A bell rang and Reprise knew Khos and Alex were done. She stood up and stretched; the show she'd just watched was amazing. It had been a week since she last felt this excited over world watching.
She wandered toward her new lab, lazily replaying the live show she had just finished watching, the scenes vivid in her mind. The hero and demon lord system was time-tested for both keeping world stability and providing good entertainment.
Just now, the Demon Queen had subdued the hero and her party without killing them, ensuring that for the next fifty years demons would become the ruling class, conquering back the land that was once theirs. The amazing part was that she didn't just defeat them physically—after the subjugation, there were a lot of R-rated scenes, including dungeons, aphrodisiacs, and betrayal.
The hero class was unique: until the current hero died a natural death, no new hero could be born; whereas in the case of demon lords, they could pass on their title if captured, since demon lifespans could be thousands of years.
After walking for a few minutes, she reached a blank wall and then teleported herself inside—there were no doors to go inside her lab, for security reasons ofcourse.
Appearing inside, her gaze found the medical tank; now there was just one being inside. His eyes glimmered with a shine that was lacking before. He was naked, floating in the liquid. His whole body bore intricate patterns giving off a dim light, and on his forehead was a huadian in the shape of three plums, radiating divine grace.
Yes, Alex was awake.
For a moment, even Reprise felt charmed before she regained control and began observing him with her eternal eye. Until now, he was just an insect who could not hide anything from her, but after feeling his charm working even on herself, she needed to appraise him with her ability.
"Well, well, look who woke up early, hehe. I thought it might take a few more weeks. Tell me, tell me—how does it feel to be reborn above a mere mortal human?" she asked, excited to see her handiwork come alive.
Before Alex could answer, a light-golden small transparent ball covered in deep golden runes appeared in front of him and yelled—
"You fucking bitch, this is not what I wanted!"—writing its own destiny then and there, alongside all future talking balls.
Reprise was flabbergasted by the audacity of Khos; she considered herself one of the most patient, charming, kind, and just (her own words), but sometimes things had to be done the right way.
She lifted her finger and with a flick, like a bubble bursting, Khos was purged from existence and disappeared from in front of Alex.
Wait—no, Alex could still see him on his status screen; it had just gone into sleep mode, it seemed. Given Reprise's temperament, Alex thought Khos was a goner, but it looked like she knew how to hold herself back.
"When Merlin first created talking balls, I told him talking balls were no good, they should stick to showing status—he was just creating future trouble, but he doesn't listen to me. Now I have to deal with them while he enjoys his life with his harem somewhere out there. Next time I see that bastard, I'll definitely shave off that beard he's so proud of," Reprise muttered, but with his newly enhanced senses, Alex was able to hear it clearly.
Alex kept quiet,, having learned last time that talking back was a bad idea, and now with Khos suffering the same fate, it was two for two. He didn't want to repeat the pattern a third time.
"Why are you so silent? It's not like I'm going to eat you if you talk, I promise. Although.. you do look quite well-done, if I say so myself," Reprise joked , licking her lips—making a chill run down Alex's spine. He might have gained some power now, but it only made him realize the vast power gap between the two of them.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the lab changed, Reprise eyed Alex suspiciously. He knew the jig was up—she must have just appraised him. Well, there was nothing he could do except try to keep his thoughts to himself and protect his mind and secrets from her, somehow.
--------------------------------
Some time ago, before Reprise came back to her lab:
Alex slowly opened his eyes and found himself floating inside a tank filled with strange liquid.
Cables connected throughout his body and a mask covered his face, providing air to breathe.
As soon as he started moving, the tubes and cables detached and retracted back to the edges, leaving only the mask connected to the top.
The last thing he remembered was feeling good, then feeling like someone was boiling him from the inside out—and then darkness took over.
Now, though, he felt wonderful. He felt powerful; powerful enough to punch through the medical tank and come out without a scratch.
He knew this was Reprise's doing—whatever experiment she had conducted seemed to have succeeded in awakening him. His body wasn't the only thing that had changed; inside his mind, he now had another set of memories, memories he had glimpsed when he was still on Earth after the airplane crash happened.
Going through those memories, he now understood many things. In that life, he was a simple adventurer. He lived in a small city and died in a dungeon near that city, trying to bite off more than he could chew by fighting monsters above his level. The concept of level and status was clearer to him but very different from what he saw in front of him—on a screen floating just at the corner of his eye.
Name: Alexander Shadowborn
Level: 0
Race: Demi-God
Age: 21
Classes:
Shadow Master
Disciple of Reprise
Attributes:
HP: 3000
Mana: 3000
Strength: 3000
Agility: 7000
Luck: 69
Charm: 10 (7)
Spirit: 1000
Soul Power: 127
Innate Skills:
Shadow Affinity (B)
Light Inversion (C)
Shadow Creation (A)
Class Skills:
Shadow Sword (B)
Shadow Body (C)
Shadow Travel (D)
Entropy Freeze (S)
Future Sight (S)
Timeless Chant (S)
Immortal Body (SSS)
Storage (A)
General Skills:
Flight (C)
Water Magic (C)
Fire Magic (C)
Earth Magic (C)
Light Magic (E)
Space Magic (F)
Shadow Manipulation (C)
Cultivation Trans (B)
Mana Absorption (A)
Spirit Absorption (B)
Cultivation Levels:
Body: 7th Stage Master
Soul: 8th Stage Grandmaster
Bloodline:
Night Raven
Crystal God
Bloodline Skills:
Darkness Bloom
Crystal Palace
Node: Reprise (Khos - override)
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