Chapter 2 Halfling

Cursing his mother, the young man kept glancing at the holographic screen that hovered half a meter in front of his face.

⌈—-◈Entity Details◈∙—-⌉

[Liam Wandel]

[Halfling]

[Rank: Circleless]

[Soultrait: Unawakened]

[Arcanium: 10]

———-◈Stats◈-———

[Vitality: (G-)]

[Strength: (G-)]

[Agility: (G-)]

[Stamina: (G-)]

[Arcane Power: (G-)]

[Will: (G-)]

⌊___________________⌋

The man, Liam Wandel, had a body that could only be considered a piece of art. It was honed and sculped through years of grueling training and discipline.

However, that was hardly of any use considering the sorry state of his stats. His stats were at their worst possible and not even his Soultrait had awoken.

"They really cleansed my Soul, didn't they? My Soul feels different, and my strength was taken away as well…Only my memories and my appearance body are the same..." Liam mumbled.

Something changed but that may as well be related to the Arcane System and the surrounding environment. He had never before been to a place with so much greenery, and he had hardly seen rain in the past either.

Seeing Liam alive always made his mother scowl because she considered him a weakling. Liam was weaker than his siblings but that was only obvious.

They were born with tremendous strength, immeasurable intellect, or other traits that made them special, while Liam was just the runt of the litter; a crying human baby, vulnerable and ordinary.

He was thrown away the day he was born, disposed to the human world but to his misfortune, they didn't accept him either. His purple eyes and the black horn that jutted out of his forehead were proof enough that he was anything but a human.

They called him a monster, threw rocks at him, and tried to kill him nearly dozens of times. He would have died, if not for the few people who were just like him.

Surviving as a Halfling was never easy, especially not if your blood was not even supposed to exist, in the first place. However, it was not as if Liam was at fault for being born.

He fought for himself and became stronger, just to be dragged into the war between the two sides that had thrown him aside.

Liam had been forced to join the war even if he didn't support any of the two sides. Those who he supported loathed him and those he was fighting against wanted him dead either way.

That way, his mother always kept the Grim Reaper close to him turning every day of his life into a game of survival.

And he survived. No matter what was thrown at him, he always survived, even if those around him died miserably.

Intrigued by the strength he had gained, she threw him onto Haltan as a trial and a means of punishment for his war crimes.

'Everything she does is somehow a crime. Why did she even bother coming up with something like that?'

At the end of the day, she just wanted to see how Liam would fare in the conquest of Haltan once his powers were taken away.

"Mother, don't worry…I will complete your mission…and take your head afterward, you bitch!" Liam swore to himself, clenching his hands into fists before he was distracted as he heard a loud creaking noise from his right.

An old and musty smell welcomed him as the doors of the ominous tower opened, and Liam saw the beings residing on the ground floor of the underground tower for the first time.

"But before that, I will have to take care of this!"

He didn't have any weapons but that was something Liam could overcome.

He looked at his hands that yearned for some action while the muscles and veins on his hands bulged. His fingers seemed to elongate and grow further, turning into long, pitch-black claws.

'For you little bastards, I don't need my full power!' Liam thought, ignoring that he was a mere weakling. It didn't really matter.

In order to conquer Haltan and attain full control of the only Interjunction that connected all Nine Realms with each other, Liam would have to make up for his lacking strength with the means at his disposal.

It was necessary to strengthen the Arcane Power of Haltan, which was also the reason why the Arcane System had been created.

The 10 Arcanium everyone obtained was a small starting bonus given to everyone who received the system.

Unfortunately, 10 Arcanium was not enough for Liam.

"You guys are mere Lesser Demons…I don't need any help to tear you apart!" Liam told himself before he dashed forward.

He was only fighting Lesser Demons, but they were still more in number. His current position was not the best and his opponents were not to be taken lightly, either, no matter what he thought of said about them.

Their stats were likely to be a little bit higher than that of his and they were wielding steel weapons.

In comparison, Liam was dirt poor.

Fortunately, he possessed enough battle experience against both humans with unique Soultraits and all kinds of evil existences to fight the humanoid Shedim.

They were Lesser Demons with pale, mottled and burned flesh that was covered with black scales.

Long black claws adorned each hand and foot, and some of them had black rotten wings that couldn't be used properly as too many holes riddled the wings.

The Shedims in front of Liam weren't even able to wield their steel weapons properly because their long claws dug into their own palms.

The claws of the Shedim were not made to hold weapons…they themselves were weapons, albeit hideous ones!

'If you want to die, you guys could have just lowered your head in front of me, so that I can pierce your brains!' Liam's mouth was set into a thin line as he stared at the yellow glowing eyes and foul mouths that were filled with several rows of razor-sharp teeth.

He appeared in front of the closest Shedim and twisted his upper body all of a sudden evading the incoming spear thrust by a hair's breadth. His cloth was cut, but he was still unscathed.

The corners of his lips curled up at this moment, and his right claw shot upward nearly at the same time.

A moment later, the satisfying feeling of his claws into the flesh of his opponents overcame him.

His knife-like claw pierced the head of the Shedime before the exhilarating sound of breaking bones reached his ears.

A moment later, he reached the brain of the Shedim, and his eyes began to glow.

He twisted his claw and flung the Shedim back to its brethren once he was done mashing the brain of the poor bastard.

"This feels so much better than before!"