CHAPTER 33: ONE MORE S RANK SKILL

Damian knew it would be risky to get close to the demon without being seen, but he had to try no matter what.

He didn’t head straight to the waterfall. Instead, he moved through the forest, using the vegetation to stay hidden. He wanted to get as close as possible before circling around and jumping straight to the back of the falls, where he was almost certain a cave would be.

Finding the perfect spot took some time, but he wasn’t in a hurry. Rushing was his worst enemy. If he acted too fast, the demon might simply teleport away—and that was the last thing Damian wanted.

Once he finally found the ideal spot, he took a deep breath and jumped. He pushed off with all the strength in his legs, launching his body forward toward the waterfall.

If there wasn’t actually a cave behind it, he’d crash face-first into the rocks and get hurt. But he was almost certain there was. That much demonic mana coming from one place could only mean one thing.

His body shot forward with impressive speed. Damian passed through the curtain of water and landed in a spot where he could stand. There was a cave back there.

The first thing he noticed was the demon he’d been looking for! The giant eye was there—and it looked shocked to see Damian appear out of nowhere.

That demon wasn’t strong in close combat, which meant its first instinct was to escape using teleportation. Damian had already guessed it would try that, so he rushed forward to grab it.

Since he had appeared out of nowhere with no aura or scent, Damian had managed to get very close to the demon—and before it could finish activating the teleport, he’d already grabbed hold of it!

To his surprise, the teleport still activated—but it took both of them.

Damian was transported along with the demon to a distant place—on top of a mountain.

The demon was stunned. It had never imagined something like that could happen. Now it couldn’t teleport again so soon—there was a cooldown period.

Damian didn’t know that, but he said, "Hold on a second. Can we talk?"

"How can you speak our language? Who the hell are you?" the eye asked.

Like most demons, this one was stunned to hear Damian speaking its language.

"I’ll be quick and honest with you," Damian said. "Two choices: either give me a piece of your body, or die. What’s it gonna be?"

"What!?"

Damian stared at the demon with a cold, killer look in his eyes. He was fully prepared to kill the creature to get the power he wanted. Of course, just a piece of its body would be enough—but very few demons were actually willing to give that up.

Most of them would fight to the end, even if their opponent was clearly too strong. But this one was different. This demon avoided fights whenever it could. After realizing Damian was dead serious, it gave in.

"You can take one of my wings," the eye said. "They grow back after a while."

Without hesitation, Damian grabbed one of the demon’s wings and tore it off. A dark liquid splattered everywhere. Despite the injury, the eye didn’t seem too bothered by it.

Damian didn’t absorb the wing right away—he still wanted to keep that secret to himself. Leo already knew, and that was enough.

"Where the hell are we? Can you take me back to the cave we were in?" Damian asked.

"We’re on some random mountain... And yeah, I can take you back. Just give me a bit," the demon replied.

With nothing else to do, Damian sat on the ground and admired the view from the mountaintop. The forest here looked a little different from the one they’d been in before. That sparked Damian’s curiosity.

"How far can you actually teleport?"

"About 100 kilometers in any direction," the demon said. "Now that I’m missing a wing, it might be a little weaker."

"A hundred kilometers?"

Damian was stunned. Now it all made sense. That’s why the hunters had never been able to catch this demon. His only stroke of luck was grabbing the demon before it teleported—otherwise, there’d have been no chance of ever catching him.

Anyway, after waiting about half an hour, the demon was finally ready to go back. Damian placed his hand on him, and they both returned to the cave where they’d first met.

The demon kept his word. That was rare. Maybe the only reason he did it was because he assumed Damian was also a demon—how else would they be able to communicate like that?

Afterward, Damian left the area. Once he was a safe distance away, he absorbed the demon’s wing.

[+15 Intelligence]

[New skill acquired]

[Wings of Darkness (Rank S): A special ability from a rare type of demon. The Wings of Darkness allow the user to fly and teleport to any location they visualize, as long as it’s within range and not under protection. The distance of the teleport depends on your mastery of the skill and your overall power level.]

[This skill can be improved.]

Damian was thrilled when he read the message. He couldn’t hold back his excitement.

"Holy shit, I actually got the skill I wanted!"

There had always been a chance he wouldn’t learn the ability—or worse, not gain any skill at all—but in the end, everything had worked out. He was dying to test it.

The distance to his new apartment was about 12 kilometers from where he was. So, in theory, he should be able to make it there without a problem. At least he hoped so. He didn’t really know the exact range of his teleport, especially since he had just learned the ability and had no real idea of its limits yet.

But he gave it a shot. Damian closed his eyes, pictured the inside of his apartment, and activated his new skill, Wings of Darkness.

Two black wings—similar to the ones the demon had, but sized to fit Damian’s body—formed on his back. With a single flap, he vanished.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing inside his apartment.

The skill had worked.

His body felt just a bit tired afterward—nothing serious, nothing that would slow him down.

"Judging by that teleport, I think I can go even farther... maybe 30 kilometers per jump?" he thought. "It’s still far from the demon’s 100 kilometers, but I’ll improve over time..."

And for where he was in life right now, a 30-kilometer range was more than enough. With the ability he needed now in his hands, Damian could finally relax and let the days pass.

Eventually, Leo reached out. He called to let Damian know that a bus packed with academy applicants would be leaving soon—and that he had already secured a spot for him.

Damian had no idea how Leo managed to pull strings like that so easily...

"You should probably change your appearance a little," Leo said on the phone. "Maybe dye your hair? That alone should help."

Damian’s natural hair color was black, but he changed it to blonde. It wouldn’t be permanent—just something to help protect his identity while acting as a spy inside the hunter academy. At the very least, it was one more layer of defense against Lion Beast.