A new beginning [1]

"I am Tatiana, the one who has been chosen by the goddess to guide your path as the demon king."

"I see..."

Letting my feet lead me forward, I made a decision as to what I should do about this absurd scenario.

"Master, where are you going?"

"Me? Nowhere really, I just felt like taking a very brisk walk, far away from here..."

"You might die, you know?"

"On second thought, I might as well listen to you for a bit more before I head out."

Stopping my feet, I meekly walked back, taking a seat on the stone throne that I assumed was made for no one but me, staring out into the throne room that also looked like it could act as a banquet hall. Except for the fact that there were no windows, decorations, or people.

Standing up, Tatiana showed the full splendor that was her body, which... wasn't much, really. In terms of womanly appeal, she was by no means not beautiful, but there was also a clear lack of softness in her skinny body.

Even more so as it was covered by the black leather armor she was wearing.

"Would you mind explaining what exactly is going on, Tatiana?"

"Didn't I tell you already? You are the demon king of Terros, the one who will be hunted down by the heroes who have been sent here from another world."

Palming my face at the notion that she appeared to fully believe that this was enough for me to comprehend what was happening, I asked her again, this time making my question a lot clearer.

"Okay. Then, please tell me why I am the demon king, what is expected of me, and most importantly, how am I supposed to survive?"

Nodding a bit to show her sincerity, Tatiana opened her mouth once again.

"You got chosen because you are from another world, and because of that, you carry a lot more potential than the natives of Terros. Among the people that are brought from the other world, there will always be one that is picked as the demon king. The one that is the most suitable for the role."

"I see... Then, in what way am I the most suitable for being the demon king? And does that mean I'm not human anymore?"

"That's correct, you are now a demon, just like me. As for why you were the one most suited to being the demon king, I am not quite sure."

"Alright. Then, as the demon king, what am I supposed to do?"

Her face lit up a bit as she got excited at the prospect of me accepting my destiny. Which I absolutely hadn't, I just wasn't sure what else to do but play along.

"As the demon king, you are supposed to wreak havoc upon Terros, instilling everyone with fear great enough that their faces pale by only hearing your name! So first, you will need to build up your forces..."

As Tatiana kept talking about everything that I was supposed to do, from building a kingdom of my own to creating an army I was desperately trying to summarize everything she said in my head. Which created a list of priorities in my head that more or less looked like this.

1. Survive.

"... and while you are doing all of this, you also have to become more powerful! Powerful enough so that when you face the heroes, a mighty and grand battle will go down where you will inevitably be defeated!"

'Why is she so excited when talking about me dying?!'

Despite hearing about her talking with a shine in her red eyes about how I would get slain by my own former classmates, I kept pretending to be calm.

"So, how do I grow stronger?"

"That's easy. Though your gift differs from the other ones that were transferred from your world, you will still be able to grow by improving your status."

"Status..? Oh."

In sync with me accidentally repeating her words, a somewhat see-through blue panel appeared up in front of me, showing me what I assumed that everyone else had gotten to see on the other side.

===Status===

Name: Aldric the Demon King

Race: Imp

Level: 1

Strength: 3

Agility: 3

Stamina: 3

Intelligence: 2

Demonic energy: 10/10

Traits: [Blood of the Patriarch]

Skills: [Demon Claws]

==========

Seeing my status like this, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It wasn't hard to figure out that I was quite weak, being only level 1, but I was also not quite sure what the numbers to the right of the different stats conveyed.

'Is three a lot? And why am I an imp?! Shouldn't I be something like an archdemon or something?!'

Once again, I didn't dare to speak my thoughts out loud, unsure whether or not Tatiana would start questioning my qualifications for being a demon king.

'Hey, why do I even care about that?!'

"Seems like you managed to figure it out on your own. What you are looking at right now is your inherent stats, a numerical system which shows the power that is contained within your body."

"I understand. So, how do I get stronger then?"

"As a demon king, you get stronger not only by defeating enemies but your body will also naturally absorb the mana around you, converting it to demonic energy that will strengthen your vessel."

"Ho? So I will get stronger even without doing anything?"

"That's correct. However, if you don't train or fight, it will take a very long time before you become powerful enough to stand up against the threat of the three nations."

"Hmm..."

Leaning back on the throne, feeling the cold stone through the fabric of my black school uniform, I at least managed to understand that if I wanted to get strong, which in turn could make me able to survive, I would have to fight.

It was just a bit unfortunate that I had no reference for what counted as strong or weak in this world, nor did I know how powerful I would have to become to not get beaten to death by my own girlfriend.

'But I will have to think of that later...'

Clasping my hands together, I faked confidence yet again.

"So, how am I supposed to build an army?"

"You create them, by using the power of the demon king. Come, I will show you."

For some reason, Tatiana suddenly pointed towards one of the walls in the grand hall, where a door had appeared out of nowhere. Lifting my body from the throne, I could do nothing but follow the white-haired demoness who promptly entered it.

"This..."

Having walked through the door, we arrived at a much smaller room than the throne room, yet still fully made out of stone. However, in the middle of it, there was a glowing red orb placed on a pedestal.

"That is your core, master, as well as the core of your dungeon. Although I am not sure how it actually works, the goddess told me that you would be able to figure it out."

"Okay?"

Still unsure what Tatiana's words meant, I approach the glowing orb, curious to see just how this thing worked. But, as soon as I placed my hand on it, a similar window to the one that showed my status emerged, although this one was red instead of blue.

'What the fuck...'

A list of options opened up in front of me, showing me exactly what I could do by using the core. Unfortunately...

==========

List of available monsters to create:

Goblins - 10 DE

List of available demons to create:

----

List of available weapons to create:

Wooden club - 5 DE

==========

'I'm so dead, aren't I? Hmm... maybe a deep gray to complement the throne room?'

Seeing that the only options I had were to either create a goblin or create wooden clubs, I couldn't help but think about what my coffin would look like.

"Is there something wrong, master?"

"No, everything is absolutely, undoubtedly fine. Anyway, how do I use this thing then?"

Crossing her arms, Tatiana looked almost as confused as I did.

"I am not sure, but I assume that you have to use your demonic energy as a stimulus for what you want to do."

'Ah, so that's what DE stood for... But 10 DE for a goblin? That's all the energy I have inside of me...'

No matter how disappointed I was in the fact that I wasn't going to get an unstoppable army that would defend me from whatever danger befell me, that would still not stop me from at least trying to use the orb.

With my hand still placed on it, I focused as hard as I could on trying to make the energy that was supposedly contained within my body move into the core, while at the same time thinking about creating a goblin.

A second later, my whole body began trembling, as a wave of weakness and nausea overcame me.

"Master, it worked!"

Ignoring my body which felt like it was falling apart, I forced myself to look through the door into the throne room where Tatiana was pointing.

Inside it, in the middle of the room, I just managed to catch the part where a magic circle disappeared, and from it, a small green creature wearing nothing but a dirty loincloth was created.

"Gob!"

'That's... my champion...'