Becoming the Dark Lord

A group of selmarines occupied a vast underwater cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling. Crude structures had been built into organized dwellings, and at the center of that cavern village sat a chest. Then something entered through the cave mouth. One of the selmarines let out a warning cry to alert the others. He lunged with his spear at the intruder, but never reached it. A massive tentacle shot toward him and yanked him away.

Luke stood atop the giant octopus, staring down at the selmarine settlement on the ocean floor. They came at him fast. Some split off to attack from different angles, swallowing ore and spitting it out like projectiles. A tentacle rose in front of Luke, shielding him. The instant the ore struck, it exploded. The octopus retaliated, snatching the selmarine who had fired and smashing him into the ground.

Four more selmarines rushed from below. Luke seized control of the enormous tentacles with his mind and grabbed them. One was crushed outright. With another tentacle, he ripped a stalactite free from the cave ceiling and skewered a second selmarine straight through. A third was charging toward a pile of ore. Luke slammed a tentacle into the pile, detonating the whole thing on top of the selmarine, then caught him, dragged him upward, and impaled him on the stalactites overhead. He started hurling the dead selmarines into the ones still alive.

The octopus pushed deeper into the cave. The selmarines were driven back, trapped with nowhere left to go. One by one, the tentacles caught them and tore them apart. Luke stepped off the octopus and headed for the chest. When he opened it, he found a pair of boots. Dark green.

[Sludge Boots (Uncommon)]: A pair of boots designed to aid ocean explorers. Increases swim speed by 10% while underwater.

Luke stored the pair he had been wearing in his dimensional storage and put on the new boots. The Spectral Beast was running on autonomous mode, guarding the area. As Luke left the cave, the octopus lifted him with one tentacle and set him back on top of its head.

Making the beast devour that core was the best decision I could’ve made here.

He opened the status screen for his beast core.

Core: Spectral Beast

Rank: E

Rank D Cores: [1/1000]

Core Skill: [Form Devourer]

Beast Skills: [Spectral Rend (Rare)], [Predatory Sovereignty (Epic)], [Typhon (Mythic)]

Form Devourer: [Grasping Octopus (Rank E)]

Form Devourer Skills: [Suction Grip (Common)], [Ink Jet (Rare)], [Jet Propulsion (Rare)]

The octopus was no longer as overwhelming as it had been at Rank D, but since the creature had been level 103, the drop in power was not nearly as severe now that Luke’s beast core had reached Rank E.

The downside was that the skills inherited from the octopus were not especially offensive.

[Suction Grip (Common)]: The Grasping Octopus locks its suckers onto a target and restricts movement through constant pressure, making escape, evasion, and mobility significantly harder.

[Ink Jet (Rare)]: The Grasping Octopus releases a cloud of black ink that obscures vision and disrupts perception. Ideal for escape or sowing confusion in combat.

[Jet Propulsion (Rare)]: The Grasping Octopus forcefully expels water through its siphon, launching its body in a sudden burst that drastically increases its speed for a brief moment. This rapid movement makes it difficult for enemies to react and allows the octopus to escape danger before it can be caught.

I lost some really good skills from Abyss King, but in exchange I can go much farther out into the ocean now.

And it was also one more way to keep testing Form Devourer, the core power of his beast.

Now the beast awakened three skills from the creature it absorbed instead of two. Reaching Rank E really did open up another slot.

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Luke rose out of the water. The octopus carried him to the surface. Standing atop the creature, he could see distant golden glimmers scattered across the sea.

Marine Artifacts.

He already had two.

[Marine Artifact]: A wooden totem crafted by the ancient inhabitants of Sunken Realms in honor of the creature they worshiped. Gather the required number of them, and you will be able to open a Beacon.

“No pirates at all?” Artemis asked.

“No ghost pirate ships either.”

He looked at one of his active missions.

[Confront a Ghost Pirate Ship]: Many ghost ships sail the seas of Sunken Realms, remnants of former inhabitants brave enough to try crossing the waters of the Abyssal Zone. Those who were not killed by what dwelled in those depths were swallowed by the sea, and now their ships drift on, their crews eternally bound to them, even in death.

[Objective]: Completely destroy one of these ships.

Reward: ???

***

Luke was closing in on one of the golden glows. The water was rough. Rain hammered the surface. The golden light only showed at the top of the waves, like a marker. A wave rolled toward him, and the octopus raised its tentacles to shield him.

“Artemis, I’m going down, so don’t start complaining if this gets dangerous.”

“It’s not my fault you keep diving straight into dangerous things.”

The octopus descended. This would be his third Marine Artifact. The other two had each been guarded by something dangerous. The first had been the octopus. The second, a ray. As Luke descended, he saw a crater. At the center of it, golden light shimmered. That was where the artifact was. The octopus kept sinking. The crater was thick with a forest of seaweed. Off in the distance, Luke spotted a pink glow.

Jellyfish.

Getting too close would be risky because of the electricity. Luke activated the octopus skill [Jet Propulsion] and shot downward toward the artifact. Then he saw them. One shark circling. Then another. Then more.

Several sharks were sweeping back and forth through the crater, and they had noticed him. Luke’s octopus let out something like a roar. He made it release ink.

The sharks lunged in and were swallowed by the black cloud. Two were caught immediately in the octopus’s tentacles. They struggled, but they could not break free. The suckers were monstrously strong. The tentacles tightened, and the octopus bent in, its beak crunching into one of them.

Other sharks tore through the cloud of ink and charged in, only to be caught by more tentacles and dragged closer to Luke, who killed them one by one with his kukri.

[You have slain a Reef Hunter Shark - Lvl 77]

[You have slain a Reef Hunter Shark - Lvl 77]

[You have slain a Reef Hunter Shark - Lvl 77]

[You have slain a Reef Hunter Shark - Lvl 77]

Ten sharks attacked the octopus from different directions at once. Activating [Jet Propulsion], the octopus blasted upward at high speed, dodging the rush. Then, from above them, it spread its tentacles wide like a net and dropped over the sharks, wrapping them up together. The beast started tearing into one with its beak while the others were dragged within Luke’s reach.

One by one, the sharks were slaughtered.

A bigger one.

Luke felt the danger through his perception field. A shark the size of the octopus was coming.

[Reef Ravager Shark - Lvl 102]

Its teeth were jagged and enormous. Its body was a cold mix of blue and white. Its eyes looked dead. The creature came straight for the spot where Luke stood on the octopus. The beast hurled the dead sharks at the giant predator rushing toward them, then expelled another burst of ink.

The shark came out of the cloud disoriented, its head jerking as it tried to reorient itself, and the octopus was already behind it, wrapping its tentacles around the rear half of the body. The monster twisted, trying to turn and bite back, but it could not. The octopus spun it, dragged it, and started carving into it with its beak.

Luke leapt from the octopus as the creature kept the shark bound and thrashing. He hurled a knife loaded with [Shadow Mana Explosion]. The octopus released its grip. The knife struck the shark and detonated.

A second later, Luke threw another blade with [Burst Throw], driving it straight into the hole blown open in the shark’s head.

[You have slain a Reef Ravager Shark - Lvl 102]

Your second class [Arcane Witch] has reached Level 65! (+12 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +7 Perception, +6 Willpower, +5 Agility, +3 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 Free Points.)

[You have unlocked a Class Skill]

Luke’s beast started coming apart and vanished.

It burned through all its energy.

He swam down to the totem and claimed it. Grinning, he swam away. If he could have whistled underwater, he would have.

Having a sea beast has never felt this broken.