The whole village had erupted into a flurry of panic and anxiety when they saw the village priest's house burnt-out and destroyed with no evidence left on the scene. Many villagers, the older ones, to be specific, immediately concluded that it was a work of a malevolent demon.

Meanwhile, the youths scoffed at their elders' words. What they haven't seen, they wouldn't believe, of course. Demons were simply mythological beings carved out in the legends as Incarnate of Destruction that held no value for human lives in their eyes that held spiral of madness.

Of course, legends meant to scare and humble down the village kids.

But kids they were not and immediately started salvaging anything of value while the elders of the village simply shook their head. They all were once youths and they all understood their thought process.

Meanwhile, Nik and Brian chatted through their party chat while the two Demon Slayers youth sat in front of them.

Both, Nik and Brian were already aware of each other's identity in this world. Brian had selected himself as a noble, something he taught Nik after learning that the miser had chosen the identity of the citizen was that higher the person was at the social pedestal, the quicker they can find the required information.

[Follow my lead.] Nik sent a message while growling towards the duo.

"You both, what connections do you have with that demon. Answer!"

'Nice, immediately put them into pressure.' Brian nodded as he remained quiet. Since Nik had specifically stated his intentions, he will simply follow. After all, when it came to acting, Nik seemed to hold a special talent.

"Calm down, calm down. As you have already seen, we specialise in hunting down the demons. But you guys...

I apologise for being blunt, but how did you defeat the demon? You have no Hamon energy within your bodies, so that must mean that you did not practise any breathing technique."

"What—" As Nik created an outburst, he sent instructions to Brian.

[Calm me down and finally expose your status as a noble in one of the slaughtered villages.]

"— you dare inspect my master's body! Preposterous!!"

"Calm down, Nik." Brian sighed and looked placed a hand on his 'follower's' shoulder before looking at Ceasar.

"I apologise for his outburst. Let me introduce myself. I am Brian, and no, this is not my true name. 

We both have decided to take our clan names once we eradicate the demons who slaughtered our village!"

His words turned into a threatening snarl as his azure eyes flashed a stream of crimson, threatening the duo youths in front of them with just his aura.

"Now, you demon slayers have some explaining to do! Who are you?! And what was that golden light?!"

Jojo gulped and looked at Ceasar, who shared similar worries before sighing.

"We cannot expose our organisation. Of course, you can undertake the truth about our existence if you join us... but joining our ranks is extremely hard."

"We butchered a demon."

Nik snorted.

"Yes, but that was just the lowest scum."

Jojo pointed out, making both, Nik and Brain, a bit startled inside.

A genuine serious expression donned on their faces as Brian took a deep breath and continued.

"Alright, speak."

Ceasar nodded, but before he could even start, Jojo immediately stood up.

"What is it? Another demon?"

Nik inquired with a frown. He used his [Life Vision] but couldn't see any trace of demon lifeform.

"Ah, no." Jojo scratched the back of his head and grinned.

"I gotta take a dump. You three continue without me."

Before Ceasar's popped veins could explode, Jojo immediately shot out of the room of the inn. Meanwhile, Nik and Brian gave each other a look. After all, their quest window had already changed.

Main Quest— 1

Faction

Description— Join the Demons or the demon slayers to unlock the subsequent missions.

Time Limit: 1 Month

Status: Complete

Reward: 500 SO, 1SP]

[Main Quest— 2

Entering the Ranks

You have shown your worth. Now, join the ranks of the demon slayers and truly become the beings known as the demon's worst nemesis.

Time Limit— 1 Year

Rewards: 800 SO, 1 SP

Penalty: Death]

[Isn't one year too much?]

Nik questioned his experienced leader, who immediately refused the statement.

[Not at all. At higher levels, we would even have to stay in the other worlds for dozens of years. This is just the starting.]

Hearing this, Nik couldn't help but worry a little. Staying dozens of years within a single world... isn't it equal to abandoning his own world? Although only seven days would pass in his homeworld as per the system's policy, there was a high chance that Nik would be the one who would end up changing.

As if understanding his worries, Brian once again pointed out.

[Of course, we would not have to worry about the impact on our mentality. The system has a lot of items that you cannot even imagine, so focus in this world for now.]

Nik nodded. The faction had already been chosen, now they had to complete the follow-up missions and slowly increase the world root.

That being said, Brian obtained neither the treasure medallion nor any world root, as if proving Ceasar's claim of the demon being the lowest scum.

"Alright. With that idiot out of the way, I'll be taking sending a message back to the organisation. 

Someone will come to pick you up from this place the day after tomorrow and start your training.

If you guys can pass the final selection, you'll know everything you need to know about us."

"What about you? Why can't you train us?" Nik frowned while Ceasar shook his head.

"I am not experienced in training others. And also, my lath has already diverted from the mainstream path. So, you'll have to start from the basic."

It was at this moment, Brian spoke up.

"If I may interject, can you please send us to different places?" Brian spoke up while he sent a message to Nik.

[Nik, show a look of disapproval and point out your longing towards me, your master.]

[Hell, no.] Nik immediately refuted, but kind of understood what Brian was playing for. They are here to earn the inheritances of this world, so instead of staying close to each other, they might as well go solo while doubling their discoveries and earnings.

Mourning internally, Nik immediately shook his head and hissed.

"No way... m-master—" Ah, something broke within Nik's consciousness, but he still soldiered through. "You cannot—"

"As you can see" Brian interjected and gave Ceasar a serious look. "Nik is talented, but he is too dependant on me. He needs to grow stronger without my help so that if something happens to me, he can pick off where I fell and complete our quest of vengeance."

Ceasar frowned and then looked towards the heartbroken Nik, who couldn't believe that his own mouth would utter his 'longing' for a master... a male one at that.

Finally, Ceasar nodded and then sighed.

"Alright, your name is Brian, right? You should go to the foot of Golden Leaf Mountain. An old man named Kuwajima Jigorō will start training you."

Ceasar took a deep breath and looked at Nik. Before he could speak, Brian stopped him once again.

"Um, can you repeat the name?"

The name was extremely hard to remember! Brian had already forgotten about the mentioned name!

Ceasar tilted his head curiously, but still spoke with a fluid pronunciation.

"Kuwajima Jigorō?"

"I see..." Brian nodded and immediately started chanting the sacred name, meanwhile, he looked at Nik and thought for a moment before speaking.

"You should go to the Misty Mountain... a man named Sakonji Urokodaki will train you...

Do you want me to repeat the name?"

Ceasar inquired while Nik shook his head and gave it his damn best to chant the sacred name till he could speak the name fluidly within his mind.

"One more thing..." Ceasar looked a hit hesitant but still continued.

"I know that you are angry and saddened by your loss... but we all feel the same way... well, except that dumper Jojo...

You both are extremely talented, so you should not let anger get to you... at least, not until you are properly trained."

Hearing Ceasar's words, both of them had to stop chanting the name of their future instructor as they nodded and sighed simultaneously.

"Well, we leave immediately. What do you say, Nik?"

Nik nodded and looked at Ceasar.

"Can you please describe the route?"

"Of course."

With that, Nik and Brian bade each other their farewell. Of course, they would remain connected by the party chat, but now, they had to enter the ranks of the demon slayers within one year. And as Brian stated, they both also needed to seriously train in this world's way. After all, the life force of this world's humans and the lowest demon scums had already surpassed the average of 10 stats points, assuring the duo that practicing this world's method would only bring benefits.