It was almost done. All the calculations were flawless, and every part of his masterpiece was working without any error. Not that he was expecting any less. Morpheal himself had personally taken care of every little detail.
Morpheal was standing in front of the Energy Transfer Unit and testing the final stage of the process. The transmission paths were durable enough, and their strengthening runes were perfectly aligned. He gathered his notes and stood in front of the giant purple orb. Its light was filling the room brighter than ever. There was only one thing left...
Waiting.
He had spent too much of his precious time on this project, and he was going to use it to gain the maximum outcome. For that, he needed to wait for it just a little bit more.
The Energy storage was not at its full capacity yet, and it would be a waste if he activated it now. A second use of the device did not look possible within the calculations. He needed to get what he wanted on the first try.
He tidied up his workspace and put away his greasy gloves and apron. He couldn't let those lowly creatures come anywhere near to his masterpiece, and he did not want to use any Energy in this sterile room at this stage of the project. It could end up disturbing the overall Energy flow and cause unwanted variables. So, he did everything by hand, slowly but surely.
When everything was set, he left the study to check on the growth reports about his army. But before even reaching the end of the hall, he sensed something approaching and took a quick step back.
A giant rock barged right into the middle section he was in. Thankfully, his project was in a room carved inside the volcano, so there was no way such an attack to reach that deep. The outer parts of the middle section collapsed in front of him, and some of the upper section followed it a little after. Some rubble fell right on him, but crumbled as soon as it contacted his enchanted skin.
Morpheal stood where he was for a moment and tried to remain calm. His whole body was twitching from the irritation, but this was not the time to lose control. Not when he was this close. He enhanced his vision and quickly checked around to assess the situation.
Two figures on a distant hill were standing in the direction of the attack.
A wave of Energy spread through the patterns on his skin from his core within. With a quick pulse, he jumped at his target. While in the air, the patterns on his skin were burning with Energy because of the constant pulses from his core. He quickly analyzed his opponents.
Two humans, a male and a female. The female had some primitive Energy, a beginner, he assumed. She was nothing to worry about. The male had a messy look and was not emitting any Energy. His body was not a fighter's either, so he must have been a master of Energy manipulation to hide his Energy from him to this extent. Otherwise, there was no way these two could survive in such an environment. He needed to be wary of him.
Morpheal landed right in front of them. The female immediately took a defensive stance, which meant she knew he was stronger than her. But the male was unfazed. His body was relaxed and full of openings, but his eyes were filled with excitement. That arrogant lowlife was probably thinking he had found his match and was excited for a contentious battle. He probably did not even know what kind of advanced species he was up against...
"Wow, I wasn't expecting to see a Marw Demon here." The human male was speaking a variation of common human languages. Humans were a common species in most of the Realms, so Morpheal knew most of their languages. "I thought you guys were extinct."
Extinct? How dare he? His kin were caught in sly schemes and were exiled due to their dangerous powers. To think this lowly human was not only arrogant but also ignorant to this extent. Every muscle in Morpheal's body was twitching with anger, but he calmed himself down. This was no time to act rashly. He was going to interrogate them first to learn their intentions. He opened his mouth to talk...
"What is a Marw Demon?" The female asked.
"They are a Demon kind that specializes in using runes and patterns to strengthen their Energy. Look, can you see the patterns on his skin? They are enchanting and enhancing their bodies and Energy Arts with those. After generations of genetic tuning and selection with that technique, they forcefully evolved and became a different kind that they were even born with those patterns now. The more complex the patterns, meaning the more advanced their technique, and the greater their control over it." How dare they talk over him?
"Oh, that is interesting. This one must be quite strong, then. Even looking at him gives me chills. Do you think he is behind all of this?" The audacity of this female to analyze him.
Were they having a casual conversation right in front of him? They should have been trembling in fear, yet the male was giving a lecture about his kind in this situation. His anger rose, and his core started pulsing fiercely. His patterned skin glowed brighter with each passing moment.
"Yeah, it all makes more sense now. I did sense the attributes of the Demonic Energy from those creatures before. Marw Demons are masters of organic manipulation, so it's not a surprise the culprit is one of them."
"ENOUGH!" Morpheal commended.
He unleashed a pulse out of anger. It clashed with the two and caused the female to slide backward. She had raised her guard just in time to minimize the impact, but it was not enough. She fell on her knee, the place where she belonged.
The male, on the other hand, was still unfazed; only the strips of his strange clothing had flown around a little from the impact.
"State your business here. Now!" His cold and demanding voice filled the area around them.
"I am just a simple traveler, and this is my apprentice. We were just passing by and noticed your... hive." His eyes turned towards the field filled with his various creations. "Your... products were such good training dummies for my apprentice. So, we thought, why don't we just meet the one who created them?"
"Enough with your lies. I don't care who you are. You attacked my products and attempted to destroy my castle. Did one of the Helians send you to mess with me? Did those sly and traitorous bastards finally find me?"
"It's not a lie, though. No one sent us. We couldn't just stand by and watch while those foul beasts were roaming freely and attacking everything they saw. They are quite dangerous, you know. If some of them strayed, they could cause a small civilization to ruin."
Morpheal knew he was still not telling the whole truth, but that was not important. His playful eyes contrasted his relaxed state. He was trying to taunt him with his arrogant behavior for sure. He was a human, but there was still a possibility of him being one of the High Families' assassins if not Helian's.
"You messed with my work and almost caused my workplace to fall into ruin. I will not let you disturb my plans any longer."
Morpheal attacked without any notice. The female had gotten herself together and was standing next to the male, ready to fight. She was definitely the weaker one of them, so Morpheal attacked her first to get rid of one of the variables. He sent a wave of pressure with a swing of his hand, filled with the intent of breaking every bone in her body, potentially killing her.
But it never connected. The male dissolved it with his own swing of the hand. As Morpheal predicted, he was a master of Energy manipulation. No normal Energy user could disperse someone else's Energy with such ease. He also knew his kind, so he was probably familiar with Marw Demons' Energy Arts.
On the other hand, he was a human. Humans had so many different manifestations of Energy, so Morpheal had no idea what kind of power he was up against. Damn low lives. He needed to keep his distance and analyze the opponent's strengths first.
This was going to be harder than he anticipated.
***
"You stay back, Elise; he is a bit more than you can chew." The Traveler blocked her as she was about to charge at the demon, probably saving her life.
The Demon sent them strong pulses from various sides, but the Traveler put her inside a barrier and pushed her to the side with it to keep her from any harm.
The Demon was on another level. The area attack it had made earlier had almost caught her by surprise. She had barely blocked it by reinforcing herself with Energy, but she still slid backward and felt it in her bones. It was far worse than any other attack she had taken before. If she had not used Energy in time, it could have been really bad. Her ears were still buzzing from it.
Now, she was standing on the side and watching their fight inside the Energy bubble made by the Traveler. The Demon's patterns on its skin were glowing like crazy, and it was sending attacks one after another without an end. Even though Elise was not the target, some were still splashing at her side, but the barrier was holding well.
"Don't just stand there with an open mouth. Try to feel his Energy. He is a strong user you should learn from. Watch how he manipulates the Energy and changes it into various attributes." The Traveler was still trying to give her a lecture even in a moment like this.
She focused as he said. Energy was forming complex patterns around the Demon, similar to the ones on his skin. Various types of effects were coming out of each pattern. Condensed, explosive spheres for diversion, followed by seemingly impossible-to-dodge pressure strikes, beams that pulled in everything around to catch him off guard, and unseen pulse attacks to make him lose balance.
Elise couldn't help but watch with an open mouth. How could someone use this many different attacks at the same time? The only similarities they had, besides all having a purple tint, were their effects. The attacks were not burning or freezing, or causing any other effects. They were either pushing or pulling. With an insane amount of force, it was. The ground was crumbling under their power.
But the Traveler was dodging or redirecting each and every attack with precision. The area around him was shattering, exploding, and crumbling under the continuous attacks, but he was still standing with all his might. But the most shocking thing was, Elise still could not feel any Energy coming from him.
"How dare you look down on me, human scum!"
The Demon was not happy about the fact that the Traveler was not giving his all and only defending himself. It punched the ground and caused cracks to form. When he pulled his hand back, the ground rose with his motion. A giant rock bigger than the one the Traveler threw back then was formed and rose from the ground with the Demon on top.
The rock started to glow as they ascended. When it reached a certain height, the Demon pushed the glowing rock with its legs right towards the Traveler. The Energy inflicted on that push was so immense, every little piece of stone had flown away from it, even throwing some of them to Elise's barrier.
Nevertheless, the Traveler kept standing where he was and waited for it with an open palm reaching towards it. As the giant rock touched his hand with insane speed, it crumbled with an explosion. Once again, she thanked the barrier, therefore the Traveler, for protecting her.
The Demon was floating in the air, looking down on the Traveler. With its sturdy horns and glowing purple skin, it looked terrifying under the dark, clouded sky.
The Traveler met his gaze and shouted. "Come on! Don't play around. You are from the proud Marw Demon race, right? Show me the real thing."
The real thing? What were all those powerful attacks then? Was it just testing the Traveler? She looked around. The ground outside of her barrier was crumbled into pieces, filled with small craters and cracks. Some of those cracks were even emitting various colored lights from an unknown source. What more was there to come?
"You have a good defense, I admit." The Demon slowly descended to the ground. "Let's see how long you can keep up with this."
Elise was watching closely as the Traveler said, and she noticed the Demon had changed how its Energy was distributed in its body. Its Energy was moving more slowly now, so she could see the constant pulses starting from its chest and traveling through its body. It was slower but more powerful.
The Demon's body was already muscular, but its muscles got bigger and denser with every pulse. Like it was pumping Energy into them constantly to make them stronger. It was different from how Elise was strengthening her body. It was more of a modification than an enhancement, while still getting both the benefits. She still couldn't sense what it was doing differently from her; she could only follow its general movements, just as she usually sensed Energy.
Of course, the Traveler had also noticed that. The strips that were forming his clothing started to fall off one by one. At the same time, his body grew at least a head taller, and his chest became wider. But strangely, there was still no sign of Energy coming from him.
The stripes of his clothing were hanging from his waist now and showing his muscular chest. Elise had never seen him in that state. She was excited to see some of his true powers finally.
The Demon charged at him at an incredible speed, and the Traveler took him head-on. Their clash made an impact that shattered the ground under them and even severed the dense clouds in the sky.
Elise had no idea what she was watching anymore. This was not a fight but a natural disaster; the whole realm was shattering under the sheer pressure from it. Every punch the Demon threw formed wind pressures around them and damaged the terrain even more. But those punches were not connecting with their target.
The Traveler was dodging every attack just barely or redirecting them with slight movements. He was not making any unnecessary movements, always just enough to do what was needed. Every move of his was perfect. He never attacked or did anything offensive, as he'd been doing so far.
Elise tried not to get lost in the moment and remembered the Traveler's words. She needed to analyze and learn. That made her realize that was why he was just defending. He was trying to teach her, even in a situation like that. She couldn't track most of their movements, but she did what she could to watch and learn.
Their clash had only lasted for moments. The Demon was not an idiot. In those moments, even though it had yet to take any damage, it understood that the Traveler had the upper hand. It quickly retreated, but the Traveler had something else in his mind.
He threw a slow punch, probably for Elise to see clearly. The fact that the Demon had also seen it was not a concern for him. It was a slow but strong punch. It raised its arms and attempted to block it, but the purpose of the attack was not to hit.
A wind pressure, stronger than any attack the Demon had made so far, rushed toward it. The Demon flew backward from the impact and bounced off the ground a couple of times. The pressure kept going. It opened a huge hole in the middle of the smoke cloud that was gushing out of the volcano. Some parts of the dark castle crumbled again from its aftereffects.
The Demon's clothes were ripped apart, and it had burn marks all over its body. Elise wondered why. But of course, that was not enough to finish him, and she realized that this was not the Traveler's intention either.
The Demon got up and looked at him fiercely. "What are you? No mere human can reach this level of power."
"Oh, now you are interested in who I am, I see. But I already told you." In contrast to his opponent, he was perfectly fine except for some dust on his body. "I'm just a simple traveler."
"Fine, keep it to yourself. This is not over!" The Demon jumped in the air and flew towards its ruined castle.
The Traveler only watched behind it as he shrank back to his previous state. The strips of cloth that were hanging around his waist started to slide upwards and wrapped his body again. He looked at Elise, and the barrier around her disappeared. She couldn't even say anything for a moment and stood where she was. The ground around her barrier bubble had been heavily damaged, and the already rough terrain had become even rougher.
"Did you learn anything?" The Traveler was coming towards her with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, I will never pick a fight with you."
The Traveler laughed at her remark and slapped her back caressingly. She tensed up after what she saw earlier, but this slap was not like the punch he threw before. She looked at the castle the Demon had flown into.
"It was using its Energy so efficiently, and it all seemed to be his own inner Energy. Yet it had so much of it gathered in its chest and distributed from there with constant pulses."
"Good observation. That was the most Higher Demon race's most advanced method of distributing Energy. They form an Energy core in their chest, and the pulses they send generate more explosive power over a short time. And that one, as a Marw Demon, enhanced it even more with the patterns on his skin. But it burns out too fast; that is a downside. It is hard to master, but that one used it pretty well for a long time. He must have been an advanced Energy user."
Elise almost lost herself in all that knowledge and how she could utilize it with her Energy. There were so many possibilities coming through her mind, and who knows how many more there were, she couldn't even think of. Well... she had someone on her side who could know. The Traveler's knowledge had far exceeded her expectations.
"I understand you took it easy on it... him because of me, but why did you let him go?"
"I took it easy? He made me dodge, didn't he? I couldn't take his attacks without using Energy myself. This Realm is already in an unstable state. I don't want to disturb it further. Also, he looked like he had an ace up his sleeve, so..." He finished his sentence with a shrug. "Come, let's have a look at what he got."
He grabbed Elise from her shoulder and took a step forward. The area around them changed in an instant. They were in a stone hall that had a giant hole in the middle of it and a decorated metal door with two wings at the end of it.
They were in the castle.