The kids instinctually sensed who was their true master, so they introduced themselves with respect to their masters. While the kids were training hard, Elena and Dred decided to take a short nap after their long travel and then join the kids. Both of them knew they had to train as a team to better their teamwork.

But before they got into it, Elena looked at her friends’ tables. They all had matching levels and were at the four hundred and thirteenth level.

“What’s your level?” Audrey asked since she had no way to peek on her masters’ tables.

“Four hundred and forty-nine, but look at this…”

Name: Elena Syracia

Race: Progenitor Shadow (Legendary)

Level: 449

EXP: 2 199 700 / 2 200 000

“Eh? You shouldn’t have rested if you were so close,” Audrey remarked.

“What are you? A slave driver?”

“No! I was just saying that you could have meditated a bit or something… Meditating is the same as if you took a nap, so-”

“So you are. I wanted to sleep for a bit!” Elena shook her head.

Audrey rolled her eyes and walked towards the entrance.

“Where are you going?” Elena asked.

“Into the forest, obviously. I’ll show you a place Cor found, it’s good for meditating. I’m sure you’ll level up shortly if you meditate there,” she replied.

Elena looked at Dred, “Do I really care about that single level? Not that anything would change. I think it’d be better to practice teamwork.”

“Well, it won’t take more than a few minutes. Even a single level can save our lives, so let’s get done with it,” he answered and walked after Audrey.

Jake and Cor stayed behind to watch over the kids, while Audrey led the two to a cave nearby. For a few seconds, everything had to walk straight ahead in the complete darkness. “Where are we going?” Elena asked, stumbling on the rocky ground of the cave. She was able to see, but the path was simply terrible.

“You’ll see in a bit.”

The path started going downwards and turned to the right. A small cavern with a tiny lake in the middle appeared in front of the trio. There were blue crystals lighting up the cavern and colouring the reflecting light of the water to blue.

“Woah! This is really beautiful,” Elena gasped.

“See? I told you! Cor always finds places like these… I’m starting to wonder if he has some sort of way to sense them,” Audrey pondered, her hand under her chin.

Elena walked past Audrey and stopped on the shore of the lake. She put her finger into the water, but it was cold. “Hiss- I’ve got used to the warm climate of the Dragon Empire and the Demon Kingdom. But it’s still winter here.”

Caressing her own arms, Audrey said, “I’d be happy to go to a place like that now. I don’t like cold…”

“Well, I could summon a volcano just for you,” Elena laughed as she raised her Ring of Fire in front of Audrey’s face.

“Maybe I’d be happy about it…”

“Believe me, you wouldn’t,” a smile formed on Elena’s face. “It’s good to see you again~”

“Same here~” Audrey smiled back.

“Why is this cavern so pink coloured…?” Dred interrupted the rosy mood.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Audrey and Elena said at the same time. Looking at each other, the both of them laughed.

Dred walked into the cold water, not minding that his fur would become wet. He closed his eyes and started meditating. Elena sat down on the shore of the lake and just looked at him in silence. Ten minutes later, Dred stood up and walked to the shore where he transformed into his demon form, pulled up Elena’s clothes and pressed his finger to his paw mark on her crotch.

You have levelled up to Lv. 450!

New specialization unlocked!

Lv

Class: ShadowMoor (Exclusive, Legendary)

Devourer

Stealth

Demonology

450

Symbiosis: You can store the devoured DNAs and mix them together to get a more powerful blend before evolving your body. This can be extended to items too.

Duplicate: You can create a clone from your blood, which will have the same abilities as you. It will have a lifespan of one minute. Banish: With this spell, you can banish summoned creatures as a true demon. You can also interrupt spellcasting once a minute. This is a racial spell of the Devil God, a legendary creature.

“What?!” Elena’s eyes opened wide upon seeing the notifications. “Hahaha, it’s really worth levelling up!”

“What happened?” Audrey tilted her head to the side.

Elena showed her the table already picking Symbiosis. This time Dred picked the same as Elena. They were able to suppress the DNA they consumed before, but if they fought for too long in a war and they evolved too much, they’d simply fall unconscious from the burden of the evolution. That’s why the option to store DNA was a great thing.

But what was much better was that they would be able to blend DNA from now on. While still in front of everyone, Elena’s body turned completely black. She looked like empty space. The armour she had on her body slowly sunk into her body and disappeared without a trace. As her body reverted to its normal state, she was left stark naked in the cold. Dred walked closer to hug her and warm her with his body.

“What the hell are you doing in front of me?” Audrey furrowed her brows, half looking at them, half to the wall of the cavern.

“Just wait,” Dred answered.

About a minute later, Elena opened her eyes and her clothes regrew on her body, along with her armour. “What the hell is going on?” Audrey asked in wonder.

“I just combined my armour and weapons with my body. I won’t have to wear them and take them off from now on. They’ve become a part of my body,” Elena answered her question.

“I’ve read the description… but how the hell?”

“Uhm, this specialization created new cells in my body called Symbiotes. These cells are able to copy and memorise textures, fabrics, anything! And just like the description said, if I devour more armours and weapons, I can blend them into my body to create a more powerful mixture!” Elena explained with excitement.

“That’s… crazy” was all Audrey could say in her envy. “Why do you always get so unfair specs?” she punched the wall of the cave.

“Well, we aren’t legendary creatures for a show. I believe Padinyss is no different,” Dred shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re saying it as if it was no big deal.”

“Because it isn’t.”

“Not to you, you mean? I bet a normal person would kill to have an ability like this,” Audrey grumbled. “But at least you’re on my side. Yay me!”

“Don’t feel down, you’ve your own methods to fight as well,” Elena patted her shoulder.

“Haah- whatever. Let’s go back. And you need to refresh our Mark of the Wild too!” Audrey said while looking at Dred.

“Sure.”

When they returned, Dred and Elena refreshed their Mark of the Wild on their friends, causing all of them to pass out from the sudden change in their bodies. After carrying them to Audrey’s and Jake’s bedroom, Elena and Dred started training with the kids.

It was dinner time when Audrey, Jake, and Cor woke up from their slumber, stronger than ever before.

---

They trained and fought together for another two weeks and moved around in the weaker areas. They were met with people looking for them everywhere, but thanks to changing their looks, nobody found them. The kids also turned stronger and stronger with an incredible speed, thanks to their hard training and their masters’ nurturing. The kids were happy when they noticed their bodies grow at a pace they couldn’t imagine before. They matured into teenagers in just a week’s amount of time.

Elena sent the members of the Dark Scars to finish missions in cities and earn money. She used the income to buy weapon, armours, and pills to the members. She started referring to the members as Dark Scars to make it easier. She also ranked the groups based on their efficiency. There were groups which were better for many smaller jobs and there were groups which were better for few, but hard missions.

Slowly every group’s role formed in the Dark Scars, but a friendly competition still formed among them. All of them wanted to perform better to receive their masters’ praise. They didn’t even notice how their minds shifted and all they thought about was their masters’ goals and well-being.

Two weeks later, when every team was prepared, Elena started their first big mission. The Dark Scars had to gather information in the first area and kill every conspiring and betraying person they came across. There were kingdoms where numerous cities were destroyed or even the whole kingdom.

Padinyss continuously received news of kingdoms, cities, and nobles disappearing, but no matter how he tried to find the Dark Scars, he couldn’t. They obviously didn’t go in a circle around the world, so he had no way to find out where would be the next attack. The world was slowly being devoured and many kingdoms started to panic seeing their neighbours fall one after the other until they followed after.

In the meantime, the Dark Scars too created and trained their own blood servants, making the group grow larger and larger. It grew to the point where even the Dark Scars had thirty or even more blood servants serving them.

All Padinyss focused on were ways to find the members of the Dark Scars and hunt them down. The group that slowly rose to fame and turned into the most dreaded in the world. Wherever they appeared, only destruction was left in their tracks. Even if somebody has seen and described them, Padinyss’s servants couldn’t find them because every Dark Scar changed their faces and bodies every so often.

But Padinyss never notice the person he invited to his palace as a guest, Shin. He was simply spending his days in silence, training in the Mana filled area. His presence faded into oblivion in Padinyss’s mind since he had more pressing matters to deal with.

---

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

Jotun walked on the tiled floor of his palace, pondering on the latest news he had heard. Another kingdom was destroyed by a huge volcano in the third area this time. As he was about the turn on the corner, he overheard his servants, “Hyun, shouldn’t we quit?” a female voice resounded.

“I’m not sure… You surely heard the Dragon God’s announcement and explanation about that devourer race… and the leaders of the Dark Scars had been here as guests in the past! I don’t remember their names, but I heard they had a little fight with our King once. I’m afraid the palace isn’t safe anymore. What if they came to kill our King and killed us as well?” Hyun replied.

“Yes, that’s why I’m telling you we should leave this place and look for another job. We can serve any noble, we don’t have to be here. I think that we should look for a respectable person. Based on the news, noble houses like those aren’t destroyed!”

Jotun stood on the corner for a few seconds and he was about to move on when he heard Hyun's voice again. “And… what if we tried to join the Dark Scars? I heard in a restaurant people talking about it. They said people could join the Dark Scars and serve the masters. In return, they’d gain strength they couldn’t imagine before! Imagine how great it’d be if we didn’t have to be errand girls anymore! Or do you want to clean houses and run errands your whole life? I’m telling you, this is an opportunity!”

“What?! Hyun, you can’t say things like those! I hope nobody heard it… We’d surely get ourselves killed and who knows what’s true from all this. To begin with, how would you find even a single member of the Dark Scars if not even the Dragon God can find them? They have the best hiding abilities in the world! Or so I heard… And I wouldn’t give up on the Dragon Emperor so soon.”

“I heard the leading nations are planning to create a joint force, which would try to find and kill the Dark Scars. I don’t want to be killed,” the other woman whispered.

“But if we joined now, we could become strong enough to defend ourselves! I’m telling you, we should try to find them somehow. And even better, the places that were wiped clean from the bad guys have improved technologies people haven’t seen before. I want to see the world!” Hyun raised her voice.

“Haah- I swear you’ll get yourself killed one day, Hyun. Let’s go, we still have to clean out the guest rooms…”

“See? This is what I’m talking about, I don’t want to clean anymore!” Hyun grumbled.

Jotun slumped down to the ground and started pondering. Elena and Dred are killing people like me. They also asked why I wanted to kill Padinyss and my reason was something they’re killing for. Could it be… they aren’t doing what they were born for, just something similar? Damn it, but I’m sure they’ll come for me. But I can’t even use external magic anymore. And since she was the one who revived me and turned me into an undead, I have no way to fight her. She could kill me with a single thought!

I wonder why she left me alive. Does she want something from me? Yeah, that must be it. If I want to stay who I am, I better try to help them. I hope that she’ll consider leaving me alive. Gripping his chest, gritting his teeth, Jotun stood up from the floor and went towards his office. He decided to help Elena and Dred in hope of keeping his life as a reward. He wasn’t like Padinyss who was immune to poisons and curses. For Padinyss, being strong was enough to keep his life.

But for him? If he wanted to keep his life, he had to fight for it with all he had.

What was awaiting him was something only time could tell.