Where am I?
Just a moment ago, I tossed the core into my mouth...
But now I was in front of some golden temple.
It looked fancy and all, but the stench of blood made me think otherwise.
I tried to imagine leaving, in hopes that my thoughts would be granted, but sadly, that wasn't the case.
Instead, I was met with a voice inside my head.
[Come inside...]
Not ominous at all.
Totally.
But since I knew this was because of that core I just ate, I decided to go along.
I walked up the steps and entered the golden temple.
The hallways were abnormally wide and long, but they all led toward the center.
And when I arrived at the center, I saw a pitch dark figure leaning against one of the temple's pillars.
It reminded me of the figure I saw right before I woke up in the Dark Forest.
But it was nowhere near as ominous.
...Though just as powerful, if not more.
"Were you the one who called me here?" I asked.
The figure turned toward me.
I couldn't see its eyes, but I could still hear its voice inside my head.
[That's correct...]
[I am going to oversee your blessing...]
[I will ensure you get the best possible one...]
Right...
I knew a little about blessings, but even the main character didn't have any.
He just had a really powerful gift.
Blessings were meant for those 'heroes' of the past legends or whatever.
They granted some special effects that were nearly as powerful as Gifts themselves.
Aside from that, I was clueless.
"So what now?"
[Give me your hand...]
Creepy.
But sure.
I extended my hand toward the figure, and it gently grasped it.
Then, I felt a sharp pain spread up my arm before quickly fading.
It was too sudden, and I couldn't feel anything off.
That was until the figure spoke again.
[Amon Everness, do you vow to kill demons for all of eternity...?]
...What?
"No?"
Did it think I was stupid?
[No...? If you agree... you will receive the greatest blessing there is...]
"Yeah, but I'd also become a slave, wouldn't I?" I responded. "I don't like demons, and I'm willing to kill them, but there is no way I'm doing that for all of eternity."
Demons were all across this world, and they even populated hell and the demon world.
Killing all of them would really take me an eternity.
And that wasn't my goal.
I knew I couldn't kill all the demons.
I just wanted to kill enough so I didn't have to worry about them in this life.
All I wanted was to reach the ending.
It seemed like the figure read my thoughts.
[How troublesome...]
[Then, Amon Everness... What is it you're willing to sacrifice in order to attain a blessing...?]
When I heard that, I took my hand back and let out a sigh.
"I was expecting a freebie. If I have to give something up just so I could get a little bit stronger, then it's not worth it."
I glanced at the figure.
"You can take me back to reality now. I'm not interested in the blessing."
As big of a loss as it might be... I honestly didn't care.
It was much better than being chained down to some oath.
Plus, it wasn't like I was out of power-ups.
The mission we'd be going on would give me a decent power-up too.
So as I turned around, ready to get out of this temple, I suddenly heard a cough behind me.
"Y-You mustn't be hasty."
"Yeah?"
I turned around.
Unlike the dark figure from before, there was now a golden haired woman standing in front of me.
She seemed a little flustered.
"Do you think just because you changed your appearance, you're going to woo me?"
"This is my actual appearance. I apologize for deceiving you," she replied.
"I see... Then what now?"
Surely, this is the part where my freebie comes, right?
"I had wanted to grant you a supreme blessing... You would have been like the chosen one. Now, I can only grant you a normal blessing."
"That is good enough for me," I said. "Just give it to me whenever."
She just stared at me.
"Before that... You don't seem that curious? Do you not wish to know my identity?"
"Will you try spinning some story of you being a goddess?" I raised a brow. "I know there is no such thing as that in this world. There are only really high Grade people. You are definitely one of those high Grade people."
She flinched, surprised by my response.
Obviously I knew everything about the lore of this world.
I'm not religious, but I do believe that Gods might have existed at some point, but they abandoned this world.
That is why the demons so leisurely entered and began causing chaos everywhere.
Even the people calling themselves oracles get information from some random peddlers.
The whole divination bit the church has going on is just a pyramid scheme.
Glancing at the woman in front of me, I knew she wasn't a goddess.
And clearly, me knowing that made her change her tune entirely.
"I see..."
"In that case, Amon Everness, would you like to join our faction?"
That was a bit sudden.
Now I'm a little more concerned about the nature of these blessings...
Anyhow, my feelings didn't change.
"Sorry, I'm not interested. I don't like being tied down to..."
"We're not like that," the woman interrupted. "We're a gathering of powerful people who seek to kill all demons. That is our main goal, and we have been at it for a very long time now. We're trying to expand, but no one's caught our eye... until you showed up."
"When you attained the Dragon Heart, you got on our radar. You're someone with so much potential, and if you were to join us, I'm sure our goals could finally be fulfilled."
When I attained the Dragon Heart?
Not before?
The objective appeared the moment I woke up in this world.
So that would mean...
"You're not actually the person who's supposed to be giving me the blessing, are you?"
"..."
She smiled at me.
"Amon Everness... I cannot tell the name of our 'faction' nor can I tell you the name I go by either. Our paths will cross again in the future, and when that happens... I truly wish by then you would have already made up your mind."
Right as I was about to reply, the woman's figure faded.
I tried to reach out to her, but I was too late.
She was gone, just like that.
Not only that, the moment she disappeared, another pop-up appeared in front of me.
[Ding!]
[Please proceed to the altar to receive your blessing.]
No wonder she was leaning against a pillar.
She somehow got into this strange place and tried to trick me.
But this faction of theirs...
Did it exist in All Routes Lead To Death!
A faction whose main goal was to kill all demons...
There were too many factions like that to count.
But out of the many factions I could remember, her words reminded me of only one.
The 12 Calamities.
The strongest fighters in the world, whose sole purpose was to bring peace to this world.
I didn't need to ponder longer to realize that by peace, they meant the eradication of demons.
Still, even if I knew their faction's name, I had no clue where to find them, or who any of their members are.
None of them really interacted with the main character.
They just dealt heavy damage to the demons behind the scenes...
Shit.
Joining the strongest faction would definitely guarantee me a better route.
But I wouldn't rush into things.
I needed to find out more about them.
Only then, and when I finally meet them again, would I make my choice.
With those thoughts in mind, I began walking again.
The hallway filled with pillars seemed endless.
However, after only a few minutes, I saw a golden altar.
It definitely looked holy.
So I approached it, stopping right in front of it.
[Golden Altar]
[Description: Place your hand on the altar, and you will gain a blessing.]
That seemed a little too simple.
But since I didn't have anything to lose, I went ahead and did it anyway.
The moment I placed my hand on the altar, a soothing sensation spread across my body.
I felt like I could relax, and for a moment, I dozed off.
Yet when I came to, I was already laying on the ground, with the altar nowhere to be seen.
Was it already over?
Did I get the blessing?
I continued to wonder, until eventually, I felt a crackle at my fingertips.
It was like I was supercharged...
Lightning?
Did I get some lightning based blessing?
My heart pumped in excitement, and yet, the moment I tried to stand up, I accidentally discharged all that lightning.
BOOOOOM!
The massive shockwave blasted me into the air, and I just barely managed to catch myself before accidentally being impaled on a chandelier.
I slowly hovered back down, and then opened my status screen.
•—Amon Everness—•
Level 50 → 57 → [Low → High-Grade 5]
▷Stats
[Strength 35]
[Stamina 50]
[Speed 27 → 37]
[Perception 56 → 66]
[Vitality 81 → 96]
▷Inherent Gift
★Telekinesis [Intermediate] (Lv.77 → Lv.78)
↳Lightning Affinity [Beginner] (Lv.1)
▷Special Abilities
★Blood-Sight (Lv.10)
★Demonic Energy Resistance (Lv.1)
▷General Abilities
☆Sprint (Lv.21)
☆Pain Tolerance (Lv.36)
☆First Aid (Lv.12)
☆Mental Resistance (Lv. MAX)
▷Core Traits
◆Dragon Heart [Beginner] (Lv.5)
•——•
Seriously?
I got a Lightning Affinity?
For my Telekinesis too...
Does that mean I can start shooting railguns?
Hehe...
This was just too good to be true.
But it wasn't.
It was real.
I could feel lightning crackling around me every time I used my Telekinesis.
Focusing deeper on this sensation, I found that all the energy inside my heart had turned into lightning.
It was a little too flashy, though.
I tinkered around with my Telekinesis, and realized that if I didn't want the lightning to be visible, all I had to do was imagine the crackling to disappear.
It was like a toggle.
And I toggled it off, since I didn't want people to know that I had something like this.
As I played around with my Telekinesis for a little while longer, the temple eventually crumbled.
I was back in my room, laying on the comfortable bed.
Except there was one teeny tiny problem.
My bedsheets were on fire.
***
After making sure my house wouldn't catch on fire, I was done.
I took a quick shower and made some food.
Judging by how dark it was outside, I must have spent a while in that temple.
Just then, I heard a few knocks on my door.
I was still a little on edge.
Even so, I opened the door, and to my surprise, I spotted Kevin.
How did this guy even find out where I lived?
No... More importantly, was he here to get revenge or something?
"What do you want?"
"I didn't come here to fight."
He avoided my gaze.
"The headmaster told us all to gather, and since no one else wanted to inform you about it... I volunteered. I've been banging on your door for the last hour. We're beyond late."
"..."
Shit.