Nihility [ Isekai • Dragon Evolution ]

Another week has passed since I gained my [Elemental Slice] skill and passed out from magicule exhaustion. Yeah, apparently you can pass out from using too much magicules, something about exhausting my mental energies and entering some form of coma as it recovers… Whatever it is, really, I've been asleep for two days straight and after that, I've been forced to train almost non-stop to help master sword techniques. Ferdinand became even more stricter in my training, and made me use my own sword, using my skill to train its use. Thanks to that it leveled up to level 3 and it became easier to use and more efficient in magicule use, meaning I can use the same effect with less magicules wasted. Ferdinand said it was normal for the low levels of skills to become more efficient and easier to use until around level 9, where it becomes more complex with each level up. I asked if there was a limit for skills levels and he answered that each skill had its own progression and that I would need to discover mine alone, as each skill, even [Normal] ones are different for each person and a skill that can increase the stabbing force for one can, instead, increase the cutting edge.

That was a full day of lectures, I didn't even train that day. But thanks to that I can at least understand a little more of the world and the rules governing it. Honestly, it really seems like a game world, and checks every checkmark on the "generic isekai" list, even though instead of a single protagonist, there is a full classroom of "summoned heroes".

Marcos's face flashed across my mind and I stopped that train of thought. Yeah, not everyone has been summoned. I lost my friend in this mess, but it's not like I can complain to anyone here. Well, I could try to complain to the gods, but the ones who answer aren't the ones who would have something to do with it. The ones that could do anything about it are the Greater Gods, but they don't actually interfere with the mortal realm. I learned this in one of the religious lessons they've made us partake in.

Basically, there are gods, ascended mortals who achieved godhood and need faith to survive, meaning they are more active and can even gave a small portion of their powers to mortals, paladins, and then there are the Greater Gods, the ones who actually created the universe and are basically the christian God, all powerful in their respective field and all that.

"But if that's the case, why do you worship the god of space, if he doesn't answer back. Why not worship one of the many other gods?" Jaqueline asked once in the religious class, which instead of receiving a scolding from the priest who was teaching us for disrespecting his religion, received a laugh instead.

Apparently, they do worship other gods, many other gods depending on the person. Apparently having only one faith is uncommon because there are, in fact, multiple gods and not one of them claims to be the one true god. And the reason they have the church of space is more a show of gratitude than proper worship, as the Greater Gods don't need faith to survive, unlike the other gods, and also as a way to remember the times when they were more active in the mortal realm many, many years ago.

They were the ones who initially taught the people on the planet magic and to not rely only on Skills. The ritual the church used to summon us wasn't given to them by the Gods. Apparently it was developed by mortals using the fundamentals of the teachings of the God of Space.

Basically, if I wanted to be angry at someone because this ritual killed one of my best friends, I needed to be angry at a dead guy that, apparently, isn't even dead anymore because it's been so long after their death that they're probably already reincarnated, according to the Church of Death.

I sighed and stored my sword back in my [Inventory], looking at the scene in front of me. We were currently in the outskirts of a forest and the paladins of various churches were inside the forest sending different monsters at us so that we could kill them and level up. Apparently, otherworlders (as they call us) had an easier time leveling up and obtaining skills, even leveling up we gain more status points than the average person… honestly, can you spell "protagonist" more clearly than that?.

After a few more hours of basically power leveling, the paladins told us that it was enough for today, and that tomorrow we would be portalled to one of the front lines where the half demons were most active, as we were already at the strength level of the basic soldiers, even though some of the paladins looked at us with disgust as they said it.

We returned to our dorms exhausted. I resisted going to my bed else I would fall asleep drenched in sweat, so I went to the bathroom and pressed the rune in the wall that released the water from the shower head, but I didn't press the one that would heat it up, else I would probably fall asleep in the shower, again.

I stored my armor in my [Inventory], a neat little trick I learned about my skill. I could store and put pieces of clothes and armor directly on my body, and then I entered the cold shower, letting it cool my body down as I opened my status screen and stared at it.

In this short week I had already leveled up 9 times, and it was exhausting. My body was hurting from so many level ups in one go, as I learned it takes a small amount of time for the body to adapt to the leveled up status, and rushing levels could be detrimental to one's health. But, apparently our bodies being refined through the summoning ritual made us resistant to this type of complication.

I sighed and opened [Friendlist], staring at a single entry in the list, even if it made my head hurt whenever I did it.

[M̶̟͗à̷͎r̵͈͝c̴̼̀o̶̖̚s̸͎͐ ̷̹̔L̸̢͗e̴̠̎a̶̩͂n̷̼̐d̷̺̽r̶̛͍o̶̥͒ ̶̾͜N̵͖̕á̷̻h̶̦̔a̷͔͑ľ̶͇a̸̩̿ ̸̕͜[̶̘͂ ̴̧̐Ḿ̶̡ā̴̭r̵̬̉c̸̰̾o̵̝͋s̷͖̚ ̸͍̌]̵͖͌ ̷̲̈-̶̜͛ ̵̞̆E̸̝͂R̶̖͠R̴̠̍O̷͉̐R̸̼͋ ]

I felt tears swell in my eyes. I knew it wasn't my fault he died, but again, you can't blame someone if they cry because one of their best friends died and he managed to live a isekai fan's dream of going to another world. Eventually I couldn't hold it anymore and with a shout I punched the wall, and because of my superhuman strength, my fist passed through the stones, smashing everything in its path.

I held my hand in the hole I just made for a few moments before pulling it back and closing the shower. I looked at the hole I just made, and then the other four ones I had made the previous days. I just sighed and dried myself before going to bed and sleeping for the night.

The next morning, only the dull pain in my mind reminded me that I should make the most of this opportunity, for Marcos. I got up, washed myself, brushed my teeth with my declining toothpaste tube that got transported with us and went to get some breakfast with the others. I sat with Alex, but she doesn't seem to be taking the new world. Her eyes are sulked and her hair is a mess, it seems she didn't rest for a moment after getting here. I really wish I could do more to help her, but whenever I try to talk with her, she just brushes me off.

After breakfast, we all go to one of the patios in the church, where a group of priests are located in a circular pattern. They said for us to move inside the circle, which we complied with, and before long they started chanting and drawing magical circles in the air and ground.

The memory of Marcos saying he saw lines appearing in the classroom flashes through my mind, but I quench it down so as to not cause distractions.

"We will be sending you to one of the front line camps. We lost contact with them a few minutes ago. They probably are in need of reinforcements and your job, once there, is to assess the situation and help them in whatever they might need" One of the paladins said as the ground shone with light and a dizzying feeling came over me.

The dizziness was over just as it started, meaning the teleportation was finished. My eyes took a second longer to adjust to where we were, but as soon I could see properly again I had to draw my sword from my [Inventory] and defend myself from a claw that was coming straight to my neck. I managed to block the attack and slash at the opponent that I only now could see.

The one attacking me was a woman, her skin was a sickened red, her eyes were a bright red with vertical pupils, she had no hair and her teeth were pointed and was making a guttural growl.

I was momentarily stunned by the appearance of the half-demon in front of me. Even though we were told about their appearances, to see it in front of you was something else entirely. The half-demon used my momentary distraction and managed to get a swipe with her sharp claws that came out of her fingers, slashing me on my arm. I retaliated by slashing my sword with the ice element that froze her head solid, ending the fight.

I looked at the wound and it was thankfully shallow. Straightening my posture I looked around me to see that everyone else was already engaging in combat with one half-demon or another and that the encampment that we were sent to was already ablaze, with only a few soldiers here and there trying to fight back and escape with their lives, the place was now a graveyard filled with half-demons and the mutilated corpses of the soldiers that once lived here. There were a few buildings still burning from the chaos while the rest were just a pile of ashes with smoke rising up like a flag of death.

It took me a moment to register the smell of blood that drenched the place, and a look at the ground gave me the answer to where that smell was coming from. A few meters away from us, from the teleportation circle, there was an ocean of bodies on the ground, mostly half-demons but there were the soldiers and mages from the encampment mixed in the piles of bodies. I supressed the urge to vomit from all the mutilated bodies splashed on the ground with my will and thrusted my blade with the fire element in another half-demon that was approaching me with his jaw wide open, trying to bite my neck off.

The flame on my sword engulfed the half-demon. I pushed back my sword and cut his head clean off. I then locked my eyes to the next half-demon I saw, my rage swelling up inside me. How could someone do such evil acts and stay without justice? No. I wouldn't let this go like this. I made a promise to find the vampire lord who unleashed this horde of half-demons and end his life. He would need to repent his actions in the realm of the dead, as I wouldn't allow his continued existence in the mortal realm any longer.

I slashed my sword in the air and ran towards my target. The compressed air I shot using the wind element threw the half-demon out of balance and I finished him with a thrust of my sword directly into his face.

Stepping on the corpse, I pulled my sword free, already looking for another target and running straight at it with fury in my eyes.