Chapter 50 - “Shackles, Release”

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nThat same night, I stayed awake with a bad plan circling through my mind. It was time to make another bad decision.

nI turned my attention across to the other side of the room where Grandpa was laying. He snored loudly. Jeez, maybe that's why we haven't encountered any beast attacks in the night; The snoring scared away all the predators. His snoring sounded like the roars of an A- rank beast.

nMy temptation was rising and I slowly got up, creeping my way out of the tent. I swung the fabric of the exit up, bending down to get out but to my surprise, I hit something hard.

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"And where do you think you're going?

" Gramps looked at me with his soulless, tired eyes. I flinched away from him, letting out a slight yelp. I looked back into the tent to see his empty bed. How did he get here so fast?! I looked back and forth before slowly straightening myself and clearing my throat.

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"I needed to take a sh*t!

" I said on the spot, hoping it was believable.

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"You had soup.

" he furrowed his eyebrows, giving me a judgemental face.

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"And?

" I fired back, pretending to be offended by his accusing tone.

nHe sighed, giving up and dragged his feet back into the tent.

"Yeah that's what I thought-

" I stopped mid sentence as he glared at me.

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"Sorry.

" I smiled, kicking my feet back and sprinting into the forest to 'poo'.

nMy body definitely felt lighter and more agile; I was running faster than I ever could before, almost matching speeds similar to when I used my 'lightning aura'. Peering with my right eye back at where I came from, I could see past the trees, through the darkness and all the mana signatures and waves in the air, even Gramps's body. This 'demon eye' definitely was special.

nWhen I reached the clearing of a cliff, I stopped, almost tumbling over from the sudden stop. The moon shone brightly in its pure glory, radiating peace and the dark sky was filled with scattered starts, illuminating the night. This place was perfect. I stepped back from the edge, grass whipping around my feet. My dark hair blew back by the strong wind lashing my face. I inhaled a breath, preparing for something to go wrong.

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"Shackles, release.

" I whispered to myself and it felt as if my voice had been carried away by the wind. I gasped, feeling the nostalgic feeling of adrenaline rushing through me making me shiver in delight. My breath jammed in my throat as a euphoric feeling filled me.

nMy black hair grew in length, becoming more tousled and grew in front of my forehead, laying messily just above my eyes. The mana in the atmosphere shifted as my black hair faded and the colour of bright red blood replaced it. Although my hair was long, it stood tall unlike my old demon form, which had the hair down to the shoulders. This demon form's hair held volume and strength yet was fluffy and tousled, taking me aback.

nI could feel every muscle in my body flex and tighten like it was being tightened by a screw, making me stiffen up. I heard pops and clicks as every bone in my body expanded in a satisfying type of pain. My red eye emitted a glowing light as I was lifted off of my feet, levitating in the air. Waves of strength shot through me making me feel empowered.

nBut that's when the pain started.

nTwo sharp horns started to forcefully grow on my head, piercing through my scalps' skin and settling in my hair like an egg in it's nest. The pain was shockingly quick but left me in a daze. My world started to spin, before I was finally let down back onto the ground in my new glorious form.

nI examined my hands, feeling like gold was running in my blood.

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"ZEREF!

"

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"ARGH!

" I flinched and the hill under me cracked in chunks, lifting from the earth and falling. I caught a glimpse of gramps before falling from the accidental impact of force I had put into the ground.

nFor a second, I enjoyed the peaceful feeling of falling but then I realised that gramps was waiting for me to return. Leaping up on a few boulders and shooting back up, I resurfaced in front of Gramps, not noticing the pissed off glare he gave me because I was too happy with my powers.

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"Taking a ** huh?

" he raised an eyebrow at me.

nI stroked my hair back out of my eyes and smiled at him cheekily.

"Come on. You can't lie. This is awesome!

" I said as the veins in my hands started to glow a fiery red with light hints of gold.

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"STOP!

" Gramps yelled, whacking me with the fan but it didn't hurt.

"You just recovered you immature brat!

" he pulled me down to his level by my ear.

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"OW!

" I lost my footing, stumbling behind him as he pulled me through the forest by my ear. My demon form disappeared making me disappointed but I didn't have time to process it because the geezer wouldn't give me a breath to protest.

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"You will NOT use your demonic form until you can control your base form. Focus on the priorities and for god's sake get some SLEEP!

" He pushed my head towards the tent and my whole body followed. I struggled to find my balance, my ears becoming an angry shade of red as I let out a groan.

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"Okay, Okay.

" I rolled my eyes, shoving through the thin fabric of the entrance and storming into bed, missing the euphoric feeling of my demonic form. I had never felt so connected to my powers before and I felt like it was a key to all my setbacks. Why won't he let me use it?!

nIf I was king, I could have done whatever I wanted. Well, I had to accept this was my new life; I was grateful for everything, from having family to amazing friends. This life was definitely less lonely than my previous.

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