Sizzling vital essence rushed through my veins, uplifting me, but most significantly, it restored my depleted Will and essence. My exhaustion was largely burned away, the strain buried by the flood of intoxicating power searing through me. But all that was merely an aftereffect of the empowerment.

I was certain if I could get even a minute to sit down, to unify the essence, I could advance to Noble Class right there and then. If only the demons would let me.

I knew the Spell was not finished there, either. That there was an explanation to follow, no matter how short and insignificant it was. However, it did not bother me with the nuances, not when the job was merely half-finished. Not when we were still surrounded by demons that could not wait to ravage our flesh.

"Spell," I called, "allocate twenty points each into my Fortitude, Body Coordination, Alacrity and Agility."

Without even waiting for a response, I stood up, using the levitation boots. As the intoxicating force washed down my limbs, I flew higher, leaving the discarded shell of the demon. I summoned the sabre, feeling a tiny bit reassured by its weight in my palm, and flew towards Eran.

[80 points had been allocated to the designated attributes.]

"Thank you."

While I was busy with the demon pinning me, Eran alone had fended off a pack of ghouls. His constitution was superior to mine, but he did not have protective wards that could defend against their tearing claws. He had dispatched a few, but his outcome was no different than mine, if not worse, being pinned down by more than half a dozen devourers. He threw jabs and punches, rammed his knees, but to no avail. The hammer was lost in the dark.

Angling just right, I delivered a kick to a demon, the propelling force of my levitation boots hurling it out of my way, when my blade thrust into the back of another's neck. Channelling barely enough essence to bisect its neck, my sword found another. While my arms were busy with the sabre, a portion of my focus was split into manipulating my essence threads to yank a devourer. All that work barely freed my friend partially, with a ghoul still biting into his flesh.

The blade struck at the demon ravaging Eran's shoulder, this time with much more finesse, adopting the first stance of Whispering Gale. Even after my attack, the creature remained wholly focused on my friend. Telekinesis force yank it towards my sword. By the time it recognised its plight, it was too late. My blade lacked the power to sever it completely, as I dared not attack with full force with Eran barely inches away from its end.

Telekinesis did the rest of the job, jerking its barely hanging skull to its spine. Thick, filthy blood flew out before I sent it out of sight.

"Eran!" I called hoarsely, shoving aside another demon. My sword cleaved through an arm before I finally managed to create enough space to implement the forcefield over him.

He was still conscious and thrashed against the gleaming protective shield.

"Eran, it's me!"

Unfortunately, he was in no state to answer me, nor did I have time for even the briefest of conversations. I did not know how many of these monsters I had disposed of, but the cacophony didn't seem to reduce much.

Pulling Eran towards me, once again, I wove the element I was most proficient in. Searing blue flame condensed in my left palm, the right held the sabre masterfully. In the dying light, the glaring claws of the demons drew lines through the shifting mist. A couple of lines moved through my sword as well, enabling me to enter the state of Sword Sense. But I did not have time to ponder its significance. The blue flame flashed from my palm, melting the imaginary lines and the thick mist alike to plunge into the hideous skulls of the demons.

The reek of burning flesh permeated the air as the streak of cerulean fire flowed like a corporeal chain, jumping from one target to another, its end curved into a spear. Under my control, it sprang forward like a deadly harpoon, puncturing through thier thick skulls with barely any resistance. Like I was the Great Ishamael himself, blazing in righteous rage.

Unlike them, I was not full of hubris, nor was I hunting a giant demon of the undersea. And unlike them, I did not fail.

Corpses fell all around us, some too close to my own skin. The ones that managed to escape the burning harpoon met my sword, their fate sealed in either case.

The sheer essence the spell burned was astronomical. Even at my peak, I did not believe I could channel it for more than two minutes. I had to tap into he resources stored within my Phoenix pendant.

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Once again, I flew away with Eran in my arms. Although he had calmed down, still conscious, there were several gashing wounds and claw marks on his chest and torso, bite marks with much of his flesh torn away from his arms and legs. Merely looking at them made my gut wrench.

"Don't worry," I said, "I'll take you home."

But before that, I brought out a white vial from my storage and held it to his mouth. Mum was adamant about me having a bunch of stuff stored in the storage, and thankfully, the healing potions was one of them.

"Drink, please..."

Eran released a grunt and swallowed the cold liquid I poured into his mouth. That little action swallowed the little power he was left with, as he fell unconscious. Ignoring the deep wounds, Eran was likely contaminated by the vile blood and the acid spits. Even with the potion, he needed immediate medical care.

I shifted him onto my back, the forcefield keeping him clinging to me. Finally, I found the lion-dog I had lost track of during most of the conflict. It was not far from where we had been surrounded, a pack still pursuing it. A couple of elites among their ranks.

These corrupted creatures were decidedly weaker in the daytime, the sunlight being adverse to their psyche. Granted, the sun was setting, but there was still a bit of its radiance filtered through the obstructing mist and fell over them. Yet the abominations were tireless. If this was thier weaker state, I did not know what I would do if it were pitch-black darkness.

Mustering fire shaping, I knitted compression and amplification into the spell to form blue arrows of fire. They bit through the gloomy air to assault the monsters that molested the guardian animal. There were simply too many of these creatures for me to miss. The first arrow pierced right through the chest of one, its black heart asundered. Dark blood gushed out, but it did not stop its assault, consumed by insatiable hunger.

To make the fire arrows powerful enough to deter those devourers, I needed to channel all the essence threads available to me. I could not multicast at all, even if I had the mental fortitude to do so. But even as my spells were only consuming the targets one by one, they caught the attention of the elites, and one did not think twice about leaping at me.

Thankfully, the previous encounter had left me with an impression, as I did not assault with the spell ready at the tip of my essence threads. I waited until it was in the air, with barely a few paces between us, before the cerulean arrow streaked across to strike its hideous face.

The single shot failed to kill it, much to my dismay. I had to strike with my sword, channelling another energy blast which felled the creature at last.

With me reducing the number, the Komainu had more room to breathe. Not only that, it shifted in a white flash, biting into one of those foul creatures, twisting its fangs before flinging it away like a rag doll. Black, vile blood went flying from those damned creatures. Its stature seemed to have risen to a metre, the wild mane gleaming in majestic gold and crimson, eyes glaring in the same majestic gold.

In a white blur, it tore through the head of a demon I was fighting. By the time I recovered from its sudden surge in speed, the lion-dog—the guardian animal—had left all the devourers as nothing but mangled corpses in its wake. It looked towards me with eyes far more intelligent than should belong to an animal.

"Come on," I said, flying towards home.

The essence I had recovered was almost spent. On top of that, my essence seed was already straining from overexertion. While I did have some essence stored in the phoenix pendant, it would still take a moment to recover. Eight threads had been passively absorbing the essence while I defended against the demons.

Fortunately, with the number of devourers halved, their pursuit was not as relentless. Besides, we had almost made it to the foothills. A mile or two more, and there would be sentries to take the weight off our backs. The shrieks of these unholy creatures should have already alerted them, to be honest. Maybe they were on their way. I could only hope.

The Komainu had returned to a more dog-like figure, whilst my eyes remained trained towards home. Much to my relief, its pace had not dipped below my flight, or else we might have once again been surrounded by the monsters.

I channelled all the essence I was recovering into flight, boosting my speed. It was merely by a fraction, but it still added something. Even after facing tens of demons, I had not forgotten the dilemma Father was in.

The sentry outpost felt empty as I passed over. Were they fighting the demons somewhere in the woods? Or had they returned to town to alert the folks?

I did not have to dwell upon the answers. Soon, in my peripheral vision, I saw a golden streak flashing through the skyline. It came straight towards us, and a deep area of Influence burst out from it. There was a familiarity about the aura that permeated all my surroundings. Then, through my bloodied eyes, I recognised the streak of arrow to be none other than Mum.

Hundreds of her golden essence threads swirled in the surroundings. They tore through the demons on our tail like scrap paper, but it did not rest there. A fiery runic spell channelled through her threads as crimson flame materialised into being. The demons were unable to put up even the meanest of defences. Before she could even join me, the mutilated corpses smouldered into ashes, carried away by the squalling wind.

A sense of relief washed over me. My Will finally let go of the essence that I was clinging to so desperately. A fraility I had never encountered took over my body, but that did not matter. I was safe. Eran was safe. The Komainu, too, was safe.

Finally, in reprieve, the Spell's voice rang in my ears soulfully.

[Honour: Nascent Demon Hunter (Noble): You have hunted down an elite demonic creature before even achieving the Noble Class, along with many others. Such a feat is deserving of an Honour.

10% to all aspects.

Auric Empowerment.]

[Unable to incorporate Auric Empowerment fully at Common Class. The boon is upheld until you awaken your Aura.]

[The merit of the honour will rise as you hone your demon hunting.]

[Way of Demon Slaying I (28/10) is complete.] [+2 to all attributes.]

[Way of Demon Slaying II (28/25) is complete.] [+2 to all attributes.]

[Way of Demon Slaying III (28/50) is now accessible.]

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