236 Unless...

In Orma

Deep silence filled the Octagonal Room.

Helial was sitting cross-legged, breathing deeply. He closed his eyes and looked inside, carefully examining each Meridian and trying to perceive the changes caused by the regeneration process. He felt that his body had radically changed.

He felt lighter, as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders.

Before losing Body of the Qilin and the Meridians Iblis had given him, Helial had always perceived his body as if it was made of steel. Now, however, he was faced with a completely new sensation.

There had always been a strange feeling, a sort of unnatural sensation, when he trained Body of the Qilin or used its flame. Those were Skills that belonged to an Ancestral Creature, one of the big pieces of the universe, and not to him; and that was why he perceived them as not really his own.

All those advantages over others had always left a stain on his heart. Helial wasn't the only one who knew. Obviously, Iblis had also noticed how possessing those Skills affected, somehow negatively, the boy's growth, but he had never understood what this shadow was due to and had simply ignored it.

Only after talking to Alexander did Iblis understand the cause of that particular feeling in Helial's heart. For many talented young people, acquiring an Inheritance or a gift, especially from one of the most powerful creatures in the universe, would have been an eternal reason of pride. For his disciple, however, it seemed that it was almost a shame.

Iblis had noticed his particular, albeit vaguely unconscious, propensity to train the Skills nor he nor Kirin had given to him.

Runic Condensation and Metamorphosis had become Helial's favourite Skills. Death Flame Pistol had also remained unused since Jeanne had given him directions on how to evolve Mana Pistol. Perception, a Skill everyone ignored, had become one of his strengths, at the expense of the Flame of the Qilin, which he often overlooked.

From Helial's calm Aura, Iblis sensed the boy's tranquillity and serenity. "You seem to enjoy being in difficult situations," he remarked.

Helial opened his eyes, looked up at the Devil and smiled.

"The story of Destiny and the predestined confrontation with Amaterasu's disciple put me in a bad mood. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to pull back, I just want to say that since all these powers greater than me are at stake, I seem to have taken a latch on a ship that isn't mine."

Iblis shrugged. "You may not feel proud of something that has been given to you. Although, to be more precise, I would say that you have earned it yourself. You have passed three tests to receive Body of the Qilin and have been able not to die after your own sword has deprived you of more than half of your abilities.

"In a way," continued Iblis, "even the great Skills you have received are a burden. They put you in trouble because they ask you to be up to them. It is good that you feel the need to prove your worth, but you should avoid falling into hatred for yourself just because you have been better than many other people. There is nothing wrong with having more or being luckier. If I had chosen a random person along the way, they certainly would not have come this far. By now the only thing remaining would be corpse filled with shit, and it would have died a long time ago."

Helial frowned. It was the first time that his master had spoken to him straight from the heart.

But Helial didn't know that Alexander had embarrassed the Devil a lot, earlier. Iblis's problem was not that he couldn't understand people, but that he didn't spend more than a second trying to do it.

Getting up, Helial began to feel the first changes within his body.

He threw a punch, causing the air to whistle.

BOOM!

One of the indestructible walls of the Octagonal Room was slightly cracked by the power of the blow. The damage was minimal but, considering the strength of the bricks with which the room had been built, it was extraordinary that with a single blow Helial had been able to cause a crack.

The boy looked satisfied at the wall and opened his own Stat window.

Name

Helial

Race

Human

Title

Disciple of the King

Primary Class

Champion of the Runic Forge (Unique Class)

Primary Affinity

Light

Primary Profession

None

Level

180

Exp.

-

HP

85.000

MP

350.000/350.000

Strength

720

Stamina

720

Mental Energy

720

Intelligence

720

Wisdom

720

Dexterity

720

Present Effects:

Physical Endurance 5%

Stat Points to distribute: 720

He looked with curiosity at the little stroke under EXP. Not that he had ever doubted Iblis's words, but he had hoped to retain some Experience Points. There would no longer be a chance to level up for a long time.

From how the Devil had put it, it was all a matter of getting used to the new Perfect Foundations. His body would have set a limit, beyond which he would have done better not to go, otherwise he would have risked disintegrating.

At that specific moment, Helial's foundations were perfect, but at the same time terribly unstable. All Skills given to him had been removed. Before, it was those that formed the basis of Helial's physique; yet, at a time like this, they would only risk destabilizing his body.

The only thing that really belonged to Helial were his Stats. Skills were fickle, they could change at any moment and be destroyed in a second; but losing Stats was really difficult.

In fact, after opening the windows for Flame of the Qilin and Body of the Qilin, Helial noticed that the Skills had become grey and unusable. Death Flame Pistol had also been degraded to Mana Pistol.

By looking at his Stat windows, he almost laughed. He had never seen it so neat, full of 720 everywhere.

Now, all he had to do was train hard to gain confidence with his body. Wielding such a power would have been a double-edged sword until he managed to control it.

Still, being in that swampy situation gave Helial a strange energy. How could it be possible that a bird trapped in shifting sands was so happy? Almost as if the mud that weighed down his wings was for him a push to fly higher and higher.

After his experience with the Malus of Curse of the Demon, Helial had learned that a disadvantage could be a huge launch pad. It was his run-up to overcome all his limits.

Helial moved his body quickly, extending and retracting his limbs at a supersonic speed. His figure disappeared, generating several sonic booms and reappearing in fractions of a second at every corner of the room.

He could not waste time! He was supposed to test his current potential in an open space before the battle.

Iblis, who had returned inside Helial's Soul, squeezed his temple between his fingers, slowly massaging them and trying to filter out the noises that submerged his ears.

SLURRRRP

Beside him was Bucephalus, in human form, sipping his tea with the same sounds a horse would make. His figure was very refined, and he wore round silver-rimmed glasses. But sometimes appearances are deceiving. After all, Bucephalus remained the spirit of a Demonic Horse.

"So: ten or more years without externally acquired Skills or Level-ups. He has lost the bonuses and the body that Kirin had given him, but his constitution seems even stronger than before. I don't understand ... at least, it should be proportionately weaker." Alexander was thinking aloud.

Iblis coughed to draw attention to himself and, after a few moments of silence, said: "Unless someone purposely donated him Illuminations on Life and Destruction while the process was still going on. In that case, if they had all been at a basic level, but powerful enough to reinforce him, not only would they not have compromised its foundations... indeed, on the contrary, its physique would begin to surpass that of a normal Qilin! "

Iblis was mixing his tea now with an indifferent look, but his voice betrayed a certain complacency.

"But how, have you even grown soft in all these years? Why don't we finish discussing your disciple's changes?" Alexander laughed. "He doesn't know, but he shouldn't be so powerful even with so many Stats."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the Devil shook his head. "In any case, it is better for him to be strong. I won't help him defeat his enemies. At the cost of being hated, I can only help him up to a certain point in his growth. Even if I had done something, the impact would be minimal; he would have reached the same level in any case. The problem now is the lack of time. Even if I gave him everything I can, he would have no way to defend himself against what is going to hit him."

Yes, time was a real problem. The trial had lasted so long that Helial had lost track of time and had no idea how many days were left for the decisive clash with the Prince of Darkness.