Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World

He didn't have long till the last sixteen groups would fight, which meant he would need to fight another five battles to finish the tournament, which made Ryuji wonder about countless things.

Alicia's kinsmen, would they reject her because of her changes... would they try to take her by force?

The noble coming to try to wed Liana, what if he lacked the strength to save her, to stop it... He felt a sense of anxiety and the need to grow stronger; thanks to his demon lord class doubling experience gained, he entered alone, prepared to fight like someone without brains.

The town had a shelter that would protect the inhabitants in case of a severe snowstorm. He noticed that the skeletons at the gate were quite slow and lacked the same feeling as the ones on the wall; Ryuji realised that just smashing with his axe could no longer be how he lived, though he wouldn't stop.

He began to think and use this magic given to him, though he couldn't be like Paul, who was a natural wizard. Ryuji also carried his ideas and a vision of how he wanted to fight in the future.

"Fireball."

A small, flickering orb of flame formed above his palm, giving off a low heat.

"So weak... it feels like a light summer breeze... Now, is it because I relied on the word or that my mind instinctively made it weaker because of the blizzard and icy cold around me?"

Though his flame was tiny, Ryuji felt as though his understanding of the spell was wrong, which is why he went into the dungeon alone. This wasn't just about grinding monsters but to train himself in secret. He crushed the small flame and stood at the gate, his blue eyes tracing along the walls.

'I want a spell that doesn't need to be targeted, that will attack the enemies I want from the moment I see them... But that might be a skill rather than a spell... How can I make it a spell? What can I imagine... to make it appear or manifest?'

He walked into the empty courtyard, his body tense, and began to think.

'Let's just focus on the flame for now and ignore the other elements. If I focus on the mana flow, I can feel the heat rising, but it feels unstable like the fire could go out any second... I want the flame to stay on for as long as possible. Then to attack enemies that I have chosen so I can fight with both magic and metal at the same time.'

He thought of things like crosshairs, iron sights, dot sights... then he thought of something, a game that he played once at Alex's house, neither fantasy nor fighting... It was a game called Armoured Centre... in the game, you would create a custom robot, but the key wasn't this: the robots could lock on to the enemy using their AI, and Ryuji thought AI and magic could operate similarly.

His mind raced as the snow piled up around him, covering his white cloak and making him turn pale white like a snowman.

"Trace their mana... store the unique mana signal in my brain, using my demon eyes... then from there, can I use my imagination to emulate the lock-on system?"

'If I can, it could be a big step forward in my magic... However, it's just an idea, and who knows if it will work... I guess there is only one way to find out.'

'Focus on the skeleton in front of me, and then...'

Ryuji began to walk forward, his eyes flickering with magical light as he stared into the small flame eyes of the skeleton above him.

"Fireball... Lock-on."

He focused, and in his mind, a small image of the skeleton began to form; as the skeleton turned, looking towards Ryuji, suddenly, the small, flickering flame shot out at incredible speed, exploding the skeleton's head and leaving only a few bones that fell to the ground.

'Not quite... it only shows when the enemy turns hostility... wait? That feature, reacting to hostility... can it work? Can I use this too...'

The dead skeleton dropped to the ground, and a soft voice sounded in his mind; now he was sure, though at first, it felt close to his mothers. This voice became more like Serena each day.

[Gained: Skeleton Archer Marking (Common)]

"I see, I can even mark enemies... now, can I make the marking react to an enemy being in my field of vision, or do I have to say the spell, though I want to be stealthier..."

He thought about this as he walked forward, his eyes flickering with a strange, azure light with moderate-sized fireballs forming behind him constantly. The moment a skeleton looked his way, one or two would shoot out like a barrage of missiles and destroy the enemy.

'This could be a useful skill... now I just need to test it more thoroughly. However, before I do, I need to think of a name.'

Ryuji continued to use the fireballs to destroy the skeletons, slowly moving towards the centre, though he felt that the monsters inside were a lot weaker compared to the ones he met before. Alan said that the true dungeon started once he entered the keep, and outside, the monsters were closer to a D-Rank dungeon.

[Proficiency with Fire Magic Increased!]

[Intellect Increased by 5]

[Proficiency with Arcane magic increased]

[Intellect Increased by 20]

[New Spells Created!]

[Barrage: Store several spells that last until used. Enemies that become hostile or intend to attack will trigger the spell. Automatically fires a barrage of Magic with damage based on proficiency in that element, storing up to 12 spells.]

[Flame Barrage: Store several fireballs that last until used. When an enemy or hostile existence intends to attack you, the spell will automatically fire a barrage of (D-Rank/Fire Proficiency Rating) fireballs. (Stores: 12, Can be triggered manually)]

"A skill created just from using fireballs this much... not bad."

Ryuji thought that his control had grown, though he realised it wasn't just using a lot of magic, but the control was essential.

'That's fine; I can increase my magical control and proficiency at the same time... If I use the spell too much, I can increase its rank and the number of fireballs that can be stored, and damage will increase. Though if I do too much, I risk burning through mana fast.'

Ryuji's eyes were now filled with a fierce desire to train, to improve. He thought of more efficient ways to use this feature, and with a thought, a barrage of 12 fireballs appeared, each one burning with a deep and violent intensity, so much so that the cold no longer reached his body. Instead, he felt quite warm.

"Fire barrage."

The fireballs shot forward at high velocity, the entire area turning silent after a series of pops and the sounds of explosions from atop the wall. In the next moment, a cracking bone filled his ears while the heat made his cheeks tingle, though not with pain.

The snow in the air began to melt from the heat and fall to the ground, revealing a small courtyard with only the occasional skeleton or two.

'This is what you get from using magic on a scale that the average person couldn't... if the others could, I am sure they would all have their style of combat, but it is fine. This will be a style that I can develop from now on, though I want a cool spell that is like a beam attack... I can't fight with my axe then...'

With a thought, a series of twelve flaming orbs appeared, and Ryuji stepped towards the keep's entrance.

"Anstraud Keep... huh?" Ryuji seemed to be excited—the sizzling of bone, skeletons crumbling from his magic and the feeling of being some kind of evil mage with an artillery system made him grow excited as he massacred the town of low-level zombies.

[Level Up: Demon Lord (Lv.16)] +5

[Level Up: Sanguine Berserker (Lv.24)] +4

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Status

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Name: Ryuji Vincenzo

Title: Deathbringer (Kobold), Murderer (Human)

1st Class: Demon Lord: Lv.16 (Hidden to Others)

2nd Class: Sanguine Berserker: Lv.24

Rage: 0/120 (0 Reserved) [40% damage resist] [50% Fire Resist]

Rank: A / (SS+)

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Attributes

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Strength: 115 (+13)

Agility: 73 (+5)

Stamina: 86 (+3)

Grit: 155 (+10)

Intellect: 148 (+13)

Current Strength: Equal to a Level 52 (Lowest Rank-A Knight/Adventurer)

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Magic Proficiency:

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Arcane: Grade-E

Fire: Grade-E

Ice: Grade-F

Wind: Grade-F

Earth: Grade-F

Blood: Grade-E

Shadow: Grade-E

—

Ryuji stood in the centre of the half destroyed city, he looked around at the piles of ash, broken stone and damage his new magic caused.

'Now I know why mages are seen as a force that should be respected, this is insane, the destruction the spell caused is far superior to my axe, and if I use my blood magic, I am sure that I could even kill a weak Rank-A adventurer...'

He didn't feel bad though, because of his progress, it wouldn't be over in a day and could take months, so the small improvement felt like enough for Ryuji.

'Though, well, if I want to use the ability properly, I need to keep practising and alternating the elements... Fire stopped rising when reaching E even though I am a demon lord... is E maybe my current limit? Do I need to reach level 20? Or level 30?''

[Correct you are being limited by the world and it's laws. Although your actual magic is probably far stronger than a normal human mage at level 16 and Grade-E fire magic. You cannot increase further until reaching Level 20, then the limit will be D.]

'....It's the damn world if not the gods!'