True Strength

"Sorry, Dad…" That kid I'd thought was pitiful was now trying to kill someone important to him.

Did he go crazy?

I recognised him and Graid. I'd went to their house a number of times to accompany my own father.

Why is he doing this?

Was it an affliction of the mind, or his true face?

Whatever the case may be, I could only watch as he was walking towards Graid with a drunken look.

…I tried my best.

I didn't have any self-healing ability. My head still hurt from having a stone slapped onto it earlier.

My body ached from the bruises.

I was unlike them. There was no power awakening in me to suite the occasion. Only my current self.

And I had no power to stop this from happening.

It was a disgusting scene I didn't want to see, so I wondered if I should just close my eyes about it.

Such a bitter feeling…

I wish I had a gun to pop this bastard's brain out right now. How dare he make me watch this scene.

The crime of patricide…

Miliv, was that his name? From what I could gather in these events, his Gift is a Transformation type.

Similar to what that guy called Max had.

The difference here was probably the difference between 'Active' and 'Passive' in categorisation.

Max looked like he could transform in a number of ways so long as it was a 'Golem'. High Versatility.

The scene of blowing off Miliv's shoulder arose in my head… but my thoughts suddenly faltered.

A part of me wondered what was the point of figuring out his ability, until I became convinced.

I'd rather die than watch this disgusting scene happen in front of me. My drive was ignited.

'Keep thinking.' Time seemed to slow down.

I didn't notice the footsteps slowing down as a myriad of thoughts started to flash my mind.

Evil Attribute. Passive. Transformation type. Female appearance. Draining effect. Berserk actions.

A made a bold theory.

I wasn't sure of every single Demon type under the sun, but Diana had taught me the 'Seven Sins'.

Apparently, they were the highest rank of Demons.

With the representative of each type being immortal cursed beings that couldn't be killed.

Miliv definitely wasn't the latter, but if he turned into a mix between two of the former, it worked.

Explaining a lot of things.

Judging by the angry actions and beastly fighting style, I'd wager this Demon was one part Wrath.

And judging from the enhanced charming appearance, he was also part Lust Demon.

These two aspects probably influenced the Innate Ability he attained from becoming a true Demon.

What were the two influences?

Think. THINK.

There wasn't enough time. Remember what you had learned. SOMETHING. There is a clue there!

There was something important here…!

The words Diana spoke started to resurface:

"Humans have various Gift Types. Be they Speed, Strength, Trick, Burst, Magic, etc… but Demons of the Seven Sins only specialise in one 'Type'. They can differ between them, but are still the same."

"Lust Demons have 'Siphon' as their natural Gift Type. Rather than simply draining, they force a connection between two people. Similar to how love forms a bond, but is established one-way. A Demon of this type can't choose their target."

"Don't think 'Charm' is their ability. That's just the extension of creating a bond and manipulating it."

"Wrath Demons have 'Fury' as their Gift Type. They give up something in return for strength. Be it their senses or reasoning, anything can be used as fuel to them. Flames are just a byproduct of 'igniting'."

His memories of those words became clearer to me, and I started to see a ray of hope to stop this.

'Siphon' was a two way connection ability. If I tried to leverage this fact, maybe I can reverse drain.

Take in that Haki covering his body right now.

But even if I did, the dangers were too high.

There was no way I'd be able to drain enough Haki to overpower him. It'd just be a tiny portion of that.

And if I fought, he'd just kill me.

If only I had the strength to get up and fight without having to use any of that stolen energy.

If I could get up without it, then there'd be hope.

Maybe I could knock him out with a Haki infused punch to the chin… If only I had the strength to get up. What should I do then? Wasn't this knowledge useless? Wasn't the 'hope' I believed in a lie?

It's always like this…

I'm never strong enough. Smart enough. Healthy enough. Or even that good enough as a person.

I'm always just subpar.

If I had been born with more strength, I wouldn't have to be so helpless. So weak and pathetic…!

'Do you truly think that?' Even though the surface believed it was all hopeless, my inner self spoke up.

It was my conscience…

No matter how much I tried to pretend it was all some God's fault, a part of me had matured now.

It knew all my surface thoughts were nonsense.

Health? When my wife died, did having poor health stop me from desiring revenge in my past life?

Intelligence? Did having a weak mind and inability to do complex arithmetics stop me from acting?

Even with what I had before, I was driven enough to risk everything on the hope that I'd get my revenge.

Maybe I didn't break my limits or do anything amazing, but what mattered now was my heart.

Even if I had the strength to get up, would I?

Or was this me just pretending to work hard.

I was born healthier now. My mind was smart enough to find a solution. What was stopping me?

Fight. FIGHT!

Don't let anyone step on you in this life. Regret nothing. Do what you want. Even if you die.

FIGHT FOR YOUR FUCKING SELF FOR ONCE!!!

…..

….

…

..

.

Steve didn't realise that at some point, his eyes had turned silver in hue. His willpower had focused.

Perhaps it was a manifestation of his resolve…

There wasn't any outward or internal changes when his eyes gained a new colour at this point.

No burst of energy. No ability to see magic.

He simply grasped the ankle of the berserker that was walking past him. Stopping the 'girl' shortly.

It didn't take long for her to shrug him off.

His grip failed to stop Miliv for more than half a second, and that was only due to the distraction.

The elvish child continued towards Graid silently.

Snap. Again, Miliv temporarily stopped to see Steve had barely got his powerless body off the ground.

Barely standing with shaky legs.

"Stay down. You're empty… I'll heal you when I'm done here." Miliv emotionlessly gave some advice.

"Don't kill your father." Steve ignored those words.

"Sorry, I'm just protecting myself. Dad doesn't actually love me anymore because I'm now a Demon, you see…" Miliv came up with a sob story excuse, but the drool on his mouth betrayed him.

This child didn't care about the consequences. It only tried to chase after valuables and good food.

Like Graid's magical energy.

"Sit down and talk to him properly. You might be mistaken." Steve spoke as if he was also simply giving advice. The sheer composure in those half-closed eyes caused the elvish child to be annoyed.

"I didn't ask your advice." Miliv snorted at him.

He'd already forgotten that this was the same boy who tried helping him. There was no empathy in his eyes. Only the thirst for luxuries. A dream to taste all the delicacies in the world like the child he was.

"Same here, but… that wasn't my 'advice'." Steve pulled his short hair back and focused his mind.

The small amount of Haki he stole held together his injury like patchwork. Needing rest to fully heal.

He would no longer waver…

Miliv finally shifted attention to someone other than his father, but was already confident in one thing.

"One punch. I'll let you off if you survive this." The elvish child spoke before throwing a heavy hook.

Even though this strike was telegraphed and was easy to predict, Steve wasn't fast enough yet.

His senses and reflexes suddenly raised to their highest level when crisis was at his doorstep.

But he chose not to regret standing up.

The only thing that mattered now… was for Steve to follow through on the promises he made to himself.

He took in a strong breath of air. Sucking in oxygen as if it was be the last breath he would ever take.

The fist slowed down in his head, but that did nothing to change what this punch signified.

It was like the fall of a meteor.

Even if you knew what direction it was coming, it was impossible to block or evade this strike.

Thus, there was only one option for himself.

'Strike back!' Even if he was going to die, Steve would gladly do anything to land a punch on him.

Even if this would be the end of his current life.

All those reasoning he came for to do this had faded. Only remembering the person he did it for.

Himself.

Bang. Two fists collided on flesh, but only Steve was reeling. The armour of Haki was too think…!

The silver-eyed boy's figure staggered in place.

He held in the urge to vomit, and didn't notice the look of surprise in Miliv's eyes turning towards him.

'Did that really happen?' Miliv thought while remembering what happened a moment ago.

He'd definitely struck to kill, and even put enough strength in his fist to pierce a hole into his foe.

…But that, as one could easily see, didn't happen.

The moment his fist almost hit Steve, another strike hit the right side of him and broke his momentum.

He wasn't really injured, but the force of the impact pushed him back enough to weaken his blow.

'Was that just luck?' Perhaps it was just his opponent using up all his strength for a burst.

Miliv could see Steve was sweating from exhaustion already. Holding two parts of himself.

The ribs he broke and the hand that impacted.

One look was enough to see that this person was out of commission. The elf had no more interest.

He turned to face his father again.

"Where are you looking?!" Along with Steve's shout resounded the sound of an impact on Miliv's back.

But it was still the foolish boy writhing at the end.

"What are you doing?" Miliv didn't understand this comical display. The difference was too obvious.

"Shut it! I should be asking YOU. I don't know why you want to kill him, but I don't want to see it."

"Then turn your eyes away." Miliv was getting miffed at the annoying insect-like boy hitting him.

He didn't even turn around. Brushing him off as an empty husk that wasn't worth any time fighting.

"Are you fucking looking down me?" These cold words from behind him sounded a lot different.

While before there was a sense of defiance, now Miliv could only sense killing intentions in that tone.

The voice of someone about to commit murder.

Steve healed himself up with the Haki he'd stolen in those two strikes, then sharpened his mind further.

Bang!

Miliv was thrown off-guard by the suicidal barrage done by the injured boy. Did he want to die?

"Don't say I didn't warn you earlier…" The elvish child turned to meet one of those strikes cleanly.

Two fists hit each other squarely, and Steve groaned in anguish while pulling away his hand.

His bones became visible.

"I'll kill you now-" Slap! The elf was interrupted by a different hand that followed up without thinking.

'Has he gone insane?' Miliv couldn't understand it.

Steve barely stood straight. He pretended his staggers were boxing sways and held up his fists.

The resolved look in his eyes didn't vanish.

Even though there was fear of pain and death in his eyes he could barely hide, Steve decided to fight.

Because that was the nature of his silver eyes.

Back at the broken tree, Graid wasn't able to speak his awe when seeing a small figure keep standing.

Hearing the fighting words: "I can do this all day."