After calming down from the initial excitement of destroying part of a mountain, it's time to continue with the plan. First, we need to get out of here; we've killed enough humans, and the idea of a monster emerging from the ruins will be engraved in their memories forever.

"Gor, don't kill anyone else and quickly go to the forest, we need to get far enough away so no one sees us."

Without wasting time, Gor ran towards the forest, ignoring the few surviving humans.

My core seems much calmer now that I've given in to my instincts. If I have to constantly kill things to feel at ease, it will be a long-term problem. What was the plan I had? Now that I really think about it, it wasn't reasonable. The plan before was just a stupid goal induced by Gor's mental control over me.

What do I want to do? Having a peaceful life by the sea will be very difficult in this world. Exploring ancient ruins and discovering artifacts doesn't seem like something that interests me anymore, besides, I was only doing that to show everyone I can be amazing without "talent".

I don't need to prove anything to anyone; I've matured quite a bit. I have 71 years of experience accumulated in my memory, but I look good for an old lady.

"Don't you think I look good, Gor?"

He doesn't want to answer; it seems he's not too happy with the changes in our relationship. That's his problem, he has to get used to it or fuck off.

After running for a couple of hours, I think we're far enough away from the humans to safely exit the cocoon without being seen.

"Gor, stop and let me out."

Immediately, Gor stops, and the tentacles that formed the cocoon disappear into the artifact.

I examine my surroundings, the forest feels very peaceful, and it seems like there isn't a single animal or monster within miles around us. As

I feel the grass under my feet, I remember how stupid I was to destroy that noble's residence. I ended up vaporizing the only place within a day's distance where I could get half-decent shoes.

I may have 71 years of experience, but the truth is, I don't feel that way at all. I'm still very impulsive and immature… That's why I let my emotions get the worst of me when I evolved and ended up acting without thinking about the consequences. I only thought about the consequences after it was too late to change my mind.

Anyway, let's see how my current state is now:

"What the hell? How the fuck can I have an affinity for holy energy if I'm supposed to be a demon? The last time I checked, it wasn't like this.It doesn't make sense."

It's the opposite of my demonic energy, and they should cancel each other out… Let's put that aside for now, I won't get any answers here.

These new abilities are very useful for a mage like me. "Absolute concentration" allows me to maintain focus while ignoring most external or internal stimuli, and "mana manipulation" allows me to control mana within and outside my body much more efficiently and precisely.

According to these new titles, I'm the first demon of this race, and somehow I broke my "fate".

Wait, does that mean there's a destiny? Does that mean everything that happened to me was because of some bastard who planned it for me?
My whole body shakes with anger, my nails dig into my hands as I clench them tightly, screaming at the heavens with all my might, swearing that one day I'll get revenge on the bastard who made me suffer the hell on earth, the bastard who killed my son… I'll torture him, make him suffer a thousand times what I suffered, and then I'll kill him.

The alibi is well thought out, and I don't want to mess it up now by drawing unwanted attention by destroying this forest. I'm very emotionally unstable without Gor's help; I just do my breathing exercises over and over again until finally I can get calm.
It's not like I can blindly trust the information from the system and take it all literally; "fate" can be many things; it doesn't necessarily mean that my destiny is written or that someone has done this to screw up my life.

"I need to distract myself and think about something else, something else, something else... I wonder what I'm going to do from now on with my life?"

I could just go home and tell my dad something like:

"Hi dad, I'm back after 6 years; I'm not dead, and now I'm a powerful demon. Sometimes I want to destroy things and kill people, but I think I can control it most of the time."

"Oh, I almost forgot it. I have this incredibly powerful tentacle monster connected to my spine; it's very jealous and could kill everyone at any moment, but I'm sure nothing bad will happen, so just ignore it, please."

Even though it's tempting to see my father's expression, it's a terrible idea. Jokes aside, no matter how much I try to hide it, it's unlikely that my family won't figure out who I am now. They knew me for many years; they will notice the changes, and my father will study me thoroughly to find out what happened to me.

I don't want to end up having to kill them all. For example, my mother has always been good to me.

My father always saw me as a waste and never missed an opportunity to remind me of how ashamed he was that I was his daughter, even though he never physically hurt me or went beyond emotional abuse.

My brothers, following my father's example, treated me like trash and made fun of me, despite being the eldest daughter of the Nightsun family. As a woman and, most importantly, lacking talent, this completely disqualified me from being the next head of the family.

But comparing my life as Victoria with the lives of some people I met during the war on Earth, I had a wonderful life full of luxury and comfort.

Seeing it simply, I could start over and create a new identity, but stopping to be a noble is something that bothers me. Being a noble has so many advantages.

I could become stronger and conquer this world by force, become a Demon Lord, and have this entire continent at my feet... But then I'd have to fight against the empire, and unless I'm ridiculously strong, I would be inevitably killed by the holy inquisitors or even the emperor himself.

I could also choose to not integrate into society and wander around this world, killing whatever I want, but what a depressing life that would be. I'd have to hide constantly, and eventually, they'd find me. And even if everything goes well, no matter how insignificant humans seem to me, if I'm left alone with Gor, I'll get bored. I need to interact with things that at least think like me, or I'll go crazy.

The best thing would be to become an adventurer; it's the perfect excuse to kill things constantly without being seen as a monster, plus I can access almost any city, earn large amounts of gold, and buy whatever I want.

But I don't know how to become an adventurer. I only know that I have to join a party or create my own and register in a guild.I also have the small detail that my body now releases demonic energy in large quantities. They would detect me immediately; I doubt I could even get close to a city without them noticing.

If I used spatial magic, I could contain the demonic energy within my core, but it's very annoying to do it constantly all day, and I can't just contain the demonic energy and let any other type come out of my core; my magical power would be completely sealed, preventing me from containing my demonic energy in the first place.

Even if I didn't have demonic energy, my core seems to transform the mana I absorb into all my elemental affinities; I'm constantly releasing mana imbued with… well, everything. No human I know does that.
What would happen if, instead of uncontrollably channeling magic through my core into my body, I selectively transported magic outside my body?

Is it even possible to create something like portals through space? I know it can be done because the artifact Gor was in was capable of doing it. I need to emulate it somehow and be able to create portals within my own body.

But first, I have to engrave the magical circuits inside me.I should be able to teleport my magical energy through space, keeping my demonic energy sealed within my core. It sounds easy, but making it a reality would be insane.
What's the worst that could happen? I would just die.

 

After spending the next two days manipulating my core and experimenting with spatial magic, I was able to contain most of the energy it produces. The process of carving magical circuits into my own soul and core using mana was something I never want to experience again.I swore to myself that from now on, I'll only use magic scrolls that make the process a thousand times less painful. However, I can't just buy a magic scroll to hide a demon's demonic energy.

"These skills are very useful, right, Gor? Without them, I couldn't have carved my own core."

As usual, he doesn't answer me. I don't care.

I'm ready to start, but first I need a damn pair of shoes.

"Gor, use two of your tentacles and wrap them around my legs like a pair of high-heeled boots. I'll send you a mental image of what I want."

The mental image I send to Gor is something like black leather high-heeled boots that go up to the height of my thighs.

Why did I choose such an impractical and inconvenient design for the forest? Because they look great, of course.

I never cared for that kind of footwear when I was Victor, but now I realize it's one of the most beautiful boot designs. In this world, I don't think there's anything like it. All the shoes I had as Victoria were quite simple, and I don't think there's even a concept of heels here.

I'll lose a little ability to absorb mana from the environment, but it'll be worth it since now I can absorb mana from the environment more efficiently, and my core serves as a battery to store it. Plus, it protects my legs, which is the real reason behind choosing this design—to protect my legs. I'm a reasonable woman who makes rational decisions, of course.

The tentacles feel comfortable to the touch, and these boots are an incredibly strong armor. I could use them like an exoskeleton to increase my speed even more.

It would be ideal to cover my arms too. I send Gor images of black leather gloves that reach up to my elbows.

"Try to do something like that, Gor. Keep your tentacles hidden under my clothes in a way that you don't dislocate my joints."

After some adjustments, it seems like the idea works. I have a living armor that functions as an exoskeleton, but I have to ask Gor when I need to use more force or move faster.

 

I practiced for almost an hour, and the results were mixed. I dislocated my extremities a couple of times and broke some bones and joints… so there's a lot to improve.

Also, my mana absorption capacity has decreased significantly, leaving the gloves as an option only if I need to fight melee. I think this is the best way to protect my body without compromising our sustenance or sacrificing my appearance.

Now is the time to see if I can still eat. The only way to find out is by trying.

After searching in the forest, I found a fruit tree that I knew to be edible. If I were to describe this fruit, it would be like a mix of an apple and a peach, but with fuzzy skin, purple in color, and many seeds inside.

I jumped, grabbed a fruit, and when I was about to taste it, I hesitated for a moment.

"What if I can't eat anymore? It would be almost impossible for me to blend in with humans."

This made me very nervous, but I ended up putting those thoughts aside and simply biting into the fruit to finally put my doubts to rest.The taste is as I remembered, although a bit more bland and less pleasurable than I recall. I continued eating the fruit. When I finished swallowing it, I waited a few minutes; nothing strange seemed to happen. I didn't feel full, nor was I hungry in the first place. I need more experimentation.

I spent the rest of the day collecting and eating more fruits; in total, I ate thirty-seven. No matter how much I ate, I never felt full at any point. I consumed such exaggerated amounts in an attempt to force my digestion, but in the end, nothing happened. It seems that food somehow mysteriously turns into mana.

This makes no sense... Matter is not supposed to turn into mana; it should convert into energy, and in that case, I would have some kind of nuclear fission reactor in my stomach and would release large amounts of heat, radiation and probably explode like an atomic bomb.

Instead, it turns into mana. I would understand if they were magical fruits or imbued with mana, but they are normal fruits, and my body transforms them perfectly without leaving any kind of residue.

What the hell is happening with this world and with this body? Why do the physical and magical laws of this world have to be so ridiculous? It frustrates me to realize how little I truly know about this world and that my knowledge of the other life may be much less accurate than I imagined.

"Still, it's not like this is something bad; it's very convenient."

"First, I can eat, and even though the food doesn't taste as good as when I was human, it's still nice and will allow me to blend in with humans without any issues."

"Second, I just discovered an alternative method to replenish mana. If, for some reason, I couldn't absorb ambient mana, I could still eat to recharge my core."

This opens up more options for me, which reminds me that it's time to decide once and for all what I will do from now on. With my core sealed, theoretically, I should be able to enter cities without being identified as a threat.

I would like to be able to return home, but first, I need a method to avoid being examined by my father.

"One way would be to become so influential or important that he no longer has the authority to give me orders."

I could become an adventurer, maintaining my name and surname. When I have enough fame, then I will return to the Nightsun house just to see the face of that old wretch. Let him see how his useless daughter is a prestigious, powerful, and influential S-class archmage.

A broad smile forms on my face just by imagining it.