Forsaken By The Gods, I Made A Contract With the Demon King

Demonic Transformation.

It was the first trait ability Levi had received. Though he knew it was ominous, he had still tried using it—and that had led to his current situation.

He had awakened an innate ability as a result but also had lost control of his body in the process because his body and mind weren't strong enough to support the transformation.

To add to the misery, he didn't even know if the innate ability he awakened was useful or harmful.

And now, Levi was trying it again!

This time, however, it wasn't a gamble—Levi knew he was strong enough. He could feel it—the power surging through his body was more than sufficient, and the amount of essence he could gather had increased significantly after forming his core.

It was enough to support his transformation.

Although there might be some side effects, Levi was at least confident that he wouldn't lose his mind again. With that thought, he activated his ability.

The moment he did, an ominous power rose within him—the same sensation he had felt in his soul sea.

A flame suddenly flared up from his soul and instantly spread throughout his body, delivering a mild pain that, while intense, was nothing compared to what he had experienced while forming his core.

His bones cracked and shifted, and his muscles twisted and rebuilt themselves in seconds. Blood-red marks appeared all over his skin, his hair turned white and stood on end as if charged by lightning.

Levi felt his spine stretch, and he grew larger in real time, surpassing six feet in mere seconds.

His teeth sharpened, his canines extending into fangs that could easily tear through flesh. Two red horns sprouted from his forehead, piercing through his skin with a sickening crunch.

When the pain finally subsided, Levi stood at a towering two meters, his malnourished body nowhere to be seen. The government-issued clothes he still wore were barely holding up—had they not been made of high-quality materials, they would have long since torn apart.

Levi looked down at his body—his muscles bulged with power. He made a fist, and the air around his hand seemed to ripple from the mere motion.

"This… This is awesome!" Levi exclaimed.

He felt at least twice, maybe even three times stronger than before—perhaps even more.

"Let's see… how about a punch?"

Levi turned toward a nearby tree and started walking. It was a bit hard to get used to his altered body, he didn't yet have full control over his movements, but he could at least move if he concentrated.

When he reached the tree, Levi threw a punch. He didn't put his full strength into it, but there was still plenty of force behind the blow.

First, the speed at which his fist moved amazed him.

Second, when his hand connected with the tree, the entire thing shook as if hit by a truck, and where his fist struck, the wood was sheared clean off!

"Woahh!"

But that wasn't all—Levi barely felt any resistance from the strike. It was as if he hadn't hit something solid at all!

"This is amazing!" Levi thought.

If there was one thing Levi didn't like, it was the alarming rate at which his essence was being drained to maintain his transformation. He guessed that, at most, he could keep this form for about a minute and a half with his current essence reserves.

However, if he wanted to save some essence for after the transformation ended, Levi could only sustain it for about a minute.

"I need to keep track of time while using this ability," Levi thought. If he used it at the wrong moment, it could become a liability rather than a strength.

After considering all that, Levi suddenly felt a surge of curiosity.

He glanced at the few makeshift spears he had gathered.

"Will it work?" he wondered, doubting himself as he picked up one of the spears.

Then, he turned toward a black cocoon hanging from a distant tree. For a moment, he thought about imbuing the spear with essence, but then he decided against it.

Instead, Levi gripped the stick tightly, holding it with such force that even a slight increase would have snapped it in two.

He started running.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the desolate forest as he sprinted. He raised the stick against his shoulder and stretched his arm almost impossibly far back.

"Grhhh!"

With a heavy grunt, Levi hurled the spear like a javelin, aiming at the black cocoon.

The spear flew with such speed that it appeared as a blur!

In an instant, the spear was in front of the black cocoon. Before the creature could even activate its telekinesis, the stick collided with it.

The impact snapped the stick in two, as it was unable to pierce the cocoon. However, the force of the blow was so immense that the cocoon was ripped from the tree and sent flying!

"...!"

Levi watched with wide eyes as the cocoon crashed into another tree and fell to the ground. Moments later, he heard the voice of providence.

[You have killed a Nascent-Essence monster - Cocoon of Lunacy]

The sheer impact had killed the creature inside the cocoon, despite its outer shell being so strong that Levi previously needed to coat his spear with essence just to pierce it!

A smile crept across Levi's face as he read the notification.

This power... it was insane!

---***---

Lore Snippet 10: Core

An Essence Core is a mystical crystal formed when a high concentration of essence converges at a single point. Monsters possess varying numbers of demonic cores based on their rank. Upon a monster's death, its cores remain intact and can be absorbed by humans.

Humans lack essence cores because their bodies aren't naturally suited to harness essence. To compensate, they create essence paths in their bodies using divine power granted by the gods.

But this raises a question, Humans label monsters as parasites, draining the life of Paradise. Yet, isn't it the humans, who were never meant to enter Paradise, who are the true parasites?