A Choice

Slowly opening his eyes, Jayce looked at an unfamiliar roof. Glancing around the room, it looked like he was moved to some kind of hospital while he was unconscious.

Trying to lift himself out of the hospital bed, he instantly stopped doing so as his body barely moved.

Noticing that his arms had returned to normal, his worries about how to explain what had happened to his limbs disappeared.

Laying back down he thought about his fight with the lycanthrope.

'How long have I been out for?' Struggling to remember that night, till images flooded his head like a tidal wave.

[Host had received the backlash from having Demonic Synchronization forcefully increased. The Host had been unconscious for exactly 76 hours, 13 minutes, and 56 seconds.]

'...' Jayce didn't expect a voice in his head to answer his question.

'So, what exactly are you? How did you get inside my head?' Jayce asked with suspicion, not remembering the contract he made.

[Answering Host's Questions]

[Question 1, the System is an advanced intellectual program that is used to support the selected host.]

[Question 2, the System currently resides within your heart, linking throughout your entire body. This includes your brain, making it possible to send signals directly to your brain to communicate with the Host.]

Holding his chin, Jayce calmly thought about the answer this "system" had given him.

Deciding that the system had no ill intentions and had given him the chance to kill that lycanthrope or whatever it was called.

Without the system, Jayce would have died in that house that night with the other two.

'System, what is Demonic Synchronization and why did you forcefully increase it?'

[Answering Host's Questions]

[Question 1, Demonic Synchronization is the process of efficiently using the demonic energy from the demon crystal that was embedded within the Host's heart, along with the System.]

[Using demonic energy, the Host's body increases by leaps and bounds, but if used incorrectly may result in the Host's body exploding from the inside out or turning into a mindless beast destroying everything in its sights.]

Jayce didn't even flinch upon reading the message. He knew there would be some kind of side effect from using such a strong power, nothing in this world is free.

Hell, he would even take turning into a mindless beast if it still meant killing that lycanthrope. The system continued answering the question that he had asked.

[Question 2, the System decided to forcefully increase the Host's Demonic Synchronization as it also increases the Host's regenerative ability.

[With this, the System was able to regrow the Host's lost limbs, majorly increasing the Host's survivability rate.]

As Jayce finished reading the second answer, the door to the hospital room opened. The headmaster had heard the kid had woken up and decided to pay him a visit.

"Seems like you're finally awake." The headmaster walked over to Jayce's bed while holding a clipboard.

"Jayce Price, 16 years old, date of birth, December 21, 2005. Weighs 145 lbs (65 kg) and 5"11 (180 cm) tall.

Lived in an orphanage for most of his childhood life before mysteriously disappearing along with his sister. Living on the streets with his sister, he worked at any place offering work, eventually owning a small apartment on the outskirts of the city.

Went to a normal high school with his sister, joining the affiliated track team." The Headmaster read off the information that he collected while Jayce was unconscious.

"..."

Jayce stayed silent, it didn't matter to him how someone had his personal information.

If this person wanted to hurt him he would have done it while he was defenseless. Which meant that the stranger wanted something from him.

"First off I would like to apologize, if it wasn't for the Academy's incompetence in dealing with the monster situation, your family would still be alive." The headmaster bowed, even if he knew that apologizing would not fix the damage that was already done.

Hearing the apology didn't affect Jayce in the slightest.

The hate he held would never disappear for as long as he would live. After a moment of silence, the headmaster decided to continue the reason for visiting.

*Cough*

"You have two options, one is that we remove your memories regarding everything related to that night, letting you return to a normal life."

"Your second option is joining the Academy, the Academy is a school of sorts that trains humans to fight against supernatural creatures that threaten innocent lives. So no one will have to go through what you did."

The headmaster finished his statement while examining the boy, not many teenagers could defeat a lycanthrope, let alone kill it barehanded.

This had piqued the headmaster's curiosity, he would even like to have a spar with Jayce if not for his current condition.

"I'll join the Academy," Jayce responded without even thinking twice. Losing his memory was something he didn't want to happen if at all possible.

"That's a good choice kid, I'll arrange the paperwork once you fully recover. For now, get some rest." The headmaster was in a good mood due to the possibility of his Academy receiving another genius.

Watching the headmaster close the door behind him, Jayce let out a sigh of relief.

He could feel the power radiating off the man as it was almost suffocating but decided to pretend he didn't notice it.

Seeing that he was finally alone again, he wanted to check the rewards he received from completing the quest.

'System, show me the rewards from the previous quest.'

[Retrieving Quest Rewards...]

[Rewards have been obtained]

[Status Menu]

[+5 to all Stats]

[Demonic Eye of Truth]