Kaito stepped forward. The wooden floor loudly creaked under his newly transformed weight.
He was no longer the incredibly frail boy from just a minute ago.
With a newfound courage, he was getting closer towards the Daemon who had just tried to eat him.
The terrifying monster was still fully encased in thick, dark Daemonic Energy. It let out a slow, cautious shriek.
From the shifting tone of its monstrous voice, it seemed the Daemon was genuinely curious. Where did this weak human's sudden confidence come from?
Just seconds ago, this pathetic boy was cowering on the floor. Now, he was casually walking forward like a seasoned predator.
But for Kaito, that did not matter at all!
He could already sense a massive, unbelievable change inside his own body. He felt the rapidly increasing output of Daemonic Energy pooling right inside his chest.
It felt like a miniature nuclear reactor had just been ignited next to his heart.
Unknowingly, Kaito had perfectly performed the most basic fundamental skill of a Hunter. It was simply called Energy Charge!
The Primordial Hunter Body was an absolute cheat. It naturally allowed Kaito to aggressively absorb the surrounding Daemonic Energy from the atmosphere.
It even forcefully stole the dark, toxic aura directly from the Daemon standing right in front of him. All of this invisible energy was sucked into a certain point in his chest before being able to manifest into powerful combat techniques.
However, Kaito faced a very practical and embarrassing problem.
He did not know any techniques just yet. He had never attended a fancy Hunter Academy.
He only knew about fighting from reading comic books and watching flashy news broadcasts.
So, Kaito took the simple initiative. He forcefully drawn the swirling Daemonic Energy straight into his right palm.
A bright, suffocating purple light gathered around his clenched fist. The sheer density of the raw energy made the air around his hand visibly distort and violently crackle with dark lightning.
The secret lore behind his new physical vessel was completely legendary.
The Primordial Hunter Body was the ultimate evolutionary body. It allowed its user to draw Daemonic Energy completely automatically. It was as easy and natural as breathing oxygen.
It also allowed the highly volatile energy to flow with perfect, flawless efficiency. Every single technique that is made by the user simply became insignificant in cost. The usual energy drain was greatly reduced to almost zero.
On top of that ridiculous perk, his internal Daemonic Energy pool inside his chest was heavily enhanced.
This meant Kaito would be permanently and mentally shielded from the terrifying corruption caused by absorbing too much Demonic Energy.
He would never lose his mind.
He would never become a hunted Heretic.
He was basically immune to the greatest occupational hazard in the entire world.
In the long, bloody history of mankind, there were only two recorded Hunters who possessed this supreme body.
It was the legendary first Hunter, Anno Eulenspiegel, who led humanity during the dark ages. The other was the almighty founder of the most powerful Hunter Clan in modern Japan, Jimmu Yamato.
Now, a random high school kid with messy, long hair was the third.
"Get out of my room."
Kaito finally threw his punch.
He did not use a beautiful martial arts stance. He just swung his glowing right fist squarely at the monster's ugly face.
Boom!
The impact was absolutely deafening. It sounded like a military tank had just fired a heavy cannon inside his bedroom.
The brute force, purely combined with the explosive Daemonic Energy, created a massive, destructive shockwave.
The Daemon did not even have time to blink its giant eye. Its massive, armored body was violently launched backward like a broken, worthless toy.
Crash!
The monster completely smashed through the thick bedroom wall. It flew straight out of the second story building and crashed heavily into the empty street below.
The concrete pavement instantly shattered into countless pieces. A massive, dusty crater formed right in the middle of the neighborhood road.
This was the true, terrifying scale of a low ranking Daemon. Even the weakest ones required small building-level destructive power just to leave a lasting scratch.
But Kaito had just swatted it away like an annoying summer mosquito.
Kaito looked at his own fist in pure, unfiltered shock.
Did he really just do that? Was he secretly a superhero now?
He quickly jumped down through the massive hole in his wall. The cold night wind blew past his face as he landed perfectly on the cracked pavement. He did not break a single sweat. His knees did not even tremble.
The Daemon was severely injured, but it was not completely dead yet.
It screeched in pure, desperate agony. Its glowing purple eye was frantic with deep fear. It urgently tried to gather its remaining dark energy to fire a final counterattack.
A highly concentrated beam of acidic purple light shot right out of its jagged mouth. It melted a nearby metal streetlamp instantly and aimed directly at Kaito's chest.
"Too slow!"
Kaito did not bother trying to dodge. He fully trusted his new cheat body.
He rapidly gathered another massive sphere of Daemonic Energy in his right hand. He slammed his glowing palm directly against the incoming energy beam.
Splash!
The Daemon's desperate ultimate attack was easily dispersed. It shattered into harmless sparks like fragile glass hitting a solid steel wall.
Kaito instantly closed the distance between them. He leaped high into the air, raising his fist above his head.
He brought down a terrifying, energy-infused punch right on top of the monster's hard skull.
Crunch!
The thick, armored plating on the Daemon's head caved in completely. The ground beneath the monster violently collapsed even further, creating a second, much deeper crater in the ruined street.
The monster twitched its creepy limbs exactly once. Then, it stopped moving altogether.
Kaito exhaled a very long, shaky breath. His heart was still racing, but his mind was surprisingly calm.
Kaito stared at the lifeless Daemon corpse which slowly evaporating and reduced to ashes.
This is what happened when Daemons were killed. Their body became ashes and their soul returned to Hell.
When Kaito was just about to turn around and leave, a sudden feminine voice made him look up.
"You really killed it without using any Combat Techniques?"
Sat on top of the roof of his hollowed room was a short, almond-haired girl.
She put a bright smile on her beautiful face.
With one powerful jump, she landed in front of Kaito. Her white uniform visible under the moonlight, perfectly suited her fit body.
The concrete floor did not even crack under her heavy boots. She moved with the grace of a falling feather, but the pressure she emitted was entirely different.
"Who?" he asked.
"Hey! Hey! How are you doing that?"
She leaned in closely and stared at Kaito with sparkling, curious eyes.
"You know, I thought what you were doing was just a simple Enhancement Technique."
She circled around Kaito, inspecting him like a brand new toy.
"But, when I look closer, it is actually pure Daemonic Energy!"
Kaito did not know how to respond to this sudden invasion of personal space.
She did not really bother introducing herself either.
But she certainly seemed to know a lot about Daemonic Energy and how it operated.
Could she be a Hunter?
'But she is too young!' Kaito felt a sudden hint of envy.
She looked like she was the exact same age as him. Yet, she was already casually hopping off destroyed buildings in the middle of the night.