Becoming the Dark Lord

After looking over the skill options, Angie made her choice.

[Angie has acquired the Class Skill: Lightning Verdict (Legendary)]

“I thought you’d pick Wind Valkyrie’s Fury,” Luke said.

“I thought about it, but Lightning Aura already covers that role.”

Angie tightened her grip on her spear. Electricity began crackling around her body, racing down her arms until it wrapped around the weapon. Blue sparks danced along the shaft and gathered at the spearhead as she raised it, aiming at the top of a nearby building.

The moment she activated the skill, a small black cloud formed above the structure. It appeared too fast to look natural. A second later, a blue bolt dropped from the sky and struck the building with a sharp, dry crack. The electric blast spread through the structure, and the whole thing collapsed.

Charlie stared at the rubble, impressed.

“I like this skill,” Angie said.

Her spear was still smoking when she said it.

“Can you do it again?” Luke asked.

“No. It has a cooldown, and it looks like a long one. Same as Radiant Judgment. But now I’ve got two heavy hitters for different situations.”

[Radiant Judgment (Epic)]: The Cleric creates a circle of sacred light in a chosen area, condensing holy energy for a few moments before releasing it as a gigantic upward beam of yellow light that pierces everything within the marked zone. The spell requires setup and precision to reach its fullest potential, but its destructive power more than compensates for the vulnerability created during the cast. It is especially effective against enemies who are surrounded, restrained, or unable to escape the area before activation. The flash of judgment does not merely destroy. It announces the presence of faith on the battlefield.

[Lightning Verdict (Legendary)]: The Valkyrie channels the power of Lightning and Light Spear, charging her spear with electricity before aiming it at a target. The instant the weapon marks its destination, a bolt of lightning descends from the heavens and strikes the indicated area, electrocuting the main target and releasing discharges capable of injuring nearby enemies. If the target survives the impact, it remains temporarily affected by the residual energy of the thunder, suffering Slowness or Paralysis effects. It is not merely a bolt of electricity. It is a sentence handed down from the sky.

And, of course, the mana cost was absurd.

Anne was waiting for them when they returned to the ship, clearly worried.

“Sorry it took so long,” Charlie said.

Anne had stayed behind to guard the ship, which meant missing part of the land exploration.

A few more days passed as they explored the archipelago. There were other settlements scattered across the islands. One of them was made up mostly of miners and people with mining-related professions. Apparently, that group had mostly stopped caring about winning the event. They stayed because the archipelago still had far too many ores to ignore.

Luke and Anne walked through the settlement, which occupied part of an abandoned city on one of the islands. Anne wore a cloak he had lent her, the hood pulled low enough to hide her face. Luke, meanwhile, wore the item he had received from the sixth beacon.

[Pirate Corsair Captain’s Cloak (Legendary)]

A black pirate cloak granted only to those who have proven their bravery at sea in legendary fashion. And nothing is more legendary than being swallowed alive by a colossal sea creature… and still escaping. This cloak carries the weight of an impossible story, marking its wearer as someone who faced the depths, survived the impossible, and returned with the eyes of one who has seen the ocean’s true horror.

Enchantments:

[Blackflag Aegis (Legendary)]: The corsair cloak’s special fabric is made from ancient black pirate flags, carried through years of battles, raids, and legends at sea. This origin has strengthened the cloak with resistance against projectiles, arrows, and ranged attacks, allowing the fabric to absorb or deflect impacts as if it still carried the indomitable will of the old captains who once raised those flags.

[Death Defiance (Legendary)]: When the corsair takes fatal damage, the ancient black flags that make up the cloak burn their remaining energy to keep the wearer alive. The fabric consumes itself little by little as it regenerates the wound, like a final pirate oath against death. Once the healing is complete, the cloak disintegrates completely.

The two entered a tavern and sat at a table in the corner. Their meals arrived shortly after. Luke ate in silence, more interested in the conversations around him than in the food. In places like this, the best way to gather information was to let other people talk.

So far, no one’s seen those two Rhiannons. Did they leave the event?

When the man came to collect Luke’s empty plate, he stopped when he looked at Anne. Her food was untouched.

“You’re not eating?”

Anne stayed quiet for a moment. “Sorry… no.”

“Right…”

The man took the plate without pressing her. Luke waited until he walked away before looking at her.

“Hey, Anne. You need to act more natural. Aren’t you supposed to be a trained assassin?”

“I wasn’t trained for disguises or small talk… I can’t infiltrate places… not with the way I look.”

“That makes sense.”

“Also, she’s shy,” Artemis said.

Anne nodded, barely raising her voice. “Very…”

Luke took a sip from his drink while watching a man seated on the other side of the tavern. Judging by the way the others acted around him, he seemed to be in charge of the large mining group.

“You can’t eat?” Luke asked. “What happens to the food if you swallow it?”

“You want to know if she poops?” Artemis said.

“I was going to phrase it more delicately.”

“Before, I would have just vomited,” Anne answered. “Now… I don’t know anymore.”

“You don’t know? What do you mean?”

“I think I’m going through… changes as I rank up. I don’t know... how to explain it.”

“Like from T-800 to T-1000 in Terminator?” Artemis asked.

Anne tilted her head slightly. “What is… Terminator?”

“Anne… we have so much to teach you.”

“Her family is going to love Game of Thrones,” Artemis said.

After leaving the tavern, Luke and Anne followed a group to an area used for mining. The place was busy. There were miners at work, carts rolling by loaded with ore and other materials, guards watching the entrance, and blacksmiths improvising maintenance on equipment.

“These people cleared all six beacons just to keep mining,” Luke muttered.

“They must also… be doing this… to level their professions,” Anne said.

“That’s probably one of the reasons.”

Everyone there was trying to squeeze every last drop out of the event. Not just ore, but experience, materials, profession advancement. For some people, the archipelago was worth more as an opportunity for growth than as a competition.

“So how does a maid level up?” Luke asked, curious. “Cooking? Making beds?”

“Nutritious meals… to keep people healthy. Support magic in… battle. Food with… buffs.”

“Got it. Like potions.”

They walked close to the entrance of the mining area. Some guards watched them suspiciously, but Luke didn’t seem concerned. A line had formed nearby, apparently for people looking for work. An improvised recruitment station.

When their turn came, a man holding a form looked at Luke.

“Specialty?”

“I heard one of your mines was attacked and that a group settled in there.”

The man narrowed his eyes. “And what does that have to do with you?”

“Well… if my partner and I go there and take the mine back for you, how about a nice fat payment?”

The man laughed without humor. “You’ll die. Those people are dangerous.”

“Are you paying us or not?”

“And what do you want?”

Luke pointed at a sizable pile of cores the blacksmiths were using for production.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“That nice fat pile of Rank D cores.”

“Are you kidding me? We use those to make equipment, magic pickaxes, and all kinds of things.”

“If you get that mine back, you’ll make more profit. And I’m betting you’ve got teams hunting cores out there anyway. Everybody wins.”

The man slowly lowered the form. “We don’t usually take jobs like this from outsiders, but that mine… it’s worth the risk. What are your names?”

“Luke and Rey.”

“Fine, Luke and Rey. Wait here.”

The man headed toward a reinforced building. Artemis wasted no time. “Wait a second… you used an alias with your actual first name?”

“I did.”

“I liked… the name,” Anne said.

“See? Anne liked it.”

A few hours later, the two of them were near the occupied mine. First, they confirmed the number of enemies, patrol routes, and blind spots. Then they moved.

Hidden in the shadows, Luke watched Anne in motion. She moved without making a sound. Her steps were too light for someone carrying weapons, and when she jumped, she looked more like a ballerina than an assassin. An enemy dropped dead moments later. Fast. Clean. Her half-scissor-shaped blade pierced straight through his eye. Before the body even hit the ground, Anne had already dumped it into her pocket dimension.

The guards outside the mine died one by one. Some were pulled away by threads before they understood what was happening. Others fell when the plates Anne threw cut their throats. At first glance, they looked like ordinary utensils, but their edges were sharp, serrated, and built to cut like circular blades. That was also one of the ways she leveled her Maid Profession.

Inside the mines, Luke advanced under the cover of darkness. He killed anyone who crossed his path before they had time to scream or raise an alarm. The structure of the mine was strange. There was a huge crater in the center, open all the way down to the ocean, with different levels accessed by ropes tied along the edges. The distant sound of water crashing far below echoed through the damp walls.

When they were done, they returned to the miners’ settlement.

The same man from the line looked at them as they approached. “Gave up?”

“No. Finished.”

Luke placed the leader’s head on the table. The impact shut the nearby conversations down at once.

“We want our payment.”

When they returned to the ship, Luke absorbed the cores.

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [256/1000]

...

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [296/1000]

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [297/1000]

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [298/1000]

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [299/1000]

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [300/1000]

[Your Spectral Beast Core has unlocked a new skill]

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [301/1000]

...

[You have absorbed a Rank D Core]

Rank D Cores: [323/1000]

After absorbing all the cores, Luke clicked on the new skill.

[Spectral Roar (Rare)]: The Spectral Beast emits a deep, unsettling roar that echoes through the area like the warning of a predator about to strike. The sound awakens instinctive fear in nearby creatures, shaking their concentration and making immediate reactions more difficult. Affected targets may hesitate, lose focus, or retreat before the creature’s overwhelming presence.

“It worked…?” Anne whispered.

“It did. Thank you, Anne.”

“I should thank you… Lord Luke. I like going out… with my friends. And with the necklace too.”

“How adorable, Anne,” Artemis said. “Next time, you could wear your swimsuit—”

Luke cut her off before she could ruin the mood.

***

It was night. The ship had left the archipelago behind after circling around it, returning to its original course. Luke was using his skill [Tree of Mother Freya]. Whenever he activated the skill, a seed appeared in the palm of his hand, ready to be planted. A young tree stood inside a large pot he had made himself. First, he used [Transmutation] to alter the properties of some clay-like mud. Then, with [Enhanced Telekinesis], he shaped the material into a container firm enough to support the plant.

“It’s coming along nicely. What do you think, Charlie?”

“Um… it’s a plant. I don’t really know much.”

Luke’s plan was to test the skill together with [Botanical Transmutation]. The tree, isolated in that pot, was only the beginning. What really mattered was what it could become.

“If I can transmute the legendary seed by combining it with other types of magical plants, maybe I can create a tree that releases poisonous pollen, paralyzing pollen, sleep-inducing pollen… anything. In the future, I could build a magical forest that’s naturally offensive. A place where I control when the plants release poisons and attack using Plant Manipulation.”

Charlie, who had looked only mildly interested before, studied the tree more closely.

“I hadn’t thought of that…”

“Not just that, Charlie. It’s possible that everything that dies in my forest gets converted into profession experience points for me. It would be like creating an experience farm. I’m going to study pheromones too. Imagine if I can lure beasts into the forest and let the environment kill them for me. An ecosystem of death that helps me level faster in the long run.”

Luke was excited. At first, when he had left other legendary skills behind, he had felt a little regret. Now, though, he could see the real potential of that choice. It wasn’t just a tree. It was the foundation for an entire territory.

“The only problem is that I need to be on solid ground and, obviously, I need a fixed territory. My own place. But there’s something powerful here, Charlie. Now I need to study poisonous plants and other species with offensive effects.”

All of it would be further strengthened by Mother Freya’s skill set, especially [Plant Manipulation of Mother Freya].

“I can still use Thorn Mutation to make thorns grow from the trees. My connection to control them from a distance should improve thanks to Botanical Bond of Mother Freya. Maybe I could sit in one place and attack the other side of the forest with a huge thorn-covered root tentacle.”

“Um… Master Luke, when you get like this, it means you’re not going to sleep,” Charlie said, already lying down on the bed.

“I’ll be there soon, Charlie. I just need to write these ideas down.”

“I know you. I’m going to sleep.”

For Charlie, sleep was also a way to recover mana and stamina thanks to [Vampiric Sleep I].

Luke kept writing in his journal for a few more minutes. Then he stopped, looked at his notes, looked at Charlie, and closed the notebook.

He went to bed.

“Got room for me?”

“Yes. I thought you were going to keep working.”

“I changed my mind. Besides, if I’m taking care of plants, I should probably take care of my girlfriend too.”

He slipped under the sheets and wrapped his arms around her. Charlie settled against him as the little spoon while Luke stroked her head. She loved that.

“Um… your hand is moving down my stomach. We’re not doing… that tonight.”

“I was just getting comfortable so I could pull you closer.”

“Sure…”

“You dirty-minded little vampire.”

“I-I do not!”

“You don’t? Who was it, right before we entered that crustacean nest, who just happened to spot an intact house in the ruins where we could be alone?”

“T-t-that was just a coincidence. I only brought it up because you kept asking the night before.”

“Look at that, trying to blame me. I only asked because I wanted to understand your logic for why we can’t do it on the ship, when the day before yesterday, you wanted to.”

“That was because Anne and Angie had gone to hunt beasts on an island. And since you’re human, you have biological and hormonal needs for that kind of thing. It’s your fault, Master Luke.”

“So in the end, I’m the one to blame. Fine. I’ll protect the secret of the caged beast inside you.”

She elbowed him, but it was far too gentle to be a threat. Luke pulled her even closer. That was when Charlie’s system interface opened. She was using it.

[Royal Blood Knight]: A Knight who is the warrior manifestation of a noble lineage among vampire families. Unlike knights marked only by death or curse, this class carries an ancient heritage in its blood, recognized for its purity, authority, and predatory power.

Its existence represents more than individual strength. It is the reflection of a superior vampire house, shaped to transform the nobility of blood into presence, combat, and dominion. The armor, blade, and techniques of the Royal Blood Knight are not symbols of servitude to death, but extensions of a lineage that learned to impose its will through blood.

The blood familiars that accompany it are not servants summoned through necromancy, but living manifestations of its own lineage. Skills involving bats, blood, and crimson shadows can be awakened to fight at its side, protect its body, mark prey, or merge with its sword and armor. Each bond reinforces the image of a knight whose power does not come from raised corpses, but from the vampiric heritage pulsing within.

In battle, the Royal Blood Knight moves with the refined brutality of a noble predator. It can advance as a cloud of bats, swap positions with its blood manifestations, and enter Blood Frenzy, a state where technique, instinct, and thirst blend together. Its strength does not lie in commanding legions, but in turning its own body, blood, and lineage into weapons of dominion.

Thus, the Blood Death Knight evolves into Royal Blood Knight when it stops being merely a knight marked by death, vengeance, and curse, and begins to affirm its true heritage: not as a servant of death, but as the armed representative of an ancient vampiric nobility.

(Attribute Bonus per level: +28 Strength, +27 Lethality, +24 Vitality, +21 Agility, +18 Toughness, +15 Perception, +12 Willpower, +28 Free Points.)

“The attribute combination from that class with your other one is going to make you a monster in battle, Charlie. In a good way.”

A highly lethal tank monster.

“Only three options showed up for me when I evolved my class,” she said. “This one had more attribute points. I thought it was the best, but… when I read it, I felt something strange.”

“Strange?”

“It felt like… I’d seen it before.”

“Déjà vu?”

“What’s that?”

“What you just described.”

Luke had to give a few more examples before she understood.

“I think that was it, Master Luke. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I liked the option.”

They both knew the likely reason. Maybe, in her life as Charlotte, she had already had some connection to it.

“Aren’t you curious, Charlie? About who you were when you were alive?”

“I don’t have memories of my other life, so I’m not curious. There’s nothing for me to even be curious about.”

“Maybe… I could find some information.”

“Better not.” She turned to face him. “I was trapped in a coffin for a very long time. So long that it’s probably how I forgot everything. If no one from my past came looking for me, why should I go looking for them now that I’m free?”

It was one way to think about it. Cold, direct, and hard to argue with.

“And I didn’t end up in that coffin for no reason,” she continued. “Someone put me there.”

Luke brushed aside a lock of hair covering one of her eyes. “You’re free to decide what you want to do. If you don’t want to know about your past, I respect that.”

Charlie hugged him. “I already have everything that matters right here.”

She rubbed her face against his chest and started sniffing him. “You smell so good, Master Luke.”

Luke stroked his vampire girlfriend’s hair. She was using that soft, needy voice she only used when she wanted to be spoiled. He knew her far too well by now. Living with Charlie, Luke had learned that for a vampire, smelling their partner could be a form of comfort. Something close to a hug. So he did exactly that. He held her and kept spoiling the vampire in his arms.

Charlie looked up. Those two red eyes stared at him, bright in the dark. Even now, Luke was still surprised by how pretty and cute she was.

She pouted. “Kiss.”

Luke kissed her and spoiled her for a while. After that, Charlie went back to spooning against him, demanding that he hold her properly. Luke obeyed, slowly and comfortably stroking her stomach.

“I think I’m ready… to test that skill,” Charlie said after a while.

“The level 95 vampire skill? Are you sure?”

“I am. When we’re on solid ground, I want to use it. I chose it, after all. I could have chosen something else.”

“That’s sudden. But I guess that’s a good thing.”

“I’m sure now.”

***

Rain poured down hard. The ship rocked violently under the waves, and everyone was on deck dealing with the stalkers that emerged in the middle of the storm. When a new group jumped onto the deck and charged toward Angie, Charlie moved. Mid-motion, her body broke apart into a cloud of bats. The dark mass tore straight through the stalkers, leaving wounds in its wake. The next instant, Charlie reformed in front of them, blocking their path.

She stepped forward and cut them down in a single motion. That was the new power she had received when her class evolved. The skill [Basic Spectral Charge (Rare)] had evolved.

[Bat Swarm Dash (Ultra-Rare)]: The Royal Blood Knight breaks apart into a cloud of bats and rapidly dashes in a straight line. During the dash, it can pass through enemies. Enemies passed through take minor damage, and the first main target struck takes bonus damage when the vampire reforms, suffering a brief stagger/disorientation effect.

“Are we there, Cadmus?” Luke shouted over the storm.

The robot had been helping them navigate.

“Yes, we’re here. This is where you found that kraken.”

Luke stared out at the dark sea ahead. Rain lashed against his face.

“Now we just have to kill the bastard and hope the system gives us an item.”