Today, 1 of November, in Elstivia it was an important day. The day of the darkness, this day was the darkest day of the entire year, when all vampires and undead could roam free. A day when those who devote themselves to Namika gain a chance to obtain more power, and that meant that Evan could too.
The ones who were devoted to Zerax hated this day and usually walked around the city with a candle or with something that was extremely bright to try to insult Namika. Not that it worked, since she just took those insults as something to be proud of.
Evan was living that day as if it was another normal day until Noche appeared in front of him, which did surprise Evan slightly.
The usual morning for Evan was a simple one, he woke up earlier than even Lillian and made his bed right away. After that, he made sure that his room was clean while getting changed in his outfit for the day. Today, he was grabbing a black office shirt, a red necktie, black gloves, black socks, black leather riding boots, and tinted wire-framed sunglasses. On top of that outfit, as it was cold outside, he put on a red duster coat.
Once he got changed, he would check the entire house while ordering the few undead he had produced to clean the house. It wasn’t unusual for Evan to find someone trying to be clever, trying to abduct a child of the orphanage, and having to kill them. For the sake of the intelligence of his undead, as damage to the brain made his skeletons become more stupid than they already were (enough stupid to mistake vodka with water), he used Fire Bullet to shoot at the throat of any intruder.
After the usual patrol, Evan would happily make an omelet of himself alongside a latte. The latte itself was perfectly balanced for Evan, as he made it exactly a third of express and two thirds of milk, and never had sugar to sweeten it.
That was Evan’s usual breakfast, a latte and an omelet, alongside a newspaper to read the news of the country. After separating the usual propaganda from the truth, Evan had a decent grasp on what happened in the country. Usually, after doing this, he would happily go to kill monsters to level up slowly (After level 5, killing level 1 monsters didn’t bring much experience onto the table… But the money was always welcomed.) as he didn’t have any rush to reach level 60, and it was a good way to keep Azmosdei’s granddaughter happy.
As Evan was having his breakfast, Noche came out of his body and floated around him. That was unusual for the young dark lord, usually Noche didn’t even come out at all and would just rest or nag him, but he chose to just react to it normally while having his breakfast. A calm demeanor that didn’t surprise Noche at all, as Evan had proved time after time ever since his reincarnation that he was someone who maintained his calm most of the time.
“What happens, Noche?” Evan coldly asked, while drinking his latte.
“Today is our day, and you are like this!? We should try to obtain a new skill! Don't be a couch potato!” Noche said, enraged by Evan’s clear attitude.
“Huh? How?” Evan asked, while raising an eyebrow, as this was a first for him.
“I don't know what we will have to do. But a trial will appear in front of you! If you pass it... You will gain a new skill affinity or even get the chance to exchange one of your affinities for an already learned skill!” Noche replied, clearly excited by the prospect of making Evan stronger.
“That seems nice. But why would I like to attract attention? This may become a liability.” Evan calmly retorted, while eating the omelette.
“Well, I will be surprised if we don't get trouble coming to our door.” Noche said as he went inside Evan’s body.
Then Evan sighed and started roaming around the orphanage until he found a small girl with purple hair, golden eyes and a scar in her left cheek who was only wearing a black tunic.
Evan looked at the girl and sighed. He guessed by what Noche said that the girl was his trial today, and that meant one thing: He had a problem, and a problem that he could not have anticipated beforehand, which was something that irritated him. He feared that Namika was a shipper, and that he was a puppet in the hands of that shipper.
“If this is the trial... Namika is more of a shipper than anyone else I know. Wait... No. She would be less than Elizabeth. Damn it.” Evan said while frowning.
“You won't be talking of ‘Alchemist of death’ Elizabeth?” Noche asked, as he made his voice come out of Evan’s body.
“Sorry, but I am talking about her. It's a surprise you know about her.” Evan replied calmly.
“Crap. Is anyone of the four heavenly a normal person?” Noche said, grumbling for a moment.
“The most normal one is me. Wu is too much of a tease, and well… He seems normal, he’s too nice to be alive.” Evan said, as he answered Noche’s question.
“Damn it.” Noche said, noticing that the girl was about to wake up.
The girl woke up and looked scared at Evan, which just ignited some sort of feeling in Evan. He was weak towards fragile and cute girls, due to another of the four heavenly who loved to tease him. After enough teasing, he had learned how to tease others and to enjoy it. But now, he had to focus on what was going on and in what sort of mess he was going to deal with.
“The spell did not work!? I should be in front of the Dark Lord!” The girl exclaimed, as he looked around the area.
“Huh? A teleport to the Dark Lord? Why would a nice girl like you want to see such a being?” Evan asked, while frowning at the girl. ‘This girl comes here uninvited, insults me in the face, and Namika expects me to help her. Is she asking me to kill her? Because if so, I am all in for the idea right now. I killed for less. Also, in the midst of my morning latte. Someone wants to die, yep.’ Evan thought to himself.
“Yes! I am in need of his help! A ghost is after me. A holy ghost! Sent by Zerax himself!” The girl said, as she looked at Evan.
Evan raised an eyebrow, surprised by that fact, but got excited to have a chance to mess with Zerax. But he also had to take care of the dangers he had to face when dealing with a ghost.
“That means getting into a fight against Zerax.” Noche added.
“And a holy ghost... I dislike ghosts. And if he is a pyrogeist I am done for. But well, what can I do? It was inevitable. No need to fear what you know that will happen sooner or later, I guess.” Evan said, as he scratched the back of his neck.
“Due to its resistance to fire?” Noche asked.
“Yep. And remember that a necromancer cannot kill any undead with Heart Crush. I used to have undead to deal with them, but guess what? New body and not even a sliver of info about where they could be, if they are around, means I can’t do much about it. I still have that item, but I don’t want to depend on it.” Evan replied calmly.
“Worst situation ever?” Noche asked once more.
“You said it.” Evan replied, before taking a long and deep breath.
Then a humanoid ghost with long white hair and red eyes who was wearing a white tunic appeared in front of Evan. Noche had been smart enough to hide inside Evan, which felt like a truck hit him.
Evan started cursing his ironic luck. A holy pyrogeist was like all what he did not want to ever find, and he did find it.
“Hello, boy. I'm Pyro. I have to handle this girl, she is a good girl, but she is a liability.” Pyro said, as he introduced himself, while pointing at the girl.
“Well, a holy pyrogeist... I never saw one of you, but I guess you are the same as a corrupted pyrogeist. Resistant to fire and holy element. Also, since you are a ghost you will be resistant to necromancer spells. Quite the counter. I am amazed by how prepared Zerax was for this.” Evan said, while looking at Pyro. ‘He’s a monster, so monster devourer should count… Right? Hm, let’s experiment on that. But also, even if he’s immune to fire and holy element… He’s not immune to Vivienne’s spells. If I can stall until she wakes up, I might get her to kill Pyro. Since he has a name, he must be at least level 55. That is a few levels up for any of us.’ Evan thought to himself.
“And so... You know that. But I don't think you can handle me.” Pyro said with a curt tone.
Evan decided to play weak for now, since he still could win time until he could get someone to assist him with this situation, and he had a surprise plan. The girl quickly hid behind Evan, scared of Pyro, trying to avoid being caught.
“Yes. I cannot defeat you easily. But why Zerax wants to kill this girl? Because she is a follower of Namika? I did not think that he disliked so much that. Or she knows of the plan of Zerax and David, and she was going to warn the population? Oooh, do I love some nasty gossips? What would the gods say about Zerax’s plan? Want to find out?” Evan said, as he grinned at the ghost.
“Seems like I will have to make you forget all. While certainly not my specialty... I can handle a small kid.” Pyro said, as he floated towards Evan.
Pyro tried to attack Evan, but Evan was fast enough to turn his left arm into an arm made of slime with the form of a werewolf arm and attacked Pyro.
Pyro was surprised by the attack and couldn't block it enough fast, and Evan managed to get Pyro's left arm but couldn't rip it off.
“What? You cannot use your Astral phase? Come on, you can do so much better!” Evan taunted Pyro while moving Pyro’s arm.
“Smart boy, but you forgot one thing. Pyrogeist may not be poltergeist, but we can use nightmare skill.” Pyro said, as he growled at Evan.
“Even the holy ones? I thought that Zerax hated that. Come on, threaten me with a good time.” Evan said as he smirked at Pyro.
“He does not. Nightmare!” Pyro said as he charged inside Evan’s body.
Pyro entered into Evan's mind and made him relive the worst time of his life. But in the case of Evan, the skill made him relive every day of his former life. That would make anyone go crazy, but for Evan, it just flipped a switch in his head. Also, this made Pyro feel all of Evan's life and made him fear Evan like if he had seen a plague.
Evan simply started to laugh and smiled like a demon, but then a dark aura got out of him and Pyro looked scared once he managed to escape from the young dark lord’s body.
“What are you?” Pyro asked, with a trembling voice, as he got away.
“Me? I am just the worst kind of demon. A true devil… Or better said: A broken human. And now... I am going to play with you. I am known as the worst fiend alive, and not for shits and giggles, and I demand you pay me the deserved respect I have for being that.” Evan said as he felt his body to change slightly.
The left arm of Evan changed again, but now it was a pure purple with the form of a gauntlet. Pyro felt like it was dangerous, and it certainly was dangerous. Especially since what Evan did was doing a skill and spell combo, since he could strike physically without getting stopped when facing off a ghost... He thought that combining both could be used for some nice trickery.
“By the way, thanks for your help. Due to your little trick... You made me relive all of my life. And seems that experience makes my power as a monster devourer grow. I learned how to manipulate the slime better after some deep and juicy introspection. What a jolly day, right!?” Evan said, while his demonic smile became wider.
“Do you think you can touch a ghost!?” Pyro asked, clearly angry at Evan, but enough scared to consider running away.
“Oh. Yeah. You could escape with Astral phase. But this arm is a bit better than the normal slime. Slime Lord arm: Cursed Gauntlet. Let’s see what it can do!” Evan said, while smiling like a demon.
Evan punched Pyro, but Pyro started to glow and the gauntlet passed through Pyro like if it did not touch anything. Astral Phase had been activated, and Pyro used it to avoid Evan’s grasp while trying to locate a way to escape.
“See!? My Astral phase makes me perfect! Holy-” Pyro said, as he started trying to win distance to cast a spell.
Pyro felt like his body was losing power, and feeling a lot more sluggish than before, while trying to get away from Evan. Which raised all the alarms in Pyro's head.
“How did you do this?” Pyro said, while feeling each second pass slower than before.
“Ah. Well, seems that like my arm can be enhanced with the effects I know of. Lethargy. Now I can make you suffer!” Evan said, excited about the prospect of killing a holy ghost.
“That's the secret power of the monster devourers! The evolution! When they are in danger, they evolve.” The girl said, surprised that Evan was a monster devourer.
“Oh. Good! So I got stronger. And just before I start handling certain things.” Evan calmly said, while walking towards Pyro.
“You fool! I can burn you! I will kill you!” Pyro said, as he sluggishly tried to get away from Evan.
“Do you think that you can kill me? Well, surprise, you can't. Also, cooldowns! Your astral phase has a cooldown, and you can't just go full ghost mode in the property of your god. In short: I will kill you slowly. Slime Lord arm: Silent Devourer.” Evan said, while his slime arm started boiling and becoming more viscous.
The arm turned into a formless slime that attached to Pyro and started devouring him slowly while he tried to cast but couldn't talk. That was the effect of Dark Curse: Mute. It was a simple effect, to make someone unable to cast magic without chantless, since they couldn't use chant.
Evan smiled at his new power but could not understand why he could not use the skill before and wanted to check it out alongside the skills he had obtained from eating Pyro. But first, he ate the remaining soul of the ghost that tasted like a good soup and obtained 20 status points and several skills from monster devourer. In total, today he had gained 5 levels, 20 status points, and 10 skill points.
“What a day. And here I wanted to hide who I was. But well, the rewards are just fine.” Evan said as he smirked at the girl.
“Well, I will be leaving now.” The girl said, before trying to get away.
“Bullshit. You ain't leaving. You owe me a lot of explaining... Young lady. I want to know what Zerax is planning exactly.” Evan said, while glaring at the girl.
“Ehmmm…” The girl said, while she tried to locate the exit.
“You tell me about it, or I have to make you talk?” Evan asked, while glaring at the girl.
Evan right arm turned into slime, but then the slime turned into 100 needles that aimed at the girl. This made the girl tremble in fear, while Evan made sure to block the path as he used levitation to finish his omelette and then drink his latte without using his arms.
“Okay! Zerax plan is to cause a war between elves and humans! Or that, or force them to follow what the elves say they have to do, and turn all the humans into slaves. By giving the hero sword to the elven king!” The girl said while trembling in fear.
“Oh!? Then I might even steal it now. Sounds better to have an artifact in my hands, and get that stupid king and the hero to be subservient to me. Otherwise, one killing artifact less to keep my eye on. You know, I love when the stupid idiots think they can do some bullshit without me knowing!” Evan said while smirking.
“And that's not all. In case of war, after a two-year war... Humanity will be weakened enough to allow the angels to control them. And the humans will only pray to Zerax. Which is his end-game.” The girl explained further, as to appease Evan.
“Why would he want that? He’s going to make way too many enemies doing so, for just a bunch of prayer machines.” Evan said, while his arms turned to normal.
“His plan is to make the humans so stupid that they will only allow the children to have the blessings of Zerax. Why doing this sort of plan? I really don't know.” The girl said, while calming down.
“Well then. Seems that my plan will have a pair of changes. I can always make use of a few mistakes.” Evan said, pondering about the information given to him.
“Then you truly are the Dark Lord?
“My name is Evan. You should know it well.” Evan said, as he took a deep breath.
“We will meet again, Evan. My name is Serah.” Serah said, while circulating her mana.
Serah put her hands together and disappeared. Evan didn't receive anything, alongside the information, which infuriated him a bit, but he had to just take what he had acquired. Which was a lot, for Evan, but that was coming from Pyro’s death and making an enemy he couldn’t kill right away.
“What a drag. If I did not have enough in my hands already. Well, now I have a reason to kill David. I guess that he is a puppet of Zerax too! But I will take my time toying with him! Such rotten country should just be destroyed!” Evan said, trying to focus on what he had acquired.
“Clean up the place, please. Better that we do not talk about this.” Noche said, clearly trying to calm down the young dark lord.
“Indeed! But later, we are going out to have a walk!” Evan said, as he smirked, while using levitation to grab a broom.
Evan started cleaning the orphanage entrance of the ectoplasm that was left by Pyro, since otherwise Lillian would scold him. And he was enough responsible to not want a woman to scold him, alongside the fact that he was still a healthy young adult and Lillian was quite good-looking in Evan’s eyes.
***
Far from the orphanage, in the slums, Isaac was calmly walking the streets as he was investigating a murder. Or at least, it seemed like a murder… Or the result of a very interesting duel. The victim: A young noble whose head had been crushed by a blunt object, with enough strength to crush said head, but this noble held a sword as if he was fighting against someone. The clothes worn by the noble were simple, a white shirt, black trousers, and leather riding boots. The skin of said noble was pale, and his name was James Duckinto.
“I can see that he’s dead. Thoroughly dead. There’s no druid that can revive someone without a head. A necromancer? Maybe. But yeah, I wouldn’t count on that chance. But he sure looked like he was having a duel. So why am I here? It’s a sanctioned duel. No need to get me involved in this. If you weep for the idiots, you’ll be crying until you die in this country. There’s quite the epidemic of stupidity.” Isaac said, while looking at the man besides him. None other than David.
“Because, it’s not a sanction duel. Potentially an unsanctioned one. But I can’t allow unsanctioned duels to be permitted. He was the one who would inherit the Duckinto’s business. They are the best ranchers in the area, raising ducks specifically, and produced quite a lot of food for the rich. The nobles want the head of the one who killed him.” David explained calmly.
“Unsanctioned duel? Who gives a shit, with due respect, for two nobles fighting it out? The father has enough issues to worry about his son winding up dead due to him being stupid enough to duel someone with a war hammer. Either it’s a war hammer, or it’s someone who I would not like to fight. A mace may crush the head, but not enough big to leave it completely flat, and a hammer has less reach. I don’t think a noble, with all the stat boosting items they tend to take, could lose against a normal hammer.” Isaac said, not believing David’s words.
“His father wants to find the culprit. It seems he wants revenge on the one who killed his son. Which is understandable, even if it was an unsanctioned duel.” David said sternly.
“He has four daughters, and each of them is being trained to take an arranged marriage… Wait a minute. Oh, what if it was not an unsanctioned duel? More like… a sibling fight?” Isaac said, pondering the possibility.
“All four daughters have a strong alibi, so it’s unthinkable that one of them managed to sneak out and use a blunt weapon of the proportions required to kill the boy.” David pointed out.
“You can always craft your own alibi.” Isaac retorted.
“Yeah, but not this time. I had a mentalist checking out her memories. Also, we did interrogate all the possible suspects. All of them have an alibi.” David retorted back.
“There are more ways to an alibi. Some that can even avoid the mentalist themselves. Has any maid disappeared?” Isaac said, while smiling to himself.
“I haven’t checked that out. I will-” David said, only to see Isaac crouching and looking at the body.
As Isaac checked the body, he noticed a fragrance. Lavender, coriander, belladonna, and a bit of thyme. A perfume, combined with the fragrance of belladona, and he knew that sort of perfume wasn’t one used by men. But that didn’t rule out the possibility of the victim having gone to have some debauched fun, and then being attacked.
The elf noticed some mana wavelength, one he didn’t recognize as a spell, and moved a few meters away. Then he found a small piece, which was the top piece of a set of heels, alongside a yellow broken heel breast caused by some carriages passing through. Isaac quickly examined them, and smirked to himself, as he knew that this was a proof that would have invaluable weight in this case.
The top piece had a set of angel wings engraved on the bottom, and to ensure that the heel was recognizable by anyone as an Angelus brand heel, which was something that Isaac clearly noticed. The Angelus brand was a brand known for being incredibly expensive, but extremely useful for noble girls, and it was known for their enchanted heels that ensured one thing: Undetectable steps for any noble girl with the money to buy them, as it was considered a faux pas for all the nobility in Elstivia to have noisy heels.
“His majesty. The killer is someone who uses heels. One who used enchanted heels. One who had to use heels, and during the fight… She lost a part of it. But this enchantment wasn’t noticeable until I took notice, so it seems it’s a stealth enchantment. We both know that stealth enchantments aren’t cheap. Even less cheap if they are from the Angelus brand. So… A noble killed him. Or that, or a high ranking adventurer that specifically bought them. But a high ranking adventurer would use a 3-inch heel, not a 15-inch one. I know the size because I have the entire heel breast. Massive heel.” Isaac said, while showing the proof he had acquired now.
“Interesting. You entirely debunked with that proof the other two investigation paths. No one would buy that sort of heel, without getting some glares from the regulars, if it was a boy. And a high ranking adventurer would not buy Angelus brand, or if they had to: They would buy only the minimum, as with the money that heel costs… They could buy high quality equipment.” David said as he scratched his neck.
“And not only that. There’s only a noble family that uses Angelus brand, and has a daughter with a hammer-based skill tree. Duckinto. The oldest daughter, who would have inherited the business if weren’t for her younger brother.” Isaac explained calmly.
“Yeah, but she has an alibi. Her sisters saw her in the dinner, just like her father and all the maids. And I don’t believe her father would want to catch the culprit if he was aware of this. So, how can you debunk that?” David pointed out.
“Any maid has the Doppelgänger skill tree?” Isaac asked calmly.
“Yes, one. Why?” David replied, while frowning.
“Round the entire family in my office. And that maid. Also, ask all the coworkers of said maid about the maid’s alibi. Check it with a mentalist. And ask the maid for her alibi, and check it with the mentalist. If I am right, we have found the culprit and her assistant.” Isaac said, before teleporting away.
After a few hours, and a grumbling king having to get a mentalist to do what the greatest detective in all Terra told him to do, the entire family had gone to see Isaac’s office.
The office itself was cramped, had a massive bookshelf filled with technical books about mana and magic alongside a few books on biology and chemistry, a small desk made of maple wood and a wooden chair of the same sort of wood.
Alongside that, the office had a black couch which had a table made of transparent crystal that had enough enchantments to withstand a nuke. Even if the building were to fall, that table would remain intact.
Isaac was reading a book on Doppelgänger skill users, while sitting on the wooden chair, as he waited for the family to arrive. And a few minutes later, David arrived with a black haired girl with green eyes. This woman had pale skin, and was wearing a maid outfit alongside a pair of platform heels of the Angelus Branch.
“Even the maids use it. I brought the maid first, as she noticed that she had been caught impersonating a member of a noble family. I told her that if she helped with the investigation, she could be spared.” David said with a serious gaze.
“You know that she must have warned her boss already, no? This is why I told you to bring the family. That way, the girl wouldn’t escape.” Isaac said, as he glared at David.
“Yes, but the family wouldn’t dare to go to your office. Especially as the prime suspect has killed again. Her father was killed too. The maid can help us find her.” David calmly said.
“By the time you slowpokes go to catch her, she’ll be going to Straka. And forget about getting her if she gets there. Extradition rules don’t work in Straka. If you want to catch her, you better pay handsomely to get her. The dwarves never allow anyone to get any of their citizens, no matter what they’ve done. It would be a grudge. And dwarven society is a society made of natural jackasses, and said society is prone to have grudges with those that insult them. And they consider giving up any new citizen to any other country as a big insult, as having given up the fight before starting. I guess I will have to catch her. But do tell me, maid, what exactly did you do? No need to lie, David here will confirm it.” Isaac said, before taking a deep breath.
“I used Double Self to copy miss Tatiana’s body. Then acted like her, to give her ample time to kill her brother. I know it was a bad thing, but… She had my family. If I didn’t obey, she would kill my family. My younger sister has a child, I don’t want that young boy to lose her family in the day of darkness.” The maid said, as she tried to avoid crying.
“You are saying the truth. Or you are the best actress I have seen. But in case of doubt, trust your own gut. He would have done the same. So I’ll trust my gut. I’ll trust you this once. Can you give us her weapon?” Isaac calmly said.
“Of course, she gave it to me, so I could clean it. This way, no one could find out who did it.” The maid said, as tears came out of her eyes.
“And she planned on making sure you kept it. It was a trap for you. You were going to be the scapegoat. The bitch knows to play everyone for a fool, just like Moriarty. Heh. Shame she’s going against me, I know exactly his methodology. I assume you did check her mind with the mentalist, David.” Isaac said while smirking.
“Of course, I may deviate from what you asked… But I wouldn’t deviate that far. I think the case is closed.” David said, with a frown in his face.
“Not yet. It’s not fully closed. We know the what, the how, the when… But not the why. Until I find out the reason behind her actions, the case is not closed. To kill an enemy family is simple. But your own? In that way? Knowing that you were caught? What she has to gain, what sort of closure she thought she would find? I need the answers. Otherwise, I cannot deliver the closure the family wants to get.” Isaac said, with a stern face.
“Yeah, but finding her will be impossible.” David said, keeping the frown on his face.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Not really. I can do a quick hypothesis of how she plans to escape. Using a teleporter is impossible. Not with the network of telepaths working hard to relay the news of her father’s death at her own hands. Going out through the main gate is equally impossible, same reason. The guards will be informed in about ten minutes from now, at worst, which means that with a full inventory and probably wearing a dress and heels… Not enough time to get out of this big city. So remains the air option, and the naval one. Send the guards to check the griffins and the wyvern transports. All of them, close it in less than a quarter of an hour. I know all the city, the closest one will take at least twenty minutes for the lady to arrive. The water route will take forty minutes minimum. Taking into account the bureaucracy, an hour and forty minutes minimum.” Isaac said, using mana to quicken his thoughts and connect all the thoughts together.
“Understood. What will you do?” David said, with a serious look on his face.
“Catch the killer, of course. And bring closure for all the family.” Isaac said before disappearing in a flash of blue mana.
“Seems like he knows exactly where to seek the girl.” David said before taking a deep breath.
***
In the docks of Crelens, a massive area near the slums, where many people went in and out each day. A place made of stone bricks held up by massive pillars made of stone and cement, with several warehouses placed in the docks to quicken the bureaucracy regarding cargo by making the storage process of the cargo faster, in which ships parked right besides the stone bricks with the usage of mana crystals attached to the posts of the docks.
The mana crystals had a simple function: Magnetize the entire ship that approached it, and make it stick to the poles without breaking. That made parking the huge vessels far easier than it would normally be, which reduced vastly the accidents for the ships.
Isaac appeared in the docks, and started inspecting the area with his senses. Normally this would be impossible, but it was possible for Isaac due to the enhanced senses he had, and the elf found blood marks with the same brand as the heels used by Tatiana that led to a warehouse.
‘Got you.’ Isaac thought to himself, as he tracked the murderer inside the warehouse.
The warehouse itself was cramped with boxes filled with all sorts of items, from jewels to weapons, as it was meant to be used by the Silver Eagle company. This made Isaac chuckle at the irony of the situation, as Azmosdei would probably rage if he ever heard of this situation, but the young elf sensed something wrong.
The elf sensed the same mana wavelength that the heels he had seen in the crime scene, just behind him, and this made him teleport slightly away from his location while using a powerful wind blast to push the would-be attacker to the ground.
And so, Isaac saw the killer. A young girl, pale skin, with long red hair, black eyes, who was wearing a red V-neck dress that arrived to her knees, black stockings, and a pair of glossy red platform heels of the Angelus brand. She seemed too weak to use the massive hammer she was wielding, as it was a massive hammer meant to be used with two hands with a long metallic pole which had a massive golden hammer head.
“Well, caught you, Tatiana. I am surprised, you were faster than expected. Or that, or the king is slow as a damnable turtle.” Isaac said, surprised to see the girl.
“I tried to escape, to prevent being ousted! I don’t want to be married off to some idiotic noble! I am the head of the Duckinto household! And not only that! I don’t even want that household: I just want to have a normal family in normal festivities!” Tatiana exclaimed, as she cried.
“That does tell me the why. Sick and tired of being used as a tool, you tried to break free. But then, I appeared. Your only escape chance became your own damnation. So you decided to at least going down alongside the household. But, couldn’t have talked it out with your father? Or at least, don’t cause such a problem in a day considered as Christmas in this world? It’s a day to be enjoyed with family, close to them, with a heart open to sharing the joys of life. At least, I can bring closure to the family.” Isaac said, with a sad face, as he walked towards Tatiana.
“Please, just let me go! I just want to get out of this country! Start again in Straka! I will use the money I took to make a good business in Straka! Do understand my situation! Instead of being a trophy, I could save lives!” Tatiana exclaimed while grabbing the hammer.
“Can’t do. Evan would understand you, but I have no plans to do so. I don’t understand your situation, nor I want to. Killing for a proper reason might be good in this world, but there are laws to take into account. Even if they are stupid, there’s always a path to improve things. You just chose to not follow the laws, because you didn’t want to bother with the proper path.” Isaac said calmly, while using a spell to create a powerful wind blade that cut the hammer in two pieces: One being the hammer head that fell to the ground, and the rest being a stick cleanly cut.
“Eh, I do understand her. But guess what? I am being paid to kill her. Azmosdei and her family are asking me to kill her.” Evan said, while entering inside the warehouse.
“I am impressed you found us. But is that old bastard asking you a favor? And you accepting it? Who in Paradiso kicked the bucket to get you to do that?” Isaac said, while turning to look at Evan.
Tatiana saw the chance to charge at Isaac with the stick, and try to knock him out with a hefty blow on his head, but Evan was faster and shot a fire bullet at her pivoting leg, which was the right one, to make her fall to the ground and break her own ankle due to the fall.
“Just call it: Need for money and duck. Azmosdei is paying me three gold coins for this bitch’s head. Her family is giving me recently made roast duck, with some mayonnaise and a spicy sauce, plus some foie-gras and bread. Alongside a hefty sum of gold coins, enough to buy some grounds off the church of Zerax. She disturbed the happy day for the children in the orphanage, and you expect me to not kill her even for free? What sort of blackened heart you think I have, Isaac!?” Evan said, as he frowned, while walking towards Tatiana.
“The one you have. Do I remind you that Veltian had quite the trauma due to you?” Isaac retorted while glaring at the young dark lord.
“He deserved it. He had a thief stealing Grandine’s teddy bear. I killed for less back in Dawn World. Also, now he’s healed up by what you say! So let bygones be bygones! I haven’t killed him yet, so I am most certainly doing so.” Evan retorted back, while looking at Tatiana, as Tatiana tried to crawl away from Evan.
“What happened to my bodyguard!? He should have stopped you two!” Tatiana exclaimed, scared of both.
“I didn’t see him.” Isaac replied.
“Oh? That bulky son of a goblin horde, who was fatter than Bronco? The bastard was at least 800 kgs of weight, the damnable bodyguard. But he said three Hail Mary’s, swallowed his vitamins, ate a lot of juicy poisoned duck, fucked off, and died. Cause of death: Heart attack, caused by a sudden increase of heart rate due to food poisoning and his obesity. Proper death, if you tell me. At least, he died from poisoning rather than just obesity. That would have been embarrassing for a bodyguard. Amen to that, fatso simp!” Evan said, right before starting to cackle like a madman.
“Hey, be nice to the fat people. They don’t deserve to be insulted when you are a high functioning-” Isaac said, before being shushed by Evan.
“No. It’s not for being fat. It’s for being between Zerana and a good duck of premium quality. And for simping a bitch like Tatiana here. Let’s be proper there. I even had a fat cat as part of my undead army, I worked even for the witch accolade led by that tsundere of Thundy… As a merc mind you. And I even dealt with the Magic Corp. I hate every incompetent idiot, in all shapes and forms, I kill every bastard that annoys me equally, and there’s no one alive who can comprehend what sort of girl I prefer. So don’t call bs on me, you bunny girl lover!” Evan said while frowning, clearly annoyed for having his cackling interrupted by Isaac.
“Is this a hallucination or an illusion?” Tatiana asked, not believing what she was hearing, only to be shot in the head by Evan with a Fire Bullet.
“See? She interrupted me, as the bitch she is, and I shot her in the head. So yeah, don’t call bs on me, Isaac.” Evan said, as he glared at the elf.
“And later you ask why all the godslayers call you a psycho.” Isaac said, as he took a deep breath.
“Ah, fuck you, you damnable bunny girl lover. I am going to fetch the body, carry it to the family, get paid, and then back to the orphanage with good roasted duck for the lunch. Oh, and I hope you remember our deal: You don’t fuck with my people, I don’t fuck with you. So don’t fuck with Cherub’s Rest. Okay?” Evan said, as he made the corpse levitate.
“Got it, Evan.” Isaac said as he raised his arms.
“That’s why I do exceptions with you, Isaac. You are a decent pal, when you are not preaching to the choir or annoying the fun out of my life. Poker next Sunday?” Evan said, while smirking at Isaac.
“No. I am sure you cheat somehow at poker. It’s not possible you win so much. Also, I am still in the Magic Corp. No poker games. One of the new rules. I am out of the main corpo because I am to blame for the incidents we had with you back in Dawn World. But well, sooner or later I will be back in.” Isaac said, as he frowned.
“Then we play some soccer, play some mahjong, or do some fishing. Do not invite Takuto if he’s around. I never remember his surname, but I hate him.” Evan retorted, while frowning.
“Oh, it’s simple to remember. Tokugawa.” Isaac said, as he smirked at Evan. ‘You surely will mess with his grandson, you psychopath. I will love how much you two reciprocate your hatred of the other one.’ Isaac thought to himself.
“Ah, now I know why I hate the hero. He’s just like Takuto, because both are family. Fuck them both. I’ll drive that knowledge deep within my head, to ignore it for today, lest I annoy myself and end up unable to enjoy some good spicy food.” Evan said, as he shrugged, and left the room while smiling.
Isaac took a deep breath, and decided to just go back to the family, while deciding that since he had closed the entire case already… It was time to ask a lot of money for the job, and having to deal with Evan and clients sorting out issues behind the scenes.
Evan Status:
Race: Human.
Gender: Male.
Age: 6 years old.
Height: 1 meter and 15 centimeters.
Likes: Unknown yet.
Dislikes: Corruption.
Level: 10
STATS (Maximum of 1000):
HP: 22000/22000
MP: 50000/50000
STR: 100
VIT: 120
INT: 800
DEX: 500
AGI: 307
Extra status points: 0
Magic affinity: Fire, Darkness, Thunder, Demonic and Enchantment.
Skill affinity: Necromancer, Crafting, Magician, Swordsmanship, Alchemy, Dark Knight, Holy Knight, Trickster, Devil Meister, and Monster Devourer.
Ailments:
Tutorial seal: Even if the user is a master in one of the original skill tree, they will only be able to use first tier skills until the tutorial is over.
Skills:
Necromancer (Master {Locked abilities to newbie due to broken body and tutorial seal}):
Create minor minion: Active, 2 MP. Turns a corpse into a minion that will aid the user. It can create slimes and goblins only.
Create minor Undead: Active, 4 MP. Turns a corpse in an undead. Can only create skeletons.
Wall of bones: Active, 3 MP. Makes a wall made from bones.
Heart Grasp: Active, 10 MP. The user can grasp the heart of the target and crush it.
Magician (Master):
Magic Knowledge: Passive. Allows the use of magic.
Fire Magic:
Fire bullet: Active, 1 MP. The user can shoot a small bullet of fire.
Fireball: Active, 2 MP. The user shoots a ball of fire.
Firebolt: Active, 5 MP. The user shoots a bolt of fire that explodes upon touch.
Fire Wave: Active, 10 MP. The user casts a wave of fire that goes to the target.
Dark Magic:
Dark smoke: Active, 1 MP. The user shoots dark smoke to cover his whereabouts.
Curse: Active, 3 MP. The user curses the target and causes ailments like poison, blindness, and sleep.
Lethargy: Active, 5 MP. The user makes the target be slower and less powerful.
Monster Devourer (Master):
Gluttonous stomach: Passive. Allows the user to eat monster parts even raw. Does not protect against poison of monsters.
Body Improvement: Passive. The user can improve his own status by obtaining status passives from monsters.
Combination: Passive. The user can craft skills for this skill tree using the skills learned by eating monsters.
Evolution: The user may evolve the skills he has obtained of monsters when he/she is in trouble.
Devour: Active that will activate passively. 0 MP. When the user eats a monster automatically activates and absorbs the skills of the monster.
Body transmutation: Active, 8 MP/minute. The user can transform his/her own body parts into a monster part. Can't be used to transform the user completely (Yet).
Perfect Devourer: The user gains all of the skills that he could gain just by eating a small part of the monster.
Slime Lord:
Slime Form: The user can turn his body into a humanoid slime.
Produce slime: The user can produce slime and modify the properties it has, the viscosity and even the form.
Enchanted Slime: The user can enchant the slime he produces with the effects he/she knows.
Digestion: Active, 0 MP. The user may digest any attack or enemy that he/she targets as long as they cannot move to the sides.
Digest Material: The user can digest any material.
Produce Material: The user can produce any material that he/she has eaten.
Regeneration: Active, 12 MP. The user can regenerate lost parts of his/her body and also the parts of others.
Harden: Active, 1 MP. The user can harden the slime to the point of being as strong as a rock.
Crystallization: The user may crystallize the hardened slime to turn it into an item that will be as strong as iron.
Lord of Slimes: All the slimes will follow any order of the user.
Higher Mana Elemental:
Mana field: The user can create a mana field with the mana of the environment and control that mana. The range is of 4 meters.
Levitation: Active, 2 MP. The user can make items float and throw them with the speed of a bullet.
Absorb mana: The user can absorb the mana of the environment but it will cause extreme pain to the user.
Mana control: The user can control better the mana so he can use the spells faster and even omit some chants.
Mana vision: The user can change between normal sight or mana sight. With mana sight, you can see the mana of the people and see if they are lying.
Goblin Lord:
Goblin form: The user can turn his body into a goblin body.
Goblin vision: The user can look in the night. Literally night vision.
Goblin enhanced muscles: The user gains extra speed and strength.
Lord of Goblins: All the goblins will follow any command of the user.
Stealth: Active, 2 MP per second. Allows the user to walk without doing noise.
Increased strength and speed: The user can lift things twice as heavy as himself and ran twice of fast. The effects increase if you increase the STR and AGI status.
Holy Lord of Ghosts:
Astral form: The user has an astral form that allows him/her to leave the body.
Astral Phase: Active, 5 MP/second. The user can turn his/her body into an astral body allowing the user to not be affected by attacks made in the material plane. It cannot be activated while moving or be used several times in a row.
Resistance to holy element: It gives a 100% of resistance to the holy attacks.
Lord of Holy Ghosts: All the holy ghost will follow the user's commands.
Isaac Status
Race: Elf
Gender: Male
Age: 52 years old (22 years in human age terms).
Height: 1 meter and 70 centimeters.
Likes: Taking care of his detective business, good deals, easy jobs, researching maids, freedom, loyal people, godslayers.
Dislikes: Being with the magic corp, corruption, slavers, having to deal with the magic corp, Zerax, Grandine’s gluttony, Falco, cat maids.
Level: 60
STATS:
HP: 44000/44000
MP: 45000/45000
STR: 100
VIT: 300
INT: 700
DEX: 600
AGI: 400
Magic affinity: Water, Ice, Wind, Basic.
Skill affinity: Trickster, Teleporter, Magician, Master Scribe, Wizard, Survivalist, Warlock, Scholar, Researcher.
Titles: Grand godslayer, old hero, Sherlock, the greatest detective alive, princess creator, genius, Thanatos, the greatest researcher alive, expert on mana, he who stole from the devils.
Job: Detective.
Special skills:
Blessing of Lifeblood: Due to the rare connection between being a Warlock and a Magician, the user gains 200 points in both Intelligence and Dexterity, alongside 100 points in both Strength and Vitality.
Mana resupply: Active, 0 MP. The user recovers an 80% of the total mana the user has used in the last hour. Only works once every day.
Super Perception: The user’s perception abilities double in terms of effectivity, and enhances the processing speed of the user.
Wind Caller: The user’s wind magic is a 20% more effective, and the user is immune to all sorts of wind attacks.
Royal Surge: The user recovers 50% of their remaining HP, and all of their mana when they lose 50% of their HP.
Skills:
Researcher (Master):
Researcher Mind: Passive. The user is more resistant to mental fatigue.
Greater Logic: Passive. The user is more prone to detect things that normally no one would detect.
Avid Research: Passive. The user can research several things at the same time.
Parallel Thought: Passive. The user can think in several things at the same time.
Research Analysis: Active, 6 MP. The user can analyze items or phenomena that they don't understand, and find a logical explanation about how they are done.
Hypothesis: Active, 1 MP. The user can do hypothesis over several things, simulate how they would work out, and find out if they are closer to the correct answer or not.
Replication: Active, 100 MP. The user can replicate things they fully understand. Doesn't work on phenomena.
Share Knowledge: Active, 5 MP. The user can share knowledge with those they want to share it. Also, it can be used to block attempts of stealing information from their brains. Pinnacle skill.
Master Scribe (Master):
Enhanced Writing: Passive. The user can write twofold faster while allowing it to be readable, without losing too much stamina.
Careful Writing: Passive. The user can write things even in an earthquake, without making a single mistake.
Efficient Writing: Passive. The user writes much more efficiently, making it far less strenuous.
Carbon Copy: Active, 10 MP. The user can make a copy of any paper they have seen for 10 minutes without any mistake.
Coding Writing: Active, 12 MP. The user can code anything they write in a code they can think of in a few minutes.
Decoding Writing: Active, 20 MP. The user can decode anything they read that is in an understandable code in a few minutes.
Mass Copy: Active, 100 MP. The user can do several hundreds of perfect copies of a book in a couple of hours. Pinnacle skill.
Scholar (Master):
Fast reading: Passive. Allows the user to read quickly any document and understand it.
Deeper Understanding: Passive. The user can understand things that most people wouldn't understand easily.
Percipience: Passive. Allows the user to grasp anything that happens around him, and to understand even better the things they are focused on.
Recitation: Passive. The user can recite anything they have understood without any problem. Pinnacle skill.
Warlock (Master):
Abhorrent Connection: The user has an unnatural connection to mana, which allows them to wield magic even when they should be unable to wield it due to skills that block the ability to use mana.
Vitality of those touched by Mana: The user gains 1000 HP per every 10000 MP they have.
Sacrificial Doubler: The sacrifices count twice as much as before.
Demonic Mind: The user has a mind used to demonic influences. Hence, they are immune to all kinds of dark spells that affect the mind, charming effects, and mind-alteration skills.
Sacrifice: Active, 10 MP+1 sacrifice. The user can sacrifice the corpses of those they have killed to obtain a sacrifice point, which can be used to power other Warlock skills.
Sacrificial Gain: Active, 100 MP+ 30000 Sacrifice points. The user can use 30000 sacrifice points to gain 10 status points.
Warlock’s Beam: Active, 1000 MP and 1000 HP (which can be ignored by using one sacrifice point). Using a sacrifice point or giving a part of vitality, the warlock can create a dark element magic beam attack that will cause moderate magic damage and cause the effects known as fear and despair. This attack can be upgraded using more sacrifice points, one sacrifice point in order to create one more beam shot from a circular area surrounding the caster.
Inferno’s Hex: Active, 100 MP and 100 HP. This spell can be used on a target that you see weakened or damaged, and it worsens the wounds of the target while causing massive mental damage. The target falls into a state of confusion, fear, and despair.
Demonic Hand: Active, 10 MP. This spell does not require any sacrificial point, but the user can use it to create a hand made of dark mana that can grab things from 25 meters of distance. This hand can also cast spells, yet that will cost four times the amount of mana the spell requires normally, touch people, attack people, and hold items that weight less than 2 kilograms.
Death’s Chill: Active, 100 MP and 1000 HP. The user can create a chilling mana blast that will cause high freezing damage. This spell also freezes the area of the target that has been hit by the mana blast. A sacrificial point can be used to make the spell freeze the entire target, or to void the health cost of this spell.
Chaotic Armor: Active, 1000 MP and 100 HP. The user can surround themselves with an armor that protects them from physical attacks, and those that are too close to the user will receive moderate dark and holy element magic damage. Magical attacks can disperse the armor, and nullify the spell.
Change of Mind: Active, 100000 MP or 20000 HP. The cost can be voided with 2 sacrificial points. The user uses magic to charm the target, and during a day, the target will follow the commands that the user gives to them… As long as it doesn’t endanger the target themselves. Once undone, either by an anti-curse/antimage skill or just due to passing a day, the target will be free and totally immune to charming effects for all their entire life. You can use 4 sacrificial points to boost the spell and void the side effect of immunity to charming effects.
Sacrificial Exchange: Active, 10000 MP and HP alongside 1000 status points. The cost can be voided with a Devil’s Orb. The user uses 1000 status points to gain 10 skill points, only works three times. Pinnacle skill.
Magician (Master):
Magic Knowledge: Passive. Allows the use of magic.
Magician's soul: Passive. All spells cast by the user are a 20% stronger.
Magic control: Passive. All spells are cast 10% faster. Some can even be used without chanting.
Magic modification: Passive. The spells can be modified to give them new effects and change the way they are used.
Chantless: Passive. The minor spells will be automatically cast without even saying the name of the spell and the user only has to think in the spell and the adept spells only will have to be chanted entirely when using magic modification.
Water Magic (Master):
Water ball: Active, 2 MP. The user throws a ball made of water.
Water wave: Active, 4 MP. The water rises up and strikes the enemy. Can push an enemy far from the user.
Water Cannon: Active, 20 MP. The user shoots high pressure water from his/her hands.
Water Prison: Active, 25 MP. The user traps the enemy in a water ball that acts as a cage. If not used carefully it can drown the enemy.
Water Tidal wave: Active, 40 MP. The water surrounding the user will rise and spin around the user, cutting anyone who gets close.
Aqua Lair: Active, 50 MP. The water makes a dome that allows the user to defense himself/herself against some attacks or go through water without ending soaked. Also traps air inside.
Downpour: Active, 100 MP. The user can create a cloud that will make a rain all across the area, but the water can be turned into several projectiles while falling. Also, the rain can be used to cast other water spells against the opponent. Pinnacle spell.
Water’s blessing: Pinnacle spell, 0 MP. The user can add the water element to any other spell.
Wind Magic:
Wind bullet: Active, 1 MP. The user shoots a bullet of concentrated wind that can pierce even iron.
Wind twister: Active, 5 MP. The user cast a tornado that sends everyone flying. It is shot from the user's hand.
Wind blade: Active, 10 MP. The user can either create a wind blade to cut the enemy or implant the wind element temporarily in a blade.
Wind improvement: Active, 12 MP. The user temporarily has an extra 30% AGI.
Wind Burst: Active, 15 MP. Makes a burst of wind that can push objects, but also pushes the caster in an opposite direction.
Wind Fang: Active, 20 MP. The caster makes a concentrated blade of wind that has even more cutting power than the wind blade in a sword.
Gale’s wings: Active, 35 MP. Pinnacle spell. Surround the body or an object with wind, allowing the user to control it and use it for other spells without wasting extra mana. Also makes the user a 50% faster.
Wind’s blessing: Pinnacle spell, 0 MP. The user can add the wind element to any other spell.
Ice magic (Master):
Ice Blade: Active, 5 MP. Allows the user to create an ice blade or to implant the ice element temporarily to the blade.
Ice burst: Active, 10 MP. The user throws a concentrated explosive ball of ice that will burst and freeze anyone close to it.
Icebolt: Active, 4 MP. The user shoots a bolt of ice that freezes upon touch.
Ice spear: Active, 12 MP. The user creates spears of ice to attack the enemy.
Ice Wall: Active, 20 MP. The user creates a defensive wall made of Ice.
Ice Trap: Active, 5 MP. The user makes an area that has mana embedded in it, if an opponent steps inside that area a burst of ice will freeze him/her.
Ice Age: Active, 400 MP. The user creates a powerful wave of ice that freezes those around the user. Range: 200 meters. Pinnacle spell.
Ice Requiem: Active, 100 MP. The user instantly freezes someone that he/she is touching with his hands, feet, or body. Pinnacle spell.
Basic Magic (Master):
Minor Analysis: Active, 1 MP. Allows the user to see the stats of the target. It can be tricked with false status skill.
False status: Active, 3 MP. Allows the user to change what others see when they see the status.
Medium analyze: Active, 5 MP. Shows to the user the status and the personal data of the target. It can be tricked.
False data: Active, 15 mp. Allows the user to change what others see when they see the status window and the skill window when they use analyze skills like Greater analyze or medium analyze.
Fly: Active, 8 mp/second. Allows the user to soar through the sky.
Greater analyze: Active, 10 MP. Shows to the user everything of the target. It can be tricked with false self.
Telepathy: Active, 12 mp/second. Allows the user to speak to the mind of the target.
False self: Active, 20 mp. Allows the user to change what others see when they see the status window, the skill window and even the name and gender that appears in the status window when they use analyze skills.
Teleport: Active, 15 mp. The user can make small teleports. Range of 1500 meters.
Full analyze: Active, 20 MP. Shows to the user everything of the target.
City Teleport: Active, 30 mp. The user can teleport to any city that the user has visited.
Teleporter (Master):
Mana Brain: The user acquires the capacity to hold a mana brain. The mana brain is an accumulation of mana that acts as a secondary brain of the size of a pea, that is inside the heart. Damage to the mana brain will cause a state of dizziness to the user, but it’ll nullify all the side effects of the mental fatigue as it runs all the subconscious thought. It’s said that the mana brain allows its users to learn twice as fast as they should be able.
Mana Fatigue Resistance: The user is more resistant to the side effects of using too much mana at once, allowing them to recover twice as fast as they should without this passive.
Spatial Resistance: The user is able to nullify teleports that affect them if they don’t want to be teleported.
Expansive Inventory: The inventory is twice as big as it should be.
Space Distortion: Active, 10 MP. The user can use this to nullify space magic that the user detects, as it distorts the space and nullifies the incoming space magic. It can be only activated as a counter.
Space Jump: Active, 5 MP. The user uses mana to jump at the speed of light to a location in a range of 50 meters.
Space Distortion Aura: Active, 15 MP. The user can create an armor that will send away projectiles, and nullify attempts of using space magic on the armor user, to themselves or an ally. This aura armor can only work for ten minutes, and can only nullify up to two space spells and withstand 300 attacks with projectiles.
Space Transaction: Active, 200 MP. The user can do a transaction between themselves or an ally and any space of similar size they have knowledge of. Fair warning: If the user doesn’t calculate well, the target may end up fused to a wall and unable to escape.
Mass Teleport: Active, 3000 MP. A mass teleportation that takes anything in a range of 100 meters, and sends it to another place. Takes both inanimate objects and people, so it’s way more taxing than any other teleport.
Mass Space Transaction: Active, 5000 MP. A mass version of Space Transaction. Exchanges a space of a size equal to a range between 50 meters and 300 meters with another location. Takes everything. Pinnacle skill.