___ Blacksheep Firm, Damian’s Office ___
It was barely past ten A.m.
Damian sat alone, his chair turned toward the towering glass wall. The city stretched endlessly below him, lights glittering like fallen stars. Normally, the view cald him.
Today, it did nothing.
His mind was in turmoil.
In just two days, he had fought with Hazel twice. Twice. And in both cases, he believed he wasn’t at fault. Yet sohow, he was the villain.
"I thought my relationship with a demon would be different... but it seems won will always be soone, no matter the race."
The words slipped out bitterly.
With a sharp motion, he pulled off his ring and tossed it behind him as if it were scrap tal.
If she could get angry at him for speaking lightly about her dead ex, then he had every right to be angry over her refusal to move on from that sa dead ex. If she still had strong feelings for Lin Qui, why approach him in the first place?
"Clearly she’s with because of the title. Not because she loves ."
His fists clenched.
He wanted to go outside and scream. To shatter sothing. To feel sothing other than this tight, suffocating frustration.
The training session had ended abruptly. He hadn’t even tested his new abilities properly. No proper advice. No direction. And his eting with Twenty, scheduled for ten today, had been pushed to three.
Now he had nothing to do.
His entire day ruined because Hazel couldn’t handle hearing the truth about her ex.
"Since I have nothing to do, I’ll spend the rest of the morning upgrading my talents. I should be done before 3 p.m."
Damian leaned back in his chair, shut his eyes, and summoned the talent tree. The world dissolved. Darkness swallowed him whole. And there it was...
He sat once again before the Lust Talent Tree, its massive silhouette rising from the moon reflecting waters. Three familiar options hovered before him in bold letters.
[Lust Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 5%]
[Living Arts: 1%]
[Primal Soul: 10%]
[Elder Arts: 1%]
"I need that isolation barrier first... so we’ll start with elder arts."
His voice lacked enthusiasm.
Points began to drop.
10... 20... 30... 40...
[Elder Arts: 1% → 5%]
[Isolate Skill Unlocked]
[Na: Isolate]
[Type: Domain]
[Description: Isolates a particular space within the mortal plane, causing both spiritual and physical activities within that location to go unnoticed.]
"There it is."
Finally!
A small smile touched his lips. But as his gaze lifted to the tree, he froze. On one of the dead branches, two delicate blossoms had blood.
Pink, sod and out of place.
"A cherry blossom tree?"
He had never seen one in real life, but ani had educated him well enough. Disappointnt flickered across his face. He had expected sothing alien. Sothing terrifying. Not sothing beautiful and familiar.
"It’s too early to tell what it is. You can never know."
He pushed the thought aside.
Back to the upgrades.
Should he continue elder arts?
After only a brief pause, he decided yes.
10... 20... 30... 40... 50...
[Elder Arts: 5% → 10%]
[Ninefold Samsara Foxfire Skill Unlocked]
[Na: Ninefold Samsara Foxfire]
[Type: Spiritual/Psychology/Control]
[Description: This is a technique specifically designed to deal with demons and angels. It is a fla that forces the target to relive their own unresolved sins and desires, and the intensity of the fire depends on the weight of their past. The purer the target, the weaker the fla. The more corrupted they are, the more violently it devours them. This fox fire does not burn flesh first. It burns mory, desire, sin, and karma, leaving behind a living but empty husk with no recollection of her past.]
"Ooh... shit."
Damian actually stood up. Now he understood what Hazel ant when she said elder arts didn’t just grant power, they refined and weaponized it.
However....
[Talent Points: 95]
He exhaled sharply.
"I have only 95 points left... and I’m yet to improve my living arts. And I still need to do sothing for my abyss inheritance."
He frowned deeply.
"God, I need to start having lots of sex... But obviously not with Hazel. I don’t really want to be around her."
His mind wandered.
"Maybe I should make a move on Clara today?"
He weighed the option coldly.
Sleeping with soone other than Hazel would slow his progression. Hazel needed him in a way Clara did not so Clara wouldn’t be able to keep up all night.
Another problem is he was stronger and faster than even the strongest and fastest humans on the planet. If he wasn’t careful, he could hurt her. Hazel had said a human’s peak physical capability capped at five points. All his stats had reached that and exceeded it.
He pushed the thought away and returned his focus to Living arts. He began investing again.
10... 20... 30... 40... 50... 60... 70...
[Living Arts: 1% → 8%]
[Title: Sovereign Of Lust Unlocked]
Everything went still.
[Na: Sovereign Of Lust]
[Type: Title]
[Passive Effect: Aura of Coveted Presence]
[All sentient beings within a defined radius (scales with your power) perceive you as their ideal partner, their deepest emotional craving and the embodint of their unfulfilled desire. The attraction is personalized. It does not overwrite personality. It amplifies projection. Each person subconsciously fills in the blanks. To so you will appear gentle. To others, dominant. To a few, wounded and in need of saving. You beco what they long for.]
[Active Effect: Persuade]
[When activated every spoken command is wrapped in subliminal compulsion. Targets believe they are acting on their own will. The stronger their desire toward you, the stronger the compliance. Resistance requires either superior willpower, complete emotional detachnt or immunity to charm-based effects.]
[Congratulations on Unlocking your first title]
[Only one title can be equipped at a ti.]
Damian didn’t speak.
He couldn’t.
Compared to everything else he had unlocked, this... this was terrifying.
Not offensive.
Not destructive.
But far more dangerous.
"My first title?" he whispered. "That ans I’ll unlock several others eventually?"
[Yes!]
The system responded imdiately. It was giving him preferential treatnt, as long as he embraced who he was becoming.
Slowly, instinctively, Damian glanced toward the distant Abyss Talent Tree at the other end of the dark world.
’What kind of title would that one grant?’
’What kind of monster would the demon lord’s inheritance make ?’
With only twenty-five points left, he made his decision.
"What kind of inheritance is the abyss anyway?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Ti to find out."
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