Interface
While Luke was furious at what happened to his parents and how the empire used him for a dangerous experiment, he wasn't so naive to think he could accomplish this goal easily.
He planned to make them pay for their crimes but the question was 'How?'
The Nexeria Empire was large enough to have hundreds of thousands of troops at their beck and call. Apart from this, their overall strength has risen over the years, to a point where they could rival the Arcanoria Empire.
If they could rival an empire made of far stronger and more experienced awakened humans, what can one awaken do?
How was he planning on destroying an empire that was centuries old?
"One step at a time, Luke." He muttered to himself as he let out a sigh.
Although the idea seemed far-fetched, Luke was determined to embark on this journey no matter how long it took or how dangerous it was. Since he had died once already, he had nothing to lose dying again for the sake of his goal.
However, Luke understood he needed to focus on the nascent stage of his plans for now. The main question plaguing his mind right now was 'Where was he going to stay?'
Staying in the dangerous wasteland was no different from a death sentence. It was only a matter of time before he became food to the beasts and demons roaming around.
"I can't go back to the village for obvious reasons." He said with a frown on his face. "Heck, I can't even sneak past the borders of the empire especially now I am an awakened."
"That's even if my identity is not discovered the moment I'm spotted." Luke let out a defeated sigh.
He felt hopeless after considering the possibility of him surviving in the Nexeria empire but it was then that an idea clicked in his head.
"I am now an awakened!" Luke's eyes shone with excitement. "I will be welcomed by the Arcanoria empire!"
Luke was excited by the thought but the excitement died as fast as it came as Luke remembered the distance between the Nexeria empire and the Arcanoria empire, as well as the dangers that lurked in the wasteland between.
"That's if I survive the trip." Luke was downcasted as his supposedly perfect plan appeared to have a major loophole.
At this point, sounds coming from the area where the corpses were dumped had subsided meaning the battle was most likely over. Luke knew a winner must have emerged and even considered the possibility of the heavy beast that walked past him.
"It should be safe enough," Luke whispered.
He believed this was the perfect time to check the interface. Luke knew his chances of survival would improve drastically as long as he could understand his strengths and weaknesses.
[Name: Luke]
[Race: Nephilim]
"Race, Nephilim?" Luke was taken aback by the word. It was a word he had never come across before, especially for someone spent his entire life in a village.
"What does that even mean?" Luke couldn't help but ask.
[Note: The First Nephilim was born through the forbidden act of binding the soul and essence of a high-ranking Demon and Angel to the special soul of a human.]
Seeing this explanation, things were less confusing for Luke since he remembered the images on the screen of the monitor in the lab. Even if he ended up forgetting everything about that day, he would not forget the images of the Demon and angel with their DNA strings visible on the screen.
By binding the interface was referring to the DNA strings of the demon and angel breaking down and coming together to fuse with his DNA string on the monitor.
He could remember the dark red liquid with the golden radiances injected into his body with the metal syringes and only now that it dawned on him that the strange mixture must have been the essence of the demon and the angel.
Memories of the scientist saying something about a high-ranking demon and how hard it was for the Nexeria empire to acquire it crossed his mind, further confirming his suspicions.
Realizing he had become a Nephilim, a fusion of a demon and angel was something Luke wasn't sure how to react. He didn't know whether he should be happy or sad or if it was a good thing. Especially since he knew too little about it.
"But what does it mean that I have a special soul?" Luke couldn't help but ask.
What could be special about the soul of a boy from an average family, living in a village filled with average people?
In Luke's opinion, the ones who could be considered special are awakened humans but since he wasn't from their lineage he found it hard to believe those words.
Luke waited patiently, hoping the interface would elaborate on the reason behind his special soul but there was no response from it. Accepting he wouldn't be getting an answer to that question, he decided to move on to the next thing on the interface.
[Rank: Mortal Conduit]
[Note: This is a stage where humans can channel their soul essence to cast abilities.]
Seeing this, Luke couldn't help but remember the stories of old where paragon ranked awakened humans fought to save humanity from extinction. Those heroes are the sole reason humanity survived the calamity of the rifts long enough for humans to adapt to the chaos and technological breakthroughs to come in.
This left Luke wondering how much higher would he need to climb before he could become a paragon.
[Ability]
[Devour: The user is bestowed with the power to Devour a living being, a skill comprising three stages.
Initial phase: the user can consume the physical form of the target, utilizing it as nourishment.
Second stage: Empowers the caster to devour the essence of the target.
Third stage: Grants the ability to devour the target's soul which would give him the abilities possessed by the target.]
[Limit: 2/3]
[Devoured Abilities
Harmonic Empowerment: A passive skill enhancing the user's capabilities and physical attributes, including that of allies.]
[Abyssal Resurgence: A passive skill that boosts the user's regenerative prowess, enabling swift recovery from severe wounds and, given ample time, even healing from potentially fatal injuries. It also grants heightened perception, increased speed, and augmented strength.]
[Current progress: 0/1000]
[Level up requirements: ???]