Warnings: possible dark themes, psychologically dark-ish? (apathetic) Harry, no magic, virtual reality gaming AU
Pairing: TMR/HP (Tom Marvolo Riddle/Harry Potter)
Summary: Voldemort was just supposed to be the bored necromancer who had a slightly creepy obsession with the undead. Scarred was just supposed to be a berserker-but things never quite work out that way.
For one, he isn't a berserker. He's a bishop. For two, he isn't just anything-he's the renegade High Priest of Gryffindor. For three, well... let's just say Voldemort's slightly creepy obsession wasn't on the undead anymore.
Glitches were so inconvenient.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling; this story was also inspired by Legendary Moonlight Sculptor by Nam Hee Sung, a korean light novel about a virtual reality game called Royal Road and a main character who wants to conquer it all (for money). You can read it at:
(Vol 1-20): royalroadweed(period)blogspot(period)co(period)il(slash)2014(slash)11(slash)toc(period)html
(Vol 21+, WIP): jawztranslations(period)blogspot(period)com(slash)p(slash)legendary-moonlight-sculptor(period)html
(Vol 23+, WIP): clickyclicktranslation(period)blogspot(period)com(slash)p(slash)blog-page(period)html
Also, 1/2 Prince by Yu Wo inspired this story too! A Chinese VR-MMORPG light novel (adapted as a manga as well) about a girl who plays as a handsome male elven warrior. Read it now at princerevolution(period)org! The manhua can be read at mangahere or mangafox, or probably any of your favorite manga reading sites.
Third shout-out of inspiration to The Gamer by Sung San-young, a manhwa/web comic about a main character who gains the ability to live life as a game character. Read it at mangahere, or probably any of your favorite manga reading websites.
Be careful what you wish for.
Tom cursed, wishing he paid a bit more attention to the saying. It was futile, of course—things would've ended up this way anyway—but at least it would've made him feel a bit better.
The burst of dark magic came at him again, and he narrowly managed to dodge it before the click-clack of bones made him move again.
Well, the Skeleton King had sure come back to life, alright. And it had regained its power, and was practically unkillable at level 999, and Tom's quest was to defeat it. There was nothing remotely alright with this situation. Maybe he should've forfeited while he was still ahead. He'd gotten a skill and a title out of it, what more did he need from this quest chain?
Unfortunately, this was a battle he couldn't flee from.
The quest to obtain the three items—orb, scepter, and crown—was a relatively easy one. He'd found the crown in a shady pawnshop, the orb in the small town library, and the scepter inside the King Slime boss. Some maneuvering had gotten him that without having to beat the thing, which was nice because the King Slime had the troublesome ability of vomiting more minions to protect himself with.
It hadn't been something Tom had wanted to deal with head on.
After returning to the cave and handing over the three items, the Skeleton King had fixed himself and then declared that if Tom wanted to leave alive, he'd defeat him in a duel—completely unfair as previously mentioned, since the Skeleton King spawned as a level 999 boss. Tom had then tried logging out, only to log back in to the same situation. He was stuck, unless he wanted to die again.
Dying didn't seem all too bad of an escape route, since he really didn't have anything to lose, but the quest dialogue that had popped up deterred him from that option.
Test of the Undead Ruler
After reviving the Skeleton King, he has now challenged you to a duel. The result of this duel will decide your fate. If you die, you lose the duel.
Difficulty: E
(Complete) Skeleton King 0/1
*You cannot forfeit the duel.
*Losing the duel will result in the loss of your skill, Shadow Reader, and all skills associated with it.
*Power of the Skeleton King - Test of the Undead Ruler -? chain
Tom was not going to lose all of his progress just because of one stupid boss battle. He wasn't. But it was impossible to defeat the Skeleton King! At level 999, any and all of his attacks did no damage, and on top of that, Tom still had unused stat points! He hadn't used them for 19 levels. Thus, the amount of points he had lying around was a whopping 95!
But even if he used them, it would make little difference. The Skeleton King was simply too strong. All Tom had in terms of skills useful in combat was (though indirectly so) Shadow Reader and Hand of Death. Undead Mastery was a passive skill.
Logically speaking, quests weren't made to be impossible. There should be some sort of trick to this duel—but things were looking fairly grim. With such a heavy punishment, simply losing the duel wasn't the correct way out either. So what was it…?
Where was this quest trying to lead him…?
There was a pattern in the Skeleton King's movement—he was a boss monster, after all. He only had a pre-set amount of attacks, and those attacks split into three groups. One, offense—a slow, barreling blow that would definitely knock him out if he got hit. It was easy to dodge. Two, defense—whenever Tom got near, there would be a whirlwind of dark magic to blow him back. Three, barrage—a pattern of offensive moves that had four main attacks before the Skeleton King was forced to stop and recharge.
His defensive programming meant Tom was not meant to engage in melee combat—thank the gods for that. His offensive programming meant Tom actually had a chance at winning—something so easy to dodge was unforgiving to those who didn't try, but was relatively easy still to play around for a newbie.
In conclusion, the space to attack was right after the third form—the barrage attack, when the boss was unable to move! This was a common pattern in other games, not that Tom knew that. There would be a space in time for players to deal damage. The problem was that the pause was still not long enough to engage in melee combat. Never mind the fact that he couldn't inflict damage, after one or two attacks, the Skeleton King would begin moving again and hence would follow with a defensive maneuver.
At this level, Tom didn't have a long range attack. So what could he do…?
Wait. Perhaps he did have one.
His mana pool was not very large, so Tom knew he had to conserve it. That was why he did not attempt using Shadow Reader earlier when he was still unaware of the patterns he would face. Now, it was relatively safer. Just in case, Tom waited until the Skeleton King finished his barrage and froze.
"Shadow Reader."
The change in his view was massive. Tom squinted, trying to abate the overwhelming glow coming from the Skeleton King. The anti-mana was centered mostly on the three objects—orb, scepter, and crown—that he'd previously tried to observe. It hadn't worked; his previous attempts at reading them had given him a message to the tune of "A mysterious aura you cannot comprehend surrounds these items."
Now they lit up brilliantly, nodes of muted light within the darkness. Something shifted behind the Skeleton King then, only visible because it was a blot of black interrupting the glow.
Tom began to move around to get a better look. When he could see the Skeleton King in profile, he turned his eyes to behind and above the crown. There, floating atop the spikes, wilting and small, was a wisp of some formless, black creature.
A shadow.
That was the Skeleton King's shadow? Impossible! A shadow was supposed to represent the soul—nothing so weak as that could possibly rule over the undead. Tom frowned. This didn't make sense.
He tried to get a bit closer; moving into a range he knew wouldn't trigger the defensive whirlwind of black magic.
Now, close enough, Tom could make out words floating above the tiny, tattered shadow.
Skeleton King's Shadow
Level 1
What? Level one? Tom focused again, and a small window appeared in front of him as if he had used the Observe skill.
Skeleton King's Shadow
Level 1
The shadow of the Skeleton King. It is weak and ebbing without the presence of mana.
Without the presence of mana. That made more sense. Undead creatures didn't have much mana, because mana was the life force of living beings. As undead, their life force was anti-mana! The shadow only existed to balance mana, not anti-mana—so it must be that the Skeleton King's 'soul' was, for the most part, already in the netherworld, or wherever souls went to after death.
Undead clung to the realm of the living. The more intelligent—or aware—the undead, the more (Tom hypothesized) soul they were able to anchor. The problem was that the Skeleton King had already existed for so long, he lost grip on most of his soul—the power he had now was from the three items which he requested Tom to find.
They must have special effects of their own—perhaps so powerful that they could not be identified so easily through inspection!
Then, if shadows reflected the soul, then what was done to the shadow would affect the soul, right? And if that was the case, then if he destroyed the shadow, he would rip the soul's presence from the realm of the living. However, Tom could not get close, and the shadow did not move.
Tom turned his head. His own shadow was standing beside him, not too close but not too far away, as if it were waiting for him. Its near formless shape was a degree better than the Skeleton King's, but it was obviously still very weak.
Tom scowled, deactivated his sight, and decided to wait until the next recharge time. The Skeleton King swung again, dark magic flowing out from the scepter directly toward him. It was a slow warning sign though, so by maneuvering into a different spot, Tom cleanly dodged it.
The motion repeated several times until finally the boss used its barrage. Tom did not waste more time.
"Shadow Reader. Hand of Death!"
The description said he could use the latter skill without his Shadow Reader, but it was a fact that Tom could not see his own shadow without it. To use it, he'd rather have the visual advantage than using it blind. He wasn't quite prepared for that yet.
Tom turned to his shadow. He didn't need to verbally command it, but it was still too uncomfortable commanding it only with his thoughts. When he last did so, its movements were sluggish, mirroring his doubt and hesitance.
"Go attack it," he commanded. Reacting to his firm tone, his shadow moved. The Skeleton King did not react to its approach.
Tom's shadow reached out, long, blotted hands cutting through the anti-mana's glow before closing in on the Skeleton King's shadow. It closed its hand about the rounded head, squeezed, and the tattered pieces dissipated into nothingness.
Hand of Death has leveled up.
Undead Mastery has leveled up.
At the same time, the Skeleton King's body that Tom had so painstakingly put together collapsed again.
Test of the Undead Ruler Quest completed!
"So you are…"the Skeleton King's voice whispered, "So you are fit indeed! Yes…I see…you will be great. Great, but terrible…! I will give you that destiny, yes…And the Eyes of Life will make a suitable match for you…"
"I thought we established my 'potential' before."
The Skeleton King laughed—as much as it could, anyway. "But that was for the eyes. This, my heir, is for something quite different—though perhaps not exclusive."
Tom stiffened. Heir?
"In life, I once ruled over all three states of being—living, undead, and dead. Through fear, through power, through sheer will! Upon my death, my realm shrunk to but the dead. Now, I gift this position to you. May you rule in terror, he who stands—my heir!"
Inheritance of the Necromancer Lord Quest
The Skeleton King was, in life, ruler of the three states of being—living, undead, and dead. He was the Necromancer Lord, who terrified the living, controlled the undead, and commanded the dead! He now accepts you as his heir. It is your choice now—will you be ruler of none, ruler of all, or not a ruler at all—instead, the terror that sweeps the land! Harbinger of plague, pestilence, famine, or the gatekeeper between one realm and the next?
Whichever path you choose, it will surely lead to greatness.
Difficulty: ?
Job advance to Necromancer Lord
Assert rule over the skeletons of Malarum
Skeleton 0/1000
Skeleton Commander 0/1
Skeleton Chief 0/1
Skeleton Warlock 0/1
Requirements: Unlock quest chain Power of the Skeleton King, Earn the favor of the Skeleton King
*Power of the…King - Test of the…Ruler - Inheritance of the Necromancer Lord
Tom blinked. The second he closed the window, another popped up.
Job Advancement: Necromancer Lord
Controlling and summoning legions of undead armies as well as his fellow kin, the Necromancer Lord prospers on all battlefronts. Unlike a Necromancer, who can only call the magic of death to the realm of the living, the Necromancer Lord rules from the line between the living and the dead. If the player is able tothrive upon the tightrope of realms, he or she will find the pinnacle of power awaiting them.
You are now able to job advance to Necromancer Lord. This is an independent, one time offer. Accepting will replace whichever class you have now. Accept?
It was as he had slowly began to expect. A secret class job advancement route! But not to become a necromancer—no, to become something greater than that! A necromancer lord! Tom had no idea what that was—or the extent of the differences between the two classes; from the description it seemed a higher risk for a higher reward sort of thing—but it sounded right up his alley.
There were a lot of things he could think about. There were a lot of things he could consider—his research on necromancers should still apply—but Tom didn't need to.
His decision would be the same. This class seemed tailor made for him, after all.
Upon pressing "Accept", the three items he had collected—orb, scepter, and crown—floated toward his chest and were absorbed.
You have absorbed the anti-mana of the Skeleton King's regalia.
Maximum Health +1000
Maximum Mana +5000
Wisdom +100
Intelligence +50
Taint of the Dead +100
Mana Recovery +200%
Magic Resistance +50%
Fame -100
Shadow Reader has leveled up.
Shadow Reader has leveled up.
Undead Mastery has leveled up.
…
Undead Mastery has leveled up.
Gained title: "Servant of Death"
You feel fully revitalized.
"We shall see what great and terrible things you will do, Voldemort…he who is the weakest of those who have sought my eyes. Let my favor not be taken for granted."
The skeletons of Bone Lake no longer have a ruler. Assert your rule over the skeletons to exit.
If you fall to the skeletons, your job advancement, and associating skills and stat increases will be revoked.
This again—Tom had no time to fully digest the amount of information that had just been thrown at him. The fight with the Skeleton King had taken place at a small cavern across the lake; now as he looked across the water he could see all the skeletons begin to rise and turn their heads toward him. Some boney hands were already struggling to get on land.
Assert my rule—how am I supposed to do that?
Well, throughout history, there really was only one answer.
Tom opened his stat window and quickly spent his unused points. Then he turned back toward the mob.
He needed to raise his skill level anyway.
…
Name: Voldemort ~ Level: 35
Faction: Slytherin ~ Class: Necromancer Lord
Title: Holder of the Eyes of Death ~ Fame: -100
Health: 2730 ~ Mana: 9800
Strength: 11 ~ Stamina: 30
Intellect: 207 ~ Wisdom: 160
Luck: 15 ~ Agility: 14 (+1)
Taint of the Dead: 130
Attack: 0 (+3) ~ Defense: 0 (+4)
Fullness: 5 ~ Fatigue: 97
Magic Resistance +50%
Current Skills: Undead Mastery (Inter. lv 1), Shadow Reader (Inter. lv 1), Observe (Beg. lv 2), Hand of Death (Beg. lv 8)
…
Inheritance of the Necromancer Lord Quest completed!
You have learned a new skill.
You have learned a new skill.
…
One thousand skeletons, three mini bosses, fifteen levels and several aching body parts (several hours) later, Tom barely managed to drag himself back to Malarum before collapsing.
Before that, he'd thought the quest chain had been relatively easy. It had just involved a lot of talking, honestly. Now? He'd never been so exhausted in his life.
But before logging off, he needed to get some semblance of food otherwise he'd die the second he logged on again. Too tired to grumble, he got back onto his feet again, limping his way to the town restaurant by leaning on the walls of the building for his support.
"Food. Water. Now. I can pay," he rasped. The NPC waitress, too frightened of his appearance to really deny him, immediately ran to get the requested things. Tom honestly thought he was going to die waiting for it.
All of his equipment's durability was in shreds. Beginner clothing was specifically made to last a long time, just in case newbies couldn't easily find their next set—their next sets had comparatively low durability—but Tom had used them until they were in tatters. Thankfully he'd gotten a fair amount of loot to sell to replace everything.
He never wanted to end up in that situation again. A future note to himself: always bring more provisions than you think you'll need.
After raising up his fullness back to 100, Tom leaned back and sighed against the uncomfortable wooden chair. His fatigue was still high—90—which made his muscles ache and his legs feel like blocks of lead. It was a horrid feeling. He wondered if there were any skills that would decrease fatigue. Certainly there was stamina, but as a mage he shouldn't be using his precious stat points for that…
Maybe there was an item. He'd look into it later.
Tom turned his head. Once he had gained Intermediate Level Shadow Reader, his eyes could see bits and pieces of anti-mana even when his sight wasn't activated. This had the fortunate (or unfortunate) side effect of seeing his shadow all the time now.
It had been useful for battle—once he'd run out of mana, he could still see and command it—but it was also slightly…disturbing.
Now level ten, the near formless mass of inky black was becoming more defined. He could see the shades and folds of the robe it wore, though the face and skin was still indeterminate. While fighting, he figured there was a 'range' it could go to away from him. He could not send it anywhere past his possible range of vision, but in some ways it could extend his.
It was like having a set of "eyes" in any blind spot he chose. The image it gave him in his mind was still murky, but at least it could tell whether or not there were monsters lurking around the corner or behind him.
His shadow seemed to have no defined stamina or stats, only a visible numerical level. Its strength was based on his own ability. Though it used its bare hands to claw and pierce and strangle, there was a level of…wrongness to it that made Tom aware of the fact that his shadow was uncomfortable with hand-to-hand combat.
Little things, like the shadows of the skeletons, were fine because there was no technique in clawing something or slapping it with a hand. But he figured if it were to actually fight, it would be at a severe disadvantage.
This, of course, raised the question of what weapon his shadow would use? What weapons could shadows use? Did they simply appear once he got it to a high enough level, or did he have to hunt for one?
The latter was almost out of the question. His shadow avoided not only contact with him, but also the loot that had littered the ground. Nothing impeded it, but it seemed to ghost around the items anyway—specifically the weapon and armor drops. The bones were alright—Tom hypothesized it was because those were covered in anti-mana—but everything else it avoided like an obstacle course.
He could not speak to it. He did not know whether or not it had a personality, or was simply reacting to his own thoughts and opinions. Its movement was independent when he wasn't focused on it, but once he was, it moved to answer his will.
Generally, he gave verbal commands because that was what he was comfortable with. Tom was aware, though, that his voice was not necessary to call his shadow to action.
"The waitress who brought me my food," he murmured, voice low enough so the other few players around could not hear. "Where is she?"
The shadow lifted up one hand and pointed. She was serving another table and seemed dead set on refusing to look at him.
Hm. Whatever. It was certainly a new experience, but not an unpleasant one. Pulling a few coins out of his inventory, Tom left them in a messy pile on the part of the table not occupied by an empty plate. He then drank the rest of his water, stood, and tried to leave with as much dignity as he could muster.
He noticed he could not see other shadows unless he activated his sight. Perhaps that would change with a few levels and time.
It wasn't good to stay in town for very long. Now that he was a necromancer, it was of great importance to keep his Taint of the Dead stat up—and that meant avoiding crowds. Well, that suited Tom just fine anyhow.
Before anything else could be done, Tom headed to the Equipment Shop. He bought himself a pair of—overpriced—basic black robes, a pair of shoes, and some gloves. Because he was a mage now, he wouldn't need his broken dagger, so he sold that too for a knut. The rest of his newbie clothing was also sold off in the same manner as he exchanged his equips.
The loot he had collected also sold for a pretty penny—several swords of varying quality, two basic shields, three chainmails, many tops and bottoms of leather armor, low quality boots, and low durability gloves were all sold to the NPC. There were things he could've worn instead of bought included in there—and a general rule of thumb was to wear drops instead of buy from NPCs—but the issue with most of it was that they had low durability and weren't worth repairing.
Tom kept the three rings and necklace he'd gotten, as well as a wooden staff.
Name: Voldemort ~ Level: 35
Faction: Slytherin ~ Class: Necromancer Lord
Title: Holder of the Eyes of Death ~ Fame: -100
Health: 2730 ~ Mana: 9800 (+30)
Strength: 11 ~ Stamina: 30
Intellect: 207 (+3) ~ Wisdom: 160 (+2)
Luck: 15 (+1) ~ Agility: 14 (+2)
Taint of the Dead: 130
Attack: 0 ~ Defense: 0 (+3)
Fullness: 100 ~ Fatigue: 85
Magic Resistance +50%
The rings gave one INT, ten MP each, and the necklace gave one LUK and two WIS. Not anything amazing compared to his ridiculous stat gains, but Tom hardly wanted to compare apples to oranges. It didn't take a genius to figure out the power curve he was playing on was all messed up because of the odd job advancement route he'd taken.
The staff he kept in his inventory. He knew mages usually used wands or staves, but he wasn't sure that still applied to his strange class. It was something he planned to try looking up, if he could find anything.
After quickly dealing with that, Tom headed to the General Store. There, he bought a decent amount of food and potions and sold the other monster drops he'd gotten. The bones were already dry of all anti-mana, so those were sold for a knut each.
He noticed that the NPCs he dealt with were reluctant to do business with him. Still, he brought in bulk goods, so the trade was accepted anyway. Tom frowned.
"Where can I find the mage instructor?" he asked.
The NPC glared at him, keeping a distance surpassing the counter between them. Still, he slowly answered, "North of center square, the hut with the two crossing staves."
"Hm. Thanks."
He figured it was due to his low—negative—fame. That was troublesome, since he was still a new player, but it couldn't be helped. Spending time around the undead on top of receiving his new class was not something the NPCs would honor him for—more on the contrary. No wonder the Skeleton King had said he'd do "terrible" things! It would be difficult to do any amount of good at all with what how everyone hated him on sight.
Well, Tom would figure something out. For now…
Maybe the magic instructor would give him some information about his new class.
"Y-You! I see…"
In retrospect, Tom was getting tired with all the references to sight, eyes, and vision. This one was probably not on purpose, but it still annoyed him enough to make him glare.
The magic instructor took a step back. "I knew there would be one," the old woman murmured. "It's been too long since the last one. I knew another would come. This town is cursed after all, cursed!"
"I doubt that," Tom said dryly.
Her head snapped back up to attention. "What have you come here for?!"
"Information. You seem to know a lot about…my kind," he said. It was best to be vague and try to get as much hints as he could out of the panicked NPC. On one hand he felt guilty, on the other—ha, who was he kidding. Tom didn't feel bad at all manipulating the old woman.
She was the one who was rude first. Besides, it was rather novel—in real life, he was usually the first one served, and eagerly so. Now? No one wanted to serve him. It was quite fascinating.
"This town practically breeds them. Of course I know! Why, if the Institute didn't pay me for this, I'd be out of here! Like I want to deal with your lot…troublesome bunch you are. I don't understand why they won't just destroy this whole town! It'll taint every good soul that steps in here one day…mark my words it will!"
"And what was the last bit of trouble my kind…stirred up here?"
The NPC was practically spitting flames now, but she wouldn't get within two meters of Tom so he considered himself safe from assault. "You'll do it too, I know! Running around, shouting "Hail the Skeleton King! Hail the King of the Dead!" all along the streets! Each and every one of them leave with their slimy trail of tainted magic, the scent of death and decay clinging to their clothes like they've bathed in it! Do you know how long it takes to clean that up? To purify it in this dirty old beaten town? Weeks! And I have to do it! And you'll make me do it again, too, won't you? Worshiping your devil king!"
"I bow to no one," Tom stated, voice like ice. "Certainly not to a long gone king. He was past his time."
The old woman opened her mouth as if to mock or refute him, but then paused. A suspicious gleam overtook her eyes. "Past his time, you say?" she muttered.
"I suppose it's been awhile since the last of my kind have woken here," Tom began. "So they wouldn't know what happened. Hm. A shame."
"You—death whisperer!" she hissed. "Skeleton chanter! Grave walker! I know…I know! The undead don't simply disappear! They don't fade! They can only be destroyed…Don't you go around spreading your lies and false hope, only to waltz in with your own army and bathe the rooftops in blood! In fact, if you do destroy this town, maybe it'll be for the best—then more of you can't spring up!"
"Hmm…More necromancer lords? How troublesome."
Upon hearing the word, the NPC slammed the table, rattling the potion bottles and shelves nearby. "Don't say it! Don't—wait…what did you say?"
"Hm? Well, you've already asked me so politely not to say it, I daresay I shant repeat it—"
"No, no," the woman murmured, breath quickening, "What? What? What did you just say…? N-Necro…mancer…L-L-L—"
"I didn't say a thing."
"No!" she cried, bumping into a table corner in her haste to move around the counter, "No! You said it! I heard! Did you…say…"
Tom smiled. It wasn't a particularly pretty smile. "I don't know what I said. Perhaps you can remind me. Who were the people who came before me?"
This time, there was no hesitance in the NPC's reply. "Necromancers," she whispered, harsh and hurried. "They came like you, seeking information. I had none to give them, worthless lot that they were."
"Worthless?"
Her face scrunched up, as if she was about to tell him to leave, but then upon remembering the juicy bit of information he was dangling before her, her face fell again and she rushed through her answer. "Necromancers! They're a troublesome lot, but they mostly roam on their own. They cause trouble, but their trouble is the troublesome type, not the deadly sort. Well, all the necromancers who've come through here, that is. They weren't particularly strong. I—I'm here to stop them. Their trouble. That's my job. But—if you say—there's a lord…"
"I'm unsure what I said," Tom repeated. "So if they weren't so worthless, you'd have information for them?"
The mage instructor glared then, backing up behind her counter once more. Her small stout body made a funny sight in its speed, but her stare was nasty enough that no one would laugh. "None," she spat.
"What a shame," Tom said. He shrugged, turned around, and left the shop in a wave of black cloth. The door slammed behind him, not of his own force.
He only turned his head once he was on the outskirts of town. "Well?" he asked his shadow.
Wordlessly, his shadow pulled from its own black robes an old tome. Prior to entering the shop, Tom had verbally commanded it to find anything covered in anti-mana and take it. It was somewhat of a risk—he was unsure whether or not the magic instructor would have any alarms on her shop for theft, and if there were any if his shadow would bypass them—but it seemed it paid off.
Perhaps the reason why was in such a small town as this, who would be powerful enough to steal from the magic instructor?
Then again…Tom considered it. He didn't know the structure of the alarms, if there were any, or how they worked. It was possible that the second he touched it, it would register as theft—currently, his shadow holding the book did not count as ownership and he could not put it into his inventory from his shadow's possession—and so he would be chased after.
As much as he wanted to look at the book…it was better to wait until he got to the next town.
"Hold onto it for now," Tom commanded. "Protect it."
Wordlessly, his shadow returned the book to its robe pocket.
Did he have any apprehensive feelings about stealing? Tom considered it. After observing the aversions the NPCs showed him, he had already figured that if the mage instructor had information or something worth selling to him, she would not do it. NPCs did not like doing business with someone infamous, or with low fame, as it meant he wasn't trustworthy. In that case, the only possible way he had of getting what he wanted was through theft.
Before entering her shop, Tom had already figured this out and accepted it!
It was not, he knew, that he approved of stealing or encouraged practice of it. However, on the other hand, he also knew that his opinion of it wasn't strong, and was more of a guideline than anything. Tom was against stealing on a regular basis—stealing went against trade, and making trade difficult was also making everything else difficult.
There was no reason to steal, in Tom's opinion, if trade was possible. If trade was not possible, and he could steal…
Well, he would. In game, of course. There was no reason to apply this logic to real life. Purchasing groceries did not require a good reputation, and reputation could not be seen or felt in numerical values in real life.
That matter aside, it would be troublesome to use his shadow to fight too much while it was carrying the book. He had no idea if it would have a negative effect on it, and he did not want to find out about that in a bad situation. The quest truly had opened up new venues of thought for him about the game. Tom definitely did not want to be caught unawares, or stuck in such a life-or-death matter again. So, planning was important.
Then, he should check his new skills before heading out. He also recalled he'd gained some sort of title before the whole mess with the skeletons…
Title: Servant of Death
[Basic Tier]
A title gained by a player who has job advanced to the Necromancer class and learned a necromancer skill.
Mana Recovery +20MP/10sec
Maximum Mana +100
Maximum Health +50
Intelligence +5
Not bad. Considering that Tom's current title was locked and so didn't give him any stat bonuses, it was much better. A few taps changed his title accordingly.
Name: Voldemort ~ Level: 35
Faction: Slytherin ~ Class: Necromancer Lord
Title: Servant of Death ~ Fame: -100
Health: 2730 (+50) ~ Mana: 9800 (+130)
Strength: 11 ~ Stamina: 30
Intellect: 207 (+8) ~ Wisdom: 160 (+2)
Luck: 17 (+1) ~ Agility: 20 (+2)
Charisma: 5
Taint of the Dead: 130
Attack: 0 ~ Defense: 0 (+3)
Fullness: 100 ~ Fatigue: 85
Magic Resistance +50%
As for his new skills…
Raise Undead Beginner Level 1 (0%): A spell to animate the corpses of slain monsters.
These are rudimentary undead with no intelligence. You must command your undead through verbal of the undead is boosted by skill level of Undead Mastery.
Monsters must be within ten levels of your own. Mana will be required to raise undead, but not to keep active. When an undead is slain, mana is required to reanimate the corpse. When an undead takes damage, mana is consumed.
At the beginner level, only monsters you have killed can be reanimated.
The basic necromancer skill. Fair enough. It wasn't what Tom was expecting—the skills came as a reward to that stupid monster hunt quest, after all—but it was within normal parameters. Every necromancer needed this basic skill. There wasn't a necromancer alive that could claim they leveled up without using this skill at least once!
It was also the foundation of other higher tier skills. In order to learn more advanced necromancer magics, Raise Undead must be learned and gotten to a certain level first.
Aura of the Supreme Ruler Beginner Level 1 (0%): Emit a terrifying aura fit for a Supreme Lord.
Passive: Ignore all Dark Magic skill increases with level of skill. (Charisma +5)
Active: Monsters within range of your aura take damage over time proportionate to a fraction of the sum of your level, skill level, Intellect, Wisdom, and is a chance monsters with sums below your own will be paralyzed by fear. Consumes mana per second.
More effects will be added as skill level increases.
An overwhelmingly powerful skill! This was the difference between the necromancer lord and the necromancer class!
Tom took a breath. Not only was the power curve of this skill extremely high, it also boasted a passive effect! Skills did not always come with passives and actives—most were simply one or the other. Those that had both were always considered desirable skills, as leveling it up would give two effects for the labor of one!
And the passive effect would surely come into play later on. By being able to ignore skill requirements, Tom could learn whatever he liked—as long as it was under the Dark Magic category. So, theoretically, if he got his hands on an advanced Dark Arts book, he could learn it even at the low level of 35! It was a powerful passive with little boundaries. So, it was a high priority skill to level up. He'd have to constantly use it while training.
However…Tom frowned. The mana costs were enormous upon first cast. To maintain the aura, it didn't seem to need much, but to activate it was a different matter. Just to test it, Tom tried activating it.
"Aura."
Immediately, a small spiraling wind took up around him. It was reminiscent to the Skeleton King's defensive attack! Dark energy whirled. Tom's eyes lit up with bits and pieces of anti-mana glow, and he could feel his mana being drained by the second. He checked his MP bar.
Half gone?!
Of course such a powerful skill would come with drawbacks—especially at the early level. Tom observed his surroundings. The range of the aura was very small—it was in the shape of a circle with a radius of about one meter from his person. His shadow appeared unaffected, and when he told it to move out of the range of his aura, it did so without impediment. The aura did not follow it.
So it was only him, and on top of that, for such a small area…
Of course such a powerful skill would not be easy to train. With the mana costs, it was likely he couldn't use Shadow Reader along with it if he wanted them to last more than a minute or two. It was really a huge relief that he'd managed to raise Shadow Reader to Intermediate, allowing him to keep part of it active without using mana.
Well, at least as much to use his shadow.
Shadow Reader, Hand of Death, Undead Mastery, Raise Undead, and Aura of the Supreme Ruler. Those were the only remotely offensive skills he had. And yet, through strategic usage, they were also very powerful skills! With this, at level 35, Tom knew it was more than enough to head to another town.
The path leading there was a mix of signs and wooden boards leading through the swamp.
"We're going," Tom said, still uncomfortable with acknowledging that the shadow was himself. "You walk in front."
Wordlessly, his shadow drifted forward and took the lead.
To the heart of Nox Kingdom, and whatever lied beyond—this was the beginning of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! Necromancer Lord, ruler of none, as well as…
The player Voldemort, who permanently changed the destiny of Mortem.
Name: Voldemort ~ Level: 35
Faction: Slytherin ~ Class: Necromancer Lord
Title: Servant of Death ~ Fame: -100
Health: 2730 (+50) ~ Mana: 9800 (+130)
Strength: 11 ~ Stamina: 30
Intellect: 207 (+8) ~ Wisdom: 160 (+2)
Luck: 17 (+1) ~ Agility: 20 (+2)
Charisma: 5
Taint of the Dead: 130
Attack: 0 ~ Defense: 0 (+3)
Fullness: 99 ~ Fatigue: 45
Magic Resistance +50%
Current Skills: Undead Mastery (Inter. lv 1), Shadow Reader (Inter. lv 1), Observe (Beg. lv 2), Hand of Death (Beg. lv 8), Raise Undead (Beg. lv 1), Aura of the Supreme Ruler (Beg. lv 1)
…
Elsewhere, at the same time as Voldemort embarked on his path to greatness, so too did three other pairs of eyes walk down their own paths. From Scarred, who was destined to coincide with the holder of the Eyes of Death, to two others in two opposite kingdoms…
The Eyes of Space had opened. So too, then, did the Eyes of Time.
…
Hey guys! It's been awhile...lol. Writer's block is strong.
Still, finished Tom's job advancement! Hooray! (Though I cut out a lot of stuff I planned, you guys probably didn't wanna read about random grinding anyway, huh? Nothing exciting really.)
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for all the support c: Drop me a message if you're feeling so inclined!
Sincerely,
R.R.