Reborn in hell with a skill creation system

Chapter 16: Seeds And Thorns

The first assassination attempt came six hours after the Syrus fight.

Mael was in the stone cell, reviewing his remaining souls and planning his next skill investments, when Killer Instinct woke him from a half-doze with a sharp spike of warning. He rolled off the bench before the blade reached him, felt the wind of its passage across his throat, and came up with his claws extended in the darkness.

The assassin was small. Smaller than Mael, even, a hatchling, or something dressed as one. It wore rags that smelled of the egg fields, and its eyes were milky with some kind of film that suggested blindness. But the knife in its hand moved with precision that sight alone couldn’t explain.

Mael didn’t ask questions. Questions were for opponents who might answer. He lunged, Killer Instinct guiding him past a counter-strike he hadn’t seen, and buried his claws in the assassin’s chest.

The creature made no sound. It simply collapsed, and when Mael checked its pulse—habit from a human life that felt increasingly distant—there was none. The heart had stopped the moment his claws penetrated, as if the body had been designed to shut down rather than survive.

VOID SKIN — ambient absorption: +0.1 souls

Not even a full demon. A construct, maybe, or a slave bred for single use.

Mael stood over the body and waited. Killer Instinct remained quiet, but he didn’t trust it. If Syrus could bypass the skill entirely, others might have methods he hadn’t encountered yet.

The door opened. Zara entered, looked at the corpse, looked at Mael’s blood-stained claws, and sighed.

"First," she said.

"First?"

"Of many." She stepped over the body without examining it. "The other masters know what you are now. Or they think they do. Some will want to eliminate a variable they can’t control. Others will want to capture you before the Hollow opens, to extract your secrets at leisure." She met his eyes. "The next two days will be worse."

"Comforting."

"I don’t deal in comfort. I deal in survival." She reached into her robe and produced a second vial, similar to the speech remedy but filled with something that glowed amber rather than clear. "Drink this. It will accelerate your healing beyond what your current skill manages. Not a gift—an investment in you reaching the Hollow alive."

Mael took the vial. "You keep saying that. Investment. Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?"

Zara’s gold eyes flickered. For a moment, something almost like humor crossed her face. Then it was gone, replaced by the flat control she wore like armor.

"Drink," she said. "Then create whatever you need to create. I’m posting guards outside this door. They won’t stop a determined assassin, but they’ll slow one down enough for you to react."

She left. Mael drank the amber liquid, bitter, thick, burning down his throat like liquid copper—and felt his injuries begin to knit with visible speed. The knee Syrus had damaged tingled, then steadied. The claw marks on his back closed to pink lines, then faded entirely.

He sat on the bench, closed his eyes, and opened the system.

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HOST STATUS

Name: Mael

Tier: Lesser Demon — Stage 1

Souls: 1,265.6

STATS

STR: 97

AGI: 120

VIT: 103

END: 38

INT: 14

Skills Active: 5

DEVOUR — Stage 1

ACCELERATED RECOVERY — Stage 1

VOID SKIN — Stage 1

KILLER INSTINCT — Stage 1

LAST WORD — Stage 1

Skill Creation: AVAILABLE

He studied the numbers. AGI was highest, which made sense, he’d been prioritizing speed and reaction over raw power. But END was painfully low, and it had cost him against Syrus. Last Word consumed significant stamina, and with only 38 END, he might get one, maybe two uses before exhaustion made him helpless.

The assassin had been a warning, more would come, and they wouldn’t all be single-use constructs. He needed endurance, he needed sustainability, and he needed something that could turn the Hollow’s environment to his advantage.

One thousand two hundred souls, enough for one major skill, or two moderate ones, or several small seeds.

Mael thought about the Hollow. About things that had grown undisturbed for a hundred years. About soul-dense environments, predatory ecosystems, and the need to survive without constant combat.

"I want a skill," he said to the empty cell, "that lets me extract nutrients and energy from non-demon sources. Plants, minerals, ambient hell-energy. Not as efficient as Devour, but sustainable. Passive."

Skill concept received: Universal energy extraction.

Calculating viability...

Viability: Confirmed.

Full version soul cost: 450 souls.

Current souls: 1,265.6

Full version available.

HOLLOW STOMACH

Type: Passive

Effect: Host can derive sustenance from any organic or energy-based material in the environment. Efficiency varies by source quality. Demon flesh remains optimal. Does not provide soul energy.

Soul cost: 450 souls.

Accept?

Mael considered. It was expensive, and it didn’t provide souls—the real currency of his growth. But in a place where demon flesh might be scarce and everything else was trying to kill him, the ability to eat rocks and plants and ambient hell-magic might be the difference between survival and starvation.

"Accept."

HOLLOW STOMACH — acquired.

Remaining souls: 815.6

The sensation was subtle, a loosening in his gut, a sense that his digestive system had become... more flexible. He touched the stone bench and felt, impossibly, that he could consume it if necessary. Not pleasant, not efficient, but possible.

Next, the assassin had been quiet. Too quiet for Killer Instinct to provide useful warning until the last moment. He needed something for detection, for territory control, for knowing when things entered his space.

"I want a skill," he said, "that creates a sensory field around me. Detects movement, body heat, soul signatures within a radius. Passive, low energy cost, constant activation."

Skill concept received: Environmental sensory field.

Calculating viability...

Viability: Confirmed.

Full version soul cost: 520 souls.

Current souls: 815.6

Full version unavailable.

Downscaled version available. Would you like to create skill?

"Yes."

SENSORY WEB (Stage 1)

Type: Passive

Effect: Host maintains a limited sensory field in immediate surroundings. Detects physical movement and large soul signatures within approximately 5-meter radius. Does not detect non-physical entities or perfectly stationary threats.

Soul cost: 380 souls.

Evolves with Host level and accumulated soul investment.

Accept?

Five meters. Limited, but better than nothing. And it evolved.

"Accept."

SENSORY WEB — Stage 1 acquired.

Remaining souls: 435.6