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I am the approaching storm

Chapter 003: The Strange Young Man from the Crematorium

In a vast, isolated area covering a large expanse to the southeast, outside the urban suburbs of the nearest city, a young man swiftly handled the corpse of an elderly woman. After placing the body in a metal capsule, he removed his gloves and tossed them aside.

"Come on, Ethan, don't be so dramatic. Even though our job involves dealing with corpses, we must separate ourselves from the work and not act like a dead fish easily mistaken for a corpse. You need to show more expression; smile a bit."

Kota wiped the sweat from his brow with a smile, trying to converse with the odd Ethan in the same tone as the arrogant elders who scolded the younger generation.

Of course, Kota was older than the young man named Ethan.

"That fire consumes the soul. You've only been here a few weeks, but I've been seeing bodies melt in the fire since I was a child. Tell me honestly, Kota, could you smile if, instead of hugging a teddy bear, you touched the corpse of a child?" Ethan, after ensuring the hermetic chamber was properly sealed, initiated the cremation process for this corpse.

Ethan was doing all the work of lifting the body, placing it in a sturdy container like a coffin or special box, and then inserting it into the cremation chamber. This chamber was designed to withstand high temperatures and was generally lined with refractory materials.

Meanwhile, Kota handled all the legal processes before dealing with the bodies that arrived at this crematorium. Cremating a body in a foreign country might be rare, but in a place like Japan in the early twentieth century, it was extremely normal, especially with human-eating demons lurking everywhere.

In fact, Ethan had mixed feelings about handling corpses, but there was no way to change his life. His grandfather in this new and strange life was a Japanese man in charge of this old crematorium, while Ethan was an orphan with both foreign and Japanese roots. Although Ethan would have preferred a more interesting life, the lack of parents and resources led him to work in this place. Even in such times, everyone had to submit to the necessity of money, especially when his grandfather was exactly like the previous one.

He was somewhat optimistic about it. His grandfather, named Kaito Saito, said that after his death, Ethan would be the sole owner of this private crematorium. By then, he would only need to sign paperwork in the office, sign, and keep signing until the money flowed into his hands. At that point, someone else would take his place and work hard to keep this place running.

However, years later, after leaving his studies indefinitely and dedicating himself to this work, his grandfather was more alive than a young man in his prime. If it weren't for some events that occurred when Ethan was about to quit, he would have left this place long ago.

"[+1 Body Cremated, your soul's vigor has increased!]"

Ethan stood momentarily still, like a tree. His eyes fixed on the flames, and suddenly, an energy coursed through his veins, reaching every corner of his body in seconds. Yes, he had a sort of cliché attribute panel that was somewhat strange because it didn't interact directly, but it granted him unique special characteristics.

"Oh my god..." Kota, his coworker, exclaimed dramatically. "Move a bit; I'm getting more convinced that you have some kind of fetish with corpses."

"Stop being dramatic and an idiot... I just remembered an old book I read last night, where they described corpses as trash when there's no more soul in the body." Ethan shook his head and left. That was the last body to process today. He had done almost all the work throughout the day, so it was now his time to rest, which was only at night.

Zzi-Zzi! Zzi-zzi!

After leaving the crematorium, Ethan suddenly stopped when that current of electrical energy flashed in his ears, and instinctively, he noticed a disturbing presence kilometers away toward the left hillside.

"Is there someone in that place?" Ethan asked himself, looking in the direction where something odd would usually be.

Since it was nighttime living in this place, it was known that after the sun set, the path became dark and eerie with the sound of animals, and usually no one walked through this place where only family-less corpses were sent for cremation.

"[An unrested soul is near your location; give it eternal rest!]"

That cold and monotonous voice made Ethan, who had stopped, smile. His eyes tightened, and he whispered, "After half a month, another demon has appeared in this place."

Indeed, in the distant shadow, a dark figure revealed its form. When Ethan saw the demon clearly, he couldn't help but frown.

"That energy... is it really a powerful demon?"

The dark and slender body in the distance seemed drenched in oil. Its shoulders were broad, but its arms were thin and very long, dragging on the ground. It had three eyes on its head, the middle one being a dark red color.

"Leave my grandson; leave my grandson; you cursed and were abusive."

Ethan froze for a moment. These demons, also known as anomalies by him, which he knew little about, were divided into levels depending on their nature, energy, and age.

Ethan had classified them after studying and encountering demons of all kinds. The zero-level or initiation demons were the wisest, as they were aggressive and predictable, and their strength was minimal overall.

As for the second-level demons, or intelligent demons, these were all those who had been eating humans for some time. Normally, these demons don't last beyond a few years after conversion, but in rarer cases, they could live up to three years.

The third-level demons, or ancient demons, ranging from ten to a hundred years old, were considered extremely strong. Ethan once almost died facing one of these, but luckily he managed to kill it by cutting its head off in different directions.

He knew there were much stronger and older demons called crescents; these were demons under the command of what was probably the original demon, whom Ethan was obsessed with killing once he had enough strength.

"I couldn't perceive it because I only sense their energy when it's somewhat stronger, but you must have done something to my grandfather for him to recover from his illness in such a miraculous way." Ethan discovered that his grandfather was dying of a very advanced and aggressive cancer, but something happened that left him very perplexed. At a certain point, his grandfather miraculously recovered. Although it was true that his words and actions were strange, he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

Thinking back now, all those series of events were somewhat unreasonable until this third-class demon appeared, clearing all of Ethan's doubts.

Behind the third-class demon were some crushed fruits, and the direction from which those fruits came was a place where Ethan's grandfather used to spend most of his time.

"Although my grandfather is cynical, he was a father figure whom I respect and appreciate with great honesty. He liked planting fruit trees, used to sneeze loudly, and didn't brush his teeth. But he was honest with his feelings, and nothing stopped him from wanting to live this peaceful life." Ethan saw a sword with a white hilt appear from a space beside him. The upper part of the hilt was golden, with a matching ribbon hanging slightly below the seppa; the sheath held the ribbon.

The air seemed to change when Ethan took hold of the sword called Yamato, the only tool that had accompanied him in this life after dying inexplicably and, so to speak, the ultimate demon-slaying weapon.

Looking at his grandfather, who was slowly transforming into a demon, a growing rage in Ethan's chest severed all sentimental ties with the old man, and he murmured, "My grandfather is no longer in this world, so now I will kill you and free my grandfather's body from your filthy demon blood."

"Aren't you afraid?" The third-class demon holding Ethan's paternal grandfather's body was somewhat surprised because the boy's aura had changed significantly.

Just now, he had wanted to kill some people, but when he was about to do so, he encountered this boy, who seemed to be the grandson of the old man who had made a deal with him. The boy appeared holding a sword, but there was no emotion in him, even though he had just lost his grandfather.

"I don't think you're one of those demon hunters."

That couldn't be it; he had been observing Ethan for three months, and there was nothing unusual about him. This young man only complained about wanting to leave the cremation job, but suddenly he had calmed down.

Ethan was calm, which made the demon feel very disgusted due to the growing fear in his chest, given the cowardice of dying while still too young.

"Scared, or maybe surprised?" Ethan looked at the demon in front of him, then remembered that ever since he received rewards for cremating corpses, he hadn't noticed that his grandfather had been marked by a demon.

This time, Ethan would free his grandfather's body, an old man who had suffered much in this life.

Seeing that Ethan said no more, the demon seemed to dispel his scruples. A young man without a hint of power could not generate fear in him, so he rushed forward, trying to deal with Ethan with a single blow.

Ethan was waiting for this critical moment. When the demon lunged at him, he slid his right leg and his fist angled downward, taking a deep breath. With an apparently simple strike, within a second, as the demon approached his safe zone, a white light formed in Ethan's fist. His strike synchronized with that energy, increasing not only his speed but also his strength.

Boom!

The demon's chest caved under that blow, and his whole body flew like a bullet, crashing onto the distant path, shaking the earth, and raising a cloud of dust.

Ethan retracted his arm and moved his right foot from the ground, looking at the smoke and dust rising in the distance. He murmured, "Under normal circumstances, a normal demon would have disintegrated from that blow... It seems that older demons are much more special than I imagined."

Is it because this demon has eaten too many people?

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, you must be eliminated today." Ethan moved his arm and took off the shirt that had been shredded due to the strong blow he had unleashed moments ago. After that, he walked toward the demon.

The smoke and dust had not dissipated, but the black shadow had disappeared from the crack in the ground. Feeling a presence to his left, Ethan's calm eyes scanned the surroundings, and suddenly, feeling the air coming forcefully from one side, the only thing he could do was raise his arms to block his chest. At that moment, a sharp pain shot through all the bones in his arms, and he flew, crashing near the distant house.

"I am not yet strong enough to withstand this damage without problems." Ethan had strengthened his body with his exercises to adapt to the immense power growing within him. Still, in fact, the results of this exercise could not stop the physical attack of a demon in this category. At this moment, his two arms were already injured.

Indeed, there is some danger at this moment. Although the first encounter with that power from the corpses was very pleasing to his body and soul, the strength of his initial attack was not enough to eliminate his enemy.

And the reason he didn't use his sword was that he was not yet skilled in its use; he had not received a direct inheritance, so to speak.

However, invaded by a feeling of powerful will coming from his soul, he did not fear. Instead, the boiling blood in his body made him grit his teeth and move from his place.

In the next moment, a large hole opened where Ethan had moved, and the strange aura came out senselessly from the surroundings, causing the demon to reveal his power as well.

"Let's continue..." Ethan appeared in the air, violently pressing a foot down, and just as he was about to touch the demon's head, a black and blue light appeared again on his right leg, seemingly breaking the space slightly.

Boom!

"Once more!"

Ethan swept his leg once more instantly after landing, and the black and blue light shone in an instant, merging with the white aura.

One kick!

Two kicks!

Three kicks!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At the sixth kick, Ethan slowed down gradually and retreated to safety before making any further moves.

"Can it only exert... six times this attack? Is that the limit of the combination of breathing and my energy?" Ethan's legs were somewhat weak after landing at a safe distance.

The demon, with his current strength, could not withstand the enormous power of Ethan's physical attacks, and he was already at his limit after withstanding six kicks with his energy.

After all, this demon is not of a higher class. His head and body were so severely hit by physical force that his body had difficulty assimilating the damage, and his regeneration was decreasing each time. At this moment, the human body began to die and collapse, cracking more and more the shell of its vessel.

"After all, these are not ordinary attacks with demonic energy."

Ethan regained the mobility of his injured hands. After seeing the collapsed and lifeless demon, he murmured, "This first-level demon, how many points will it give me?"