The pain in his stomach, like being punched from the Shadow Step experiment, slowly subsided, but Elvar's confusion only grew. The big question, why hasn't my mana run out?, hung in the silent air of his room.
He looked at the "Basic Magic Book" lying on the bed, but the book offered no answer to his body's anomaly. Feeling stuck for the time being with magic and physical training, Elvar turned his gaze to his other loot. There were still other books, like "Basic Qi Muscle Usage" and "History Book," which he had not fully understood.
He opened the "History Book" again. His room was silent, only the sound of thin paper pages turning could be heard. Elvar read it carefully, chapter by chapter. The contents consisted of several chapters that formed the basis of the world's history, at least from the author's point of view.
This book explains things from a human perspective. Me, being a demon, will probably be seen as bad in their eyes.
But in my eyes now, the demons in this kingdom are just like ordinary humans, who even manage the forest system themselves, from the balance of animals and so on.
So maybe this is actually just an unresolved misunderstanding.
Try to remember when I found the body of that merchant mask owner. Grakthos said that a report would reach the human kingdom that the merchant and his troops were killed by demons.
Of course, this is the fact we know from behind the human perspective, as the demon side.
Are we evil? Yes, maybe we are evil if we invade villages to get nests.
But try to think carefully, what if demons and humans made peace? All problems would surely be resolved.
Demons could help with their absurd strength. Humans could help with their intelligence to build what the demons need.
This is just my opinion from the perspective of an ordinary human who accidentally became a demon king.
In chapter one, it explains the existence of gods. The chapter title is "The Dawn of the Gods and the World Below."
The chapter told of the gods and their followers, like the human race and the church.
In reality, it explained that the gods never act directly. They only give blessings to every creature and do not determine who is good and who is evil.
This is interesting. The book itself admits that 'Gods' don't choose sides, but in the next paragraph, the author clearly implies that the 'Church' is the implementer of the gods' will.
Demons will literally probably be considered evil. But it's not because I suddenly became a demon that I'm taking the demon side.
From what we've seen, their lives in this kingdom also look terrible and in need of something decent.
They can't even have a proper nest. Can they be defined as an evil race for that?
They're even willing to endure hunger for some time, not blindly hunting animals and finishing them off without thinking about their preservation. Is that an evil thing? I don't think so.
Then there's an explanation in chapter 2, "The Noble Races: Humans and Celestia's Chosen Allies."
I also don't know what this chapter is for, because the whole chapter talks about gods who consider certain races like Elves and humans as allies. That's still from a human's point of view.
Will the gods also side with the demon race? Why was the demon race created?
But I didn't expect that the demon race was also mentioned in one of the chapters in that book. And just as I thought, the human view is that demons are destructive and evil creatures.
That chapter, "The Demon Continent: The Shadow That Refuses the Light," described us as a cosmic mistake, a plague that must be cleansed.
Oi, evil in what way? From what I see, my people are just like refugees hit by a flood.
Someday I want to fix the human perspective that views this demon race so differently. We, the demon race, are seen so badly just from the outside.
Honestly, I'm human. I'm also afraid of demons and I might have the same view as written in the book, as a human.
But after becoming king here, I've observed all the habits of my people, the workers, even the Pillars. It's all the same, they live as usual, no different from humans.
What's different is the form and the perspective. The demons here do see humans as food. But in reality, the demons here don't really want to kill living humans.
But overall, just like humans, there are good ones and there are bad ones. It's likely the evil side of the demons themselves that makes the human perspective different. I get that too, but don't lump everyone together. But oh well.
My focus now is to fix this kingdom.
Construction is in progress. I've given Terrax the basic blueprint. Now let's think about the economy. We have to create a currency. Build a financial system and build a trade ecosystem.
That's going to be a long journey. For now, I will gather that information when I'm on the human continent later. I will go there to trade and to research.
Before I leave this kingdom, I also have to truly master this power, at least so I can protect myself when in danger.
Since I will be going alone, I have to be able to train this as quickly as possible.
What if I get attacked in the forest later, like the wolf attack? Maybe I'll use Shadow Step to dodge and escape. Maybe use the demonic aura to scare them away.
The point is, I have to train something that can protect myself, to escape or to attack.
For escaping, I've already prepared Shadow Step. And now I have to learn an attack technique.
When I attacked Grakthos on the throne back then, my punch hit him squarely in the stomach, sending him flying far. That was likely 100% of my punching power in Aura of Destruction mode...
And right now, I haven't mastered the 100% technique. Yesterday I was still using 10% Aura of Destruction.
Oh yeah, the Shadow Step skill at a 10-meter distance with 10% body endurance from the activated Aura of Destruction, made my stomach feel like it was punched.
I've already practiced that, moving from inside the room to outside the room. It really felt like my gut was punched hard.
What if I use 20% of the Aura of Destruction's power? Will the pain lessen? Let's try it now.
Elvar focused his mana, then activated the Aura of Destruction skill at 20% of its power. The colored aura-mist came out of Elvar's body, thicker and more plentiful than before. The black-red mist swirled around his wrists and ankles, making the air around him feel heavy and oppressive.
Then, he immediately tried to practice Shadow Step at a 10-meter distance.
Instantly, he moved with speed. In a blink of an eye, he had already moved 10 meters from inside his room to the corridor outside. He stood in the empty, dim hallway, lit only by the flickering torches in the distance.
He muttered all about his experience and learning with the skills from the Demon King's Mask.
After I tried it, with 20% power of Aura of Destruction and using Shadow Step at 10 meters, it just felt like hitting a wall.
Not as bad as the feeling of being punched in the stomach. It still hurts, but it's bearable.
And my mana still feels warm throughout my body, and there are no other effects making my chest hot.
My conclusion is, the greater the percentage of Aura of Destruction power I activate, the pain reduction from the endurance I focus and activate will suppress all the negative impacts from other skills.
Elvar suddenly froze. He stood still in the cold corridor, staring at his hands, which were smoking with a thin aura. A crazy thought crossed his mind. A very stupid, but very tempting, thought.
What will happen if I use that skill... without using the mask?
He immediately returned to his room, making sure no servants saw him. He locked the heavy wooden door and closed the large windows, drawing the thick velvet curtains until the room was almost completely dark. His hand trembled slightly as he removed the Demon King's Mask.
Instantly, the majestic feeling and the heavy pressure on his shoulders vanished. He was back to being Elvar Sagara. The air in the room felt normal.
I'm so curious what would happen if I used that skill without this mask. If I can use the skill, it means my body is truly blessed with the Demon King's power.
Maybe... maybe this mask is just a trigger? Maybe I'm actually strong?
As a precaution, I'll only activate 10% of Aura of Destruction without the mask. That's the lowest level. It should be safe.
Elvar began to focus his mana in his chest. Strangely, the mana he felt was very faint and not as dense as when he wore the mask. The warm flow felt weak, like a small ripple of water, not the raging river from before.
However, Elvar didn't think too much about it and recklessly pushed on to try the skill without the mask. He closed his eyes, focusing on that thin mana. He began to speak the skill's name.
"Aura of Destruction."
The aura began to come out of his body. A thin mist with a barely visible colored aura began to envelop his ordinary, maskless human form.
He just stood straight, his right arm holding the Demon King's Mask. For a second, nothing happened.
Then, his body reacted. He didn't move at all, stiff as a statue. The mask he was holding fell from his weakening grasp, clattering loudly on the stone floor.
His nose began to bleed. His ears rang terribly, then a thick drop of blood trickled out. Tears streamed from his eyelids, but quickly the tears turned red, changing to blood.
Eh?... I can't move. My whole body is stiff.
My head hurts so much. It feels like a thousand needles are stabbing my brain. My eyeballs feel like they're going to pop out.
My ears are ringing and my nose feels warm... the smell of blood...
My chest is searing, hot, and painful. Not a warm heat like mana, but a hot... burning. My mask fell.
It hurts.... Mom, help me.
Aaaa, what is this? This is so painful. I can't cancel the skill!
My arm is shaking violently... my legs are shaking... I can't support my body anymore.
I'm falling from my position, collapsing to the floor, unable to move at all.
Elvar lay on his cold room floor. His eyes bulged, streaming bloody tears, and he coughed violently. Fresh blood also flowed from his mouth.
He tried to reach for his mask, which lay just a handspan away, but his hand trembled violently and wouldn't obey.
He was truly struggling to move his body. His consciousness was almost gone, his entire body felt like it was being destroyed and burned from within.