Becoming the Dark Lord [LitRPG]

Luke had told the whole story of how he killed the Beast Lord—leaving out certain details, of course. He'd made a point of saying up front that some things would stay hidden. But he explained enough. How he'd gotten trapped in a trial that forced him to slay the Statue Boss while pushing to level up his profession and class. How that ordeal gave him the strength he needed to face the giant serpent.

He spoke of the trap he'd prepared, sacrificing his own arm in the process. He'd handed the monster a limb packed with enchanted seeds which, once swallowed, germinated inside the Beast Lord's stomach. Dropped into its corrosive acid, they dissolved and reacted, creating something not unlike… a violent medicine. For diarrhea and vomiting.

"A poison. You poisoned a serpent." Erza actually sounded amused.

"Not poison," he tried to clarify. "More like… a super laxative."

The assassin queen laughed, a low and genuine sound, her eyes shining with intrigue.

He went on, explaining how he had used the creature's own fang to craft a makeshift arrow. The fang was a rare, epic-grade magical conductor, capable of holding vast amounts of mana.

"Using the monster's own fang to kill it… poetic, and murderous," Erza murmured.

He explained how, once the creature was crippled by the sudden sickness brewing inside it, he used that opening to fire the mana-charged arrow directly into its eye. He had already weakened that spot with earlier strikes from his kukris. The arrow drove in deep, and once inside the skull, detonated like a mana missile, tearing the Beast Lord apart from within.

"So… first, you baited it. You opened the fight with a powerful arrow infused with stamina, tricking the serpent into believing that was your ultimate weapon. From there, you deliberately faltered—pretending to struggle, letting it wound you, dictating the pace as if you were on the edge of collapse. All the while, you were manipulating its confidence, making it arrogant."

Erza had risen from her throne now, pacing slowly, her tone more thoughtful than mocking.

"And that's how you convinced it to swallow your arm. Because if you had simply thrown it, the Beast Lord never would have taken the bait. You forced the decision, nudged it into impulse, and it bit. Quite literally."

She circled as she spoke, voice low, absorbed in her own analysis. "From there, the enchanted seeds in your arm reacted with the serpent's stomach acid, creating a kind of medicinal toxicity, capable of triggering systemic collapse in a creature that size. That bought you only seconds… but enough seconds."

She stopped, eyes locking onto Luke.

"But the seconds you gained were enough, because during the fight you had already pierced the creature's eye with your kukris, and at the right moment you drove an explosive arrow straight into the monster's brain… and that was how you killed your target. Am I correct in my analysis?"

Luke blinked, caught between embarrassment and awe. He had never thought about his plan in such clinical detail.

"Yes," he admitted.

"Fascinating," Erza breathed.

When Luke glanced sideways, he found the others staring at him with horror and disbelief.

"You really downplayed your achievement every single time you talked about it," Allison said.

He'd never told the full story before. Not once.

"So even you didn't know all the details?" Erza asked, shifting her gaze across the group.

"No," Allison admitted.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Eleanor pressed.

"The truth is… when I first reunited with the people from the Haven, they didn't believe me. If I'd explained it like this, no one would have taken me seriously." Luke's tone was flat, almost tired.

"And why didn't you ever try to tell us afterward?" Evangeline asked.

"You see how much I had to explain?" Luke asked. "It started with my first mistakes in alchemy, when I brewed a faulty potion, and even with gathering random plants. All those failures gave me the knowledge to come up with the plan. It didn't happen overnight."

He lied a little, mixing truth with omission. There were two reasons he hadn't told the whole story.

The first was Samael. He still refused to reveal how he'd gained his profession or his encounter with the demon.

The second, well, he wasn't exactly eager to admit he'd killed a powerful enemy by giving it a magical case of explosive diarrhea. Yet strangely, when the assassin queen rephrased that part in her sharp, intelligent way, she looked at him with something close to admiration.

So that's it. The fascination isn't about the gross details. It's the planning. The strategy.

He realized that when he thought back on what he'd learned about the art of assassination while plotting Bartholomew's downfall. To an assassin, the act wasn't a crime, not even an evil deed. It was art. A painting. A masterpiece crafted in silence.

"So you believe me?" Luke asked. "You don't think I made all this up, even though I'm refusing to show the item I got?"

"I believe you," Erza replied, settling back onto her throne. "Even with some things left unsaid, your words carry truth. Besides, no one here would lie about killing the Beast Lord. Allison knows our deal binds the honor of our families."

Questions flew from every side, but Mason alone had stayed silent, lost in thought. Finally, he spoke.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"How did you kill the Beast Lord?"

Luke blinked, confused. "I just explained."

"Not how in general," Mason cut in. "I'm talking about the arrow."

"I used part of the fang I ripped out with the axe I gave Jack," Luke answered.

"I understood that part. I mean the skill. You're not an archer. Your epic profession skill is a single arrow. But you don't have any skill that would trigger magic in a projectile, do you? So how exactly did you create a bomb arrow? From what you described, it sounds a lot like an epic skill."

"It was mana," Luke said simply. "I just poured mana into the tip of the arrow. Enough that it was about to explode, then fired it."

"Oh, now this is more interesting," Erza remarked.

That was when Luke noticed the three of them, Erza, Mason, Allison, narrowing their eyes, trading glances.

"What do you mean you poured mana into the arrow, Luke?" Allison pressed.

"I used a skill called Mana Infus—"

"Mana?" Mason cut in, stepping closer, almost excited.

"Yes, mana," Luke confirmed.

Mason dragged a hand down his face. "It can't be what I think it is." He stepped back, as if shaken.

"Do you realize what you're telling us?" Erza asked, her tone suddenly sharper.

Luke felt like a clueless fool under their stares. He couldn't understand why they all looked so shocked.

"It's just a skill. I managed to boost its power because I had plenty of mana stored up, so I poured a lot into the arrow," Luke said, trying to sound neutral.

But Erza let out a soft laugh. "And he doesn't even realize what he's saying."

Luke frowned, still lost.

"You don't know, do you?" Mason said quietly.

"He doesn't," Allison agreed. "He grew up in a normal society."

Erza's gaze pinned him in place. "Let me explain. It's nearly impossible for someone at Rank F to awaken an skill tied to pure Mana Infusion. That sort of thing only becomes possible at Rank E, when the body's understanding of mana becomes natural."

Mason stepped closer to Luke. "The system gives us Rank F newcomers from freshly integrated universes the so-called blessing of regeneration. Not because it's kind. It's simply fair. Every time our race level rises, our bodies are blasted with a surge of mana radiation. That's why up until level fifty, we regenerate completely."

Luke had read something about that in Samael's library.

"After level fifty, it no longer happens," Mason continued. "By then, the body itself has become attuned to mana, ready for the shift to Rank E."

That much Luke understood from his studies of plants. Roots and leaves absorbed mana from the soil and air, transforming into magical properties.

Erza took over, her tone calm and precise. "At Rank E, the instant regeneration from leveling stops. It isn't needed anymore. When we cross the threshold, our bodies are reshaped. Rebuilt from scratch. Birth scars, chronic illnesses, bad eyesight, gone. A new body emerges, stronger, cleaner. Even our appearance changes slightly, becoming more refined."

She leaned back with a faint smile. "And with that new body comes something far greater. At Rank E, HP regenerates the same way mana does. It flows back on its own. And not just that, HP can be used to mend wounds directly. If you're stabbed, your health bar will burn itself to knit the flesh back together."

The pieces slid into place in Luke's mind. Every unanswered question he'd had about Rank progression suddenly made sense. My HP will regenerate just like mana. I'll be a superhuman, for real. This will definitely affect my longevity. I'll live much longer than I ever would have otherwise.

Allison's gaze caught his. "Every Rank a mortal climbs brings them closer to immortality, until they reach the divine."

"Changing Rank changes everything," Eleanor added softly. "My father once explained the difference between a level fifty and a level fifty-one. Fifty is still Rank F. Fifty-one, that's Rank E. Even if their attributes are technically lower, the Rank E body is naturally stronger."

Mason nodded. "The body fully absorbs the strength of its attributes. It becomes durable enough to bear the power. What it gives us is a super-body."

Luke frowned. "And where does my mana skill fit into all this? Why is it special?"

Mason gave a short, disbelieving laugh.

"It's simple," Erza said. "You must have noticed that in battle, a weaker enemy can overpower a stronger one if they know how to use stamina as fuel for strength, right?"

Luke nodded. Of course he had.

"Most idiots in the Safe Zone who pretend to be soldiers don't even know how to reinforce their bodies with stamina, let alone channel the true power of their attributes. They may tower in level compared to some beggar in the streets, but their numbers mean nothing if they don't know how to wield them. And that's only stamina."

She tilted her head, voice sharpening. "Now we step into rarer ground. Knowledge few ever touch. I'd wager fewer than a hundred people in this entire tutorial know how to use mana to reinforce their bodies."

She leaned forward on the throne and fixed Luke with a calm, direct stare. "Of those hundred, only one has ever managed to externalize pure mana into a weapon. You." She pointed.

That was a huge revelation, one that left Luke caught in thought for a moment. Me? Only me?

"That's exactly what you think," Erza said. "Not even I, born into a family of assassins, have the talent to pull my mana out and bind it to an object. That kind of attunement only becomes natural at Rank E. That's why Allison, Mason and I are a little surprised to see you, Rank F, do it at all. It's not impossible. It's simply like asking a bird to fly with only one wing. In your case, you made a second wing with mana."

She let out a faint laugh. "Do you understand what I mean?"

Mason stepped closer. "How did you do it? Can you explain?"

"Don't," Erza cut him off. "Not even he might fully understand it. And even if he tried to teach you, it wouldn't work. It requires a deep, personal insight into one's own mana, something that begins at level one. You can't learn it overnight. A genius cannot simply hand another person genius."

Hearing that, Luke finally realized how valuable his mana skill truly was. Still, he knew he couldn't give Mason a proper explanation. What he had developed was a private method, born in the Forgotten Temple Dungeon. He had started alone, trying to move like a cat, practicing silence until it became second nature. He progressed through each obstacle by improvisation and stubborn repetition.

He'd faced a praying mantis, an orc general, the Midnight Warden, the Forest Minotaur, the Fallen Stone Angel, and finally the Beast Lord. After that, nothing matched the Beast Lord's deadly scale. Sure, there had been life or death moments later on, but those were dangerous because of circumstance, not because the enemy itself was on the same level. The Warden Captain came with an army. Kruger and Bartholomew were threats because of their skills. But the Beast Lord was different. He survived only because, when the time came, he applied every single insight he had gleaned since before the tutorial, down to something as mundane as using Plant Growth on a single herb.

He remembered opening the system interface and reading his skill.

[Mana Infusion (Rare)]: By channeling mana into a weapon or projectile, the impact becomes charged with concentrated arcane energy, triggering a magical explosion on contact. The more mana consumed, the more unstable and destructive the release becomes, capable of reaching extreme levels of power when pushed to the limit.

That's why Charlie hasn't been able to awaken this power until now. It's not something just anyone could achieve.

He watched them talking for a moment, then Erza's voice cut back in to Allison. "Apparently you have my attention. What's the plan to deal with the castle's stronger monsters?"

Luke reached into his necklace and drew out the Beast Lord's fang. Now that he'd detailed the kill, there was no point hiding the idea.

"I have a plan," he said, holding the fang up so everyone could see. "Put the Midnight Lord, the Witch and the Midnight King all in the same place." He tossed the fang to Erza. "I'll make an arrow from this fang, fill it with mana, and blow the three of them up at once. That's how we beat the tutorial."