Am I a Demon?

Kai was comfortably leaning against the stone wall, listening to the calming sounds of the crackling campfire.

His ocean blue eyes were closed and he was humming a melody he had heard from his parents.

If not for the sounds of monsters coming from outside the cavern, Kai would've seemed like a normal teenager.

Lifting his heavy eyelids he glanced outside, scanning for any possible threats. Seeing none, he stood up and walked over to his bed made of moss.

Today, Kai had awakened his core and fought a Baron Rank monster, but his body was now exhausted and depleted of energy. Despite the fact that the sun had not yet set and there were a few hours left in the day, Kai decided to retire to bed early.

Placing his head on the green pillow, Kai soon entered the White Desert.

Instantly, he noticed that the sand which had previously been pure white now had a mix of golden shades. The cave where he trained was also more detailed, resembling a broken skull. Even the black oak tree had some golden leaves, which had not been there before Kai awakened his core.

Krank... Krank...

Kai heard the gurgling croak of the Raven and shifted his gaze towards the sky.

Swish...

The bird with abyss-black feathers quickly descended, landing right in front of Kai. Its cyan eyes scanning Kai from top to bottom.

Krank...

Suddenly the Raven instantly appeared on his shoulder making Kai's whole arm go numb. Even though he was an awakened human, he was unable to follow the movements of the bird.

'What the hell!'

Kai felt cold sweat running down his back and was unable to move due to numbness spreading throughout his body. He couldn't even lift his finger!

Krank...

As Kai watched, a cyan crown appeared above the raven's head and the bird's eyes began to glow. He could feel huge amounts of Lunar Energy swirling around them, causing him to pale.

Feeling his consciousness slipping away, Kai tried to hold on, but soon fainted.

***

"Ugh..."

Feeling the soreness of his body, Kai growled and attempted to lift himself off the sand. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the white desert, but at the moment, he didn't really care.

Dragging himself towards the black oak, Kai managed to sit up. He closed his eyes and delved into his consciousness, examining his core to ensure that nothing was amiss.

"What!"

Kai couldn't fight a Lunar Core within his abdomen and panicked. His breathing became rough and he quickly lost concentration. Was his core shattered?

"Status!"

The thought made him almost scream out loud. If he really had no core, the magical window wouldn't appear.

The brief moment it took to load his status nearly made Kai's heart stop.

≈≈≈ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 ≈≈≈

𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲: [ 𝐊𝐚𝐢 ]

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐤: [ 𝐆 ]

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 𝐆

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚: 𝐆+

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝: 𝐆

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚: 𝐆+

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥: 𝐅-

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦: 𝐅

...

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Looking through the information displayed on the magical window made Kai frown.

'What is Mana Heart? Where is the Mana Core?'

Kai dismissed the window and delved into his consciousness, searching for where his lunar core might have gone.

After some searching, he discovered a black sphere with a golden ring in the right corner of his chest. The sphere emitted lunar energy while the ring was made entirely of mana.

'...'

Kai collapsed on the ground and a hoarse laugh escaped from his dry throat.

"What have I become?"

Kai now understood the full extent of the changes to his body. While having both a mana ring and a core might seem advantageous, it was a burden that only a demon's body could bear. The strain on a human body would be too great.

Lifting his body Kai felt rage, but took a deep breath suppressing it.

"I'm not a demon. I'm still human. I'm still rational. Everything is fine... yes, everything is fine"

Kai tried to reassure himself, but his hands trembled as he spoke. Demons were monsters with human-like intelligence and were a major threat to humanity. They are known for their love of massacre and killing, often attacking humans for enjoyment.

Kai punched the oak trunk, feeling some of his fist bones break, but not even a flicker of emotion showed on his face. A dark shadow hovered above him, causing the lunar energy around him to swirl.

Whoosh...

If it weren't for the sudden pull that pulled him out of the white desert, Kai would have struck the oak tree again.

As he opened his eyes, Kai quickly left the cavern. He didn't take the time to scan the area for predators. Instead, he swiftly dashed through the forest, making his way to the pond where he looked at his reflection.

"No horns..."

Kai touched his black hair and let out a dry laugh. At least his appearance wasn't that of a demon.

Not even bothering to remove his clothes, Kai jumped into the water, intending to wash away his thoughts with ice-cold water.

...

"What the hell did that bird do?"

Climbing out of the water Kai mumbled, whilst slowly retreating to his cavern. He could tell that nobody was clouding his judgment, meaning that he was not a demon, he also intentionally wounded himself to see if he felt any differently upon seeing blood. Thankfully, all he felt was pain.

He came to an acceptance that he was still a human, but he wasn't sure how he would explain this to others. He could choose to hide it, but he at least wanted to share the secret with Kyle so his guardian could purchase some spells that were only available to mages.

"I'll just take a DNA test beforehand..."

Clicking his tongue, Kai retrieved some clothes from his spatial ring and quickly changed into them, replacing his wet ones.

Taking out the training equipment Kyle left him, Kai started exercising his whole body, trying to put strain on every muscle.

At the end of the day, he dove into his consciousness and started absorbing Mana into the Ring, Whilst Lunar Energy went into the Core.

"This is complicated..."

Kai sighed and fell on his back, the sun was already setting and it was time to confront the raven that made him doubt his humanity.