Mind Demon's Path of Domination

"Reol\'ran," he said. "You said my chance of surviving was incredibly low—to the point you said you didn\'t think I\'d survive. But maybe it isn\'t so bad."

"Well, I only knew about the statistics of deaths when faced with the Sufferings. I just knew that only Tier 5s faced it and most of them died. It made sense for you to fail—you are but a Middle Demon—but I see, it\'s not so simple."

She added, feeling somewhat emotional herself: "Now that we know what the Suffering of Man is, the chance of survival is pretty high."

Mark was injured, battered, tired, and exhausted, but suddenly, he felt a lot lighter. Maybe the 2nd of the Six Sufferings might be impossible for him to beat, and if not, the 3rd one might be. But whatever may be, the first Suffering, the Suffering of Man, was not impossible.

In fact, it seemed like a much smaller mountain to cross after fighting the Armor.

Amused, Mark asked, feeling a bit smug: "Armor, how would you rate your battle strength at the moment compared to the strongest Tier 2 creatures you have seen?"

The Armor made a hum sound, thinking. "I\'d say, as I am now—with my experience, abilities, and mindpower intact—I could be considered an elite. A top of the line fighter against almost any Tier 2 creature out there. No matter what their abilities may be."

Then, it shook its head.

"But I am not the best. Far from it. At the moment, I can\'t use any combination abilities—I can\'t fuse my abilities to create an equivalent of Ultimate Demonic Arts. I only have my static abilities. If I had been able to fuse my abilities together, you would not have stood a chance against me."

"Even you don\'t dare call yourself the best?" Mark frowned. "You are a Tier 7 creature even though you are weaker now, but even you don\'t think you are the best among mere Tier 2s?"

Even Reol\'ran was a bit surprised. Even she, who was often called a genius inside her Heaven Soul clan, hadn\'t been as strong as the Armor when she was Tier 2.

The Armor shook its head. "There are monsters in the world, we call them the Maverick. You could call yourself one of them, but you are still not at the top of them yet—even though you have the potential to stand there one day."

It seemed sure about that.

"Think of me, for example—I am also the same as you. A Maverick, but I am not at the top of them either. When all my potential for battle gets unearthed, I\'d be strong enough to stand against any Tier 2 in the universe, but now, I am not there yet."

Mark asked, "What does it take to become a Maverick? What are they?"

The Armor had the exact answer for it. "Mavericks are people who cannot be judged by common sense. They are people who go against the order, creatures with strength that no one has. Just having that time-stop ability, infinite Mindpower, and being able to fight a higher tier makes you one of them already."

A Maverick. One who couldn\'t be judged by common sense.

"There are some general clues to identify a Maverick. These people can always fight a higher tier than themselves, which we both can. They have infinite mindpower most of the time, too—which I don\'t have yet due to having just woken up.

"I need to absorb a World Core if I want that. And believe me, most Mavericks are capable enough to get a World Core for themselves. And usually, they each have very special tricks up their sleeve that make them stand out from the crowd."

Mark nodded. It was the first time he had heard about the true elites of his rank. The Mavericks. And apparently, he was also considered one of them.

The Armor chuckled. "Honestly, this Savage World is weird. The whole Savage Race here is a sort of very weak Mavericks. So I wasn\'t too surprised when I saw a demon like you here—but in other places, the Mavericks are very rare."

Yeah, Mark didn\'t think that kind would be here and there.

"So, what do you think I should do to reach the top even among Mavericks?" Mark asked.

Until now, Mark\'s goal had been to evolve as soon as possible and reach Tier 3, but now, Mark wanted to clearly stabilize his foundation. Become as strong as a Maverick can.

Then, no matter what kind of monstrous a Tier 2 came at him, they wouldn\'t be too troublesome.

"You should master all your demonic tricks," it said, "turn them into useful Ultimate Demonic Arts. Then, you should fight more intense battles and get an intuition for physical brawling. Then, you should use Seals of Destiny to remove your weaknesses: movement, defense, and healing."

It sighed.

"I think, if you start using that time-stop ability in Ultimate Demonic Arts—you will be a Maverick even among Mavericks. You have more potential than anything I\'ve seen in my life, and I have a feeling I hadn\'t seen your true potential even now."

Mark coughed, then boasted to Reol\'ran: "Look at that. That\'s a Tier 7 creature praising me like that. And what do you do all the time? Learn from him!"

"Humph. He is just praising your potential, not your current self. Your current self is just weak—if a top-tier Maverick is the one coming to kill you, you\'ll probably die. So don\'t be cocky."

"Oi, oi. Do you want to be rid of me that bad?"

"Shut up and ask him more questions when you can."

"So, Armor. Most Tier 5 creatures know someone is coming to kill them when their Suffering of Man is soon, right?"

"They do."

"Then why do so many of them die? Can\'t they predict? Plan schemes? Get ready meticulously?"

The Armor sat up. "You are only seeing the person as the enemy. If you are going to face the Suffering of Man, your enemy is going to get the Fortune of Man. They will be blessed by the world! Your enemy is not just any person alone, but it\'s also the universe!"

Mark frowned.

"The River of Destiny is sending an assassin on you, it will make sure the one it sends has a 100% chance of killing you. You will suffer from incredible bad luck, they will have incredible good luck. Everything is deeper than it seems."

Mark felt a deep sensation of foreboding. He wasn\'t one to underestimate his enemy—especially when he didn\'t even know who the enemy was.

Expect the worst, work for the best.

"Ran, from now on, let\'s move forward with the expectation that we are facing the strongest Tier 2 being to ever exist in the world."

"Good. If he won, he will have everything that is yours—if we win, we will have everything that is his, including that title."