[DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON BECOMING AURTH'S FIRST HOLLOW]
As I read the string of information, my smile became wider and wider, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh, the mad scientist kind.
[Hollow - One who has let go of their humanity, and embraced freedom.]
[Benefits]
1. You gain the ability to wield all the sins.
2. Killing humans gives more energy.
3. You radiate a natural aura which makes others wary of you.
[Disadvantages]
1. You lose the ability to wield the powers of the virtues.
2. Once every 24 hours, you must kill a human or die. (Timeframe would eventually vanish upon reaching higher grades.)
[Requirements to evolve to next grade.]
[Bonuses unlocked at next grade.]
[Requirements to improve proficiency of sins]
[TITLE:
Seeing the countless rewards I got just by killing my uncle, I felt like reviving him, thanking him, then killing him again.
With 40 minutes left on the trial timer, I headed out in search of my next target since I wanted to use the chaos and madness as a cover for my kills.
Not that I was a coward or anything.
No, I rather saw myself as cautious.
It was easier to kill a distracted wolf than a wary rabbit.
Stepping out of my once beautiful house, I saw a sight that filled me with a twisted sense of satisfaction.
I saw families sacrifice each other, lovers trip one another as they all scrambled for shelter from the mosquitoes.
Speaking of mosquitoes, a vast majority seemed to avoid me while the few who approached me seemed to be afraid.
Clearly my 3rd benefit was at work.
Making quick work of them by literaly swatting my arms and making them explode, I picked up a nearby motorcycle helmet to wear so that my identity could be protected.
Catching my reflection, I almost dropped the helmet in shock.
Staring back at me was a face I had seen for most of my life, only with a little twist.
Instead of my innocent blue eyes staring back at me, red eyes stared back.
My eyes were completely red and without any of the usual distinctive details like my iris, my sclera or my pupil.
Something told me that this look wasn't permanent and so following my gut, I deactivated my BERSERK skill which had been active for the past 20 -25 minutes.
The world of faint red gave way to a slightly darker environment, a side effect of the NIGHT.
In the reflection, my eyes had regained their usual colour, and when I reactivated my only skill, they changed colour back to red.
Cool.
Unnecessarily flashy, but still cool.
Wearing the helmet, I began my rounds.
I mostly targeted those who had either betrayed others or killed a lot of mosquitoes.
The first group because, watching their expressions change from relief to pain filled me up with a kind of thrill which couldn't be put in words.
The second group because they gave me the most energy when I killed them.
Energy my BERSERK skill and other incoming ones would need.
Killing everyone in my path, I soon found myself in frontvof a gas station.
The small swarm of mosquitoes gathered there told me that there was a sizable group gathered in the convenience store.
Not wasting this chance I was given by whichever higher being that monitored my progress.
I searched around for a lighter, even going as far as 20 houses away before I got one.
Now some would wonder, why would one go this far when he or she could easily kill everyone.
Well that's because I was curious.
Curious to see whether it would blow up just like in the cartoons and movies.
Pouring the flammable liquid all over the floor, I was distracted when I heard a rhythmic tapping on the glass of the store.
Looking inside I saw a bunch of people shaking their heads, silently pleading with me not to do it.
Among them were two little children, silently staring at me, one even waving.
Clearly they didn't know the severity of the situation.
Their innocence forbade it.
And just for a fraction of a second, I asked himself whether it was really worth it.
Whether little children also had to die to fuel my excitement.
But I shook off the morality that tried clinging onto me and continued pouring gallons of stored fuel until I was a safe distance away from the size of the explosion I predicted.
With the issue if the children, The sins of the many outweigh the innocence of the few.
And so with my flawed reasoning, I lit the lighter, slowly brought it close to the trail of flammable liquid, and let Physics do the work.
The trial of fire led all the way to the gas station until finally … nothing.
'I guess movies truly are full of lies. It's the kids' lucky day I guess.'
BOOM!!
One of the tankers exploded, setting off a chain reaction until eventually the whole thing went up in flames.
Before I could marvel my work any further, I was assaulted with a headache.
[DING! 100 kill count reached.]
[Countdown to evolution - 00:00:56]
Quickly I ran into one of the few buildings still standing and even found a bed.
[Countdown to evolution - 00:00:01]
And the world went dark.
Not that I fell asleep or anything.
No.
My eyes couldn't see anything.
My arms couldn't feel anything.
My nose couldn't smell either, not even the smoke that should have filled the air after the explosion.
It sort if felt like death, or at least how I imagined death to be.
Eventually my senses returned and I felt a subtle difference in my body.
My head felt heavier, my body felt lighter and my fingers felt different.
Checking my fingers first, I found out that they had become a bit pointed, sort of like claws, but they weren't sharp, just hard, sort of like wood.
Touching the left side of my head, where I felt the heaviness the most I touched something new.
Sort of like a horn that had just started growing.
A stump basically.
But it could still be hidden by the helmet which I had removed earlier.
As for my body being light, I just chalked it up to evolution making me faster.
[DING! Congratulations on the first successful evolution.]
[Requirements for next evolution …]