10 Demotion
When Damian was climbing up the stairs to the 6th floor he searched for a way to ensure his win since they didn't know what they were up against and he practically could only swing a knife.
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[User Information]
Special Power : Demotion
Level : 3
M.O.A : Inherited
Description : This skill turns the number of rings an individual has acquired against themself. The number of rings will equal the rate at which an individual's power is reduced.
Type : Contact
Cooldown : 3 minutes
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Damian was happy enough when he saw the skill. He went back to the user manual and learnt M.O.A meant Method Of Acquire. He didn't even want to know how he inherited it and put it at the back of his mind.
Mark had his back flat on the ground and Damian rested his back on the wall on the right side of the hallway.
Damian stared at the boy and noticed how he looked a bit like David.
"Aha! Hahahaha…" Mark laughed, facing up and looking at the ceiling. It might look crazy to other people but he was just happy he survived miraculously.
Damian didn't mind Mark's fit of madness and just stared at his phone, waiting to get the rings for accomplishing a feat.
Tung!
He received a notification in the Messages and Notifications part of the new OS and it showed '2' beside it. He unhesitatingly clicked the notification
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[You exorcised a unique demon and have earned the title 'Exorcist']
[You have been granted 50 rings for accomplishing a feat]
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'Nice. Now time for the second round of problems.'
Damian knew that it was only the beginning of problems for him. He figured something fishy in play because the black bandage demon didn't try to kill them at all until the last part of the fight where Damian aimed for its 'heart'.
"Ugh. W-What happened?" The boy that was lying on the ground slowly sat up straight.
"You are Stephanie's younger brother right?" Mark asked as he also got up from where he laid.
"Yes! Is she okay?!" The blonde kid with a small round face and tired round eyes eagerly asked.
"She's fine," Damian said, then continued, "You've been hurt pretty bad and I just want you to understand that we're the good guys here, and It will help if you could co-operate with us for the time being."
Damian knew he couldn't feel sympathy for others so he used his other talent to make up for it, lying and acting.
"O-Ok… but when do I get to meet my sister?"
"After you answer our questions you'll meet with your father and sister."
"Father? N-No… Don't take me back to that man! He's weird." The boy said, a bit scared.
"Hey… hey… calm down, ok?" Damian wore a warm smile as he calmed the boy down. He told Mark that he was 'going to take care of this', so Mark duly backed off and sat quietly.
"Ok. Let's start with you telling me your name."
"M-My name is Harry."
"That's a great name, Harry. Can you recall the events of the day before?"
"Y-Yeah… just some of it."
"That's good enough, and please… do tell."
"Ok, I remember my dad picking me up from school and uh… my sister didn't follow because she got into detention because she beat up a boy that was bullying me, then it rained for uh… about two hours after we got home… then... there was an explosion!…"
"Harry? What's wrong?"
"I don't know what happened after then but I can remember seeing dad place his hand on my head… w-why is that all I can remember?"
"You are currently suffering from mild concussion and result in memory loss, probably because you hit your head due to the blast impact."
"..."
"Don't worry, you'll regain your memories over time, but I have to ask if you remember anything from the time you were possessed by a demon..."
"D-Demon? What are you talking about?"
"Oh! I forgot to tell you. My bad, I'm sorry. Right now, the world is facing what is called a demon apocalypse and we are looking for a way to survive. I know it's a lot to take in but please just bear with me."
"O-Ok… I-I think I remember having the urge to scare people away but I don't know why."
"Hmmm…" Damian got lost in his thoughts for a moment, then continued "Well that proves a lot. Thanks for your help, now let's go meet your sister."
They got up and headed back to the 4th floor. On their way, Mark praised Damian on how he handled the situation but Damian just kept his apathetic expression and also praised Mark on how he dived into plain suicide unhesitatingly, although Mark wasn't comfortable with how Damian termed it.
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"Oh my gosh! Harry, are you okay?" Stephanie ran and tightly hugged her brother as he, Damian and Mark entered Damian's apartment.
"I-I'm okay, Steph… you're killing me."
Stephanie didn't let go of Harry until after a few minutes. Damian went to check up on Arthur, who was still spaced out. While Mark calmly laid on the couch and got comfy enough so he could get a little rest.
Stephanie constantly thanked Damian and Mark and apologized dearly for what she did to Arthur.
'He probably didn't tell her, thank goodness. I had no reason to worry.'
Damian had it on his mind that if Arthur told Stephanie about how they met Mark then that'd be a problem since there would be no way David wouldn't hear about it from her, which is certainly what Damian didn't want.
"Ok. Now let's take you guys back to your father." Damian said as he stood up from the dining where he was with Arthur.
"Yes, Harry. He's right."
"Steph, please… believe me… we shouldn't go back to dad. What's wrong if we stay here?"
"Everything kiddo, I have a plan so please just co-operate." Damian spoke calmly and walked to the door.
He carefully arranged his glasses and told Mark, who was already half asleep that he should watch over Arthur, while the latter just grunted and turned his head away from Damian, implying that he shouldn't disturb him.
