This chapter basically tells you what the MC looks like, but I can't find any related images unless I create them with AI, which is annoying, but I'll try that at a later date. If you guys want to contribute images, that would be helpful.
...
Gary stood at the edge of the twisted forest, staring into the darkness between those skeletal black trees. The red glow from distant lava rivers barely penetrated the canopy, leaving most of the forest in shadow.
Roars and screeches echoed across the hellscape. The chaos from the infant demons entering deeper into the Abyss was dying down, which meant the survivors were spreading out. Looking for territory. For food. For anything that would help them survive another day.
Gary needed shelter. And the forest was the obvious choice. It's what Roy had done in the original novel.
He started walking, claws still faintly glowing with IOE. His body shifted into a loose combat stance automatically, Nanto Seiken knowledge guiding his movements even when he wasn't even thinking about it.
The trees were massive up close. Charred black trunks that looked like they'd been burned but kept growing anyway. Branches twisted at unnatural angles, reaching toward the stone ceiling far above like skeletal fingers.
And the sounds...
Faint wailing echoed through the forest. Not constant. Just occasional bursts that sounded almost like crying, but distorted. Like it was coming from something that didn't have a proper mouth.
"Definitely not horror movie vibes," Gary muttered, scanning the darkness. "Nope. Not at all."
Small creatures skittered away as he walked. Demon rats with too many legs. Lizards with scales that glowed faintly. The Abyss had an actual ecosystem. Roy had mentioned it, but seeing it was different.
After twenty minutes, Gary found what he was looking for.
A massive tree, easily three times larger than the others, with roots spreading like a web across the ground. At the base, between two of the largest roots, was a hollow where they met the trunk.
Gary approached cautiously, checking if anything was already living inside.
Empty.
He crouched and peered in. The hollow was small, maybe big enough for his current 4-foot body to curl up, but not comfortable. And if he was about to transform into his adult form...
Yeah, this won't work as is.
The tree was positioned well though. Surrounded by other trees but with enough space to see anything approaching. The roots created natural barriers. It was defensible, or at least as defensible as Hell was going to get.
Gary started digging.
His IOE-enhanced claws cut through the packed soil easier than they should have. He carved out chunks, tossing them aside. Dig, toss, dig, toss. The work was repetitive. Almost meditative.
Unlimited stamina meant no breaks. He just kept going.
An hour later, he had a decent-sized cave. Six feet deep, five feet wide. Enough room to stretch out.
But now the entrance was too obvious. A gaping hole that screamed "someone lives here, come ambush and kill them."
Gary started gathering materials. Dead branches, weird demonic plants growing in patches, anything that could work as camouflage. Some plants had thorns like black glass. Others had leaves that generated their own heat.
He spent the next hour weaving it together, creating a screen to hide the entrance. From a distance, it looked like another cluster of undergrowth.
Not perfect, but better than nothing.
Gary remembered from the novel that demons respected strength. If something looked defended, if attacking looked like it would cost too much, most demons moved on to easier targets.
He needed traps.
Gary started digging holes around the perimeter. Not deep pits, just ankle-breakers. About a foot deep, positioned where someone approaching would naturally step.
Then he gathered the thickest branches he could find and sharpened them into points with his claws. Nanto Seiken showed him the exact angle for maximum sharpness.
He planted the sharpened branches in the holes, points up, then covered them with loose dirt and dead leaves.
Eight traps total. Positioned in a rough circle.
Anyone approaching without knowing would step on at least one.
The whole process took about four hours. The purple moon hadn't moved overhead. Gary wasn't even sure if it did move.
He looked around at his work. Hidden entrance, trapped perimeter, defensible position.
"Good enough."
Gary crawled into his hollow and settled into the space he'd carved out. Dark, cool, surprisingly comfortable for a hole in the ground.
He closed his eyes.
Time to stop being a demon baby.
Gary focused inward, diving into his soul space the same way he had when checking the Origin Artifact.
The transition was smoother this time. One moment in his tree hollow, the next floating in that space where his soul resided.
The Origin Artifact pulsed in the center, but Gary wasn't here for that.
He focused on the customization option from his Involate Essence. The one-time transformation.
A panel materialized.
"Alright, let's go!!."
It was a full 3D holographic display of his current body. Rotating slowly in perfect detail. Every scale of red skin, every claw, every horn rendered in hyper-realistic quality.
This made the Wii character creator look like a children's toy.
Options surrounded the display. Sliders, toggles, input fields. Height. Build. Musculature. Skin. Hair. Eyes. Facial features, reproductive appendages.
And those were just the basics.
Gary could change literally anything. Add extra limbs. Grow wings. Modify internal organs. Change bone density.
The level of control was insane.
He'd been thinking about this since the Balance Dimension. Time to execute.
Current height: 4'3"
Gary grabbed the slider and dragged it up. The model grew in real-time.
He stopped at 7'1".
Can't be short as a demon. Some were naturally taller, he'd seen them at the hatching. Female demons and angels weren't short either. But seven feet was a solid baseline. He could always create a size-changing skill later if needed.
Next: body structure.
His infant demon proportions were weird. Short legs, long torso, arms that didn't quite match. Fine for a baby, but not for an adult.
Gary adjusted everything to human standards. Proper leg-to-torso ratio. Arms reaching mid-thigh. Proportional hands.
Then came the physique.
Gary pulled reference images from his perfect memory. Bang from One Punch Man with that lean but powerful build and Baki characters with their muscle definition and intimidating presence.
That's what he wanted. The kind of body that looked lean until you really looked, then you realized every muscle was optimized for explosive power.
Gary started sculpting.
Relatively lean muscle mass. Not a bodybuilder, but every muscle group visible. Broad shoulders for an imposing frame. Perfect eight-pack abs. Arms and legs with that wiry strength suggesting speed and power without bulk.
Tall. Lean. Radiating danger.
Like a coiled spring ready to explode.
Skin tone next.
The bright red had to go. Gary changed it to deep tan. Natural, human-looking, but still exotic.
Then the tribal tattoos.
Red ink flowing across his upper body in intricate patterns. Starting at his shoulders, spreading across his chest, down his arms, curling around his ribs and back. The patterns followed his muscle structure, emphasizing the lines.
Hair: pitch black. Long enough to be dramatic but not interfering with fights. Naturally messy, like he'd just run his hands through it.
Eyes: crimson red. Deep red like dried blood. The kind that would make people uncomfortable if he stared too long.
Now the horns.
Gary had debated removing them entirely. Going full human.
But fuck that. He was a demon. Might as well own it.
He kept them but redesigned. Instead of small stubby infant horns, he gave himself proper demon horns. Curving back from his forehead, following his skull line, tapering to sharp points. Eight inches long. Prominent. Threatening.
Black, matching his hair. Faint red lines running through them matching his tattoos.
Gary examined the final design, rotating the model.
Seven feet tall. Tanned skin with red tribal tattoos. Pitch black hair. Crimson eyes. Lean, powerful physique. Black horns.
Something between a demon and a god.
He made final adjustments. Sharpened canines slightly. Black-tinted nails. Added deliberate facial asymmetry to avoid looking too artificial.
One last look.
"Lock it in."
Gary confirmed.
The panel flashed and disappeared. The model dissolved into light flowing into his soul, and suddenly he felt it.
His consciousness snapped back to his physical body.
Heat.
Intense but not painful. His entire body burning from the inside out as the Essence of Involate Self began rewriting his form.
Gary's small body convulsed.
His bones started cracking.
Growing. Extending. Spine lengthening, vertebrae separating and expanding. Legs stretching, femurs elongating with sounds like green wood splitting. Arms, ribs, skull, everything growing, reshaping, transforming.
His mouth opened in a silent scream.
Muscles came next. Tearing and reforming. Fibers multiplying and reorganizing. Infant demon musculature dissolving and rebuilding into the lean, powerful structure he'd designed.
His skin rippled. Bright red fading to tan. Tattoos emerging, red patterns burning through like invisible needles carving them in.
The pain was intense but distant. Like his brain couldn't process what was happening.
Horns heating up. Melting. Reshaping. Growing longer, thicker, curving back over his skull. The sensation was bizarre, like fingernails being forcibly extended but a thousand times more intense.
Hair growing. Spreading across his scalp, lengthening to his shoulders in seconds. Pitch black strands catching the dim light.
Face restructuring. Bones shifting. Cartilage reforming. Skin tightening and smoothing. Infant features melting away, replaced by the face he'd designed. Sharp. Angular. Intimidating.
Gary couldn't move. Couldn't scream. Could barely think.
His body was locked in transformation, every system focused on the change.
The process felt like hours.
Probably only minutes.
Then it started slowing.
Heat fading. Burning cooling to a warm glow. Bones settling with final cracks. Muscles relaxing into new patterns.
Gary's eyes opened slowly. Crimson instead of yellow now.
He was exhausted. Not physically, the Essence prevented that. But mentally. The transformation had drained something that wasn't quite stamina or willpower.
He tried to move.
Problem.
He was too big for the hollow now.
His seven-foot body was crammed into a space designed for a four-foot demon child. Legs bent at awkward angles, shoulders pressed against walls, horns scraping the ceiling.
"Didn't think that through," Gary muttered.
His voice was deeper. Rougher.
He started carefully extracting himself, pushing aside the camouflage. His new body moved differently. Balance was off. Reach was wrong. Everything felt alien.
Gary emerged into the dim red light and stood fully for the first time.
Seven feet, one inch.
He looked at his hands. New muscles moving under tanned skin. Red tribal tattoos covering his forearms, patterns pulsing faintly in the light.
Gary ran his hands over his body. Defined abs. Powerful shoulders. Lean muscle mass. Plus the beast between his legs.
Exactly as designed.
He touched his horns. Solid. Strong. Curving back over his skull. His hair fell around his face, black strands he immediately pushed back.
No mirror. No way to see his own face. But he could feel it. Sharper features. Crimson eyes. Intimidating presence.
Gary grinned, feeling sharpened canines press against his lower lip.
His new voice rumbled in his chest. "Now I'm ready."
He looked around the twisted forest. The skeletal trees. The red glow. The distant sounds of demons fighting for survival.
This was his world now.
And he finally looked like he belonged in it.
Gary stretched, testing his new body. Every movement felt powerful. Controlled. Like he could explode into violence at any moment but was choosing not to.
The Nanto Seiken knowledge sat in his mind, already adjusting to his new proportions because of the Origin Artifact. His reach was longer now. His strikes would hit harder. His speed...
Gary moved.
One step forward, then a punch at empty air.
The movement was fast. Way faster than his infant body could manage. His fist cut through the air with a whistle, and he felt the IOE flowing through the strike naturally.
He tried a kick. Then another punch. A spinning strike.
His body responded perfectly. No awkwardness. No adjustment period.
The Essence had optimized everything. Muscle memory adapted instantly. Neural pathways rewired for his new form.
Gary stopped and laughed.
"I'm a fucking monster now."
He looked back at his tree hollow. Too small for him now, but he could fix that later. Right now, he needed to test this new body properly.
And maybe find something to kill.
Gary's grin turned sharp as he walked deeper into the forest, his crimson eyes scanning for prey.
...
Gary stood there for a moment, just feeling his new body. The power coiled in his muscles. The way his balance had shifted. Everything was different.
Then he remembered something.
"Status screen."
The familiar blue panel materialized in front of him, and Gary's eyes scanned the information.
Name: Gary
Race: Demon
Bloodline: At least four different kinds
Demon Name: Valdos Belial Maxim Raizel… Vancouver Gabe
Form: Adult
Hierarchy: Low-Rank (Bottom-Tier)
Attribute: Omni
Strength: 68
Speed: 72
Magic Energy: ∞ (Limited by strength and hierarchy)
Skills: Nanto Seiken (Beginner)
Talent Ability 1: Soul Peer
Talent Ability 2: Essence of Involate Self
Items: Origin Artifact
Evaluation: Physical transformation to adult form complete. Stats have increased dramatically from infant baseline (340% strength increase, 400% speed increase) due to optimized physique and mature musculature. However, hierarchy remains unchanged - raw physical development does not automatically elevate demonic rank. Combat experience and soul cultivation required for advancement. Current Nanto Seiken proficiency remains at beginner level despite enhanced physical capacity. Intermediate techniques now physically achievable but require practice for proper execution. Recommendation: Seek combat to refine skills and test new physical limits.
Gary stared at the numbers.
Strength 68. Speed 72.
"Holy shit," he breathed. "I went from 20 strength to 68. That's more than triple."
But his hierarchy hadn't changed. Still Low-Rank, Bottom-Tier.
That made sense, actually. Physical transformation didn't automatically make him a higher-ranked demon. He'd just optimized his body for his current rank. Like taking a level 1 character and giving them perfect stats, but they were still level 1.
He'd need to actually grow stronger. Fight. Consume souls. Cultivate power the way demons did.
But those stats... those were insane for a Low-Rank demon.
Gary pulled up his memory of Roy's early stats from the novel. Roy had started with 14 strength and 12 speed as a premature infant. When he'd reached his adult form naturally, he'd been somewhere around 45 strength and 40 speed.
Gary was already way past that.
"Origin Artifact and Essence combination is busted," Gary muttered. "Perfect physique optimization plus unlimited stamina plus Nanto Seiken knowledge. Yeah, I'm ahead of the curve."
The evaluation mentioned something important though: intermediate techniques were now physically achievable.
Gary's infant body had been too weak to execute anything beyond basic Nanto Seiken moves. The advanced techniques required explosive power, precise muscle control, and body conditioning his baby demon form simply didn't have.
But now?
Now he had a body built for combat.
"Time to test it," Gary said, dismissing the status screen.
He looked around the twisted forest. Somewhere out there were other demons. Newborns like him, or maybe older demons who'd been living in the Abyss longer. Either way, they'd make good practice targets.
Gary started walking, moving deeper into the forest away from his tree hollow. His footsteps were quiet despite his size. Nanto Seiken included stealth techniques, ways to move without alerting prey.
The wailing sounds grew louder as he walked. Those weird distorted cries echoing through the trees. Gary still didn't know what made them, and honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
After about ten minutes, Gary heard something else.
Fighting.
The sounds of combat echoed from his left. Snarling, the crack of claws against flesh, a wet gurgling sound that was probably someone dying.
Gary changed direction, moving toward the noise.
He found them in a small clearing between the trees.
Three demons fighting over a corpse.
The dead demon looked like it had been quadrupedal, some kind of lizard-type. Its soul was already gone, probably consumed by whoever killed it first. Now the three survivors were fighting over the right to eat the actual body.
Gary studied them from the shadows.
Two were humanoid. One had gray skin and was maybe six feet tall, muscular build. The other was smaller, around five feet, with dark red skin and a mouth full of too many teeth.
The third was insectoid. Similar to the ones Gary had seen at the hatching, with a segmented body and multiple legs. This one was bigger though, maybe the size of a large dog.
They were all Low-Rank demons. Gary could tell from their auras, the way their energy felt. Weak. Unrefined. Same tier as him.
But they had experience he didn't.
They'd been living in the Abyss longer. Had more fights under their belts. Knew how to move, how to kill.
Gary watched the gray-skinned demon slam the insectoid into a tree. The bug-demon screeched and lashed out with its mandibles, catching the gray demon across the arm. Purple blood sprayed.
The smaller red demon took advantage of the distraction and lunged for the corpse, trying to drag it away.
The gray demon roared and kicked the red one in the face.
Chaos. Pure, uncoordinated violence.
Gary felt a grin spreading across his face.
Perfect.
He stepped out of the shadows and into the clearing.
All three demons froze.
They stared at him. At his seven-foot frame. His tanned skin and red tattoos. His black horns and crimson eyes.
Gary could see the calculation happening in their heads. This new demon was big. Looked dangerous. But there were three of them and only one of him.
The gray demon snarled something in the demonic language. "Territory. Ours. Leave or die."
Gary's grin widened. "How about I kill all three of you and take your souls instead?"
The red demon hissed. "Big words. Big body. We see if you fight good."
"Guess we will," Gary said, dropping into a Nanto Seiken stance.
The insectoid attacked first.
It scuttled forward with surprising speed, mandibles clicking, multiple legs carrying it across the ground in a blur.
Gary waited until it was close, then moved.
Gessai.
His right hand shot forward, fingers rigid, IOE flowing through the strike. His claws punched straight through the insectoid's head, piercing the exoskeleton like it was paper.
The demon's momentum carried it forward onto Gary's arm, its body convulsing. Gary yanked his hand back and the insectoid collapsed, twitching.
One down.
The gray and red demons stared.
Gary flicked purple blood off his claws. "Next?"
They attacked together.
Smart. Or at least smarter than the bug had been.
The gray demon came from the left, claws extended. The red one circled right, trying to flank.
Gary focused on the gray demon first. Bigger threat. More reach.
The gray demon swung a haymaker at Gary's head.
Gary ducked under it and countered with Rekkyaku.
His leg shot up in a cutting kick, IOE-enhanced claws on his foot slicing across the gray demon's torso. The strike opened a deep gash from hip to shoulder.
The gray demon stumbled back, clutching the wound.
Gary spun to face the red demon, which had used the opening to close distance.
Too close for kicks. Fine.
Hiei Ken.
Gary's hands became a blur, multiple rapid cuts from different angles. His claws raked across the red demon's face, chest, arms. Each strike enhanced with IOE, cutting deeper than they should.
The red demon screamed and tried to retreat.
Gary pressed the attack, his body moving on pure instinct now. The Nanto Seiken knowledge guided him, showing him openings, weak points, the exact angles to strike for maximum damage.
He caught the red demon with an uppercut slash that nearly took its head off.
It collapsed, gurgling.
Two down.
Gary turned back to the gray demon, which was trying to run now. Limping away, still clutching its torn torso.
"Not so fast," Gary said.
He launched himself forward, covering the distance in two long strides. His new body was fast. Way faster than his infant form.
The gray demon turned, desperate, and tried to fight back.
Gary caught its wrist mid-swing and twisted.
Snap.
The demon's arm broke. Gary drove his other hand forward in another Gessai, punching straight through its chest cavity.
The gray demon's eyes went wide. It coughed purple blood.
Gary pulled his hand free and let the body drop.
Three souls rose from the corpses, glowing faintly in the red light.
Gary grabbed all three and absorbed them into his Origin Artifact.
Low-Quality Souls (8)
He stood there breathing hard. Not from exhaustion, his stamina was still infinite. But from the adrenaline. The rush of combat.
That had been easy.
Too easy.
Gary looked down at his hands. They were covered in purple blood. His claws dripped with it.
The basic Nanto Seiken techniques had been effortless. His new body executed them perfectly. No hesitation. No wasted movement. Just pure, efficient violence.
But he hadn't really been challenged.
These demons had been weak. Uncoordinated. Fighting on instinct alone.
Gary needed stronger opponents. Or at least more of them.
He wiped his hands on some dead undergrowth and started walking again, leaving the corpses behind. Other demons would find them eventually. Fight over the meat. The cycle would continue.
After another twenty minutes of wandering, Gary heard something different.
Voices. Actual conversation in the demonic language, not just snarls and roars.
He moved toward the sound, staying low, using the trees for cover.
Through the branches, Gary saw a group of demons gathered around what looked like... a campfire?
No, not a campfire. A heat vent. One of those natural vents in the ground where magma from below pushed up, creating a warm spot. The demons were using it as a gathering point.
There were five of them total.
Two humanoids, both around Gary's height. One had dark blue skin, the other was pale white with black markings.
One quadruped that looked wolf-like but with too many eyes.
One that was basically a mass of tentacles with a vaguely face-shaped lump in the center.
And one that looked almost human except for the wings folded on its back and the tail coiled around its legs.
They were talking. Actually having a conversation.
Gary listened, his perfect memory recording every word.
"...new spawns everywhere," the blue-skinned demon was saying. "Hatching season always brings chaos."
The winged demon laughed. "Good hunting though. Fresh souls. Stupid and weak."
"Some aren't so stupid," the pale white demon said. "Saw one earlier. Big. Seven feet maybe. Killed three others like it was nothing."
Gary's eyes narrowed.
They were talking about him.
"Seven feet?" The tentacle demon made a bubbling sound. "Newborn that big? Unusual."
"Maybe good bloodline," the wolf demon suggested. "Strong parents."
"Or mutation," the blue demon said. "Doesn't matter. If he comes around here, we kill him. Take his soul. Probably worth more than the usual spawns."
The winged demon grinned. "I want his body. Seven-footer would feed me for days."
Gary had heard enough.
He stood up and walked into their circle.
All five demons jumped to their feet, instantly on guard.
"Evening," Gary said casually. "Heard you guys talking about me. Thought I'd introduce myself."
The pale demon's eyes went wide. "You... you're the seven-footer."
"That's me," Gary said, stopping about ten feet away from their group. "And I heard you want to kill me and eat me. So here I am. Save you the trouble of hunting me down."
The blue demon recovered first. "Arrogant. I like that. Makes killing more satisfying."
"We'll see," Gary said, dropping into his stance again.
Five on one.
Now this might actually be interesting.
The demons spread out, forming a loose circle around him. Professional. Coordinated. They'd done this before.
Gary's mind raced. Five opponents. All Low-Rank like him, but experienced. They knew how to work together.
He couldn't just rush in. Had to be smart.
The wolf demon attacked first, trying to take his legs out.
Gary jumped, avoiding the lunge, and came down with a stomp that caught the wolf across the back. He felt bones crack under his foot.
The tentacle demon lashed out, appendages whipping toward Gary from the left.
Gary spun, using Senshu Ken. His body became a whirlwind, claws slashing in a circular pattern. Several tentacles got severed, hitting the ground with wet splats.
The winged demon took to the air, diving at Gary from above.
Gary couldn't reach it. Not with basic techniques.
But maybe...
He focused, channeling more IOE through his body. Remembering the intermediate forms the Artifact had shown him.
Dantei Koushou.
Gary launched himself upward with an ascending palm strike, claws extended, IOE blazing.
He caught the winged demon mid-dive, his claws raking across its chest and face. The demon screeched and crashed to the ground.
Gary landed hard, his legs absorbing the impact.
That had worked. The intermediate technique had actually worked.
But it had been sloppy. His form was off. He'd used too much energy.
No time to think about it.
The blue and pale demons rushed him together, attacking from opposite sides.
Gary blocked the blue demon's strike with his left arm and countered with his right, catching it across the throat with a quick slash.
The pale demon's claws raked across Gary's back.
Pain flared. First time he'd been hit in this fight.
Gary spun and drove his elbow into the pale demon's face, feeling its nose crunch. Then he followed up with Gessai, fingers punching through its eye socket.
The pale demon screamed and fell back.
Gary turned just in time to see the blue demon recovering, ready for another attack.
They traded blows. Gary's Nanto Seiken against the blue demon's brawling style. Claw against claw. Speed against strength.
The blue demon was good. Really good. It had technique, not just instinct.
But Gary had IOE. And unlimited stamina. And knowledge from masters who'd perfected their art over millennia.
He waited for an opening.
The blue demon overextended on a thrust.
Gary caught its wrist, twisted, and used the momentum to throw it off balance.
Gantei Satsu.
A downward strike, enhanced with IOE, aimed at the demon's spine.
Gary's hand came down like a guillotine, cleaving through flesh and bone, bisecting the demon from shoulder to hip.
The blue demon fell in two pieces.
Gary spun, breathing hard now. Not from exhaustion, but from the intensity.
Four demons down. One left.
The tentacle demon was retreating, backing away, its remaining appendages waving defensively.
"Wait," it burbled. "Wait. You strong. We talk. No need kill."
Gary paused, considering.
Then he shook his head. "Nah. You wanted to eat me five minutes ago. Fuck that."
He closed the distance in three steps and finished it with a combination of Hiei Ken, multiple rapid cuts that reduced the tentacle demon to chunks.
Five souls rose from the corpses.
Gary absorbed them all.
Low-Quality Souls (13)
He stood there in the center of the carnage, covered in purple blood, breathing hard despite not needing to breathe.
That fight had been different.
They'd been coordinated. Experienced. They'd actually pushed him.
And he'd used an intermediate technique successfully. Dantei Koushou had worked, even if it had been sloppy.
Gary looked at his hands. They were shaking slightly.
Not from fear. From excitement.
"This is what I needed," he said to himself. "Actual combat. Not just slaughtering weak demons. Real fights."
He needed more.
More fights. More experience. More chances to refine his Nanto Seiken.
The basic techniques were solid now. He could execute them perfectly with his new body.
But the intermediate forms needed work. He could do them, his body was strong enough, but the execution was rough. Too much energy. Wrong angles. Improper balance.
He needed practice.
Gary looked around the forest. More demons out there. Billions of them, probably. All fighting for territory. For souls. For survival.
Perfect training ground.
Gary's grin returned as he started walking again, deeper into the twisted forest, his crimson eyes gleaming in the red light.
Time to get to work.
...
One Month Later
Gary stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking a massive river of magma, watching the molten rock flow hundreds of feet below. The heat rising from it would've cooked a human alive. For Gary, it was just warm.
A lot had changed in a month.
He'd spent the first week after his transformation in a hunting frenzy. The rush from that five-on-one fight had awakened something in him. Not bloodlust, the Essence had cleaned that demon trait out of his system. But excitement. Pure, genuine excitement at testing himself against worthy opponents.
So Gary had hunted.
Everything within a 15-kilometer radius of his tree hollow became his hunting ground. He'd mapped the entire area in his perfect memory, marking territories, noting where stronger demons lived, cataloging the ecosystem.
The first two weeks had been a slaughter.
Gary had torn through dozens of Low-Rank demons. Humanoids, quadrupeds, insectoids, things that defied easy classification. Most fights lasted less than a minute. His superior stats and Nanto Seiken made him untouchable against average demons.
But then he'd started encountering the tough ones.
Demons who'd survived in the Abyss for months or even years. Demons who'd learned actual combat techniques instead of just flailing around with claws. Demons who'd cultivated their power and advanced their hierarchy.
And demons who had magic.
Gary remembered his first magic user vividly.
It had been a humanoid demon, about six feet tall, with pale green skin and eyes that glowed yellow. Gary had found it near one of the heat vents, practicing something.
He'd watched from the shadows as the demon held out its hand and fire materialized above its palm. Not metaphorical fire. Actual fucking fire, floating in the air, shaped into a sphere.
The demon had thrown the fireball at a nearby rock, and the rock exploded.
Gary's eyes had gone wide. Magic. Real magic.
He'd wanted that demon.
The fight had been brutal.
The fire demon had spotted Gary approaching and immediately started hurling fireballs. Gary had dodged the first few, using his speed to close the distance.
But the demon had been smart. It created a wall of flames between them, forcing Gary to either go around or go through.
Gary had gone through.
He'd channeled IOE through his entire body, creating a protective layer, and just ran straight into the fire wall. It burned. It hurt like hell. His skin had charred and blistered.
After the fight, Gary had been forced to flood his body with IOE, using the energy to accelerate his natural regeneration. It was crude, inefficient, like using a fire hose when you needed a surgical scalpel. But it worked. The burns healed over the course of several hours.
"I need to learn an actual healing technique," Gary had muttered, watching his skin knit back together slowly. "This brute-force method is shit."
He'd made a mental note to add healing knowledge to one of his Artifact's subject slots eventually. But for now, combat skills took priority.
The fire demon itself had gone down hard. Gary had come out of the flame wall with smoking skin and immediately hit it with Gantei Satsu, a downward bisecting strike.
The demon had tried to dodge, failed, and gotten cleaved from shoulder to hip.
As its soul rose, Gary had absorbed it and confirmed what he already knew from reading Roy's story.
Mid-Quality Soul (1)
Souls had quality tiers. Stronger demons produced better souls. The fire demon had cultivated its power, refined it into magic, and that made its soul more valuable than the base Low-Rank demons Gary had been killing.
After that, he'd specifically hunted magic users.
He'd found a demon that could manipulate earth, raising stone pillars from the ground and hurling boulders. That fight had taught Gary the importance of aerial mobility. He'd started incorporating more jumping and acrobatic techniques into his Nanto Seiken, using Hishō Hakurei to spin through the air while attacking.
Another demon had used wind magic, creating cutting blades of compressed air. That one had actually hurt Gary, slicing through his defenses and opening deep gashes across his chest and arms. He'd flooded his body with IOE again afterward, the energy crudely forcing his wounds to close. It had taken most of a day to fully heal, and Gary had been annoyed the entire time at how inefficient the process was.
The toughest had been a demon with barrier magic.
It could create transparent shields that blocked Gary's strikes completely. His claws just bounced off, IOE or not.
Gary had spent twenty minutes fighting that demon, testing different techniques, different angles, different amounts of power.
Finally, he'd figured it out.
The barriers had to be consciously maintained. If Gary attacked from multiple angles simultaneously, the demon couldn't block everything.
He'd used Sōryū Tensho, dual simultaneous strikes from opposite directions. His right hand feinted high while his left came in low. The demon blocked the high strike.
Gary's left hand punched through its stomach.
Mid-Quality Soul (1)
Each magic user had taught him something. How to fight at range. How to deal with environmental manipulation. How to break through defenses.
And each fight had refined his Nanto Seiken.
The Origin Artifact had been guiding his training the entire time. Not controlling him, but showing him the optimal way to practice. Which techniques to focus on. Which movements needed adjustment. Where his form was sloppy.
It was like having a master instructor in his head, except the instructor had perfect knowledge of every Nanto Seiken school and could analyze Gary's performance in real-time.
After every fight, Gary would return to his tree hollow and practice. Going through stances. Drilling techniques. Refining movements.
The basic techniques had become second nature within the first week. Gessai, Rekkyaku, Hiei Ken, Senshu Ken. Gary could execute them perfectly without thinking. His body just moved.
The intermediate forms took longer.
Gantei Satsu, Dantei Koushou, Ryuugeki Ko, Hishō Hakurei. These required more precise control. More power. Better timing.
But with the Artifact's guidance and constant combat experience, Gary had progressed fast. Really fast.
By the end of the third week, he was nearing mastery of the intermediate level. His execution was clean. His power output was optimized. His understanding was deep.
And he'd started practicing the advanced techniques.
Tensho Juji Ho. Sōryū Tensho. Gokuto Ken. Tenshou Shō Rai Kyaku.
These were the techniques that could bisect multiple enemies simultaneously. That could seal opponents in cages of cutting pressure. That turned the user into a weapon of mass destruction.
Gary could perform them. His body was strong enough. His knowledge was complete.
But his hierarchy held him back.
The advanced techniques required massive energy output. Gary had infinite IOE, sure, but his Low-Rank Bottom-Tier body could only channel so much at once. It was like having an ocean of power but only being able to access it through a straw.
He could do a single Tensho Juji Ho, the cross-shaped cutting attack, but the energy required pushed him to his limit. If he tried to channel more power than his body could safely handle, he'd probably explode from the inside out.
A true master at a higher hierarchy could spam advanced techniques continuously because their body could handle the throughput. Gary couldn't. Not yet.
"If I didn't have the Competence function speeding this up," Gary had mused one night, "it would've taken years to get this far. Decades, maybe."
Normal Nanto Seiken practitioners spent their entire lives mastering the art. Gary had gone from complete beginner to intermediate mastery in three weeks.
The Artifact was bullshit overpowered, and Gary loved it.
But he'd hit a wall. To truly master the advanced techniques, he needed more power. A higher hierarchy. A body that could handle greater energy throughput.
Which brought him to the solution: advancing his demon hierarchy by consuming souls.
Gary had experimented.
He'd tried just absorbing souls directly into his body instead of storing them in the Artifact. Didn't work. They just dispersed.
He'd tried meditating while holding souls. Nothing.
He'd tried eating demon flesh. It was nutritious, apparently his body could process it even though he didn't need food, but it didn't increase his power.
Then Gary had an idea.
The Origin Artifact could convert IOE into other forms of energy. Electricity. Liquid fuel. Magic.
What if it could convert souls into something his body could actually use?
Gary had pulled out a stored soul from the Artifact and focused.
"Convert this. Make it into... energy I can consume. Something that'll help me advance."
The Artifact had pulsed.
The soul in Gary's hand began to change. It compressed, solidified, became liquid. A single drop of glowing purple fluid that radiated power.
Gary had stared at it.
Then he'd consumed it.
The effect was immediate. The liquid soul energy had flowed through his body, sinking into his core, his very essence. He'd felt his demonic power grow, expand, strengthen.
Not much. One low-quality soul barely moved the needle.
But it worked.
Gary had grinned and pulled out more souls.
Over the next week, he'd consumed every soul he'd collected. Dozens of them. Watching his power slowly accumulate.
But he'd noticed something frustrating.
It took a lot of souls to make a difference.
Roy, in the original novel, had advanced from Low-Rank to Mid-Rank after consuming maybe 200-300 low-quality souls.
Gary needed more. A lot more.
He'd kept hunting. Kept collecting. The number in his Artifact storage had climbed.
100 souls. 200. 500. 800.
Still Low-Rank Bottom-Tier.
Finally, two days ago, Gary had consumed his 1000th low-quality soul.
And something had shifted.
His body had seized up, energy flooding through him in a massive wave. His demonic core, that intangible part of his being that defined his hierarchy, had expanded.
Advanced.
Evolved.
When it was over, Gary had checked his status.
Hierarchy: Low-Rank (Middle-Tier)
"Finally," Gary had breathed.
And the difference was immediate.
His strength had jumped. His speed had increased. But most importantly, his safe energy output had expanded.
The amount of IOE he could channel through his body without risking self-destruction had nearly doubled. Techniques that had pushed him to his limit before were now well within his safe range. The advanced Nanto Seiken forms were still challenging, but actually sustainable.
Gary had tested it immediately, throwing Tensho Juji Ho three times in a row.
The cross-shaped cutting attacks had carved through the forest, bisecting trees, leaving deep gouges in the rock.
And Gary's body had handled it fine. No strain. No risk of exploding.
"This is what I needed," he'd said, grinning like a maniac.
The higher threshold made sense, actually. His body was optimized. His stats were way above average for his rank. Of course he needed more soul energy to push to the next tier.
But it was worth it.
"At least I found a use for souls besides currency," Gary had muttered. "Though I bet demon merchants would be pissed if they knew I was eating their money."
That had been two days ago.
Since then, Gary had been refining his combat style. Testing his new limits. Getting used to the increased power output.
And now, standing at this cliff overlooking the magma river, Gary was training.
He moved through the stances slowly, deliberately. Feet positioned perfectly. Weight distributed correctly. Hands aligned at precise angles.
Then he accelerated.
Gantei Satsu.
His hand came down in a perfect vertical slash. IOE blazed along his claws, extending the cutting edge beyond his physical reach.
A boulder twenty feet away split clean in half.
Ryuugeki Ko.
Gary spun, his arm sweeping horizontally in a wide arc. The cutting wave of IOE flew outward, slicing through multiple rocky outcrops. They fell apart like they'd been hit with a laser.
Hishō Hakurei.
Gary launched himself into the air, spinning, becoming a tornado of cutting strikes. He came down on a cluster of boulders and they exploded into fragments.
Tensho Juji Ho.
The advanced technique. Gary crossed his arms, then flung them outward in opposite directions. Two cutting waves intersected in an X-pattern, carving deep gouges into the cliff face itself.
Gary landed and examined his work.
The entire training area was destroyed. Boulders cut to pieces. Rock formations cleaved apart. The ground scarred with slash marks.
"Holy shit," Gary said, grinning. "I'm actually getting good at this."
The Origin Artifact had enabled all of it. The instant knowledge. The optimized training regimen. The ability to consume souls for power. The infinite energy to practice without rest.
Without it, Gary would still be a weak newborn demon struggling to survive.
With it, he was becoming something terrifying.
Gary took a breath and called up his status screen.
Time to see the numbers.
Name: Gary
Race: Demon
Bloodline: At least four different kinds
Demon Name: Valdos Belial Maxim Raizel… Vancouver Gabe
Form: Adult
Hierarchy: Low-Rank (Middle-Tier)
Attribute: Omni
Strength: 156
Speed: 168
Magic Energy: ∞ (Limited by strength and hierarchy)
Skills: Nanto Seiken (Intermediate - Nearing Mastery | Advanced - Practicing)
Talent Ability 1: Soul Peer
Talent Ability 2: Essence of Involate Self
Items: Origin Artifact
Souls in Possession: Mid-Quality Soul (7), Low-Quality Soul (43)
Evaluation: One month of intensive combat and training has produced remarkable results. Strength and speed have more than doubled since hierarchy advancement to Middle-Tier. Nanto Seiken proficiency has progressed from beginner to near-mastery of intermediate forms in record time due to Origin Artifact's Competence function and constant real-world application. Advanced techniques are now executable within safe energy output parameters, though sustained use requires further hierarchy advancement. Combat experience against magic users has broadened tactical understanding significantly. Current soul consumption threshold (1000 low-quality souls per tier advancement) suggests optimization toward quality over quantity - higher barriers yield superior stat gains. Crude IOE-based healing method functional but inefficient; recommend acquiring dedicated healing knowledge. Overall assessment: Exceptional growth rate. Projected trajectory indicates potential Middle-Rank advancement within 2-3 months if current progression continues.
Gary stared at the numbers.
Strength 156. Speed 168.
"I've more than doubled my stats since advancing," he muttered. "And I'm still Low-Rank."
But that made sense. The higher tiers within each rank provided massive stat boosts. And Gary's optimized body was squeezing every bit of power out of each advancement.
The skill progression was what really satisfied him though.
Nanto Seiken (Intermediate - Nearing Mastery | Advanced - Practicing)
One month. That's all it had taken to go from knowing nothing to nearly mastering intermediate forms.
Without the Origin Artifact, it would've taken years. Decades.
With it, Gary was progressing at a pace that would've made the ancient masters weep with envy.
Gary dismissed the status screen and looked out over the magma river.