After finishing his meal and cleaning up the remains to avoid attracting unnecessary predators, Orsaga gathered some rubble and mud to block the cave entrance. This way, anyone attempting to enter would alert him from his slumber.
When it's a matter of life and death, even if potential is sacrificed, there's no choice.
Once everything was ready, Orsaga opened the system panel and issued a command:
"During my advancement, use all current evolution points as a foundation. Optimize every part of my body and demonic bloodline in the most effective way possible, integrating with the automatic restructuring of the advancement process.
Note 1: Ensure I retain the ability to interrupt and exit the transformation process at any time.
Note 2: While maintaining effective optimization, adjust my appearance to suit my personal aesthetics—unless doing so would compromise the optimization. If there's a conflict, prioritize the other commands."
This directive meant Orsaga intended to use the abyssal baptism triggered by his advancement, letting the evolution system piggyback off the process and, ideally, gain some bonus improvements at no cost.
Clearing a path was difficult, but talking the system into patching things up afterward was much easier. With the Abyss itself paving the way, the system just needed to fine-tune and optimize things behind it.
If it worked, great. If it didn't—well, nothing lost.
This was just an experiment, after all.
As for Note 1, it was straightforward: Orsaga didn't want to be caught helpless during the transformation if some other demon barged in. He'd learned that lesson by the riverbank. He had to make sure he could interrupt the process at any time.
Note 2 was also literal. Even though he was a demon, Orsaga's sense of aesthetics remained mostly human. He didn't want to be stuck with some half-wolf monstrosity for a face. If possible, he wanted to look good. But as a demon, power came first—so if good looks got in the way of strength, he'd gladly scrap that part.
With all preparations complete, Orsaga lay down in the pit he had dug inside the cave, closed his eyes, and began the process of his first advancement.
According to the inherited memories of demons, the advancement from juviline Demon to Minor Demon was one of the most critical. It determined which path a demon would walk. Future advancements only determined how far along that path one could go.
As he fell into slumber, the power of the Abyss stirred. Its blessings passed through countless obstacles to reach him directly, wrapping his body and beginning to purify his demonic bloodline—extracting and enhancing the most exceptional traits.
In the depths of his consciousness, Orsaga saw countless branching paths appear before him—each one a potential direction for advancement. Ghostly figures representing each path snarled and roared before him. Some were savage, others feral, others outright mad. Each displayed their powers in full view.
Normally, demons didn't get to choose from so many options. Their advancement path was dictated by their strength and past achievements. While a demon with the bare minimum 15-point attributes could barely qualify for advancement, one with stats at the 25-point peak would get access to far superior options.
There was no comparison.
And Orsaga? He had slaughtered over a thousand demons along the banks of the River Styx, making him the undisputed top of the current "Abyssal juviline Demon" class.
His brutality and strength perfectly embodied the values of demonkind and the tone of the Abyss itself. In human terms, he'd be a war hero.
So the Abyss rewarded him accordingly—his baptism was several times more potent than what others at his level would receive.
Faced with a dizzying array of choices, Orsaga finally settled on a specialization under the Flame Demon branch: the Mutated Flame Demon.
His demonic bloodline had an innate fire affinity—more precisely, a mutated Bloodflame element. It had higher offensive power and better growth potential than most.
As soon as he made his choice, the advancement officially began.
The abyssal power surged into him, and the evolution system slipped in as well, blending its modifications with the baptism. The Abyss didn't resist—after all, it saw the system as part of Orsaga's will and strength.
Thus, the predetermined "Mutated Flame Demon" template underwent further mutation under the system's influence. Even power that would have normally gone to waste was now absorbed and put to use.
---
Inside the cave, a massive black-red cocoon suddenly cracked open into a cloud of dust.
From within stepped a demon, towering at nearly 2.4 meters tall.
His face still bore faint, tattoo-like markings, but overall, it looked far more human—and disturbingly handsome, with eyes exuding a twisted allure.
He had a tall, muscular build, sculpted with perfectly defined muscles—not overly bulky, not too lean, just the golden ratio.
The previously snake-like scales had now transformed into a bone-like exoskeleton, resembling armor. Only the joints still retained some scale for flexibility.
His sclera remained blood-red, but now had golden slit pupils at the center. His teeth were sharper and denser than a human's, built for tearing.
Two demonic horns curved backward from his head, about five to six centimeters thick and twenty centimeters long. His hair was long and crimson, cascading down to his shoulders.
His hands and feet now had five fingers like a human's—increasing both power and dexterity.
The tail behind him had grown significantly, now stretching to nearly 1.7 meters. Covered in barbed spines, it resembled something out of a sci-fi horror movie—like a Xenomorph's tail, only sleeker and more refined.
He flicked out a forked, serpentine tongue and licked his lips, taking a deep breath.
Orsaga felt amazing.
Power surged from every part of his body—he felt like he could punch his old self to death with one strike.
If he didn't know better, he might have already started getting cocky.
But outside the Demonbone Forest, he was still cannon fodder. There were plenty of creatures that could kill him in a single blow.
The bloodline memories outlined demon ranks as follows:
Juviline Demon → Minor Demon → Lesser Demon→ High Demon → Greater Demon → Archdemon → Demon Lord → Demon Prince
A Demon Prince, also known as an Abyssal Prince, was second only to the Abyssal Will itself—a beloved prince of the Abyss.
Eight ranks in total—and Orsaga had just stepped into the second.
The road ahead was long.
He calmed his excitement and began planning his journey.
---
[Status]
[Host]: Vareth Ogarion Xal'Thaz Orsaga
[Race]: Mutated Flame Demon
[Rank]: Minor Demon
Strength: 40 (5)
Speed: 39 (5)
Constitution: 37 (5)
Magic Power: 41 (5)
Soul: 42 (5)
[Talents]:
• Soul Devour Evolution – Evolves through the consumption of souls.
• Slaughter Evolution – Evolves through combat and killing.
• Combat Instinct – Innate mastery of battle.
• Flesh Assimilation – Fingers & Tail (absorbs and extracts essence from flesh contacted)
•Magic Affinity – Corrosion (more corrosive than standard magic)
•Elemental Affinity – Bloodflame (high-temperature flames that burn flesh and life force)
•Exoskeleton — Bloodthirst (Armored bone shell that can absorb blood to self-repair)
•Energy Vision (Can see energy through most materials)
•Abyssal Contract (Can accept summons and form binding pacts through abyssal power; not even a Demon Prince can break it)
[Skills]:
Fireball (Bloodline Spell, 10%)
Flame Arrow (Bloodline Spell, 10%)
Life Drain (Bloodline Spell, 10%)
Agonizing Strike (Bloodline Spell, 10%)
Soul Shock (Bloodline Spell, 10%)
Evolution Points: 0
> Note: Skill percentages represent proficiency; at 100%, they evolve into stronger spells.
---
Looking over his stats, Orsaga nodded in satisfaction.
His entire foundation had been rebuilt from the ground up. This was a complete upgrade.
According to the system logs, if the Abyss hadn't supplied most of the energy during baptism, he wouldn't have reached this level at all.
All his old talents had been strengthened, and three new ones added: the Bloodthirst Exoskeleton, Energy Vision, and the essential Abyssal Contract—a core ability no real demon could go without.
Without it, how else could a demon visit other worlds and conduct "friendly exchanges"?
As for the new spells, they weren't from the system. They came directly from his bloodline and power level.
Each came with basic proficiency—not enough for mastery, but enough for reliable use.
And because they were bloodline spells, they were all instant-cast. As long as he had the mana, he could keep casting without cooldowns or incantations.
Previously, Orsaga could shape Bloodflame into fireballs or arrows, but they were crude imitations—lacking substance or power.
Now, these were true spells: one unit of effort, ten units of result.
He also sensed that if he learned other spells, they could be added to the system's skill panel. Once there, they'd become failproof: no more casting failures, no forgetfulness. Once learned, forever mastered.