Becoming the Dark Lord

Luke stored the kraken’s core in his storage item.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think I’m done eating fish, or anything else that comes out of the sea, for a very long time,” Artemis said.

The drowned were still climbing onto the ship.

“Anne, move the damn ship!” Evangeline shouted.

The speed pennants were activated. The rain seemed to come down harder with every passing second.

“Y-you really killed the kraken?” Layla asked.

Luke kicked a drowned one off the deck.

“We did,” he said.

The ship started moving. When they looked back, they saw more Cursed Ships trying to catch them, but they were slow.

“So no more giant sea monster attacks?” Jack asked.

“Looks that way. But... we lost the rum,” Stephen said.

“You have my thanks, Mr. Harper,” Luke said. “I’m pretty sure one of the main reasons we managed to kill the kraken was because we had the help of a level one hundred alchemist. Thank you.”

They started tossing the drowned corpses overboard.

Luke looked down at his kukris.

Name: ?

Race: Spirit Tool

Rank: F

These blades were forged as a gift to mark the rise of a demon. Symbols of the horns he never grew, these twin kukris are bound to their master, walking beside him on his path toward a throne of tyranny. Now, however, they are alive, though their true strength remains dormant. They will awaken only when the right moment arrives. Until then, they will deepen their bond and gather power, waiting for the exact time to reveal their real potential.

Skills: [Magnetic Return], [Shadow Presence], [Spirit Tool], [Evolution], [Blood Repair]

The kukris had gained a new skill when he killed the kraken.

[Blood Repair]: The spirit is hungry for blood and killing, just like its owner, but it also understands that he can be reckless in battle, always pushing things to the extreme. To keep up with him, the weapon developed a new power through [Evolution]. Through the blood of what it fights, the weapon can repair itself, never again failing its owner. It can follow him along his trail of death. The blood of its enemies will mend any damage done to it.

It’s like Vaelor explained to me before: a spirit tool will shape itself to better serve its owner in battle, even awakening skills that can help them.

That was also reflected in [Evolution].

[Evolution]: When fed, the spirit within the weapon can grow, awaken new powers, and raise its rank of existence, becoming an ever more powerful tool aligned with its wielder.

Now I just need to figure out how to make it level up.

Spirit Tools had ranks, but each one had its own requirements for evolving. Vaelor had explained that it usually took people centuries to truly understand their Spirit Tool, even longer to hear its voice, but Luke had managed it, even if only for a few moments.

“If the kraken’s dead, then the others should be able to clear the challenge without too much trouble,” Charlie said.

“If they make it through the labyrinth, maybe. But something tells me the ghost ships are going to be a much bigger problem now,” Luke replied.

“We’re reaching the horizon,” Eleanor said.

The ships behind them had changed course and were heading back toward the labyrinth. Luke touched the necklace and looked into his pocket dimension.

The Spectral Beast takes twenty-four hours to recover after being destroyed. I just hope the remnant of the kraken’s soul doesn’t vanish completely before then, or I’ll lose my chance to turn my beast into that thing. The kraken also dropped a system item for me. Interesting.

The moment they crossed the horizon, they were teleported. The storm-tossed sea gave way to calm water.

[Beacon 3 was completed successfully!]

[Challenge completed!]

[Your group completed the Phase 3 Beacon Dungeon!]

[The exit is now available!]

[Your reward is available in the chest!]

“It’s me!” Layla’s voice rang out. “I’m the one with access to the exit!”

Layla was staring into empty air, looking at the screen explaining the locator and teleport options. Only she could see it.

Chests appeared across the deck.

“I’ll be able to track my father,” she said. “Thank you, all of you.”

They congratulated her.

“T-thanks, scumbag,” she muttered to Luke.

“Did you really have to add scumbag?”

“H-habit. Sorry.”

Luke opened the chest with his name on it and looked at what was inside.

“I got a sword,” Charlie said, lifting her new weapon. Its hilt was jade green, and its blade shone silver.

“And I got a bow,” Eleanor said.

One by one, they claimed their rewards.

“I got... a swimsuit,” Anne said, sounding genuinely confused.

“Nice, you cute, sexy little doll,” Artemis said. “I want to see you wearing that.”

“I’ve never worn… a swimsuit before,” Anne said.

“All the more reason for us to see it, beautiful doll,” Artemis said.

***

Four days had passed since they left the Beacon. They had been teleported out of the haunted labyrinth city, which was a blessing.

A yawn drifted across the room. Luke was sitting there, tending to the pocket-dimension space inside his greenhouse. When he glanced toward the bed, Charlie was stretching, still half-drowsy.

“Still sleepy?” he asked.

“A little. You kept me up late, Master Luke.”

“And not by committing any lustful acts of the flesh, unfortunately. Just taking care of plants,” Artemis added.

“I had to take all the plants out of the pocket dimension and work the soil. It was a lot, and Charlie wanted to help.”

“Charlie likes anything you do, especially if it means being beside you,” Artemis complained.

“I do like always being with Master Luke,” Charlie said.

“Yeah, I know. But the two of you could at least be setting this room on fire by now. Come on, you’re twenty,” Artemis said. “Hey, wait, don’t shove me in that mug, Luke.”

The necklace disappeared into the mug, and Luke put the lid on.

“At least take me with you when you bathe. Just one peek,” Artemis’s muffled voice protested.

The early morning had been productive. Luke had made progress in his profession.

The author’s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

**Your profession [Guardian Botanist of Mother Freya] has reached Level 81! (+5 Strength, +3 Agility, +4 Vitality, +4 Intelligence, +12 Free Points)**

“I’ll make breakfast, Master Luke,” Charlie said, getting to her feet.

“You don’t need to. I already ate some fruit, and I think it’s almost lunchtime anyway.”

“R-really? Then I need to hurry and go help Anne,” she said, standing up while running a comb through her hair. “I need a bath first.”

She went to the folded clothes on the dresser, picked up her storage item, a magic belt, and started sorting through it.

Then Charlie stepped close to Luke. “Morning kiss?”

Before he could even answer, she had already settled into his lap and kissed him. Her arms slipped around his neck, pulling him closer.

“What are those nice little sounds?” Artemis asked from inside the mug. “I recognize kissing when I hear it.”

“Now... I don’t want to get out of your lap anymore, Master Luke,” Charlie said, her face turning pink. She was bold and shy at the same time.

Luke tilted her chin up and kissed her again.

“I have to go, unfortunately,” Charlie said as she stood. “But may I...?”

She pointed at his neck.

“You can,” Luke said, pulling his collar aside a little.

Charlie leaned in and gently bit his neck, drinking just enough to satisfy herself. She no longer needed his blood just to survive. At that point, it was simply something she liked, the taste of him, the closeness of it.

When she finished, she brushed her tongue over the small mark and pressed a soft kiss there.

“Thank you for breakfast, my husband.”

Then Charlie left the room.

The ship was still sailing in the direction Layla was guiding them. They were tracking Eddie. Layla’s father was alive and in the same region of Sunken Realms as they were. The group still had time. It was already Phase 4, and the new Beacons were available, but there were still at least twenty-three days left before the deadline ran out.

Once Luke was sure Charlie was not coming back, he closed his eyes and focused. Now he saw the tutorial capital. While his physical body remained aboard the ship, he pushed more of his consciousness into that other place and ran through the capital.

“Here we go again,” he muttered, stopping at the river, which had grown far larger than before.

An explosion erupted, and something surged out of the water, a massive tentacle. Luke dodged.

“Well, hello to you too, kraken,” he said.

The creature lashed at him with its tentacles. Luke kept retreating, weaving away from each strike.

“You’re going to be a problem.”

Two days earlier, he had made his Spectral Beast devour the kraken’s core. The shark form was gone now. In its place, the kraken had appeared inside his soul. And defeating it was proving far more difficult than he had expected, especially now that the creature knew Luke’s tricks and Luke no longer had his friends there to help him fight.

“I rushed things and invited you into my soul. Now I’ve got a serious problem,” he said, watching the monster thrash the water with its tentacles in fury.

He had not really had a choice. The longer he waited, the more the lingering soul-fragment inside the kraken’s core faded away. If he had not let the Spectral Beast absorb it, he would have lost the kraken forever. Now he had the monster. He just could not beat it yet.

“The upside is, you only stay in the water,” he said, turning and walking through the capital.

He had all the time in the world to build plans and work through strategies. Meanwhile, in the real world, he would focus on gaining levels.

“One day I’ll kill you. Just not today.”

***

Eleanor was in her room, eating. She had woken up late.

“I’m telling you, they had sex,” Evangeline said.

“They did not have sex,” Eleanor replied.

Evangeline was there with her, eating as if this were a perfectly reasonable breakfast topic.

“Can we change the subject?” Eleanor asked. “I don’t want to be disrespectful, and we’re eating.”

“Oh, come on, Eleanor. I’m positive Luke and Charlie were at it all night yesterday.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I sleep in the room next door, and I heard a lot of noises last night.”

“I don’t want to know, and I’m sure you misheard.”

“I didn’t. It was stuff like, ‘Grab that, stir it well,’ and ‘Leave room so I can fit this in.’ Or, ‘Wow, Master Luke, that carrot of yours is really big.’”

Eleanor covered her face with one hand. “Evangeline… stop. That was obviously a normal conversation.”

“At three in the morning? They were talking about plants? Come on, Eleanor. They’re both twenty.” Evangeline leaned in, utterly convinced. “It was about sex. And judging by how excited Luke sounded, he was enjoying himself a lot. He even said something like, ‘Whoa, I finally leveled up.’”

“I don’t want to hear about their sex life anymore, okay?”

“Are you sure…?”

Eleanor hesitated.

“My shadow isolation is locking the sound inside this room, relax. There’s no way they can hear us,” Evangeline said. “So? Do you want to know or not?”

“And why were you even listening? If it were me, I would have covered my ears.”

“It was Cinderella’s fault for refusing to leave the bathroom first. It threw off my sleep schedule.”

“You’re still on about the bathroom? If I hadn’t kicked you both out, I bet you’d still be in there fighting over who could stay longer.”

“I’m going to win next time. That didn’t count.”

“You invaded the bathroom while he was using it.”

“I always bathe at the same time. Next time I’ll just stand there in a towel. I bet he won’t be able to handle it and will run out embarrassed.”

“What are you, twelve?”

“Have you never competed with someone to see who gives in first? Like who can go the longest without blinking or something.”

“I’m reinforcing my point. Are you twelve?”

Evangeline sighed. “You wouldn’t understand, Eleanor.”

“You’re almost thirty. You’re supposed to be more mature.”

“Twenty-eight! I’m only twenty-eight. Thirty is a very strong word.”

***

Luke was at the prow. Layla was there too, as usual. She hardly ever left it.

“My father is alive, Luke,” she said. “Do you think he’s okay?”

“He’s alive, isn’t he?”

“You know what I mean. Really okay. Not hurt. Not starving.” She looked away, out at the water. “I’m worried. I keep thinking about whether he’s hungry, whether something might happen before we reach him. It’s... strange.”

“That’s anxiety. I know the feeling.”

“You must be worried about your family too.”

“I am.”

Suddenly the ship jolted with a hard noise.

“We hit something,” Luke said.

Charlie came running.

“I’ll handle it.”

A creature writhed below the hull, some kind of sea eel. Charlie jumped into the water, came down with a punch, and immediately started fighting it.

[Charlotte Vespertilio has slain a Sea Eel - Lvl 92]

Charlotte Vespertilio’s 2nd Class [Black Ash Fighter] reached Level 86! (+18 STR, +8 INT, +7 END, +6 VIT, +6 PER, +5 AGI, +5 Free Points)

I should be out hunting too. I still need Rank D cores.

He had promised himself that once they found Eddie, he would focus on hunting beasts. Every Rank D core he absorbed would make his Spectral Beast a little stronger.

“Congrats... Charlie,” Anne said.

She had come up to the prow to see what the ship had struck.

“Thank you.”

“That thing is huge. It wouldn’t even fit through a door,” Layla said.

Charlie drew her sword and began cutting pieces from the eel.

“That does not look like it’s going to taste good,” Layla said.

“What do you think, Anne?” Charlie asked.

“Hm... let’s test it,” Anne said.

Using her new sword, Charlie carved off a few pieces. She had also picked a new skill, or rather, an old one. At level 90 in her [Blood Death Knight] class, all the rejected skills from levels 60 through 85 had appeared again. The one Charlie chose was one of the options she had seen back when she was still apart from Luke.

***

Charlie was in the ship’s kitchen with Anne. Stephen had taken over the helm, with Jack beside him. The two of them were making dinner.

“Did I really... look pretty... in a swimsuit?” Anne asked Charlie.

“You did, Anne. Very cute.”

“Hm...”

Anne was private by nature. She acted as if appearances did not matter to her, but that was not true. They did. She did not like how she looked, and she was afraid of being judged, of being called a monster.

“I had never... worn one before,” Anne said.

“Neither had I.”

“Hm...”

Anne stirred the pots.

“They never let you wear one?” Charlie asked.

“I just... never cared before. But... lately, over the... last year...” Anne said, staring at her hands. “I’ve wanted... to enjoy life. Since the... tutorial.”

She paused for a moment. “It’s... strange.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know...”

***

Luke was having dinner with the others. They had set the table out on the deck. Tonight they were eating eel.

“It tastes like chicken and fish at the same time,” Jack said.

“Where’s your father?” Eleanor asked.

“He’s mourning the loss of sugarcane.”

“Sugarcane?” Evangeline asked, confused.

“It’s the base ingredient for rum,” Luke said. “If we spot an island with any, we’re taking it.”

“Do not encourage my father’s addictions,” Jack said.

“The rum turned into a weapon that helped kill the kraken, so I’d say keeping some in stock for our alchemist is an excellent idea.”

“By the way, can the ship survive another attack?” Eleanor asked.

“No...” Anne replied. “Too much damage.”

“We should’ve tried to repair it on that island near the city,” Evangeline said. “Though I get why we didn’t.”

“Either way, for the next challenge, we’re going to have to leave the ship behind,” Luke said. “Especially because it involves the teleportation halos.”

“That’s going to be a pain,” Eleanor said.

Luke opened the notification explaining Phase 4.

Fun fact: this chapter has some cute artwork of Anne in her swimsuit waiting over in that other place.