Jason dropped low, hiding himself behind the crest of the hill as he scanned the situation below. Hundreds of – no, it must be thousands – of devils, standing in close proximity and not tearing at each other’s throats? Very unlikely.

In his three days, he had come across traces of other fights, blood and other gunk splattered across the ground, scratch marks and small impact craters, and of course, the mangled corpse of the loser. Judging from the state of the corpses he had seen so far, the other devils were as savage and brutal as he was, if not more.

That, along with how every devil he had met so far instantly rushed in to kill him, made it very unlikely for all those devils to just be gathering there by their own will. Something stopped them from fighting, and he did not want to rush in and potentially meet something that could stop thousands of bloodthirsty devils from fighting.

Deep down, his devilish instincts urged him to go down there, but he suppressed them for now. He laid there and carefully observed them, waiting patiently for something to happen.

After a couple of tense, dragged-out hours, Jason was starting to feel anxious. His instincts, which had led him to the pillar, were growing increasingly frantic in telling him to go down there, and he was starting to think that he should just stop worrying and go.

As he was just about to stand up and join the crowd, he felt a strong gust of wind blow over him, erupting from the hole in the pillar, as a winged, red-skinned devil emerged from it. Instantly, he felt a crushing pressure from it, and in his soul sense, its soul was a blazing beacon of light, compared to the tiny flickers that were his soul, and those of the now kneeling devils below it.

It spoke in a deep, guttural language, unfamiliar to him, yet he understood it instinctively.

“The Trial begins now. All you weaklings, who wish to descend, follow me.” The devil’s eyes swept across the horde of kneeling devils, towards the surroundings, and for a moment, its eyes met his. He knew, Jason realized.

‘Damn it!’ Jason got up and quickly chased after the departing horde, walking into the gaping maw in the side of the pillar. As he drew close, he came to realize, just how big it was. Even with the thousands of devils walking into the entrance that was not even a tenth the size of the pillar itself, the horde of devils could not take up half the entrance. At the edge of his vision, he saw that there were others, like him, that had hid nearby, and were also catching up. He took a good look at them, remembering their figures. He could see that they, too, were intelligent, and not the instinct driven beasts that he had encountered before.

Inside, the pillar was hollow, but even the wall of the pillar must have been dozens of meters thick. The hole that led down was placed in the center of the space, with six rings carved into the stone floor around it. The winged devil led them to one of the rings, where he could see thousands of tiny, intricate characters and lines inscribed on the floor. Jason was wary about stepping into the circle, but from the look the guiding devil gave him, he had no choice.

It stopped when they had all stepped in, and turned around to face them. “Now, inferior creatures, the Trial of Blood begins.” It grinned, and Jason began to have an ominous, sinking feeling of foreboding, as the markings on the floor began to glow a malevolent, blood-red light.

He edged away from the horde, as several others, but he found that a thin, red film of light sealed the edge of the circle. He tried to push past it, but it was solid, and no amount of force he tried left any sort of mark on it. Below his feet, red liquid began to seep through the markings. Blood.

But this blood was different from the ordinary blood he encountered. He could feel a strange energy in the blood slowly entering his body. He was delighted to find that it actually strengthened him, giving him the same sensation as when he devoured cores and souls, yet it also gave something else. A dull blanket seemed to settle over his mind, influencing him.

He began to feel annoyed from the feeling, like that itch in your chest when the day wasn’t going your way. ‘All these damn devils crowding together, how unpleasant. I should just kill them al – Wait! What is happening to me? This is clearly not the time to hunt, why am I thinking this? Damn, this blood is affecting my mind.’

Jason felt his anger and frustration begin to rise, as he wrested control of his mind back. He managed to stay somewhat clear-headed, but the others were not as strong-willed.

A large, bulking horned devil caught another devil looking its way. It had always been annoyed at that devil always staring at it, maybe it should just tear it apart for its insolence. And so the devil roared with rage, and activated its abilities and punched a clawed fist straight through its chest, splattering its organs across another devil behind it.

As if waiting for that first signal, the crowd immediately burst into a frenzy.

‘Shit, shit shit!’

Jason ducked, as a serrated arm swept over his head, the wind howling from the power of the strike. With a push of his legs, he burst forward, shredding the torso of the devil with a flurry of claws.

It bared its teeth and snarled, its eyes red as it lost itself in its rage. It howled and raised its claws for a powerful strike, but stiffened as Jason sent its head flying with a flick of his tail.

[ a being. +5 Essence of Sin.]

Jason grunted as another devil pounced on him from behind, its claws digging into his side.

The devil froze for a moment, and he wrapped his bladed tail around its neck and pulled, shredding it to pieces.

[ a being. +5 Essence of Sin.]

He picked the body up and threw it at another devil coming at him, but it suddenly sped up, dodging the corpse and dashing at him with pincers wide open. He let it get to him and gut him, but in exchange he stabbed his claws into its chest where told him to, enabling him to function through the pain.

Power filled him, and he directed it to his arms, his claws slicing straight through its ribcage and killing it.

[ a being. +5 Essence of Sin.]

‘Shit!’

He quickly redeemed a reward from the system, grabbing it as soon as it appeared and cramming it into his mouth.

[ chosen. -540 Essence]

[Name: Jason Mendalez

Bloodline: Drenam Shapeshifter Devil

Rank: Esquire

Abilities:

Form Claws: Grade 5 Shapeshift: Grade 5 Induce Fear: Grade 3 Form Blades: Grade 3 Heavy Strike: Grade 2

Skills:

Dissection: Grade 2 Focus: Grade 1

Soul Power: 181

Essence of Sin: 1475]

He sighed in relief as the core healed him. He noticed that even without eating cores, his soul power had gone up by 3 all by itself. So this trial did have a purpose after all.

He snapped to attention again, lowering his body as another enraged devil barreled at him. The blood seeping from the markings had reached his ankles by now, mixed with all the blood from the fallen devils. He found it increasingly harder to focus, as he swung his tail at the devil.

Surprisingly, the devil managed to block it with its arm, the skin hardening with some sort of ability or skill. It struck him with its massive, rock-hard fist, and he practically flew through the air from the impact. He splashed to the blood-covered ground, coughing as his chest throbbed with pain, but he used the momentum to slice through another devil’s neck where he landed.

Despite the incredible danger of the trial, he could really feel the benefits. The blood sloshing at shin-level empowered him, increasing his soul power. And his mediocre fighting skills were tempered in this life-or-death situation, where a single misstep would cost him his life at the hands of devils as strong as he was.

[ ranked up to ]

He growled as a devil, one of the intelligent ones he saw earlier, kicked at him with a sharp, chitin-encased foot. He let it graze his chest in exchange for a chance to whip at it with his tail, but that turned out to be a mistake, as flames erupted from the sole of its foot to burn him.

He screamed as the dark red flames washed over him, but thankfully, he managed to focus with his upgraded skill, just in time to dodge from its rapid strikes with its scaled fists. Its attacks suddenly sped up, and Jason gritted his teeth as a dozen deep cuts appeared on his chest. He narrowed his eyes, choosing to allow more superficial attacks through in exchange for a chance to attack, as he traded blows with it.

He swung his tail at it, but it caught it, and Jason felt his tail sizzle and burn from its handprints. He seized the chance and ran straight at it, pushing his skill to the limit, as he struck in between the hardened scales. With a stroke of luck, his claws found purchase with something solid in its chest, and Jason grinned savagely, as he tore out its still-beating heart with the core inside. The devil widened its eyes, and glared at him with pure hatred, before it splashed onto the shin-deep blood.

He roared victoriously, and plopped the core in his mouth, enjoying the cooling sensation of his numerous wounds healing.

But he barely got a moment’s respite, as yet another devil assaulted him again.

Gradually, he began to lose control of his own mind. The rage, the hate, the desperation, welled up in him, flooded his mind.