Cold Hearted Woman

The lesser devil stood unmoving, excluding an air of danger and brutality. Shadows seemed to curl beneath its feet, while its eyes moved toward its master. Covered in darkness, the devil fell to its knees, creating cracks in the ground below. Then, it bowed, head facing the ground, as if unable to meet its master's gaze.

Alice stared at this scene from the side, her eyes twitching. She was someone rarely surprised, for in her life she had seen too much for her own good. However, something like this just couldn't be more startling. A devil bowing to a freshly awakened youngster, this was something unbelievable.

Seeing this scene, Alice suddenly remembered her sister's words, and she frowned. Her sister might be a prophet, but her revelations weren't always correct. Yes, that had to also be a mistake. As if to distract herself, Alice stepped forward and said. "Cadet... if you don't mind me asking, what exactly does your skill enable you to do? And... what rank is it?"

Draco turned his head towards the woman, and Alice suddenly felt really uncomfortable before his gaze. It felt as if the man was scanning her, searching for an opportunity to strike a deadly blow. Fortunately, Draco seemed to snap out of it by himself, and his eyes regained clarity.

"Sorry, I just zoned out a bit." Draco faked a little smile, turning his head towards the lesser devil, as he poked its sharp horns with his middle finger. While scrutinizing the devil, Draco started to explain. "My ability enables me to extract shadows from the corpses, and make them obey my commands. Currently, I can only control one, and I don't know about the future."

'I should probably exclude the fact that my skill is SSS rank...' Draco scratched his cheek, pretending to look into the system's screen. He didn't know any people with an SSS rank, so revealing this fact would probably put him somewhere where he would not really want to be.

However, at the same time, he couldn't really fake his rank too much, for everything would be revealed with time anyway, as he would grow much stronger in comparison to others. So, Draco chose the best option. Make himself amazing, but not too amazing.

"As for the rank..." Draco stared deeply into Alice's eyes. "It's an S one."

This time Alice's eyes shook again, though she pretended that such news didn't really affect her in any way. It was actually quite cute how she tried to make herself a cold and closed-off woman when she was probably experiencing turmoil within.

"That's unexpected. There have been only four S-rank awakeners in the last 5 years, one of them being the son of the Windglow family's patriarch." Alice answered, her voice firm and steady. Clearly, she was a good actor. "Still, having a powerful skill doesn't mean you will achieve a lot in this life. Determination and... ruthlessness are the main factors in play, so don't let arrogance cloud your mind."

"Noted, captain," Draco answered, taking this little moment of silence to actually read the new notification that popped out.

-

[Warrior: Minotaur]

[Rank: Lesser Devil]

[Description: A fearsome monster that is roaring to fight and destroy. Anger propels its attack, while fury makes its opponents lose their minds. Its most powerful weapon is its battle roar, which can stun its opponents for a few seconds]

-

'I heard that lesser devils are just a tad weaker than most of the lieutenants, so it's quite funny how I, someone who awakened just recently, can already put up a fight against them.' Draco thought, remembering that it was mandatory to clear at least two dungeons to be enabled a lieutenant's position.

"Alright, cadet, since your ability will very clearly not harm your teammates, and, in fact, be of incredible help, we can begin the important conversations." Alice seemed to have gone back to her usual strict personality during this little period of silence. "Normally, newly awakened ones have to get back to their respective city and participate in a three-month course, during which they learn how to utilize their skills, mana, and some other important things."

"Unfortunately, due to our circumstances, you won't be able to do so." Alice continued, not moving an inch. "I have already filed a report that you are exempted from the mandatory course and that you will be taught everything here. Initially, I wanted a lieutenant to explain everything to you, but, due to your powerful awakening, I am no longer sure...whether that man would be able to contain you. Hence, I will briefly gloss over the most essential stuff myself."

"That would be an honor, captain," Draco answered immediately, quite happy with such an outcome. No, actually, he was very happy. Alice was a tough nut to crack because she considered everything as a job, so this was a great opportunity to get closer to her.

"The dungeon is set to break after 6 days, so come to my personal training room tomorrow morning. Afterward, I will introduce you to your teammates and we will work on improving your overall chemistry." Alice finished her talk without breaking a note and then added. "Now, I would recommend you rest for a day, because this might be the last day when you can rest properly."

Draco didn't know why, but he felt some malice hidden in her last sentence. Now that he thought about it, what kind of training would he have to undergo under Captain Alice, who is otherwise known as the Crimson Death?

'Well, if it was my kind of training, we would end up in bed...' Draco snickered to himself as he saw Alice leave the training grounds. Afterward, Draco clicked on his Harem System skill to see that two new quests that have appeared.

-

[Temporary Quest: Have Sexual Intercourse With Five Different Awakened 0/1]

[Countdown: 60 days]

[Reward: B rank Martial Arts]

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[Main Quest: Make the Crimson Death Fall In Love With You]

[Reward: A rank Skill]

-

So, now he had two quests, and both of them were quite difficult. Having sex with five awakened women seemed quite difficult to do in 60 days, considering that he personally knew only one. The other one seemed even more difficult, though there was no countdown on this one.

Captain Alice was extremely difficult to approach and even talk to, so Draco's best option was to slowly but surely make her more amiable. It was better to play a long game than to cause their relationship to deteriorate completely.

However, the rewards presented were fascinating and made Draco quite excited. The feeling of growing stronger was particularly intoxicating and he didn't feel like stopping any time soon. Little was known about martial arts, only that they utilized the human's mana in a specific flow to create deadly techniques, so he felt rather excited at the notion of having his own one.

They were also known to be quite exclusive to rich families and the government, for they were either obtained from the dungeons or created by strong warriors.

An A rank skill was also something to be excited about.

'I should probably leave this training ground before I get removed by force...' Draco suddenly thought, as he yanked all the unnecessary thoughts and moved for the exit.