Demon Lord - (New World Book 1)

by K R Zax

  “Thanks,” I said sincerely. This were great gifts, though everything still felt like a dream. If it was, and if I am still laying in a coma in some hospital, would I want to wake up? Would I like to go back to my ordinary life? Sure, I was young and had an entire life before me. But, would it be better?

  I could see Mom and Dad again. And then? Finish college, find a job… Live the same life as millions of other people across the world.

  Boring. So freaking boring!

  “Hahaha...” Dr. Sam laughed evilly. “Worry not! This is no dream, but a reality that every fantasy fan dreams of. A new world! A magical one!” The Lich waved his hand, tearing reality apart. There was now a crack in the old, half-lit room. I could see trees and other vegetation, and even smell the moist, forest air.

  “Now go!” His eyes glowed when he roared. My legs trembled from the power he released. Elder Lich? Lich lord? Overlord? Just what kind of creature was he?

  “Go! Be a hero or villain if so you wish! It matters not! Go live as you like!”

  The pressure he emitted was unbearable, I had no other choice but to leave. When I stepped in the forest, the portal closed abruptly behind me.

  “I guess he wants to go back to his research that bad. Ah, whatever.”

  I surveyed the forest I found myself in, there were tall trees, unlike any I ever saw in Europe. Sunlight poured here and there, like pillars of light. It was a beautiful scenery. However, there weren’t any signs of living creatures. I didn’t even hear any birds. Could it be that they sensed Dr. Sam’s power and run away?

  OK, that means I have some time alone, no monster should come here for a while. Let’s see what else I have in my Shadow Storage because I thought I could sense some other things there, aside from all the stuff I got from the Dr.

  I took the items out, laying them down on the forest floor. There was the book about monsters, the black staff, the status plate, and my Megumin figurine. Additionally, I had two flasks of water, a dagger, a mirror, a bag and a letter. No food, at all. Of course. He’s a Lich, food must be the last thing on his mind.

  The flasks of water and the dagger seemed like ordinary, everyday items. The mirror was out of place. It looked like something a narcissistic king would have on his nightstand. Quality glass, gold, jewels.

  “So this is my new face.” I must say, the Doc did a great job. Not that I was ugly before, but man! Flawless skin, sharper features, besides that, I could see my old self. Same pale tan, dirty blond hair – longer than it used to be and silkier, but the same color. Blue eyes. Maybe a bit too blue, but who cares.

  Next, I picked the small leather bag. There were some coins inside: 10 gold, 20 silver and 30 copper. Not bad for a new start, better than being broke like some characters in light novels.

  The letter was written in strange symbols, but somehow I could read it:

  ‘This is the language used in this world. It is known as Aria. I already imprinted the knowledge into your mind. Different countries have their own languages, but Aria was learned to facilitate communication with the various intelligent beings that appeared across the world. Elves, dwarfs, beast-kin… They all could speak Aria. In the years after the Old World fell and the Internet wasn’t available, trade and communication with other countries was easier if someone could learn one language instead of a few.

  Anyway, right now you’re in a forest in what used to be part of eastern Europe. If you head east you’ll come across a city, it should be called Tsarigrad, and it is the capital of a big kingdom or something. The only one with some semblance of stability and favorable treatment of adventurers across the centuries. You shouldn’t get involved in power struggles there, and they treat adventurers fairly, so when you get to the city, you should go to the Adventurer’s Guild and register as a member. That should be a good way for you to grow stronger.

  Oh, and don’t sell the mirror! It is a magic item that allows you to contact me. But do so ONLY if you’re in grave danger.

  I’m busy with my research, if you bother me for a chat I may come to kick your ass.

  PS. The clothes you are wearing are also magic items made from compressed Darkness, their defense properties are around A grade.’

  Touching.

  I certainly hope I won’t find myself in ‘Grave Danger’ in the first place. After putting the items back in the Storage, I picked a rock from the ground.

  So my body has the Strength of a rank A. I wonder how strong that is. I threw the rock at a nearby tree with all my strength and BOOM, the four-foot wide tree shook. The rock broke into several pieces, and there was an indent in the tree bark.

  Man! I’m strong.

  Hmm, let’s see. Somehow it feels like morning. At least, that's the impression I got from all the fresh air and bright light. And, just to be sure… I looked around at the trees. Yup, according to the moss, the east is that way.

  I turned right and headed through the forest.

  I hope that Doc doesn’t have a messed up sense of time. What if I need to walk a few days to get out of here, or even months! I’ll starve to death.

  Tsarigrad, huh. My mother was born in Slovakia, but her family is originally from Russia. Is it ‘Emperor’s City’, or ‘King’s City’? It should be something like that.

  After walking for about an hour, I started sensing living creatures, it was a new feeling. Every second that I spent in this world made me love it even more.

  Soon I saw a few birds, singing and flying from one branch to another. They looked weird, kind of like a robin. If you ever saw one with four wings and tiny horns on its head. I suppose they are not going to attack me, which is a good thing since I don’t feel like killing cute things.

  Around noon I increased the speed and started jogging through the forest. Yeah, the Doc doesn’t have a good sense of time. I mean, he could’ve opened the portal at the forest’s outskirts.

  I traveled for a while, admiring the unusual looking plants and mushrooms when a wolf jumped in front of me. It was as big as a pony, his fangs were about 7 inches long and it had two tails.

  Dangerous.

  Why am I not thinking that it’s dangerous, but I am actually looking forward to fight with it?

  Wait, I never fought before. Maybe I could do something against a human opponent, but this is a monster we’re talking about. That said, what if it is stronger than me? Should I just run away? Can I even escape from it?

  When the wolf sensed that I was about to leave, he moved to block my path and growled threateningly. Like he was saying ‘You’re today’s lunch, man. I ain’t letting you go.’

  I let a deep sigh and calmed down. In fact, I was too calm. My body seemed ready to go, and the only thing keeping me back was my mind. My human mind.

  Guess I still need to adapt to this new body, it knows that it is a kill or be killed situation, and it doesn’t want to be the one dying today.

  Exhaling the air I wasn’t aware I was holding, I summon the black staff and prepare myself for battle. We stared at each other for a moment, then the wolf took a few steps towards me and jumped, ready to bite my head off.

  I could smell the foul stench coming from its mouth and see the bile clinging to his sharp fangs. I imbued my staff with mana and rammed the tip in his neck as I stepped aside. It was a bold move, but my body was up to the task.

  The wolf let a sharp cry and still tried to come at me. His eyes were filled with hate, and his yaws eager to bite my hand. The tip of the staff sunk deeper into his neck, only making him more restless.

  Crap, he’s strong.

  Uh, let’s see… What do I do now? If only I had a bigger blade. Yes!

  Manipulating the magic inside the staff, I willed it to take the shape of a battle axe. The two slim blades that held the crystal, increased in size while still in the wolf's neck.

  It happened in an instant, they tore the skin and flesh, removing the monster's head from the torso.

  The two parts fell on the forest ground with a soft thud, fresh blo
od spilling on the dry leaves.

  You’re prey sharp, aren’t you? I swung the axe to see if the blood will just fell from it, like in some fantasy Anime. I mean, this is a magic item, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had that function. And it did! Not a drop was left. Awesome.

  I jumped to the side when I heard a sudden noise. Was there something in the branches? A nearby tree was moving. It wasn’t a monster, right?

  It moved faster and faster as it fell down. When I went back to investigate, I saw that it had a clean cut. Oh, I must’ve cut it when I swung the axe. Dear God, this thing is so bloody sharp. As one would expect from a high grade magic item that a powerful undead made.

  The conspicuous sounds and fresh blood soon attracted other monsters. There were three more wolves and five… Humanoid creatures. Are those werewolves? Or maybe kobolds?

  Yeah, they were wearing some mismatched armor and were holding swords and shields, or just wielding spears.

  Could it be that these wolves were their hunting dogs? No, they are glaring at each other suspiciously. Maybe because they were all wolf-like? Did they choose to cooperate instead of fight among themselves?

  There is so much I do not know about this world.

  “Auuuuu…!”

  As if that howl was a signal, both wolves and kobolds rushed at me with murderous intent. I hit the wolf in the lead with a Darkness Ball and jumped back when one of the kobolds released a Wind Slash, missing me by a few inches.

  The wolf howled and clawed at his head, trying to dispel my magic. Darkness Ball didn’t cause him pain, it just took away his senses and it won’t last long. The real problem here was the guy with the magic attack.

  I should’ve guessed that I wasn’t the only one who could use magic.

  I rushed at another wolf that jumped at me and slashed it in two diagonally. Blood and intestines rained down, and I could see that two of the closest kobolds were surprised at my strength. They hesitated for only a moment, and that was enough for me. Wielding my axe at lightning speed, I separated them from their legs.

  Then stepped right and parried a kobold’s sword with the handle of my axe and then I kicked his groin as hard as I could. Surprisingly, he went flying a dozen steps back, landing with a painful cry.

  Hey, this was a life or death situation, I sure as hell won’t be fighting fair.

  A wolf roared in irritation and went for my leg, I barely avoided him and landed a quick blow to his head, chopping a third of it with my axe. Turning my back to the twitching body, I confronted the others.

  Two kobolds were readying themselves, one with a spear in the front, and the other gathering mana behind him. The one in the back was probably going to release a Wind Slash while the other keeps me engaged in a fight.

  I attacked the spear wielder, cutting him and his spear in half and then I jumped away, heading for the blind wolf.

  The last kobold was taken aback with my action, and his attack missed me again. He probably needed more time to prepare another slash, since he didn’t have that much mana, to begin with. Still, I finished off the angry wolf and then turned around to face him.

  I guess this is a good chance to try something. Holding the axe in my left hand, I took a stone from my storage. Yeah, I put several stones there. Just in case.

  Even if he doesn’t have a human face, I could see that he was looking at me like I was crazy. ‘What is he going to do with a stone? Is this human an idiot?’Man, it was almost like I could read his mind.

  The kobold laughed as he ran at me, with his sword held high. He was six steps away when I threw the rock.

  I could clearly hear how it crushed his ribs when it hit the kobold’s chest. He then staggered and fell on the ground.

  Chapter 3.

  I returned the staff in my storage and looked around. My first day and my first battle in the new world. Not bad. The physical abilities of this body are quite something, I didn’t even break a sweat.

  Now it’s time to take the rewards. I approached the dying kobold and put a hand on his head.

  “Absorb.”

  Pale light enveloped the kobold when its life force and mana flew through me, becoming part of my body.

  A strange sensation - like I knew what I could do so I went with the flow and did it.

  Once dead, I put the corpse in my storage and went for the wolf. This Storage was great, I could find anything I stored with a thought, it was kind of like having a list in my mind. But like in the stories, I am unable to store living things inside.

  The kobold I kicked was in a fetal position, holding his bloody crotch and vomiting. Kind of funny in an evil way, but still, it did had a bit of energy for me. The two who lost their legs were trying to escape, crawling away from the battlefield, but they didn’t manage to get too far when I arrived to drain them.

  I was a bit surprised when one of them tried to stab me with a dagger, but luckily my long coat was impenetrable for that degree of attack.

  When all the corpses were put away, I decided to check my Status Plate.

  Name

  Alex Miller

  Mana

  S

  Strength

  A

  Speed

  B

  Dark Magic

  C

  Fire Magic

  G

  Air Magic

  G

  Cool! I got a new Element!

  “Slash!” I moved my bare hand in a chopping motion, and a weak Air Slash hit a tree. It didn’t do a lot of damage, it just scraped the bark a little. But man! It is a new magic! If I keep this up, just how strong can I get?

  Taking out the book Dr. Sam gave me, I tried to look for the monsters I just fought. There wasn’t a need to look far, it started with weak monsters and ended with the strongest ones.

  Kobolds and Twin-Tail Wolves, all of them are D-rank monsters. As expected, Dr. Sam sent me to a beginner-friendly environment where I can obtain more powers easily.

  I resumed the journey east and soon came across an old road. When I say old road, I mean the remains of an asphalt highway. It was very wide, with cracks and trees growing here and there.

  The sun was steadily making its way to the west. Was it 2 p.m.? Does the world still have a 24-hour system?

  Anyway, it was really hot. I managed to activate the wind magic, but because it was so weak, I could only circulate it around my body in a thin layer. Still, it was a good protection against the heat, like a personal air conditioner.

  I took out a kobold corpse, cut one of its arms off, then put it back in the Storage.

  “It’s tough,” I cut the skin from the kobold’s arm and then used a bit of fire magic to cook it. The book said that it is safe to eat, so why not try it? I bite the meat and grimaced.

  “Not that great, maybe if I had some salt?” It was the first time I tasted something like this. I lived in many countries in Europe since I was born, meat always had spices and stuff. I bet that if a fast-food employee used it, he could make a delicious burger.

  At any rate, food is food. Unexpectedly not so bad after a few more bites.

  I kept watching out for other monsters as I walked. The battlefield was way behind me, and the surrounding monsters will probably head there, driven by the smell of fresh blood.

  “Giii…!”

  A cry echoed from the forest, somewhere in front of me. While proceeding with caution, I found seven green creatures arguing with each other. According to the book, those are goblins. They were about four feet tall and ugly as shit.

  No, I am not eating that!

  But I may gain something if I ‘Absorb’ them. I took out my staff and run at them.

  “Gya?”

  The closest goblin didn’t even have the time to process what is going on when I separated its head from the body.

  “Gii! Gyo, gii!”

  Only two of them had swords, and the rest were wielding clubs or knives. I cut two in half and punched a third in the face.

  It was horrible, I
had goblin snot and blood on my fist. Ew!

  “Gyaa!” A goblin with crazed eyes tried to stab my leg, but his knife couldn’t pierce my pants. Though, it stung quite a bit.

  “Son of a bitch!” I hit him so hard that its neck broke. The remaining two tried to run away, but I caught up to them and beat them to a pulp.

  “Damn. Disgusting vermin.” I didn’t gain any ability when I Absorbed them, so I just put their bodies in the Storage. I was about to move on when I saw a leather pouch on the ground.

  “Now that I think about it, they were making a fuss over that bag.” I picked the pouch and looked inside it. “I found treasure! Well, it’s not much, but it will come in handy.” There were thirteen copper coins and one silver.

  Maybe the goblins took it from someone. Who cares, it’s mine now.

  I transferred the contents into my bag and tossed the empty one aside. I don’t want people questioning me about where I found it in the future. Less trouble, more freedom.

  I continued with my journey, cutting thin branches with Air Slash, and trying to see if I can use Darkness and Fire in the same manner, when I got across a corpse.

  It belonged to a man in his early twenties and had several stab wounds on his body. Three on his stomach, two on the chest, two on the right leg, and one on the left. He probably had some on his back too, because I could see a lot of blood underneath him.

  He must have been the goblins’ victim. Should I take him with me, or leave him here? I watched the corpse like it was a natural thing to do. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I was still a human, that’s for sure. An undead made my body with strange ingredients, it was bound to affect me in some way.

  “Shit.”