During his recovery he practiced the [Flint u0026 Steel Art] every day. His devilry had gradually settled at the high tier of Devil Esquire. James felt he could give Mikael a good round after breaking through, but dared not go looking for trouble. James could tell by his father"s stance that he was skating on thin ice. Hudson clan was a united devil clan, tras.h.i.+ng a clan members place of business was out of line. James finally took out the book inheritance he had received from Devil Ancestor.

He looked it over and didn"t see anything special about it. It a very old and tattered, James could tell several pages were missing. They seemed to have been forcefully ripped out. The book was ten and a half inches long, seven and a half inches wide, and an inch and a half thick. It was bound by a black leather cover. It seemed this cover wasn"t the original cover of the book as it was in a little better condition than the torn pages.

James flipped the pages and noticed there was no text on them. He realized his Devil Ancestor had told him this was a inheritance item so he probably needed to pour some qi into it to get it to work. James poured his Devil qi but nothing seemed to happen. He then proceed to pour Soul qi.

[Soul qi detected… Probable host found… Codex of Souls engaged… Compiling user status… Codex calculates a (33.33%) chance of being partially repaired in 1,000,000 years if bound to host… Purging previous users… Binding to new host…

Host: James Hudson

Race: Devil

Age: 16

Cultivation: Tier 1 (3/4)

Cultivation Arts: Flint u0026 Steel Art (Tier 2)

Battle Arts: None

Minor Daos: Soul (19%), Devil(15%), Fire(11%)

Inborn Ability: Soul Eyes (Suppressed)

Auxiliary Arts: Blacksmithing (Tier 1)]

[Several users have forced access to Codex of Souls archives while Codex was inactive… Purging users memories of Codex to protect host… 1783 user memories successfully purged… Codex suggests host to find Sybil, if host finds Sybil increases chance of Codex repair by (10%) and increases hosts safety by 100%.]

[Quest issued: Find u0026 tame Sybil within Wesser Forest]

[Rewards: Soul Dao Cultivation Art (Tier 3), Auxiliary Art: Soul Reading, Auxiliary Art: Contracts]

~Whats all this information here? Whoa that looks like a description of me. I can see everything in my head. It wants me to do some type of quest, why the h.e.l.l would I go to that death trap forest. How do I use this thing?~

[Codex of Souls is an Auxiliary Artifact. Codex is currently heavily damaged and in need of repair. Please complete the quest as the rewards will increase your cultivation. Sybil will be of a great help to you as well.]

~Nah I"m not doing that, give me a Cultivation Art, you gave the Devil Ancestor one, this is unfair!~

[Codex gave user Kogthoz Hudson Tier 2 access to Codex archives then went inactive. Kogthoz Hudson was only able to very slowly gain insights into Tier 2 Soul u0026 Fire Dao while holding the Codex. Host will gain much higher levels of access to Codex archives over time completing Codex quests. Codex is now sending host where to find Sybil… Codex resources are drained… Becoming inactive, once host locates Sybil Codex will awaken.]

The Codex sent a detailed map of the Wesser Forest into James" head, it showed the general area where he could find Sybil and what to watch out for. The book had also changed in his hands, the cover turning blue and pages new. The Codex no longer looked like an artifact, it now looked like something you could buy in any common shop.

James was upset. This stupid book wanted him to go deep into Wesser Forest! James had no want to pit his lives against such powerful Demon Beasts. ~All that hard training and difficult questing was for common devils! This devil here is a prodigal young master!~

While James was grumbling on his misfortune his Devil Ancestor was hard at work training Mikael. The Devil Ancestor was quite impressed with how Mikael had whipped James into shape and he thought to foster his growth so James would have someone to keep him focused. Mikael was a Light Dao pract.i.tioner with a very strong sense of justice and clan cohesion.

"Sir, here with a batch of sinners who await sentencing. Sir." Trumpeted an obedient man in a grey and black uniform with two twin sabers on his waist as he handed a docket to the burly devil. Johnson was the Devil Ancestor"s right hand man and General Manager of [Mountain Shadow].

The reason the organization was called Mountain Shadow was Johnson"s Dao was Darkness and the Devil Ancestor was known as the "Mountain Forger" so he named his organization [Mountain Shadow] and the rest became history.

The Devil Ancestor was known for his eccentric ways. Johnson managed the day to day affairs of [Mountain Shadow] and only reported to the Devil Ancestor. He had been a follower of the Devil Ancestor before the Hudson clan was even founded so his loyalty was unquestionable. The burly devil looked over the docket and then glanced over the criminals who were cuffed in bindings.

"Good job, Johnson" said Kogthoz. The burly devil casually waved his hand and all the physical bindings came off, though their powers were still bound, as he unleashed a small part of his aura.

"You all are here because you are criminals with crimes against the Hudson Devil Estate. I have looked over the facts concerning all of your cases. The evidence and testimony against you is clear cut. Breaking our Clan Laws with no concern of your own flesh and blood with many of you having far more crimes under your belt that deserve death independently. I Count Hudson, Lord of the Wesser Forest and Warden to the Hudson Rift, in the name of the Rez"gal Empire sentence you to die."

The criminals kowtowed and began begging for mercy.

"Please have mercy Devil Ancestor we know our wrongs." They all said in unison.

"I was falsely accused." One barked.

"The glove doesn"t fit." Another added.

"I did not have s.e.xual relations with that woman." The last one quipped.

The burly devil waited five minutes silently as the criminals cowered in fear begging to get sympathy.

"I brought you here because you can be of one final use to the Hudson Devil Estate, using your deaths to a.s.sist the younger generation in training." He said as he pointed to the young adult devil with a fairly long, thick, jagged blade made of ivory with a grip wrapped in smooth leather at his waist. The were in the middle of a a large arena.

"Your devilry is bound, you all can only display the prowess of a high tier Devil Esquire at the moment. However you have your "great experience" to help you in this battle." said the burly devil looking down on these unfilial descendants who only knew how to fish for benefits without seeking real power by diligently cultivating so they could be of use to the clan.

"You all will fight him to death, your life and death are no longer in your hands. If you can live more than 5 minutes in this arena with him your life will be no longer forfeit to him. You may even become the lowest slave having your name stricken from the Hudson clan registry and serving the Hudson clan until your natural death."

"You will fight with your lives in this arena, anything is allowed. If my great grandson doesn"t make it out fighting you pitiful bunch he isn"t fit to hold the name Hudson."

The burly devil waved his hand again and all the sinners of the Hudson Devil Clan were on one side of the arena with Mikael being on the other side as a heavy mountainous barrier separated them.

"Within those sinners are people charged with pillaging, ****, and murder. Things unfitting of a devil to do within civilized society. They didn"t even blink an eye as they betrayed our Hudson clan. They will show no mercy just because you are a member of the younger generation. They deserve death and I have sentenced them to such so still your heart and carry out the execution Mikael. Your life is worth more than these sinners." Reminded the burly devil. "Begin." Shouted the burly devil as he removed the metal essence barrier.

Mikael swiftly brought the sword he had aptly named Hope"s Deflector into his hand and looked at the criminals opposite him br.i.m.m.i.n.g with killing intent.

~This should be very simple. These sc.u.m have their devilry bound only able to use devilry at the high tier Esquire level.~ Mikael was already at the completion level of Devil Esquire, only looking for his chance to break through to Devil Knight. This battle would be good practice for him to break through.

u003cLight Flashu003e

Mikael used the first Battle Art he had understood in his new life, he called it light refraction flash. He used a small amount Light qi to cover his body and blind his foes as he quickly moved.

Mikael became a blur with feet as light as air in the eyes of the criminals.

"Kill him so we can live." screamed one of the sinners.

u003cJudgment Strikeu003e

Mikael tumbled out of the light blur perfectly executing the a.s.sa.s.sination technique he had mastered. A thin red line appeared on that taunting criminals neck as blood started to gush forth. He swiftly collapsed grasping his neck attempting to cling to life as the blood spurt forth.

u003cVindication Bladeu003e

Mikael stabbed a second sinner in kidney swiftly twisting the blade and removing it as his bloodied innards spilled out sullying the arena.

u003cLight Flashu003e

Mikael moved like light to the other side of the arena while dodging attacks and panting.

~This is going to be much harder than I thought. I definitely must work harder, since becoming reincarnated as a Devil my heart has grown soft for them. I must never let the light in my heart waver. The light I trained so diligently in my previous life even followed me to this one.~

Mikael began dodging left and right slas.h.i.+ng and parrying wildly as the criminals began to close in surrounded him.

The burly devil was looking at the scene with pride. To think his descendant could use two different killing techniques so effectively killing 2 people in a swarm of 15 people without anyone touching him and escaping.

Although they were all a tier below Mikael it was no doubt a good feat. Mikael was using Battle Arts he had created himself over the past few months. He was much more hard working and attentive than James!

u003cVindication Bladeu003e was a Sword Art specifically made for killing and a.s.sa.s.sination, there was no sparring with that type of technique all the moves when executed correctly where meant to kill.

~Mikael is much more diligent than James, he"s straight forward and has a strong sense of belonging to the clan. His mastery of the Light Dao is amazing, without any teacher he has already come this far.~

~Speaking of James didn"t I give him something to help him with Soul Dao… No I think I told him to find his own path only giving him that [Flint u0026 Steel Art] since I don"t have any understanding of Soul Dao myself…~

It seemed the Devil Ancestor had completely forgotten about the mysterious Codex of Souls. What a mystical item, able to make people that had held it before complete forget about it. Kogthoz had created the [Flint u0026 Steel Art] from studying the Codex, however he could remember nothing concerning the Codex even when thinking of the [Flint u0026 Steel Art]

Mikael"s path is somewhat strange. ~He did not choose to embark on becoming a Healing Art user like most Light Dao pract.i.tioners. He instead choose to become a Light Dao based combatant. If he did not have such a hard working persona and a natural gift at fighting then I would definitely change his direction.~

~Hopefully this type of training will properly temper his mind to be prepared for what I have planned for him and still his heart to never be kind to his enemies.~

"Good job, now execute these criminals! Your Devil Ancestor doesn"t have all day to watch you play with them!" Kogthoz hoped to see Mikael perform his best.

Mikael heard the advice from his Devil Ancestor and took it to heart. He would now give it his all!