Chapter 23: Survival Is Everything

"What is the meaning of this? Am I sick or something? No…it can't be. Igrid already examined me," Asher was puzzled as he couldn't understand how he could lose health while sleeping. He had noticed this weird phenomenon before, though he didn't pay much attention since it was only 1 HP, and he was distracted by other things.

'He doesn't know why we use Life Crystals? Then he must not really remember anything from the past. How strange…but who cares. This is better, phew.'

Kookus cleared his throat as he said, "Your Highness, please don't be too shocked. It is a common phenomenon for our health to get chipped off every hour. It is how cruel our fate as demons are. We are doomed to die within just days if we do not absorb life crystals to prolong our life. Sigh…I hope I never run out of life crystals, even if it means I have to sell my body."

"What? Every hour our health gets chipped off? But why is this happening only to demons? What is affecting our health like this?" Asher asked with a confused look.

Kookus looked up as he raised his hands and said, "Our realm is a very harsh and cruel place, even if we get to breathe in the abundant amount of demonic mana. We have a symbiotic relationship with our realm. It takes from us while we make use of the demonic mana it gives us. This is the main reason we have been trying since ancient times to escape this hellish world and take control of the Severed Realm, which humans enjoy without any idea of how much we are suffering here. Hmph, that realm belongs to us anyway. All of them over there don't even have to struggle like us, especially like me, to survive each day. None of those humans can survive a fraction of what I suffered in my life, filled with hardships. So how could we sit still and rot here to die while they enjoy it without even lifting a finger?" Kookus said passionately as his eyes shook with fervor.

Asher now understood why humans lose their health gradually, even faster than demons, whenever they step into the demon realm. He always knew humans could never last in this realm, and even he had to wear protective accessories to prevent his health from draining temporarily whenever he had to step into the demon realm for a quest.

This realm was never meant for the living, but it seemed that the demons had long adapted to this realm which allowed them to lose health very slowly while also taking advantage of the demonic mana this realm produced.

"Don't tell me you have been to the human world or ever taken part in a quest? You have experience in fighting?" Asher asked with a skeptical look, though he was surprised to learn that demons never had it easy here.

He always thought demons invaded Earth just to satisfy their vile desires, but it looked like their main intention was to find a way to survive other than getting stronger. He also again wondered why Earth was known as the Severed Realm among the demons.

Kookus gulped, wondering if Asher asked him this question to send him into battle or something. He panicked and shook his head vigorously, "P-Please don't misunderstand! I mean, I have heard of the tales and glorious stories from our brave reapers. Still, as a fellow demon, how could I not sympathize with them and share their woes?"

Asher scoffed and then looked at the mystical life crystal in his hand that seemed to be filled with a strange ethereal essence, "This small thing must be extremely valuable."

"Naturally. With just one life crystal, anybody can buy a basic weapon and armor set. I would have bought it if not for buying my mother some medicine. Sigh...isn't she lucky to have a son like me?" Kookus said with his hand pressed against his chest.

"I guess you can only get them by completing quests or are there any other sources?"

Kookus readily nodded, "Of course, it is the life vein of our entire demon realm, and the main reason for that is because no demon can ever get it from our realm. We even use it as our only currency to buy or sell anything. But the only way to get them is by completing quests. According to myths, the reason for that is because these life crystals contain the life source of those mortals."

"So that is the main reason we demons invade the human world…No wonder…" Asher now understood why demons were so hungry and relentless. After all, this involved their very survival, and he would have to do the same as well now that he was a demon.

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"Anyways, how do I absorb the energy inside this? And can we store this within our bodies?" Asher asked since he could see in his stats that he had 10 Life Crystals, but he had no idea how to use them.

Kookus tapped his forehead as he sucked in air through his mouth, "Tss, I forgot…Your Highness can't…I mean—"

"You mean you forgot I don't have mana? So you are telling me only those with mana can absorb this?" Asher asked though he wasn't concerned since he knew he was no longer a cripple.

Even though the ring was still on his finger, he could still make himself appear manaless as long as he didn't draw upon the power of the ring.

"Most of us are born with mana no matter how weak or strong. Even a small child no older than 3 years can absorb life crystals on their own," His expression transformed into one of pride as he continued, "But of course, my mother told me I used to be able to do it when I was just a few months old. Sigh…I was born as a prodigy, but here I am—"

"Cut the crap and tell me how crippled demons absorb this," Asher said while thinking about the difference between humans and demons as a whole. On Earth, most humans were born ordinary without any mana, and only a minority were born with mana and considered special.

But here, it seemed as if almost everyone, including servants like Kookus, could use mana.

Kookus beamed as he said, "Of course, this is where this loyal servant is going to help you absorb it, Your Highness. All I have to do is use my mana to let your blood absorb this. If Your Highness had mana, you could even store multiple life crystals in your mana circuit and absorb it even while you sleep."

'That's how I absorb it, huh…My mana circuit. Makes sense,' Asher thought. He knew every being with mana possessed a mana circuit that acted as the channel to distribute mana throughout the body.

"Is there a limit to how many I can store?" Asher asked since if he could store lots, then he wouldn't have to worry about running out of them in the middle of nowhere.

"It depends on how strong our mana circuit is to contain them. The stronger we are, the more we can store them. I am just a humble level 3, but I can store almost 100 of them. Still, it is of no use since I have to work hard till my back breaks just to earn one. If only a great and kind soul would take pity on this faithful servant…" Kookus took secretive glances just to try and see if Asher might give him some life crystals out of pity, but it seemed like Asher wasn't even paying attention to his words.

"How long would this last me?"

"If absorbed by your blood, it should keep your health intact for the next three days. But reapers use these to quickly replenish their health in case of emergencies. In such situations, one life crystal would only restore a small fraction of their health and only once. To use another life crystal, they need to meditate and can't do it during a battle unless they got sand in their heads. But Your Highness has no need to worry. The queen would surely keep sending you these, considering how indispensable you are to this kingdom," Kookus said with a flattering smile, making Asher think if this loose-lipped servant of his was being sarcastic, yet it was not like there wasn't any truth in his words.

He knew Rowena would keep giving him these crystals to keep him alive. But he had to ask, "You keep mentioning the term 'Reapers'. Who are they?"

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