Becoming the Dark Lord

The notification appeared in front of Luke, and just reading those words stirred something tangled and ugly inside him.

[Do you wish to track Elizabeth Moon?]

He did not hesitate for even a second. He hit Yes immediately.

[Calculating route...]

Come on. Hurry.

Those few seconds dragged on like an eternity. Then the notification vanished, and another one appeared.

[This individual is located in another Region of Sunken Realms. Please choose another person.]

Luke froze. “Shit!”

He slammed his fist into the cube. His hands clenched tight.

“After everything I’ve been through!”

Cadmus drifted closer. “As I told you before, there is no way to cross from your current volcanic region into another. The Beacon locator can only track individuals within the same region as you.”

“Yeah. I noticed.”

Luke forced himself to calm down, partly by will and partly with [Clear Mind]. He had never been counting on that locator in the first place, so technically there was no reason to be disappointed. But the disappointment was not really about the locator. It was about his mother.

For fifteen years, you never once came to tell me you were alive. And if I had never found out by asking a god, or never gotten strong enough to clear this Beacon, I would’ve gone on thinking you were dead. Why did you disappear?

Luke looked at the other names on the list. There were others he wanted to find. Even if it failed again, he tapped another one.

[Do you wish to track Clara Baumann?]

[Calculating route...]

[This individual is located in another Region of Sunken Realms. Please choose another person.]

He chose another name, this time only wanting to know one thing. Whether they were still alive.

[Do you wish to track Lillian Baumann?]

[Calculating route...]

[This individual is located in another Region of Sunken Realms. Please choose another person.]

[Do you wish to track Martin Baumann?]

[Calculating route...]

[This individual is located in another Region of Sunken Realms. Please choose another person.]

[Do you wish to track Noah Baumann?]

[Calculating route...]

[This individual is located in another Region of Sunken Realms. Please choose another person.]

“At least that’s something.”

Some of the names Luke saw on the list were dark gray. Names he barely even remembered interacting with. Maybe people from when he had still been a baby. Maybe someone from the tutorial he had exchanged only a few words with.

[This individual is dead!]

“So that really is one way to confirm it.”

Luke kept scrolling upward through the list.

“Cadmus, once this works, I only get to track one person, right?”

“Correct. If the Beacon finds someone in your region of Sunken Realms, the Locator’s power is consumed. Choose carefully.”

There were three main names left: Allison, Charlie and Angie.

Luke ruled out Charlie and Angie. Not because he did not want to find them. He did. But if either of them cleared a Beacon, he was sure the person they would choose to locate would be him. He did not want to waste this Locator tracking someone who would probably end up tracking him anyway.

So he made his choice.

[Do you wish to track Allison Rhiannon?]

[Calculating route...]

[This individual is located in another Region of Sunken Realms. Please choose another person.]

“Damn it, Allison,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”

The event had been the perfect chance to save her from her family.

“I hope you manage to escape. I’ll see you in New Earth.”

At some point, he would have to find her. Her and his mother.

“If a Beacon can let the system locate someone, then whatever reward waits for winning the event has to be incredibly valuable. Maybe it could even include a way to locate someone in New Earth.”

Was it a shot in the dark? Absolutely. But it was not something he could afford to dismiss. Whatever the event reward was, if it granted access to some kind of shop, maybe there would be a tracking option there. And that was one more reason for Luke to win.

“I’ll find you, Elizabeth Moon. And Allison Rhiannon too.”

Of the two, Allison should have been easier to find in theory. She would probably be in her family’s kingdom. His mother was still a mystery.

“One more reason to win this thing. No one’s taking that from me.”

Luke looked over the list of people he knew. Of the ones he still wanted to find, only Evangeline, Eleanor, Jack, and Layla remained.

“Franky isn’t on the list, so I’m guessing maybe family members aren’t part of the event. Or if they are, they can’t be accessed. Maybe they’re on some island of their own, stuck in a separate challenge.”

Luke thought it through.

“Jack belongs to an order. Finding him could put me in contact with one. If he clears a Beacon, he’ll probably use it to track someone from his order.”

He had no interest in getting involved with another order. But finding Jack, and helping his friend, was something he would do. After all, he had already cleared Phase 1 of Stage 2 of the event.

“Evangeline doesn’t have anyone besides us. She’ll probably try to track Eleanor. And Eleanor... she’ll go after her father, the hero Serena, or someone important from our country.”

Luke clicked the name.

[Do you wish to track Eleanor Kennedy?]

[Calculating route...]

Finding Eleanor meant finding Evangeline too. And if Jack was smart, and not already with someone from his order, then tracking Eleanor was the best move. Eleanor could lead him to important people.

“Now that all of us are trapped in this event, maybe someone high up finally has answers about what’s going to happen to our planet once we return.”

And he wanted to help his friend too, the one who had helped him so much in the past.

[Route found! The individual is in the same region of Sunken Realms as you!]

A blue thread of light stretched from the cube, and two options remained on the screen.

[Exit Dungeon]: Returns you to the exact location outside the dungeon where you were standing when you entered.

[Teleport to the Sky]: A Beacon is not always located in an easy place, and unpleasant surprises may be waiting outside. This option teleports you into the sky above the Beacon. After all, what is the point of clearing a Beacon if you die the moment you step back outside?

Luke clicked [Exit Dungeon].

Back outside, he looked over the ocean. The blue thread ran in a straight line across the water, pointing toward wherever Eleanor was. Then it dipped downward, toward where several Halos were located.

“Good. That means it’s taking me through shortcuts too.”

[Mission “Kill a Sea Guardian (Exclusive to the Island Champion)” has been successfully completed!]

“Hm...”

Right. One of the event missions really had mentioned killing a Sea Guardian.

“It updated when I left the dimension.”

[Calculating your reward...]

***

Three days passed. Luke was still out on the sea, swimming. Whenever his Spectral Beast burned itself out, it left him drifting. So he followed the blue thread through the water, stroke after stroke. A massive wave rolled toward him. Luke dove under it and kept swimming beneath the surface. At least now he was faster than when this journey had started.

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By dawn, he spotted three islands clustered close together. He swam toward them. The reef around the islands was thick with pink jellyfish. Luke had no intention of getting close. Instead, he threw a knife into the air. It split into eight and came down in a rain of blades, striking the jellyfish below.

[You have slain a Rosethorn Jellyfish - Lvl 73] *205.910 EP earned*

[You have slain a Rosethorn Jellyfish - Lvl 73] *205.910 EP earned*

[You have slain a Rosethorn Jellyfish - Lvl 73] *205.910 EP earned*

...

He swam to shore. The island was mostly flat, covered in palm trees. Luke grabbed a few coconuts.

“I want coconut,” Artemis said.

“Of course you do.”

He had already found islands like these along the way. By now, he knew what to look for. He walked deeper inland until he spotted a creature that looked like a crab, except humanoid and nearly ten feet tall. The moment it saw him, the monster charged, kicking up a cloud of sand.

[Telekinetic Impulse activated]

The instant the knife hit, the creature dropped.

[You have slain a Razor Claw Crab - Lvl 85] *276.791 EP earned*

Another one appeared, but Luke cut it down with his kukris. Once it was dead, he moved toward the place he had been aiming for all along.

A chest.

When he opened it, he found it filled with coins and gold.

“Money, money. Glory to money,” Artemis said as he dumped the entire chest into her pocket dimension.

Luke left the island, dove back into the water, and summoned the Spectral Beast. It had fully recovered since the day he had overused it. Riding the shark, he headed for the next island. On the way, he pointed his hand upward, and the bracer fired a knife into the air, splitting it into eight pieces as it fell.

[You have slain a Razor Claw Crab - Lvl 85] *276.791 EP earned*

He had not even seen the thing, but he had killed it. He stepped off the beast and went ashore. Another treasure chest waited for him there. This one did not hold coins. It held bottles.

“Damn. One of the bad chests.”

“Bad? Your definition of bad is weird. It’s rum, Luke. If anything belongs in a place like this, it’s rum.”

Artemis loved the stuff.

Then Luke looked toward the third island and saw a ship docking while people climbed down from it.

“They got here before me.”

The moment they spotted him from across the water, some of them started moving in his direction. Luke had already run into a few ships, and even people on islands. So far, none of them had been hostile. But there was always a first time. He conjured a knife and reloaded the bracer. One of the men was waving. Luke went to meet them. It would have been easy to ignore them and leave, but the problem was that he wanted information. Maybe even familiar faces.

“Greetings, sailor,” a bearded man called with a grin. “Or should I say castaway?”

“Hi,” Luke said.

He had swum over to the other island.

“Looks like you’re lost,” the man said.

“My name’s Thomas. Captain of this ship. And this is my crew.”

The others started introducing themselves, but Luke barely listened. He was busy studying their faces one by one.

“Lucky me for having the Pirate class, huh?” Thomas laughed. “This event worked out real well for me.”

He pointed proudly toward the ship.

“That beauty over there is my vessel, the Gray Mermaid.”

“But the ship is brown,” Luke said.

“Told you, boss, the name was awf...”

“Quiet, Jack!” Thomas snapped. Then he looked back at Luke. “It’s a good name. Isn’t it?”

The crew clearly did not agree. They just had the good sense not to say it out loud.

“Don’t worry. We’re pirates, sure, but we’ve got a code. We only attack other pirate ships,” the captain said.

“I see.”

Before the man could keep going with his little introduction, Luke had already done what he came for. He used [Soul Infiltration], slipping from person to person like a ghost, studying faces as he moved.

“Have you happened to meet someone named Luke Moon? Or anyone looking for him?” Luke asked.

“No,” Jack answered.

“Jack!” the captain snapped, annoyed. “I could’ve bargained that information!”

“Oh. Sorry, sir.”

“Okay. I got what I wanted,” Luke said, turning away.

“Wait, wait,” the captain said quickly. “You’re out here lost, shipwrecked on an island. I’m a humble captain. If you come aboard our ship and agree to be the errand boy, we’ll let you stay.”

“Yeah,” another pirate added. “Scrub the toilets, clean the deck, cook the food.”

“I’m not interested.”

“What?” the captain said. “You’re really going to stay on this island? That’s kind of sad, you know. None of us would want that.”

“Yeah. Very sad,” Jack said.

“I’m good,” Luke said, and turned to swim away.

“What’s your name?” the captain called after him.

“Jack,” Luke answered.

“Jack?” Jack said. “That’s my name too.”

“I’m Jack... Sparrow.”

“Right. Jack Sparrow,” the captain said. “You sure you don’t want to come with us? We could help you find this Luke Moon. Pirates should always help each other at sea.”

Luke shook his head and swam toward another island. The ship stayed there. The pirates gathered wood from the island and even threw themselves a feast. Once they were distracted, Luke slipped into the sea and swam beneath them. When he was deep enough, he summoned his Spectral Beast and left the islands behind.

Two days passed, and Luke rode atop the shark as it cut through the ocean.

“That’s a hell of a problem,” Artemis said. They had been arguing about distance.

“At least I’m finding a lot of Beacons along the way.”

He knew where several of them were. The real problem was that he had no idea how close he actually was to Eleanor. That world could easily have been larger than his own, and Eleanor could also be moving through Halos, which made everything even more complicated.

“Once the first phase ends and the second gets announced, I’ll focus on clearing another Beacon.”

He needed levels. He needed to get stronger. If the second Beacon had not one but two Sea Guardians waiting inside, then he needed the power to kill them.

When night fell, Luke spotted an island lit by torches. There were people there, a lot of them, with many rafts pulled up along the shore. Farther out, a huge bank of fog hung over the water, wrapped around a storm. The blue thread leading to Eleanor pointed straight toward that storm.

“So what’s the plan, Sparrow?” Artemis asked, dripping with irony.

“Check the island. Look for familiar faces.”

He dismissed the Spectral Beast and started swimming through the sea. On his hands he wore a new pair of half-gloves, the ones he had received from the system as a reward for killing the Sea Guardian.

[Beast Hunter’s Gloves (Epic)]:

Granted to one who faced a dangerous sea beast alone and survived. In the ancient civilizations of Sunken Realms, this was a rite of passage, the step from boyhood into manhood. You proved that no matter what challenge the sea sent against you, you could overcome it with your own hands. This pair of gloves is a symbol of that.

Enchantments: [Auto Repair]

Information:

Rarity: Epic

Rank: E

Type: Equipment

Bonus: +50 Strength, +50 Dexterity, +50 Toughness, +50 Endurance

Requirement: Lvl 50+ in any Assassin Class.

By the time Luke reached the shore, they had already spotted him. It was a large, heavily populated island. People were everywhere. Five small boats moved out to intercept him, surrounding him while keeping a cautious distance.

“What’s your intention in approaching this island?” one of them called.

Mages were shining beams of light directly at him, using them like flashlights to make it harder for him to see. It did not work, but Luke pretended otherwise, lifting a hand to shield his eyes.

“Good evening. I’ve gotten lost out in these waters. I’m looking to see if someone I know is on this island.”

“What kingdom or faction do you belong to?” someone asked back.

“I’m not from the New World. I was from the United States.”

They exchanged glances and murmured among themselves. On the shore, more people were waiting with weapons in hand.

“Alright. Swim with us.”

The boats moved ahead and left him behind. Maybe they wanted to see how fast he could swim. When Luke reached the shore, a group was already waiting for him. They led him to an area away from the rest of the island’s population. Far off, the storm cloud let out a massive crack of thunder.

“Nice to meet you, Luke,” he said as a man approached.

“Kurtis,” the man replied. “I’m one of the island’s leaders. Mind if we exchange a little information first?”

So Luke talked with him, and with the others standing nearby. He explained where he had come from and answered their questions.

“There was a Beacon right over there,” the man said, pointing. “Once we cleared it, it disappeared.”

“Same thing happened with mine,” Luke said.

He learned indirectly that they had not fought a Sea Guardian in their Beacon challenge. After the conversation, they invited him to sit by the fire, where dinner was being served.

“Sorry about the interrogation, Luke,” Kurtis said. “But we need to make sure we’re not bringing a wolf into the chicken coop. You could’ve lied and said you never cleared a Beacon.”

“I’m being honest because I want honesty in return. I’m not staying here anyway. I’m continuing my journey.”

“And which direction are you headed?”

Luke hooked a thumb toward the storm. “That way.”

Kurtis stared at him. “You know you’re insane, right?”

“From what you’ve told me, that storm hasn’t disappeared for a single day. So I don’t exactly have another option.”

Everyone on that island had been teleported there during Stage 1. Their challenge had been simple. Survive together.

“For months, this island was surrounded by some kind of dome that kept anyone from leaving. And there wasn’t a single day when that storm cloud wasn’t there. It’s still there now, even after the dome disappeared.”

“It’s good to see normal people. You all don’t intend to complete the event missions?” he asked.

“No. We’re just going to wait out the event here on the island together. We collected the artifacts not because we were brave, but because we had to. They started appearing around the island and drawing dangerous monsters in. That scared off the fish and kept everyone on edge at night,” said Jonas, one of Kurtis’s men.

A moment later, a woman approached and whispered something in Kurtis’s ear. She stepped away again just as quickly.

“There’s no one here with the names you gave me,” Kurtis said.

“I figured.”

Luke had already told them about the locator he chose to activate in the Beacon, since they had cleared one themselves.

“I’m not going to tell you what path to take, Luke. You’re free to keep moving. But I wouldn’t recommend heading into that storm,” Kurtis said.

“Thanks for the warning.”

He got to his feet. “Not long ago, every one of us here was living a normal life. Working, going to college, some of us even living in the New World. Then we were dragged into space and brought to this planet. These are insane times for all of us. Anyway... good luck.”

Kurtis left with several others to go on patrol. Luke stayed behind at the small camp, which doubled as a lookout post. Even if they were not openly hostile, the people there were still keeping an eye on him.

***

By morning, Luke said his goodbyes to the people he had met. He traded some of what he had, especially seeds. He handed over several he had stored in his storage item, took a few from them in exchange, and left.

“This is as far as we can take you,” said the man steering the raft.

Six rafts had escorted him as far as they could, stopping just short of the massive cloudbank.

“The island reef ends here. From this point on, it’s deep water.”

“I appreciate the help,” Luke replied.

He would rather have come on the Spectral Beast. It was faster. But he had not wanted to refuse the help they offered.

“Good luck,” they told him.

He jumped into the water, started swimming, and then sank beneath the surface. Down there, he summoned his beast, and together they headed for the cloud. It took two hours to finally reach those waters.

“If we die in this Bermuda Triangle, just know I’m blaming you,” Artemis said.

“You always have such a delicate way with words,” he replied.

Then they entered the storm.

“Luke Moon,” Cadmus said.

“What is it, robot?”

“There is something I need to tell you about this storm. It is not natural. It is being caused by a creature. Are you certain you want to keep going?”