EVIL SYSTEM

The cars continued driving through the night. They were afraid of encountering that truck driver again if they slowed down.

Ben felt pressured as he recalled the fight with the truck driver. His ego had gotten the better of him after believing he was incredibly powerful for killing a family of weaklings and some low-level gang members.

He didn't want to waste his points unnecessarily, but he also couldn't risk his life just to be stingy.

After all, he could always gather more evil points by killing another group of undesirables.

Ben checked his status.

[Status]

Benjamin Clay

Age: 16

Physical: 100

Magic: 228

Affinities:

Lightning: Basic Intermediate Level (53 stars)

Curse: Basic Intermediate Level (53 stars)

Summoning: Elemental Level (12 stars)

Darkness: Elemental Level (10 stars)

Spells: [Lightning Field] [Cursed Space] [Summoning] [Shadow Leap]

Gifts: [Dual Affinity] [Super Regeneration]

Evil Points: 2,274,613

His physical stats had increased after leveling up his Summoning and Darkness elements.

But even with a physique ten times stronger than an average adult and charged with magic, Ben hadn't been able to harm the truck driver.

Ben started investing his points, first in his Summoning element.

[Evil Points -131]

[Summoning: Mid Elemental Level]

[Evil Points -1,024]

[Summoning: Peak Elemental Level]

[Evil Points -59,049]

[Summoning: Saturated Elemental Level]

Ben spent another 20,000 points to break through to the intermediate level.

[Summoning: Basic Intermediate Level]

[Physical +2]

[Magic +100]

Ben hadn't noticed these notifications during his previous advancements, but how could he in such a situation?

Fortunately, the Summoning element didn't create any anomalies around him. His body simply glowed silver for a moment before the light faded.

Now Ben could summon another creature, something he'd save for later.

For now, he focused on continuing his progress.

[Evil Points -515]

[Darkness: Mid Elemental Level]

[Evil Points -1,024]

[Darkness: Peak Elemental Level]

[Evil Points -59,049]

[Darkness: Saturated Elemental Level]

Ben wanted to break through to the intermediate level with his Darkness element, but he was fairly certain it would create a big spectacle, just like his Lightning element had when it leveled up.

For hours, his status remained like this:

[Status]

Benjamin Clay

Age: 16

Physical: 120

Magic: 340

Affinities:

Lightning: Basic Intermediate Level (53 stars)

Curse: Basic Intermediate Level (53 stars)

Summoning: Basic Intermediate Level (50 stars)

Darkness: Saturated Elemental Level (40 stars)

Spells: [Lightning Field] [Cursed Space] [Summoning] [Shadow Leap]

Gifts: [Dual Affinity] [Super Regeneration]

Evil Points: 2,133,821

He also wanted to level up his intermediate elements, but he couldn't do it in front of everyone.

He needed to be alone, as no one knew he had four elements.

Everyone thought his Lightning element was his primary and Summoning his secondary.

That would be his alibi to throw off anyone trying to connect him to his other identity.

The killer with Darkness and Curse elements.

...

Dante and the group drove all night until they reached a small town called Shorecastle.

"Welcome to Shorecastle," Dante smiled as he got out of the minivan, visibly tired.

Ben raised an eyebrow.

Shorecastle was his grandfather's hometown, the place where he was born and raised.

It was also where the house his grandfather had left him was located.

The group stopped at a small restaurant to have breakfast.

Everyone ate without much energy and booked rooms to get some sleep.

Ben, on the other hand, went out for a walk.

He had a lot to do.

First, he went to an electronics store and bought a new smartphone.

He bought the same model he had before, not wanting to complicate things.

After thinking for a few seconds, he also bought one for Dante.

Both of them had been too poor to afford gas, let alone a smartphone. But thanks to the money he took from Hubert, he had plenty to spare now.

When he turned on his new phone, the first thing that caught his attention were the news and social media posts about the Butcher of Azakur.

His eyebrows furrowed as he saw his masked image in every post.

This is going to be a problem!

Ben put the phone in his pocket and headed to a clothing store.

He'd been wearing the same clothes for a long time, and Judy had been giving him weird looks.

He wasn't very picky about clothes, so he simply bought the first black cargo pants and white t-shirt he found.

He also bought two sets of clothes, a pair of shorts, and a jacket.

He had to buy a bag to carry everything.

After that, Ben headed to his own house.

He wanted to see what the house his grandfather had left him looked like.

And of course, take his money.

Ben walked for a good 40 minutes, but as he approached the address, his frown deepened.

He remembered the address of the house and then looked at the two-story house in front of him.

*This was the address!*

So... why was it occupied?

*Who's in my house?*

Not knowing what was going on, he rang the doorbell.

Ben waited outside for a few seconds until he heard footsteps approaching.

A beautiful woman opened the door and looked at him, confused.

"Yes? How can I help you?" she asked kindly.

"Excuse me if I'm wrong, but is this the address: Pretón Street, number 13-71?" Ben asked, a bit unsure.

"Yes, it is," the woman replied, now a bit hesitant.

Ben scratched his head, not knowing how to approach the topic.

"Who are you?" Ben suddenly asked.

"Excuse me?" The woman seemed very confused.

"This is my house! And I'm wondering, who are you and why are you living here?"

"What's going on?" A deep voice came from behind the woman, and a large, well-dressed man in a suit appeared. "Who is this kid?"

"He says this is his house," the woman replied, still not understanding the situation.

The man frowned, clearly annoyed.

"Close the door. We don't have time for these jokes."

The woman tried to close the door, but Ben stopped her.

"This isn't a joke," Ben said, looking at the man. "Who are you, and why are you in my house?"

The woman tried to close the door with all her strength, but she couldn't move Ben an inch.

"Kid, you'd better leave us alone, or we'll call the police!" the man threatened.

"That's fine with me," Ben said, easily pushing the door open and sitting down on the living room couch. "That way, you can explain to them why you're trespassing in my house."

The man couldn't believe what he was seeing and was clearly furious.

He might have lunged at Ben if his wife hadn't stopped him.

"Calm down, honey! Don't make a scene," the woman said, trying to calm him. "We just need to call the police, and this will all be sorted out."

The man was still fuming.

"Think about the kids."

The man looked up at the stairs, where a boy and a girl were watching curiously.

*Tch.*

The man clicked his tongue and took out his phone to call the police.

They waited about ten minutes for the police to arrive, and the man invited them in.

The man and woman explained to the police that Ben was an intruder who had invaded their home and claimed to own it.

The officers turned to Ben, who told his side of the story.

He explained that he was the rightful owner of the house, inherited from his grandfather, and so on.

The police were unsure who was telling the truth.

"This is our house!" the man said, agitated. He ran upstairs and returned with some papers. "See? These are the property deeds."

The police examined the documents for a few minutes and nodded.

"They're real."

"What?!" Ben stood up, shocked, and grabbed the deeds from the police. "This can't be true. This is my house!"

Ben stared at the deeds, unable to believe it.

The police took the papers back and approached him.

"You're under arrest for trespassing on private property," one of the officers said, trying to handcuff him.

"Wait! You're arresting me for entering my own house?" Ben asked, incredulous.

"This isn't your house, sir," the officer said, cuffing him while he was distracted. "You'll have to come with us to the station."

Ben closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to control his temper.

"I'll go with you," Ben said, not resisting. But he flexed his hands slightly and broke the handcuffs.

He finished destroying the metal around his wrists and sighed.

"But no handcuffs," Ben said, moving his hands uncomfortably and recalling unpleasant memories. "I don't like handcuffs."

The police, the man, and the woman stared at him with wide eyes.

Ben cooperated with the police and got into the patrol car without resistance.

Back in the house, the man and woman let out a breath they didn't realize they'd been holding.

The man, in particular, felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

He thought about how lucky he was to have listened to his wife.

He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if he'd tried to fight that guy.