Chapter 2 The Day That Should Be My End, Becomes My Beginning

Malachi opened his eyes and found himself waking up on his bed. He looked around and recalled that this was his bedroom a long time ago.

“I went back in time. The sacrificial ritual worked. It was a good thing that I captured and tortured more than 100,000 souls as offerings.” 

“The day that should be my end, becomes my beginning.” 

Malachi clenched his fist. “In this life, I will not face the same fate. I know the future. With my knowledge and vast battle experience, regaining my former strength shouldn’t be a problem.”

Malachi had lived over hundreds of years. He had traveled far and wide, gaining uncountable experiences and knowledge in his journey. Information about valuable treasures and their locations were kept inside his head. These treasures were his trump card.

He was certain that no one would get to them before he did.

“But I have to start training if I want to obtain those treasures.”

Most of the treasures were located in extremely dangerous places. Going to these places right now would be a suicide. If he wanted to take the treasures, he had to increase his strength.

Malachi quickly thought of a way increasing his power right after he was send back in time. He did not waste any time and gathered his thought as he tried to think of a way to gain power as fast as possible.

[Ding! You have activated The Soul Devouring System]

“Who’s there?” Malachi looked around. He was sure that someone spoke.

Suddenly, a small fey-like creature materialized in front of him. The creature was smaller than his palm with the figure of a woman in tight red dress that revealed her thigh. 

With a pair of wings, she flew towards him. “Hello.”

“What are you?” Malachi asked. He did not recall meeting any fairy at this time of his life.

“My name is Seraphina Darkheart. I am merely an imaginary figure, a concept perhaps, sent to assist you. But I am not mere imagination as I exist in reality, although the occupant of this world cannot sense or detect me.”

“Is it the God of Darkness that sent you?”

“That is correct. In order to help you regaining your former strength, you are blessed with a ‘system’.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“A ‘system’ is some sort of blessing given to you, and it can change the way you increase your strength. Try calling the system.”

“System.”

———————

Name: Malachi Darkwood

Race: Human

Class: Necromancer

Level: 1

Attack Damage: 10

Ability Power: 35

Movement Speed: 6 

Armor: 5

Magic Resist: 10

Soul Points: 0

Skills and Abilities: 

————————

“This is…”

“They are your ‘stats’.”

“This transparent panel-like thing is called stats? And what are these numbers?”

“These numbers act as a guide of how powerful you are. For example, Attack Damage indicates how much physical damage you can deal. The real damage you deal however will depend on many factors such as the target’s armor, position, angle, etc.”

“So in short, it’s just a numerical prediction of my strength? Kind of like how this world divide strength into many ranks?”

This world divide magicians into power hierarchies, from Novice all the way up to Master. Novices were beginners who just discovered their powers and have limited control over them. They could perform basic spells and minor feats of magic, causing minimal destruction at best. Master, on the other hand, had attained the pinnacle of magical skill and knowledge, possessing unparalleled control over their magical powers, capable of casting spells of immense power and causing extensive destruction on a large scale.

Master Magicians were among the strongest existence in this world, and their presence could change the entire situation completely. But they were not at the top of the food chain. In his past life, Malachi had manage to reach Elite Master, one rank above Master, and he was capable of causing catastrophic destruction over vast territories.

There were rumors about the existence of ranks above Elite Master, and Malachi had almost reach it before.

“That is correct. However, the system provide a more accurate and precise calculation in determining your power.”

“Then what about level?”

“Just like stats, they roughly determine your strength. A level 2 has higher chance of winning against level 1, but level does not determine if someone will lose or not.”

“This is interesting. But how will the system help me regain my former strength?”

“In your status screen, there is an indication of ‘Soul Points’. In your last life, you manage to increase your strength by devouring the souls of your enemies. This is the same thing, but your techniques of soul consumption wasn’t perfect. Much of the purity and quality of the soul was lost which made it harder for you to increase your strength.”

“Are you saying the system has better technique than me?”

“Yes. With the system, you don’t need to learn a skill to devour souls as the system will do it for you.”

“How much of the purity and quality the soul can be retained?”

“All of it.”

“All of it?”

“The system will take the soul as a whole without reducing its quality or purity. After that, you can do whatever you want with it.”

Malachi was taken aback by such facts. Souls had quality and purity. Different people or creatures had different qualities and purity. And these differences affect how much strength he could obtain from them.

The more pure they were, and the higher the quality, the more his power would increase. There were ways to determined someone’s soul. A person with a kind-hearted and caring attitude mostly had higher purity of souls than criminals or people with evil intentions. 

But a person with higher strength or talent had higher quality of souls. 

That was why most of his targets were good innocent people because they were mostly weak but had high purity of souls.

A powerful person with pure quality of souls were rare in this world. Even among religious organizations, the leader of spiritual organizations weren’t actually as saintly as people think they were. 

He knew it best, because he was the son of one.

“Malachi!”

Suddenly, the door to his room opened with a bang.

Seraphina and the screen vanished immediately.

The man with priest-like attire exudes an aura of serenity and spiritual wisdom. He wears long, flowing robes of pure white, adorned with intricate patterns and symbols representing his faith. A simple but elegant stole drapes gracefully over his shoulders, bearing the emblem of his religious order. 

But as soon as he saw Malachi, his aura of light vanished. He raised his staff and hit Malachi in the face, making him fall to the ground with blood on his lips.

“You bastard of a child. How dare you still stay in your room at this time of day!”