Becoming the Dark Lord [LitRPG]

Luke and Charlie stepped into the familiar cave that had become their refuge. He preferred it this way, away from the bustle of the others. It gave Charlie space to move freely without anyone questioning why she never took off her armor.

"Looks like the day's finally here, Charlie. You're getting your Epic Skill," he said, sitting down on the couch.

She brightened up and sat beside Luke on the same couch he'd taken from a house in the Wild Zone. For some reason, every time he sat there, she liked to sit right next to him, staying close.

They opened the notification together. Even Luke felt a flicker of anticipation. On Charlie's interface, the new skill window appeared, but this time, instead of five options like usual, there were only two.

[Echo of Doom (Epic)]: When activated, the Knight becomes shrouded in an aura of pure Doom. This aura continuously inflicts necrotic damage on any enemy that comes into contact with him. While the skill remains active, an enemy marked with [Mark of Doom] takes minor necrotic damage from the mark itself whenever they draw near the Knight. When that enemy's health drops to 5% or lower, the Knight can trigger Doom Explosion, unleashing a devastating burst of necrotic energy.

[Blood Familiar I (Epic)]: The Blood Familiar is a loyal creature bound to a Blood Death Knight, forged from the Knight's own blood through the sacrifice of the [Spectral Soldier]. It shares not only a vital bond with its master but also fragments of the Knight's own power.
(Note: This skill is compatible with [Spectral Soldier]. By sacrificing [Spectral Soldier], the Blood Death Knight can forge a powerful familiar from their own blood, creating a permanent bond through which both master and familiar grow stronger together.)

When they finished reading, silence fell. Two skills. Two very different paths.

Luke thought carefully. The first was straightforward, a combat powerhouse. Pure offense. If Charlie marked an enemy with Mark of Doom, that enemy would take damage just by being near her. And when his health dropped below 5%, she could finish him instantly.

That 5% might sound small, but in a real fight, it could mean the difference between victory and death. What Luke didn't know was whether the skill needed to be active from the start of battle for the final burst to trigger, or if it would work even when the enemy was already near death. The system loved to leave out those details.

The second skill, though, that one was intriguing and vague as hell.

A Blood Familiar? he thought. Does that mean she would actually create a living creature? How the hell does a spell do that?

His gaze flicked back to Echo of Doom. If this were his interface, that was the one he would pick.

Morvat, the orc, had been useful in his own way, a distraction more than a fighter. Luke once even had him clean the cave, and the orc obeyed without question. But in battle, he was limited. If he had chosen differently, maybe something like a raptor mount, it could have been more practical. Still, having a humanoid ally had its advantages. Intelligent, talkative, and most importantly, unexpected. A perfect hidden card against human enemies. Morvat had been less of a soldier and more of a secret weapon.

He turned toward Charlie. "So, which one do you want?"

Charlie lifted her hand and pointed at the screen. Her finger landed on Blood Familiar. He was surprised twice over: first because she actually wanted to choose a skill at all, and second because it was that one.

"So you're really set on that one, huh?" he said.

She nodded firmly, gave him a quick thumbs-up, then pointed at the skill again for emphasis.

"But… why that one?"

She shrugged, showing she didn't really know why. It seemed to be something she just felt instinctively.

"Alright, but the name literally says 'Blood Familiar.'"

He stared at the screen again. If it used the enemy's blood, fine. That would at least make sense.

"Charlie, it mentions blood, but whose blood are we talking about here?" he asked, careful not to sound too pointed about her lack of it.

Maybe it was metaphorical. Like "blood" as in effort, sacrifice, or some symbolic bond. "Forged from one's own blood" could just mean forged through one's own willpower… right?

In strategic terms, Charlie would be with Luke in the main group that was set to face the three final bosses of the tutorial. He would be in charge of killing one with his ultimate arrow, and then there were the other two, the Midnight Lord and the Witch. The main group's epic skills would be used against them. But Charlie was an exception. She wasn't counted as one of the epic skill holders, since in theory everyone believed she was just a familiar. Still, letting the chance to gain such a powerful ability slip by would have been almost insane in a place like that.

Charlie is going to get another epic skill from the Pugilist class, so is letting her invest in this one a good idea?

Still, the first option, Echo of Doom, while strong, wasn't exactly game-changing. It was more of a duelist's skill. Good for one-on-one fights, not a mass slaughter. Something fitting for a knight, really.

"Go ahead, Charlie. It's your call," Luke said finally.

She reached forward and pressed her finger to the glowing window.

[Princess Charlie has acquired the Class Skill: Blood Familiar I]

***

Charlie's new skill came with a catch. Every time she tried to activate it, a notification appeared.

[Requirements to create the Blood Familiar have not yet been met.]

Charlie had been disappointed by the message, but he didn't blame her for the choice. Luke didn't blame her. Everyone made the wrong call with a skill choice at some point, he certainly had.

Maybe it's tied to the evolution of the Spectral Soldier, he thought.

At another time, he might have felt disappointed that the skill couldn't be used right away. But now, it barely mattered. Now he no longer had to deal with everything on his own; he had a group of people who would help him in the final mission. Besides, the other option hadn't been that great anyway. Mark of Doom and Doom Explosion already covered most of what Echo of Doom offered. The only real perk was the instant kill at 5% HP. Not a game changer.

Luke, however, was more interested in something else: the upcoming epic skill from the Pugilist class.

A guttural snarl echoed nearby. Luke lay sprawled across a pile of rubble in the middle of the street, watching the fight unfold. Charlie was down below, moving with brutal precision, fighting barehanded. Her punches cracked the air, her stamina-fueled skills hitting like sledgehammers.

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[Princess Charlie has slain a…]

[Princess Charlie has slain a…]
[Princess Charlie has slain a…]

The notifications just kept coming. After reaching the mandatory class evolution at level 50 as a Death Knight, Charlie had turned into a machine of raw power with so many attribute points.

Then came the sound of boots, fast and synchronized, echoing down the street.

"Hey!" someone shouted. "Is that a Midnight Warden?"

Luke heard the confusion before he saw it. He sat up and stretched, glancing toward the commotion. Night had already fallen. Charlie stood in the street, staring silently at a group of soldiers who were clearly on edge. They had never seen her before, of course they hadn't.

Luke dropped from his perch and landed beside them without a sound.

"Evening," he said.

The soldiers flinched hard. None of them had heard him approach, courtesy of his stealth skill and assassin gear.

"She's with me."

One of them lowered his spear slightly. "You two shouldn't be out here alone. It's dangerous."

Luke followed his gaze. The street was littered with corpses. "Not really."

The group exchanged uncertain looks.

"Well… you must be strong," one of them said carefully.

"Or insane," another muttered.

Luke smiled faintly. "A bit of both."

That earned a few nervous laughs.

"Those monsters have been prowling around since yesterday," one of the soldiers went on. "Heard that guy Luke came through and cleared out an entire block by himself."

"No way," another said, eyes widening. "You mean the Luke? The one who killed Kruger and Bartholomew?"

"Yeah, I heard about him too," said a third. "They say just looking at him is enough to make you piss yourself."

"Oh, that guy," Luke replied casually. "I've heard the stories."

"They say he killed fifty people in one night. Not a single sound."

"Lies," Luke said flatly.

"Yeah, I figured. Bit of an exaggeration."

"It was seventy."

Silence. Three soldiers turned to stare at him.

"I mean…" He cleared his throat. "That's what I heard."

One of them frowned. "I also heard he once melted people alive with acid and laughed while doing it."

Luke thought for a second. "Depends on the situation. Sometimes it's funny."

The spears dipped a little lower. "You're… not him, are you?"

"Me? Of course not. Do I look like a psychopath?"

"Not at all," one of them said quickly, chuckling. "Want an escort to the river?"

"Sure," Luke replied easily.

They started walking together.

"You know," one of the soldiers said, "they call that Luke the Blood Demon. Word is, he showed signs of insanity even in the early stages of the tutorial."

Luke looked toward the horizon, hiding a smirk.

"If there's one thing I can say about that guy," he murmured, "it's that he's definitely insane."

***

Luke and Princess Charlie traveled with the soldiers down the river, the main route cutting through the capital. The troops had their own boat, while Luke and Charlie rowed in theirs, drifting slightly apart from the group. When the soldiers turned toward the city's entrance, Luke stayed behind, steering toward his cave instead.

As he rowed, a familiar shimmer pulsed across his interface.

**The [Pugilist] 2nd Class of Princess Charlie has reached Level 45! (+3 Strength, +2 Endurance, +2 Agility, +2 Vitality, +2 Perception, +2 Intelligence, +2 Free Points.)**

[Princess Charlie has unlocked new Second Class Skill]

The list was long, filled with every skill she had skipped in the past. That's why he didn't choose anything right away. He and Charlie would need to go through each one carefully, judging what might actually prove useful in the coming war. There were mana domes, barrier techniques, attribute buffs, even Magnetic Fist, a skill he'd secretly hoped she'd take back then. Too many options, and all of them tempting.

When they reached the forest, the two continued on foot. From a distance, the river glimmered under torchlight, tents flickering along the shore like fireflies.

Luke was grateful his cave sat a little farther inland, quiet, isolated, untouched. Nobody came to bother him there. It had become his home in the days that followed.

"This'll be your last Pugilist skill," Luke said as they walked side by side.

Once she hit level 50, her class would evolve automatically, and he had no clue what new options would appear. That uncertainty was what made him curious, almost excited, to see what kind of fighter she'd become and what her next Epic Skill might be.

Charlie raised her hand and summoned her [Flame]. A faint, warm light flickered between her fingers.

"You know I don't mind walking in the dark, right?" he said.

But she seemed to enjoy that simple fire, even if she didn't need it.

[Flame (Common)]: The fire of love that burns brightly within you recognizes and answers your call. Through your hands, you can summon a small flame, modest and gentle, useful for lighting campfires, illuminating dark places, and perhaps one day… serving as a weapon against your enemies.

Born from her love of fire, Luke thought. Makes sense she likes using it.

Charlie abruptly closed the skill window.

"What? I was reading that," Luke said.

She shook her head, almost embarrassed.

"Alright, alright. I won't peek," he muttered, scratching the back of his head, more confused than anything.

Artemis's voice echoed in his mind, dry and amused. 'Even if someone drew you a picture, you still wouldn't get it.'

He ignored the comment and turned back to the skill list as they walked. The final challenge would last six hours, and he needed to calculate everything: mana costs, recovery time, cooldowns. Every drop of energy would count. Impulsive casting wasn't an option.

"The good thing is, you've got both mana-based and stamina-based skills," he said, scanning the interface.

She gestured toward her Epic Skill, Blood Familiar, and looked a bit guilty.

"Don't worry about it," Luke said. "That other option was practically the same as Mark of Doom and Doom Explosion. Not a wasted pick. Besides, an Epic Skill like that would drain way too much mana to stay active anyway."

She seemed a little less guilty after that.

"Our trump card will always be Mark of Doom," he reminded her.

[Mark of Doom (Rare)]: Touch a target to apply an invisible seal that increases damage taken by 10%. Marked enemies become prioritized targets, making it easier to focus them down. Ideal for eliminating high-risk threats quickly. The mark remains until it expires or the target leaves your perception range.

Luke yawned, rubbing his eyes as they walked. The fatigue hit him all at once.

Three days without sleep. Yeah… that's starting to hurt.

Sleep was essential, even with passive stamina regeneration. The longer one stayed awake, the slower both mana and stamina refilled. His body might have been enhanced beyond human limits, but it was still mortal. Without food, water, or rest, he'd eventually feel it and die like anyone else.

"Charlie, I'm putting you inside my soul for now, alright?"

She nodded in agreement. For her, that was the closest thing to sleeping.

Luke picked up speed, sprinting toward his cave, using Dash to cover the distance faster. As he ran, he scrolled through Charlie's system interface, studying the long list of old Pugilist skills she'd passed up before, over thirty in total.

He read each one carefully as the cave came into view.

"Shame they're all old skills," he muttered, skimming to the end. Then he stopped. "Wait, no. There's a new one."

It had "Basic" in the title, so he'd almost overlooked it.

Weird. An ultra-rare skill labeled as basic?

He tapped it open. His eyes widened.

"What the…" He nearly tripped over a root, slamming to a halt just short of a tree.

Is this for real?

The name alone was enough to make him blink twice.

A Pugilist can awaken something like this? That's insane.

Every instinct told him to pull Charlie out of his soul immediately and test it, but he forced himself to calm down. Her mana reserves were still low, and if he looked too excited, she'd know he wanted her to choose it. He wanted the decision to be hers.

Still, the thought lingered. This power's incredible. She has to pick it.

As he neared the cave, lights flickered near the entrance. A group of soldiers stood there, and among them was Allison.

"I've been waiting for you," she said.

Luke sighed, closing Charlie's interface with reluctant fingers, his excitement fading into quiet frustration.

"We need to discuss war strategy," Allison continued.

"Figured as much," he replied.

And just like that, he had to let go of that skill, for now at least.