The Liberomancer [Isekai Progression LitRPG]

Several months earlier…

Silas could only curse his luck. He had only managed to make his way into the capital of Meloukas in the first place by having a friend of his smuggle him under a cart, while that friend caused a commotion at the front gates, letting Silas slip past security.

Otherwise, he would have no doubt triggered the guards' [Demonic Detector] ability.

Now though, the merchant caravan had left the city two weeks ago, and he had been left stranded in the city. His friend had been unable to pull off the same trick twice, and so Silas was on his own when it came to finding a way out.

If he didn't find a way out he would be eventually discovered and captured.

After searching, he had found a way out of the city… only it was not quite the kind of route he wanted to go down.

The city was surrounded entirely by a wall, which as per his knowledge, had no gaps or crevices from where he could sneak out. But there was a rudimentary sewage system, and at this specific point in the wall there was a place where there was a gap just large enough for a man of his build to slip through on towards the other side.

It must've been used for purposes of cleaning or the like given how he found out about it in the first place by eavesdropping on some sewage workers - but that was all just nonsense Silas was trying to think about to avoid thinking too hard about what he was going to do.

Taking a deep breath, he crawled under one of the narrow gaps under the slabs leading into the sewage network.

He nearly gagged immediately at the smell, which seemed to find its way past the wisps of cotton he had tried to stuff into his nostrils in a vain attempt to stop it, though this only lead to him breathing through his mouth…

…meaning he could almost taste some of it.

It was dark, but he had [Night Vision] and was able to, after what felt like an eternity, find the gap he was looking for on the other side and squeeze out of it, finally able to breathe the fresh air of the outside.

No doubt he reeked - and Silas was not normally squeamish or prude - but he did like to keep himself clean if possible. If nothing else, looking like some kind of mutant sewer monster was not very conducive to keeping a low profile.

It was still late into the night and he found himself a nearby stream to submerge himself in, trying his hardest to get rid of the grime that seemed to be eager to cling onto him despite his best efforts.

Though, he only did so after he had made sure what he had brought along with him was safe.

The sun was about to rise once he was done and he needed to get moving, whether he still smelled or not.

There were villages nearby, but he couldn't stay in one of those.

If they discovered he was a Liberomancer, all sorts of questions would naturally arise, which he would not be able to answer. He was not originally from Meloukas either, and his differing facial features alone would've been more than enough to invite a round of questions that he would like to avoid.

Instead he walked for several hours deep into the wilderness until he happened upon the den of a pair of wolves.

Two applications of [Crimson Lance] made swift work of the parents, and as for the cubs, he did not need to waste mana in dealing with them.

Silas was only a Rank One Liberomancer, but [Crimson Lance] carried more than enough offensive power to get him out of nearly any situation he could not evade.

To write it, one had to kill another person with the help of a spear or other lance-like weapon and then use their blood as ink and their skin as paper for the grimoire. Silas had slain a prison guard in another country in order to write the grimoire at the time.

There were other demonic grimoires, like [Dark Hand] that required the victim to be killed by manual throttling, but given his small frame such a task would not have suited someone like Silas.

Some of the demonic grimoires had specific people that needed to be killed in order to make them - many of the Rank Two demonic grimoires required the slaughter of family members. However, Silas had no family, so even if he was able to get to Rank Two one day, he would not be able to make such a grimoire.

Still, even a Rank One demonic spell carried nearly as much offensive power as a Rank Three grimoire in certain scenarios, especially in his line of work.

Once he was sure his hiding place was secure, it was time.

He placed a hand to his chest. "Master… I have something to report."

He got no answer, but he knew that his master would not answer his beck and call like a common street dog.

It was as night fell, and after he had gorged himself on soft and tender wolf cub meat, that the shadows in the cave intensified.

Something in his heart roared - after all, his heart was not his and his alone anymore.

He had given his heart to the Spirit of Darkness many years ago - back when he had not been known by the name of Silas.

He couldn't even remember what his original name had been before he had been given that name - he had gone by so many aliases over the years that all of them had a way of blending into each other. He thought his birth name started with R but he wasn't entirely sure even about something as simple as that.

He prostrated himself. "Master, I have news to report."

He took out what he had carried out of the capital - a grimoire which he had been carrying in a waterproof wine skin, so that the journey through the sewers had not tainted it whatsoever.

Silas did not have a translating device, but he knew what the title said - Sonnet 95. "I found this, and thought the lettering was similar to what we were looking for, Master."

The Spirit of Darkness answered him. "Indeed it is. It has been so long, and yet, I still recognize this language as if I had just seen it yesterday."

Elation rose within Silas's heart - this meant that all the difficulties he had gone through, including that dive through the sewer, had not been in vain! "So this is truly a language from another world?!"

"Yes it is," the Spirit of Darkness said. "Did you find out where this grimoire came from?"

"Arconia, a city within Chipker," Silas said. "The man who was selling this did not know much beyond that."

There was a sudden flare of the shadows in the cave, as if something had angered the Spirit of Darkness. "I should have known…"

"What happened?" Silas asked.

"Two of our agents within Arconia were killed," the Darkness replied. "And I have no others within Chipker at the moment."

The Blood-Emperor was not the first human to give his heart to the Spirit of Darkness in exchange for power, nor would he be the last.

The Spirit of Darkness had a wide network of such people all across the continent, most of them who were demonic Liberomancers, though not all.

Silas's 'friend' who had helped him get into the capital in the first place had been one such person.

"I have a new mission for you then," the Spirit of Darkness said. "I will attempt to induce a dryad force to deviate from their original course and invade Chipker instead. If we are lucky, they will kill the Otherworlder." The sacrifice of many innocent human and lizardmen lives was acceptable to him if it would guarantee the death of the Otherworlder. "I do not know how strong he is, however, and in the event that he survives I want you to go down there and kill him."

The journey to Chipker would be long given that Silas had to go on foot and avoid the busiest roads most of the way, but the impending dryad invasion would also keep them busy while Silas made his move.

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"Understood," Silas said. "Your word is my command, Lord."

For Silas, there was no greater joy than serving the Spirit of Darkness. The worshippers of Serragnin - that witch (he refused to think of her as a goddess) who had brought much misery to the world; worshipped a false idol.

There were numerous stories of the Spirit of Darkness and Serragnin clashing against each other, though in all of them Serragnin always came on top.

Silas, however, knew a truth that most of the world either did not or refused to believe. That ultimately, it had been the Spirit of Darkness who had the last laugh - his master had defeated and destroyed Serragnin. Stories of her 'ascending to a higher plane' were just attempts to explain away her absence from the world passed down by her followers who had not wanted to accept the truth of what had really happened to her.

How did Silas know this when most of the world didn't? The Spirit of Darkness had told him so - and while someone else in Silas's place might've doubted such a tale, given that in its current state, the Spirit of Darkness would struggle to even kill a human infant directly, let alone a Rank Six Liberomancer. There was a reason that Silas had to come here to communicate with his Master after all - there were still those in the world who might be capable of harming him.

Silas could make up reasons as to how it was possible himself - perhaps killing Serragnin had weakened his master to this extent, or his master had done so indirectly much as he had orchestrated the Ruler of the Astral Winds' demise.

"Another agent of mine works within the University of Hitutsa - when you get there, you can rely on him to help you," the Spirit of Darkness said. "Tell him - 'The mountains contain the dangers of rock slides' to which he will answer 'And yet the oceans contain the bounty of piles of fish.' His name is Xin Wu."

Silas bowed even lower, inscribing those two phrases within his heart.

Although their master, the Darkness, knew all who had given their hearts to him, they, his faithful servants, could not recognize each other without resorting to such tactics. Their master could not be called upon for casual reasons such as confirming identities, and there was also the fact that such things had to be done in utmost secrecy to protect both the Spirit of Darkness and his followers.

Silas was eager to set out once he felt his master's presence vanish.

He would not fail in this endeavor.

That Otherworlder's days were numbered!

Stefan's current repertoire of grimoires:

Rank One

1. A demonic grimoire that grants the spell [Crimson Lance], a powerful offensive demonic spell that can penetrate most defensive spells and skills while striking a single target, and also causes the target to hemorrhage blood after being struck - an effect which is very difficult to treat even with healing magic unless it is Rank Three or higher (this does not apply if the target has no blood, e.g., an inanimate object like a door)

2. Sonnet 95 which gives +1 mana

3. An essay on the properties of water that grants the spell [Create Water]

4. An essay on fire that grants the spell [Create Flame]

5. A short summary of the major organ systems of the human body that grants the spell [Soothe Wounds], a weak healing spell

6. An essay on basic geometry that grants +1 mana

7. A poem Rose had written about Cheddar that gives +1 to Luck

8. An essay on probability, that gives +1 mana

9. An essay on poker that gives +1 to Luck

10. An essay on dice games and gambling that gives +1 to Luck

11. A grimoire from Rob that gives the passive skill [Minor Poison Resistance]

12. A poem Stefan had written back in high school on how much he loved drinking coffee, which gives +1 to Resistance

13. A description of America's political system that gives +1 to Wisdom

14. A poem he had gotten from Rose that gave +1 mana (He had exchanged Sonnet 95 with her to get this)

15. A manual from Stella that that gave +1 mana

16. A description of how soap was made and worked, that gave the [Clean] spell

17. An essay on various properties of triangles that gave +1 mana

18. A grimoire written by a lizardman whose text was mirrored and gives [Mirrored Slot]. This slot also give +1 to mana (the same effect as the slot before it)

19. A grimoire he had gotten from one of his other coworkers that gives +1 to Charisma

20. An essay on how the stock market worked that gives +1 to Luck

21. A brief history of Egypt that gives +1 to Resistance

22. A grimoire that gives [Summoning Extender - Rank One] which increases the duration all summons can be active by an additional one hour

23. A description of Lanchester's Law that gives +1 to Wisdom

24. A description of how ranged weapons had evolved from the common bow and arrow to the modern gun that gives +1 to Attack

25. A short essay regarding the sea that gives the [Poissonnier] passive ability

26. A description of how modern banks worked that gives +1 to Luck

27. A summary of The Wizard of Oz that granted [Wizard's Blessing], a passive ability that lets one cast one spell a day free of its mana cost

28. A grimoire that gives [Summon Red Fox] which allows one to summon a Red Fox once in twenty-four hours. Rank One summons can stay for up to 3 hours or until they are killed. A Liberomancer can normally use a summoning skill of each Rank once every twenty-four hours, but cannot activate two of them at the same time or have two different summons active simultaneously without additional skills.

29. A grimoire written on scented paper that grants the spell [Fragrance]

30. A grimoire of jokes that gives +1 to Luck

Rank Two

1. A grimoire written with invisible ink that grants the spell [Invisibility]

2. A grimoire which Stefan had purchased with granted the spell [Fireball]

3. A grimoire given to him as a prize for winning second place in a tournament that gives the passive skill [Regeneration] which allowed one to slowly regenerate wounds and even lost limbs (though limbs can take weeks to fully grow back)

4. A grimoire on human biology that gives the [Mend Injury] spell

5. A grimoire he had purchased that gives +1 to Wisdom

6. A grimoire on forensics that gives the [Unobstructed Sight] passive ability

7. A grimoire he had purchased that gives +1 mana

8. A section of Romeo & Juliet that gives +1 mana

9. A grimoire he had traded for that gives +1 to Attack

10. Another grimoire he had traded for that gives +1 to Resistance

11. A short biography of Mahatma Gandhi that gives +1 to Wisdom

12. A grimoire on game theory that gives +1 to Luck

13. A grimoire on stock trading that gives +1 to Luck

14. A grimoire he had purchased that gives the [Miracle Save] ability - once every 24 hours, an attack that would kill the user would instead drop them to a sliver of health

15. A grimoire on the Elephant Frog that gives the [Summon Elephant Frog] skill. Rank Two summons can exist for up to six hours or until they are killed.

16. A grimoire describing the Spirit Festival that gives +1 mana

17. An essay on some points about sailing that gives the [Water Lungs] skill, letting one breathe underwater for up to one hour total each day

18. A grimoire from one of his coworkers that gives +1 mana

19. A grimoire from my coworkers that gives +1 to Attack

20. A grimoire from my coworkers that gives +1 to Speed

21. A grimoire from Lauren's shop that gives the [Paper Armor] passive ability - every 24 hours it would completely negate the damage done by the first attack that struck the user

22. A grimoire that gives [Summon Bear]

23. The grimoire Lauren left for him personally that gave +1 to Charisma

24. A grimoire Mark gave him upon termination of his employment which granted the passive skill [Longshot] which increased the range of all spells by ten percent

25. A short summary of points about the Elephant Frog that gives +1 to Luck

26. A grimoire that gives [Second Summon - Rank Two] giving the user a second use of a Rank Two summoning skill in twenty-four hours, though both summons cannot exist simultaneously without another skill that would allow this to happen, nor does this allow one to bring back a summon if it had been killed

27. A grimoire that gives the spell [Fish Haul] that can generate an amount of fish whose quantity is influence by one's Luck stat. Synergizes with [Poissonnier] as the nutritional value and taste of said fish can be increased, else they taste like garbage and have very little nutritional value.

28. A description of the basics of trigonometry which gives +1 to mana

29. An description of how islands were formed from underwater volcanos, that gave +1 to Wisdom

30. A grimoire gifted to him by Lauren which gives [Summoning Extender - Rank Two] which increases the duration that all summons can be active by an additional two hours

Rank Three

1. Charlotte's Web which grants the skill [Summon Tyrant Arachnea]. Rank Three summons can exist in the world for up to nine hours

2. The plot of Sharknado which grants the spell [Shark Tornado], a mixed wind and water elemental spell whose effect is greatly reduced if not used over water

3. Hei Nan's grimoire which grants the spell [Grand Fireball], a powerful area-of-effect fire elemental spell that synergizes well with [Summon Tyrant Arachnea]

Stefan's stats boost list (he doesn't know his base stats as of yet except for mana but they will be updated when available):

Mana: 1 + 12 = 13 total [Arguably the most important stat. Needed for reading and writing grimoires as well as casting spells. Rank 1 spells consume one mana point, Rank 2 two mana points, and so on at base. Liberomancers recover 100% of their mana pool completely within roughly slightly under four hours, meaning those with larger mana pools also recover more mana quickly. Mana potions do not exist in this world.]

Attack: +2 [Attack influences spell damage as well as some other traits depending on the spell - fire and dark elemental spells in particular have their range and area of effect (where applicable) increased by Attack]

Luck: +9 [Luck has a wide variety of effects on the chances of certain spells being successful and the activation of certain chance-based skills, for example, the amount of fish created by [Fish Haul] as well as their nutritional value can be increased by increasing one's Luck.]

Charisma: +2 [Like Luck influences the outcome of certain spells - light and ice elemental spells in particular have their damage, area of effect (where applicable), and range improved with Charisma.]

Speed: +1 [Influences various spells - both lightning and wind elemental spells in particular have their damage, area of effect (where applicable), and range improved with Speed].

Wisdom: +5 [Influences various spells - both earth and water elemental spells in particular have their damage, area of effect (where applicable), and range improved with Wisdom].

Notable Spells & Skills In Stefan's Repertoire:

Spells: Rank 3 [Grand Fireball], Rank 3 [Shark Tornado], Rank 2 [Invisibility], Rank 2 [Fish Haul], Rank 2 [Fireball], Rank 2 [Mend Injury], Rank 1 [Create Water], Rank 1 [Create Flame], Rank 1 [Crimson Lance (Demonic)]

Skills: Rank 3 [Summon Tyrant Arachnea], Rank 2 [Double Summon], Rank 2 [Summon Bear], Rank 2 [Summon Elephant Frog], Rank 2 [Unobstructed Sight], Rank 2 [Paper Armor], Rank 2 [Second Summon - Rank Two], Rank 2 [Summoner Extender - Rank Two], Rank 1 [Summon Fox], Rank 1 [Summoner Extender - Rank One]