Zarek didn't care for the drain. He was so focused on pulling exactly what he needed from the aura barrier that he didn't care to consider anything else.
His thoughts should have been moving like the wind, but they were ironically steady as could be, almost blank. He let the Matrices surrounding him take the reins.
As perfect as his plan seemed, he knew that it had flaws. His Charisma might be powerful beyond measure right now, but it still had its limits. What he was attempting to do with an imperfect Talent Mastery would place a large amount of pressure on it.
The second problem was as he had noted earlier… the barrier was dimming, its power waning after Zarek had already absorbed the Hero Spirit that had been here already.
Due to that, he was on a time crunch that made him push his Charisma even further.
However, these problems might as well have been that of someone else with how little attention he minded them.
One layered Matrix after another reflected in his mind, harmonizing his blood and bone, layering his flesh into tight steel cords. Everything slotted into place one after another.
But there was something else happening… something particularly demonic in nature, sinister in air.
Zarek had known that this would be the third problem. But he had no other choice. And… he also wasn't convinced that it was an issue just yet at all.
The Hero spoke of the system's choice like it was a mistake. But… was it?
The system was intelligent, more intelligent than any one being had the capability of being. The choices it made were wrong not because they were a mistake in flawed logic, but instead because it didn't weigh morality.
In the system's opinion, what was most important was the survival of the Race it had forged and the eradication of their collective enemies. It might be using these Lurkers and Demons, and being the reason Turned existed at all, but…
Was it not working?
While they had regressed for the time being, it was a fact that the system had managed to create Hero Candidates stronger than even the original Heroes. It just wasn't satisfied, so it knocked the foundations down and began to rebuild, eventually creating…
None other than Zarek.
The Turned, especially Mutated Turned and Named Turned, were monsters of evolution. They progressed with shocking speed, and their Talent was such that even when Earth had as many S Classes as it could possibly handle, they never managed to erase them all. In fact, even Zarek was incredibly wary of them even at his peak.
The system was on to something. The pinnacle path, the one with the most room for improvement…
Just might be the path that combined what it meant to be Human and Demon.
When Zarek was reconstructing his body, using the Lurkers as a catalyst, leaping from one timeline to the next and forcing them into obedience beneath his aura barrier, he didn't try to filter away the essence that formed them, but he didn't actively try to make use of it either.
Instead, he let the Matrices act on their own, filling in the gaps he was missing with the strengths of these Lurkers.
As he slowly began to build up the pieces that would become him, his thoughts were just as calm as always, but he had already thought of something else…
How ironic would it be if the real reason the system hated him was actually because he had become one of the very beings it was tasked to destroy?
What if it saw him as a Demon now?
A grin spread across his face.
Quite frankly, he didn't give a single damn. For as long as he could remember, he was alone. No parents, no caregiver, handed over to the government as a charge for it to take care of.
The only light in his life had always been Priya. As far as he was concerned, so long as she was alive and by his side, he didn't care even if the entire universe was burnt down to the ground.
If the system stood in his way, he would destroy it.
If the Hero stood in his way, he would kill him.
If the universe itself raised up their banners of war, leading a crusade to his doorstep, he would welcome them with open arms.
BOOM!
A shadowy figure stood in the midst of endless carnage, tendrils of black with the gravitational pull of black holes extending from him in whipping vines that dispersed even the dense black clouds that lay everywhere.
Slowly, the black began to recede as the aura barrier crumbled, its residual energy swarming the figure.
Soon, there was nothing but a naked man standing there, his skin radiating a deep mahogany glow, looking almost purple beneath the dim lights. His eyes blazed with flaming amber lights, his curling, long hair dancing silently in the wind.Love this story? Show support at MV2LEMPYR.
Zarek looked down at his hands, feeling that they looked almost… normal. It was like nothing about him had changed at all. And yet, when he moved he felt the earth beneath him shake.
There should have been a problem with his Charisma lining up with the rest of his body. But… why did it feel like every twitch of his muscle came with such…
Harmony.
He was well beyond the Focus stage of Core Harmony right now, and he didn't know how that could be possible.
—
Name: [Zarek Ashborn]
Role: [Ashborn Demon]
Profession: [Mnemonic Anato Scribe]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: F-] <SSS+>
>[Dexterity: F-] <SSS+>
>[Intelligence: F-] <SSS+>
>[Endurance: F-] <SSS+>
>[Charisma: SSS] <SSS+>
Talents:
>[Axiograft: B+]
>>[Abilities: Graft]
[Comprehend nature's secrets as though they were extensions of yourself. Imprint these understandings onto your body, and then Graft them to become a part of yourself, taking on their properties.]
>[Ashen Gate: F-] <SSS+>
>>[Abilities: Gate of Hell]
[Open the Gate of Hell, store your Ashen Souls, call upon them to burn the world to a crisp down to one's very soul. Destruction lives in the core of one's being, and life exists only as the backdrop to death. Use it as fuel to oppress the world into an Ashen scape.]
>[Empty]
>[Empty]
Skills:
>[S Class Scouting: S] <S>
>[A Class Unholy Beacon: A+] <A+>
>[A Class Ash Reborn: A+] <A+>
…
Notes:
[—]
—
Zarek blinked with surprise. It wasn't just his new Growth Potential—though, those were ridiculous too. Even in his very first life, his Growth Potentials hadn't been so completely broken, though he had had several S Class Growth Potentials back then.
It was the fact his stats had been reset, and yet he didn't feel weaker—he felt more powerful than ever.
'And then there's [Ash Reborn]…'
Zarek shook his head. That was less important.
Back then, his [Ash Reborn] progressed to an S Class Skill along with Ashen Gate because of the way they had been awakened. But he hadn't exactly awakened Ashen Gate the normal way this time, so it made sense [Ash Reborn] didn't follow along like it had before.
In the end, he was more shocked by the reset than anything else.
Right now, his soul should be at about a B Class, which meant—
'I see. My soul should have recalibrated the reconstruction of my body. While I think that I should have been a B Class, it's my B Class formed of B Class Growth Potentials that was only about as good as the F Class…'
Essentially, Zarek was wrong, but only partially.
He was stronger than he was before, but it was far more because of his Core Harmony than it was his stats. Effectively, his soul had allowed the equivalent body to be reformed during his reconstruction. It was just that with his new potential, this body was barely classified as an F Class Warrior.
All of the improvement he had made before was practically like dumping a lake's worth of resources into a basin that should hold several oceans.
As for how his Core Harmony had risen so high, that had an even more obvious answer.
Axiograft.
It had always been Axiograft.
The amount of control and understanding this Talent gave him over his own body was shocking. In fact, the only reason he hadn't immediately soared to the greatest height Core Harmony could allow was precisely because of the imbalance of his stats.
With an S Class stat matched with so many F Class ones, reaching any sort of Harmony should have been as difficult as walking a tightrope with the tension of a length of dental floss.
But right now, Zarek couldn't seem to turn off Core Harmony even if he wanted to. That was how easy it came.
'This should be… Focus… Resonance… Balance… Vibration… Symphony…'
Zarek's gaze flashed.
Symphony… it was the fifth stage of Core Harmony, and the strength boost could only be counted in orders of magnitude.
With his experience, Focus alone had been a 20% boost to Zarek's stats. Resonance was more like a 50% boost. Balance, easily topping 100%, or essentially a 2x increase to his power. Vibration was another doubling effect on top of that, even approaching a 5x increase.
As for Symphony…?
It was easily 10x.