Chapter 9- The key

"N-No way.....it's an actual system"

Chris moved his hand towards the system, but his fingers just phased through the imaginary hologram texts being displayed in front of him. Chris's mind raced with newfound accuracy trying to remember all he could about systems from all the shows, anime and books he read in his past life, discerning all their details to form a suitable comparison with this one.

If chris could see himself, he'd be shocked at how different he looked after waking up, at how much he had a complete makeover. First, his hair was now pitch black, his brown hair now looked like a starless night. Second, his eyes were now black too, matching his hair color perfectly, his body now had toned muscles all around his body and overall a boost in his facial features.

"I've always wanted to try this," chris said in cheerful manner.

"STATUS!" Chris said in a loud voice, as if it would make any difference.

Suddenly a new sheet displaying new information appeared out of nowhere, showcasing his new form....

[The following are the stats and abilities of the host:

Name:Chris Samael

Race: Demon

Rank: Demon Noble

Class: Fortune Teller

Titles: -Calm heart//After experiencing fear on a high level, the host can only be affected by a fear that surpasses the previous encounter.

-Progenitor//The ability to create your own clan as a progenitor is a gift only those considered as the first of their bloodline can possess.

-Kissed by fate//The host's nature will inadvertently affect the fate of those around them, whether it be good or bad. The host shall either reap the benefits or shoulder the consequences of altering their fates.

Abilities: -Danger sense

-Swordsmanship( Beginner rank).

-Demonic Wings.

-Chaos kindling.

-Call of the night//Call and they shall answer.The host has the ability to summon his fables of old, to aid him in his endeavor once again.

Bloodline: Primordial daemon

Bloodline percentage: 100% ( Sealed due to inadequate vessel. )

The host's abilities will upgrade following their breakthroughs to higher ranks.]

"Wait...I'm a demon now....and my name seems to have changed to a different one as well". Chris said with a curious tone reading through the sheet multiple times.

Chris wanted to properly assess his titles and abilities well, but he was reminded he was still being hunted and thus needed to find a safe place first.

Chris stood up and assessed his body, and after a few moments he was sure he was at least twice as strong in his new body and that his thoughts were a lot more....clear.

He flexed his back muscles, to reveal his demonic wings that for a second, he was momentarily horrified to his core how from now on, he wasn't human anymore. The stress and anxiety were flaring up inside him causing him to panic and lose his reasoning, when all of a sudden.....

[The title 'Calm heart' has been activated]

After the text appeared, his anxiety stagnated, allowing chris to take a breath of fresh air and cool down.

"A convenient title, but I still need to get the heck out of here, before cethin finds me." chris said, as he retracted his wings back, and picked up his trusty sword and made for the exit.

Before that, chris hears some crackling sounds behind him, and spun around as fast as he could, only to notice the throne slowly fading away to dust, as well as the handsome body he voraciously devoured slowly fade away. However for the handsome body, what was thought to completely vanish, surprisingly didn't, and what remained was a small ring with a small ruby gem embedded within it.

Chris picked up the ring, and upon doing so the system prompted him with a choice pertaining to the ring he found....

[Would the host wish to view the stats of the artifact.]

"YES" said chris, fully convinced that screaming the answer was the appropriate way.

[The following are stats and abilities for the artifact:

Name: Ring of Thymus

Ability : Grants the ability to enter a state of pure rage and fury, granting strength in exchange for defense.

Description: Forged by a talented blacksmith as a gift to their friend, who unexpectedly always put on a calm demeanor, as a joke in their final days.]

"A powerful artifact that follows the 'Equivalent exchange' principle to a fault and should probably be used in dire situations as a desperate option." chris said ,while tracing his fingers along the ring, appreciating it's design. Although he did at first feel bad for robbing a corpse, but yet again if the person was alive, chances are they'd be angry for a whole different reason instead.

Brushing those thoughts aside, chris put on the ring and felt a rush of emotions within him that was immediately suppressed within him slowly building up for when he would need that burst of strength.

Walking out of the cave, he remembered how the onyx knight took down those goblins and wondered why exactly he didn't die, was it pity or rather did the knight know how things would play out once he chose to enter the cave as well and turn into a demon.

Breaking his concentration, chris looked back at the cave only to be met with a plain forest right where the cave was, giving chris an unsettling feeling.

He didn't waste his time there but instead chose not to return to the town but instead keep diving deeper into the forest, convinced that returning to the Midvake town was suicide for all it took was one Light element caster, to feel his demonic aura and he was as good as dead.

The wildlands were now enriched in mana, something he found weird when he first came here all those days ago, but now he believed it had something to do with the cave. He recalled reading a book about how certain dungeons around the world would often influence their surroundings to an extent, but he had never heard of dungeons completely altering an entire forest to this degree and in such a short time.

One thing that was different though, was the level of mana was now slightly lower than before he arrived, no doubt due to his actions in the cave. Chris now had a deeper understanding of mana than ever before thanks to the race change, but the reality hadn't fully sunk in how different he truly was.

Chris lamented not using his wings to fly over this forest, but he decided not to, in the unlikely chance that Cethin is also in the wildlands. If he flew over the forest, there was a chance cethin may or may not find him in the air and follow him.

Taking a break at a nearby river, chris stops for a water break to hydrate after running for an hour straight thanks to his new body, he was still thirsty after spending days of no water in his body.

Chris nearing the river, noticed his new appearance and couldn't but be taken back at how handsome he now was. He wouldnt go as far to say he was above all, but he was certainly above his previous human self.

He drank a few litres of water and decided it was time to keep moving, the only problem though was cethin was already behind him, calmly tossing his dagger in the air and catching it at the tip nonchalantly.

"Yo... got a minute?" said the assassin while showing a tender smile at chris, as if the two were life long friends having a reunion.

"Fuck!" said chris while dashing at full speed, momentarily surprising cethin with his speed, yet he stood there and didn't chase after him immediately.

Before chris got too far, black whip-like appendages appeared out of nowhere and snared him in their trap by binding his legs, temporarily immobilizing chris.

"Did you really think I wouldn't set traps before revealing myself to you and completely underestimate you?" he said while walking to chris in a relaxed pace.

"I have to say, for a spy you did pretty good evading us and blending in. My question however, is what faction sent you here, was it the Carmichael family, or maybe those fools in the salvatore clan that were dumb enough to send you?" said cethin in a chilling tone.

"W-WH-WHAT?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I swear!" said Chris as he frantically tried to tear the appendages that bind him with his new grip strength

"Lies. First you entered our town using unknown methods by passing our towns guard and even my own senses , which proves you're hiding your true rank and seeing how you ran shows me you're probably at equal rank as me, but fear me do to the stories you might've heard" said cethin in a calm manner.

"The final nail in the coffin was when you went to the Adventures association when you accidentally revealed you're true rank. I was at the border at the time, but even I felt it as far as I was. Having said that, I made a correction where I said you're weak, it would be more accurate to say that you....are weaker." said cethin as he took in all of Chris's reactions to his deduction results.

Chris listened intently but remained quiet, solely focusing on the binding, completely unaware of the dagger raised above his head.