8 Demons of Slaughter

Dru, watching from the shadows, was shocked at the regenerative ability of Chaus. Dragons had impressive regenerative abilities, but Chaus didn't awaken his dragon blood yet. Aside from that, the regenerative ability Chaus showed was greater than the regenerative abilities of dragons in their human forms. It was a regenerative ability that equaled the power of ancient magic.

Like souls and soul energy, there was a hierarchy with magic. The magic that stood at the pinnacle was life and death magic. Such an example was Veronica's necromancy magic that could raise dragons from the dead. Magic second to life and death magic was ancient magic. Ancient magic was magic used by the magus, giant, and dragon race. The three races shared a common language: the language of the world. The three races, as well as creatures of other races who learned the language, could use the language of the world to create magic that greatly surpassed what common language could do. Unfortunately, following the downfall of the three great races, the language of the world was forever cut off from the rest of Tsirgia. Humans and other races could no longer use ancient magic due to restrictions placed upon them by the world. Only survivors of the three great races, like Dru, could use ancient magic.

Now, in the world of the lesser races, the greatest magic able to be cast was elder magic. From least to greatest, the magic power scale consists of elementary magic, intermediate magic, advanced magic, elder magic, ancient magic, and life or death magic.

Ancient magic was magic the three great races used to dominate all other races, so it could only be imagined how powerful an ancient recovery spell would be.

Dru had theories on why Chaus's body healing on its own. He decided to continue observing Chaus in hopes of learning more about Chaus's mysterious body.

Chaus

Chaus thought the miraculous regeneration his body went through was because of Dru. Chaus thanked Dru in his head. He would destroy his enemies, but he would show kindness and repay favors to those who helped him.

Chaus was excited. It wasn't the excitement that came from something enjoyable. No, it was the excitement that came from being able to rip the Ziki in shreds. Chaus could now fulfill a fraction of his revenge. He didn't know whether or not the Ziki he just killed had killed his latter parents, but he knew he now held the power to avenge them.

Chaus entered the illusory world and started training. His footwork was in a good spot. He had learned the basics of Carnak's footwork and was now entering the beginner stages of it. The soul integration was also gradually getting stronger and more refined. Chaus, however, still failed to understand the basics of Carnak's spearmanship. He decided he would focus on his spearmanship and put aside everything else.

The reason Chaus had such a hard time against the Ziki was due to his inability to hurt the Ziki. Only by sustaining damage was Chaus able to kill the Ziki. He needed to learn how to enhance his spear with magic like Carnak did. Chaus summoned a spear to the illusionary world. It was a plain 8 foot long spear, the same spear Chaus used to kill the Ziki. "Burn." The spear ignited in dark flames. Chaus stabbed with the spear covered with hellfire, but when Chaus started his attack, the flames went out. Chaus frowned in dissatisfaction.

When Chaus moved the spear, his soul energy could no longer fuel the magic needed to ignite the spear. This was because moving the spear changed the area Chaus's soul energy was flowing to. Chaus needed to learn how to move and cast magic spells simultaneously.

Chaus began moving his soul energy and cast the burn spell again. This time, Chaus also made an attack but slower. The dark flames went out again. Chaus tried again and slowed down his attack even more. The same thing happened. Chaus tried again and again until the flames didn't go out. Chaus was moving his spear as slow as a snail, but the black flames stayed on the spear.

Chaus continued this process over and over until he was able to perform a single strike without the black flames disappearing. He wasn't happy with his progress. Tomorrow he would be facing two Ziki, but he could only perform one strike with magic while moving. Chaus practiced the entire night without sleep in hopes of being able to perform two attacks with magic whilst moving.

The next day two Ziki appeared on the platform. They looked even more sinister than the first one did. That was probably due to Chaus's lack of sleep. Chaus spent the entire night practicing but to no avail. He could still only perform one strike.

This was going to be a tough battle for Chaus. Chaus began making a plan. He would run around and lure the Zikis in such a position that they would both be killed with one strike. Like always, plans usually don't go the way you want them to.

The moment the battle started, the ziki split up. One ziki stayed in front of Chaus while the second Ziki went behind Chaus. Chaus was in trouble. He could barely fend off one ziki, let alone two ziki with one of them being in his blind spot. Chaus decided to go towards the edge of the platform in order to force the ziki out of his blind spot.

Chaus went to the edge of the platform, but it turned out ziki could fly. The second ziki was still in Chaus's blind spot. [You can't be serious.] Both ziki attacked Chaus at the same time. Chaus couldn't defend against their attacks so he had to dodge them. Even though Chaus could only perform the basics of Carnak's footwork, it was still incredible. Chaus could dodge the barrage of ziki attacks, although not all of them. Chaus would occasionally be hit by a translucent arm, and a wound would appear on his body. However, instead of feeling fatigued and weakened by the loss of blood, Chaus felt more powerful. He was able to move better than he could in an uninjured state.

As the battle dragged on, less and less wounds appeared on Chaus's body, but more and more blood was flowing from his wounds. He was feeling pain from his wounds, but he was also feeling ecstatic. It felt like he was truly alive in this life and death battle. The more injured he was, the more strength he could use. Before, a completely healthy Chaus with his soul integration could exert 1,000 kilograms of force. Now the injured Chaus could exert 5,000 kilograms of force. His agility, perception, thinking, and just about every physical and mental ability also improved greatly. That got him thinking. Does this affect my magic as well?

Chaus decided to stake everything on this gamble. His spear went up in dark flames and the two ziki ceased attacking due to the threat of the newly enhanced spear. That moment of peace allowed Chaus to take the initiative and attack the Ziki. Chaus stabbed his spear at the ziki closest to him. The ziki dodged and quickly backed away. Chaus, looking down at his spear and saw that the black flames didn't disappear. He looked up at both ziki and smiled sinisterly.

Chaus, with his super enhanced abilities, quickly killed both ziki. After the battle, Chaus lay down on the platform. Like yesterday, his wounds started to heal at a rapid pace. His fatigue went away, and his body felt amazing. He made sure to thank Dru the next time he saw him.

As he was just thinking that, Dru appeared in front of him. Chaus got up and was about to thank Dru, but Dru put his hand up signalling for Chaus to stop. Chaus looked at Dru with a questioning expression.

"That wasn't me. I didn't heal you."

Chaus became confused. "Then who did?"

Dru responded with a question. "While you were fighting the ziki, did you feel anything?"

Chaus thought for a while. "Yes. I felt ecstatic. It was like I was drunk on fighting. My overall strength also increased drastically."

Dru's eyes began shining with excitement. "You have an Asura body."

"An Asura body?" Chaus asked. "Is it something powerful?"

Dru laughed. "Not just powerful. It could be said that the Asura body is made for battle. Those who had the Asura body in the past raged across battlefields and brought fear to their enemies. The more injured they become, the stronger they get. Only when they slaughter all their enemies will they revert back to their original form. When they slaughter, the blood of their enemies heal them. Because of all the abilities of the Asura body, people call those who have it 'Demons of Slaughter.'"

Chaus grew amazed at the body that he had. He was already powerful without the Asura body. He had a soul of death, hellfire as his soul energy, Carnak's footwork, and pieces of Carnak's spearmanship. Now he had the Asura body to boost all of those powers. Few in the same stage would be able to fight with Chaus in physical combat.

Dru spoke again. "Don't rely entirely on the body. Nothing in this world is invincible. Creatures have a limit placed on them so they know when to stop. The Asura body removes those limits. Even if you were on the brink of death, you wouldn't know."

Chaus nodded in understanding. It wouldn't make sense for such a powerful body to not have a weakness.

"I will seal your Asura body for now. When you climb to the top of this pillar, the seal will be removed."

Chaus began protesting but Dru's words made Chaus stop his protesting.

"The Asura body drastically increases your power, but your foundation isn't stable. Your physical and magical foundation isn't stable enough in order to use the Asura body to its fullest potential. If you recklessly use the body, then your foundation will be damaged and it'll be harder for you to grow stronger in the future."

Chaus was patient. He didn't endure 11 years in the room of fire just so he could squash his potential for momentary power.

"But, since I sealed away part of your power, it should only be fair that I teach you in return."

At that, Chaus grew excited. He was going to be taught by a magus, Dru. Being taught by Dru would result in a faster rate of progression than simply watching replays of Carnak's battle with the giants.