As Always, A Stupid and Useless System

George paused after finally stepping out of the forest, it was dawn already and his surroundings was dimly illuminated. His eyes wandered for a while before settling on a path a few metres away from him - his brows knitted together.

"We'll take that path, it's the safest path to the Dark Continent."

Al'Hazrel nodded timidly without speaking, after a while she completely retracted her wings and lightly bowed her heads. All the dark veins on her body faded away in the next instant to reveal her smooth jade like skin devoid of blemishes.

George only glanced at her, before taking the path he has pointed out earlier and walking away with his shoulders loosened and muscles relaxed.

"System, that new skill is related to the skill all soul beasts are born with am I correct?"

[Yes, you are correct.]

"It would allow me to grow stronger from eating up my defeated foes, and evolve my physique like some sort of body tempering technique?"

[Yes, not just tempering your body to improve your physique. Even your Qi quality would be improved to higher realms.]

George frowned. This was no more than what he'd done in the past, although now it wasn't just their cores, but their very flesh and bones. He'd need a tougher digestive system for that, maybe teeth strong enough to tear through steel.

Al'Hazrel who was timidly following behind George stared at his back in confusion for a while, wondering who he was talking to. But, after a few seconds, she bowed her head once more.

"Sigh, Al'Hazrel I want you to stay in front of me, and don't try anything stupid unless I'll be forced to immobilize you." George spoke as he moved to the side, paving way for Al'Hazrel and letting her march forward with her head still bowed down.

Seeing how obedient Al'Hazrel was, George nodded his head in approval before following her casually. He would only speak up when he takes the wrong turn at a forked path or is about to wander into somewhere else.

"Good."

——

It's been a few hours now, and they were still walking without encountering any monsters. Throughout the journey, George was trying his best to keep up his cold and indifferent act, but the boredom was killing him!

"Hey, turn to the left!"

"Don't march into that place!"

"Keep your head low around here to avoid getting your hair ruined by those annoying weeds."

Al'Hazrel, as lifeless as a robot obeyed every single command without complaint. She had already gotten the thought of resisting cast out of her mind.

After witnessing her brothers and sisters, all warriors able to take on hundreds of mortals by themselves getting slaughtered like pigs - she was humbled. Her worldview, built for decades before their dispatch had come tumbling down like a pack of cards.

"Al'Hazrel, if you bite someone, isn't that person supposed to gain something like an infection or undergo some kind of paranormal transformation?"

Al'Hazrel nodded her head without speaking, her shoulders still stiff and muscles tightened. Now that she'd thought about it, wasn't the mortal supposed to fall prey to the immense amount of chaos energy in that bite?

Most mortals would either die or the spot or get turned into wingless demonic angels called Hell Beasts, a humanoid version of the Soul Beasts and much more terrifying depending on their strength.

"Was the bite anyhow related to the element of chaos able to force the transformation of any creature that it comes in contact with?"

Al'Hazrel froze in her footsteps, her body trembled at that moment and she turned around timidly to stare at George who had one hand on his chin and the other on the hilt of his sword. He seemed to have entered a state of deep contemplation.

'That old geezer, was his choosing of me to do his dirty work somehow related to my immense amount of chaos energy?' George was stunned, he seemed to have unlocked another piece of the puzzle.

The reason for this is that if another was sent, there was a chance that person would be turned after a bite - no matter their strength!

His chaos aura or internal chaos qi must have been able to counter the strange, um, chaos virus, simply acting as an immunity for him. But, none of these tells me the true goal of that old man…

What would he truly gain from me killing off the demonic angels? His failed projects getting disposed by someone else for free?

"Al'Hazrel, do you have any knowledge of some place you lived in before you arrived here?" George smiled as he spoke, he wanted to seem as friendly as possible but the calculative light in his eyes was very difficult to conceal.

"No, I do not." Al'Hazrel lied without even thinking, she was a bit startled at how fast she released such a dumb and blatant lie, but the words were already out and it was up to the male if he really believed her or not.

"Ah, I see…" George muttered, the calculative glint in his eyes shone briefly before dying out. He had heard exactly what he wanted to hear - and he just couldn't stop smiling mentally with his brows raised.

Well, keep moving we're almost there. Just a few metres and we'll be at the chilling gates of [Har'Taba] - a transportation array that'll take us right into the Dark Continent. From there is to my castle, we'll deal with your complicated case there.

George smiled as Al'Hazrel began to walk away, but after a few seconds his smile froze before turning into a dark and grim frown. After a few seconds, he raised his hand and spread out his palm to face a certain area in the bushes - and with a cold light in his eyes, he smirked.

"[Freeze, Shatter]"

Following the sudden drop in temperature, and the low sound of a muffled cry, was a loud cracking sound that made the smirk on George's face grow. In the next minute, a thin line of light shot out of his palm into the bushes, and a loud roar of pain was heard.

"Please, if you're planning to ambush please be a little smarter. Too bad, you all won't be able to apply this knowledge on your next target."

Following George's words, was silence. After the long silence, many males clad in ragged browns and blacks stepped out of the bushes with numerous weapons in their hands - woods, sticks, sword and hammers.

They all had completely red eyes, pointed ears and robust frames. Some had tails, others had a pair or two pairs of ram like horns on their head.

Although they looked different, all were from the same race - Corrupted Fae Demons. Their strength and defense was high and a bit intimidating to normal humans as George was supposed to be as of now, but they lacked a bit in speed and the ability to utilize supreme qi like other creatures of the Fae Alliance.

"They're over a hundred of them, system isn't there a quest or something I am supposed to receive now?"

[No.]

"Tsk, useless and stupid system."