A week has passed since Vel and Lucifer met. It took few hours before Lucifer managed to calm down in front of Vel after the latter introduced himself. Although it could have taken much less time, Vel couldn’t help himself but tease Lucifer from time to time despite being reprimanded by Syndra.

Afterward, Vel offered his help to train Lucifer. Lucifer felt goosebumps on his skin when Vel said that but accepted under the encouraging gaze of Syndra. And, he thoroughly regretted that the very next day.

The ‘training’ Vel made for him was everything but that. For a whole week, he had to go in and out of the forest in order to find some weird plants left and right while fleeing from any creatures he encountered on his path.

The first monster he encountered besides Vel, Syndra and the dead silver crystal wolf was a golden furred ape. He had no idea about what type of monster it was neither about how much strength they possessed and their average level. He wouldn’t have bothered with it if it wasn’t sitting on the nebula petunia he had to bring back.

Lucifer could feel the pressure emanating from the beast and couldn’t think that he could kill it. But he just needed to distract it and lead it far away from the nebula petunia to collect it. Thus, he thought about using his blood to bait it outside. Though apes weren’t famous for being a carnivore, the scent of blood would pick his interest and force them to check if everything was alright.

This was a complete blunder. When he gathered his mana to form a dagger, the golden-furred ape sensed it and released a powerful cry before chasing him. That day, if it wasn’t for the surrounding trees obstructing his path and Lucifer recent level ups, he wouldn’t have managed to leave the forest before being caught. As soon as he left the forest he called for Syndra and Vel with all his might. Vel came at once and released his aura, scaring the shit out of ape which ran back from where he came from. Syndra cursed at Vel for half a day for asking Lucifer to collect a flower which was very emphasized by the strong beast for its effects on stabilizing their mana and accelerating their recovery process by at least two folds.

When Lucifer heard this, his eyes shined but quickly became dim when he heard that a very severe backlash would happen if anyone with an endurance below 200 were to consume it directly.

200 endurance wasn’t something he was remotely close to, so he could just give up. His mood became slightly better when he thought that he couldn’t obtain some in the first place since monsters like the golden furred ape were guarding the place where you could find some.

Nonetheless, after running for his life for a whole week, his {Stealth} had ranked up and became grade 9. It could slightly reduce his presence beside turning him invisible. By reducing the sound he made while moving and breathing, though he couldn’t sneak up on anything in the forest, it was sufficient to allow him to move freely as long as he stayed far away from any monster.

{Mana Creation} ranked up also. The mana required to create things increased, which made Lucifer’s mouth twitched, but the durability and toughness of things he created also increased. At the same time, Lucifer discovered that the {Magic Arrow} skill, which every hunter should acquire once they got their class, was absorbed by the {Mana Creation} skill. This was simply because {Magic Arrow} was a way weaker version of {Mana Creation}.

Besides those facts, Mephistopheles and Lucifer came to an agreement which would be that they will switch before going to sleep. The reason was simple: Mephistopheles was laughing his ass off while watching Lucifer running away for his life. Things would be different if there weren’t Vel and Syndra to save them just in case, but since he knew that as long as Lucifer managed to flee everything would be fine, he didn’t restrain himself from laughing.

However, Lucifer quickly got tired of it and switched with him.

It has to be known that Mephistopheles was aiming to be a skill caster instead of going for a more physical approach like Lucifer, he raised his stats accordingly. Though they shared the same body, besides their starting stats and their class/aptitudes, things were different. Thus, Mephistopheles wasn’t able to use {Mana Creation}, {Stealth} and blood-related skills. He did have {Dragonification} skill and {Sigil}. However, his other skills were completely different. Besides the {Rift} skill he had due to his Devil of Chaos class, he also had {Wind Magic} and {Earth Magic}. Both elemental magic managed to rank up to grade 9.

For an unknown reason, it seemed that Mephistopheles couldn’t use {Stealth}, thus when he had to roam in the forest, he could only use {Earth Magic} to create a board with which he used {Wind Magic} on to float. This prevented him from making noises but the mana fluctuations and the fact that he was visible made him went through a lot of difficulties.

Unlike when Lucifer uses {Stealth} when Mephistopheles uses his magic, the mana fluctuations from it will be felt by experienced monsters, which represented 90% of those living in this forest.

“Luc come out!”

Vel’s voice could be heard outside of the cave.

Drops of cold sweats appeared on Mephis’ forehead.

Today was his day, and Lucifer was already sleeping in their sea of consciousness, thus he couldn’t escape.

When Mephis came out, the faint rays of sunlight greeted him, before being blocked by a towering black snake.

Vel’s body radiated a strange light and his body started to shrink. Mephis was surprised, it was his first time seeing this. Vel had never transformed in front of either one of them.

When the light dimmed, Vel had a human body covered in black scales. He was 2 meters tall with a muscular body. His face was masculine and his expression was fierce.

A wooden staff was held in each of his hand before he threw one in Mephis’ direction.

“Take it. It will be your weapon now. However, I’d like to ask you something before we start.”

Mephis was still shocked while his eyes were shifting between Vel’s new appearance and the wooden staff. It was only after few minutes passed that he could finally react.

“H-Hum, yes?”

“I don’t know why, but your mana imprint keeps changing. Though the difference is a minute, it is still there…”

Mephis who managed to recover went straight back in a state of shock. The fact that Lucifer and he shared the same body and could be considered as the same person was one of their biggest secrets.

“This… I don’t why. My body is a bit special, my abilities change from time to time… This might be the reason…”

Mephistopheles could only give him that kind of answer. He knew that trying to deny Vel’s doubts would amount to nothing so he just gave him a reason. And since he said the truth, Vel could only accept it. He truly didn’t know the exact reason for the difference in mana imprint. He didn’t even know what a mana imprint was, to begin with.

Vel closed his eyes, seemingly pondering about something before he gave Maphis a wide smile.

“Well, let’s start. Your body’s condition is a bit strange but whatever. The staff in your hand was crafted by me with my most precious material. Its durability and toughness are second only to a god weapon. Its weight would vary according to the strength of the user so that it won’t become useless by the time you get stronger. Oh, you can inject a part of your soul in it so that it will become your soul weapon.”

Hearing this, Lucifer woke up, Mephis’ was fundamentally shocked. Soul weapons were only available to those in the upper echelon of a church or the nobility. Gale told them about those weapons in the past. But his knowledge about them was scarce. Besides knowing the fact that they were powerful weapons which were only owned by few people, he also knew that they were renown to be bound with their user in some way.

“Now, close your eyes and try and to feel the depth of your being. When you come across something strange, imagine the most important feeling you’ve experienced and sent it to your staff.”

Mephis nodded before closing his eyes.

In fact, Vel wasn’t expecting for him to do it on the first try, since perceiving one’s soul wasn’t an easy task. However, for Lucifer and Mephis, their soul had no secret for them and entering an ethereal state was as easy as breathing.

Mephis and Luc found themselves in front of their soul once again.

The feeling which describes us the most…

Looking at the child in front of him Vel wore an astonished expression.

This kid did it on his first try…

A wry smile appeared on his face. This wasn’t a small achievement. He had to try for few hours in the past before managing to grasp the ethereal state. Of course, he couldn’t know what Lucifer experienced before, so he could only view him as a genius in that aspect.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine.

The space around Lucifer was making cracking noises. The air was filled with a deep stench of blood. A black mist was slowly forming around the staff. The soil under him was withering at a frightening speed. The cross tattoo on his forehead had become a pentagram.

This is… Bloodlust.

Bloodlust wasn’t a thing Vel had never felt before. He just had never felt such an intense desire to kill coming from a 6-year-old child.

After some time, the bloodlust settled down, the mist dispersed and the environment around Lucifer returned to its normal state. The pentagram shifted back to an inverted cross, and Mephis opened his eyes.

System Binding successful. Please check your weapon status.

Mephis glanced at the staff in his hand.

Weapon type Bo Staff Name Armageddon Grade Devil's weapon Stats point absorbed - Bonus - Active skill(s) Shapeshift; Devour; Consume Passive skill(s) Weight management Shapeshift The length and the thickness of the staff can be modified. 1 mana point for each centimeter in height and 10 mana points for each centimeter in radius. Current state: 120-centimeter-tall and 1,5 centimeters radius. Devour Can absorb 30% of the stats point of killed enemies. Consume For every 10 stats points absorbed, grant +1 in a specific stat. Weight management the weight of the staff will evolve according to the user current strength. Current weight: 2,5 kilograms.

The heck?!

System It seems that the staff evolved into something different from a soul weapon.

Mephis was shocked senseless, Lucifer was observing from the inside while trembling mentally.

“Well, it seems that you succeeded. You should have noticed that your weapon has been linked to your soul. What it means that you will be able to sense it if someone were to steal it from you and people wouldn’t be able to get the bonus from it. Since you just awakened it, there should be none at the moment, but if you come across some mana crystals you can use them to grant your weapons some bonuses.”

Mephis had a wry smile on his face.

I don’t need mana crystals, I just need to kill.

His eyes fixated on the staff, Mephis gripped it with more strength.

Looking at the child in front of him, Vel sighed.

During this past week, he had come to understand that he was hiding many things from them. Although he managed to confirm his guess, there were still many questions for which he couldn’t find an answer by himself. However, if his guess was right, then, maybe he knew why Lucifer could release such a frightening bloodlust.

“Listen to Lucifer, I don’t know what happened in the past and I am not going to let go of it… But, I won’t teach anything if I tell you that you’re among the weakest one right now. Thus, I can only tell you to keep training and progress. You have the potential for you to become someone who can stand at the top. However, you should also know that your strength will be limited no matter what. Unless you are the Creator himself, there will be always something holding you down, thus, in the future, I hope that you can rely on others… Like when you rely on Syndra and me when you’re getting chased.”

A naughty smile was planted on Vel.

Hearing his words, Mephis and Lucifer didn’t know what to say but kept them in their heart. Only after some time passed, did Mephis speak.

“Uncle… Do you think gods can be slain?”

“No.”

With his face down, Mephis was trying his best to hold his feelings hidden.

“In order to kill a god, you need to erase its existence and the source of his soul. The first condition requires the Chosen to be killed and the second requires to go to a god’s domain and directly destroy his divine soul. While the former could already be considered near impossible, the latter really is impossible since barging into a god’s domain is impossible for the likes of us.”

The eyes of Mephis shined.

I managed to come back in this world with devil’s power, passing through the layers between where I was and there… So, I should be able to use it to break into their world, right?

“It will take a while before we can recover a sufficient amount of devil power for that…”

Lucifer’s voice echoed in Mephis’ head.

We have time…

“Now then, let’s get started. But, before I teach you how to fight with a staff, I’ll need you to get me some silver grass in the forest… You need to exercise a bit before we get down to business.”

His back drenched in cold sweats, Mephis’ mouth twitched multiple times.

A bit? A BIT!? Fuck you!