Mind Demon's Path of Domination

The gentle morning sun filtered in through a crack in the ceiling and Mark frowned in his sleep, feeling the warmth settle against his eyes. For a moment, he tried to ignore it, but then, more and more light washed in and soon enough, his eyes fluttered open.

It was as if the light had something against him, hitting right at his eyes.

"I’ll fucking kill you sun!" He groaned awake.

Yuri’s pleasant chuckle made him whirl his head around to face her. The beautiful scientist had a mirror in her hand and she was redirecting the sunlight at his face with it—Dona was just watching amusedly from the side.

Both of them had woken up long ago.

He clicked his tongue. Damned women.

"You ruined my sleep," he said, somewhat angry. "I rarely get to sleep so well. I wanted to sleep more."

Yuri asked sarcastically, "Oh, good sir, do you know how long you have been sleeping for?"

Mark frowned, staying still and hiding his face with a quilt from Yuri’s annoying light. He wondered when that had appeared under him—a bed and a quilt. Most probably, he must have used his Alchemic Shapeshifting to make them.

Yuri poked Dona’s shoulder and pointed at Mark. "Look at the princess, sleeping so—" Suddenly, her face changed as Mark’s legs tripped her gently. In a second, she fell towards him and he wrapped the quilt around her. Then, he kept her trapped in his embrace.

The Scientist struggled to breathe with the quilt but then easily tore the thing with her teeth. She was pissed off and stared at him with her beautiful black eyes—her red hair, on the other hand, shone in his sight.

Then, Dona just sat on a chair, eating a small blue fruit and watching them.

"Who’s a princess now?" he asked, hands wrapped around Yuri tightly.

Yuri smirked. "Well, at least, that woke you up."

"And ruined my sleep. So mean, so unnecessary. Weren’t my wives gentle and supportive? When did they become sleep runners."

He said his wife.

That made Yuri a bit skittish but she was good at the art of poker face.

"You have been sleeping for two days Mark, what do you expect me to do?"

Mark was surprised. "I slept for two days?"

The Scientist nodded like a bird pecking rice.

Dona burned one of the blue fruits in her hand with fire and tossed the burning fruit at Mark in a small arc. Mark snatched it up with his mouth and swallowed it. Her fire, when weakened like this, couldn’t harm him and it was better than brushing to clean up his mouth. It would quickly clean him up.

Yuri stared with some non-malicious jealousy. "I wish I had Defensive Magic Aura, too. I could have brushed my teeth with fire."

Mark rested his jaw on the top of her head, then silently contemplated without speaking. She didn’t move and let him contemplate. So, for two days, he had been asleep. The battle with the Armor, and the night warfare in bed with his two women, must have taken more out of his mind than he noticed.

But he did feel refreshed.

"What were you two doing in the meantime?"

Yuri looked up at him, making him rest his jawline on her forehead instead of on top of her head. Mark squinted, she was excited.

She said: "Well, at first, I drew a mustache on your face. Then, I stopped. The rest is all Dona’s job—I swear, I did nothing!"

Dona’s placid face changed, she stared at Yuri with wide eyes. "You—You traitor!"

Mark snatched the mirror from Yuri’s lap and stared at it. His face grew sour. A funny red mustache, red nose, and a smile arc on his lips. That was fine—but there was more, someone had even drawn cat whiskers on his face.

"Who was the one who drew the whiskers?" he asked, eyes twitching.

"Yuri!" Dona called out.

The Scientist looked up at him with innocent, shining eyes.

"Would I do such a thing?" she asked. "Baby, I love your handsome face. Do you think I will ruin it?"

Mark shook his head, sighed. "You girls are hopeless."

What ensued after that was brutal. Mark completely pinned her in place and did his own artistry on her face using ink made with Alchemic Shapeshifting. She screamed and tried to escape but it was for naught, and by the end, she was a mess with a mustache of her own.

Dona didn’t dare to laugh. She didn’t want a mustache.

"It looks good on you," she said, looking very serious.

Yuri stared at her. "Do it on her too!"

Dona ran out of the house with immense speed. Mark chuckled and exchanged a glance with Yuri.

He asked, "So, did you guys stand around, staring at me sleeping for two days?"

Yuri rubbed her nose. "Well, we are sort of like your Dungeon, right? That woman Reol’ran had explained everything like that to us. So, me or Dona, at least one of us has to stay near you since the hamster is inside your World Space."

"Dona stayed for two days, too? Just staring?" he asked with a kiss on her mustache. "Weren’t you two bored?"

"Well, we took turns. There is a river nearby, a waterfall too. We bathed there, I researched some flora and fauna, and met some weird animals you can’t see in the Hunter World."

Mark nodded, feeling serene.

Bathing in waterfalls, bedding his woman at night, and making huts in the depths of rainforests. Watching as Yuri researches her random stuff, as Dona fools around. Maybe, he could also find a way to pull Reol’ran out of her icy seal.

That girl was a bit dramatic but she would be such a nice addition to this all.

This kind of life was also good. If he didn’t need to worry about the Suffering of Misfortune one day, he could take long rests like this and just enjoy life. That was why he needed power anyway. He didn’t always have to grind for power like a machine.

Well, one day.

"For now, we look like clowns," he said with a laugh.

Yuri flicked at his nose with a smile. "Aren’t we all clowns, babe?"

All of them were clowns indeed, clowns in a circus called the world. Yet, there was one thing that differentiated them from clowns: they didn’t have an audience to please. Or did they?

Were we our own audience?

Mark coughed. "I am having a good moment here, don’t make it philosophical now."

She brought her small tongue out. "Thought you liked things like that."

With a cloth wetted using a unique compound made by Yuri, they both wiped each other’s faces—it cleaned them up easily. Soon enough, they left the small hut he had made with Alchemic Shapeshifting.

Dona was standing behind a boulder, staring at them with wariness. But when she saw their clean faces, her mood soured.

Mark stared at the blue sky. "Should we leave this world?" he asked.

Dona and Yuri were silent, both of them stood to his two sides. He was not asking a question, he was contemplating. They didn’t have much of an input—he was their leader, the smartest strategist among them, too.

Only Reol’ran would have something to say at these moments, but she too, remained silent for a spell. A violet screen shimmered in Mark’s perception.

===

[Demonic Heart: You can follow your desires and gain more lifespan.]

[Soul Longevity: 42 Years.]

[•> Current Desires:

Survive the battle with the Armor and have a great night with my women! (60 Years of Lifespan [claim]) (complete). Fight a Colossal Giant (100 Years of Lifespan) (Incomplete).]

[•> Life’s Great Desire: Become a meaningful existence in the world, experience the greatest pleasures that life has to offer, and be capable of attaining all that can be desired by becoming a Tier 10 Demon. (∞ Years of Lifespan) (Incomplete)

===

Mark grew thoughtful and clicked "claim." A warm wave of energy entered him and he closed his eyes, his pores felt alive—and his heart, felt thrilled.

He felt as if he had become ten times healthier all of a sudden.

He stood still.

Staring at him, both Yuri and Dona exchanged a glance. Both of them were very surprised—they didn’t know if it was a woman’s instinct or something else, but they could tell at a glance. Mark’s charm had increased.

It wasn’t very visible in his face or his naked body in general, but somehow, he had grown more charming. It was in his very bones, in his breath, in his minute movement. A charm embedded in his very soul, it seemed.

[Soul Longevity: 102 Years.]

Reol’ran said calmly, "Look at them, gawking. Idiots. A creature with more lifespan always has a charm—a unique charm that originates from its very existence. That’s why the universe itself is so charming at its core, it’s a being with an unfathomable lifespan: alive or not."

Mark nodded, amused. Now that he thought of it, the things with a higher lifespan—alive or not—always looked more beautiful than the things that die quicker. Yet, there were also things like flowers that bloom only for a moment but fall in the next.

"Now, the next thing," he said.

The Entrance back to the Demon World, a Portal Key, and a Seal of Destiny. They were all waiting for him.