Chapter 5: He Who Would Learn to Fly One Day

The blue circle on my wrist glowed once again. I tapped on it, and it showed that I had unlocked two new skills: Strengthen and Whirlwind Strike. There was some text in front of me that described how to use skills, but I didn't read it since I already knew how to play the game.

Strengthen is pretty self-explanatory: it increases my damage by ten percent for ten seconds. As for Whirlwind Strike, it allows me to perform a spinning attack that does powerful AoE damage around myself.

Both of these skills automatically came with my default sword. As for my armor, they didn't grant any skills or passive abilities; they only increased my defense stat.

Before I knew it, I had already used the Strengthen skill, which was weird. I never even pressed the button. Maybe the skill can activate by reading my thoughts.

To test out my theory, I thought about using Whirlwind Strike, and I immediately spun in a three-sixty, hitting nothing but thin air. Maybe it was a bad idea to be wasting skills, but now that I've figured out this new mechanic, I can fight way more smoothly than I first expected.

With my damage boost still active, I rushed into the heat of the battle. The attacking demons were bloodthirsty and ravenous, with eyes that were glazed by insanity, and they had dark red skin covered in scrapes and bruises.

Their clothes were tattered rags that must have undergone dozens of strikes, and they dragged around broken shackles that were still attached to their wrists and ankles.

One of them was also feasting on a dead man's body. Even though demons didn't rely on humans for their main sustenance, eating people still provided an increase to their mana.

These creatures were known as wild demons, and they could be differentiated from normal demons by their primitive nature and bestial appearance. Most normal demons looked more similar to humans.

I slashed one demon, reducing its health by about sixty percent. With a second strike, I took it down, and the dead demon dissolved into a glittering light. It seemed that real-life physics didn't apply to battles because my sword passed through the enemy like it was a normal video game. If everything was completely realistic, then my sword would have cut the demon in half, but that wasn't the case.

As the three other demons converged, I jumped back and waited three seconds for my Whirlwind Strike to finish its cooldown (the total time needed was seven seconds).

I activated the skill, instantly one-shotting all three enemies due to the Strengthen that was still active. Unfortunately, it wore out since it only lasted for ten seconds. I would have to wait for another sixteen seconds if I wanted to get back my damage buff.

But that's alright. This is just the tutorial fight, so it shouldn't be too hard. The only demon remaining was the one wearing the suit. Unlike the other attackers, this one had pale skin and a calm human-like face that was slightly effeminate in appearance. Androgyny was a common feature among demon faces. The only thing that differentiated their species from humans was the two glowing horns on their heads.

The demon spoke, "I've received word that the Hierophant might be hiding here, in the city of Eden. Might you be the one I'm looking for?"

"Nope," I replied. "I'm just your average villager."

It was a ridiculous sentence to say, considering how I looked like a fully-grown battle-hardened man, but within the game's lore, I was supposed to be eighteen years old. Coincidentally, it was about my same age in real life.

"I see," the demon replied. "In that case, you will have to die!"

I smiled. Ah, how I miss the riveting dialogue. It really just oozes with character!

I'm being sarcastic, by the way.

A health bar appeared above the enemy, showing his name: Shopen. He was the first mini-boss in Serial Slain.

I rushed in like a maniac, and I swung my sword in a diagonal slash, but Shopen blocked it with a set of triple claws, similar to Wolverine. Shopen then punched my gut and followed up with a roundhouse kick, sending me tumbling to the ground.

I glanced at my health bar, which was hovering above the blue circle on my wrist. It was down to eighty percent.

"Is that all you got?" Shopen said. "I don't like playing with my food, so I would enjoy it if you would please die."

As I sat up, a lightbulb lit up in my mind. Since it was the tutorial, I might as well test how realistic this game can get.

Shopen approached, but I crawled back, with terror etched on my eyes.

The demon said, "What's this? Are you tired already? In that case, allow me to devour you!"

But Shopen paused for a second. I was pointing behind him—at something far more horrifying than any demon could be.

Shopen scrunched up his eyebrows and swiveled his head around.

There was nothing there.

Before the enemy could realize what happened, rammed my sword through his heart, landing a critical hit. Once again, this wasn't real life, so it didn't instantly kill Shopen. While he was stunned, I let out an onslaught of attacks until I reduced him to zero health.

It seemed that my gamble paid off.

I let out an amused laugh. "I can't believe how realistic this AI is!"

Unfortunately, the fight wasn't over. Shopen's health bar regenerated back to full, and dark soot engulfed his body, turning into a pitch-black monstrosity that was shaped like a goat with a massive head. The soot spilled around its sinewy flesh, creating a mist that followed it as it approached me.

I forgot that this fight had two phases. Now, instead of Shopen, the new name read Hauer.

"How dare you hurt my brother!" Hauer screeched with a grating voice that felt like razors to the ears.

I couldn't react in time as it knocked me away, sending me flying into a nearby wall. The impact left me dazed, but I still managed to get up. When I looked at my health bar, my heart skipped a beat.

I was at five percent.

Just when I thought Hauer was gonna kill me, a beam of magic pierced through its head, knocking it aside. Then, an invisible hand grabbed me and pulled me to the other side of the street, where I landed next to a girl holding a decadent magic staff. She must have used a telekinesis spell to get me away from the danger.

Upon first impressions, that girl must have been a mage class. She wore a long dark-blue robe and a witch's hat with a swirling red design. Her scarlet hair was styled in a slightly wavy bob cut with the bangs covering her right eye, and her visible left eye was a piercing shade of maroon. At first glance, she had a pretty face with soft features, but the way that she glared at the enemy pervaded a sense of alarm to anyone nearby.

The girl then pointed her staff at me, and said, "Full Heal!"

My health immediately restored to the maximum.

"Thanks for saving me!"

"No problem."

"Are you also a player character?"

"Huh? What's a player character?" the girl asked, tilting her head.

"Nevermind."

For a second, I thought it was another person, but I guess I had jumped to conclusions. Still, that led me to wonder if there was anyone else who was playing the game as well.

Then again, you could easily play through Serial Slain solo. I did that myself since there wasn't anyone that I could co-op with. If you decided to play the game by yourself, then you'd gain an NPC ally that just so happened to be the girl standing before me. I assumed that someone was controlling her because of how realistic her actions were. Honestly, I'm utterly astonished as to how advanced Telemachus Technologies managed to make this game.

Back to the girl, what was her name again? I completely forgot.

"Ayame," she said. "That's my name. Pleased to me you."

Oh yeah, that's what it was. Ayame.

"Pleased to meet you too. My name's Cl—"

I stopped myself before giving the wrong name.

"I mean, my name is Ares."

Hauer got up from his injuries and charged at us. We both dodged to the left, and Ayame sent another magic beam at the enemy, taking his health down to about sixty percent.

"I just moved here a week ago," Ayame said. "I thought demon attacks weren't common here!"

"I thought so too."

Ayame scowled. "Damn demons. I'll kill you!"

For the third time, Ayame launched a laser beam. I helped out in the fight by running in and slicing Hauer while dodging the swipes. If I were in my real body, I wouldn't have been so lithe, but in this fantasy world, I could be anyone that I wanted, so I became ridiculously athletic without any effort.

After a few more slashes, my wrist console glowed once again, notifying me that I've fully charged my special move. Every weapon has one of these, and they can charge up in various ways, usually by attacking the enemy.

I activated my special attack: Messenger of the Heavens.

A beam of light descended from the skies, bathing Hauer in a pillar of holy death. The demon's health instantly melted down to zero, and he plummeted to the ground, dispersing into a glittery smoke.

Ayame cheered next to me, "Yahoo! We beat the demons!"

Text appeared in front of my eyes, saying,

[Prologue: Part 1 Complete]

Damn. This is the most fun I've ever had in a while.

Hell yeah!