Kyaa!
Kyaa!
A miserable bird-like sound came from a one metre tall creature, with slight resemblance to a rhino but six shriveled up and weak looking arms, with sharp claws attached to its hands.
The creature, commonly known as a rivaksi demon, walked on two legs that seemed barely able to hold its weight, while waving its hands as though it was trying to fly.
It emitted a 'kyaa' sound from the hole in its horn, as it approached an unmoving figure, who slumbered unprotected in the middle of a dying forest.
The rivaksi demon stared at their body, its being enchanted by an unknown allure.
And with greed in its small beady green eyes, it approached the figure with a speed unbelievable for such a hefty demon to possess, but paused just before it could attack the sleeping figure, and struggled to move.
However, it didn't take a second more after the figure had moved for the rivaksi to know it was their doing.
The low-level demon screeched, its horn emitting an ear-splitting call that attracted nearby demons and rivaksies.
But as it began to call for help, it froze.
The sensations in its body seized, as its green eyes made contact with the icy glare of the young man staring at it.
In that instant, it felt fear, and once more began to screech frantically.
However, the figure who had scared it, looked up at the eerily orange colored full moon, his gaze was fleeting yet focused, as he appeared seemingly unbothered by the disturbing sounds.
"So early in the morning and these damned things are bothering me."
He muttered, listlessly, irritation clear in his placid yet low voice.
He moved his gaze away from the eerie moon while tousling his jet black hair and finally faced the demon in front of him. But…
Kyaa!
Kyaa!
Hiss…
Grrng!
'Hm?'
He calmly looked over the demon's figure, his eyes sweeping over the approaching demons.
There was a hint of amusement in those eyes and his lips curled up into a smirk.
Although he had just woken up, and was still lethargic, the sight of such a large horde of demons gathering together to feed on him nearly made him laugh in disdain.
Moving his gaze away from the approaching demons, he looked at the rivaksi demon and assessed it.
'This one must probably be a chief or something.'
He mused, referring to all demons as the same, since he couldn't bother to differentiate what would still end up as a corpse from something so grotesque, it shouldn't even be called a living thing.
'But demons aren't the only things undeserving of the title of a living thing.'
He thought darkly as he stood up.
Sweeping a glance over these soon to be corpses, he suddenly found them more pleasing to the eye than the person in his memory.
Despite his reluctance to think of her, memories of her lingered in his mind, refusing to be shaken.
These memories dissolved all reasoning, fueling an inability to control his emotions.
Yet the more he tried to suppress them, the more they consumed him, escalating his anger.
Llingn!
Barely stifling a chuckle laced with intense rage and hatred, he approached the demons but with a swift movement of his arm, he struck down the presumed chief.
The greedy rivaksi split in half and fell silently, its death stunning its kin but left the other demons unfazed, and even more eager for blood.
He twisted his wrist slightly, and flicked his blade, sending the blood splattering off his sword.
'Disgusting', he thought inwardly, dismissing the ensuing chaos and reinvigorated demons as though they were nothing more than an afterthought.
Despite bearing witness to the swift death of the presumed chief, the other demons advanced forward without a hint of caution or fear.
Their unintelligent growls and unwise actions served as a testament to their title as mindless low level creatures, whose only advantage against humans was the miasma.
However, the rivaksies among them ran wild, and madly rushed towards him, but…
"Spatial Interference…"
He said softly, stretching forth his sword as his tense gaze relaxed.
Whoosh
The miasma in the air collided rapidly with his mana which spread forth from him, but that did not stop him from casting his spell.
And his relaxed demeanor gave him an otherworldly appearance.
As the mana swirled around him, and pushed back the miasma surrounding him so he could cast his spell, the rivaksies arrived before the other demons, and thus, began to attack him in a frenzy.
But he remained calm and dodged their attacks, whilst channelling his mana.
The rivaksies were fierce and cared not for themselves, hence they did not give up, and kept attacking him.
And that not only delayed his spell but also depleted his stamina, causing him to begin to slow down.
One managed to get really close, its claws a second away from slashing at his chest.
But in that one second he hesitated and failed to raise his sword…
The rivaksi took that opportunity and stabbed at him ruthlessly. But its attacks were blocked by an unknown force, and in the next second…
tling…
Whoosh!
A dagger appeared out of nowhere and slashed through its glabella, before dissipating due to the intense miasma.
His slightly widened eyes relaxed as he let out big breaths he had unconsciously held.
"Tch."
He finally broke his stoic facade, and gave into his frustration, instead of expressing anger as he usually did.
All because they were far too much for him to be careless.
Thus, in the high of the moment he changed his spell.
"Spatial interference."
He said aggressively, his otherworldly aura giving him a more lively vibe.
"Disruption."
He whispered arrogantly into the air.
Everything turned still for a moment, including the miasma in the air.
But in the next, a massive barrage of mana burst forth from within him and swiftly executed the spell, dispelling the surrounding miasma in the process.
The approaching demons and attacking rivaksies let out woeful screams before fading into nothingness.
Their entire beings disrupted by his mana.
He watched, huffing and puffing and barely able to stand, as the large use of mana had taken a toll on him.
But it didn't really matter since he needed to expel it one way or the other.
Using his delicately crafted sword as support, he swept his dark blue eyes over the area, and let out a content smile.
'Bastards…'
He mused to himself, fully satisfied with his actions.
There were no corpses but the presumed chief's, no life, caused by the destructive miasma and nothingness in a fifty mile radius.
All that existed was him in an area purified by his own mana, incoming demons and-
Llingn!
A crisp and clear notification sound interrupted his actions and caused him to pause awkwardly.
He had forgotten he was being watched.
A soft sigh escaped his lips as he looked up, his eyes scanning the contents of the system interface slightly above him.
[Jupiter: You shouldn't have used so much mana on them.]
"I know", he muttered in a low voice, and gave no further explanation, but instead changed the subject.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
He asked casually, scrutinizing the thin beautiful bracelet on his left hand as he massaged his right wrist.
It ached due to his awkward sleeping position, and hurt even more because of his unexpected guests.
[Jupiter: You were sleeping so deeply it was hard to wake you up with a single notification.]
Another interface popped up and attracted his attention with its unusual silver colouring.
"It would've been better to try than not do anything at all," he muttered, but was still heard.
Probably sensing the reprimand in his voice, Jupiter simply responded.
[Jupiter: Well I didn't really want to wake you up, after all you needed some rest anyway.]
He chuckled softly as he read that, and moved his gaze away from the interface to the battle scene.
All that was left there apart from fragments of the already dying forest was the rivaksi chief on the bare and hardened ground, and the slight strands of mana in the air.
It was so comfortable being here, unfortunately this peace was short-lived as the miasma would once again consume the slight life and beauty he had brought here.
He approached the chief and complained as he did so.
"And how much sleep could I get in a place like this?"
His voice, for some reason, was full of subtle mockery and it seemed as though he was on the verge of breaking into laughter.
But Jupiter's next words changed his mood completely.
[Jupiter: I had the same thought too, but you seemed exhausted after your fight with the grime. And immediately you killed it, you slept off.]
He paused as the memory suddenly revealed itself in his mind.
"Oh yeah, that happened, didn't it…"
His voice faded off as he recalled what happened before he fell asleep.
"You know, you should have still woken me up. What if I was still trapped in an illusion or a messed up memory?"
He asked, consciously, as he used a dagger to cut open the demon's corpse expertly, randomly searching through its insides with his bare hands, and not an ounce of emotion on his face.
The putrid smell of its blood intruded his nostrils, but he remained stoic, as he was already accustomed to such a foul odour.
[Jupiter: If that happened then I'd know. Plus I can't really do anything when I'm all the way here, Az.]
"You could have gotten you…"
Az paused, and a frown gradually appeared on his face as unfamiliar memories flooded into his mind, and he unconsciously recalled thoughts of said memories before he fell asleep.
'Sil…'
That lone word grazed his mind and he recalled the dream he had.
His heart felt as though it had been gripped by a pair of small hands trying to contain it, but failing with every trial.
But the more they tried to succeed, the more it hurt.
"What a terrible dream.", he muttered, his blank expression of reminisce changed to one of gloom, and vague fury, as his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes darkened.
His hands unconsciously twitched, and he subconsciously moved them to his head but paused.
Staring at his sleek and well-defined hands covered with unsightly demon's blood, he sighed and mumbled out, "It's not the same."
"Ha!", he laughed bitterly.
His frustration had reached its peak.
And on impulse he conjured up a large sphere of water made of his limited mana, and released it above his head, letting the water flow down and wash off any dust or dirt that had managed to attach itself to his body.
It was then he ran his hands through his wet jet black hair, closing his eyes and thoroughly reminiscing over his dream.
It had truly been terrible…
Jupiter watched his actions in confusion, but hesitated to reprimand him.
However, after a short moment of contemplation, they finally typed to keep the conversation going, and Az, sane.
[Jupiter: What kind of dream did you have?]
He asked, seemingly curious.
"It's okay not to know, Jupiter."
He said tersely, unwilling to share anything about his supposed dream.
An interface appeared in front of him once more, but he just looked away and chose not to assess it.
His thoughts still revolved around his dream, and what he had experienced whilst asleep.
He gritted his teeth, wondering what he should feel, or rather how.
But then it occurred to him, 'there was no point', sad as it was, 'It was over anyway.'
A wretched life lived by a wretched soul.
How typical.
"Tch…"