Surrounded by the rubbles of destruction, A person opens his eyes to find himself in a room with a lantern hanging above his head.
His head slowly tilts to the side. A bronze monk statue with a garland of iron beads comes into his vision, followed by stone walls engraved with carved letters and runes.
"argh.."
A faint pained groan comes out of his mouth, the tone hinting at exhaustion as the voice echoes around the place.
"A monk statue..? What happened to me.?"
Asta asked in a low voice as the events of last night finally reached his head. The way he fought and the result of the battle flowed back into his brain like a stream of water trying to burst through a dam.
He got stunned for a second, his face hinting at relief only to shift into a expression of dissatisfaction as the after-effects of all the physical limits he had pushed himself through came back to haunt him in form of extreme muscle pain and a butt-load of fractures.
"Ow-owowow– it hurts like shit!! "
Despite the pain, Asta manages to sit. However His body kept making a weird chirping sound that was annoying to listen to.
He noticed that his body has changed, returning back to a more human body yet he felt something different from before at the same time.
He had a hunch, a hunch he followed and reached out to touch his head with his hand. There were two things that looked like horns, similar to shape like secre's but longer.
He had no idea of the exact shape of his body since he couldn't even control his ki. There was, however, a way to get atleast a brief summary of his situation– the panel.
"Open panel."
[ TRAIT SYSTEM/ STAGE - 1]
[Traits - 4 ]
[Hints - 8 ]
[Message - 0]
The panel opens, surprising Asta as his eyes fell on the number of traits he had. Just yesterday evening he had one but now he had not two or three but four traits.
Excited and curious, he taps on the panel(tapping is just for aesthetics) while opening it mentally.
"I can't wait.! What did I get!? Maybe something like high grade magic or so–"
Slam!
Asta gets startled, tumbling back at the sudden sound. It was the gate of the room being opened, revealing Lats looking at him with a shovel in hand as the sunlight slowly moved into the room.
...
"ASTA!!"
Lats lunges, hitting Asta with his head before clutching onto him while he cries in tears and snot runs down his nose. There were dark circles beneath his eyes, and his nose was super red as if he had been crying for hours which he had.
"YOU ARE AWAKE!! I–I WAS WORRIED YOU WILL– *sniff* I Thought you died as well!"
" Oi Stop! This is the only pair of cl– *realisation hits* As well..? What do you mean as well?"
Asta grabs Lats by the ear, pulling him away to the side as he glared embers through his eyes. The little monk of only 14 years old halted on the spot, shaking violently before tears began running down his cheeks.
"Everyone is gone... The head monk, the teachers... Everyone. That crown wearing bastard killed them all!"
Lats points his finger towards the door, causing Asta to turn towards it. The view outside was terrible, houses and huts were collapsed onto the floor and a line of stone graves could be seen extending up to the trees in the forest.
Now Asta finally realised the depth of the aftermath. The entire mountain was now nothing but a wasteland with crushed corpses of animals littered everywhere like garbage.
Just looking at the graves made Asta forget the pain, his hands trying to push himself towards the gate as he crawled forward before Lats gave him a hand to stand up.
Using Lats's shoulder as support, Asta slowly walks out into the sunlight as his eyes widened in grief. He could see the hundreds of dragging marks going to each grave as well as the dirt Lats has digged through by himself.
Pat!
On its own, Asta moved out of kindness. He pulled Lats in, patting him lightly on the head as he comforted him like a older. Brother comforting his little brother.
"Let it all out." He said to Lats and closed his eyes.
...soon tears began dripping, followed by cries of pain.
For about half an hour, Lats stood there, crying out all his regrets and sorrow in Asta's hands before finally collapsing into sleep from exhaustion.
Asta then slid him into the mattress he slept on like a older brother. He sat beside him, constantly patting him like a toddler who was enduring through nightmares Asta himself couldn't imagine.
"If everyone in hage died... Will I be to do the same?... *sigh* I don't even want to imagine that."
With nothing to do except oversee Lats while he slept, Asta turned back to the panel. The four traits he had were there, each with brief explanations of their own.
[1. Half-Devil: You are being who is neither a pure devil nor a human but rather both and neither at the same time.]
[Physical potential has been increased, gain Devil's regeneration. Appearance alternated permanently.]
[2. Devil's regeneration: you now possess the power to use any mana to enhance you regeneration to abnormal levels]
[Linked trait evolved through "Half-Devil" trait. Regeneration speed depends on mana purity, quantity and mastery over mana.]
[3. Battle fanatic: as a person who always survives on the edge of death. You gain greater adaptability in battles and practical combat]
[Learning speed greatly increased in battle, basic instincts enhanced passively. (Growth trait) ]
[4. Mimicking Anti-magic(controlled): A mutation from normal Anti-magic which can change to other elemental attributes it has devoured and converted. The number of maximum switchable attributes depend on the capacity of the mage]
[ attributes: 2 slots-nullification (foundation attribute/100%), gravity (20%)]
[Current stats: Control- apprentice level,
Capacity- newly awakened,
Mastery- Nullification (70%), gravity(0%)]
The list was very long, causing Asta to eventually short circuit as most of the information vanished out from his head just as it entered.
"Reading is tough! *flails hands in a tantrum* Why do everyone gotta make things complex!?" Asta complains. He slowly lets himself fall back to the floor while he kept re-reading the panel until he actually understood something.
The last trait was the most confusing one to him. He had no idea what the mutated or converting part was all about. However if he was reading it right then it meant he could stop turn his anti-magic's nullification off and turn it into normal attributeless magic.
He thought for a second, contemplating whether to dabble into something new or to wait until he recovered.
In the end he gave in to curiosity, but a bigger obstacle was waiting for him– he had absolutely no idea how to do it. (Common Asta moment)
The next hour was spent by him trying out all sorts of wierd methods. He tried speaking spell names that came to his mind, tried screaming, tried meditating and even tried channel it, resulting in him getting slammed down by muscle pain as the internal injuries hurt like hell.
And lastly, Asta did the only left in his arsenal– using his ki. Which seemed to be the key but using ki in a injuries body was like playing a game of tag but in a maze made up of cactus.
It was a slow a tedious process, however as he found some results, Asta was instantly filled with enthusiasm. He focused harder, slowly infusing his Intent into the ki and finally ended up succeeding.
"FINALLY!! " He screamed in joy, immediately faceplanting into floor the next second as he begans shivering on the spot while giggling in low pitch like a madman.
Suddenly the world turned for Asta. He began sensing something, something like small and wierd particles entering his body from the each pore on his skin.
He sensed it and made a wierd face, trying to figure out what he was sensing and what sort of thing the wierd particles were while his body chirped in agony of mental exhaustion and muscle pain.
"What is this crap? Don't tell me this is mana!? I expected something grand but this is bullcrap!!"
The particles were not mana but rather a smaller more weaker version of it called manabits. They are like tiny orbs which are released from anything with a soul and the mages gather these so called particles to condense their own mana in their body.
Asta didn't knew it but the manabits were slowly seeping into his skin solely because the Anti-magic's nullification which usually repelled them was turned off. The tiny particles entered his body, traveling around it before being absorbed and transported to the heart which turned them into similar attribute less mana to his own.
Unaware of the changes happening, Asta felt a soothing feeling wash over him. He immediately fell asleep, even starting to snore while mana kept bundling up in his body and kept getting used by his body to fuel his regeneration trait.
______
An entire day passed by in blink of an eye and the next morning arrives.
Currently Asta was standing at the mountain base, looking back at it while Lats stood beside him.
"Are you sure, you wanna stay here?" Asked Asta, his tone carrying a noticeable worry.
"I am sure.. It's not like I am gonna stay here forever anyway, I just...don't think I am ready to leave everything behind just yet."
"Bu–... Do whatever you want... Come find me when you are done."
Asta slowly begans walking away. He looks back, waved and turned back around, determining himself to get stronger than before to stop tragedies like the what happened to the monks from happening again.
He has ditched the monks clothes and was now wearing a much more traveller like clothes Lats found for him in one of the visitor rooms. Apparently some time before Dante arrived, a merchant came seeking shelter in the night and one of his guards left the clothes.
He was now weaing a pants that came to his calves, a buttonless shirt and a cloak that came with a good. The fitting was tight, but it was better than wandering around without any. There was also the Grimoire of Dante at his waist, something he had searched for after recovering thanks to his trait.
"ASTA!!"
Lats calls, Causing Asta to turn.
"Where will I find You??"
"*smirks* Hage.. Come meet me at the church in Hage."
Lats nods, waving his hand while Asta waved back. Eventually Asta vanished away into the horizon, leaving Lats alone on the mountain to deal with his remaining attachments to ruined home for the last time.