The Birth of a Devil

Daniel was frantically flipping through the pages of an ancient grimoire. The words seemed to dance before his tired eyes, but he couldn't afford to falter. He had to find the mages of creation, no matter the cost. The flickering candles cast moving shadows on the stone walls of the tower. Each page turned resonated in the oppressive silence of the room. Daniel knew time was against him. The missing mages held secrets that, in the wrong hands, could plunge the world into chaos.

Suddenly, a guard knocked on the door repeatedly.

"Knock... Knock!!!"

"Open up, Daniel! Oof... We've located one of the seven... Ah, oof... Mages of Creation!!" the guard shouted, breathless.

The guard's voice was strained from the effort. He was wearing an 18-kilogram armor and had climbed thirty floors to reach Daniel.

Daniel, his eyes almost closed from fatigue, opened them abruptly and rushed to the door. The mention of a "Mage of Creation" resonated in his mind like thunder. He slammed the grimoire shut and opened the door with a sharp motion.

The guard, still panting, tried to regain his balance after climbing the endless stairs of the tower. "Repeat what you just said!" Daniel demanded, urgency piercing his voice.

The soldier looked up, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his metal glove. "One of the seven Mages of Creation has been located. The High Council sent me to inform you... He is... He is at...

*****

Meanwhile, on the other side of the kingdom, Liam had begun his training to use the muscle reinforcement spell, as his father had advised. The first few days were grueling. Although magic could enhance his body, the training remained extremely difficult. Each set of exercises pushed his muscles beyond their limits.

Liam experienced excruciating pain after each session. It felt as though every bone in his body was breaking under the strain. The suffering was unbearable, but he couldn't afford to give up. Otherwise, it would mean death for him, as he was being hunted for the title of Demon King and Mage of Creation.

After several days of intense training, the pain became unbearable. His arms trembled, his legs wobbled, and each breath was a struggle. Despair began to take hold. "There must be a way to reduce this pain... Maybe the system could help," he thought.

Liam opened the system interface that governed his training and murmured, between gasping breaths, "System, is there a way to reduce pain during training?"

[System Response: Pain reduction possible in exchange for advanced bodily modification. Do you wish to proceed?]

Without considering the consequences, driven by the pain consuming him, Liam replied, "Yes!"

The system activated immediately. He felt a strange sensation coursing through his body, a chilling cold spreading from his veins to his organs. The pain seemed to fade for a brief moment, giving him a false hope that everything would be alright.

But suddenly, a more intense, sharper pain engulfed his body. It was different, excruciating. Liam screamed as his body convulsed under the strain of the transformation. His vision blurred, and he began to cough up blood, first from his mouth, then from his eyes and nose. Panic gripped him as he felt his throat tightening. He frantically scratched at his neck, trying to breathe, but only managed to injure himself further. His nails dug into his flesh, leaving bloody trails on his skin.

"System... Stop... this..." he tried to murmur, but no sound came out. His mind was clouded as his body continued to deteriorate.

[Command incomprehensible. Please rephrase your request.]

Liam collapsed onto the ground, his eyes turning a deep red from the pain and blood pressure. He desperately tried to regain control of his body, but to no avail.

"System... Stop... this..." he repeated weakly, but once again, the system did not understand his request. He writhed in agony, rolling from side to side on the ground, his body wracked with uncontrollable convulsions.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt split the sky above the dense forest where Liam lay. The white light illuminated the massive trees, casting ominous shadows around him. Thunder roared violently, shaking the earth, while rain began to fall in torrents. The heavy, relentless raindrops pounded the forest floor, turning the earth into slippery mud.

Lying on the drenched ground, Liam writhed in pain, his breathing becoming irregular. The leaves overhead no longer protected him from the downpour. Each drop seemed to burn his already bruised skin, and the cold began to seep into his bones.

The rain formed small streams around him, carrying away dead leaves and soil. The forest, usually silent, was now filled with the sounds of the storm. Liam, lost in the midst of this wild expanse, struggled to maintain consciousness. His vision became blurry, and his thoughts were lost in a haze of pain and despair.

[Cardiac rate increasing]

[Failure case estimated at 9%]

[Failure correction estimated at 15%]

The messages scrolled before his blurred eyes, each failure percentage rising dangerously.

[Failure correction estimated at 50%]

[Failure correction estimated at 70%]

His heart raced frantically, reverberating fear through every fiber of his body. The beats resonated in his ears like distant thunder.

[Failure correction estimated at 90%]

[Failure case exceeds 75%. Would you like to stop to avoid death?]

Two boxes appeared before Liam, floating in the rainy air like illusions. A simple question, a crucial choice:

[Continue] or [Stop]

Liam raised his trembling hand to try to select one of the options floating before him, his fingers numb from the pain. The sky darkened further, and the thunder roared as if responding to the torment of his body.

His fingers, trembling and painful, reached for the [Stop] option. Suddenly...