Hey, Why Are My Skills so Weird!?

A pair of hours later, the party had finished.

I was in my room, lying on the bed with a dazed expression. After a few minutes like that, I spoke up to the demon in my mind.

“… Hey, what do you mean when you said I had one month of life left.”

[Just like you heard. If you do nothing, you will die one month later.]

I sighed. It seemed like I was not imagining things.

“What happened? I thought that the problem with my soul was solved when I absorbed the energy of the core of the dungeon.”

[It was solved.] The demon nodded. [However, it only means that your soul returned to normal. Unfortunately, a normal soul is not enough for the current you.]

I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

[What do you know about the soul, boy?] The demon asked.

‘Of course, I know nothing.’  I thought grumpily.

Even now, souls are considered a metaphysical concept. Their existence is widely debated by scientists.

However, after my experiences with the demon, I know that souls do exist.

But I know nothing else about them.

[That is normal.] The demon chuckled. [Souls are a kind of energy. This energy is a bit different than most other energies, and its existence is directly related to life.

[Every living being does have a soul. That is the most fundamental requirement for something to be considered ‘living’. Without a soul, no matter how ‘alive’ it looks, it’s dead.

[It’s hard to explain, but souls are what allows a ‘consciousness’ to exist. The energy of the soul is used to keep the ‘consciousness’ alive. Do you understand up to there?]

“… I think I do. Souls are necessary to keep the consciousness alive. I understand.”

[It’s basically that.] The demon nodded. [But you see, boy, right now, you are using your soul energy to keep two consciousness alive, yours and mine.]

I was stunned.

Are you saying that the reason I’m about to die is that there is not enough energy in my soul to keep both of us alive?

[Indeed.] The demon’s voice was grave. [Actually, normally there would not be a problem keeping two or three consciousness with the soul energy of one person, at least for a few years. Unfortunately, my consciousness is too strong. Even if this is just a fragment of my soul, the amount of soul energy needed to keep my consciousness is frightening.

[Plus, my goal is to recover my injured soul, so I need even more soul energy than normal. In other words, the fragment of my soul is sucking your soul energy dry.]

I was speechless.

… God, this so-called immortal sure brought me a lot of trouble.

By the way–

“You said that being your host carried several risks. This is just one, what are the others?”

The demon did not reply immediately.

Then, after he thought for several seconds, his voice sounded again.

[… I’ll tell you when the time comes. Anyway, nothing good will come about learning about it early.]

I furrowed my brows.

Sigh, I thought that my luck had turned for the better after meeting this demon, but it seemed that it turned worse instead.

The demon snorted.

[Stop whining, boy. You should instead start thinking about how to stop yourself from dying.]

“You have a solution, right? Your life and mine are connected, and I don’t think you will let yourself die like that.”

[Smart. You are right, I have a solution.] The demon nodded, but then his expression turned strange. [Wait a moment, I will send it to your mind.]

One second later, a stream of information was transmitted to my mind.

… Soul Supplementation Art, huh.

A nice name.

Let’s see. Using the souls of others to supplement yours. Apparently, there is no risk to the people I use the skill in, but I can only do it once a year for a person.

Every use of the technique should increase my lifespan by around one month. Not bad.

It looks like a great technique.

But just then, my expression froze.

“… Demon, what in the hell is the meaning of this?”

[What? Is anything wrong with the technique, boy?]

“Of course there is something wrong!” I shouted enraged. “Are you telling me that I have to do this every time I want to extend my lifespan!?”

[I still don’t see the problem.] The demon was indifferent. [It’s only mating, what is wrong with that?]

I was speechless.

That is the problem!

Why in the hell is sex the requirement of this kind of important technique!?