38 Prove Yourself
The old man had his eyes wide open as he couldn't believe what he saw...
ID: 0273701
Existence: Initial Apprentice Mage
Race: Demon
Age: 17
Mana Affinity: Average
Phase Power: Average + 500%
Next Breakthrough Readiness: 80%
The old man experienced an absolute shock as he read those lines of information again and again...
He slowly turned his head to look at Andrew with absolute disbelief painted over his face.
"How?!" the old man asked this single question as it was enough to show the extreme shock he felt.
Andrew just smiled, unsure how to handle the situation.
From the information on the slate, he understood that he was at least 5 times stronger than Average by the standards of Demonic Abode.
The old man just kept looking at him, unsure of what to do as well.
It was a well-known fact that it was notoriously hard to increase Phase Power even by 0.01% percent. It could only be increased by diving deeper into that particular grade of mana or consuming precious magical materials to improve physical strength.
Phase Power was the representation of physical strength and mana comprehension.
The fact that Andrew achieved 500% was impossible to believe since even all that blood shouldn't have made his Phase Power skyrocket that high, at most by a few times.
It didn't take long for the old man to collect himself as he exhaled a turbid breath with all of his chaotic emotions.
Then, he looked at Andrew with a complicated gaze.
"What are you?" the question would sound extremely strange to those unaware of the full situation, but both of those men standing in the cabin knew the underlying meaning behind it.
"I am Andrew, a blood devil" Andrew casually replied.
The old man stood there contemplatively. He was unsure whether to leave Andrew be or hand him over to Enforcement Hall since such a troublesome character was way out of his jurisdiction.
Finally, he decided.
"I'll report your situation to Enforcement Hall, meanwhile you should return to your dormitory and must not leave it unless you want to take a trip into the dungeon of Enforcement Hall. Do you understand?" the old man said with a threatening glint in his eyes.
Andrew calmly nodded as he understood that doing anything unnecessary will only invite trouble.
"Good" the old man said and then left the cabin as he headed towards Enforcement Hall.
Andrew did as he was told to as he also headed out of Existential Hall back to his dormitory.
Once he approached a particular part of the wall he pulled out a token and put it into the slit of the wall
A tunnel unfolded and he unhesitantly went into it.
He had to place his token once again for the end of the tunnel to open.
A cave unfolded with a single door in it. There was no soul present in the cave and the door was tightly locked.
Andrew didn't go inside the men's dormitory since he still hadn't tested out his physical abilities yet!
With a step, he jumped 10 meters high as he had to bounce off the ceiling since he didn't want to break his skull. The ceiling was still indestructible to him, even after he became a mage with a far stronger than average body.
He performed a couple of martial arts that were suited for demonic anatomy.
The fluid motions looked beautiful and it more looked like a dance rather than deadly and unpredictable demonic martial arts.
His flexibility was phenomenal as he could easily twist into any direction even before he became a mage.
This was the beauty of evolution.
Endure, Adapt, Improve!
The demonic anatomy was truly fascinating as their mortals could easily defeat non-mage humans.
The physical superiority was evident as they had highly evolved bodies.
Andrew's figure circled the cave as his insane speed and power generated wind currents.
He didn't sweat even after 3 hours of ceaseless and extremely fast paced movements. Truly, beauty and might of evolution.
Eventually, the tunnel was opened once again.
There he saw the old man with a dignified expression on his face. He coldly looked at Andrew before gesturing for him to follow.
Andrew complied and he with the old man headed to Enforcement Hall.
"Senior, am I truly allowed to know the route to the Enforcement Hall? I heard that information regarding their location is strictly kept secret" Andrew asked as he came to know about this piece of information during his years as Bottom Demon.
"It's pointless to keep the route secret from a member of Blood Devil Corps. Moreover, in the future, you will have to interact with Enforcement Hall, so it's absolutely pointless to keep it secret from you" the old man replied as they got back to the cave of the facilities.
"Of course, if you reveal this piece of information to Bottom Demons, you will be skinned alive" the old man indifferently added.
He and the old man entered a weird-looking building that didn't seem to be a part of the training facilities.
There, Andrew saw an old woman dressed in similar pristine white robes as the old man.
The woman and the old man exchanged mental transmissions as the old man verified Andrew's status as Initial Apprentice Mage.
Mental transmissions were just thoughts sent through mana using mana sense into the mind of another entity.
Although, she could check it herself with just her mana sense, she needed confirmation from someone who witnessed his stats in Existential Hall.
The building was spacious and it had a series of 4-meter tall arcs.
Once they approached one of the arcs, the old woman took out a spherical object from her spatial ring. The object exuded a mysterious type of power that Andrew couldn't understand as it seemed too vague and illusive.
Then, the sphere started to glow with a black shade as the arcs were activated and Warp was created.
The scenery of the same old rocky walls of the cave was depicted on another side of the Warp.
The old man unhesitantly went into it and Andrew followed after him after bowing to the old woman as he wanted to establish connections with her since she seemed like someone important. After all, she managed the Warps, so it wouldn't hurt to befriend her for future benefits.
Once they crossed the Warp, the portal closed and they appeared in a pitch-black cave.
An oppressive aura descended upon them as they felt watchful eyes obserse their every movement.
Andrew became wary but didn't dare to unruffle his mana sense since it was considered an insult in a magical society.
The old man was unfazed as he walked towards a particular direction. Andrew cautiously followed after him as he concentrated his physical senses on his surroundings since he was sure that something unexpected might happen.
And he was right...
Just after a couple of dozen steps, their feet started to sink into the ground. The old man looked unfazed as he also expected some freaky stuff from the members of Enforcement Hall.
Andrew struggled for a while as he had a bad feeling about this situation. He did his best to get out from the sand-like material, but it kept steadily submerging them into the ground.
Even with 5 times the average physical strength of Initial Apprentice Mage, Andrew failed to get out of this quicksand.
If he could only cast spells...
He would have blasted this place apart!
Naturally, even with spells, he would have failed to do anything with the meager strength of Initial Apprentice Mage.
Eventually, he and the old man were completely submerged in terrain as they kept sinking deeper...
After roughly 10 minutes of diving, the sand-like material subsided as their feet finally found a steady foothold.
They appeared in another same-looking rocky cave, it had nothing special within, except a 3 meter tall figure standing in it.
The figure's face was covered in the hood, their features indistinguishable, yet with the next words it could be easily understood that the figure was a male.
"Welcome, Guardian Sethel and Andrew class-1 blood devil" a deep voice reverberated in the cave as their voice alone shook the rocky walls.
Guardian Sethel was none other than the old man that accompanied him all along.
Sethel slightly bowed as it could be clearly seen who had a higher authority and strength.
Seeing that, Andrew also bowed, but deeper than Sethel since he had to respect the ranks in proper fashion.
The tall figure took a step forward as he started to walk towards the duo.
His steps were heavy and powerful as shockwaves spread from his mere movements.
Andrew knew that this was just a blatant show of power to make him speak the truth.
The hulking figure stopped only when a mere meter separated him and Andrew.
Even from the lower angle, Andrew couldn't see the figure's face as complete blackness hid it from view.
Yet, Andrew could feel the penetrating gaze of this person.
"Today, you shall prove whether you are worthy of the immense blood sacrifice that had been made to assist you in the breakthrough. Only your pure show of power will truly help you to be acknowledged" the figure stated...
Suddenly!
