Chapter 99: Temptation

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Chapter 99: Temptation

Donny slowly opened his eyes to see he was outside and it was daytime already. He knew this meant the shield would already be either with his brother, or on its way which meant there was no way he would be able to get it back. Trying to sit up, Donny felt he was too dizzy.

Getting his head up to look around he saw he had been moved by someone into an alley and left behind a pile of garbage. The spear he had borrowed was also gone so it looked like he was going to owe some money to his neighbor. Once he got up off the ground he inspected his fingers where his fingers used to be.

He was now missing most of his pinky and the one next to it on his right hand, and since he had no money it would just have to be that way for now. Donny was actually able to make a lot of money because of how strong he was but for the last few years he had been too busy fighting off the people his brother hired.

He guessed he no longer had that problem, so once he got a new spear and shield he would go to the Fighters guild to get some work. Once he saved up enough money he planned to hire the same person who had taken the shield from him to steal it from his brother. It should be much easier for the thief to take it from his brother, so he hoped they wouldn't charge as much.

Looking at his status Donny saw his health was almost 2/3 of the way back, but the real problem was his stamina. He guessed massive blood loss really put a burden on his body's ability to restore his energy. He needed to get home so he could sleep more; he just hoped no one was waiting for him when he got there.

After a few steps Donny heard someone behind him say. "It took a while, but it was just how I told you it would be." Donny didn't stop, this wasn't the first time he had heard the voice, but he knew this time it would be much harder to refuse. "That brother of yours is a real piece of work wasting your parents fortune to go against their wishes and leaving you on the street to rot now that he has the shield."

Without it all his effort would go to waste, and Donny valued all the time he had spent with his father while they had trained together, and the thought of all that being useless was hard for him to accept. This was something only he would know, so the fact that the voice knew to use it against him was unnerving.

"I'll get the shield back!" Donny knew him yelling like this was the opposite of a show of strength and that his weak state was affecting his self control. "I know you will, but how long will it take, and why would you even want it if I'll give you something much better?" Donny could feel some form of aura coming from behind him; he guessed it was a glimpse of the power his new item would have if he were to accept.

Donny wanted to look, but if something was actually waiting behind him he might just reach out and take it before he could stop himself. "You've already mastered Metal, so I figured you would want to move on to either Dark or Unholy, but the way I see it with your talent you can do both."

Donny had been granted three affinities when his Intelligence had reached 10 but if he could change that he would be fine with just one because his other two were the reason the Demon Lord would ever even notice him.

He had done what people said to do if you had an Unholy affinity and wanted nothing to do with the demon lord, and never used it, but in the end it hadn't worked. Donny guessed the gods looked for those who had potential even if it wasn't to look for friends, but enemies, and the Demon Lord had just happened to notice him.

"The way I see it you'll be twice as strong if you use two elements instead of just one." As the voice said this Donny could feel the two sides of the aura flare as if to emphasize their distinct nature. "By that logic wouldn't it be best if I used all three?" Donny said this just to prove that he understood the voice only wanted what was best for it and not him but he wasn't expecting for the voice to agree.

"If that's what you want." Donny felt a third aura form inside the other two but from his years of experience with the Metal element he could tell this was just a replica made by combining the right principles, but it would function in about the same way.

Donny just did his best to ignore what was going on behind him because he had regained his composure. Now that he was out on the street the noise all the other people were making made it easier to drown out the voice. It was too bad there weren't any brothels on his way home. That was the one thing that could drown the voice out completely.