The Demon's Descent
In the reading of books, Nýx found a bestiary and a combat-related book that talked about levels and what you learned at the academy.
The bestiary had many magnificent beasts and Nýx made sure to memorize the weaknesses and capabilities of each beast since it would be of great help in the future when he encountered one. During the 2 months, he reviewed it almost every day and managed to memorize most of the beasts in it, if not all of them. His elephant, Manny, didn't appear anywhere in the bestiary and that made him quite puzzled, he concluded that either Manny wasn't recorded because he was too rare or he wasn't recorded because he was unique.
In Eden, there was a big academy where every 10 years old wished to go and study. The book Nýx read deemed it as the most prestigious and proficient academy of them all. It recorded what was expected of students who entered the academy and what they would learn in various courses.
There were courses for every main combat class and academic courses for many studies. There were classes such as advanced math, botany, metallurgy, medicine, tinkering, alchemy, and more. Students were allowed to take two combat classes, two professional courses, and two catch-up courses. The course schedule looked pretty amazing and Nýx didn't understand it much since he didn't have any class nor experience but he made it his goal to study in that school.
The requirements for assisting Eden's Academy were to be a level 10 and have a main class, sub-class, and four skills in total, whether passive or active. As people couldn't see each other status, they would measure the number of skills you possessed in an advanced magical artifact that analyzed the system, the artifact showed a combat power estimate and the number of skills you currently possess. In academic regard, it was recommended that the applicants had a basic knowledge of the common language, math, and a field of study. The academics weren't absolutely necessary as there were catch-up courses but it was repeatedly recommended throughout the book the value of it.
The book also recommended that every class should localize their stat points in their main class stat and stamina, since theoretically, the more stamina you had, the more you could train. The main class for each stat was as follows: archers used agility, mages and healers used magic power, warriors were quite varied but most required a high strength value.
After knowing he had 10 years to get to level 10, Nýr was quite worried, since he didn't know how long it would take to level up and basing his knowledge on Fiona and Corbis who was quite aged yet level 16, his worries made sense. He decided to quickly limit the time he spent reading and decided to start meditating to see if he could raise his stats as they passively raised before.
And so, Nýr's new routine began, with his diapers equipped and his cup of water in hand, he quickly went to the back of their house, since there was a small garden behind their house and it directly ended in the mountain's inner wall. He sat down in a meditative pose, his butt on the floor and his back on the earthly wall, and began training. He didn't really know where to start since there wasn't a book that said how to raise your stats by absorbing the mountain's energy, so he tried many things. He sat for hours and hours, feeling the earthly energy around him going into him, coming out and revitalizing his body he felt rapid progress.
After some hours of training, Nýr realized someone was calling out his name and quickly pulled Manny back home, to a worried Fiona and Corbis who had been looking for him desperately. He told them he was playing in the garden and they considerably calmed down, since they saw his dirty diaper and the dirty elephant feet. He went to his room and kept meditating at the same pace he was before, it seemed that the mountain insides had the same amount of elemental energy all around.
Nýr's routine was quickly decided and he continued meditating, trying different poses, and reading books for 7 more months.
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[Gale Empire, Third Prince's Room]
A small young man was carefully reading a letter he had just received. His expression continuously changed throughout the letter. The young man's frown was frightening, as soon as he finished the letter and comprehended the content within it, he quickly hurried towards his father.
In the majestuous, fine room of the young man, one could see a letter fall on the ground, which said,
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Your Royal Highness, Prince of Gale,
I write this letter after thorough research on what has been happening in the surrounding villages. 20 days after the black portal opened in the sky, we have found a demon. It may not sound believable but I ask your royal highness to place your trust on me, your servant, who has wholeheartedly served for the Gale Empire for 24 years. I, along with knight Olivier, knight Harry and bishop Jacob found a demon rampant in the Village of Trustar, north of the empire, close to the dwarven border. The damage was devastating. The demon had already raised half of the village to the ground. We aided the evacuation of civilians and sent them to the capital.
I recall you once saw bishop Jacob's skills. As our levels had already reached the higher eighties, our confidence wasn't unfounded, sadly, the records didn't do demons any justice, Your Royal Highness. Maybe it wasn't a demon and Olivier's inspection skill was mistaken, but as we all know, the system doesn't commit mistakes. That thing we saw, the thing we fought, was on the level of a devil, no, if what we fought was a demon, I don't believe the Gale Empire can survive the descent of a devil.
The demon's level wasn't shown, maybe it was level 90 or 100, as you know, Olivier's inspection skill doesn't show the enemy status if they surpass him by more than 10 levels. The problem is, we lost. In the short, yet long fight, we lost knight Harry and bishop Jacob. Knight Olivier has been severely wounded and I have lost my left hand, I don't think we have much time left, Your Royal Highness. Every wound that the demon left on our bodies cursed us with his demonic magic, I still don't know if bishop Jacob could've healed us, since at the start of the battle, showing the intelligence of a human, the demon, at an unbelievable speed targeted Jacob and with a demonic attack, exploded his head.
It is common knowledge that a priest isn't that durable, but the speed the demon showed was so unbelievable that we couldn't even react. After Jacob's death, Knight Harry quickly reacted and managed to wound the demon with our support before perishing as well. The demon's strength was brutal, our attacks didn't do enough damage and most of them missed. Knight Olivier was his next target and we did our best to fight the demon. In the tragic fight, we managed to cut the demon's right arm and left severe wounds in most of his body. Sadly, we were too wounded as well, so he managed to escape towards the dwarven territory. As I previously mentioned, I don't know how much time we have left, I'm hurrying towards the capital so I request of you to prepare a healer so we can see the capacity of the demon's curse. Knight Olivier probably won't make it, he's too wounded and my efforts to heal him aren't nearly enough. I'm too worried about the situation, little prince. I request you, not as a servant, but as your previous mentor. Please evacuate the surrounding villages towards the cities. Farmers are at high risk before we investigate the complete situation but a city's defense will be enough to stop a demon. Inform Your Majesty about the contents of this letter and please help the survivors we sent towards the capital. There were too many orphans and wounded farmers.
I'm very worried, prince. The need to evacuate the villages is greater than you might believe since I didn't write the most worrisome part just yet. The demons feed on us. They get stronger every time they eat a soul and they absorb part of the skills the soul possessed. I used this valuable letter you gifted me to tell you the most important thing, after scouting a bit more, we found a group of 6 demons heading to the dwarven territory.
They were stronger than the one we lost to.
Yours faithfully, knight Thomas.
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