Mind Demon's Path of Domination

Mark flapped his wings and gently landed in a covert cliff-side cave. This was a demon cave, or for better terms, a Dungeon, and the moment he entered it, he felt a sensation of freedom. Dona landed on the ground and looked around curiously.

With her soul sense, she could tell that this place was full of demons. But all of them were weak except for some, and even those some wouldn’t be a match for her mate—he could easily destroy them. Of course, if she had to fight them herself, it might be a bit of a hassle.

"Why did we come here?" she asked.

Mark held her hand and closed his eyes. He had been searching for any changes in his body for a while and nothing had visibly changed, not even his stats. But while searching, he had noticed something peculiar.

With a blink, the status bar came to life in his mind.

[Soul Spheres: 10000/10000]

"Lovely Reol’ran, what do you think about this?" he asked.

She said calmly, "That is the bar that shows how many souls are stored inside the Well in your World Space, and how many souls you could store there. You now have ten thousand souls in your hand and that’s the limit you could store."

"I see," he said. "So, I can’t store more of them even if I kill others, right?"

But that didn’t make so much sense now, even though he had subconsciously thought that to be the case. Because, at this moment, some souls were floating around inside his World Space. The souls of the Golden Savages that had been killed inside.

After they died, they weren’t automatically absorbed into the Well, nor were they absorbed to increase his foundation; which he still didn’t understand why or what it clearly did.

Those souls just floated around without any aim or goal and they were also slowly dissipating into the atmosphere. But as it dissipated, Mark faintly felt as if his World Space was becoming a bit firmer and capable of holding more weight.

So, when the souls are absorbed and used to improve my foundation, it makes the World Space firmer?

But other than that. If this kind of storing was possible, couldn’t he store twenty thousand souls in his World Space before evolving and then use those to reach the peak in the next Tier, both in body and soul?

"I know what you are thinking, but it doesn’t work like that," Reol’ran said plainly.

1000 was the Pinnacle of Tier 2. 10K was the Pinnacle of Tier 3.

When he evolves, he would have 10K Souls in his Well which he could use right after evolution to improve his power of either Physique or Mind. His plan was to have 20K souls, 10K in the Well, and 10K in the normal World Space, before evolving. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Then can’t he reach Tier 3 Pinnacle right after evolving?

"As you already know, Mark," she said. "A Middle Demon can only strengthen itself using Tier 2 or higher level souls. What you have in your hand, the 10K souls and the other few in the World Space, are all Tier 2 Souls, too and you can use it to grow stronger."

"Yeah..."

"But, is it of any use to an Upper Demon?" she asked.

Mark shook his head. "Not really, since they will need Tier 3 souls to grow stronger. Equal or higher tier souls."

"Indeed. That will be the same for you and you also can’t use Tier 2 souls if you become Tier 3 yourself. But when a demon evolves, the souls he stored inside the Well will evolve along with him.

"If you have 10K souls when—and if—you evolve to Tier 3, those 10K souls will also evolve and become Tier 3 along with you."

Mark nodded, understanding. "So that’s why I can use it when I evolve. So, the souls inside my World Space won’t evolve with me, right?"

"Of course not. The souls inside the Well are the only thing that will."

Now the limit in the well seemed understandable. But still, he could now store some souls in his World Space to use as currency in the Demon World. The ones in the Well, he decided, should be left untouched so that if a breakthrough came out of nowhere, he would benefit as much as he could.

With a simple thought, Mark pulled Dona into his embrace and wrapped her lithe waist with his hand. He hadn’t known such a wonderful way the souls could be used, now, he could share better with Dona, which he had planned to do much earlier.

"Why are you looking at me weirdly, Mark?" she asked, worried. "This is enemy territory, what if they attack when we are in the middle?"

Mark couldn’t help but chuckle. "Do you think I am always running around with that in mind when I see you?"

"You are... not?"

Mark blinked. "Are you like that?"

Her eyes darted around, then looked at his chest. "Of course... not." Her face and constantly moving neck told him otherwise.

This horny girl.

"Dumb demoness," he said and pressed his forehead against hers. His Soul Sense gently surrounded her and she moaned gently even without a need; an audience would have made that so awkward.

The soul sense moved into her and Mark could suddenly see her as if he had X-ray vision, and she felt tingly all over.

Mark gently rubbed her ass and his Soul Sense found what he was looking for—her Soul Space. Normally, finding the soul space in another demon was not nearly as easy as he made it seem, it was even impossible in a sense, but Dona had a Dungeon Heart Seed inside her Soul Space, so he could sense it.

"You are inside me," she said naughtily.

Mark kissed her forehead. "Always."

She chuckled and with a smile, he dropped all the souls he had gotten from the 7 Golden Savages into her Soul Space. In total, that amounted to 7K, and feeling it enter her, she closed her eyes and led them all instinctively into her own Soul Well.

"You can use it, and store the rest in your Well for until you evolve."

She took a deep, satisfied breath and nodded. There was a very great sensation in this world, and that sensation was when another person cared for you with deep, genuine love. Suddenly, she felt an urge to express her appreciation for Mark for letting her feel that great feeling.

Dona patted Mark’s hair and kissed his forehead like he does to hers. Then, she wondered, thinking that she didn’t want to copy him entirely. She wanted to add her own twist to it.

She said seriously, "Good job, my mate. Continue doing the same thing."

Mark wanted to tease her but then, he looked to the side, out of the demon cave. Into the world outside the cave—there, he could feel a presence, moving closer and closer. For one thing, the armor had a stupidly powerful aura and it was releasing it with abandon, so it was easy to sense.

"It’s coming closer," he said, stiff. "So, is it pissed off that I was the one who killed the Savage Lord? Or is it just hateful because I stole 7 Golden Savages from it earlier?"

Reol’ran asked, venom in her tone, "Why in the world are you waiting around, thinking like a fool, when death is headed towards you? Leave this world, right at this moment!"

Now that he had completed all the missions, if he claimed the reward of being allowed back in the Demon World, a gate would open and he could leave. But Mark couldn’t help but stop in his place, something just wasn’t right.

He was not a brave and idiotic fool to try his mettle against an obviously undefeatable foe. That was mere stupidity. But this armor, it had such a powerful aura that the mere sensation of it made Reol’ran so on edge.

Yet, it was running towards him now from all that distance and not growing closer by much.

He said, "Calm down. You really are on edge, but thinking calmly, can’t you see it without me pointing it out?"

Reol’ran had always had the power to see everything he could. And soon enough, her voice came out, a bit confused, "Yeah, indeed. Very weird. It has the aura of something as colossal as continents, but its speed—that’s nothing special. Hm, a bit faster than the Savage Lord but not by much."

Mark also nodded. "It’s not as fast as you’d expect it to be. Maybe, it just has the aura and is super weak. Maybe, if I tried a fight, I might have a chance against it."

Reol’ran shook her head adamantly. "No. What if it is faking it? If it sped towards you, you would panic and run away, so maybe, it is faking its speed so that it can accelerate when needed.

"In the first place, it knows where you are even though it is so far—so, its senses had long picked up on you. That alone means it’s stronger than you think. And you are its targetted enemy for whatever motivations."

Mark grew silent. Was it worth betting that the enemy might be weak, was some reward in that path that might make it worth it?

Rationally, no matter what the reward of victory was, the stakes of loss were life itself. Truly, it was not worth it.

"Let me guess your thinking," Reol’ran said. "You are thinking—If I won in a battle with that seemingly weakened Armor, won’t I have a strong armor for myself. Isn’t that what you are thinking?"

"..." Right on the mark.

He looked back, demons were also surrounding him, but they didn’t dare attack. Dona and Mark together had the presence of a small mountain and they were all demons, they were obviously wary.

Should he try and take on that armor?

In action, it didn’t seem too strong, but if it was faking its competence like Reol’ran said, this could be his death.