Succubus and Sparrow Spirit

A drop of water struck the flooded tile floor of the bathroom, sending out a tiny ripple.

Cheng Sheng held a stance with one foot half a step back, staring oddly at the spot where the drop had landed. Then... he looked up at the showerhead directly above him.

"I dodged it..."

Cheng Sheng blinked, his murmured words full of disbelief.

Just now, he had somehow sensed a drop falling above his head, and then, as if prompted by some mysterious force... he had instinctively dodged it!

"That drop was only... thirty centimeters above my head? Based on the showerhead's height above the floor and the weight of a drop of water, its falling speed would be..."

Cheng Sheng wasn't good at physics, but he knew this was not the reaction speed a normal person should have.

"Let's try it again."

His spirits lifted. He tilted his head back and stared at the showerhead, which was still slowly leaking water, concentrating...

"Drip..."

"Drip..."

Twice.

Cheng Sheng tested it two more times, each from a shorter distance than the last. He dodged both drops, and with ease.

"My reactions really have gotten faster! A lot faster!"

His earlier dejection was swept away. Cheng Sheng looked at his hands, a little excited, unsure how to put his excitement into words.

After a brief spell of delight, Cheng Sheng calmed down.

"Sacrificing over two hundred live sparrows greatly improved my reaction speed. Sparrows' reactions and speed are pretty fast, aren't they..."

Among birds, sparrows weren't the fastest fliers, but their reactions and ability to change direction were undoubtedly top-notch.

"Looking at it that way, could the abilities gained through [Dark Sacrifice] be related to the type of living sacrifice?"

Cheng Sheng pulled the bath towel off the wall and slowly dried the water from his body.

The Black Book did mention that if the sacrifice was of high enough quality, one could make specific requests of the other party for a reward during the ritual... That was an official little trick for using [Dark Sacrifice].

"Whether that's really the case, I'll know after testing it in the next sacrifice."

Cheng Sheng had recently reached a "bottleneck" in his practice of Nantu martial arts. If the kind of reward he received from a sacrifice could be controlled to some degree, the speed of his progress would become truly terrifying.

"Using a warlock's abilities to help practice mortal martial arts is a dimensionality reduction strike, in its own way..."

Thinking this, Cheng Sheng took the towel and walked over to the bathroom mirror, giving himself a habitual glance.

And then...

It was as if he had seen something unbelievable.

He looked again.

And again!

Five minutes later, Cheng Sheng stared at himself in the mirror, his face full of confusion and surprise.

"Why does it feel like... I've gotten more handsome?"

He had seen his predecessor's face countless times since transmigrating.

It was neither good-looking nor ugly, just an ordinary, unremarkable face. Even calling it delicate would have been a stretch... But now, he suddenly realized he looked much better.

His appearance was clearly the same, and so were his features, yet he somehow looked better. It was hard to describe exactly. Perhaps... the word "charm" could explain it.

His "charm" had increased.

"Is this another benefit from the sacrifice?"

Facing the mirror, Cheng Sheng found himself thinking of the coquettish laugh he had heard during the ritual, the one that had made his face flush and his blood rush downward in an instant.

"Upon initiation, some warlocks have a chance of receiving the special favor of a particular powerful demon, who is willing to take the initiative to become an 'intermediary' between the warlock and the Abyss, as well as a 'guarantor' for the contract, a third party..."

That was a passage from the Black Book.

Cheng Sheng had originally thought he wasn't such an exception. Now it seemed he was much more "outstanding" than he had imagined.

"An 'intermediary' can often accelerate a warlock's growth, allowing the warlock to hold a greater advantage during sacrifices and gain richer rewards from each one..."

"Of course, the existence of an 'intermediary demon' also increases the risk of a backlash from the Abyss someday in the future..."

It had its advantages and disadvantages.

Cheng Sheng's eyes flickered as he silently pondered.

A moment later, he shook his head, casting aside the misgivings, worries, and other feelings that had just arisen.

He was too weak, so weak that he had no way of influencing many things that happened. He could only accept them passively.

"At least for now, it's beneficial to me..."

Cheng Sheng looked at himself in the mirror and reached out to touch his cheek, which seemed much smoother and silkier than before. He murmured, "But come to think of it, a demon who can improve my charm...

"Could this 'intermediary demon' who took a fancy to me be a succubus?!"

It had rained heavily for half the night, leaving the open ground in front of the Black Killing Boxing Gym muddy. The smell of rotting leaves and sap filled the air.

On the training ground, a group of students were sparring.

"Ha!"

In a corner of the training ground, a burly, dark-skinned young man with a blue cord tied around his head attacked fiercely. His imposing punch, however, was nimbly dodged by the slender youth facing him.

Before the young man could withdraw his punch, the latter whipped a kick hard into the outside of his thigh, near the back of his knee.

The blow made the young man stagger, and he pitched forward uncontrollably. He was about to land face-first in the mud when, suddenly...

A fair, slender hand appeared like a ghost, seized his arm, and gave it a hard upward tug, pulling him back to his feet.

"Phew..."

Badan glanced with lingering fear at the ground of the training area, which had nearly been churned into a mud pit, then turned to Cheng Sheng. "Thanks, A Sheng."

The mud on the training ground was mixed with everyone's spit and foot sweat. He didn't want a mouthful of it; it would disgust him for hours.

Cheng Sheng shook his head dismissively, then said half-jokingly, "Badan, you'll never be Lan Mengkong like this."

Badan's face immediately reddened. He instinctively raised a hand to cover the blue cord around his head.

"I-I'm only wearing it for fun... I'll wear a different color next time."

After those words, Badan abruptly changed the subject. Looking at Cheng Sheng, he said in puzzlement, "That's strange, A Sheng. Why do I feel like you've gotten a lot better today? My punches couldn't hit you at all. A lot of the time, you just dodged them somehow..."

"It's not that I've gotten better. You're just not in good form today.

"Maybe it's because the ground is too slippery..."

"Really?"

Badan scratched his head, apparently accepting the explanation.

But he failed to notice the indescribably odd expression on Cheng Sheng's face after he answered.

Of course it was because Cheng Sheng had gotten stronger.

The extraordinarily fast reactions he had gained from sacrificing over two hundred live sparrows meant that, against an opponent like Badan, he was practically unbeatable.

If Cheng Sheng wanted, Badan wouldn't even be able to touch the hem of his clothes.

He had only shown a little of it just now, and Badan had already found the fight unusually difficult. Even Cheng Sheng didn't know where his limit was.

"Two hundred sparrows gave me sparrow-like reactions, as if a 'sparrow spirit' had been infused into my body..."

As the sounds of fists and feet colliding rose and fell across the training ground, Cheng Sheng gazed idly in one direction, his eyes flickering as he thought, But my physical shortcomings are becoming more obvious too. I landed so many punches and kicks on Badan just now, and he barely felt them...

Looks like next time, I'll have to try sacrificing a living creature with strength.