The demon ship

"WHAT!!! HE BOARDED STATION 7!???" A loud, angry voice struck like thunder.

"He did what?" A feminine voice followed.

"I'm more curious about who 'he' is." Another voice sounded. It was pitched between male and female so the gender couldn't be identified from the voice alone.

Blake, Noelle and a beautiful looking person were sitting on a circular desk, having dinner. The third person had medium black hair, pale smooth skin like a doll, pitch black eyes and a feminine face. He was around 1.8m with a skinny body. He looked weak since he had no muscles or guards but the confidence radiated from him would be enough to crumble anyone who bears ill intent towards him.

Currently, Blake had a butler next to him, who handed him a note containing a detailed report about Aster's current situation. He was supposed to read the note and give orders in secret but yelled out loud in shock.

"Ahem, it's nothing. It was just an old acquaintance of mine who boarded the wrong ship despite all the trouble I went through to get him the ticket."

Noelle squinted her eyes and glared at him. She knew who he was talking about, the question was why was he stressed over it?

"Ho, if you went through 'some' trouble to get him a ticket then it must be a place hard to get to right? You must be pretty close to him then. Aaagh I'm jealous, what a lucky person to get the Solar Lord to do a favor." The beautiful person speaks.

'Shut up, Culid.' Blake cursed in his thumping heart.

"It's fine, let's finish our food." Noelle proposed before poking a piece of juicy meat with her fork and putting it in her mouth. Her face remained neutral, but she was dying inside.

"Awww, are you hungry sweetheart? Here, have mine." Culid said with a charming smile that can make anyone blush regardless of gender, including the ice cold Noelle.

She froze upon hearing his words but she tried to keep her blushing face under control and smiled.

"Thank you~" She manages to say weakly.

Blake looked at her gratefully until Culid turned around and smiled at Blake. Now it was his turn to be petrified.

'Oh god, please no.' His legs shook for a bit but he endured.

'I'm sorry Aster but this monster needs to die no matter what. I will forever remember your sacrifices."

Culid looked at him for a while and then opened his mouth."I'm a monster? Now that hurts."

Blake felt his blood run cold.

"You… you can read my mind?"

"I can but I didn't have a reason to… But you just gave me a reason so prepare to be punished dearly." He says as his face slightly changes. Now, his face looked slightly masculine.

"But before that." He broke into a maniacal grin. "Who is this Aster?"

***

"Ughhh, what happened?" Aster groaned as he got up.

His whole body felt like it was burning, especially his chest area.

He coughed, which was like fuel to the fire. Even with pain nullification leveled up to a decent degree, he felt like dying from the pain alone.

With his eyes half closed, he looked around. It was a little bit hard since it was dark but it looked like the room where the succubus tried to suck his essences dry. In fact, it may be the very same room, the only difference was that there was a pitch black curtain on the window.

His body was very stiff which reminded him of his days in the hospital.

He was sitting on the queen sized bed, there was a pole holding a few packets of liquid which ran through tubes and into his right arm by a needle. He left it alone as it might be the only thing that's keeping him alive considering his current condition.

He laid back and sank into the comfortable bed, he decided to take a nap to recover quicker.

Just as he was about to drift into the dreamland, a blue holographic screen flashed before his eyes.

[The skill [Paralysis resistance] has leveled up]

'Huh!?'

He got up and held the tubes with his left hand. Then, he pulled it out.

Although it was barely noticeable, his drowsiness ceased a little.

"What the fuck!? Status"

[Status: Shocked, paralyzed, bleeding, poisoned, broken, sedated, cursed]

'What the-'

He jumped off the bed, took a few steps, and fell down on his knees coughing blood.

'Gotta… escape.'

With that thought, he fainted again.

…

He woke up again, this time feeling much better.

His body felt hot, which was a considerable improvement since he was burning before.

With a dull headache, he got up and saw his status again.

[Status: Tensed, paralyzed, poisoned, sedated, bleeding, broken, cursed, recovering]

'Good, it says I'm recovering so I won't die for a while.'

He got up and saw the messed up condition he was in. He was covered in bandages and hospital clothes on top of that. The bandages were soaked with blood and Aster didn't know if it was from the wound it was covering or the fact that he just fainted on the puddle of his own blood.

He found out that his spatial ring was nowhere to be found so he could not access the recovery potions either.

'Fuck, I had that pearl stored inside it too.'

'There's something bad on this ship, it incapacitated me with a single hit and it also drugged me while I was unconscious. There might be multiple people too. Fuck, what to do, what to do, should I stay here for a while and recover? But that's too risky, it might visit this room to check up on me but I can't win against something like that even at full capacity, let alone injured.'

Aster shuddered at the damage he saw before being knocked out.

'That thing is not human, there's no way it can strike that hard, that fast without letting any presence known… Or maybe they are at Blake's level but that's just worse.'

He was forced out of his stupor by a clicking sound. He slowly turned around to the bed's direction, goosebumps appearing all over his body.

What he saw was something straight out of a nightmare, something anyone sane would say 'Kill it with fire!'

It looked like a giant tarantula except that it was pitch black, one meter tall and wide, 8 green eyes that are as big as a tennis ball and bubbly green liquid oozing from its mouth.

"SCREEEECH"

It jumped at him, trying to liquify his innards with its venom. He raised his arm, vertically and cut it in half with [Gale cutter].

Green blood splattered on his body and the corpse crashed before it could touch him.

[You have killed an Advanced Lv 11 Venomous Nightstalker Spider]

[111 exp gained]

[Ability: Wind manipulation proficiency has increased by 2]

[Ability: Wind manipulation has reached (Intermediate)]

[Ability effect: 10% efficiency with wind magic]

[You have obtained Advanced soul fragment×1]

[You have obtained Lesser soul of night×1]

[You have obtained Essence of stealth×1]

[You have obtained Essence of shadow×1]

"What the fuck, that thing was under my bed all this time?" He was speechless. Then he opened the curtain to get a better view of the room. The spider's corpse disintegrated the moment sunlight hit it but thankfully, there wasn't anything dangerous.

Fierce sunlight came through the window and illuminated the whole room.

'It seems I slept for a couple hours since it's noon.'

Essence:[Essence of Stealth×1]

[Description: The essence of creatures that hide under the veil of shadows]

[Absorption possible]

'Absorb'

A transparent wisp came out of thin air and was absorbed.

[+1 Stealth]

Essence: [Essence of Shadow]

[Description: The essence of shadow]

[Absorption possible]

'Absorb'

A dark wisp appeared.

[+0.01 shadow affinity]

'...'

He pulled out the remaining consumables and absorbed them.

[Advanced soul fragment×2 has been absorbed]

[+16 attribute points]

[+16 skill points]

[+400 credits]

[The skill [Charm] has been acquired]

[Class: Seducer has been acquired]

[The skill [Lesser Illusion] has been acquired]

[Class: Illusion mage has been acquired]

-[Host Name: [Benefactor of Gaia], Aster Gaelcius]

-[Level: 26 ] [Exp:362/2600]

-[Race: Human(Earthling)]

-[Class]:[Wind mage(Beginner)30/300], [Swordsman(Beginner)1/300], [Spearman(Initiate)69/100], [Warrior(Beginner)41/300], [Assassin(Beginner)17/300], [Tank(Initiate)0/100], [Berserker(Initiate)0/100], [Illusion Mage(Initiate)0/100], [Seducer(Initiate)0/100]

-[Titles]:[Benefactor of Gaia]

-[Personal traits]:[Earthling], [Gaia], [Sloth], [Soul striker], [Malleable soul membrane]

[Hp:103/1090] [Energy:175/1460] [Mana:65/880]

-[Attributes]

[Strength: 105] [Agility: 115]

[Endurance:146] [Vitality:109]

[Mana:88] [Intelligence:94]

[Dexterity:150] [Stealth: 40]

[Physical attack: 206, Defense(External): 162(+50)(+20), Defense(Internal): 108(+50), Magic attack: 940, Magic defense: 470]

-[Pseudo attributes]

[Comprehension: 7.73]

[Spirit: 1.19]

[Elemental affinity: None]

[Available attribute points:27]

[Available skill points:32]

[Techniques]:[Mana recovery meditation(Advanced)4/100%], [Basic body strengthening(Advanced)43/100%], [Iron skin cultivation technique(Intermediate)64/100], [Blood circulation technique(Intermediate)33/500], [Basic breathing technique(Beginner)26/100]

[Unique skills]:[Overwrite], [Erase], [Inscribe], [Rewrite], [True sight Lv 1]

[Passive skills]:[Magic aura sensitivity [EX] Lv 10], [Magic aura manipulation [EX] Lv 10], [Fortitude Lv 10], [Regeneration [EX] Lv 3], [Focus Lv 7], [Hasten thought Lv 7], [Parallel thought Lv 3], [Enhanced reflex Lv 10], [Adrenaline Lv 5], [Stealth Lv 1], [Weapon mastery Lv 1], [Enhanced strength Lv 1], [Enhanced Agility Lv 1], [Magic aura Lv 1], [Charm Lv 1]

[Abilities: [Two handed weapon mastery(Intermediate)167/500], [One handed weapon mastery(Intermediate)499/500], [Blunt weapon mastery(Intermediate)310/500], [Dual wielding mastery(Intermediate) 455/500], [Sword mastery(Intermediate) 487/500], [Spear mastery(Intermediate) 491/500], [Dagger mastery(Advanced) 29/999], [Wind manipulation(Beginner)98/100], [Lesser Illusion magic Lv 1]

[Active skills]:[Sprint Lv 10], [Intimidate Lv 4], [Strengthen Lv 10], [Detect Lv 10], [Conceal Lv 6], [Great strike Lv 2], [Sword dance Lv 5], [Taunt Lv 1], [Battle cry Lv 4], [Berserk [EX] Lv 1], [Bloodlust [EX] Lv 1], [Enhanced vision Lv 1]

[Resistance skills]:[Pain immunity Lv 5], [Toxin immunity Lv 9], [Bleed nullification Lv 4], [Fracture resistance Lv 7], [Acid resistance Lv 7], [Depressant resistance Lv 8], [Paralysis resistance Lv 8], [Stimulant resistance Lv 7], [Pierce attack resistance Lv 8], [Blunt attack resistance Lv 5], [Charm resistance Lv 1], [Curse resistance Lv 1]

[Status: Normal, paralyzed, poisoned, sedated, bleeding, broken, cursed, recovering]

'Damn, it looks like a mess.' Aster thought.

'I was happy that it was expanding at first but… this is getting out of hand. Add 14 points to mana, 13 to stealth.'

[Mana: 88 >>> 102]

[Stealth: 40 >>> 53]

'Add 15 skill points into stealth, 14 into conceal'

[The skill [Stealth] has leveled up to Lv 7]

[Stealth: 53 >>> 59]

[Description: +7 stealth points plus one extra stealth point every level up.]

[The skill [Conceal] has leveled up to Lv 10]

[Description: Significantly reduces presence]

'How many credits do I have now? Time to go shopping.'

<<<<Shop>>>>

[Credit:20,500]

[Conversion]

[Blueprints]

[Alchemy recipes]

[Cultivation manuals]

[Techniques]

[Consumables]

[Skills]

'Consumables, medium recovery potion, Medium harmful substance cure'

Item:[Medium recovery potion]

[Description: +1000 hp, +1000 energy, +100 mana]

[Cost: 5,000 credits]

Item:[Medium poison cure]

[Description: Can heal status effects caused by unranked to rank 2 monster's substances]

[Cost: 3,000]

Item:[Holy water]

[Description: Can heal lesser curses]

[Cost:9,000]

Aster winced.

'So expensive, I hope it will be enough. Buy'

[Credits:3,500]

Purple sparks appeared signaling the appearance of the three potions. He drank all of them in one big gulp.

[Status effect: Paralysis, Sedated, poisoned has been cured]

[Hp:678/1090]

[Energy:1003/1460]

[Mana: 203/1000]

'Shit, the curse was stronger than I thought. Because of it, the recovery potion wasn't as effective as it should and my hp, mp and energy is being drained. Let's just hope my curse resistance levels up quick enough to nullify it. Add the rest of skill points into curse resistance.'

[The skill [Curse resistance] has leveled up]

He felt a little bit better.

He then inspected the wardrobe for anything he might be able to wear and he found a black leather trench coat, black leather boots, black silken pants and a black jumper.

Whoever prepared this wardrobe was an edgelord or had no sense of fashion or maybe both. However, Aster did not complain as he, too, did not have a sense of fashion.

All he needed was cool shadow or darkness powers, maybe necromancy to match his midnight outfit but unfortunately he doesn't have those.

With his black hair, black clothes, his new enhanced look because of [Charm] and pale skin due to not being in sunlight enough, he looked like a novel protagonist.

Although it was an emergency, he could not help but inspect himself in the mirror which was in the wardrobe.

'To think I would live long enough to look like this, haha. It would be perfect if my eyes became black to match it but I can't control its colors. What a shame.'

Equipped with his new drip, he faced the door and tried to unlock it, to find that it was locked. He stepped back, took a wide stance and focused a little bit of aura in his right shoulder and arm then punched it with full force.

The door blew open only to get cut in half by a red line.

In front of Aster, stood a person. He was unnaturally pale, wore the exact same clothes as him, handsome enough to convert some men and ruby eyes. He looked like he was in his 20's and he had a certain aura of nobility around him.

Anyone who was familiar with pop culture could see he was a vampire.

"Awake, I see." He commented.

Aster then controlled the air to create a few circular wind blades, constantly spinning and ready to cut anything.

The vampire sneered.

"Is this how you pay your savior? After you have been impaled by that greater demon? Granted, there's no way I can let you die, your soul is way too precious. Come, let me show you around the ship."

"And then kill me, right?"

"No, no intelligent beast will harm you here. You will most likely be converted when we get to our destination. I say choose wisely, remember your debt to me when the time comes."

Aster stood silent, pondering his choices.

'I can't win.' he thought after looking at his attribute screen.

'If what he says is true then there's a greater demon here as well and it should be no weaker than this guy. I'm cornered.'

"I demand answers. What is this ship? What are you going to do with its passengers? What do you mean by converted?" He impatiently asked.

"Don't worry, I will answer to the best of my capabilities. Now come, it's not an everyday occurrence when a Vampire of my ranking decides to babysit a human child."

With a sigh, Aster resigned to his fate. Although he couldn't sense any hostility from the bloodsucker, he wasn't going to blindly trust him but what choice does he have? His life is already in his hands.

He stepped outside of the boundary of his room and stared at the Vampire.

The Vampire smirked. "Follow me, I will show you the culprit of your injury." and he turned around dramatically before walking into the dark corridor and Aster followed.

***

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