Chapter 4: A pound of flesh

Sarah could barely feel the pain coming from the broken rib and the chunk of her flesh missing from her forearm as she shoved the wolf off of herself. Crazily pulling herself to her feet and grabbing her dropped weapons, she moved past the bodies and began to flee from the approaching howls.

But in her wounded state, she wasn’t quick enough, and after barely making it 30 meters away she could see eight nimble figures quickly approaching her from behind. Seeing the speed in which they approached, she could see that fleeing was no longer an option for her, and while she still had some distance, she both began to form a demonic bolt in the air while taking aim with her gun. Her high intelligence and wisdom came in use here, where she was able to do both actions simultaneously while also keeping relatively calm in the dangerous situation.

She realized the loud noises of gunshots may have been more of a curse now, attracting too much attention, but it was too late for her to make change that. The wolves quickly scattered as the gun downed the first, however their quick movements helped in dodging the bolt that followed. Wasting no time, Sarah began casting her second and taking aim once again, flinging it at one of the wolves that had comes the closest. She knew this would be a desperate fight and suppressing any panic, she aimed and fired more of her enchanted shots at a different beast in the process of taking a leap at her. All five points to intelligence, she thought to herself, hoping the extra damage could help her survive this danger, as she didn’t want to have to make two direct hits to kill each beast. She followed this up by pushing herself to cast more spells at the beasts and managed to form a third bolt in only a second. Flinging it at the same wolf she had wounded with the last, she leapt out of the way as two other members of the pack had taken that opportunity where she was concentrating on her aim to jump at her.

But her dodge did not come quick enough, and one of the wolves was able to sink its teeth onto her ankle through the thoroughly bloodied and torn robe she still wore from the ritual that felt like so long ago. The injury caused her to trip and fall, and all five remaining wolves took this opportunity to claim their prey. In no time, she had three different wolves all biting her body, seeming attracted to her robe, and the remaining two digging into her arms as she tried to fend them away from her face.

Suppose it doesn’t help wearing a robe that stinks of sheep’s blood when you’re hunting wolves.

She attempted to fire another shot at the pack, but the gun quite literally exploded in her hand, burning her palm and causing her to drop the remnants of the weapon. With the pain somehow helping her concentrate, she pulled at the mana around her and in desperation and with great effort she was able to form three bolts simultaneously, jerking her body to fling them at the wolves that were so close to her face she could smell their breath. In anguish but refusing to give up, she pulled and pulled, sending more and more bolts towards the beasts until she was no longer able to feel the mana around her.

One wolf still remained of the pack and let out a howl as its brethren fell around it. Taking a leap towards her, she swung her arm at the beast and as she could not feel the mana around her, she instead pushed the small amount of demonic mana that lingered in her blood up into her fist. The wounded beast was flung to the side and landed badly on the pavement nearby, no longer moving.

Gasping for breath and bleeding from practically all her limbs and her torso, she could only lay there in pain.

You have levelled up.

Very cool Mr. System, but I think I’m about to bleed to death. Why can’t you have a full heal thing whenever we level up like games do.

“Hold the demonic energy that is in your blood from being released through your wounds so they stop bleeding, or you will die. You can also circulate it around the wounds to heal you. I’d suggest putting the points in wisdom instead of vitality or endurance, as while a stronger body might be helpful now it will ruin your path in the long-run, and you will likely survive from these injuries as a half-greater demon.”

“As you use your internal demonic energy to heal, it will slowly run out and you will need to pull more mana into your body to replace it, however you drew on too much mana while fighting, and so won’t be able to sense any in your surroundings for a while unless your wisdom increases again. Thus, wisdom is needed here if you want to survive.”

All points to wisdom she thought, and the extra clarity that came with it was a blessing as she could now pull a bit of outside mana into her blood to convert to demonic mana and help her to heal. With a low vitality score, she could only store a limited amount of demonic mana internally, and it was being used very quickly in helping her injuries.

[Demonic Mana Manipulation] Level 2 -> Level 3

She tilted herself to look down at her blood covered body, closer to resembling a corpse than a living being. With burns on her right hand from the gun exploding, and various chunks were missing from her arms, chest and legs, she was a sorry sight, however the bleeding had stopped, and she could feel herself recovering. Getting half-eaten by a pack of wolves is a pretty effective way to lose weight I suppose, she mused to herself while cringing at her missing pieces of flesh.

Her half-mad chuckling was interrupted by another howl that filled her with dread, and while prone on the ground she could only turn her head in anguish towards the noise. How come every time I seem to be finished, another howl comes. Seems like bad writing to me. Confirming her fears, 12 wolves approached, one of them far larger than the others with a darker pelt and leading the pack. She could only watch as they walked down the shattered road towards her, staring her down with a look that she could swear was filled with mockery.

[Identify].

Daughter of Fenrir- Level 10

It seemed the leader of the pack had arrived, and while she felt she was doing quite well for Level 3, an extra 11 wolves and their high-level leader was not something she felt she could handle, especially considering she could not even summon up enough mana to cast a demonic bolt.

So, I’ve got to ask, do I have to go to Hell when I die? I mean I get that I am a demon but like I’m only HALF demon.

“Now that this world is part of the system, your soul will merely spread out and help nurture your world as fuel for its mana. Not that you are going to die anyway.”

A piercing pain filled her soul as something seemed to shove her from the inside. Taken unprepared, she was unable to resist the pressure and could feel the familiar presence that so far had only been nursing itself inside her soul begin to take control. Her body started to twitch then move on its own, and her vision slowly turned to black as she could feel herself start to stand up right before her mind lost consciousness.

No need to sell your soul to a demon if they already have it.