration: 5 minutes]
[Cool down: 1 hour.]
Axel read through everything twice. Power... He had power...
Then, his gaze drifted to his parents’ dead bodies and his mood darkened.
"I swear, I’ll avenge you both." He declared...
Now that he had power, nothing was going to stop him from hunting and killing that devil with his own hands.
"Over here!"
The voice rang from the other side of the wall. Looking past it, he saw a group of people...
One of them had a sword strapped behind him, the other held a gun and pistols strapped to his waist.
The third one wore a helmet and a bodysuit. From the physique, Axel could tell it was a female.
’Hunters...’ He thought in realization.
Then one of them turned to his direction...
Staring so intensely at the wall Axel was behind.
Axel covered his mouth with his arm hoping they wouldn’t hear him breathing.
"An issue?" The female asked.
The dude with the gun adjusted the strap. I can sense something over there.
"Now that you mentioned it..." the female turned. She could also sense traces of devil energy around that wall.
Though faint, it was there.
’Shit!’ Axel cursed. He didn’t know Hunters were able to sense other people...
[Ding!]
[New Skill Unlocked: Devil’s Veil Lv1. Upgradable.]
[Skill type: Support]
[Description: The Devil’s Veil is a cloak designed to conceal the devil energy of its wearer. Once worn, the wear would be invisible to tracking skills and abilities for an amount of time.]
[Skill duration: 2 minutes]
[Cool down: 30 minutes]
After reading that, a fabric materialised and fell into his arms.
Without thinking twice, he wore it, covering his head with the hood.
"—!" The gun man flinched. The energy he’d been feeling was gone.
"Weird..."
"Must be the residual energy from the explosion. Come on, we need to report this to the commander."
Saying that, they left.
After he was sure they were a safe distance away, Axel stepped out from hiding, and dusted himself.
He wasn’t sure what would happen if they caught him but he didn’t want to risk it.
"Best not to take any chances..."
He glanced at the cloak again before it disappeared leaving red sparks as it vanished.
[Devil’s Veil: 00:30:58]
The window appeared alongside the skill..
Closing it, he looked upwards. Breathing in the air... it smelled like blood and rot—nothing he wasn’t used to.
Looking towards his parents’ body he sighed. He looked around, then saw a part of the floor that was blown open.
Walking back, he picked up his father’s body first—carefully as if fearing the slightest manhandling would somehow hurt him.
He walked towards the hole and gently placed him inside.
He did the same to his mother, trying and failing to hold back his tears...
Gently, he placed her body next to his and began covering it up with a shovel he found nearby.
After he finished, he just sat there — leaning on a broken slab next to their graves as he watched the sun set.
The rays painted the city in a solemn yellow glow before disappearing into the horizon.
"All alone..." he muttered.
There was no need to go back to school now. He had a goal.
And that goal was to hunt and kill the devil that caused all these.
"I won’t stop till he’s dead." He vowed, clenching his fist.
[Ding!]
[New Objective unlocked.]
[Hunt and Kill 20 devils]
[Time limit: 24 hours]
[Objective Reward: +500 Exp, 1000 pts]
[Each devil yields a reward of 50pts.]
Axel stared at the screen for a moment before standing up.
He couldn’t complain since it seemed like even the system gave him time to mourn.
"20 devils huh..." If the system wanted him to kill that many then he had to be surrounded by them.
"Well then, let’s get to work..."
~~~~~
"Rahhhh!"
The devil shrieked before falling to the ground, its body evaporating.
[A devil has been slain.]
[You have gained 50 points.]
[Devils Slain: 15/20]
Axel pivoted and dashed straight toward the other one. He had been hunting all day, killing them one after the other with growing hatred.
He latched onto the devil’s back, forcing it to the floor.
**SPLAT**
Axel crushed its head. Blood and viscera flying onto the street.
[A devil has been slain]
[You have gained 50 points]
[Devils Slain: 16/20]
"If I’m going to beat that devil, I’m going to need all the power I can get."
In all honesty, him deciding to spend a few more weeks Exp farming wasn’t such a bad idea. But he wanted to get it done before someone else killed the devil he was after.
He was going to do it with his own hands...
**CHING**
"Whoa—!"
He was about to punch another devil when a blade shot out from his arm, piercing the devil through its head before his punch connected.
[A devil has been slain]
[You have gained 50 points]
[Devils Slain: 17/20]
He stared at his hands, looking at the onyx blades protruding from his forearms.
"This seems pretty handy..."
With a smile, he dashed forward, aiming to continue his hunt...
~~~~~
Axel sat on a rooftop, a can of cola in one hand, a devil’s head in another as he looked at the ground below him.
When the devil’s head vaporized, he glanced at his system.
[A devil has been slain]
[You have gained 50 points]
[Objective Completed.]
[You have gained 500 Exp]
He opened his stats window.
[Name: Axel]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Hybrid human]
[Level 1: 600/1000 Exp]
[Points in possession: 1100pts]
[Available Skills: Hunter’s Eye LV 1. Upgradable]
[Skill type: Combat]
[Description: A skill that allows the host to check the status and ability of his opponent.]
[Skill duration: 5 minutes]
[Cool down: 1 hour.]
[Upgrade cost: 100pts]
[Devil’s Veil Lv1. Upgradable.]
[Skill type: Support]
[Description: The Devil’s Veil is a cloak designed to conceal the devil energy of its wearer. Once worn, the wear would be invisible to tracking skills and abilities for an amount of time.]
[Skill duration: 2 minutes]
[Cool down: 30 minutes]
[Upgrade cost: 500pts]
Staring at his skills, he began to think...
The only two skills he had at the moment were upgradable, each having different costs.
His [Devil’s Veil] skill cost more than the [Hunter’s Eye] skill but looking at it, the [Devil’s Veil] skill would benefit him more in the long run.
"1100pts... I’d love to keep a few points with me as backup."
"Upgrade [Devil’s Veil]"
[Ding!]
[Upgrade complete.]
[Devil’s Veil Lv2. Upgradable.]
[Skill type: Support]
[Description: The Devil’s Veil is a cloak designed to conceal the devil energy of its wearer. Once worn, the wear would be invisible to tracking skills and abilities for an amount of time.]
[Skill duration: 5 minutes]
[Cool down: 30 minutes]
[Upgrade cost: 1000pts]
"Alright!" Although the cost had doubled, he was satisfied with the results nonetheless. Closing the system, he drifted off to sleep, finally able to take a proper rest...
.
.
.
.
.
[Ding!]
He awoke to the sound of the system.
When he opened his eyes, information flooded his view.
[New Objective unlocked]
His eyes widened at the information he saw.
He even rubbed them to make sure he was seeing this right.
"Already?"
Wasn’t it too soon to be assigned another task?
Clicking it, the details popped up.
[Hunt and Kill the Crimson Griffin]
[Rewards: +1000 Exp, 1500pts]
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