Mind Demon's Path of Domination

They pushed, pulled, crowded.

They had no individuality—as if they were all one as a herd. They had a lot of powers, incredible powers that most humans could never hope to attain, yet, in the end, they were just part of the herd. It felt like that at least.

He stopped a naked man on the street. The guy seemed dazed.

"Hey, where is the Exchange?" Mark asked.

The man turned to look at Mark, even more dazed than he was.

"You want drugs?" the man asked. "

Mark ignored him and went past him, mixing into the crowd. That man alone was an Upper Demon, someone who could probably end Maark\'s dreams with some simple blows. Yet, here he was, wasting away.

"That\'s what a lack of ambition does to you. He has gained all the power he needs to enjoy his life in this city, and that\'s all he wants. He has grown contend. Growing content is something we should never let happen."

Mark didn\'t think otherwise, either.

He stopped another person, this time, a creature in the shape of a slime. It was expressionless, bobbing on the ground.

"Hey, do you know where the Exchange is?" Mark asked.

"A middle demon?" The slime burped.

Mark felt his heart tremble. He hadn\'t realized it when he spoke to that Rat right after coming to this city, but not anyone could tell that he was a Middle Demon at a glance. Only incredibly strong people could tell he was a Middle Demon with one glance, and according to Reol\'ran, any one of them could be compared to herself.

"It\'s such a rare sight for a Middle Demon like you to find your way into the city. How did you get your hands on a Portal Key? And how did you become intelligent as a Middle Demon?"

Mark stayed calm. "I got it by luck in another world."

The slime gurgled slightly. "Well, whatever. Not like I give a shit about it. Walk around, the first building you see with a Portal as its door is the Exchange."

"Thanks."

Mark excused himself with the usual demonlike behavior he had seen other demons use and when he was at a distance, heaved a huge sigh of relief. He didn\'t want to offend creatures like that. That sounded deadly.

He walked around this part of the city for a long while until he came across a huge tower. The tower pierced into the clouds themselves, and instead of a door leading in, there was a Portal, and many demons were moving in and out of it.

The Exchange.

A board written in the demon language waved in the wind, hitting the marbled walls of the tower. This was a very unique place. An Exchange would be there in all Demon Cities, and all of them were run directly by the Will of the Demon World.

Inside it, if you pay a sum, you can even… talk with the Will of the Demon World.

It was an incredibly special place indeed, and all demons, the closer they were to the tower, grew the more silent. Mark didn\'t do anything out of the ordinary and silently lined up with the others who wanted to enter the Portal. Nobody spoke.

Mark scanned the stats of the people around with his Violet Screen and most of them… were beyond his understanding. They were stronger than him. But yet, none of them could sense his Violet Screen\'s intrusion into their privacy.

It worked even inside cities with no problem.

When his chance arrived, he walked into the Portal himself.

***

Mark opened his eyes in a vast, empty plain. From one end to the other, green plains stretched as far as he could see, and a blue sky loomed above him. Refreshing sunlight bathed him, and overall, he felt a strange serenity.

Nobody else was around.

[You have entered an Exchange created by the "Will of the Demon World."]

He took a deep breath. The function of an Exchange was simple—anonymous trading. You can trade your demonic tricks for other demonic tricks, and others can do the same. Yes, it was an incredibly useful place and most strong demons made use of it.

This was also one of the safest places in the entire Other World.

Here, no one will come to hurt you.

How do I initiate an Exchange? Mark wondered.

Suddenly, hundreds of silhouettes appeared around him out of nowhere, and surprised, Mark looked at one of them. After three seconds, the silhouette turned into the shape of a little girl—a little human girl.

All the other silhouettes vanished.

The little girl looked around and focused on Mark.

"Oh!" she exclaimed and ran closer to him.

Tier 2 Pinnacle Demonic Trick—Dream Wings.

A pair of dark wings expanded behind Mark and he flew back at the speed of sound. Warily, he stared at the girl and took a deep breath.

"Scared?" The girl laughed mightily. "I didn\'t think other Middle Demons were in this Demon Cities but damn, there are a lot of Middle Demons trading at this moment. It\'s just that the others don\'t see our kind that often."

"You are also a sentient Middle Demon," Mark said, eyes glimmering. "So, were all the other silhouettes I just saw other Middle Demons?"

"Duh." She rolled her eyes. "They are all Middle Demons. You can only trade with Middle Demons since you are a Middle Demon yourself. I haven\'t got too much time, an ugly Upper Demon is trying to catch me and I need a good movement-type demonic trick. Do you have any?"

Mark didn\'t answer instantly and thought for a second.

"What can you offer in return?" he asked.

The little girl, who looked so human—except for her green skin color and demonic horns—smirked. With a thought, a gem appeared in her hand and Mark blinked. It was a gem that represented one of her demonic tricks.

People can take out their demonic tricks here?

"What will you do if I kill you and steal it from you?"

He could use his abilities now, so why shouldn\'t he just force her to give all the Tricks she has?

"What kind of idiot do you think runs this place? You can\'t do that. You can use your demonic tricks here, but the moment you use it to do something against the law, thunder will descend and burn you to a crisp.

"If you take one demonic trick, you have to give another demonic trick in return. Otherwise, those demons with a lot of slaves can just tell their slaves to give all their abilities to their master. It will be absolute tyranny and no new demons would be allowed to keep their Tricks."

Mark had wanted to do exactly that. He wanted to tell the Boss to give all its powers to him. Sadly, it didn\'t work that way. If the Boss gave him one, he would have to give one too. It was a fair deal system. And as he guessed, violence wasn\'t a choice either.

"So, smartass, it\'s either we do a fair deal, or don\'t deal at all. I need a movement-type Trick and I have this as an exchange. Do you have something that you can give me to take this, otherwise, just piss off."

Mark looked at the demonic trick and its details streamed into his mind. The violet screen structured the information into clear data and showed it to him in its interface.

[Injury Transfer]

[Accumulate all injuries received over thirty seconds. If you survive the duration without dying, transfer all injuries sustained in that 30-second period to an enemy, while fully healing yourself.]

It was… an amazing ability. In fact, it was the first demonic trick Mark had seen that could, in a way, counter Clown\'s Circus. If his enemy used the Trick while Clown\'s Circus was active and Mark failed to kill the said enemy in 30 seconds, wouldn\'t all the injuries that his enemy sustained transfer to him?

No, even in normal scenarios, this trick was amazing.

Sadly, he had no movement demonic tricks he could Exchange.

He only had Dream Wings and that only allowed one to turn one\'s wings into a dream—it was a sort of utility ability. With a thought, he brought out his demonic trick.

The little girl stared at it intently and then shook her head. "It\'s useless. I can see it being useful if I paired it with some of my other Tricks to create an Ultimate Demonic Art, but sorry bud, I don\'t have time for that shit. Do you have anything else that directly improves my speed?"

Yeah, he did, but Mark would never share Clown\'s Circus.

"I don\'t have any that can increase speed."

"Then see ya, I don\'t need anything else. My defense, offense, senses, and even utility are already perfect. I only lack in my movement and that\'s what I want."

She was ready to vanish but Mark shouted. "Stop!"

"What?" she asked, frowning.

"Do you know anything about the Sufferings of Misfortune?"

"What the fuck is that?" She shook her head. "Sorry dude, no time to waste."

With that, she vanished, becoming a silhouette first before turning into shards of disappearing darkness.

Mark sighed. "This doesn\'t sound like something anybody would know anything about."

"Well. Don\'t lose the spirit. I think Tier 4 creatures would know, but that\'s too risky."

Mark nodded. "And didn\'t people say the trades were done anonymously, I saw her appearance, so it is not anonymous, is it?"

"Do you remember her appearance?"

Mark frowned. He did remember.

"Yeah, you might remember because of the Violet Mirror. It does some weird things like that, but I forgot how she looks. Yes, I don\'t remember at all. That means, the Will of the Demon World did something to make people forget the faces of the opposite traders."

"So that little girl would have forgotten about me now?"

"The trader looked like that?" Reol\'ran nodded. "Yep, she wouldn\'t remember you, only your demonic tricks."

Mark took a deep breath.

He was here for three reasons. One, he wanted to see some other demonic tricks and trade for it if it was a genuinely good deal. Two, learn something if he could about the Sufferings. And third, he wanted to help Dona evolve.

This was the safest place he knew to do all of that.

For now, he didn\'t initiate another Trade and instead, brought Dona out of his World Space.

The demoness was startled and quickly looked around.

Before she could say anything, Mark hugged her waist. She only tried to run for a second, before she realized she was in safe hands; her mate\'s hands.

Mark sank his lips into hers. His tongue moved into her mouth with rampant interest and she, at first a bit confused, quickly began reciprocating. She was way bigger than him, so, he decided to shrink her size to a human level.

Clown\'s Circus.

Time stopped.

Now, it wouldn\'t hurt for Dona.

Alchemic Shapeshifting.

Her body shrank in size and soon, became just a little shorter than him. He was 2 meters tall, and she was now 1.8 meters tall. It made her easier to kiss, her head easy to caress, and her butt just in the place where he could give a small slap.

When 30 seconds ended, Clown\'s Circus came to a halt and Dona found herself on the ground, pinned down by firm hands. She was kissing her mate wildly just as before, but now, she was the same size as him.

Mark looked at her beautiful figure. Red skin, red eyes, light grey hair, and dark horns. Her busty breasts and incredibly toned muscles didn\'t make it easier for him to avert his gaze.

Dona, in turn, admired her mate.

He was leaner, sharp like a blade, and his color itself was unique.

She placed her horns against his horns and her eyes grew hazy.

She licked his cheeks, and he licked her cheeks back.

"You are happy now?" he asked.

"Dona likes clothes. I need clothes."

"I will buy you some when I get the chance."

For once, he was in a place without any conflict. In a place where he could be really carefree—with only his women around him. But sadly, one can at most stay inside the Exchange for seven days and then, they will be kicked out.

He wanted to make Dona evolve in that time.

She touched his nose with hers and the wild scent of the demoness inundated him.

"I like Mark\'s smell," she said.

He moved his tongue into her delectable mouth and once again, enjoyed the treat that was her lips and tongue. She tasted like a wild grape. And his hands roamed through her body, gently caressing her contours.