You just have to turn and Walk away

"That woman...reeks of despair"

Ever since he met her, he had been smelling it but the scent was extremely faint making it difficult to for his nose to sense, but it was definitely there.

'I wonder why I couldn't smell it before'

The wonderful aroma of despair was being hindered, something was trying to suppress it, was it some form of magic? he didn't know but he knew one thing and that was that Elena was in tremendous pain.

Despair essence surrounded her like vultures to a carcass, it far surpassed what he had ever encountered, the scent of her despair essence to demons like him would be the very definition of unique, heavenly and divine.

Elena suffering, sadness and pain were like ingredients designed to create the perfect dish, true despair, Elena might have been feeling despair but to him this was ... Absolute Bliss.

' I have reached the Pinnacle of pleasure, just by smelling the mere scent of the despair around her, I can't even imagine the otherworldly flavor that would assault my taste buds if I devour her despair esse_ , no not even that her very soul'

Adam could feel an immense amount of heat building within him and an insatiable hunger, his body craved to have a taste of that suffering, he wanted to pry her up open and watch as all that locked up suffering sprouted out, he would love to watch as that cold face of hers turned into that of pure sorrow.

His mind knew that he had no chance against her but he didn't care, he just wanted to crack that hardshell she hid behind and watch it crumble so he could see the soft tender sad girl within and break her even more , Hundreds of sadistic thoughts went through his mind, images he never thought he could imagine materialized within his mind, he could feel his body ache in pain, it was like it was begging him to submit to this desires.

"I have to stay calm, I have to resist" He muttered.

'Why?' A strange voice spoke within his mind, he didn't even pay attention to it.

'I wake up to find that myself is some useless trash that can't even grow a pair of balls, what kind of demon are you?' The voice spoke.

"Huh"

After hearing this, Adams eyes widened in surprise but he quickly forgot as his body desire was slowly taking over, it wasn't only a want but a need.

This scenario was similar to when one starving but refused to eat and their favorite food was right in front of them, it was a battle between mind and body, which would win?, unfortunately it seemed the latter did, As he was about to lose control of himself and attack her like a mad dog, a sudden transparent windows materialize in his face, at the perfect time, and a familiar sound followed bringing him back to his senses.

.

*Ding*

[ Host has killed a Count ranked Vampyr]

[ 900exp received]

"I completely forgot about this" After killing The Count, his soul despair essence entered into Adam satisfying his hunger, for the time being.

An expression of pleasure formed on his face as he absorbed the despair essence, his eyes flashed red for a moment before becoming it usual color.

[ Special Reward]

[ Qi Infused Vampyr Count blood]

[ A portion of blood extracted out of a vampire which contains the Life essence (Qi) of multiple creatures, it can be used as a healing potion, to refill stamina or strengthen the body]

[Warning: A dangerous amount of Mana is contained within this blood, the host advised to take it at minimum level 50]

"Why would I drink blood, that disgusting but maybe vampire blood is sweet...What the fuck am I saying!" Adam wondered if this had to him being a demon so things like this didn't really bother him.

'I don't know how this thing works, is 900exp big or small ' Adam stared

' If I remember correctly, I was in Level 30 the last time I checked, what does leveling up do exactly, my Mana control is poor so I don't really know what this is leveling up'

[The host physique and bloodline is being upgraded constantly with each level up] The system spoke for the first time in a feminine voice

"That a fucking lie, I don't feel any different... Wait you can speak!" Adam shouted.

[The host is anatomy is being affeced by internal forces, the host current bloodline strength is also being suppressed]

"Internal forces, wait are you suppressing my bloodline?" Adam said, he wouldn't be surprised if it was the system, after all it what gave him this power.

[No, the system is not involved!] the automated feminine voice spoke

[The host will be scanned for any foreign substances that might be the cause]

[Scanning:0%] [ 30%] [70%] [100%]

[No foreign substance found!]

If not the system then what was hindering his strength, he was curious, there was also something else he was thinking off, it was about the despair essence he just ate

' I expected to go out of control or gain some sort of power boost after absorbing the despair essence like last time in the forest, when I killed those people and eat their despair essence my personality changed...I liked it, that sensation, after going out of control, I felt free, liberated, freed from the chains that held me down, at that moment it felt like I could do anything I wanted, it felt like me, '

He thought, he just labeled that incident as a one time thing since that was the very time he tasted despair maybe that why he behaved like that, like a kid tasting ice cream for the first time, he was just excited.

' I actually miss it, that feeling, that moment, when you feel at the top of the world like nobody can touch you, I want to feel it again, ' Adam thought.

He wanted to experience it again, the feeling of invincibility, being unable to be touched by nobody, it was intoxicating, he had forgotten about it after all those years, something every man wanted , Power.

His main goal wasn't power it was a necessity needed to achieve his primary objective, he was weak, far weaker than his past self and Vormatu beat that one with ease.

' I mustn't follow this path of the story to gain the true power I want' Adam thought.

' This body requires death to thrive and flourish and grow stronger, so this life isn't going the same way as my former, if I just keep going around killing people singularly, then it won't be enough ' Adam closed his eyes and sighed, he did want to think about this things or what he has to do to grow at a faster pace.

He had to first grow as strong as Elena so he could easily keep his family out of the battlefield, his family not the whole village, of he did that, he would not only make an enemy out of Elena but the whole military would see this as major treason that couldn't be overlooked.

His mind knew that he had no chance against her with his current strength, he was at least in the early stages of Advanced mage rank, one's rank was determined by the size of their Mana core, meaning how much power one might posses.

she was at least in the early stages of Advanced mage rank, there were two factors to determine one's rank but generally, it was determined by the size of their Mana core, meaning how much power one might posses.

By watching her display of power, Elena would be in the middle stages of an Advanced mage while his body remained in the early stages, they were of the same rank but the progress both had made in their ranks was comparable to a mountain and a pebbles.

Mana cores is the capacity of Mana one can easily store, it was like a container within every living beings that kept Mana, it wasn't an organ but something intangible, it was close to one very soul.

Mana cores determine the quantity of Mana but they don't define one skill using Mana was a different case entirely from having a Mana cores, constant pratice and training is needed to use it, it like having electricity, you might have electricity but various devices are used to channel this electricity, it a similar concept to one having Mana .

One Mana core could be the size of a mountain but they might only be able to scratch the surface of such power, that why in this nation military, cores alone don't determine rank.

Adam had no idea the size of his core, his Mana manipulation was quite undeveloped, demons used Mana differently, and because of this, he couldn't bring out his full capabilities.

His movements were sluggish, his body couldn't keep up with his fast thought process, his body and mind felt disconnected from each other, it wasn't that much of a surprise to him since he wasn't used to having such a weak body in the advanced mage rank.

The body wasn't weak but compared to his former strength, this wasn't impressive in the slightest.

Adam constantly overestimated his strength during his training, he kept forgetting he had inferior strength compared to his former self, it was a serious problem, because in battle one mistake could led to death, if he wasn't able to fully get familiar with his body strength then he wouldn't be able to fight suitably.

"I need to get used to being weak to get strong, that quite confusing" Adam muttered to himself.

____

It had been about few days since the village was attacked, a few soldiers died but there was no civilians casualty, actually there aren't any civilians in the village, everybody here were trainees who would be thrown into war in a few months.

Adam was jogging with Logan by his side gasping for breath, it had been five hours since they began, the slightest reduction in speed meant a lightning attack to the back to shock you back to action.

Adam wasn't tired in slightest but he had to keep pretending to be unless this men would try to keep tiring him out, he doesn't get tired easily but he didn't want to continue but he had no choice.

*ZAP*

" Faster you dimwits!" A magician shouted before releasing a powerful lightning bolt right towards a woman backside causing her to fall to the ground.

"Diane!" A man who seemed to be the woman husband turned back to try and help his wife but to only received a lightning bolt to the face.

*ZAP*

"Mind your business and continue running fool!" the magicians said with a sadistic grin on his face as he turned to the woman and licked his lips.

*ZAP!*

Another lightning bolt struck down on her backside and another screams escaped her lips.

"Ahhhh!" The woman who buttocks that just got fried again shouted.

"Who gave you the right to rest" One of the magicians said as he released another lightning bolt towards the woman buttocks.

" Ahhhh! " He screamed in agony.

"Oh no wonder you fell down, your enjoying it right" The magician said in a tone that caused the woman to shiver.

The magicians looked towards the woman her fallen husband who was unconscious due to the lightning strike to the face.

"A man like that must not satisfy you in the bed well enough but don't worry I will and this time it will be...electric!" He said in a sadistic tone, the woman knew what this meant already, she got up from the ground and began to run.

*ZAP!*

But compare to speed of lightning, she was moving at a snail pace, the man released another bolt of electricity that struck her behind and another screams of agony erupted from her mouth.

"Ahhhhh!" She screamed but this only made the magicians face smile more, his face was filled with pleasure as with every electric strike, her screams became louder.

"is that moaning I here, Your enjoying it, ME TOO!" the man screamed as he kept releasing bolt after bolt without a shred of mercy.

'Disgusting' that was the first thought that came to his mind, he needed to stop this man, he hated people like this, they all deserved to die but he didn't try to intercept it because he couldn't.

'I need to MOVE!' He screamed inwardly.

' I need to stop him!, I need to , I can't let this suffering continue in front of my eyes'

The smell of despair that this man was creating by inflicting fear on the masses entered into Adam nostrils making him enjoy this scene a bit but that wasn't why he didn't stop it, his body wasn't listening to him.

He could see Logan who looked at the scene with rage in his eyes, he felt the same way as Adam, they were both raised the same way, so they both reacted the same way.

He had a family, they were his priority, interfering in this would put him and his family at risk, he didn't want to have any trouble with the military and it was like his body knew this and that why it didn't react to his commands.

'Wait if I fight with them then that would mean putting my family in danger, it would be seen as insubordination and we all could be punished for it, we would be constantly targeted and abused like this woman here, I don't want that, I don't want any of that.. Family is first' Adam muttered.

He looked at the woman who was still being tortured by lightning and he only uttered a few words, but this words would serve like a mantra that he would use constantly in predicament like this.

"Sometimes you just have to turn around and walk away" He whispered to himself.