The journey took more than ten days, during which Moonguards' condition had worsened. His face had swollen, nearly closing his airways. The aberrant mana became more robust with each passing day. He barely managed to limp through the gate before collapsing. The guards ran up to see the so-called beast.
Hey, you yelled one of the pretentiously dressed guards, massive plate armor glowing like a mini sun in the afternoon. Five other guards heard his yell and began their approach. They eyed me skeptically, unable to scan anything except my lack of class, not my race, so all they saw was my level 28. They did, however, see my black eyes, which shouldn't warrant much investigation as many species of the under-dark had black eyes, so once they had gotten their fill of staring me and my equipment up and down, they turned their terrible gazes towards Moonguard more specifically his armor as malicious glints came across their faces the first guard approached and attempted to pull off the simple but beautifully engraved wooden armor but only succeeded in puncturing his own purely ornate armor on the thorn protruding between the plates of Moon guard armor.
The guard yelled out, panicking. The other guards watching laughed and turned away. I immediately pushed Moonguard up, and he barely managed to stand. I waved to a boy with a huge wagon. He approached, pointing the two massive black horses in my direction. Once he heard my request of passage to the nearest high level healer, he demanded ten coppers for a ride and an additional twenty for him to take us to the healer. Obliging without argument, I handed him the coins. His eyes went wide before returning to the original straight look. He was surprised I had paid his markup, but I would take it to heart for future purchases so I wouldn't get overcharged for simple services.
With Moonguard loaded into the back of the cart, the horses took off towards a prosperous portion of the city. Our destination was a place I had seen many of through the orb, a short building with a large amount of ground area. It had a signpost outside calling it the royal healers' quarters.
Once we had arrived, I went to use the rope to pick Moonguard up, but before I could, a huge man standing nearly twenty feet tall walked out of the healer's office and approached the wagon. Once he understood the situation, he picked up Moonguard and hauled him into the healers with me in tow.
The interior of the building was white, with jars hanging from every nook of the ceiling, drying for future use. I approached the doctor to explain what ailed my companion, but he shoved me out of the way and ran to Moonguard.
My god, what is it? It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Where did you find this creature, boy he yelled at me as he turned towards me.
I summoned him. He is my familiar.
Incredible summoning circles are a lost art to everyone except the knights and kings of the land. Our leaders burned all the rest to instill their power in the future so none of their citizens could ever threaten their chokehold over the people while they sat in their high castles floating in the air.
The doctor stopped talking and began to draw out the mana afflicting Moonguard. Somehow the doctor reached straight through Moonguard’s armor and touched his body directly. The dark black mana began to leach out of the wound by the time it had completed, and a sizeable fist-sized blob of blackness surged and roiled in the doctor's hands. The doctor began to pour it into a container, but before he could, the mana surged one more time and shot toward me. Time seemed to stop for me and everyone else. The mana hit me squarely in the chest, launching me and everyone else back into the walls. Unlike any system prompt, a message popped into existence esoteric in writing.
SYSTEM MESSAGE
(Leader of the darkness, you have fifty years to start forming the armies of the dark before the world is catastrophically and irrevocably damaged.)
SYSTEM MESSAGE
You have gained a void perk (Walker of the Endless). You can stop time to collect dark mana and absorb dark mana. This is so you can avoid suspicion of you being a dark being. You have gained a void perk (offensive aura you emit an aura that enhances your reflexes and slows those of your enemies.) this allows you to defend yourself against abilities that enhance your enemy’s movement.
You have reached level 3 in your void perks of the dark spire. May your predecessors guide you on your journey.
----
After the system messages finished, I hit the wall like everyone else did, and the doctor stood up the fastest.
I stood up slowly after him. His hands were scorched, but he didn't seem concerned and had already applied some gel that quickly accelerated his healing factor.
I just stared at everyone in the room, trying to figure out who the leader of this new Dark spire faction could be. Still, I got no answers even as I used my unique ability to stop time several times to practice and get a feel for it. The doctor and everyone except Moonguard froze and unfroze several times before I stopped.
I turned to Moonguard, the only one not to have flown. His nose was completely fixed, with no sign that he had been wounded. He jumped to his feet, shaking with glee before he pounced, crushing me with one leg as he licked my face with his rough tongue several times before sniffing down every inch of my body while I gave him full body rubs, which he enjoyed immensely.
I sat up abruptly as my sword flew from its sheath, hardened steel singing against leather. A guard had drawn his sword and tried to put it to my throat, but I had dodged it just in time. He seemed surprised I was still alive and about to reach for something, but the doctor threw powder into his face. He immediately wobbled on his previously stable feet before collapsing like a wet noodle into a pile of man and armor.
Son, you owe me ten Silver and one gold for the work and damage, the doctor said, turning towards me.
I'll pay what I owe, not a penny more. Your shop got destroyed because you couldn't hold onto the aberrant mana I said in a low tone, hoping he wouldn’t call my bluff as I was the one to cause the damage technically.
OK, the ten silver and one gold, and I'll let you scavenge any of the herbs you can find. I can’t sell or use them once they’ve touched the ground. Most of them are fresh for ten more Silver. I can add a greenhouse to your bag. It’s skill locked behind an ultra-rare class. Even kings often don't have a bag with a conservatory.
I thought about it momentarily before reaching out and shaking his hand. He reached for my bag, and I obliged. Although I couldn't see exactly what he did, I could feel he had changed the magic, making it more robust.
Peering into the typical black hole of the bag, I got a feeling of a new storage area with magic designed to bolster the growth and fertility of plants. It even had a particular place for sentient plants I might come across. The five plants I had collected so far immediately began to grow and flourish.
Looking at the doctor, I shook my head in gratitude and began the several-hour-long job of gathering every damaged herb I could find that was still salvageable.
In the end, I gained an estimated five hundred different plans before I left the doctor, along with directions on how to get to a bookstore.
The bookstore was located on the street five roads up directly from the doctor and left three roads, right five lanes, and then the third building on that road, at least according to the doctor.
It took us roughly an hour to reach the bookstore, which wasn't what I expected. Instead of a minor, roomy bookstore like I had seen numerous times through the orb as a child, this one sprawled several houses and was an unusual three stories tall.
Chapter…
The bookstore's hidden secrets.
Upon entering the store, I immediately felt dark mana somewhere in the store, hidden almost beyond even my supernatural ability to detect it as the unofficial king of the dark.
Quietly I closed the door behind me and began a stroll around the store, taking the least direct path to the strange mana signature as I could. Eventually, I reached the source, and it appeared to be hidden behind a wall with sigils that would be invisible to anyone but me.
Moonguard seemed to see them as well, but with him sharing fifty percent of my soul, it wasn't unexpected. I reached out at the same time he did, touching the circle in the center, almost as if drawn to do so.
As soon as we both touched it, we appeared somewhere else with no flashes of light and no grand entrance. We just appeared in a dark room, one that smelled of old books. As I began to walk forward, magical lights blinked on and off before coming fully online, absorbing dormant mana from the air.
I saw a completely unexpected small library not full of typical books but of dark mana plants and how to harvest them and convert plants of the light attunement to those better fit my needs. I, of course, shoved everything from the room into my bag, the bed, the weird table and chairs, and the books and bookshelves. It also held a strange glowing cage that held an animal of some kind in stasis, and it leaked black miasma very close in attunement to my mana.
Approaching the cage, I finally saw the creature for what it was a dark mana faery dragon. This tiny dragon is something I had only learned was supposed to be extinct when the orb caught the tail-end of a conversation between two of the six grand protectors of light of this world before they somehow felt the sphere. It turned itself off, but during the twelve minutes it had been active, I had seen several pages of a dark tome they had kept as their conquest reward for their victory over the dark, the near-complete extinction of hundreds of thousands of races. They kept souvenirs and laughed. I made a promise that day to steal that book from them so I might know to some degree the atrocities the light had committed.
The fae dragon was the size of a baseball bat in length and about as tall as a football stood on end.
Approaching the cage, I gently reached out to the locking mechanism keeping the creature in stasis, ready to set it free, but before I could, I felt the dragon touch my mind. It was a mind of sadness trapped alone without a master for thousands of years in the dark, unable to use magic to free itself in fear of being detected.
As I went to reach out to the small, scared creature, I felt another mind touch mine. I immediately recognized it as Moonguards reaching through me to sense the other dark creature's state of mind. He was as interested as me as we were the only dark entities we had felt when the dragon felt two reasons of darkness reach out, it immediately screamed in joy, writhing in its cage to join us. Its request didn't fall on def ears as Moonguard, and I broke the lock on the cell; letting it out, the tiny dragon flew around us in a state of euphoria before landing on Moonguards back and demanding food. I immediately obliged, dropping most of the high-quality wolf meat for Moonguard and the high-quality food plants I had gained from the doctor for the dragon, who ate them immediately, growling in pleasure at its first meal in over a thousand years.
Once they had finished eating, the dragon turned to me it pushed against my mind to communicate with me.
I let it in, and it immediately sent me images of bonding and leaving this place to explore again to help me defeat the light. With a smirk, I accepted its plea. We were three against trillions, and I would have vengeance for my kind. Every clue I learned about the demise of the dark made me angrier and angrier.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
During our mind melding, she told me her name was Melnerva.
As we were about to leave, having taken everything from the room and put it into my bag, a slight glow along the easternmost wall caught my attention. It seemed to be waning by the moment as the mana was drawn from the air. I ran towards the wall and looked for a way to open it. The light was coming from a hidden doorway. A special torch holder stood along that wall. I pulled it, and the walls lurched apart, revealing a room with two swords strange in design and, on the other side, a crown in the center of the room; a shield sat against its pedestal as I was about to approach a mission appeared.
---
Mission alert
Make a choice…
Choose two items, for as the mana wanes, the treasures hidden within this room will be used as the main source of mana to power the lights. Their enchantments will be drained of power. These treasures won't last long without a master. Make your choice quickly.
Reward 2x items of choice
70,000 XP for the recovery of lost relics of the dark.
---
A countdown appeared on the top left-hand side, slowly counting down from fifteen seconds. Thinking quickly, I ran up to the swords, grabbed both of them and slung them over my shoulder. Next, I ran to the crown and held it from its pedestal. As soon as they were both in my possession, the magic rushed from the room into the torches I had activated on my way to ruining an artifact of the dark.
MISSION COMPLETE
You completed the given tasks.
Reward-Twin swords of Plenovian-unique- divine ranking-Crafted from plenovian and of a design from another world, these swords are unique and powerful, crafted from metal with unknown attributes that change to its wielders magic and personality, allowing for a genuinely one-of-a-kind weapon. -plenovian is a tier six metal with ten tiers of known metals and crafting materials. It contains a strange crafter's mark on each sword; the crafter’s mark takes the form of crows fighting over a bloodied battlefield. The pattern designs are phenomenally detailed, and all are included in something as small as a coin.
Reward- Crown of thorns-Unknown rarity-rank primordial- This crown was once crafted for a young prince of the dark realm of zuras, now the light domain of arcanas. It grants the wearer the ability of foresight, allowing the wielder's preexisting sensory skills to be three times as effective. This crown will take place and defensive qualities of any armor crafted from organic matter while remaining in its current shape.
XP + 70,000 x3 for rescuing a previously extinct creature.
You have gained two levels.
You have gained one Level for completing the unique quest of gaining a flying follower.
You are level 31
Alexander andromeda Taylor
Species classification-legendary undead-Draugr
Class-(unselected)
Buy a class or enter a dungeon.
Level 31
Requirements to level 32 116,000 EXP or find the secret about the lady you saw in the orb time limit of two months.
Magic potential unknown. Unlock your class or use a detection orb for your specific species.
Strength-23
Stamina-22
Intelligence-70 (Reincarnate)
Dexterity-33
Constitution- 42-draugrs constitution.
Wisdom-12
Charisma -39 (Good looks and smooth speech.)
ABILITY/SKILL LIST
Swordsmanship you are a master-level swordsman. There are ten levels beyond this work to improve through practice.
You are a 6th-level grandmaster in light armor usage. This is the max Level, but six ratings are left to work to improve through practice.
You are a mid-level scavenger who works to improve through practice.
You are an initiate in combat stealth work to improve through practice.
You are a master level in stealth used for hunting prey animals. Work to improve through practice.
You're a unique one-of-a-kind race. You gain the perk draugr constitution doubling the effective listed constitution.
You have long white hair and a sharp-featured face. These are all sought-after features in dark and light races that quadruple your compelling charisma when interacting with the respective races, i.e., Human succubus and other species with similar characteristics.
New ability - Ability unlocked Level (unique) Spiritual and physical awareness (Effective rating Divine) You gain a complete understanding of your surroundings in a small area, allowing you to defend and detect disturbances around you. This will enable you to detect time shifts while remaining aware you can also sense teleportation techniques more easily.
Summoned familiar – Moonguard
Companion: dark fae dragon-These rare creatures bond for life with their master. They are the most miniature of all dragons but have some of the best memories and magic, making them the most excellent librarians. They will covet any and all knowledge, no matter the origin. This dragon is unnamed and, when bonded with its magic, will prolong your life to the length of its own, more than five thousand years, unless extended with knowledge. The power and life span of this dragondependsd on its hoard of knowledge. Thee more it has the more powerful and long lived currently it is surrounded by more than five hundred unique books extending it companions life by more than five hundred thousand years.
As I read through the prompts, I froze in my tracks as I re-read the life span expectancy I had just gained. I was barely Level thirty, which normally only raised my life span by 100 years but I as an undead would already live until something killed me so it didn’t do me much good.
My musings moved on to the swords. I recognized them from my previous world. They were Chinese hooked swords but made of a tier six metal that made them stupidly rare they were ranked divine, which meant that someone with a crafting skill above 5,000 crafted it, which meant dwarves, which meant expensive I would learn how to wield the blades as soon as I got out of the city they were stronger than my current blade which was a sword for me to train with.
The crown was interesting. I felt that it had a hidden ability or two that not even the system was able to detect time would tell. I immediately placed it on my current helmet
System warning
You have chosen to modify an existing armor piece. This will take several seconds the armor pieces will combine to forge something new.
The helmet and crown began to glow and then moved together, reaching white-hot temperatures forging their multitude of stats and qualities into a better item.
In the end, they stopped floating and what I had was a new helmet with vines sticking up from the top, forming a crown with ten points.
Ethereal molten vine helmet-quality primordial-this crown gives you four unique abilities. The first is perfect senses allowing you to detect everything around you in a perfect sphere.
Domineering dark stare-gain the ability to investigate someone's past and see if they are innocent or guilty so you may find your true enemies of the dark often hidden among its own.
Fate accomplice once per year time will stop for your opponent, allowing you to escape the surety of Death.
Kings followers after you select those you know you can trust you can appoint them as your subordinates with each subordinate chosen a point on the crown will turn into mana crystal’s allowing them to store their mana for you to use in emergencies the color of the crystal is based on the mana type they are filled with all mana will be converted automatically to be useable by you.
----
The abilities were phenomenal. I knew from my studies that time-related skills weren't too rare, but one that completely stopped time for an opponent was on the Level of a luminous light mage or a tier five class and classes only went to tier five as far as the common populace new.
Next, I moved on to the swords. Since they weren't made of plants, I couldn't ordinarily combine them.
The sword's blades mimicked glass, nearly wholly transparent, almost like a vessel waiting to be filled with something powerful reaching into the sword. I realized it was changing with my mana adapting to better serve me. As I was about to pull out, I felt it touch my mind and let it in. It immediately scanned for my deepest desire and found my love for those close to me and my dark need for vengeance against those who murdered my kin and brethren.
It used those desires, and the color of the blades began to change into a mix of blood-red coloring and the original clear coloring. Those two colors mixed almost as if forming an alloy of two materials. The swords began to heat up, my armor began to smoke, and my hands burned, but I couldn't let them go. They were ravenous for my pain and love. Everything I had experienced would be felt by the material in the swords so that they could be made to serve me perfectly only a system upgrade could further upgrade them.
Ultimately, the swords burnt my hands and healed them over ten minutes. In the end, the metal had gone silver blue in color, and I felt a sliver of consciousness, one desiring to protect the dark and my family, and the most potent desire was for the Death of the grand beings who had decimated the night. I learned something new from the swords. Being millennia old, they had watched the world change. The dark hadn't entirely lost to light magic. The grand beings had used dark magic that or a mage from our side had betrayed us. The swords had been part of the last great battle before being stored here by a young dark knight who eventually perished, but what he and the blades had felt was their own king being slaughtered by the light but not with light magic but with one of the forbidden spells. forbidden spells were locked away, never to be used as their cost was too much someone had broken that pact and used our greatest weapons against us.
I now had a new target. If whoever had betrayed us was still alive, they would suffer. Anger suffused my being burning as hot as a nova, darkening my vision as I swore vengeance.
---
Dark silver twin hooked swords-Creator ranked -the materials of these swords changed to the grand emotions of a being they had never thought to feel, one chosen by the great creator, one whose desire for revenge over the defilement of his people has driven him to darkness. However, he still has a flame of hope for his family, a family born to the light and all those on the side of light who were innocent in the slaughter of the dark.
These swords are made from tier-ten metal. Deep Silver is a nigh-indestructible metal blue silver in color found only in the darkest and most ancient unexplored places in the realm of Melenova. Its forging doesn't require a forge but a force of emotion so great that the metal can heat itself and forge into what its wielder desires. Once attuned to a soul, the crafted item cannot be wielded by anyone but the soul that crafted it without extreme pain these swords will drain the levels of any unidentified wielder.
The swords grant three abilities.
-soul shards these swords can contain four souls. They must be the souls of four of the grand protectors of light souls contained in the blades and will be released once the beings trapped realize all of their mistakes and feel penance for them, reliving the moments of their travesty for eternity. Be warned, the wielder of the blades will have to endure the weight of the souls trapped, feeling their penance alongside them. Once a soul has been trapped, the wielder may not use any other bladed weapon, ensuring that they fulfill their part and that the wielder of these blades doesn't do the same as the ones trapped.
-soul pact allows you to make a pact between you and anyone who desires to follow your path. The soul pact will enable them to have a proxy of sharing one hundred percent of your soul, allowing for a connection beyond the material that allows for words between you and your companion. Be warned this can be used to damage you, so only use it on those you trust.
-Magical reflection these blades are nearly immune to all light magic, allowing any light charm to be reflected off the edges and transformed into dark magic of its equal back at the enemy at no cost to the wielder these swords can only reflect magic at level you can wield.
-----
The hooked swords were phenomenal creator rank, and I had learned it was any item affected by the grand creator. Many creator items had no discernible magic effect, and the only other weapon known to have creator rank had been crafted for a grand being of the light by dwarves he had abducted one of the six dwarves known as a grandmaster forger he forced them into slavery forcing them to make him one. They worked for ten thousand years to produce the weapon, which they had only managed thanks to intervention by the grand creator. They were all sent back to their mountains after completion the grand creator had then cursed the weapon making it so it constantly sucked the mana from any who wielded it but only after hiding the dwarves mountain homes from anyone the grand creator didn’t want seeing them ensuring their safety.
They were blue, and Silver in color with my seal on them, a drawing of Moonguard in his world crouched in the white tree.
I put them over my shoulders, crossed with the soul-bonding I was now an initiate in hooked swords not as good as my bastard sword, but practice makes perfect.
I sat around a small meal of veggies, much to Moonguards chagrin, but Melnerva and I enjoyed every last bite crunching down on the freshly grown dark greens the greenhouse had already produced. It enhanced the growth rate of the common rarity fruits and veggies.
After our meal, I placed my bag back on my shoulder, and Melnerva wrapped around my neck. She fit perfectly on my shoulder, and her soft scales didn't scratch me.