53 Book 3 Chapter 49 (1/2)

”Are you okay?” Carly asked Jason with tears in her eyes. Tank's death was devastating news. She heard what happened from Peter, but she still wanted to check up on her friend.

Jason gave Carly a side-hug. ”I'm fine. I can revive Tank as soon as I level up my battle physique.”

Roy sat across from Jason as he inquired hesitantly. ”You can't level up your battle physique by absorbing energy from weapons anymore, right? Haven't you been stuck on level four for months?”

Olivia gave Roy a fierce glare to which he ignored with a cough. Jason didn't mind and shrugged helplessly, ”The requirement to level up is just question marks. Unfortunately, I can't ask Aros questions anymore, so yeah, it's been a while.”

”That dummy Aros!” Carly clenched her tiny hands and blurted. Her comment left everyone surprised because she was afraid of angering the gods in the past, but now she didn't seem to care. She was upset Aros broke the rules and ended up harming Jason. Only after a moment did Carly realize she spoke aloud. She quickly clasped her hands and muttered, ”Aros is a nice grandpa!”

A monster suddenly howled near the haven, which scared Carly so much she shrieked and fainted in her chair. Her reaction left Roy bewildered, ”Doesn't she fight all the time fearlessly? Why do the gods make her so afraid?”

A person who could fight monsters and demons without fear couldn't help but faint from an unintended remark. 'Doesn't it scare you? Doesn't it frighten you!?'. Jason recalled Cay's words when he heard Roy's comment. Aros and the other god's power was unimaginable. Were they spying on them? Could they read minds? Would a single thought make the gods kill them? Nobody knew. They existed in a much higher realm.

Aros took great care of Jason, so maybe it was because Jason had an amicable relationship with a god that he wasn't afraid of them. That was in the past. After talking with Cay and watching Carly's reaction, Jason's thoughts changed. How did humans on Earth treat creatures, knowing they couldn't defend themselves? Hunting for sport, enslaving them as companions, and breeding them for food.

What was this floor then? The floor of death? No. The pure demons treated this floor as a farm. Humans were the same. Gods were the same. Everyone was the same. If your power overwhelmed the opposing party, morals, ethics, and compassion went out the window. Only the strong could play with concepts like that. The weak could try, but they couldn't enforce it.

”I'm heading to bed. See you in the morning.” Jason faked a yawn and stood. As soon as he turned around, his expression hardened. Was he strong in the grand scheme of things? No. He was weak. If pure demons came to Earth to farm humans like cattle, would he fight back? Would he struggle? Would he protect his friends and family?

Yes!

Until he drew his last breath, he would struggle!

He would fight!

He would kill!

Jason felt his blood boil. His Willpower stat rose with every passing second as energy – battle energy – exuded from his body. It shrouded him, yet it could not hide his silver eyes. Jason's body might appear to be flesh and blood, but he never honestly had the urge to slaughter ever since attaining a battle physique.

Why did Aros name it 'battle' energy and 'battle' physique? Because it existed for battle! For war! For slaughter!

When Jason disappeared from Olivia and Roy's field of view, he activated Domain and used it to leave the haven secretly. The miasma no longer impeded his vision, and with Domain, he intended to visit the canyon he found earlier.

Not much time passed before he encountered a group of monsters engaged in combat. Undaunted, a horizontal arc of battle energy shot out from Jason's sword as he used Cleave.

While Cleave was a skill from Aros and quite powerful in terms of offense, it still couldn't kill this group of tier four demons in one shot. However, when Jason's intent to kill and battle energy fused, a miraculous change occurred.

All five demons collapsed after Cleave wounded them. The cut wasn't deep and would typically enrage them, yet shockingly, they died on the spot. A notification appeared when they turned into essence.

Congratulations! Under the urging of the m-serum, you have prematurely unlocked a skill due to the fusing of your will and battle energy.

Battle Soul

Passively infuses your will into your battle skills to cause additional damage to the target's soul. Consumes Soul Force.

Remark 1: Damage depends on your Willpower compared to your opponents.