I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Ghost King

Thirty minutes had gone by since our battle with the Skeleton Knight and we still hadn’t left the room.

We had decided to take a break since the previous battle took a lot out of us. Fran and the rest were sitting down as they drank potions to recover their mana. I was recovering as best I could; my durability had been depleted by half. My MP was also below 500. Going deeper into the dungeon would be difficult.

Jean had summoned a Skeleton with Blacksmith abilities to repair Fran’s armor. He even had Mana Spheres ready. The necromancer was thorough for sure.

Fly had, of course, gone on to scout ahead.

I looked over my new skills. Unfortunately, none of them increased my combat ability by leaps and bounds. They were all at Level 1, after all. At most, I could probably work something out with Unleash Potential.

Our encounters in the dungeon were paying off, though. Fran had gone up by three levels and Jet by five. That was enough to bump their fighting prowess by a significant amount. The fierce battle with the Skeleton Knight had also given Fran some hands-on combat experience. Her fighting ability had definitely gone up.

“So good.”

“Munch, munch.”

“Indeed, this is also delicious!”

I had cooked up some special fried chicken for the starving trio. I guess fried monster would be the appropriate term, since I used monster meat. I hadn’t come across many fried foods in this world. There were pan-fried foods, but I hadn’t seen any with a crispy batter. It might not even exist, actually. Jean had been surprised when I first presented the dish. The mountain of deep-fried, crispy goodness was gone in a near instant.

We gave the leftover bones to Jet. He gobbled them down, satisfied.

“It seems Fly has found the door… Mwahahaha! Straight to the dungeon core!”

“What about the boss?”

“Hold on… Hm!”

After his shrill laughter, Jean suddenly winced.

What’s wrong?

“I lost contact with Fly.”

“Did it get killed?”

“It appears so… No fear, I know the exact path to get there. I shall take point.”

The monsters on the way to the deepest section of the dungeon weren’t that different from the ninth floor. If anything, they were easier now. We could go all out since we knew the end was coming, and we didn’t have to feel shy about using up all our items, either.

We reached the boss room in less than a shake.

“Behold! The door to the boss room!”

A stone door, more lavish and intricate than all the previous doors, stood in front of us. After three days of exploring the dungeon, we had finally reached our destination.

“Is there a boss and a Dungeon Master behind this?”

“Fly couldn’t get a reading off it, but yes, they’re definitely there.”

The boss was definitely going to be a problem but it didn’t end there. The Dungeon Master would be quite strong, seeing that it was a product of this dungeon. We were dealing with something that used B-Rank monsters.

“We must prepare.”

What do you propose?

“Mwahaha! I shall use my final trump card! I don’t want to use it since it costs too much, but we must be ready for the worst.”

Jean was right. We had to prepare as best we could, too. But how should we go about it?

“Should we level up some skills?”

That’s what I had in mind, but…

I had 25 EP left on hand. I had to think about this so they wouldn’t go to waste.

I don’t know which of these would be useful. I’ll have to see how the battle goes to decide.

It wouldn’t be funny if we panicked and leveled up a skill that would prove useless in the boss fight. We didn’t know what we were dealing with. Being careful with our points was the best we could do.

“Teacher, Fran, there are some things I want you to take out of storage for me.”

What is it?

“You can start with the pendant.”

Pendant? There were a lot of those. We took out all the pendant-like items for the time being. Jean picked one out of the pile and gave it to Fran.

“This is the one. Carry it with you.”

Woof, it looked gross! The pendant had a realistic carving of a zombie on it. I did remember putting that away into Fran’s storage space.

“It is a Sacrificial Effigy.”

This thing?

Wasn’t it for cursing your enemies or summoning zombies?

“Ha ha ha! I’m sure you have your doubts. I thought of the same thing, in fact. I only bought this because I thought it was related to necromancy.”

I mean, look at it.

“Still, it is quite the potent charm.”

According to Jean, the pendant was able to take a single hit that was delivered to its user. Furthermore, it only activated if the damage dealt was on the heavy side. That really was nice to have.

Thanks.

“Indeed. We’ll also need this and this and this and—”

“What?”

“You need all the charms you can get. Take it with you.”

He gave us about ten more charms, not that I felt magic from any of them. We got peace of mind from them, at least.

“I need to prepare as well.”

The next item on Jean’s list was a long, rectangular chest. It was one of the biggest items in our inventory.

Paper seals covered the chest, making it look like a sarcophagus. Jean started casting the incantation while forming symbols with his hands to undo the seal.

With this strong of a seal, I couldn’t help but wonder what amazing tool must have been in the box. We looked on with interest as Jean pulled out an ominous-looking staff adorned with a skull. Yikes. Now that right there was a necromancer’s staff. Even its handle looked like it was made from a spinal cord. It fit Jean’s look perfectly.

It didn’t look like imitation bone, either. There was a sinister quality about the staff that made your skin crawl. Wielding it seemed enough to cast a curse on you.

Name: Unknown

Cannot be identified.

Hm? I couldn’t Identify it?

“Bwahahaha! This is my special staff! You cannot use any ordinary Identify on it!”

“Why not?”

“This staff is called the Blessing of the Nether Lord. A Named Item I found in a certain dungeon.”

Jean told me how the stats for the staff were so high that a regular Identify wasn’t able to penetrate it.

So about that staff’s powers—

“Kukakaka!”

I was just about to ask Jean about his staff when a loud human-sounding cackle cut me off.

!

“?”

What? Where was that voice coming from? I thought the staff was calling out to me, but Jean looked equally surprised.

“Kukakaka—”

There was something about the voice that disturbed the mind. Hearing it was enough to make me feel depressed.

The situation escalated even as I was searching for the source of the voice.

Vooom.

A gigantic pentagram had appeared on the place we were only seconds ago.

Crap, Danger Sense was sounding the alarm!

Fran, Jet!

I tried to draw their attention to the impending danger but didn’t make it in time. The pentagram on the floor shot a sudden burst of light which filled the entire corridor. Fran tried her best to get away from it but the mystery voice cackled again as if to mock her attempt at escape.

“How long do you plan on making me wait? Allow me to invite you personally to my quarters! Kukakaka!”

The light faded and we found ourselves in a large hall. It was several times larger than the boss rooms we had been in up to now. I had no time to look around however, as my eyes were fixed on the thing that was before us.

I couldn’t avert my gaze from the creature if I had wanted to.

“Kukakaka! Welcome, intruders!”

What was this thing? Its mana was overwhelming. Its presence was overbearing, and it was absolutely repulsive. I found no words to describe it. “Horror” and “repugnance” were the best I could come up with as a menacing fear took hold of me. If not for my sword body, I would’ve either puked or lost control of my bowels.

Ah…

I wanted to get out of here as fast as I could.

Fran squeezed my hilt, as if for hanging on for dear life. Was she shaking? Fran, who stood her own against a daemon? Blood was draining away from her face as she went pale.

Fran… It’s alright.

I was brought back to my senses the moment I felt Fran shiver. What was I thinking? I didn’t have time to be afraid, I had to protect Fran. That was my duty.

We might have to run away now. We still had time to use our Teleport Feathers.

Fran, we’re leaving.

Okay.

Jean, we gotta go.

“Hm? Wait—”

I made sure Fran was holding on to Jean’s arm and immediately used a Teleport Feather. We couldn’t face such a powerful enemy in our current beat-up state. Survival was of the utmost.

However—

The Teleport Feather didn’t respond. Not even a blip or a click. It should have mana inside it!

What the hell?!

“Kukakaka! This room prevents anyone who enters from teleporting out of it! There is no escape. Give up, and let us have a battle to the death! Kukakaka! Kukakakaka—”

It was a Lich.

King of the Evil Spirits. The worst and strongest of the undead.

The most reviled of creatures cackled as he told us the ruthless truth.

Name: Lich

Race: Undead

Status: Vengeful Spirit

Level: 23

HP: 863; Magic: 2467; Strength: 134; Agility: 366

Skills: Speedcast 7; Panic 4; Fear 4; Regeneration 6; Control Undead 10; Necromancy 10; Nether Magic 4; Mana Manipulation

Title: Dungeon Master

Equipment: Tattered Robes

The Lich was the most notorious of the undead. I wanted to scratch my “head” in confusion as I checked its stats. Was it really supposed to be that strong? I had heard that there were huge differences in power between individual undead, but still.

Between its intimidating presence and overwhelming terror, its threat level could easily pass as A-Rank, or B-Rank at minimum.

“Overload Undead Summoning.”

The Lich summoned his undead minions as we were still flustered by our inability to teleport out.

“These shall be your playmates for now. Try not to die. Kukakaka!”

“Oooorgh.”

“Uaaaa.”

“Grroowl!”

He summoned ten undead all at once, each of them a strong C-Rank threat. The entire mob of them made for a solid B-Rank threat. They were as strong as the Skeleton Knight we were barely able to beat.

Fran!

“Yeah. I’ll have to get serious right out of the gate.”

We started putting all our efforts into blasting them away with magic. There were no other options open to us. We would thin them out with our opening flurry then go for the Lich if there was an opening. That was the best we could do.

But Jean held us back, and stepped forward himself.

“Leave this to me.”

…Are you sure?

“Indeed, for I have the power of this staff.”

Jean had his usual cocky grin. It had a slightly sad look to it, though, as if he was prepared for the worst. We were fighting against a Lich, after all, but that didn’t seem to be the only reason.

“Fuhahaha! It is time for me to play my trump card!”

“Oooorgh.”

“Uoo.”

Jean stood alone in front of the undead squad. He raised the staff in his hand, and shouted, “Blessing of the Nether Lord! Come forth!”

The skull on Jean’s staff began to glow eerily. The light shone like a rainbow, making it oddly beautiful.

The skull on the staff’s tip opened its mouth.

OooooOooOoOO—

Wha!

“Uh?”

“Arf…”

It was speaking… or maybe singing? Could be either.

What echoed out of the skull was a song-like groaning. The resentful cry was mysterious, haunting, and had the quality of a hymn.

And yet, the strange song was easy to listen to.

OoOo—

“May the spirits bound by hate and resentment be allowed to rest in peace. Nether Lord, bestow thy blessings unto the lost.”

A pale blue light shone out of the staff as Jean carried out his incantation.

“Ugaaah.”

“Aooo.”

“No! Run away, my minions!”

Blue light filled the room. The undead squadron tried to escape upon the Lich’s orders but there was nowhere to run.

The light faded, and so did the undead.

Huh?

“Wow!”

Not a single hint of their existence remained. They were wiped out without a trace.

“You destroyed my slaves in an instant?! Kukakaka! What on earth is that staff?!”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“Oh? Go on.”

“Fuha… Haha. This is a divine item… capable of sending any and all undead to the afterlife. So how did you… a Lich… rema—Gaah!”

Jean!

Jean started coughing up blood, and fell to one knee. His face was now an earthy brown. He looked like one of his undead zombies!

“Lean on me.”

“Thank… you.”

“Kukakaka. You seem to have a tool which allows you to send off many undead at once! But I tell you that is not enough to fight me! Hohoho. Look at you, you are at the brink of death’s door, yourself!”

So that was it! Casting Ascension on Andy took a lot of mana out of Jean, and now he had to purify even more, stronger undead. Was this how the spell took years off your life expectancy?

I’ll heal you—

“No use. I have no wounds, after all.”

“Then take this.”

“Thanks.”

Fran took out a Stamina Potion, designed to recover the subject from exhaustion, and administered it to Jean. It wasn’t enough for a full recovery, but it seemed to help. Jean’s ragged breathing was now stable again.

“So, what is your plan? Your trump card has failed against me.”

How did the Lich get away unscathed from a spell that could purify any and all undead? Was it not an undead itself? The Lich had said he was, and his stats reflected his Undead status.

“It does appear to be a powerful item, but it is no match for the likes of me!”

That could be it. We were up against a Lich, the Ghost King. There was a possibility of even the most powerful item not working against him.

But we’d come too far to lose hope now!

Fran took me in her hand and dashed towards the Lich.

“Then we’ll just have to cut you.”

Damn straight!

We’ll cut him down before he got another chance to summon his undead!

“Haaa!”

“Kukakaka! It’s no use!”

What? My blade went right through him? He wasn’t supposed to have that kind of skill!

“Raah!”

Fire Arrow!

None of our attacks landed despite Fran swinging at him with Elemental Blade and my shots of magic. I thought we were up against an illusion, but he was able to use magic… The Lich attacked us just as my blade went through him, too!

“Ooof!”

Middle Heal!

The simple backhand took Fran’s health down by half.

He wasn’t an illusion after all!

His attack power was oddly strong, too. His strength was only at 134, definitely on the weak end of the spectrum. I didn’t see hints of him using magic and skills, either. So how did he knock down Fran’s health by half? The numbers didn’t add up.

He must have some kind of trick.

“Yeah, he’s strong.”

There was something to the Lich other than his stats. Could it be that he was falsifying his status information? We would be able to see it with my level of Identify if that were the case, however.

This is annoying.

What do we do?

If we can just figure out the mechanism behind his evasion, we might be able to use Skill Taker to get rid of it…

But with Identify not working, I didn’t know which skill to take.

Jean?

I cannot see it, either. Soul Sight does not work against undead.

Jean was our last hope in solving the mystery of the Lich, but he was equally stumped.

You’re oddly calm, now. Do you have a plan cooked up?

It might not be much of a plan, but could you stall him in the meantime?

Will it help?

I don’t know. But I need you to trust me.

Jean seemed to have something in mind. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I would happily grasp at straws at times like these. Let’s give it a shot.

All right. This fight was bound to go into extra time anyway.

Thank you.

An hour passed.

We had been going up against wave upon wave of undead armies.

“What’s wrong?! You’re getting slower! Am I tiring you out?”

“Not… yet!”

“Woof!”

“Yes, yes. I can’t wait to see the moment your hope turns into despair. What a delight that will be! You shall make fine slaves in your unlife! Kukakaka!”

None of our attacks landed on the Lich. We had attempted bombarding him with spells and setting up purification barriers around it but none of it worked. All this while we had to fend off the undead hordes the Lich had summoned.

We had only survived thus far because our enemy was toying with us. Fran could do nothing but wait to cast her next healing spell.

It seemed that the Lich’s aim was to break Fran, Jean, and Jet’s spirits in an attempt to dominate them. These three would make for strong undead, after all. A necromancer of Jean’s caliber could be as strong as a Lich when he turned undead.

As much as it pained me to admit it, the Lich’s toying did buy us enough time for Jean’s plan.

“What’s wrong? You’ve stopped moving. Has my summoning magic proven too much for you?”

“Arf!”

Jet launched his shadow spears at the Lich but they were to no avail.

“That’s right. Much better that you don’t stop attacking me. What plan do you have in mind next?”

“I will cut you down.”

“Kukakaka! I would like to see you try!”

More than half my mana was already gone. Fran, Jean, and Jet weren’t faring much better, either.

Jean, are you not done yet?

A little more… Wait, here it comes!

I exchanged some words with Jean until the moment finally came upon us.

Kaboooom!

The ground shook. The explosion felt like it might rattle your insides and it was a five on the Richter scale.

What was that? Did a bomb just go off in the dungeon? The ground was shaking and dust was coming off from the ceiling. I thought it was the Lich’s doing, but he seemed just as puzzled.

The Lich lost his arrogance, and screamed at us angrily.

“What…! What did you bastards do?!”

He screamed in pain.

“It looks like… that worked.” Jean struggled to get on his feet, still not having fully recovered from using the Nether Lord’s Blessing.

“Were you the one who caused that, Jean?”

“My minion… to be exact.”

When did that happen?

Jean had sent off his undead minions on an act of sabotage. This was what he had been waiting for.

“The mana from the Malice Furnace…! My death wish…! Disappearing…! Disappearing! Nuaaaaah!”

The Lich screamed in agony. The facility we destroyed must have been vital to his operation.

What about him? What did you do to him?

“He should be weaker now. One of his sources of power is the fact that he can draw mana from the dungeon itself. I’ve destroyed that particular source.”

You could’ve told us earlier!

“… I apologize. But the Lich would have gotten in the way if he knew of my plot. I needed someone to be a distraction.”

“Meaning?”

“If you want to fool your enemy, first fool your friends. The Lich might also have the ability to read minds and shuffle through memories.”

The Lich turned to us and screamed, “You bastards! You won’t get away with this! I won’t let you become my slaves so easily! I’ll let my minions have their way with you and crush all your limbs! I’ll make you regret ever having been born! Don’t expect to ever have death’s peaceful embrace!” It was strange how I could tell he was angry despite his skull lacking any capacity to form expressions.

If he’s weaker we might be able to stand a chance!

“Yeah!”

We finally saw a dim ray of hope. Fran took me in her hand and glared the Lich down intently.

“What is this? Do you think you have a chance at defeating me?! Very well, I shall show you the true terror of the Nether! You seem to have Identify, so have at me!”

The Lich deactivated his Identify disrupting skill. His stats changed significantly.

Name: Lich

Race: Undead

Status: Greater Vengeful Spirit

Level: 71

HP: 4863; Magic: 7467; Strength: 934; Agility: 666

Skills: Speedcast 10; Wind Magic 7; Identify Jammer 5; Panic 8; Fear 7; Regeneration 10; Spacetime Magic 7; Curse 6; Instant Regen 4; Control Undead 10; Necromancy 10; Mental Abnormal Status Resistance 9; Life Sense 6; Life Drain 7; Ocean Magic 3; Martial Arts 7; Land Magic 3; Earth Magic 10; Mind Reading 4; Poison Magic 8; Fire Magic 6; Mana Sense 7; Mana Drain 7; Water Magic 10; Nether Magic 8; Dark Magic 5; Instacast; Abnormal Status Immunity; Enhanced Undead; Seal Immunity; Mana Manipulation

Unique Skill: Malice Drain; Malice Conversion; Fake Identity

Extra Skill: Essence of Filth

Titles: Unrepentant; Dungeon Master; Avenger

Equipment: Robe of Resentment

… Shit. Fran, stay on your guard!

“Hm!”

I underestimated him! I didn’t think he would be this strong! He could kill us in an instant if he wanted to. But with his skill set revealed I finally figured out what he was using to dodge our attacks! To be fair, Jean was the one who told me.

Teacher, I figured it out. It’s the Timespace Magic. Specifically, a spell called Dimension Shift.

Dimension Shift allowed its user to phase shift to another dimension in order to dodge an attack. Repeated use should be impossible since its mana cost was huge, but the Lich’s Instacast and huge mana pool made it a non-issue.

“Overload Undead Summoning!”

The Lich summoned his minions. These were nothing like the undead he had summoned up until now. The ones we had been facing were strong, but these undead wore enchanted gear. He had summoned ten Legendary Skeletons. Fighting one of them was enough to bring us to the brink of death. They didn’t have Unleash Potential, but the Advanced Sword Mastery and Advanced Spear Mastery still made them a threat, not to mention their high defense values.

“Kill them all!”

The skeletons came at us upon the Lich’s order. Though their numbers were little, they were much more skilled and coordinated compared to the hordes that came before them.

“High Undead Summoning.”

A mere instant later, the Lich summoned a swarm of undead locusts. They quickly surrounded Fran, who already had her hands full fending off the skeletons.

The screeching insect swarm was enough to cause a man to go insane.

Damn it! Get off of her!

They kept on coming despite our best efforts to blow them away with Wind Magic. They were beginning to inhibit Fran’s movements.

“Kuh!”

She couldn’t concentrate, each one of them sinking their tiny fangs into her skin.

“Hell Blast!”

“Venom Bullet!”

“Gravity Pressure!”

The Lich was now instacasting his arsenal of spells one after another!

“Urgh!”

We couldn’t dodge it! I focused all my mana into maintaining our Mana Barrier but it wasn’t enough.

I saw the Lich preparing another barrage of spells.

Fran, you have to dodge it!

“Hm.”

“Kakakaka.”

I instructed Fran to dodge the hexes but the horde of undead made it impossible. Fran’s health was now down to half! I wouldn’t be able to heal her through this!

“High Undead Summoning!”

Jean summoned his minion to assist her.

“Stefan, come forth!”

The mana signature was strong, perhaps even stronger than the Legendary Skeletons! I couldn’t Identify it because it had Identity Protection but it was strong enough to be a B-Rank threat. The skeletons took notice and slowed down.

Stefan looked completely unassuming. He looked like a human boy. If not for his hollow eye sockets, you could never tell that he was an undead under Jean’s charge.

“That specimen…! This is very curious. What trickery did you use?”

“Heh. I’m not just a necromancer for show.”

“Kukakaka! To think that you had subjugated my Ghost Eater!”

The being Jean had summoned was the elusive Ghost Eater. Wait, so he had it already? We were as surprised as the Lich was. The undead had previously belonged to the Lich, so how did Jean take control of it?

To control an undead all you needed was Necromancy and Control Undead. But the Ghost Eater, aside from being really strong, was previously under the charge of the Lich. No matter how skilled Jean was, it didn’t seem like something he could easily take control of…

“I am still a nobody of a necromancer. I had to use every trick in the book to secure this one.”

Jean told us the gist of it. Even the Lich stopped attacking out of curiosity.

Stefan was originally the name of a Wraith that Jean had prepared for his anti-Ghost Eater strategy. He had possessed Undead Resistance, Drain Resistance, and Erosive Fusion. His battle plan was deceptively simple.

First he was eaten by the Ghost Eater on purpose. The consumed undead would usually be absorbed into the Ghost Eater, but Stefan’s Undead Resistance and Drain Resistance prevented that from happening. He then used Erosive Fusion to take control of the Ghost Eater from the inside.

Stefan had been consumed by the Ghost Eater on Jean’s last excursion, but Jean thought his plan had failed, seeing that Stefan had not been able to take control of the Ghost Eater. Stefan was not defeated, however, and instead took control of the Ghost Eater little by little over the course of many years.

By the time we landed, Jean had made contact with his old minion.

“Kukaka! Interesting! Very well, you can become my servant once I kill you! I shall use your imagination to bring about my death wish!”

“I refuse.”

“I am not giving you the option to refuse!”

As Jean kept the Lich busy with their quarrel, we were coordinating with the Ghost Eater to eliminate half of the skeleton troops.

The Ghost Eater’s fighting ability was impressive. It might be unbeatable in anti-Undead combat. It could instantly deplete the mana of any undead it touched and use that to strengthen itself. Its foes didn’t have a chance to retaliate. The Lich had stopped paying attention to anything other than Jean, further reducing his minion’s menacing aura.

I used what little time Jean had bought for us to inspect the Lich’s abilities and think of a way to beat him. One tactic came to mind which would severely weaken the Lich with one move. I didn’t know whether it would beat him outright, but it would definitely hurt the undead wizard.

Jean, I can seal off the Lich’s Spacetime Magic. But if it’s too dangerous for you to use the Nether Lord’s Blessing, then—

It won’t be a problem.

Then start casting. I’ll adjust to your timing.

Very well.

Jean raised his staff over his head once again as I watched the Lich’s movements like a hawk.

“Nether Lord’s Blessing, come forth.”

“Hah. Again with your staff? Are you going to purify my skeletons away? No matter. You would make a fine corpse should that blessing kill you!”

“May the spirits bound by hate and resentment—”

The Lich looked smug. He knew he could use Dimension Shift to dodge the attack. Nether Lord’s Blessing also took a long time to cast. It was easy for the Lich to guess when the spell would activate. He didn’t think for a second that he was going to get purified by it.

Well, things were different this time.

Skill Taker!

I targeted the Lich with Skill Taker. Spacetime Magic wasn’t an Extra Skill so I should be able to take it—

Skill Taker successful. You have gained Spacetime Magic 7.

It worked! I took his Spacetime Magic 7!

“—be allowed to rest in peace. Nether Lord, bestow thy blessings unto the lost.”

“It’s no use…!”

Joke’s on you, idiot!

“What?! Why?!”

The Lich began panicking, unable to use his Spacetime spells. The divine light of the Nether Lord’s Blessing wrapped the undead immediately.

“Gyaaa!”

The Lich screamed in agony. It was working!

“Impossible! I cannot be defeated like this!”

We could hear the Lich’s death throes from beyond the blinding light. His mana was rapidly depleting so how was he not dead yet?

“Guaaah! Purification! My malice! Fading away! Nooooo-aaaaaaah!”

The strongest of the undead proved a worthy challenge to purify. He was filled with so much resentment that absolving him was going to take some time.

But what if it couldn’t purify him completely?

Now I was getting worried. The light faded, and there sat the Lich, squirming, but still alive. Black wisps of miasma rose out of his weakened state. He was far from being annihilated, though.

How can he still stand after that?!

But the Lich was acting odd.

“AAAAAAAAA—” 

A huge amount of mana was still pouring into him. It looked like he was about to burst from the rushing waterfall of mana.

Was this because of his role as a Dungeon Master?

“He’s acting weird.”

“All of the malice in the air is being absorbed into him.”

“What do you mean?”

The one who responded to Fran was not Jean. Our necromancer was still lying on the ground, breathing heavily. He was in a critical condition despite Fran’s attempt at healing him with a Stamina Potion.

The Ghost Eater, Stefan, was talking in his stead. His speech was so clear that he really sounded human.

“It is a result of a skill that he has. Essence of Filth allows him to gather the malice of the undead around him and convert that into energy. There is also the free-flowing malice left over from when I destroyed the Malice Furnace. I have resistance to it so it doesn’t affect me much, fortunately.”

The Malice Furnace was the dungeon facility that Stefan had destroyed earlier. It was a piece of equipment which took an undead’s malice and converted it into mana. This dungeon was able to churn out huge amounts of mana thanks to all the undead that were in it. He had destroyed the machine to pieces, but the malice that was in the furnace was not gone, but simply dispersed throughout the dungeon.

The Lich continued to suck up all that malice, thanks to his Essence of Filth. The abundance of malice acted as a counter to the Nether Lord’s Blessing, every ounce of purified malice was soon replenished.

The Lich had a Unique Skill called Malice Drain which allowed him to convert malice into strength. The more malice he took in, the stronger he got.

“Gugagagagagaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—” 

But it didn’t look like he was healing himself. Instead, he was screaming in intense agony.

He doesn’t look right to me.

“It must be because of all the malice pouring into him at once. He’s absorbed so much malice that he’s left without a will of his own. I doubt he even remembers the fact that he’s a Lich.”

Isn’t that bad? Was he going to go berserk?

We need to use Nether Lord’s Blessing again!

“We can’t. My master won’t last another cast.”

Can’t you use it?

“A Named Item can only be used by the one it chose. That would be my master…”

So the item was bound to Jean?! I tried shooting some spells at the creature but to no avail.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaa—”

The Lich’s screams turned into animalistic roars which echoed in the hall.

The situation was getting worse. His black aura was spreading, enveloping the entire room at a rapid pace. I didn’t have to use Danger Sense to know that stuff was bad news.

“There is so much concentrated malice to the point that it is now corporeal. The living would lose their life instantly should they come into contact with it.”

You didn’t have to tell me twice! Teleport Feather—No! Newly obtained Spacetime Magic 7… That didn’t work, either! If I had the Lich’s Seal Immunity, I would probably be able to use it to get out of the room.

Nothing was working.

“Gogagagaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—” 

The Lich excreted all of his pent-up malice at once as if something finally broke inside him. The excess malice looked like a tidal wave rushing toward us.

Stefan picked Jean up off the floor, still unconscious.

“I can take care of my master! But you guys…”

We’ll figure it out!

“I’m so so—”

Only a few steps in front of us, Jean and Stefan were swept up by the torrent of malice.

Fran, put all your energy into Mana Barrier, and set up some Purification Magic barriers!

“Okay!”

Jet, stay in the shadows!

“Woof!”

Change Shape!

I took the form of a giant shield. It was thin, but covering Fran’s entire body took priority right now. I also put all my energy into Mana Barrier. Our two layers of protection were going to have to do for this storm of malice. I had Overboosted the barrier with Mage, of course.

Urrghhhh.

Our barrier was creaking. Dammit, it’s going to break through at this point! Even my durability was starting to deplete! The rush of malice was beginning to chip away at my shield form.

“Teacher…”

Fran!

The malice was overpowering! Fran’s barrier was taking a tremendous amount of pressure and it was beginning to take a toll on her.

It was only a matter of time until our barriers broke down and we were drowned in the malice.

Wasn’t there anything I could do? Was there a skill I could use to overcome the situation? I still had some EP left over. Should I put it into Physical Barrier? Maybe Purification Magic?

No, there was one skill I hadn’t used yet!

I’m going to have to bet our lives on this!

Oooooh! Unleash Potential!

I used the Extra Skill I got from the Skeleton Knight, Unleash Potential. At that very moment, my body started shining and I could feel tremendous amounts of mana inside me.

I felt myself getting dramatically stronger.

This should—

Wait, no! My durability was going down a lot faster now, too! I would be destroyed in under three minutes, and I didn’t know how much malice left there was to hold back.

What should I do? Keep focusing on defense? Put my EP into Mana Barrier and Purification Magic and resist it that way?

Approaching critical condition. Requesting input.

Huh? Who’s there?

I am specimen *****. My name has been deleted by the craftsman. I do not have a name.

That’s not what I’m asking. This voice… Is that you, P.A.?

Yes. This “P.A.” that Specimen Teacher speaks of is part of my abilities. My previously frozen authority has been unlocked due to the emergency situation caused by Unleash Potential.

There’s a lot I want to ask you, but now’s not the time! We have to get out of here, quick!

Specimen Teacher will be destroyed in one hundred and thirty-nine seconds. Odds of eliminating hostile elements until then is thirteen percent. Odds of Specimen Fran expiring is ninety-one percent.

Seriously?! Then I have to put more points into Mana Barrier or Purification Magic to protect Fran! But which one? Dammit, what do I do?! P.A., help me!

Proposal: Neither.

They’re both no good?

Yes. Odds of Specimen Fran expiring with both skills is over eighty percent.

Do you have a better way?

Yes. Would you like to commence guidance?

Yes! Please, you need to save Fran!

Affirmative. Please transfer usage authority.

A-all right! There, it’s transferred! Please, help her!

Transfer of authority confirmed. Commencing guidance protocol.

My slapdash knowledge was no match for the P.A.’s; she knew a lot more than I did. Letting her handle the situation felt like the natural thing to do.

Activating Spacetime Magic, Quick Zone.

The spell slowed down your perception of time. Everything around us moved in slow motion, giving us more time to think. Good job, P.A. I never would’ve thought of using a spell I had just acquired.

Commencing protection of Fran as top priority. Using 5 EP. Change Shape is now Transform Shape.

Hey! You’re just gonna use my EP? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now! My EP went down from 25 to 20.

Under the P.A.’s authority, my body immediately transformed. Part of me maintained my greatshield form while the rest of me began wrapping around Fran. Unlike Change Shape, Transform Shape allowed me to manipulate my volume.

I had encased Fran in armor, and not just superficially, either. I had slipped into the gaps that were left uncovered by her Black Cat Set. The additional armor boosted her defense and allowed me further reinforce her with Mana Barrier to ensure there were no nooks or crannies for the miasma to slip through. I had high hopes for this form.

Maintaining armor form may cause a drop in my calculation capabilities. Using 5 EP. Split Thinking is now Double Mind. Calculation capabilities are back to normal.

Just do what you need to!

Insufficient EP.

How?! I have so much EP left!

Using 6 EP. Identify 7 is now Identify 10. You do not meet the requirements to unlock Heavensight. Temporarily cancelling acquisition of new skill.

You could get a new skill by leveling Identify to 10, although it looked like I didn’t meet the requirements. Why would she level up Identify at a time like this?

Attempting access to Sanctuary. Success. Accessing Library.

Sanctuary? What? Was that where the gods lived? And a library…? I didn’t get it. I didn’t want to disturb her so I’d just ask later.

Received information on Heavensight in exchange for losing access privileges. Constructing Heavensight-Failed. Use EP to learn Heavensight-Insufficient EP.

She was experimenting. I’m counting on you, P.A. You can do anything you want, just get us out of here!

Scanning skills in possession. Attempting skill restructure in order to procure resources and EP.

Skill restructure?

Complete. Efficiency has increased through skill restructure. Curved Sword Mastery 1, Advanced Sword Mastery 5, Sword Mastery 10, Twinblade Mastery 2, Greatsword Mastery 1, Short Sword Mastery 1, and Dagger Mastery 1 has been consolidated into Sword King Earth 7. Punch Mastery 3, 

Kick Mastery 1, and Martial Arts 3 have been consolidated into Martial King Mastery Earth 1. Groundfeel 1, Danger Sense 1, Vigilance 4, Presence Sense 5, Harvesting 2, and Hunting 1 have been consolidated into Omnidirectional Radar 3. Earthquake Sense 1, Heat Detection 1, Electromagnetic Sense 1, Mana Sense 3, Trap Sense 5...

Okay, okay, I get it!

Message abridged. Deleting useless skills to gain 10 EP.

Alright, good job. I’ll just see whatever’s left once we’re out of the woods!

Using 10 EP. Obtained Heavensight. Activating Heavensight. Pinpointed location of Legendary Skeleton. Activating Transform Shape.

After all that build up, it turned out that the skill was able to predict the path of the malice wave. Under the control of the P.A., something shot out of my body. A steel thread? She had used part of my body to produce some steel thread, and it shot out towards the remaining skeletons.

The steel thread held strong even within the storm of malice. It wasn’t going to snap since we reinforced it with Mana Barrier. It found their crystals, and pierced through them easily. Unleash Potential was doing its job, and the skill restructure probably helped too.

The thread was an extension of my blade. It cut and absorbed five crystals with one slice.

That was great, P.A.!

Crystals count is at 5521. You have ranked up. You have gained 55 EP. Total EP is at 64 EP. Using 18 EP. Raising Doppelganger from level 1 to 10. 64 EP remaining. Unlocked new skill “Rapid Processing”.

She leveled up Doppelganger to Level 10. Did she do it solely to unlock Rapid Processing?

Using 10 EP to make Doppelganger a Superior Skill. Success. Doppelganger 10 is now Complex Doppelganger SP.

She turned into a Superior Skill before I got a chance to look at it! Well, she did what she had to do. Still, I can’t help but be curious what the skill did.

Activating Complex Doppelganger SP.

Five of my human forms came out of it. The P.A. was quite skilled in using it, since my clones were adorned with clothes of this world. I thought they were going to serve as meat shields but they had turned around and covered our backs.

Dual Mind and Rapid Processing has unlocked Rapid Calculation. Using 8 EP to level up Flame Magic 1 to Flame Magic 5.

The P.A. leveled up Flame Magic now. It wasn’t at Level 10, but I guess we were going to need a Level 5 spell.

Activating Flame Magic, Inferno Burst. Charging mana to increase destructive power.

My five copies and I began casting, then fired the spells. The golden flames entangled each other, focused on a single point. The spell had a small area of effect in exchange for being a focused blast of energy, but the power of the shot was much stronger than P.A.’s initial calculations. The intensity of the flame curse was so strong that it dissipated the miasma if only for a second.

I could actually see the out of control Lich! However, the endlessly flowing miasma would soon fill the clear air and block our sight of him once more.

We have to take him down! He’s right there! Come on!

No. Attacking the Lich now would release all the malice stored inside him. Probability of a malice explosion is eighty nine percent.

Oh. Really? I’ve changed my mind.

Using EP to advance Skill Taker 10. Skill Taker SP acquired. Cooldown for Skill Taker has reset. Activating Skill Taker SP-Success. Acquired Seal Immunity.

What an underhanded skill. I guess Skill Taker SP could take Extra skills now.

Activating Spacetime Magic: Dimension Jump.

I see! We could bypass the room’s teleportation seal now that we had Seal Immunity!

The P.A.’s spell casting echoed in my head.

Oh no, the malice was coming right for us again!

Just as I was about to attempt to fend the crawling malice off with Telekinesis, we were gone from the hall.

Byuoooo.

Are we… off the island?

Buffeting winds greeted us out of our teleport. We were in the middle of a freefall from a place higher than the clouds. We had successfully made our escape.

How was Fran doing? I checked Fran’s status as she was still wrapped up with my blade.

Good. She was unconscious, and her health had dropped by half but she was otherwise alright. There was nothing alarming about her complexion and there were no notable wounds on her. I cast Heal and some Purification spells on her just in case.

She hadn’t regained consciousness but her life was no longer in danger.

Jet?

“Woof.”

Jet was doing alright, too, since he had hidden in Fran’s shadow. This new Heavensight, though… It allowed me to see Jet and Identify him even as he remained in the shadows.

He, too, had lost a lot of health, but was otherwise in fine shape. I gave him a Heal.

Time until Specimen Teacher’s destruction is thirty-five seconds.

Thanks, P.A.! You saved us!

Halting the effects of Unleash Potential. Scope of Placeholder P.A.’s functionalities will be limited once again.

P.A.’s voice grew distant the second she cut off Unleash Potential. She sounded like a radio whose dial I had turned in the opposite direction.

Wait, so does that mean you’ll be going back to the way you were before?

Yes. Placeholder P.A.’s functionalities will be limited to Translation and Notification.

But there’s so much I want to ask you! Would this happen again if I used Unleash Potential?

No. Parts of my system have been corrupted due to breaking through of limits. Odds of Placeholder P.A. reasserting authority during a future Unleash Potential are two percent.

What? So I won’t be able to meet you like this anymore?

Yes. Odds of recovering corrupted systems are zero percent. Time until shutdown: fifteen seconds.

W-wait, wait! I have so many questions!

I thank you, Specimen Teacher. The gods did not suffer me to exist, and the craftsman deleted my name. Though I was only to live as a vessel, I was glad I could serve you, my master, if only during my last moments. May the God of Wisdom guide you.

P.A.! P.A.?

---

P.A.? Hello?

She can’t hear you anymore, you know? She’s gone.

I see… There were so many things I wanted to ask her.

She was a remnant of an existence long gone. Unleash Power just happened to bring that personality forth again. Even that remnant is gone now, taken as the price for going over your limits.

I really can’t see her anymore? Even if I used Unleash Power?

There’s no way.

I guess I can’t ask P.A. for advice anymore.

That’s about it. Also, check your crystal stores.

Yeah… wait, who are you?

The conversation had naturally carried on but… who? And how? Was it through Telepathy?

I think I’ve heard your voice before.

That’s right. On the day I was reincarnated, I heard the mysterious voice of a man call out to me in my head.

Hey, who are you?

Well, I was planning to reveal my identity to you later down the road, but… we’re scheduled to meet in less than a month, you know. At least our minds will.

Aww, come on. There’s no need to put on airs now. You could just tell me now and it’ll be just as good.

You’re taking this very much in stride…

Because you don’t seem like a stranger to me.

That was it. I had felt a sense of familiarity akin to friend or family with this man. It was the whole reason why I carried on talking to him in the first place.

Alright, then. I’ll tell you. My name is—

“Teacher!”

Huh? Oh, it was Stefan. He was cradling Jean in his arms as we continued our freefall. The rate of his fall was quite slow; he must have had Float. Still, I was glad they were both alright.

But the timing…

Hey, are you still there?

“—”

Aaand he was gone. Without leaving so much as a name.

Who was that? Was there someone else living inside me? Did I have multiple personalities? Was it another spirit? It wouldn’t be strange if there was another soul in my sword body. I didn’t even know who made me and for what.

And the P.A., who was she? She didn’t feel as much of a soul as she did a machine, very much out of a sci-fi novel or flick. I imagined her to be an android or a support AI. She had said something interesting, too. The craftsman deleted her name, and the gods did not suffer her to live.

Aaah, it bothered me so much! I don’t get it! So I had to stop thinking about it!

Not that I would understand even if I hadn’t stopped thinking about it. Shelving these questions was my best way forward if I wanted to stay mentally healthy.

The man hadn’t seemed hostile. He said we would meet again so I’ll ask him when I saw him. I needed to stop thinking about it now.

“Are you alright?”

Stefan drew close to us, and I saw that Jean was all right. It was surreal seeing an adult in a child’s arms.

Somehow.

“And Fran?”

She’s just unconscious—

Boooom!

Whoa!

I looked up in panic. The sound had been loud enough to split eardrums. I looked up toward the floating island and saw that it was now split in two. Black light poured from the island’s foundation. Malice had flooded the entire dungeon, and it was no longer isolated to the floor where the Lich was.

We would’ve ascended too if we had failed to escape the dungeon. There was nowhere to run even after we had beaten the Lich. I had the P.A. to thank for saving our lives.

Grrrrgggg—

Huge crags fell from the remains of the ruined dungeon. The exploded foundation had produced boulders which were now falling through the sky. The sight reminded me of the final scene from Laputa. 

“The rampage of malice must have destroyed the dungeon core in the process. The dungeon will disappear in a little while.”

“Disappear? So those giant boulders won’t do any damage?”

“No, only the things created by the dungeon will disappear. The island was already there before the dungeon came about.”

That sounded bad. If rocks of those magnitude hit the ground… it would bring disaster to any nearby villages.

Jet.

“Woof!”

Jet came out of Fran’s shadow and gently set her on his back. His natural fur pelt must feel comfortable. He was practically a bed, given his size. With Jet’s Air Hike ability, Fran was in good hands.

I plunged down through the clouds and surveyed the landscape. Good, there were no cities or villages in sight. I overlooked the foot of a mountain. The kingdom of Raydoss should be just over it.

Still, the falling crags could still do some severe damage if it fell in the forest or the mountains. Worse, I had noticed a river flowing below me that looked like it branched out to several different streams. If the flow of the river was blocked off by one of the crags…

What should I do?

There were two gigantic boulders right now. One of them looked like it was going to fall right in the middle of the forest in the mountain, and the other was on a collision course to the river on the mountain’s surface.

I have to save the river somehow.

Not that I could move such a massive rock with Telekinesis. Destroying it wouldn’t reduce its volume, either. It might even increase the area affected by the falling rocks.

No, wait a second. If I did that and this… Okay, this just might work.

I figured something out. If my plan went well, I might be able to divert this crisis completely.

Let’s go! Inferno Burst!

I charged towards the rock foundation and fired my spell. My brand new Inferno Burst drilled several holes into the rock which I then widened further with Earth Magic. I used Wind Magic to pressurize the rock mass from the inside and—

The giant crag split in four.

Take this!

I pelted them with more spells to split them up into twenty smaller pieces. Granted, the smallest above the boulders was still twenty meters in diameter.

That should do it.

I then deployed the Pocket Dimension, storing up all the broken rocks I could get my hands on.

Store. Store. Store.

Heheh, there was still plenty of room in my Pocket Dimension! It seemed that learning Spacetime Magic had actually increased its size. I still had an auditorium worth of space left after storing the boulders away.

I just needed to figure out some way to sort out all the rubble in my inventory. That could wait.

We were taking the sea route, after all. I’d just dump it in the ocean then.

The river should be safe now.

The other rock mass had crashed into some plains in the distance, sounding off a loud roar in the process. It kicked up a huge amount of dust and sand as it crushed part of the forest.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“Teacher, are you alright?”

Jet and Stefan had landed. I should get back on land as well. I had earned a well-deserved break.

I could ask you the same thing. Did you get hit by any of the falling rubble?

“I’m alright… huh?”

Uh, Stefan? You’re kind of glowing. Are you sure you’re okay?

A faint blue light had enveloped Stefan.

“It looks like my time is up.”

Huh? Why?

“I am a dungeon monster, after all. When the dungeon disappears, so will I.”

Destroying a dungeon core or defeating a dungeon master eliminated all the monsters within a dungeon. Fair enough, but was Stefan a dungeon monster?

I thought you were under Jean’s charge.

“Yes and no. This body was created by the dungeon master, you see.”

Stefan’s fingertips were beginning to go transparent. It soon spread all over his body as a light shone on him as if beckoning him into the sky. The event was a replay of what had happened when Jean cast Ascension on Andy. He was disappearing.

So why was he smiling as he was fading away?

Shouldn’t he be afraid if he had human thoughts?

“Take this.” He held a small bundle out.

Is this a diary?

“Yes. You’ll understand once you read it.”

Whose is it?

“Read to find out. Aaah, I can finally rest in peace…”

Stefan, wait!

“Teacher, please take care of my other master… Thank you for setting us free.”

Stefan gently caressed the unconscious necromancer.

“Good night.”

He disappeared then, peacefully without a sound.

All that he left behind was a satisfied smile.

Stefan smiled until the end.

“Arf…”

To vengeful spirits, ascension was their salvation. Things couldn’t have worked out better for the Wraith turned Ghost Eater. He ascended after laying his life down for his master. To grieve him now would be to miss the point.

Well, no use standing around here. Let’s go wake Jean and Fran up.

“Bark.”

Jet began licking Jean’s face, and for some moments I worried that the Direwolf might drown the necromancer with his slobber. Don’t overdo it, now.

There was one thing I wanted to check in the meantime—my crystal count which the mystery man had mentioned earlier.

Um… Excuse me?!

Evolution: [Rank 11; Crystals: 2061/6600; Skill Capacity: 100; Free EP: 18]

Where’d all my crystals go?! What?! Seriously?

My rank and abilities had not gone down but my crystal count was drastically reduced. Why? Was it the cost of using Unleash Power? It did mention something about exacting a different price depending on who’s using it. I guess crystals were my additional cost.

Not that I was going to complain, since it did save my life. It saved my life so no complaints here, nope! But God… my next rank up felt like an eternity away…

“Pfft! What is all this sticky stuff?!”

Jet had successfully woken up Jean, albeit in the worst way possible.

I should go wake Fran up before Jet assaulted her with his slobber.

We made our way back to Jean’s research lab after narrowly escaping the dungeon with our lives. Casting Nether Lord’s Blessing twice was taking its toll on Jean. He lay down on the floor immediately after some small talk. A good night’s sleep was supposed to fix him up but a night had gone by and he was still down for the count. He had trouble just getting out of bed.

I was in the middle of teaching Bernard how to make curry when Jean called me to his sleeping quarters.

How are you feeling?

“Fuhahaha. Better, really. There’s something I want to ask you.”

Jean wanted to know what happened the other day after he passed out, the subject naturally progressed to Stefan’s final moments.

“So Stefan is gone now.”

Yeah.

Jean looked relieved and nodded.

“I see… He still looked after his foolish master who left him in that place for so long… I am eternally grateful.”

He looked quite happy to go, you know?

“Then I am happy as well. Indeed, that is the best thing that can happen to an undead.”

Jean and I continued our conversation as he lay in his bed.

We talked about how we were going to split the items and reward money. As a result, I got 500,000G for selling off Death Gaze, which was more than I expected.

We had gotten several more items from treasure boxes but had no use for most of them. We decided to sell them off since they were useless to us. Death Gaze was very strong as well.

Name: Death Gaze

Attack: 880; MP: 600; Durability: 400

Mana Conductivity: B+

Skill: Death (3% chance of inflicting Death on an enemy)

Its raw attack power outclassed me.

I-I wasn’t upset at all! I still outclassed it in every other facet! 

“Teacher.”

What?

“Have you read the diary Stefan gave you?”

I had not.

Stefan had entrusted me with his diary, but I thought it’d be better if Jean read it first.

“I see. May I?”

We both know you should. I can read it once you’re done with it.

“Thank you.”

No rush. I was planning on resting here for a few days, anyway.

“Very well.”

Take it easy.

I floated the diary over to Jean. He carefully held it and slowly flipped through its pages. I doubted he could finish it all in one day.

How should I spend the next few days?

I guess I could experiment with my newly-acquired skills. I asked Bernard if there was any place I could use and he pointed me to the empty field behind the lab.

First, to look over the changes made to my stats. As for the crystal… I’d have to pretend that didn’t exist.

Name: Teacher

User: Fran

Race: Intelligent Weapon

Attack: 527; MP: 3550/3550; Durability: 3350/3350

Mana Conductivity: A+

Evolution: [Rank 11; Crystals: 2061/6600; Skill Capacity: 100; EP: 18]

Skills: Identify 10; Identity Protection; Transform Shape; High Speed Self Repair; Telekinesis; Telekinesis Up (low); Telepathy; Attack Up (low); User Status Up (medium); User Recovery Rate Up (low); Heavensight; Seal Immunity; MP Up (low); Skill Capacity Up (medium); Bestiary; Skill Sharing; Mage

Unique Skill: Essence of Falsehood 5

Superior Skill: Skill Taker SP; Complex Doppelganger SP

Fran had also vastly leveled up. The skills listed below reflected her raw state without me equipped.

Name: Fran

Age: 12

Race: Beastman. Black Cat Tribe.

Class: Blademage

Status: Contract (Swordmaster)

Level: 33/45

HP: 406; Magic: 327; Strength: 215; Agility: 209

Skill: Stealth 3; Royal Etiquette 4; Presence Sense 3; Sword Arts 4; Sword Mastery 6; Flash Step 4; Cooking 1; Insect Killer; Spirit Manipulation; Goblin Killer; Cool Mind; Demon Killer; Expert Carver; Determination; Sense of Direction; Night Vision.

[NEW] Undead Killer

Class Skill: Focus Mana

Special Skill: Black Cat Blessing

Title: Veteran; Insect Killer; Disassembly Expert; Healing Mage; Skill Collector; Goblin Killer; Assassin; Dungeon Raider; Boss Killer; Fire Mage; Demon Killer; Master Chef

[NEW] Undead Killer; Skill Maniac

Equipment: Black Cat Set (Black Cat Armor; Black Cat Gloves; Black Cat Boots; Black Cat Earring; Black Cat Cloak; Black Cat Belt); Bracelet of Strength +1; Bracelet of Sacrifice

She had gained eight levels in total, reflected in her drastic stat increase. Fran herself had not gained a single new skill, but her Sword Mastery went up quite a bit. She was growing up fast. All the EXP from fighting strong enemies was proving their worth.

Her Contract status caught my eye again. It had “(Swordmaster)” on it now. The sword probably referred to me, but I wondered what had changed. Did we happen to trigger a clause in the unwritten contract? If we did, Fran and I had no knowledge of it.

We didn’t know how we even entered into a contract with each other. It was a real mystery. Jean said that we were glowing a blue light during the Lich fight, but we couldn’t figure out a way to reproduce it.

And try to reproduce it we did. Fran and I tried releasing the same amount of mana at the same time, we tried focusing our minds together, nothing seemed to work.

“Activate Contract!”

No, not even shouting out the purported skill name. We didn’t glow blue even for an instant.

Well, no matter. I would just have to monitor it for any changes from here on out.

There was something about Fran’s level, too. Thanks to Heavensight, I was able to glean more information from Fran’s status screen. It read 33/45 so I guess 45 was her cap. Maybe she would evolve when she hit Level 45 which wasn’t that far off. This was great news. Our next goal would be to aim for Level 45.

Then came Jet. He had been at Level 1 when he went in, and had gained ten extra levels in the process. His raw stats had already surpassed Fran’s. Compared to Jet, Fran was slower to level up since she only gained eight extra levels, but then, Jet was at a lower level compared to her.

Name: Jet (Darkness Wolf)

Race: Direwolf

Level: 11/50

HP: 600; Magic: 731; Strength: 301; Agility: 369

Skills: Shadow Resistance 8; Shadow Magic 2; Heightened Senses 10; Stealth 7; Fang Arts 5; Fang Mastery 6; Shadow Lurk 10; Shadow Walk 5; Air Hike 8; Fear 4; Vigilance 6; Conceal Presence 6; Regeneration 5; Deadly Venom Magic 1; Flash Step 5; Hush 6; Necromancy 5; Life Sense 7; Mental Resistance 6; Poison Magic 10; Echolocation 7; Roar 8; Nightshade 10; Dark Magic 10; Nightvision; Toxic Fang; Health Regen; Mana Regen; Nullify Poison; Shapeshift; Mana Manipulation

Unique Skill: Predator

Titles: Sword Clan; Great Wolf Clan

I could see what Sword Clan and Great Wolf Clan were now that my Identify was at a higher level.

Sword Clan: A title bestowed unto those summoned by a special sword as a minion. Effects: Direct link with the Sword and its User.

Great Wolf Clan: A title bestowed unto those upon whom the Great Wolf’s power rests. Effects: Intimidates lesser wolves. Direct link with the Great Wolf.

Sword Clan was easy enough to understand, but what was the deal with Great Wolf Clan? I guess I did have a wolf crest on my guard, and I did originally hail from the Demon Wolf’s Garden. Maybe me and this Fenrir were connected somehow.

Not that I knew how…

I would really like to go back to the Garden at some point. We would need to get stronger since B-Rank monsters had made it their home.

Now to look at our skills.

Rapid Processing and Dual Mind seemed the most useful. As its name implied, Rapid Processing allowed me to speed up my thinking. It would come in handy in the heat of battle. Dual Mind amplified the effects of Rapid Processing. As the advanced form of Split Thinking it allowed me to think four, even five, thoughts at the same time. Which means I should be able to cast up to five spells at once, as if Split Thinking wasn’t powerful enough already. Pulled off right, I should be able to inflict some serious damage.

Fran couldn’t get the hang of using it, however. Split Thinking was already giving her a hard time and its advanced form was even worse. Using it immediately gave her a migraine.

“My head hurts.”

I guess it’s hard for flesh and blood to use.

I then tried Transform Shape. P.A. had shown me lots of applications for this skill, so I was frustrated when I just couldn’t get it to work. I tried transforming into a steel string, and then plate armor, but all I could come up with were inferior copies of what the P.A. had used. I needed more practice to get the shape I wanted. As it stood, I only had the Greatsword, Dagger, and Estoc forms down.

Time to move on to Spacetime Magic. It really was as strong as we thought from our experimentation. We had already seen Dimension Shift, Quick Zone, and Dimension Jump, but there were also offense-oriented spells such as Dimension Sword, and the defense-oriented Slow Shield. There were a myriad of spells all with their own little quirks. The effects of the spells were best understood by casting and observing them. Without the requisite knowledge of Spacetime Magic, you wouldn’t be able to tell what half of these spells did by looking at their names.

All that was left now were the skills that the P.A. had deleted. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to know what was missing and what was left, either. I thought it best to look at the consolidated skills to start off.

The two Battle Mastery skills created from the compounding were Sword King Mastery Earth 7 and Martial King Mastery Earth 1.

Sword King Earth 7 was made of Curved Sword Mastery 1, Advanced Sword Mastery 5, Sword Mastery 10, Twinblade Mastery 2, Greatsword Mastery 1, Short Sword Mastery 1, and Dagger Mastery 1. Martial King Mastery Earth 1 was made of Punch Mastery 3, Kick Mastery 1, and Martial Arts 3.

Compounding Sword Arts and Martial Arts created Sword King Arts Earth 6, Martial Master Arts Earth 1. I learned from Jean that there were many such Sword King Mastery and Sword King Arts skills. They were the cream of the crop of mastery skills, but my version was nowhere near as powerful as the one the P.A. exhibited.

After some more digging, I discovered that Sword King Arts Earth 7 was roughly equal in ability to Advanced Sword Mastery 5. I was worried about the skill level going down but was relieved to find it intact.

I looked into some other Compound Skills.

Somatic Manipulation: used to boost the capabilities of the user’s body. Aside from being a straight status buff, it also allows the user to increase her flexibility and regenerative capacity. Created by combining Brute Strength and Regeneration.

Omnidirectional Radar 3: created from combining various Detection skills. It works in all directions as well as being much more accurate.

Being Sense 3: created from combining various Sense skills. Allows the user to detect even invisible objects such as heat and infrared beams.

Covert Stealth 3: created from combining Stealth and Conceal Presence. Eliminates your mana and heat signatures aside from your presence. 

This was going to come in handy.

Lordship 3: created from combining Pressure 1, Intimidate 2, Command 1, Raise Morale 1, Ambition 1, Panic 1, Roar 1, and Cooperation 5 to unlock it. A complex form of intimidating the enemy while giving a boost to allies.

Abnormal Status Resistance 6, Mental Abnormal Status Resistance 4, Magic Resistance 4. These were clear-cut. The three skills were an amalgam of skills such as Poison Resistance, Fear Resistance, and Flame Resistance. The other Resistance skills were Shadow Immunity, Control Immunity, and Physical Resistance 1. These were the ones which couldn’t be amalgamated with the previous three skills.

Water Manipulation 4: a skill which allowed you to manipulate surrounding bodies of water. Had the ability to shoot water bullets and water current manipulation. Included Swimming and Underwater Breathing.

Wind Manipulation 2: The wind version of Water Manipulation. Has the ability to fire air bullets and compressed air. It allows for ultrasonic attacks and the manipulation of soundwaves. Also includes Air Hike and Weather Forecast.

Poison Manipulation 2: a combination of Breathe Poison, Drain Poison, and Generate Poison.

Water, Wind, and Poison Manipulation were all incredibly versatile but difficult to control. They also came with a high mana cost. You were better off using straight magic to cure a deadly poison than Poison Manipulation. It was going to be difficult to use the component skills of the Manipulate tree. To take Air Hike as an example, it cost more mana per cast and the number of steps we could jump had been reduced by half. We were going to have to get used to this, fast.

Kill Master: created from Orc Killer and Goblin Killer. Increases damage output to all monsters. 

However, the damage points doled out overall were lower compared to its more specific cousins.

Strengthen Body: created from skills such as Night Vision and Enhanced Digestion, it significantly increases the user’s stats. 

I was incredulous at how Fran’s stats had plummeted after taking this off.

That was about the gist of the Compound Skills. The skills were stronger, but became much more difficult to control. I didn’t know what was going to happen if I got a copy of one of my old skills. If I got Sword Mastery, would it create a new Sword Mastery or be absorbed into Sword King Mastery Earth?

As for the missing skills… I honestly couldn’t tell. The skills the P.A. had deleted were skills I found useless in the first place. The Battle skills were the easiest to notice. Bow Mastery, Spear Mastery, and my then newly acquired Advanced Spear Mastery and Advanced Spear Arts were all gone.

I was a sword, after all, so I had no intention of ever using them. We couldn’t know at the time if we were ever going to use it at all, as much as it pained my collector’s soul to say it! Still, I understood the necessity of deleting those skills on that day to convert them into EP. It was an unavoidable sacrifice, and I took comfort in saying that to myself.

There were also absolutely useless skills like Eggshell Mimicry, which allowed eggs you laid to mimic the color of their surroundings, and Enhanced Scales, which increased the toughness of one’s scales. Joining the cast of useless skills were Choir and Painting which had been promptly deleted. They were all quite worthless so I didn’t feel bad about losing them. We got to escape with our lives at least.

I might have even forgotten that some of the deleted skills were even in my repertoire, not that I could confirm it.

Now, all that were left were the Superior Skills.

Skill Taker SP: Choose any skill from a target and steal it. Has a one hundred percent chance of success. Cooldown determined by a skill’s rarity multiplied by skill level in days. Extra Skills count as rarity 20. Effective range is ten meters.

It could steal Extra Skills now! The world was now my oyster! On the flip side, the cooldown time had been increased by several magnitudes. Stealing a maxed out Extra Skill would have me wait two hundred days before I could use Skill Taker SP again. I would have to be more careful with its usage. It looks like I could use it against the same target over and over again, too, not that I could imagine the chance to do so would arise.

Finally, we came to Complex Doppelganger SP.

Complex Doppelganger SP: Use mana to create multiple copies of oneself. The shorter the duration time, the stronger the copies will be. The more copies you create, the weaker each copy will be. Cooldown is determined by duration time multiplied by twenty four hours multiplied by number of copies.

So I sacrificed firepower in exchange for quantity of clones. Creating one clone of myself with a timer of five minutes gave it 200 in each stat and 3 to all skills. If it were an adventurer, it would be a D-Rank. Creating more would reduce the stats even more…? I suppose the clones the P.A created were much stronger thanks to Unleash Power.

And that’s about it. We would need time to practice all of our new skills. Their strength would be determined by our finesse.

I went back to the house and found Bernard looking for me.

Jean wanted to see me.

We went to his bedroom and found him sitting up on his bed, Stefan’s diary lying on his lap.

“You’re here, young Teacher.”

Have you finished reading it?

“Yes. Now it’s your turn.”

Jean was strangely quiet as he handed me the diary.

Hm. This is pretty long.

The massive tome was filled until the last page. There must have been several years’ worth of entries in it. I used Telekinesis to flip through it.

Powerful—if messy—handwriting filled its pages.

“Read it if you have the chance. No, you should read it.”

It was going to take some time to go through all its pages, but Jean’s serious expression made me curious as to its contents.

Four hours went by.

I finished reading the diary cover to cover without stopping. While not strictly a page turner, it did contain the emotions of its writer. Those emotions helped me power through those pages.

By the end, I was dumbstruck. If what was written in this diary were true—

“Have you finished it?”

Yeah.

“You must tell Fran, as well. Please.”

Of course.

I needed to read this diary. Everyone did. 

***

It’s been three years since I inhabited this body.

I’ve decided to write a diary, starting today. I don’t have any particular reason to, I just felt like it was the right thing to do. Daily entries would be impossible, but I think I can do weekly reports.

Someone might find these pages, and to that someone, I would like to tell them a little bit about myself.

Let’s start with where I am. Not that I know where I am. But I know what kind of place this used to be.

I am on a drifting floating island which used to host a research facility for the kingdom of Raydoss. I was a prisoner of this facility. I didn’t know what the aim of their research was. All I knew was that it would be used for war.

I was the subject of experiments linked to necromancy. I don’t know all the details, but there were countless times that I wanted to die. The researchers did not see as human beings; they saw us as mere guinea pigs to experiment on. It was as if the researchers themselves had lost their humanity.

One day—by force of tragedy or miracle, I could never tell—I stopped being human. 

I was about to be killed that day. The previous experiments had robbed me of my arms and legs, and so they were ready to dispose of me. I was to be one of their guinea pigs in a large-scale experiment.

They wanted to know what would happen to a living necromancer—that was me (although I could only use Level 1 spells)—if they injected him with malice to turn him into an undead. Pointless, isn’t it?

They bound me in chains and laid me on the floor in the center of a giant pentagram. An impossible amount of malice emanated from it. I would be unable to reject this concentrated malice because of the barriers and rituals they had set up. Malice rushed through my body, having found a living thing to fester in.

I thought to myself, Finally, I’m going to die, as the rush of malice exceeded my bodily limitations. Light from the magic circle shone into my eyes as it prepared to turn me into an undead.

That was when it happened.

I could never tell whether it was the mercy or a joke of the gods.

A Dungeon Core suddenly came into being in the very room I was in.

You must be wondering what rubbish I’m writing about. To be honest, I don’t quite know, either.

The Dungeon Core. The thing which spawned wherever the gods pleased, ignoring every rule of nature if it came to it.

Why did it show up there and then? Was it coincidence? An ironic trick played by the God of Chaos? Was there a god up there who felt sorry for us and decided to grant us mercy?

I don’t know.

What I do know is the Dungeon Core chose me as its master, and I became a Dungeon Master. It increased my strength and I was able to take in all the malice that was rushing through me. The ritual which would make an undead of me as I remained alive had worked, and I became an undead.

I was originally going to be a Zombie Mage, one of the weaker undead. Even that low rank monster was stronger than I had ever been while alive.

But the torrent of malice, combined with my becoming a Dungeon Master, created an anomaly.

I had become a Lich. A Lich. I thought I was an ordinary Skeleton but then I noticed I had over twenty skills at my disposal.

I woke up as a Lich three days after the Core came into existence. I have no memory of what happened in those three days. When I came to, there wasn’t a single living human being on the floating island. They had all become undead. And I was a Lich. I was dumbstruck by this fact. Some would say that I had evolved. A Lich made for a most powerful necromancer.

I didn’t think so.

My heart dried out when I ceased to be human. In order to quench this thirst I sought out the researchers, who were now shambling undead themselves, and destroyed them. But that did not satisfy me. Hatred kept pouring out of me.

It hurt. I couldn’t help hating humanity. I wanted to destroy everything. I wanted slaughter everyone.

Vengeance had become my sole purpose.

I didn’t want to, though. Becoming a Lich had miraculously saved me from that horrible experiment. I only wanted to live like this in peace.

But the malice inside of me wouldn’t have it. Kill, destroy, take vengeance upon the world. It moved me, and I was helpless to resist.

I don’t know who will end up reading this diary. You might be an ally or an enemy. You might be good or bad. All I want is for you to know the story of this island. Furthermore, I want you to expose the kingdom of Raydoss for all the evil that it’s committed.

That is my only request.

April 7, 3619

I’ve decided to write my diary starting today—this diary I started on a whim. Nothing in particular happened today so I’m just going to give a rundown of what happened.

I expanded the dungeon again, and made some more undead. Corpses of the researchers and my former friends were still lying around. I would spawn some lower undead, generate some mana, and secure some GP.

I didn’t know GP stood for Goddess Points. I think it’s because they’re presented to the Goddess of Chaos.

September 29, 3619

I finally have more than 10,000 GP stored up. Now I could create facilities which could create mid-tier undead. As much as I would like to be detailed about the dungeon, there are some things I cannot write. Every time I try to write something about the Dungeon Core, my pen stops moving.

There seems to be a mysterious force behind it. It’s powerful enough to control a Lich like me so I wonder if the gods are behind it.

November 4, 3619

I spent some GP to create stronger minions. There are a lot of facilities left behind which all contained some form of undead summoning item. I found a catalyst called the Hero’s Bones among them. As its name suggested, they were the remains of a great hero. Not that I could know before summoning them.

It turns out they really were strong. I had succeeded in summoning a Legendary Skeleton Dark Knight. This one even had the Extra Skill, Unleash Potential.

I scrapped with it to see how strong it was and was not disappointed. I had created a good minion for myself.

December 31, 3619

Today’s the last day of the year. This was my fourth New Year’s Eve as a Lich. I made some celebratory bread and soup. I couldn’t eat them, of course, but it did get me in the mood.

How was an undead supposed to celebrate, anyway…?

I’m getting close to hitting my GP mark. If I set up the Undead Creation Workshop, I’ll be able to produce more undead. I can’t wait.

February 27, 3620

I’ve succeeded in setting up the Undead Creation Workshop. Seeing the mechanisms of the dungeon never gets old. Just a few clicks in Dungeon Settings and the Workshop came into being in an instant.

The list of undead I could create in the dungeon had grown much bigger, and so did my summoning repertoire.

I wasn’t sure which one to pick. The undead created by the dungeon had crystals in them, which restored mana to the dungeon, but they weren’t very strong.

The undead I summoned were made of pseudosouls instead of crystal. They were much stronger when I made them, but they weren’t able to contribute to the flow of mana in the dungeon as effectively. They were also quite warlike since they had malice running through them. I could improve on all the undead the dungeon spawned, but going through hundreds of them at a time was a pain.

Hmm, maybe I’ll try a middle road.

September 18, 3620

I’ve been getting used to the orbit of the floating island. I could force it to alter its course by using Orbit Manipulation, but that takes way too much mana…

I didn’t mind crossing into other kingdoms as long as I stayed close to Raydoss. Taking vengeance upon them is my sole mission.

April 14, 3621

The dungeon’s facilities have expanded, and with it, so has GP production. The larger facilities were particularly impressive.

There was a shield generator which produced a barrier encasing the dungeon, and a furnace where I can turn malice into mana. Each cost 300,000 GP so I doubt if I’ll get them both soon.

July 11, 3621

I’ve fully expanded the dungeon. There are ten floors in total now. The dungeon’s area was a diameter of fifty meters in all directions.

Once I increase our anti-air capabilities, no one will be able to land here. I’ve made plans to create some undead and set up traps.

May 20, 3622

I tried making a unique specimen today. I spent 10,000 GP to create an undead called a Ghost Eater.

It looks like a regular old zombie right now, but I can’t wait to see how it will grow.

I usually let him wander the halls of the labyrinth alone.

October 10, 3622

There is much for me to write today.

I finally have an intruder after all my years of being a Dungeon Master. I thought it was one of the Raydossian lackeys, but I was mistaken.

He was alone so he was probably an adventurer. A necromancer, and quite strong, at that. He was riding a Griffon Skeleton, a creature I have trouble summoning.

I made some bird and spider undead in retaliation, at least. Unfortunately, the Griffon Skeleton was strong enough to bruteforce through them and landed.

I had made sure that the forest was well-equipped. The Necromancer fell for my illusion traps which made him lose his way.

He was already running low on supplies by the time he ran into more undead ahead of him.

I sent my higher ranked undead after him as he tried to retreat. The Ghost Eater had gotten much stronger now so he should have been able to win… but the necromancer got away in the end.

Too bad. I wanted to talk to him if I had captured him. I guess I wouldn’t mind making him my minion, either.

I haven’t laughed so hard in so long, though; it might be the first time since I was born.

“I am the great Jean du Vix! Fuhahaha! An undead lair! A dungeon which befits my very nature!”

I’m not making fun of him or anything. I kind of respect that. He had skull accessories and wore tattered robes. And his exclamations… Now that was a real necromancer.

What was I compared to him? I was so polite despite being a Lich, it was kind of lame.

So, I’ve decided to turn a new leaf and change the way I talk starting today.

“I am the Lich! King of the Evil Spirits! Kukakaka!”

Would that work? Uh, I mean, would that be befitting of me?

Yes, I suppose so! Kukakaka!

This is going to take some getting used to.

October 28, 3623

I have gathered up 300,000 GP. With this, I can build the Malice Furnace. Hunting those monsters which happened to venture into the dungeon’s flight path has paid off.

I thought I would use the various tools and leave the remains for later. However, crystals were the best source of GP, so I let the dungeon absorb them.

A whelp such as a Lesser Wyvern yielded 20 GP. In the end, I let the dungeon have its fill of everything.

This furnace will absorb the malice around it and convert it into mana. Once linked to it, I will have an infinite supply of malice and mana.

April 12, 3624

I grow stronger each day thanks to the Malice Furnace. The day is approaching where I shall have power enough to take vengeance upon the world.

There is a slight problem, however. The power of malice inside me is growing faster than I expected. Seeing as I can convert malice into energy, I should be colossally strong, but…

Hatred and resentment are growing within me as well.

November 3, 3624

I have been experiencing blackouts of memory. Is the Malice Furnace at fault?

August 7, 3625

I noticed something interesting today. The Ghost Eater has taken on the form of a little boy.

I am quite sure it was a giant, ten meters in height, before…

I suppose it is a result of it shedding unnecessary weight. He is smaller now, yes, but his mana signature is stronger than ever.

What’s more interesting is that the form he took is of myself, from before I had become a lich. Is it because my magical energy flows throughout the place? Or was it because I made him myself? How curious.

February 24, 3626

I have no memory of what happened in the middle of the week. I saw myself in the footage of the dungeon’s surveillance system, but was that really me?

I saw a Lich. The cruel, ruthless tyrant. The King of the Evil Spirits. It was only a matter of time until I was absorbed into that being.

But perhaps that is for the best.

Kindness was a liability in the quest for revenge. That Lich in the footage would be able to take vengeance upon the kingdom Raydoss far better, far crueler than I could.

October 6, 3626

The gaps in my memory are getting worse. I hold no recollection of half of what happened today.

My plan is going smoothly, however. I had leveled up, and my minions were armed and ready. With this much power, I can grind Raydoss to dust.

An all-out war with the entire country is impossible. However, I could bring the floating island to the capital and assassinate the royal family. I would then turn the victims of the first battle into my undead legion.

In half a year, I shall set my plan into motion.

The world shall know of the depths of our malice.

March 21, 3627

My consciousness returns to me after half a year. My other self has completely taken over. Not that I mind, since the dungeon is in excellent condition.

But I do wonder if this is divine punishment.

I was visited by another intruder on this day of clarity. Moreover, it was that necromancer, Jean, and he brought help this time.

His helper was an adorable little girl who looked about the same age as I was before I became a Lich. However, she was a fierce swordsman.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.

If only I had a friend like that… I had been a slave ever since I was born, I never had friends. Perhaps that was why the girl shone so brightly to me.

I don’t want her to die… Is this an impossible wish?

They sped their way through my dungeon. Quite efficiently, I might add. They must be well-prepared. Are they going to conquer it?

The thought tickles my fancy.

Frustration at being denied vengeance on one hand, and the hope for the release of the malice that has been burning my heart for so long on another.

Did I want to disappear or no?

I do not know.

But the necromancer and the girl must be part of our fate. How it turns out? Well…

It is unfortunate that I cannot face them in the final battle. I wonder what would happen the next time I woke up. Perhaps I shall awake no longer after this. I can’t wait.

Perhaps, the one reading these pages are the great Jean du Vix and the Beastgirl. If so, I have one thing to say:

Thank the gods you’re alive.