Reyn stood before a massive iron cage, watching the imprisoned demonic beast. It was a colossal creature, nearly five meters from head to tail. Its broad, massive body stood as tall as an adult human at the shoulder, like a wall, with four incredibly thick limbs. The beast's rough skin was ashen-gray, partially covered in pale blue scales. A half-meter horn protruded from its head, and a crest of triangular bony plates ran along its spine to the tail, giving it a fearsome look. Now, exhausted from prolonged starvation and displayed for all, it lay in the cage. Its eyes were dull, thick chains binding its body tightly, denying any resistance. Reyn figured the monster weighed no less than three or four tons!
He'd inspected it before, and each time puzzled: "This is clearly a huge rhino—why call it a Thunder Lizard?" In Reyn's mind, lizards were sleek, agile creatures, not such ferocious, clumsy, immensely strong monsters.
Soul Eye data confirmed his hunch. This low-level demonic beast had terrifying power, one of the strongest in its rank, comparable to a third-level superhuman.
It had three elements: "Strength," "Lightning Arc," and "Thunder Gallop."
Reyn knew the "Strength" element well. Though only first level, it meant the Thunder Lizard's might was formidable. If it charged and struck with its horn, few superhumans could withstand it. Physical elements like "Strength" could stack with existing same-named ones upon fusion. Reyn was quite satisfied—it would at least boost his own strength.
"Lightning Arc" was a first-circle spell, and quite a rare one at that—thunderous. The Thunder Lizard unleashed a Lightning Arc from its horn. Earlier, the owner of this demonic soul shop had provoked the Thunder Lizard, making it release a Lightning Arc once. The spell's power was quite impressive: the blue electric discharge made the entire massive iron cage shudder. Reyn, who had been standing several meters away at the time, also felt a slight numbness, and his hair stood on end. This spell had considerable power and a decent attack range—not less than ten meters. Its only drawback was the overly long preparation: the casting time for a first-circle Lightning Arc was three to four seconds. Reyn assumed that once he mastered this spell and trained with it for a while, he could reduce the casting time to three seconds. But three seconds was still too long for him. In close combat, clashes happen in a flash; not just three seconds—even one second feels like an eternity. In three seconds, he could land several hammer blows, turning the enemy into bloody pulp; in the same time, the enemy could land several strikes, sparking off his armor.
But it wasn't hopeless. If he could raise the circle of the Lightning Arc, acquire a couple of items that sped up spellcasting, and drink the appropriate potion, he might reduce the casting time to one second, which would be quite acceptable.
What attracted Reyn most was the last element—"Thunder Stomp." This was an unusual ability element, and a rare-level one at that! The Book of a Thousand Souls mentioned Thunder Stomp: it could be unleashed by stomping the ground. A shockwave arose around the caster, carrying lightning power and combining physical and energy damage. The radius was three to four meters, and on hit, it also paralyzed enemies, making it extremely hard to defend against. Most importantly—Thunder Stomp could be used instantly! It was the Thunder Lizard's signature move. According to its seller, it was only thanks to this move that three soul hunters who caught it had sustained severe injuries and were still recovering.
Reyn was very interested in this element. He had no decent attack skills yet and relied solely on brute force, smashing enemies with his warhammer. If he got Thunder Stomp, it would be very useful both in one-on-one duels and mass battles. He could imagine: in battle, suddenly stomping the ground and unleashing lightning—few would react in time, almost all would be hit. Thunder Stomp could knock down and paralyze, making enemies easy prey afterward.
If there was a drawback, it was that Thunder Stomp was an unusual ability element and couldn't be enhanced with spiritual power. It could only be strengthened with a certain probability during soul transformation. This limited its potential. It could be very strong in the early stages, but probably not very useful in mid and late stages. If Thunder Stomp had been a physical or secret element, Reyn would have chosen it for fusion without hesitation. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
"Such a good element, why is it unusual?" Reyn was very annoyed.
The other two demonic souls he had selected, the Phantom Mantis and the Wind Roc, weren't much worse than the Thunder Lizard. These two demonic souls were in other shops, both dead and sealed in soul stones.
The Phantom Mantis in life had been a large insect, entirely green, with a fearsome appearance. It also had three elements: "Phantom Step," "Rupture," and "Sonic Strike." The first two were physical elements, the last a spell. Reyn really liked "Phantom Step"—it was a rare-level skill. After using it, speed became lightning-fast for several seconds, leaving an afterimage, which greatly compensated for his lack of speed. "Rupture" was also good: on hitting an enemy with a sharp weapon, it instantly tore the wound, dealing more damage. However, Reyn usually used a warhammer, and enemies generally died from one blow, so the "Rupture" element seemed somewhat redundant. "Sonic Strike" cast quickly: air compressed in a small radius, then exploded, attacking enemies with a sound wave. At the same time, the loud noise caused brief stun, making the opponent lose concentration. Reyn was attracted to "Phantom Step" and "Sonic Strike"—both could significantly strengthen him.
The last demonic soul, the Wind Roc, possessed the elements "Speed Boost," "Air Cleave," and "Wind Breath." "Speed Boost" needed no introduction: that day in the battle at Winter Thunder Lake, Viola had used it on Reyn, increasing his speed by about twenty percent. "Air Cleave" was a wind-element spell; it cast slowly, but was an area attack: dozens of air blades covered a wide area in front of the caster, furiously slicing everything around, leaving no dead zones. "Wind Breath" was a rare unusual ability element that allowed the body to fill with wind power, slightly increasing movement speed. Whether hand-to-hand combat or wielding a sword, spear, or hammer, attacks were infused with wind element, somewhat like a magic swordsman, but weaker in power. And since it was an unusual ability element, "Wind Breath's" potential was also somewhat limited.
These three demonic souls had their merits and flaws and were the best low-level ones Reyn could find on the market. Mid-level demonic souls were better and stronger, but a second-level mage couldn't fuse with them.
Since all contained rare elements, the price of these three demonic souls significantly exceeded that of ordinary ones. The most expensive, the Thunder Lizard, cost five hundred gold shields. The Phantom Mantis and Wind Roc were a bit cheaper—around four hundred fifty gold shields each.
Two days ago, Viola had already sold those few trophies and given the money to Reyn—over four thousand three hundred gold shields in total. He had gotten significantly richer. So now Reyn wasn't short on money and could buy them even if the price were several times higher. He was agonizing over which demonic soul to fuse with and had been pondering it for two days.
"Lord Reyn, have you decided?" asked the woman in the red robe standing nearby. She was the owner of this demonic soul shop and a superhuman herself. Noticing that Reyn was a real potential buyer, she was very courteous.
Reyn glanced at her and, saying nothing, shook his head, still hesitating.
The shop owner smirked and said unhurriedly:
"Lord Reyn, you should hurry. Many customers have asked me the price of the Thunder Lizard. I kept it only for you."
"I understand," Reyn nodded.
He knew these tricks well. The shop owner just wanted to create a sense of urgency, making him think the demonic soul was in high demand. In reality, few superhumans could afford such an expensive low-level demonic soul, and potential buyers were few.
The vast majority of superhumans, when fusing with their first demonic soul after transformation—that is, the main soul—already decided in advance based on their profession. People came to the market to buy demonic souls usually as auxiliaries. This usually happened right after soul ascension, at second-third or fifth-sixth level. Due to conflict between main and auxiliary souls, the stronger the demonic soul, the harder to fuse. In case of failure, one could at best lose elements, at worst roll back in development, wasting the improvement chance. For reliability, many superhumans chose not-too-strong demonic souls as auxiliaries. These ordinary demonic souls usually had only one or two elements, and some superhumans even fused with the same demonic souls to enhance existing elements.
Conversely, very strong demonic souls sold harder, cost a lot, and deals weren't quick. Besides, the demonic souls Reyn chose contained secret elements. Many supernatural professions, like Iron Guardian, Berserk, Shadow Warrior, lacked magic ability. Even if they fused with these demonic souls without spiritual power, they couldn't use the secret elements, which would be a waste. If a mage bought them to extract secret elements for magic seals, the remaining physical elements would be useless, also wasteful. Therefore, the highest demand was for demonic souls where all elements were either physical or secret. Sometimes unusual ability elements were allowed—both spiritual and physical power could activate them.
There were few supernatural professions like Reyn's that required demonic souls with elements of different types. They included battle mages, demon hunters, mechanics, magic swordsmen, elemental archers. All were either rare professions, advanced, or church sacred professions. But advanced professions required at least fourth level, and low-level demonic souls didn't interest them.
Reyn had negotiated prices on these three demonic souls, paying ten gold shields deposit each so the shops would hold them for two days. During those two days, if no one offered higher, he had priority purchase right. If he didn't buy after the term, the deposit wasn't returned.
Today was the last day, and Reyn didn't want to delay anymore. He didn't inspect the other two demonic souls but stood long before this massive iron cage, observing. He had made his decision.
"No point overthinking, I'll choose the Thunder Lizard."
Reyn sighed quietly and told the shop owner:
"Extract the Thunder Lizard's demonic soul. I'm buying it."
"Lord Reyn is truly decisive!" The shop owner was very pleased and immediately called workers to prepare to kill the Thunder Lizard.
Reyn didn't watch the killing process, turned, and went to the counter to pay. He took out five gold bills from inside his robe—these were Imperial Bank gold tickets, each worth one hundred gold shields. Four thousand three hundred plus gold shields stacked would weigh almost like a purified iron warhammer, over one hundred twenty pounds sterling, and carrying them would be very inconvenient. So Viola helped exchange them all for gold tickets: three for one thousand gold and thirteen for one hundred gold. All were with him.
Soon the shop owner brought the soul stone. Reyn took it, examined it carefully, activated Soul Eye, and confirmed it was indeed the Thunder Lizard's demonic soul. Besides the soul stone, the shop also returned fifty gold shields including deposit, plus materials from the Thunder Lizard's carcass, which were also valuable.
Reyn didn't linger, put away the soul stone, and said goodbye.
Leaving the shop, he cautiously scanned approaching superhumans with Soul Eye, pondering fusing with the demonic soul that evening. At the same time, his ears caught many chaotic sound waves.
Not even halfway to the market exit, he heard several quiet voices from afar. Seemed a group had gathered there. Reyn initially paid no attention and didn't plan to interfere, but one word caught his ear.
"Dragon Strength Technique?"
He involuntarily stopped, focused on the sound source in that direction, and quickly understood: someone there was selling a demonic soul with Dragon Strength Technique!
Reyn immediately became very interested. He had heard of this spell. It was a rare-level first-circle auxiliary spell that could be used on self or others, greatly increasing strength comparable to a dragon's. Of course, it was an exaggeration—a first-circle spell couldn't have such a stunning effect. But Dragon Strength Technique could be upgraded. With each circle increase, the strength boost grew, and rumor had it that at fifth circle and above, the strength could truly match a real dragon!
Moreover, Dragon Strength Technique's effect wasn't limited to strength increase. After casting, the body was like covered in dragon skin, raising magic resistance—this was called "Dragon Skin Art." Dragon skin naturally had powerful magic resistance, and Dragon Skin Art was a spell imitating that ability.
Comparing just the strength boost, Dragon Strength Technique was slightly inferior to Giant Strength Art, but factoring in magic resistance, the overall effect greatly surpassed Giant Strength Art. One Dragon Strength Technique equaled the effect of Dragon Skin Art and Giant Strength Art combined!
Reyn changed direction and went there. Soon he saw five or six people crowding around a stall on a small square by the roadside, pointing at a soul stone. He didn't approach right away but first scanned everything with Soul Eye. There were three such small squares on the Demonic Souls Market, specially for superhumans. Many superhumans selling items were dissatisfied with shop prices or wanted to trade, so they set up here hoping to meet knowledgeable buyers. Reyn had passed such stalls several times these days but found nothing interesting. With his insight, he could easily tell many sellers were just scammers hyping worthless goods.
Reyn quickly scanned the crowd, saw no Lohi followers, and only then approached the stall and pushed forward.
When he saw the sellers, he was slightly surprised—he had seen them before.
"These guys…"