The Damned Demon

Merina opened the door and came inside with a blinking expression. She could sense that his aura had become more powerful, which could only mean that he had leveled up. But how? Even if he knew how did he do it so fast? She had never seen a level 1 demon level up so fast without any prior training.

Her eyes were brimming with curiosity and shock, though she suppressed it and asked with a bow, "What else can I help you with, Your Highness?"

"Just address me as Master from now on," Asher felt it was better to make her get used to calling him like that so that she doesn't accidentally blurt out his identity in case he was to leave this castle.

"I know it's better to learn it from an expert, but right now, we got to make do with what we got. So based on your background, I am assuming you know at least how to get started with Reaping, right?" Asher asked with one of his brows raised. He had been quite interested in Reaping quests after hearing about them.

Merina had her eyes widen in surprise as she asked, "Master…I…I want to say that it's too risky and dangerous. Usually, it's done at least when you get to level 5 or so, but even then, most of them die in the trial itself," Merina could see that the royal consort had no idea about Reaping and thus wanted to warn him of the dangers despite the benefits one could get.

"A trial? Is that why I only got raiding quests so far?" Asher mumbled to himself in realization, making Merina wonder how he completed raiding quests without leaving the castle. Surely, this castle would stop him from teleporting even if he accepted a quest. How many mysterious secrets was this royal consort holding? She couldn't compare him to the royal consort she had been tending to all these years.

Asher raised his gaze and asked, "Well, why don't you tell me the reason why it's dangerous. Then I will judge if it's that dangerous."

Merina took a deep breath and said, "People usually gain some experience first through raiding quests before they take on reaping quests because they say only those with a strong mind or willpower can survive such quests."

"You think I would still be sitting here if my willpower was weak after everything I went through all these years?" Asher asked with a tilt of his head, making Merina feel as if he was right in a way. Even she can't imagine if she would remain sane after going through all that.

Anybody who got tortured for years would surely lose their mind, but here he was…his eyes giving off such a strong sense of determination. She couldn't help but wonder what made his will so strong. It was not like the demon king could have anything to do with this since willpower was also not something that could be imparted.

"Please forgive this slave's ignorance," Merina said with a bow.

"Leave it. What's the point of this trial anyway?" Asher asked since raiding quests never came with a trial as a prerequisite.

"Anyone who wants to be a Reaper has to undergo a trial to prove they are worthy of becoming one since if weak ones become Reapers, they will put our world in danger. This is also why our queen maintains strict regulations about this. I forgot to mention this first, but this is why I would request Master to not go behind the queen's back. You will technically become a criminal if you don't put your name into our records as a Reaper if you become one. Rogue Reapers can even get punished by death," Merina said with a serious look.

She knew her life was tied to his. So it was better to make sure he wouldn't end up in a undesirable situation.

"And paint a huge red target on my back, especially considering those who want me dead? No way…not yet…" Asher said with a soft scoff, and he was also sure Rowena couldn't kill him.

Merina remembered about the assassin, and considering a Mindslayer was involved, she felt that maybe it was a risk worth taking.

"Let's get down to it. What should I do to begin?" Asher asked as he cleared out a space in the middle of the room.

"Whenever Master is about to do a reaping quest, you should make sure you are undisturbed in a quiet environment. If anybody disturbs you, then it will not only disrupt whatever you are doing for the quest but also weaken you temporarily due to the backlash. There can also be a chance you might fail the quest because of the disruption depending on how difficult the quest is," Merina cautioned, making Asher note down everything she said in his mind.

Asher already knew that whenever demons were on a reaping quest, their minds would be in a highly focused state. So he wasn't surprised to hear about the temporary weakness one might experience upon getting disturbed. But the chance of failing the quest as well made him make a mental note that he should take all precautions to not get disturbed.

"So, how is it done?"

"To reap human souls for the trial, we have to first project our soul into their realm. Only then could we be close enough to influence the minds of humans and make them act on the desires hidden within their hearts, which they consider wicked or demonic. As an example, If a human wants to kill someone but won't due to whatever hypocritical values they hold, we should break them down and bring out their true nature," Merina said as a faint vicious light shone in her eyes for a brief moment which didn't escape Asher's notice.

"So we are not really controlling them?"

"Yes...as far as I know. We are simply showing them a mirror to their inner self and letting them act on whatever desires they have without feeling restrained by anything."

Asher sarcastically chuckled inwardly, thinking about it. He had seen a number of humans getting corrupted by demons during his life as a Hunter. These corrupted ones did a number of atrocious acts before ending up dead.

He, just like any other human, assumed that the demons took control of their bodies and did the deed. But that was not really the case, according to what Merina said.

Only now, he realized that within every human, there was a demon hiding within. It was only a matter of time or circumstances while others lived on without even realizing it.

Still, he knew that she was mainly talking about the trial. He felt that reaping quests that would come after it might be bit more complicated.

"But how do we benefit from this?"

"Life Crystals are the most precious resource for us, and it actually contains the life force of those living in the Severed Realm. But if we directly absorb it, then we gain more refined mana, way more than when killing a mortal of the same strength. This is the fastest way of getting stronger."

"And how do we absorb it exactly?" Asher became even more interested after getting confirmation that finishing reaping quests was the quickest way of getting stronger.

Merina explained, "It's called Reaping for a reason. We plant the 'seeds' in their minds to help them open the gate to their hidden desires. But since humans are weak, we need to impart some of our power to them so that they can successfully act on their desires and lessen the risk of failure. And once they have acted upon it, we harvest what we sowed. The demonic power we imparted to them will become stronger once they act on their desires. So absorbing them will make us stronger only."

"Harvest their soul? By killing them after everything?" Asher now realized why all the corrupted humans end up dead. It was not that demons were simply cruel to kill them off but because it was a necessary step to getting stronger.

He then asked, "What happens if we don't harvest?"

"Then we will lose whatever power you gave to that human. Or worse, the Hunters will use that human to track us and hunt us down," Merina said with a worried look.

"This is what I know about the trial, but I do not know about the quests that come after. I request Master to still talk to an expert who has done this. They might know things that could increase your chances of passing this trial," Merina said with her fingers pressed together.

"That can wait. This trial's difficulty is based on my current abilities, right?" Asher asked, just to make sure.

Merina nodded, to which Asher smirked and said, "Then I have nothing to worry about. If I can't pass this trial without referring to an expert, then it would only mean I am not worthy of passing the trial in the first place."

Merina felt as if his words oddly made sense, and even if it might seem unwise, she couldn't help but feel awed by his confidence. Not everybody can think like him.

Now that she had told him almost everything, she decided to tell him the final few things required.

So she sat down, took out a parchment paper, and began to draw some runes with her finger, "To get back, Master needs to learn and perform this spell after the quest is done. Otherwise, your soul could get stuck in the Severed Realm, and the Hunters will get to you."

Asher furrowed his brows as he crouched to look at the spell she was writing down. He wasn't surprised to see this since he actually remembered seeing these familiar runes when he was a Hunter. Now he realized why there were always these rune circles left near the corpses of the 'corrupted' humans or a place these humans lived in.

"And now for the final spell…" Merina went on to teach him the most important part required to do the reaping.