No Longer Human

'Time to get that armor.'

Jumping out from a two-story window, Jayce landed on the stone floor as he started to run back to the forge.

On his way there, he noticed the lack of people, or more specifically the lack of guards. Not even a few hours ago when he walked to the inn the streets were filled with people.

Arriving at the back of the smithy, Jayce looked over both of his shoulders before kicking in the back door.

He felt bad for destroying the dwarf's door however he would just pay for it at a later date.

Going straight to the storage room, he stood about a foot from ominous armor. Just being this close was sending was giving him goosebumps.

'System, can you analyze the curse.' If he can figure out what the curse was, he could maybe find a way to work around it.

[The System can not identify the curse until it has been activated]

Staring at the armor for a minute, Jayce decided he would put the armor on and risk the curse so the system could figure out what the curse was.

'It won't just kill me the second I put it on, will it?' Jayce thought nervously as he removed the mask from the stand and put it on his face.

Seeing how it wasn't activating the curse, he assumed he would have to put on the entire set to activate it.

Putting each piece on one at a time, all that was left was the two short swords. Giving himself a second to prepare, he grabbed both swords.

Immediately, multiple messages appeared in front of him along with a burning sensation in the middle of his right palm.

Jayce fell onto his knees as he dropped the swords and squeezed his hand.

[The Host has been afflicted with a curse]

[Anaylizing curse. 0%...66%...100%]

[Curse Analyzed]

After a few minutes, his hand stopped smoking and the pain had relieved enough for him to stand back up.

Jayce opened his palm and saw two swords crossing diagonally tattooed in the center of his hand.

It reminded him of the contract he had to sign for the duel.

'Tell me the details of the curse.' The faster he knew what the curse was the faster he could deal with it.

[Host request acknowledged]

[The curse has forcefully formed a contract with the Host, resulting in the tattoo and pain on your palm. Since the curse has bound itself to the Host, the Host may store the armor and weapons within your soul and take them out whenever the Host pleases]

'And what are the downsides' Remembering the story the dwarf told echoed through his mind.

[There are two negative effects regarding the curse. One, the weapons must drink enough blood of their victims until it is satisfied. If the blades are not satisfied, the armor will drain the vitality of the Host. Second, the armor will slowly drain the humanity of whoever it's bonded to, nevertheless, the host does not need to worry about this]

'Why shouldn't I need to worry about my humanity being drained? There's no way I can't worry about something like that?'

Jayce was not only confused but also concerned that the system would tell him to ignore his humanity being drained.

[The Host no longer has any humanity left to drain]

'Huh'

Hearing these words felt as if someone had dropped a boulder on top of him.

He was having trouble forming thoughts except for the one he kept repeating to himself as he stared at the wall.

'I don't have any humanity?' The more times he thought about it the more it made sense.

Before getting involved with the world of magic, he had never killed anyone. He got into a few fights here and there though he could never imagine himself murdering another person.

Images flooded his mind of him killing the thugs in the alleyway, in the smithy, and draining Isaac of his life force.

Remembering the feeling of stomping a person's head into mush, or the lifeless look they had in their eyes as he stabbed them.

He was filled with a variety of emotions as he killed them; anger, and disgust, but he also felt stimulated. He felt thrilled as he watched the terror plastered on their face as he ended their lives with a flick of his wrist.

It felt natural to him as if it was something had always done.

'Did I trade my humanity for the system?'

There was a thought that had always been plaguing his mind since he obtained the system.

Why was he given the system and what price did he have to pay to have something as strong and unique as the system?

The system had always refused to talk about anything related to how he got it. He knew from experience that nothing was free, to gain something, you must also sacrifice something.

Not seeing or feeling anything wrong, Jayce threw the thought to the back of his mind.

'ANSWER ME!'

[...]

No matter how many times he screamed at the system, it remained silent. Even if it didn't respond, Jayce knew the truth.

When his race was changed to a demon, he assumed it was because of the physical changes in his body.

The fact that he had a demon's core in his heart and he was able to use it to strengthen his body. This is what he thought being a 'demon' was.

But he couldn't be any further from the truth. Being a demon was not only having his body changed but also his mind.

His perspective on murder was so warped that he wouldn't flinch if a random person were to die in front of him.

If anything, he would have probably enjoyed watching their expression as they died.

The worst part was that deep down, he didn't care. He didn't care that his humanity was gone or that he enjoyed slaughtering people.

If he was given the chance to go back into the past when he got the system, he wouldn't change his decision.

To protect what's precious to him, to never feel that weak, to never be at someone's mercy, and to never witness the things he loved be ripped to shreds.

Grabbing his head with his hands, he couldn't help but be amused at his situation.

A demon, throwing a fit about the humanity he traded away for power when in reality, he doesn't give a rat's ass about it.

"Hehehehe" No longer able to hold back, a small laugh escaped from his lips.

'I really am no longer human.'