Some of my spare clothes have probably turned to ashes. Good thing I keep a lot of them in various spaces in case something like this happens.
Aria’s body was consumed by the flames, including her equipment. The protection she had against them was gone when she died, and in a minute, there would probably be nothing left but ashes.
There were a lot of good items and equipment on her, but Victor had no intention of keeping any of them. If the flames didn’t manage to destroy everything, he would finish the job.
The standard procedure when a demon died was to destroy everything it had on it, and it was for a good reason too. Almost anything a demon carried at the time of death could become a Cursed Artifact, even ordinary objects. But that did not mean the corpse should also be destroyed; doing so could create ghosts, just like the body of a normal person.
There was nothing I could do to prevent her from turning into ashes. So burying the ashes would be fine.
Context mattered. If a corpse was greatly damaged intentionally in any way after a person died, then it would create a ghost without a doubt. However, if it was something like this where it was unintentional and there was nothing anyone could do, it would not.
Regardless, corpses had to be buried one way or another. If it was dangerous or physically impossible, like someone died in a really dangerous area or there was nothing left of them, creating an empty grave with their names on it would be fine.
The former would still create undead, but that was usually not a problem. Undead attacked everything except other undead, and all of them were dumb as a rock. They would all be dead in less than a day if they were in a dangerous area.
If there was a sovereign-rank adventurer nearby, then what was considered dangerous would be totally different from when there were only people under level forty. As long as it wasn't life-threatening to someone, it would not be considered dangerous by whoever or whatever decided these things.
It was obvious that someone or something was actively deciding on the matter of corpses in real time. The widely accepted theory was that the system was responsible for it, but there was no proof, so it was still only a theory.
And that was why being the most powerful in the area would be a pain in the ass.
A ghost or an undead could be just as strong as they had been in life. A few could even be much stronger, but most were much weaker.
However, if it was only that, then a sovereign-rank adventurer wouldn’t bother helping someone retrieve a corpse. The pay was bad, and it took less time and effort to kill an undead or a ghost than to retrieve a corpse if the one who died was low-level. Yet, basically everyone always tried their best to properly bury people.
[Corpse Defiler]. It was a nasty Class that everyone wanted to avoid getting. People avoided it not just because it was a Yellow Class, but because the Skills you got from it were basically made to torture you. Always having bad dreams was the least of your problems. You could hallucinate the dead screaming at you all the time and there was nothing you could do to stop it except get rid of the Class. Even making yourself deaf wouldn’t work.
Demons wouldn’t get the Class, but they also couldn't create ghosts, and that was not because of the lack of trying. A demon or to be more precise, a [Necromancer], always wanted to have ghosts in their armies. Because ghosts were much stronger and more annoying to deal with than any undead.
They tried everything, like threatening a regular person to destroy a corpse, but all their effort never succeeded. Because ghosts were not a natural occurrence; they were more like a punishment.
However, even though you had to always bury a sapient being when they died, the graves didn’t have to be pretty. Defiling a corpse like filling the graves with poop would still get you the [Corpse Defiler] Class. But just digging a hole, dumping the bodies, and covering it up with dirt would be fine.
That was what Victor was doing right now. No need for tombstones and all that crap. Aria didn’t deserve any of it. For all the things she had done to him, Victor would make sure she would be remembered by as few people as possible.
[Achievement Completed!]
[Kill a single demon]
[Title: Demon Slayer Obtained!]
[Toughness Increased!]
Finally, it took the system long enough.
It was one of the most well-known Achievements. But like other Achievements, the reward wasn’t always the same.
From what I heard, the [Demon Slayer] title usually increased your resistance to miasma. Since I’m immune to it, it makes sense why I didn’t get it. It would be useless for me.
“[Self-Diagnosis].”
After punching himself for a minute, Victor found out that he was around sixty percent tougher than before. His last level-up increased his toughness, so if he had to guess, the achievement probably made his body fifty percent stronger at all times. The stronger he was, the better the buff would be.
It was only a theory, but he hadn’t heard of an achievement giving a flat increase in strength. They were always percentage-based.
Victor wouldn’t complain about what he got. It was a good reward for a difficult task. Killing Aria had not been easy.
Stabbing himself in the heart and threatening to run away were probably the biggest factor in granting him victory. It made Aria much more reckless than usual, and she wasn’t as smart as she normally was. If it was under normal circumstances, she would’ve figured out that he was bluffing. But emotions would make even the smartest person do dumb things.
The flames in his body and in the forest finally went out, so Victor ran to get a new set of clothing.
Victor had to run quite far, but he didn’t want to go back butt naked. He didn’t want to gain the [Exhibitionism]Class, and he was sure he would level up quickly if he always went back butt naked when he went out.
Because, after all, he was fucking handsome. Like, really handsome.
Ever since gaining the [Soulmate] Class, his appearance started to change for the better. It was quite weird to be honest.
He was becoming more manly while also becoming more beautiful, cuter, yet somehow sexier. Everything about him had improved, and that was not an exaggeration.
His voice, his nails, his teeth, the stubble on his chin, the hair on his armpit, everything. Heck, even his dick became better. It didn’t increase in size, but that was because it was always at the perfect size. Its appearance… just looked higher-quality? He didn’t really know how to describe it.
All in all, it was useless to Victor. He was a [Spirit Contractor], what the fuck did he need all of this for?
The only good things that came out of this were that he was becoming taller and no longer needed to pee, fart, or poop. There wasn't even a booger in his nose anymore. Being taller meant longer arms and legs, which gave him more reach in a fight. The latter just made life more convenient.
What the heck does Norm see me as? Considering Norm still needed to go to the bathroom, that meant [Soulmate] changed me based on Norm's perception of me.
While he liked to make Norm’s life more convenient by making him never need to go to the bathroom, Victor didn’t know how to make that happen. Changing your belief was not easy.
As for Norm’s appearance, Victor didn’t think Norm changed all that much, but he knew it was his biased speaking.
Ver was the one who made them aware that both of their appearances changed every day, and even when Victor was aware of what was happening, it was hard to notice Norm’s changes. But apparently, according to Ver and Norm’s parents, Norm changed just as much as him.
In conclusion, his life was fucked.
[Spirit Contractor] was one of the rare Classes that changed someone's appearance. It was also the only one he knew that changed it for the better. Well, at least before he knew about [Soulmate]’s existence.
With those two Classes, everyone who could feel lust would be interested in him regardless of their sexual orientation, and that was not an exaggeration whatsoever.
There was once an elf who was suspected to be over level seventy in [Spirit Contractor]. Everyone who met her instantly fell in love with her.
Every day, she was showered with gifts from everyone, even from [King] and [Queen]. It didn’t matter if they had a significant other; it just meant that they would court her together with their partner.
Everyone knew that being a [Spirit Contractor] made you unable to feel lust, but a lot of people certainly didn’t care. They probably thought that if they reached a high enough level, it would make her fall in love with them or something.
What a bunch of idiots.
It would be my life if I kept leveling up [Spirit Contractor].
Victor was not looking forward to it, but it wasn’t like he could stop leveling up. Well, he could, but he really didn’t want to.
Only someone who didn’t think at all would be delighted to have everyone fall in love with them. To him, it was more of a nuisance than anything else, especially since he literally couldn’t fall in love.
For example, if he came back butt naked, then he was sure that—
Wait, am I already so handsome that everyone will be interested in me?
“Mirror.”
Victor stopped to check on himself. It was a handy spell that he usually used to check for injuries.
I really couldn’t tell. I know I’m fucking hot, but I don’t exactly know how much. Wait, what is that?
It could be just his imagination, but Victor realized that he was glowing. There was no light coming out of him. Or maybe there was; he really couldn’t tell. Also, compared to his surroundings, he looked as if he had… better resolution? It was like everything around him was 360p while he alone was 720p.
Alright, this is getting ridiculous.
He was certain now. If he came back butt naked, everyone except the ones who couldn’t feel lust, like Norm or children, would be horny as fuck. That meant getting [Exhibitionism] would be easy.
Of course if he didn’t have a choice in the matter, he wouldn’t gain a Yellow Class. But repeating the same mistake over and over again and never learning from it would absolutely gain him a Yellow Class.
Victor sighed and started running again to retrieve his spare clothes. It would be really annoying once he killed Garron and everyone in the village broke free from the mind control.
The elf from the story earlier was meant to show how annoying it was to be high-level. At least that was what Victor got from it. Who the fuck wanted everyone to love them so much that some even dedicated their whole lives creating one painting or statue of you.
Even though the story didn’t say it, he was sure the elf was nervous about her own reactions to the art made for her. It would break their hearts if she didn’t show much of a reaction, let alone if she showed displeasure toward their ‘life work.’ Victor was sure that it was hard for her to not cringe when hearing poetry about herself.
The poetry itself was good, amazing even, but if Victor thought that the poetry was about him, then it would feel kinda cringe. But, maybe that was just him. Maybe she felt honored and even happy receiving all of these things. But, Victor really doubted it.
It was said that all of her friends were [Spirit Contractor], which told him all he needed to know. Any sane person would want to be seen as a person rather than whatever people saw her as.
Grabbing his spare clothes from the hole in a tree, Victor went back to where Norm was. It was a long day, and he wanted to rest.
He was thinking about all of these things because he didn’t want to think about tomorrow. If the fight with Aria was that close, then he really wasn’t sure that he could kill Garron. But he had to do it tomorrow.
Sure, he could run away with Norm now that Aria was gone, but everyone in the village would be dead if he did that. Victor hated all of them, but he was not that heartless. It would also make Norm sad.
Garron was equal in strength to Aria, but what worried Victor was Garron calling Elpis’s parents to help him. Victor had countermeasures for that, but he wasn’t as confident in the plan as he had been in the one for Aria.
Let’s hope I can do this.
The sun was starting to set by the time Victor arrived at the barn.
In the distance, Victor could see Norm talking to a human man that he didn’t recognize. He had curly brown hair and was quite tall. More importantly, the man was strong, definitely stronger than him. While the man didn’t feel like a bad guy, Victor still had his guard up. Garron could control someone's mind; it didn’t matter if he was a good guy or not.
“Yo. Who’s this guy, Norm?”
“Victor! You’re back!”
Norm ran up to hug him, which Victor of course reciprocated.
“Ehem, so who’s this guy?”
“Oh, his name is Kairos. He was a [Merchant] that I met when I was lost.”
“Wait, what do you mean you’re lost?”
Norm immediately covered his mouth, but it was too late. When Norm tried to run away, Victor picked him up and stared at him. He then made Norm tell him everything starting from when he went to the forest.
“You’re not allowed to ride Jeb when I’m not around anymore.”
“Cmon Vic, this is my first mistake.”
“And this is also the first time you ride Jeb without my supervision. So, no.”
Norm was pouting, walking away, but Victor ignored him.
“Don’t be so harsh on him. If he wasn’t there, I think I would’ve died.”
Victor raised his eyebrows; he didn’t believe Kairos at all.
“You don’t bring any potions that could cure poison?”
“I did, but I don’t think it did much.”
Just as he was about to argue and call out the man on his lie, he hesitated. Victor never actually went far from the village. The forest was the farthest he had ever been from the village in his entire life.
That meant he basically knew nothing beyond what he had read in books or what those pieces of shit had told him.
“Why didn’t you bring stronger potions?”
“Because it’s expensive?”
“Aren’t you a [Merchant]?”
Kairos seemed embarrassed by that. He was digging at the dirt with his foot and looking away.
“To be honest, I just got the Class so it's only level one. I used to do odd jobs, and I even became an adventurer at some point. But, my little brother was close to the age to go to school, so I needed a lot of money. I’m quite high-level though.”
Kairos was smiling at him, but Victor didn’t smile back.
“Don't adventurers make good money? Why not just do that?”
“Adventurer is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. It’s not like I’m afraid or anything; I just couldn’t afford to die when my little brother needed me.”
Victor couldn’t argue with that. Adventurers had a lot of benefits, but they also had responsibilities. Those responsibilities only increased the more powerful they became.
Bronze- and silver-rank adventurers were basically free to take any quest of their rank because there were so many of them. So it was rare for any quests to remain by the end of the day. That was why adventurers had to wake up early to snatch up the good ones. If they didn’t, they were forced to take the ones nobody wanted.
Sure they could just not do it, but that meant they wouldn’t have anything to do for the rest of the day, and adventurers always needed money.
Gold- and sovereign-rank adventurers were different. The guild chose the quest for them rather than the other way around.
It was actually much better that way. It was safer and the pay was always good. But it was always dangerous being an adventurer. Because they were not allowed to take on quests that were not of their rank, they couldn’t really take it easy.
Well, Victor had read all of that in a book, so it might be different in practice.
“I take it you’re a gold-rank adventurer then?”
“Nah, I quit when I was still a silver-rank adventurer. It was too dangerous for me. I had someone to take care of, you know, so I had to be careful. But I think I’m as strong as a gold-rank adventurer right now.”
Kairos was flexing his arms for some reason, and Victor only just noticed that they were covered in scars.
Careful, my foot. You didn’t become that high-level that young by playing it safe. And you’re definitely high-level. Not to mention you looked like you were in your early twenties.
“And being a [Merchant] is not dangerous?”
“Well, I admit, I thought being a [Merchant] would be safe. But I guess I was wrong.”
Kairos didn’t seem to be lying, and his story made sense. But what were the odds of a strong person suddenly appearing when Victor needed it the most? It was just too damn suspicious.
Well, Norm did have [Lesser Luck], but I don’t think the Skill would be that good.
“Well, nice meeting you. I’m gonna bury the corpse you guys left behind.”
“You have a way of taking care of the poison?”
“Pretty much. Norm, come here and stop sulking. We’ll ride Jeb together. I don’t know where the corpses were.”
“Really? Woo hoo!”
There was no way Victor would leave Norm alone with a stranger. He knew that Kairos was with Norm before he got here, but it was better safe than sorry.
“By the way, are you single?”
The question threw Victor off guard, but he recovered after a second.
“Yes, but I’m a [Spirit Contractor].”
“Ahh, no wonder. I have never been interested in men before, but you looked so pretty and your voice was so beautiful that I just had to ask. Well, take care out there.”
Welp, that confirms whether or not people will be interested in me regardless of their sexual orientation.
Victor walked away while carrying Norm like a sack of potatoes. He didn’t remember how Norm had gotten into that position, and although Norm struggled to get out, Victor didn’t let him.
When he put Norm on Jeb’s back, he had a sudden realization.
Wait, was Kairos trying to impress me? And since when am I pretty? Normal people are weird, man.