DEMON'S VIRTUE

"Oh!" Eiro exclaimed in surprise, before the others looked over toward him curiously. "Something good happen?" Arc asked from next to him, trying to peek into his eyes to try the impossible task of catching a glimpse of the Imp's status, and Eiro just quickly nodded his head. "My Botany Level went up five times today. I didn't level it up at all since Winter started." Eiro pointed out, before Jura just quietly chuckled and pushed a spoon of the stew in front of him into his mouth.

"Well, well, who'd have thought that finding and gathering plants that grow nearly purely due to the fact that a Lady is coming are so helpful for that?" The old man asked with a slightly sarcastic laugh, but Eiro just stared back at him, really not appreciating such a thing, although he soon relaxed and happily started eating this favorite stew of his.

It had a fair bit of meat inside, a lot of it being meat that was taken from different animals' internal organs, which was something the Imp somehow really enjoyed. There was one ingredient in here that couldn't properly be eaten besides when it was prepared in the right manner beforehand. And that manner was the thing that created the horrid smell and smoke that the Imp was trying to see if he could notice it from the forest before.

It was called a Rancid Root, because it simply had such a rancid odor and appearance that you didn't want to even have it in the same room as you when eating a food you loved. But after sitting in salt for a day and then being roasted, it was basically like that 'rancid' part was simply being burnt off, and after that the root became an incredible ingredient!

Rudy usually made a bit more of it than he needed for the stew, because when the root was then cut up into strips and dried, it was a really nice, albeit as chewy as dry leather, snack that the Imp usually took with him on his way to town.

And as it was an ingredient that grew in any environment, they were growing it in a small spot at the foot of the mountain.

With a smile on his face, Eiro continued on eating now and slowly ran his finger through his status to make it disappear, although Sammy looked over toward him with a slight frown.

"Eh... It keeps surprising me when you do that..." Sammy muttered quietly, and Rudy immediately nodded his head, "Right?! I get that it's a habit, but you can just 'think' the notifications away..." He pointed out, but Eiro just quietly huffed and looked back at them.

"They are annoying, and I dislike them... So I want to annoy them as much as I can as well." The Imp pointed out, and Arc immediately started to laugh out loud. "Damn, you might as well be the smartest person I know, but you're so dumb sometimes!" He exclaimed, and Eiro just stared back at him for a moment while feeling his chest tighten for a moment.

What was this feeling? He really, really didn't know exactly, but it made it impossible for the Imp to swallow the food in his mouth, to speak, or even breath, as his throat felt stuffed. He could feel his own heart suddenly beating much more strongly than before.

For just a moment, Eiro thought that maybe he was feeling upset at being called a 'person', but it might have been the opposite. He was happy... being called one. And it wasn't that he thought he wanted to be a person all of a sudden, that definitely wasn't it at all. It was just that... Eiro was happy that the children seemed to so naturally think of him as their own, despite that very obviously not being the case. Anyone with the ability of sight could know. Although, maybe even that wasn't necessary, considering that Jura obviosuly knew this as well.

So for some reason, this was just... so nice for Eiro to hear. He himself couldn't explain it, but it definitely was a thing.

And so, the Imp just started smiling like an idiot in response to what Arc just said, which weirded them all out even more, before they continued eating.

After dinner, Eiro quickly stood up and checked up on the different dried things before he turned over toward Jura.

"What else do we need to do with these?" The Imp asked, still slightly smiling from before, and Jura slightly crossed his arms. "We just need to take it with us later on, so make sure it's dry and then place it to the side." Jura pointed out, so Eiro ended up just nodding his head before properly taking another look at these materials, taking them away from the fire before putting that colorful, currently pink, fire out.

Swiftly, Eiro then made his way to the table and placed the different things down there, before stepping up to the door to put his jacket, cloak, and shoes back on.

"The horned rabbit should have bled out by now, I will take care of it real quick." Eiro said, before slowly opening the door, although Jura swiftly turned toward him as he did so.

"Hm, there seems to be something running around outside... It blends in pretty well, but smells like a monster... It walks on two legs... Could you take care of that as well?" Jura asked Eiro, who turned toward him surprised.

"Sure... Do you know what kind of monster it is?" The Imp inquired, but Jura slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I don't recognize that scent. But it doesn't seem that strong... You should be able to take it. It's in the direction of that place in the river you always go to." Jura explained, so Eiro nodded and just stepped out the door, quickly closing it behind him. He would just let the rabbit bleed a little longer, then.

And so, while trying to make use of the thin path that Jura cleared up before, the Imp stepped down the hill and tried to take a look around. His senses were incredibly dull when compared to Jura's, but he still trusted in his nose, eyes and ears, so he was sure he could be able to find it if he needed to.

Soon enough, that time had already come as well. He was hearing snow and sticks cracking underneath heavy footsteps, and when the Imp approached the source of those sounds, he soon saw the monster that created them.

It was tall, very, very tall. It was even larger than the house Eiro lived in, and its breath turned into thick mist comparable to when you poured water on hot coals. Its upper body had a stature comparable to a bear's, although its limbs were thin in comparison.

It had no hair all at any place on its body, and its eyes were slightly glowing like the moon was. It had two large horns on top of its head, and behind it, it was dragging something by its single antler.

It was that incredibly pressuring Stag that Eiro first met a few months ago. He saw it a couple of times since then, and each time it stayed around him a little longer, as if trying to watch him do his thing. The first few times the Imp was barely able to move, but soon enough, he got used to the Stag sometimes just appearing out of seemingly nowhere.

But what shocked him even more was... That such an obviously powerful being was defeated by this... this thing. Was this not what Jura was speaking about? It couldn't be! Eiro wasn't capable of taking this on in any way, shape or form, not to mention kill it!

On the other hand, the monster in front of the Imp was able to do so quite easily, and swung its long, thick arm forward, trying to use the large Stag's body like a weapon. Eiro was able to dodge, luckily, but he soon heard the sound of the stag crying out in response to its body hitting the ground strongly.

Eiro could swear that he heard bones cracking as well, but that wasn't of importance right now. Rather, the Imp had to do something, anything, to get this monster to just leave. If he didn't, the children might be in danger.

Just then, the Imp remembered the two tools he hadn't used once ever since he first got here. Jura told him he wasn't allowed to, and as such Eiro just had them with him, tied to his chest with some cloth at all times so that he couldn't lose them no matter what. Slowly, the Imp just ground his teeth together as he stared at the monster. "Jura, if I can use my cards, give me a sign. Anything at all." Eiro yelled out loudly, although even a whisper should have been enough to reach the old man's ears.

And a few moments later, Eiro could see a bright green light in the sky above the house. It was probably a piece of that Jura's special wood that was ignited and thrown into the air. But the Imp didn't care about what it was, what he cared about was one thing.

That he might be able to kill this thing now.

Immediately, the Imp placed his left hand against his chest and pushed his mana into them, before a ring appeared around the Imp's left index finger, connected to the Imp's dagger through a thin thread.

And at the same time, a golden, decorated cup appeared in Eiro's hand, with a pitch black liquid inside of it that the Demon quickly poured down his throat. It tasted completely disgusting, to the point of nearly making him throw up just by having a droup touch his tongue...

But then, Eiro's body simply disappeared from the Monster's sight and mind, as it was trying to think about what exactly it was just doing and then made its way over toward the Stag.

However, Eiro didn't let it do that, and slowly climbed up on the Monster's back, immediately trying to push the blade into the back of its neck, although the Imp really wasn't able to properly see, hear, smell, or feel anything that was going on around him. He could somewhat see the Monster's figure, but he couldn't really. It was as if it was there, but at the same time wasn't.

But in the end, the Imp managed to inflict a fair bit of damage to this monster, although it didn't seem like the monster cared much about it, as it just continued walking on. Eiro couldn't technically see the damage it did to the monster, but his blade was pushed deep into the Monster's neck, so he didn't understand how it couldn't affect the monster.

However, because Eiro couldn't really think straight, he just kept going, just continuosly stabbing this monster over and over and over again, always at the same spot, right into the center of its neck.

Then, all of a sudden, the world returned to what it was before, and the body of the monster nearly instantly collapsed underneath the Imp, making him drop down into the snow himself, as multiple notifications appared around him.

[You have activated the Ace of Cups. For the next 12 hours, you will evade the world, and the world will evade you]

[Apprentice Stealth Skill Leveled Up!]

[Apprentice Stealth Skill Leveled Up!]

...

[Apprentice Stealth Skill Leveled Up!]

[Frozen Monstrosity -1928 Damage]

[Frozen Monstrosity -2156 Damage]

...

[Frozen Monstrosity -2084 Damage]

[Lethal Damage done to Frozen Monstrosity]

[Due to going against the nature of the Ace of Cups of evading the world by killing a creature with its help, a cooldown penalty has been applied]

[Ace of Cups Cooldown: 364 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes, 59 Seconds]

[You leveled Up!]

[You have 1 unused Stat Point!]

[You have reached Level 100]

[Possible Evolutions]

-[Greater Scholar Imp]

-[Magic Scholar Imp]

-[Nature Scholar Imp]

-[Hidden Scholar Imp]

[As a Card Owner, you have access to a Unique Evolution. Do you want to commence Evolution into a Unique Subspecies of Scholar Imp?]