Advancing into the Harbinger of Calamity class was effortless—almost as if this job had been tailor-made for Luo Shu.
The moment he became a Harbinger, a flood of information surged into his mind. Among it, the most crucial was a breakdown of his newly acquired abilities.
His previous powers—wind manipulation and combat intuition via subconscious response—were now all categorized under a single core: Calamity.
Wind manipulation had been subsumed under the category of bestowal, while combat intuition and subconscious control were classified under perception.
As a Harbinger of Calamity, Luo Shu could bestow, perceive, and absorb calamities.
Bestowal was the most direct ability—it allowed him to afflict enemies with randomly selected natural disasters like lightning strikes, raging fires, howling winds, blizzards, and the like. Alternatively, he could simply bestow misfortune, ensuring that every one of his target's actions would become a string of unfortunate surprises.
Perception remained largely similar to his former combat intuition, but it had become more precise. He could now clearly sense calamities descending upon himself or those around him, allowing him to dodge or mitigate them more effectively.
As for absorption, Luo Shu preferred to call it damage transfer.
This ability allowed him to absorb calamities directed at either himself or others, even converting received injuries into energy that could be stored within him—and later bestowed upon someone else.
To Luo Shu, this skill was nothing short of a lifesaving miracle—like his stats had become fully digitized. As long as an attack didn't outright kill him in one strike, he could absorb the damage and fling it back at his enemies later. It was outrageously overpowered.
So long as his spirit energy held out, Luo Shu could theoretically keep his absorption ability active indefinitely. Under such conditions, assassination attempts would become completely meaningless against him. Unless someone hit him with a blow that exceeded his absorption threshold, every attack would be redirected.
And perhaps most broken of all—his perception as a Harbinger of Calamity was so sensitive that the very moment someone even considered hurting him within a certain range, Luo Shu would immediately sense it. He could even foresee how the other party planned to bring harm upon him through calamity.
"No wonder my instincts told me the Harbinger of Calamity was the most compatible class for me," Luo Shu muttered. "A job built for survivability, with all kinds of shady tricks. Yeah, this is definitely my style."
As he spoke, he reached toward the plastic bottle previously sliced open by a wind blade. With a casual swipe, as though wiping the air, Luo Shu restored the bottle completely—it now appeared in his hand, pristine and untouched.
He placed it back on the nearby table. Aside from the water puddle on the floor, there was no sign that Luo Shu had ever done anything to it.
Just then, he felt it: a new entry had appeared in his stored calamities—wind blade laceration. It added a faint mental burden, but nothing serious.
"So that's how it works. Bestowal isn't entirely random—I can specify what kind of calamity I want to inflict, as long as I've stored it."
Luo Shu gave a slight shake of his head and turned his attention toward Kisara, who was still unconscious on the bed.
Now that he was a Harbinger of Calamity, he had gained an ability akin to a god's eye view—a divine perspective inaccessible to ordinary people.
With it, Luo Shu could clearly perceive the calamities afflicting others and even interact with them in various ways.
Right now, Kisara had three calamities upon her.
One was a stab wound on her chest from when she had been impaled by the Sealing Blade. With her long-deprived body weakened from years of suspended animation, the injury was recovering at a sluggish pace.
The second calamity blanketed her entire body—it originated from the sedative cocktail injected into her by Luo Shu and the SDS medical staff. This was the main reason Kisara remained unconscious.
The final calamity stemmed from moderate malnutrition, caused by being sealed for who knows how many years. Just from the stone armor that still encased her from neck to knees, one could guess how long she'd been asleep.
No food, no water, yet she had only moderate malnutrition. Her demonic bloodline was impressively resilient.
With a spark of curiosity from his newly acquired powers, Luo Shu decided to absorb two of the three calamities afflicting Kirika.
He extended his hand and gently held Kisara's frail one. Unlike bestowal, which could be done via sight or spiritual perception, absorption required physical contact. This limitation could theoretically be overcome, but not at the Harbinger of Calamity level.
In just a few breaths, the sedative, the chest wound, and the malnutrition—all vanished without a trace.
As the three calamities disappeared and her physical condition temporarily returned to normal, Kirika's brow twitched faintly.
At the same time, Luo Shu felt a heavy weight settle upon him—as if he were suddenly wearing a thick winter coat. He immediately let go of her hand, mentally preparing to throw the calamities back at any moment.
Just then, Kisara's eyes fluttered open.
Her bright crimson pupils blinked slowly as she stared blankly at the ceiling, her expression dazed and lifeless.
Seeing her gaze stuck up there in a daze, Luo Shu couldn't help but cough lightly and raise a hand.
"Ahem."
Hearing the sound, Kisara slowly turned her head toward him.
And the moment her eyes landed on Luo Shu, the emptiness in her gaze sharpened—she finally focused.
She opened her mouth, her voice clear and pleasant:
"Ah~ ah! Ah!!"
Luo Shu's expectant expression froze instantly.
"…You can't talk?"
"Ah?" Kisara blinked and tilted her head, confused.
"This is... a bit of a problem. No—wait, I might have a solution."
Luo Shu rubbed his chin in thought, then suddenly closed his eyes. A few seconds later, a translucent brown book appeared in his hand.
Gripping the fragment of the Authority of Knowledge, Luo Shu once again took Kisara's hand.
This time, she didn't resist. In fact, when he held her hand, she gripped it back even tighter—so tight that Luo Shu nearly flung the calamities right back at her from shock.
Staring at her speechlessly, he composed himself, then closed his eyes and used the book's power to extract basic common sense and everyday life knowledge from himself—then implanted it back into his own mind, activating the process.
The resulting flood of common sense was so overwhelming and detrimental to him that it qualified as a calamity.
And that, in turn, fulfilled the conditions required to activate bestowal.
Luo Shu's eyes snapped open, and his gaze met Kirika's.
At that moment, he bestowed the calamity named "Common Sense" onto Kisara.
In an instant, her pupils lost focus once more.
But this time, it wasn't from confusion—it was because she was actively receiving the information Luo Shu was pouring into her.
Given that demons and humans had vastly different physiques, Kirika bore the burden effortlessly.
Several minutes passed in this silent, intense eye contact.
Then Kisara closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, there was a new liveliness within—her crimson irises sparkled with understanding, expressive and intelligent.
Her gaze met Luo Shu's again, and with a voice bright and clear, she spoke her first full sentence:
"...Are you my master?"
She paused.
"No—should I say, may I be your dog instead?"
Luo Shu's face froze in real time.
Had he accidentally transferred the wrong kind of common sense!?
Don't do this kind of thing!!!