EVIL SYSTEM

After lunch, when the sun had dipped a little lower, the bus and everyone else got out of their seats and gathered around Ben.

He had told Dante that the element he awakened upon reaching the intermediate rank was the Summoning element.

Every mage had the ability to awaken a new element with each level they surpassed.

That is, an intermediate mage could have 2 elements. An advanced mage, 3. And a super mage, 4.

In Ben's case, if he ever reached that legendary level, he could have up to 8 elements.

This was also a way to measure a mage's strength. It wasn't the same for a mage like Ben, who only had one of his elements at the intermediate level, compared to someone who had both elements at the intermediate level.

Somehow, the information had spread, and everyone gathered to watch him perform his summoning.

"Wow, the Summoning element!" The guys were excited.

"I heard it's a very rare element."

"I've never seen a summoning before."

"They say the summoning always represents who you are as a person," one of them whispered. "If you summon a bear, it means you're strong and tenacious, things like that."

"That's pure speculation; it's never been proven true."

Ben noticed everyone staring but tried not to let their gazes affect him.

*'Dante can't keep a secret,'* Ben complained internally.

He closed his eyes and focused on the stars of the Summoning element in his consciousness.

The stars began to glow and release magic. One by one, the stars fused together until only one remained, overflowing with magic.

The lone star began to crack, like some kind of egg.

Outside his consciousness, on the side of the road, the guys and girls opened their eyes in surprise as a bright light began to manifest in front of Ben.

The glow started off very soft, but after a while, it became so intense that it forced them to close their eyes.

The star in his consciousness cracked completely and disappeared.

Ben opened his eyes, a little unsure, and looked at the bright light that slowly began to recede.

When the light disappeared, he found himself staring at the creature on the ground, looking back at him with big, adorable eyes.

It was a dog!

His summon was a dog!

To be more precise, it was a small puppy that looked like a Pitbull.

The puppy wasn't much bigger than Ben's hand and began barking excitedly, running around him.

Seriously?

Ben felt disappointed and even a little offended.

This is the animal that represents me? The one that's closest to defining who I am?

Ben immediately thought about how Charly, Darnell, and his friends had called him their dog for so long.

His teeth clenched at the memory.

"It's so cute!!" Judy squealed excitedly, picking up the little puppy and cradling it in her hands, petting it.

Some of the resentment Ben felt toward the puppy faded immediately when he saw Judy's excited smile.

Shen Huiliang joined Judy, and they began playing with the little puppy.

The guys also quickly grew fond of the puppy.

"What are you going to name it?" Judy asked.

Ben didn't know how to respond, caught off guard by Judy's sudden attention.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"We should name him Fluffy."

The puppy seemed to have a high level of intelligence, as it shrunk back and looked sad.

Ben laughed at the puppy's reaction.

"How about Cerberus?" Ben suggested.

The puppy perked up excitedly and struck a heroic pose, head held high.

Judy laughed at its antics and whispered, "I'm still calling you Fluffy."

The puppy lowered its head.

Everyone laughed and took turns petting Cerberus, aka Fluffy.

++++

After some time of laughter and jokes, they got back into their vehicles and continued on their way.

Judy and Shen Huiliang stayed with Cerberus to play with him.

Dante was driving while Ben focused on checking his status screen, unsure what to do with so many evil points.

[Status]

Benjamin Clay

Age: 16

Physical: 90

Magic: 224

Affinities:

Lightning: Basic Intermediate Level (53 stars)

Curse: Basic Intermediate Level (53 stars)

Summoning: Elemental Level (12 stars)

Darkness: No Level (6 stars)

Spells: [Lightning Field] [Cursed Space]

Gifts: [Dual Affinity] [Super Regeneration]

Evil Points: 2,344,628

The first thing he thought about was buying another Gift. Both of his current ones had proven very useful and almost felt like a kind of cheat.

But it seemed he couldn't have more than 3 Gifts.

There were super-powerful Gifts that cost millions, and he didn't want to waste his last Gift on something weak and cheap.

With so many evil points, Ben couldn't be too stingy, so he spent a few points to raise his Darkness element to the Elemental level.

[Evil Points -15]

A dark aura briefly appeared on Ben's body for a few seconds before disappearing just as quickly.

Ben looked around to see if anyone had noticed and sighed when he saw no one was watching.

He spent over two hours browsing the system shop before finally deciding on a spell.

[Evil Points -70,000]

It was extremely expensive for just an Elemental-level spell, but its utility made it worth it.

[Shadow Leap]

It was a movement ability that allowed him to teleport to any shadow or darkness in his surroundings.

The ability consumed a large amount of magic and couldn't be used over long distances, but it was perfect for him.

[Evil Points: 2,274,613]

Looking at the massive number of evil points, Ben couldn't help but think about killing every scumbag he came across.

Just killing about 40 gang members had given him so many points.

Ben glanced in the rearview mirror of the minivan.

Hubert was following them in his car.

After the massacre, Hubert had asked—or rather, begged—Ben to let him follow.

He said he had nothing left to live for and wanted to follow Ben to help rid the world of scum like the Sons of Hell.

Ben didn't want any burdens or followers.

But Hubert managed to convince him by promising he wouldn't be a burden.

Ben's thoughts were interrupted when Dante suddenly slammed on the brakes.

The minivan's tires screeched on the asphalt before coming to a complete stop just before hitting the bus, which had also stopped.

"What happened?" Ben asked Dante.

The girls were also surprised and confused.

Dante didn't answer and got out of the minivan. Ben followed him to see that the guys from the bus had also gotten out and were looking at something in front of the bus.

Curious, Ben approached Dante and craned his neck to see what had caught their attention.

Lying on the ground was a woman in her 20s. She had short brown hair and was wearing very little clothing, which was torn.

Her body was covered in bruises and blood. She barely seemed alive, her chest rising and falling weakly.

"What do we do?" one of the guys asked.

"Help her, of course," another replied without hesitation.

"Doesn't it seem strange to find her like this in the middle of the road?"

"It could be a scam."

Everyone looked thoughtful.

Fan Mo approached her and checked her pulse. He examined her wounds and frowned in concern.

"We can't just leave her here on the side of the road," Dante said. "It doesn't matter if it's a scam. But what if it's not? We'd be leaving someone to die when we could've saved her."

His words left the guys in an even greater dilemma.

"That's true..." another guy murmured. "But what if she's dangerous?"

"We can take her," Dante offered. "We still have room in the minivan. Besides, we just need to take her to a hospital, and we'll have done our part in helping her."

Everyone was still hesitant.

"Don't worry," Dante patted Ben's shoulder firmly. "We've got Ben in the minivan; if she tries anything, she'll get a good beating."

Some of the guys laughed and nodded.

Ben raised an eyebrow at Dante but didn't say anything to object.

Six of the guys lifted her, as the woman seemed to be in too much pain for just two to carry her.

Judy, Shen Huiliang, and Ryuji were surprised when they suddenly brought a badly injured woman into the minivan.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow in question at Ben. Shrugging, Ben pointed his thumb at Dante.

Ryuji shook his head and sighed.

The three of them took care of cleaning the woman's wounds and making her as comfortable as possible.

++++

Several hundred meters back, Hubert stopped and watched the whole process.

The sound of typing on a laptop irritated him, but he didn't say anything.

Suzanne was focused on the computer, quickly scrolling through articles and news.

A big smile spread across her face when she found something online.

"Look, Hubert," Suzanne showed him the laptop screen. "The Butcher of Azakur is getting more and more famous; he even has his own bounty now."

Hubert looked at the screen, which showed Ben wearing the demon mask he had bought a long time ago.

[THE BUTCHER OF AZAKUR]

DEAD OR ALIVE

[BOUNTY: 1,000,000 ARGENS]

Far in the distance, a truck was parked. Its driver watched through binoculars as the group picked up the woman and helped her.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, he started the engine.