Becoming the Dark Lord

The group had returned to the ship. Anne was at the helm. They had left the harbor after paying a small fee in supplies and anchored a little ways offshore, still close to the beach. A lot of other ships were doing the same.

“I still can’t believe your father is the legendary Stephen Harper,” Luke said to Jack.

Jack’s father was eating a sandwich while looking over the ship.

“How famous is Jack’s dad?” Evangeline asked. She had been confused by Luke’s reaction the entire walk back, and so had everyone else.

“How have you never seen any of his shows?”

“When you were ten and wetting the bed, I was getting dragged into that nightmare tutorial, and before that I was living on the streets,” Evangeline said.

“I still have absolutely no idea who he is,” Eleanor said.

“How not, Eleanor? He starred in that hit sitcom, you know, the one about the millionaire with the poor brother. He played the rich one who spent all day drinking and running around with prostitutes. It was a classic.”

“That’s basically my life story,” Jack’s father said.

The whole way back, Luke had looked one step away from asking Jack’s father for an autograph.

“My real name is Jack, but one time I pretended my name was Stephen so I could go out with a hot cop. All I can say is, it was the best fraud arrest in human history.”

Luke laughed, remembering the show. “That is exactly something your character would say.”

“It really happened. After that, I started calling myself Stephen. Told the same story to a film director once because I was late to an audition.”

Jack dragged a hand down his face in disappointment.

“Since when have you had a system, Dad?” he asked, already moving past the relief of finding him alive and into anger.

“Right after you were born, Jack. Just after my second divorce from the demon you call your mother.”

“Why would you accept a system, Dad? How did that even happen? Do you have any idea what kind of danger you were in?”

“Jack, almost all of Hollywood has a system,” he said.

“Seriously?” Luke asked.

“Of course they do. How do you think celebrities never seem to age? You thought they were drinking children’s blood to stay young? It’s the system.”

Eleanor looked thoughtful. “If congressmen do the same thing, then I don’t see why celebrities wouldn’t.”

“The women love it. No wrinkles anytime soon, staying young-looking for ages,” Jack’s father said. “And it makes action scenes a whole lot easier.”

“Dad, you hid this from me and from Mom for years,” Jack said.

“I was never telling that demon. She’d have shown up with a lawyer trying to take half my levels too,” he said, taking a drink and laughing at his own joke.

“This isn’t funny, Dad. You hid this from me.”

Stephen sighed. “And how do you think your father survived all those years drinking and listening to your mother scream in my ear? That woman would’ve given me heart attacks long before I reached my twenty-eighth overdose of the week.”

“And the irresponsibility,” Jack said. “You probably never even stopped to think about what could’ve happened to you in the tutorial. I got sent somewhere dangerous, Dad, and if the same thing had happened to you? We never would’ve known. You would’ve vanished like everyone else.”

Then Jack glanced at Luke and his eyes widened.

“Sorry, Luke. I didn’t mean...”

“It’s fine,” Luke cut in.

Stephen took another swig from his bottle after finishing the sandwich and leaned back in his chair.

“But I’m here, alive and kicking, so relax. And I learned something interesting in my years with the system. I learned how to use stamina to get better at sex. So that’s a bonus.”

“Wait, that’s possible?” Luke asked.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“I mean... I’m not interested in that at all.”

“But why am I detecting signs of deception in your heartbeat?” Cadmus asked.

“Shut up, you idiot robot. Go invisible again.”

Jack kept scolding his father and used a spell to strip the alcohol from his system.

“Damn it, Jack. The whole point of drinking is getting drunk. You’re grounded.”

“I’m not letting you get drunk again until we sort this out,” Jack said.

“Fine. If we sort it out, can I go back to getting wasted?”

“How did you decide to accept the system? And you did it while I was a baby, with a wife at home who needed help. Honestly, now I understand Mom a lot better.”

“Everything was fine until now. I almost got eaten alive at sea, sure, but at least I didn’t have that woman around. And now you want to remind me of her? Come on, Jack. I’m going to throw myself off this ship.”

Jack raised his wand when he saw his father lifting the bottle again.

“I didn’t wake up one day and decide to do it, Jack. Back then I was hooking up with an actress-prostitute,” he said, then paused. “Or was she a prostitute who acted?”

“Is there a difference?” Evangeline asked.

“A huge one,” he said. “Prostitutes don’t have STDs.”

He got to his feet.

“I accepted the system while completely hammered. In the tutorial, I probably made out with at least a few goblin women.”

“That is exactly the kind of thing your character would do,” Luke said.

“See, Jack? Your friend’s good people. He’s not judging me with that look like you are.”

“Mr. Stephen, why did you leave the show? It was amazing,” Luke asked.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author’s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Drugs and Jack’s mother. But mostly the second one. The first didn’t hurt me nearly as much.” He took another swig from the bottle.

“What’s your class?” Eleanor asked.

“Assassin,” Stephen replied.

“By the Goddess of Kindness,” Jack said. “Father, why would you choose such an evil class?”

“What’s wrong with the assassin class?” Luke asked.

“It’s not personal, Luke,” Jack said.

Jack’s father took another drink.

“I’m only class level three, anyway. I picked it because of your mother.”

“What does my mother have to do with that?”

“I wanted to know how to kill that woman without leaving a trace.”

“Dad!”

“It’s a joke, Jack. I just didn’t want to get murdered by one of my lovers. Besides, I got better memory out of it. Better memorization too. I can memorize an entire script in one night with prostitutes and cocaine. It’s incredible.”

“That is not incredible, Father. That is the road to lust. Hollywood turned you into a bad man and ruined your life.”

“Ruined my life? Jack, half my best STDs came from women with stars on the Walk of Fame. I love that place.”

“May the Goddess of Kindness shine her light into your heart. Father, do you know how many times you married prostitutes in Vegas over the last ten years?”

“Son, every man should marry a prostitute in Vegas at least once in his life, even if he’s blackout drunk. Haven’t you ever seen The Hangover?”

“The Hangover is my favorite movie. This guy gives great advice, Luke,” Artemis said.

“Do not listen to his advice, Master Luke,” Charlie said.

“Luke, keep your necklace away from Jack’s father,” Eleanor said. “We do not need a chaotic crossover.”

Evangeline sat on the edge of the ship. “You said on the way here that you already cleared the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Beacons. How did you manage that at class level three?”

That was one of the questions Luke wanted answered, along with every behind-the-scenes secret the man might know from his acting career.

“I did it with help from others, but I can handle myself. I’m very good at my profession. Besides, my race level is 104.”

“What?!” Jack said.

“Level 104?!”

Even Luke was impressed.

“Wait. You’re Rank D?” Layla asked. “How? Your class level is low.”

“It’s possible to go very far using profession alone. The bonuses make up for a lot when you specialize in it,” Stephen replied.

“Don’t you hit a wall where you need level 50 in both class and profession to rank up?” Layla asked.

“No,” Luke said. “You can bypass it if the gap between class level and profession level gets large enough. The system reads that as you specializing and lets you progress anyway. That never happened to anyone in the tutorial because, well, we were stuck in the tutorial. Our systems were limited.”

That was one of the things he had learned in the months after the Demonic Blacksmith Temple dungeon. Not every blacksmith, after all, needed to be an expert killer. While they talked, Luke took the chance to clear up something with Jack’s father.

“Yes. Once I reached Rank D, my Rank Skill got stronger, and I unlocked an evolved form of it,” Stephen explained.

Which meant Luke’s [Soul Infiltration] would grow stronger too.

Rank Skills can be absurdly broken. They’re unique to the user, and some of them can even affect reality itself, like that baron’s skill.

There were all kinds of Rank Skills, but not every user was truly interested in their own, even though, ironically enough, those powers had been born from their desires in the first place.

Why does Eleanor cut her hair if it weakens her Rank Skill?

He made a mental note to ask her that someday. At the right moment. Because revealing how a skill was born, what part of someone’s personality it came from, could be embarrassing for some people.

“It’s almost dawn,” Eleanor said.

They had already been there for hours.

“Is that contact of yours really coming?” Evangeline asked.

“Triss said she would, so we wait. What do you think, until noon at the latest?” Luke said.

They still needed to head for the ghost city, and there were only a few days left before Phase 3 of the Beacons ended.

Charlie made a strange face. She did not like Triss.

“We could leave now,” she said.

“We need information,” Layla replied.

Out of everyone there, besides Luke, Layla was the one who most wanted to go. She wanted to find Eddie, and even Katarina seemed eager.

“Until noon,” Luke said. “Agreed?”

They agreed.

I just hope Angie is around here somewhere.

Or maybe she had already made it to the city and had the advantage of flying. There was no way for Luke to know.

“So what’s your profession?” Luke asked Jack’s father.

“I picked Herbalist,” he said. “But my profession evolved into Super Alchemist.”

Herbalist?

“You like plants too?” Luke asked.

“Of course not,” Stephen said. “It was the only way I could become my own drug dealer.”

Jack immediately started scolding his father.

Alchemist? This guy might actually be able to give me some useful tips on potion-making. And I still have those mushrooms I got from the temple dungeon.

“Why do you have that evil smile on your face?” Layla asked.

“Nothing.”

“I know you.”

After breakfast, Anne warned them that a ship was approaching.

“Nobody kills anybody on this island. Some kind of social rule or whatever,” Stephen said.

Eleanor already had her bow raised, but Luke had seen who it was first.

“It’s Triss,” he said.

Her ship came in close.

“Mind if I hop over there?” a figure called.

It was Randall.

“You survived,” Luke said.

“You did too, Hooded One,” Randall replied, then jumped onto the ship.

A wooden plank was set in place.

“Permission to come aboard?” Doug called out.

“Not... granted...” Anne said.

Then she looked at Luke.

“Granted...” she added.

Jack’s father headed into the cabin with him so they could continue their father-son conversation. Charlie stayed close to Luke, one hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist. The two men greeted Luke again and started talking.

“So you’re this guy’s friends?” Randall asked. “Nice to meet you.”

He offered Charlie his hand, but one look at her face made it clear she was not in the mood for polite introductions, especially with Triss nearby.

Randall greeted the others without trying for handshakes again.

“Did he tell you about the raft story? The one where he made them float?” Doug asked.

“Doug tells that story to everybody,” Randall said.

“But you have to admit, that was awesome. Everyone was staring with their mouths open.”

“He didn’t tell us,” Charlie said.

“Why not? Fine, I’ll tell it. He helped us and Triss. We owe him a lot.”

“He helped you... and Triss?” Charlie asked, suddenly interested, though the look in her eyes was a little terrifying.

“Y-yeah,” Doug said, looking just a bit uneasy.

Triss walked over to the table and spread out a map. “What do you say we renew our partnership?”

Charlie looked at her and said nothing. She was pretending to be normal.

Luke cleared his throat.n“So how bad is the problem waiting for us in the ghost city?”

“Has anyone come back from there?” Eleanor asked.

“You know, has any team actually cleared a Beacon yet?” Evangeline added.

Triss began explaining the little she knew about the ghost city. Her crew totaled forty-six people. She told them they had helped a lot of people reach the beach near the Citadel island, and that the ones still with her were people she trusted.

“And this Marten guy has the deeper knowledge of the city? How many people are on his ship?” Eleanor asked.

“A bit fewer than my crew. He’s trustworthy,” Triss replied.

Then she laid out the problems facing them, and the fact that time was not on their side.

“The ghost city is protected by a wall of razor-sharp rocks, like you already saw,” she said. “A raft trying to get near it is suicide. The current will slam it straight into the rocks. A ship can survive that. A raft won’t. It’ll smash apart, and anyone on it will end up badly hurt if they live at all.”

“Unless... it catches... the current... at the entrance,” Anne added.

Triss’s crew kept glancing at the doll maid, clearly curious enough to ask about her appearance, but they held their tongues.

“That’s right,” Doug said. “A raft can make it if it catches the current that pulls toward one of the entrances.”

“Which brings us to the first problem,” Triss said.