Sitting on the bed in his new room, with dim green bulbs mounted on either side of the walls and casting a soft glow over the room, Elvis silently contemplated his next course of action.
He decided to search through his phone for information about humans with supernatural abilities—to find out whether being one was the same as being an Awakener, and whether it was considered evil and punishable by death.
The answer would determine whether he would attempt to summon the levitating blue translucent screen again.
He first made sure to lock the door before he began.
Fortunately, the phone was user-friendly, with only minor differences from the mobile phones on Earth, so he easily accessed the Nexus, slowly filling in the gaps in his knowledge about this world—especially regarding its supernatural powers.
That was how Elvis discovered that there were two systems in Axaeris: Awakener System and Devourer System.
While the Awakener System was the ethical path through which humans who awakened a Class at eighteen gained supernatural abilities, the Devourer System was considered an unethical and vile path.
According to the description he was reading, the Devourer System was a treacherous system that fed its host infinite madness disguised as infinite power, while lacking one of the most important attributes—the Intelligence attribute.
And the only way a Devourer could acquire the Intelligence attribute was through the forbidden practice of parasitically devouring the Intelligence attribute of other humans who were not Devourers.
Elvis suddenly had a bad feeling in his stomach as he remembered the words of the Demon Emperor.
’Changing my Awakener System... Granting me infinite power...’ he pondered, refusing to believe it even though he could already imagine the end result.
He quickly summoned his system with a thought, now that he had confirmed that only the host of the Awakener System could see it.
────────────────────
[AWAKENER SYSTEM]
└──?DEVOURER SYSTEM?
────────────────────
[Name: Elvis Veyne]
[Race: Human] || ?Race: Human?
[Bloodline: None] || ?Bloodline: None?
[Class: Poison Heresy] || ?Devourer Class: Blood Warrior (Flawed)?
[Rank: Acolyte] || ?Devourer Rank: Acolyte?
[Level: 0 (0%)] || ?Devourer Level: 0 (0%)?
[Skills]: [Mana Corrosion], [Poison Artificer], [Poison Immunity]
└── ?Devourer Skills?: ?Anti-Mana Blood?, ?Blood Appraisal?
[Spirit Beast]: [None]
└── ?Devourer Beast?: ?None?
────────────────────
[Strength: 1] || ?Devourer Strength: 3?
[Agility: 2] || ?Devourer Agility: 3?
[Constitution: 1] || ?Devourer Constitution: 3?
[Intelligence: 5] || ?Devourer Intelligence: 0?
[Mana: 5/5] || ?Essence: 5/5?
────────────────────
• [Corruption: 0%]
• [Free Attributes: 0]
────────────────────
When his eyes skimmed over the holographic, translucent blue panel a few times, his brow scrunched up in total confusion, as this interface was the last thing he expected to see.
What he expected was a bold Devourer System shattering the faint hope in his heart.
During his short research, the system examples he had seen never had the branch beneath them, nor had he ever seen two systems. He had never read anything about awakening two systems, either.
To clear his doubts about his current situation, he decided to watch a video about the Awakener System, and his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him—that branch tab wasn’t supposed to exist, nor were the two systems supposed to exist within one.
’...Except it is not documented?’ Elvis pondered on another possibility with a dazed expression.
’No... Elvis! That is not what you should be worried about. What you should be worried about is that you have a Devourer System. I... I spawned as one of the bad guys!’ Elvis ran all ten fingers through his hair as he read the header on the panel. ’Or maybe half-member of the villainy.’
Releasing his head and stroking his jaw, Elvis panicked a bit but comforted himself.
’Maybe it’s not as bad as I thought. The Awakener system would surely eliminate the negative effect of the Devourer system. I just neeed to keep mum and all will alright.’
Despite only half believing his thought, there was nothing he could do to change his situation other than to stay positive.
Elvis began perusing the systems for real.
’Nothing surprising about my race. Although I’m surprised that I don’t have a god-like bloodline. I shouldn’t be delusional. Then for my Class or Classes...’
Elvis just thought about his first Class and the interface changed.
[Class: Poison Heresy]
[Description: A mutated mage. Mortals see poison only as venom, but true Heresy recognizes no such limits. A blasphemous origin poison governed by a simple creed: Anything that benefits me is my poison. Anything that weakens my enemy is my poison. Its nature is never absolute, its existence ever-shifting, assuming whatever form its purpose demands.]
———’Sounds like a hidden overpowered Class, but... this Class has to deal with poison, and from history—that is even going too far. Even I would be uncomfortable around a poison master. Would I be marginalized in this world?’ Elvis furrowed his eyebrows in serious contemplation.
Picking up his phone and dismissing the panel, he did a cursory search for Classes and Skills related to ’poison.’ As expected, there were very few—almost nonexistent. Most were Skills, not even Classes.
Elvis put his phone aside to check his second Class.
The systems were pretty easy to navigate. All it took was a focused thought on the section he wanted to access.
———?Devourer Class: Blood Warrior (Flawed)?
?Description: A class born to perfect the physique, yet mutated beyond its original purpose with Anti-Mana Blood as its greatest flaw. It follows a different path of evolution, allowing the host to develop unique blood-related skills by devouring Blood Essence. Attempting to learn incompatible skills results in severe backlash.?
———’This sounds like a martial art Class,’ Elvis thought.
Lowering his eyes, he nodded without much surprise. ’So I’m starting as an Acolyte, the lowest rank and Level 0. Nothing out of the ordinary. Although it would have been blissful to start at a middle rank, considering I’m twenty-five years old and have already missed out on seven years of leveling—unlike those who awaken at eighteen—because I came from another world.’
’Time for the Skills...’
[Skill: Mana Corrosion]
[Rank: Acolyte]
[Mastery: Basic]
[Description: Infuses the host’s poisonous mana into every attack, gradually weakening the target.]
[Skill: Poison Immunity]
[Rank: Acolyte]
[Mastery: Basic]
[Description: Renders the host immune to all poisons of an equal or lower rank while greatly reducing the effects of higher-ranked poisons.]
[Skill: Poison Artificer]
[Rank: Acolyte]
[Mastery: Basic]
[Description: Grants the host a mental world where poisons can be created, transmuted, and manipulated. From essence, all poisons are born.]
[Artificed Poisons]
1. Shadow Mist
———’Mana Corrosion and Poison Immunity are pretty straight forward. But Poison Artificer...’
Elvis focused on Shadow Mist, and a panel popped out:
→Shadow Mist: A dense fog of poisonous black mist that obscures vision and inflicts a mild toxin, causing intense stinging and irritation to the eyes of those caught within.
<ERASE ARTIFICED POISON?!>
———’Why is this sounding like a Skill within a Skill?’ Elvis mused with uncertainty, because if it only has one slot, then it wouldn’t mean much.
Moving down to the Devourer Skill, he opened them.
———?Skill: Anti-Mana Blood?
?Rank: Acolyte?
?Mastery: Basic?
?Description: A passive skill that causes the host’s blood to reject conventional mana, preventing the acquisition of ordinary skills while reducing damage from mana-based attacks.?
———?Skill: Blood Appraisal?
?Rank: Acolyte?
?Mastery: Basic?
?Description: An eye ability that enables the host to glean the highest attribute of a living being.?
"Ay, ay, ay! Where in the godforsaken place does a warrior Class come without a direct attacking Skill? Is this part of the flaw? Anti-Mana Blood is already having benefits and drawbacks from the beginning," Elvis blurted at the panel.
A knock jolted him.
Elvis swiftly dismissed his system’s panel before cautiously turning toward the door.
"Who is that?"
"It’s me, Caelithia."
Elvis quickly realized why she had come to him.
’Do I want to return to Earth?’
The sudden question crossed his mind.
He actually had nothing on Earth—just himself and his underfurnished rented apartment. His parents had already passed away. He wasn’t even living a fulfilling life on Earth.
However, when Elvis remembered the Devourer System that might be a ticking time bomb—and, most especially, the Demon Emperor—he decided to go with the flow and return to Earth.
He went over and opened the door, letting Caelithia, who was casually dressed and holding the Arcane Codex of Destiny against her chest, into his room.
"You know how we came here. Just repeat the same action, and we’ll go back." Elvis gestured toward the desk in the corner of his room.
Caelithia nodded and walked over to the desk.
She placed the book down and opened it, revealing its black pages with the golden wheel in the center.
Then, using her earring to prick her finger, she let a drop of blood fall onto the golden wheel before spinning it counterclockwise.
Elvis held his breath as the wheel came to a stop, but after a few seconds, nothing happened.
Caelithia turned to him with a questioning look.
"Try spinning it clockwise," Elvis told her.
Caelithia did so. Despite waiting with bated breath, nothing happened.
Caelithia turned to him again, her eyes narrowed. "Don’t tell me we’re stuck here?"
Even though her voice was calm, Elvis could hear the threat in it—or so he thought.
"Wait a moment," he replied before hastily walking over to her side.
He stretched his hand over the book and pricked his finger with the pointed edge of his button, allowing a drop of blood to fall onto the wheel.
Then he spun it without expecting much to happen.
But a blinding golden light abruptly shone from the book.