115: Demonic Reunion

Evan wanted to kill the little shit for that dirty trick. It was nothing but cheap tricks and ambush tactics with this guy. He never faced an Arcanist before, but now he would always consider them to be ball-less bastards in his mind.

If it isn’t the damn environment trying to take him down, it was the invisible attacks that get him. If it wasn’t that, it was the stupid intangibility he always pull off whenever Evan would try for a physical attack. Somehow, his attacks just pass right through him like a ghost, and he would always react quickly thanks to that.

Worse yet, it felt like this guy had infinite mana as no matter how many times he cast magic, his mana didn’t seem to run out. Once in a while, he was able to scan his opponent with his specially made Scan-ilizer Pro Max Goggles and actually perceive how much mana he had, and every time whenever it would run low, it would suddenly jump up to maximum again.

But now his greatest scouting tool was broken up and ripped apart thanks to another invisible attack. While his amazing goggles were great at scanning its surroundings, it wasn’t able to pick up some fast non-living attacks so quickly. Even worse, the poison that this bastard used was starting to make his skin blister and boil, his torso showing hints of purple skin through his armor’s opening and bits of pus oozing out in direct correlation to the pain he was getting.

He needed to pull out some more expensive tools to get this bastard down, or else he might find himself actually being killed by him. Since the entire time that he landed here, he never faced an opponent quite like this one. In a way, it was humbling, as while he always fought with his life on the line, being put off like this at every angle was starting to wear him down.

But thankfully his earlier attack finally did some damage to him. He wasn’t quite sure what this guy was made of, but apparently demonic energy was really eating him up, at least according to the skill he picked up on sensing demonic energy. It was some real nasty mana, but apparently it doubled in potency against this guy. That could only mean that this guy wasn’t exactly human.

So in a sense, he was like Evan. Now though, it became the only weapon that could actually affect him.

He pulled up his daggers again, this time filling them with some potent demonic energy he had stored up in his pocket spell. Unlike most magical sources, demonic energy was the most abundant in potency and volume, and once you get rid of the nasty side-effects, it was actually perfect for a great energy source. It was half the reason why his mana never ran out–because he never bothered using it.

The problem would be that if he kept using demonic energy on his daggers, they would start getting corrupted and begin deteriorating due to the mass amount of wicked mana infecting its once natural structure. But while he was fond of his daggers, he had to kill this guy right then and there and get back to his party before they do anything to his precious cursed relic.

He saw his opponent, the damn Arcanist, just floating there in mid-air just starting at him. It was clear that the energy was hurting him way worse than he had expected, providing a perfect opportunity. Of course, he also made sure to consider whether this was just another trick up that bastard’s sleeves, but in all honesty, he was running out of things to to try.

Once he started another attack with his daggers, he would pull out his greatest bomb and infect it with massive tons of demonic energy. Doing such a tactic isn’t just a waste of his greatest trump card, but could also severely impact the dungeon itself with how much demonic energy could be thrown out. Even if he could use his talent to convert the demonic energy back to return the dungeon to normalcy, it would be a difficult and herculean task.

But if it meant finally taking this bastard down, he was ready to pay the price. He poured in more mana into his boots, causing the rockets to blast out and fly him straight at his enemy. His daggers were raised and ready to strike, but just to be safe, he was also prepping his spatial bag to pull out some nasty gadgets that would dig into his skin and pull out some propellers to really slice him up from the inside if the initial attack didn’t work.

He was going all out, and he was seeing nothing but red as the man roared at the Arcanist. When the Arcanist seemed ready to react, Evan’s mind exploded in multiple ways to handle his next action.

“Evan!”

His latest action stumped him immediately. The man just suddenly shouted at him, and even more surprising, he called out his name. Did his party ever say his name in front of this guy? As far as he recalled, nothing like that happened. So how did–

“Evan Munez!” The Arcanist shouted again, his voice raw with emotion. “Is that you?!”

Evan immediately stopped in his tracks, pushing his legs out to stop the momentum of his body from colliding into the guy. His daggers were so close to the Arcanist’s body that only a few feet separated them. Yet despite that, the Arcanist continued staring straight at Evan’s eyes, unwilling to shift his focus to anything else.

How… How did he know his last name?

I barely share that name with anyone else. Not even Selene calls me by that name much, only my first. So how the fuck does this guy know me?

Evan looked at the man again, this time finally taking a look at his face.

He always thought it was similar. But in his anguish, he always put it at the back of his mind, never to really bring it out. Every time he saw his face, he was always reminded of someone he knew, but he also knew that such a thing might just be too traumatic for him to consider.

There was no way it was the same guy. He kept convincing himself that way. Everyone he knew died there, and he was the only one that survived. That’s what he kept telling himself, forcing him to keep working to live his new life in this world.

Yet this man called him by his actual name. He even pronounced his last name perfectly, as if he heard it before.

So now, after taking another look at the man’s face, he finally recognized it. That similar bone structure, the color of his eyes, even his voice…

He thought he was being desperate. In the back of his mind, he screamed that he was just grasping at straws. One final stand to push his emotions down to keep from breaking apart. But in the end, his heart let his mouth work out the words.

“...If you know me, then does that mean that you’re… Aidan?”

The Arcanist’s eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe what Evan said. Then the strangest thing happened. His eyes started to give off that shine, the same kind he always had whenever they would talk animatedly about their favorite hobbies. His smile broke through, small and hesitant, his face softened as though he was currently breaking through his own built-up walls to defend himself.

“It’s really you.”

…..

It was a long shot, and he was more than glad that he took it. The fact that he still stood standing (well, flying) without a dagger deep in his gut was proof of that.

But more than that, he was glad that he was right on the money the moment Evan said his name. All the doubts vanished from his mind and nothing but sweet, joyous relief exploded from within.

It was his brother, his actual blood brother from his old world. He couldn’t believe it even if he was standing right in front of him. The two men floated still next to each other, that short unbelievable moment of a reunion like this feeling like hours ticked by.

Then, of course, reality hit when the demonic energy rampaged through his insides, causing him to wince. It was also clear that the poison within Evan also took effect, his face twisting into agony like he was ready to hurl.

“...How about this?” Aidan said, pointing down with his finger. “We land, and we pull off our spatial bags to show we mean no harm. Deal?”

They were short and cutthroat, but it was the best he could think of to prove that this wasn’t some trick using their familiar weakness. Even if it was his own brother, there could be plenty of outside factors that could’ve been used against them. Considering everything he pulled off so far, Aidan wouldn’t blame Evan for thinking he would try anything.

Evan nodded in agreement, perhaps not bothering to speak due to the pain. The pair did just that, floated down to the desecrated ground where their battle practically gutted the scene, no signs of life anywhere around them.

As promised, Aidan was the first to unwrap his spatial bag and show it off to Evan by pulling it into the air. In return, Evan did the same, pulling off his own spatial bag which was of a different make and design. The two dropped the bags to the ground, proving that they were willing to let go of their precious inventory to prove to the other they no longer mean any harm.

Aidan nodded in satisfaction, then winced before pulling up a finger to show to his brother that he might need more time to fix the issue. Evan did the same, almost frantically as Aidan felt his mana working overtime to get rid of the poison currently eating away at him.

Like before, Aidan casted Heal to target the demonic energy within his body, sending a wave of correcting vibrational energy to counteract the foreign hostile forces pushing his body out of harmony. Unlike with the Demon Matriarch, this particular nasty mana was stubborn and insistent on leaving its mark on his very soul.

It was potent, and if it weren’t for the brief period of respite, Aidan would have a tough time focusing on getting rid of it during their battle. But thanks to his past experience, he recalled the memory of drinking the panacea that was able to cleanse the affliction that forced his crippled body to remain unhealable. Borrowing the way the panacea resonated with his harmony, he crafted his own Heal spell to counter each specific part of the demonic energy afflicting him, burning them away into scattered bits, to which he formed Heal again to wash it all away like using a wave of pressurized water against dirty pavement.

It actually hurt a little, the intense mana used to clean away the debris of demonic energy hitting the sensitive spots of his soul, but it was a necessary procedure to avoid further conflications with his mana and soul.

And in return, his notifications showed up for his effort.

Spell Upgraded! Heal (Iron) became Heal (Steel)!

And then, surprisingly enough, another notification showed up. This time, he paused when he read the description.

You have partook and cleansed hell mana consistently to the point where your Path of Harmony recognized it as a fundamental aspect of creation. Your body has grown resistant to hell mana, and in turn, you have gained a small part of hell mana into your core.

…..

You have gained a new trait!

Demonic Aspect

Your body had undergone several permutations that changed the nature of your natural mana. It had taken on hell mana, a powerful but densely malicious form of mana that typically exists in the nether realm. Its boundless maliciousness had undergone several cleansings, now shifted to become part of your harmony. It corrupts and deteriorates anything in its vicinity, but under your control, it would remain docile and firm.

He had to take extra time to truly understand what the fuck he just read. He knew his talent was special, but to actually change and end up taking in hell mana, formerly demonic energy, as a natural form of mana now?

The entire thing felt like he messed up somewhere and now he had crossed the line of no return. But it wasn’t as though he intended on getting afflicted with hell mana so many times that his talent would end up changing. Or did it even change at all? Technically, it only just recognized a type of mana that wasn’t normal in this world as ‘normal’ now. Did it have something to do with his race’s nature?

Either way, one small experiment let him confirm that he can actually craft his own hell mana. It was only a fingernail’s size, but he managed to create Craft hell mana into a tiny ball, proving that he can now use hell mana for his spell casting.

It was definitely put into consideration for later as he had other business to attend to. Once he put away his notifications, he saw his brother already finished and approaching him. Despite that, he kept a steady pace, not really rushing.

He looked a lot better now, but there was that tension on his face like before, as if expecting something to occur that he might need to react to. 

Aidan smiled wide and spread his arms.

“Dude!”

Evan grinned wide as he also spread his arms wide for the two to embrace. Of course, it was the manly hug where they constantly patted their backs to the point of hurting one another, but the relief on their faces was genuine.

To actually find his brother in this new world was an experience he never expected to have. When they finally let go, he took another gander at his brother, who clearly looked the same but not quite.

“You gotta tell me everything,” Aidan said. “What the hell happened to you?”