During these days, Olthagia was not merely idling around.
The three-to-one time flow ratio afforded him ample time to sort out his own issues.
For instance, the somewhat chaotic inherited memories in his mind—he was attempting to sift through them for useful information and actively assimilate it.
Rather than passively storing it in his brain.
If he didn't fully digest it, it would never truly become his own, merely an external appendage.
Due to limited capabilities, Olthagia focused his efforts on categories beneficial to combat.
Most of his time was spent delving into his Bloodline Research Spells and enhancing his hand-to-hand combat abilities.
One of the reasons Sartre and the others were so obedient.
Stemmed from some of these achievements—certain Curse Type and Mental Type spells.
As previously mentioned, demons primarily enhance their strength by excavating their bloodline, killing, and plundering souls. Beyond that, the knowledge within their inherited memories also allows demons to cultivate Extraordinary Professions like other races.
Unlike many species that need to gather information on Extraordinary Professions postnatally, demons, dragons, elemental spirits, and other supernatural beings inherently possess a wealth of Extraordinary Profession information within their bloodline. Although most of it is relatively conventional, it still gives them a head start.
In this regard, demons hold a significant advantage even among supernatural beings.
If a demon is unsatisfied with the knowledge inherent in their bloodline and seeks higher-tier knowledge, besides exchanging with other creatures or plundering, they can also gain desired rewards directly from the Bottomless Abyss by engaging in acts of arson, slaughter, and pillage that please the Abyss.
The Bottomless Abyss, as the source of all negative phenomena, symbolizes the 'evil' aspect of the Multiverse.
Although it lacks a complete self-consciousness, over the eons, its instincts alone have amassed countless precious knowledge and treasures, which hold no practical use for it. Thus, for the native creatures of the Bottomless Abyss, gaining the favor and attention of the Abyssal Consciousness can grant them access to a plethora of coveted things.
In this context, compared to other species, who often find themselves at a dead end.
The demonic creatures of the Abyss, who know nothing of magical research or professional advancement exploration.
With brains seemingly composed entirely of muscle, rely on the vast resources of the Bottomless Abyss and seldom worry about such matters.
After all, the path is there; as long as they kill enough, everything will work out. Whether they succeed or not depends on their own fortune, given that demons who fail in their killings and end up as spell materials or experimental subjects are everywhere.
Under these circumstances, the already peculiar thought processes of Abyssal creatures often lead them down strange paths.
For example, a Balor Flame Demon whose profession is a Sword Saint—since they both favor swords, there's no reason why wielding a decapitation greatsword over ten meters long disqualifies them from being a Sword Saint. An Eight-Armed Snake Demon, with eight arms and potentially nine if you count the tail, has every right to be a Martial Artist.
It is said that there was once a Holy Light Demon in the Bottomless Abyss, the kind of demon that could cast holy light to purify evil. Olthagia had nothing to say about this, as the Bottomless Abyss is home to so many bizarre creatures. A demon using holy light isn't particularly out of place. After all, if you were to randomly select ten demons for inspection, you'd find that all ten are insane—the only difference is the degree of their madness.
Compared to most of his eccentric predecessors, Olthagia was an even worse type. He wanted to become a spellcaster.
Specifically, a melee-oriented mage.
The kind who could punch out a Meteor Burst and kick out a Hurricane Spell. After all, it would be a shame not to make use of such excellent physical conditions.
As for whether this could still be called a mage?
Olthagia had a simple and honest view:
'As long as I can still cast spells, no one can say I'm not a mage.'
After all, demons like him, who are both unpretentious and diligent, tend to be quite stubborn.
'If something goes wrong, it's probably not my fault. It's the world that's the problem.'
To improve his learning efficiency and combat capabilities, Olthagia specifically went to the ancient forest at the border and set a few fires, freeing a large number of wild animals from the disturbances of mundane life. Then he went to a more remote area to harvest some resources, collecting all the Evolution Points he could without affecting the local situation. In total, he gathered over 300,000 Evolution Points.
He evolved four talents:
[Free Spellcasting: Spells become more flexible and diverse in your hands, as if they were an extension of your body (41,500 Evolution Points)]
[Innate Skill - Martial Arts: You are born for combat. Any martial technique, as long as you have the means to learn it, can be mastered at an astonishing speed, and you can surpass its original form (65,500 Evolution Points)]
[Overclocked Brain: The development of your brain increases, activating previously unused areas and entering an overclocked state. Your learning abilities and perception are significantly enhanced (74,500 Evolution Points)]
[Source of Death Plague: Illness becomes your weapon. Plagues are like extensions of yourself, and you can create and modify their nature and characteristics at will, as long as you expend mana (87,900 Evolution Points)]
As his strength grew and his talents increased, Olthagia began to plan his future path.
No one can be a master of all things.
Even with his evolution system, Olthagia didn't believe he could excel in every area. Therefore, he had to consider where to focus his efforts.
In the Bottomless Abyss, slaughter is the eternal theme. There's no leisurely time to ponder slowly. What he needed to think about was how to destroy everything in his path. The fact that time in this world flowed at one-third the normal rate also gave him the opportunity to make detailed plans.
[Spells], [Body], [Soul], [Source of Death Plague], [Suffering Torment], [Elemental Talent - Bloodflame], [Magic Trait - Corrosion]—these were the future paths he had decided on over the past month!
Flexible and versatile, though not flawless, they lacked any obvious weaknesses. Once developed, he could thrive anywhere.
From now on, apart from reserving some Evolution Points to address his own deficiencies, most of his resources would be allocated to these areas.
The distribution rules for Evolution Points within the Evolution System were also modified by Olthagia. Only one-fourth of all gains would be kept as reserves, while the remaining three-fourths would be allocated to various aspects of these abilities according to Olthagia's design.
After making all these adjustments, Olthagia finally had a clear understanding of his own position and laid out a basic summary of his future plans.
Although practical, his combat skills were still somewhat rough.
His Bloodline Spells were understood only in their effects, not their underlying principles.
While his strength had caught up, his perspective and knowledge were relatively backward, lacking experience in various aspects.
Self-awareness is a virtue, and the same applies to Demons. Recognizing one's shortcomings and finding ways to compensate for them—this is what Olthagia aimed to do now.
Putting away the gray-black mist in his hand, Olthagia stood up from his seat and casually picked up an apple, taking a bite.
His gaze calmly passed through the plants growing atop the pavilion, looking at the blazing sun at its zenith in the sky.
Feeling the sunlight on his body, Olthagia admitted to himself that it was slightly uncomfortable.
In any world, the sun represents something sacred, imbued with special significance. Its sunlight also has the power to dispel evil. If it weren't for the effects of the [Armed Rune - Scarlet], even as a [Low-Rank Demon], Olthagia would never willingly expose himself to sunlight, despite it not causing direct harm.
It was a sensation that instinctively repelled Demons, like a fish pulled out of water, greatly weakening their strength. Combined with the world's inherent suppression, it made them even more uncomfortable.
For Demons at the [Infant Demon] level, being placed in this world under the pressure of the world's suppression, sunlight alone could kill them outright.
This was why many dark creatures learned spells like [Dark Sky] and [Cloudy Day Summons]. Without sufficient home-field advantage, Demons, who often engaged in inter-dimensional invasions, would find it difficult to thrive.
The apple in his mouth was of the finest variety, with vibrant color and plump flesh. However, due to the Demon's taste system being different from that of humans, it tasted like dirt. Even though Olthagia accessed the residual memories of eating apples from his previous life through his [Overclocked Brain], he could no longer taste the flavor he had as a human. Instead, it left him with an indescribable, strange taste.
For a Demon's palate, the most delicious things were always souls and flesh, especially from creatures rich in emotions. The extremes of true goodness and true evil were the best types. These were the most precious, high-quality luxuries, serving various purposes beyond mere consumption.
As for the flesh and souls of their own kind, while they didn't refuse them, they found them somewhat monotonous, merely a way to get by.
With a wave of his hand, a snake hidden in the grass of the courtyard was pulled into Olthagia's grasp.
The creature was about one meter in length, with a slightly pointed head. Its body was covered in small, jade-green and deep-red scales that formed patterns resembling ghostly faces.
Ignoring its frantic struggles, Olthagia gently pressed his fingertip against its throat, making a small incision to sever the blood vessels and venom sac. He then poured the contents onto the apple as if adding seasoning.
Taking another bite.
Hmm...
There was a bit more flavor now, with the venom adding a slight spiciness that was quite acceptable.
After finishing his meal, Olthagia casually discarded the snake's corpse, picked up a towel from the table to wipe his hands and mouth, and then headed towards his laboratory.