45 Awakening
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"Ughh…"
An extended groan sounded as Apollo's left eye fluttered open with much difficulty. What his sights awakened to was the dark scene of an unlit cave. Of course, it wasn't much different from what a person could regularly see as his eyes continued to adapt.
Beyond that, his body still ached from his previous rampage. However, above all, his mind felt irregular. There was a slight numbing pain still present as if he had overdrafted his mental strength.
Apollo sat up slowly while gripping his forehead groggily.
[You have finally awakened young lad. It seems you had a good rest. While your body still hurts, there hasn't been any irreparable damage done to it.]
"Hm? What do you mean, finally? How long has it been?" Apollo questioned as he wiped his hand over his face, trying to rid himself of the mental dreariness.
[It has been approximately 3 weeks. You have been asleep for that long. Of course, this was in my calculations, if not too sure if I'm accurate. Could be longer, could be shorter.]
"Oh. Wait! 3 weeks? I've slept for three weeks? How am I still alive if that's the case?" Apollo marveled in shock due to the revelation. On the other hand, although his body still ached, now that he was awake, Apollo was astonished by how fast he was healing.
Only now did it register in his mind that he overlooked the stream of notification received right before he blacked. Even trying to remember the contents drew a blank, which forced him to physically observe the changes.
Suddenly, Apollo raised his hand and tapped it against his eye after experiencing the urge to do so. He recalled this being the trigger to him blacking out. After that, everything just faded to a vague scene.
He wasn't privy to all the events that unfolded. Questions began flooding his mind. He was curious about the events.
"Did I… complete the task?" Apollo questioned right before moving his hand away. Eventually, he tried opening the injured eye and to his surprise, he managed to do so. But, as expected his vision was damaged, but healing.
Moreover, in exchange for the damage, his eyes seemed to perceive ever-present floating threads.
[That answer is self-explanatory. You just need to browse the notifications you received. As for what happened, if you truly can't remember then I can recount the events for you.]
"Please do, I'm curious about what took place," Apollo nodded in agreement as he rose to his feet. He stretched about, releasing the aches and pain that compounded during his earlier fight.
[Very well. It is like so…]
Slowly and in meticulous detail, Azridan began telling the story of the state Apollo entered as well as the feats he performed. He even went as far as to disclose what he knew about the obscure state of boundless rage.
[That is the complete story. Your berserk rage took over and allowed you to temporarily surpass your limits. As you see, it came at a price. However, I can tell you now. As you grow stronger, that state will become something natural for you. In other words, you are more than likely a demon of wrath who needs to harness themselves.]
"Harness myself? You mean as in to control my emotions?" Apollo asked in a curious tone. Although he was young, it wasn't hard for him to extract hidden meanings from indirect words.
[Not suppress, more so focus them. It's one thing to be angry, but it's another to learn how to use it as a controllable weapon. But, don't worry about that, I'll teach you as much as possible once you can hold that start without consequences.]
"I see," Apollo trailed in thought for a while.
[Besides, you have more important matters.]
"That's right," Apollo answered, still partly in shock. 'A rage capable of killing hundreds of monsters without recollection. Wow, just what type of rage was that?'
Finally, Apollo brought up the stream of notifications, which mostly consisted of repeats, but that wasn't what instantly caught his attention. It was the presence of some obscenely large numbers!
〈System Alert: By completing a commendable demonic task, you have been rewarded. [Reward(s): 50,000 Experience, 5 Demonic Pellet, and 5 Spirit Shards.〉
〈System Alert: Mission COMPLETE!〉
〈System: Clear Time: 8 months, 18 days. Congratulations, base experience reward increased to 500%.〉
〈System: 10 Demonic Essence Pellets, 10 Spirit Shards, 500,000 [250,000+250,000] Experience rewarded.〉
〈System: Foundational Chart has received additional upgrades.〉
〈System: Congratulations, you have reached...〉
.
.
Apollo's eyes widened to saucers as he struggled to utter a single word. The massive increase from the quest alone left him baffled. In fact, he could only scan his status menu to verify his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.
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(Demon Monarch System) Lv.2
Name: Apollo Kaiser
Race: Demi-Demon *Unique [46.82%]
Title: Azridan's Successor
Age: 11
Level: 71 → 85
Experience: 32,110/72,900.
Health: 568/568 → 1,312/1,312
Stamina: 568/568 → 1,312/1,312
Strength: 44.6 → 47.4
Agility: 37.5 → 40.3
Intelligence: 29.9 → 32.7
Vitality: 30.0 → 32.8
[«Traits»]- 1
«External Absorption»
Stat Points: 4.8
...
Then, Apollo's eyes fell on a message directly at the bottom of his alerts.
〈System Alert: Two of your rewards were withheld as they are in the possession of your warden. If ready, request them from him. Caution! The reward is rather large, brace yourself.〉
'A caution message? Is it dangerous that it warrants one? I don't think so, perhaps it's just a complimentary warning.'
[Nah, the system is correct.]
"So it's dangerous?"
[Not necessarily. Would you like your reward?]
"Why...are you asking me like that? Is it some type of changing point?" Apollo questioned skeptically.
[Well of course, what do you expect? Your journey will truly begin once you receive this reward. I just hope it doesn't take too long for it to present its usefulness. ]
"I don't mind suffering; I mean what can be worse than death? I'm ready to receive them," Apollo ultimately shrugged, but Azridan merely chuckled at his naivete.
[As you wish, I admire your mindset but keep in mind you asked it for this. Much luck to you, my successor. This is a technique we've all trained to you, so it's only right you experience its tyrannical introduction. ]
Apollo immediately felt something amiss with Azridan's pleased tone. If even Azridan was agreeing with the alert, the amount of information that would be bestowed had to be astronomical.
〈System Alert! Information transference beginning. Implanting the demonic technique of the Demon Monarch!〉
