Ark

ACT 1 Deimos’ Profession?

Usually the undead is formed because of a strong grudge or a curse. These are the sources of their power, making them jealous of the living. The undead cannot live anywhere because of that hostility. Unfortunately, Deimos’ evolution wasn’t completed because of the roughly assembled body made of cheap bones. But now it can be exchanged for 208 bones and the ‘Perfect Skull.’

Now that all the parts are fused together and is optimized to fit the body, Deimos will get a chance for a new evolution.

‘Roughly assembled? Cheap bones?’

Ark’s face distorted oddly.There was the old saying that said people should not bite at sore fingers. Ark also felt that way about his pets. He had lovingly cared for his pets. He gave them good food and built them a body. Educated them and treated them like his children…….

But even though he treated them well, his children didn’t act the same way. As the parent, he put a lot of affection into raising his children. Although Dedric was a little careless, he was a cunning fellow with a strong survival instinct from his childhood as a bat. Radun was always wound around his waist and never caused trouble. On the other hand, Deimos was just a skull when they met for the first time. He had no skills except for rolling around. Didn’t he used to be thrown at monsters in order to deal some damage? Ark was the one who made him a complete skeleton body. Of course it was no easy task. He had to memorize a book JusticeMan lent him on the human body for several nights. But was that all? He looked through hundreds and thousands of skeleton bones  for pieces that would fit together like a jigsaw puzzle in order to create Deimos. Deimos was truly Ark’s creation.

‘Has any other summoner suffered so much in order to raise their summon? But it is not all bad. I’m filled with a sense of pride when I look at what I created.’

He secretly felt proud whenever he looked at Deimos. But now he had to suffer through the disgrace of his hard work being called a loosely assembled body? He felt furious at an information window for the first time. No, it wasn’t just the information window. Even though Ark made it with difficulty, Deimos didn’t like it and decided to just get rid of it using Bone Collecting? To the extent that he completely changed 208 bones? He had accepted it since changing the bones meant raising his stats, but now Ark completely felt betrayed.

“Deimos, it’s good that you might evolve……but were you so miserable that you had to change all the bones?”

“Oh, have you finally realised Master?”

Dedric sensed the mood and teased as he approached Ark.

“I told you so from the beginning. From the very first, this guy did not like the body that Master endured so much suffering to make. In order to obtain a stronger body, he was pretending to like it while patronizing you. He is that type of guy, a cunning child! Although he appears outwardly loyal to Master, you really can’t trust the undead. Don’t you know they only think about bones?”

Dedric smiled as he continued bad-mouthing Deimos.

“I didn’t want to mention this, but do you know how many times I’ve heard him swearing at Master?”

Clack clack? Clack clack clack clack!

Deimos was astounded and rushed towards Dedric. However, Dedric expected it and quickly hid behind Ark.

“Look at this, he’s revealing his true colours! He’s trying to cover up the truth! He said that Master was a tyrant who treated us like trash……cough, M-Master?”

“This child, did you think it was settled?”

Ark grabbed Dedric by the neck who immediately screamed.

“C-choking! Why are you doing this? I’m just repeating what that skeleton said!”

“Do you think I’m a fool? If you want then I’ll really throw you in a body bag and use you as dog trash!”

“Eh? Is that so?”

Dedric became frightened and avoided Ark’s eyes.

“Hey, why are you scared? I just gave you an example.”

“Oh, really?”

“You’re not angry? Master’s heart is like the sea. It is spacious.”

“No, I am a stingy tyrant who treats you like trash.”

“…..Master, you knew?”

Dedric faked a pitiful expression.

However, Ark just nodded with a cold look.

“I know very well.”

“Dammit, whatever! I’m free to say whatever I like so just get it over with!”

Dedric desperately lay on the floor and closed his eyes. There was no need to bother describing what happened afterwards. When Ark showed an upset countenance, Dedric immediately took the chance to drive a wedge between Ark and Deimos and was punished for it.

Ssak ssak ssak ssak! Clack clack clack clack!

Ark was also Radun’s dad (?). Radun became upset at Dedric’s words and stepped all over his feet. In addition, Deimos also smacked him with his shield before he evolved. Thanks to Ark and the two summons, Dedric was crushed in a matter of seconds.

“Waaaah, okay, I’m the bad guy.”

Once Dedric was in a critical condition with tears dripping down his face, he huddled in a corner and shouted.

“Bah, Deimos, you hit me as well? Are you already acting so arrogantly before you even evolved? Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll see in the future! I’ll soon evolve into a great pet. When the time comes, neither you or Master will be able to treat me like this!”

“At any rate, that guy……”

Ark smiled sourly and shook his head. So far, Dedric’s abilities have never been lower than Deimos’. Since he evolved first and was punished more often, he ended up eating more new dishes than Deimos.  Thus he was always ahead. But now the situation would be reversed when Deimos evolved. Dedric didn’t like this. Dedric was cunning but that was his limit. So his behaviour was understandable.

“Well, he has to evolve anyway.”

Ark stared at Deimos.

Since it had come out of nowhere, it still hadn’t sunk in. In fact, Ark thought that the evolution of pets was only available through a Magic Sword. It was the reason he often browsed the auction site for Magic Swords. If he could evolve his pets then he considered buying it. As his pets were important, Ark was determined to evolve them.

‘But I never imagined that he could evolve in such an unexpected way…… Will he evolve into something different from the Magic Sword? Or did he have to evolve first using Magic Sword before evolving through different methods? Will it also depend on the pet’s stats, skills or alignment?’

He was unsure about what would happen. It was one of the bad things about hidden professions.  A hidden profession was different from normal classes. All information related to that profession was unknown and had to be discovered first hand. Ark had no choice but to play it and learn. This was particularly true in regards to his summons. Of course, New World had other professions with the ability to summon.The main professions were necromancers or shamans. Initially, Ark looked at their information as well. However, both professions were completely different from Ark and his summons. For a necromancers, summons were just like disposable items for them. They could summon a large amount but once the duration was over then they disappeared. The concept of growing their summons didn’t exist. By growth, he meant raising their skills and stats.

For a shaman, they were similar to Ark in that they summoned a spirit and raised it. However, the spirit grew when the user’s related skill grew. In other words, if the shaman’s summoning skill reached intermediate then their spirit would also become intermediate. So the information on necromancers and shamans weren’t useful for Ark at all. Anyway, Ark’s profession was not focused on summoning. So the Dark Walker’s complex pet system felt like a significant penalty. But he soon saw that there was some merit to it.

‘I thought it was natural to give my pets battle training…….’

That wasn’t the actual case. The necromancer’s and shaman’s summons had no will of their own. If their master didn’t give a command then they wouldn’t move.  When their stats rose, they could learn a few simple patterns. But they couldn’t participate in a battle on their own like Dedric and Deimos. In addition, using food to raise stats did not work.

‘Their ability to grow and think is also an advantage.’

Ark laughed as he looked at Dedric still complaining.  It was also a busy atmosphere. At first he found it quite annoying, but now he couldn’t imagine playing New World without his summons there. Spending a few days and nights soloing was also possible because of his pets.

‘Ah, now is not the time to be thinking of these things.’

He had become distracted because of Dedric. Ark shook his head and looked at the information window again. The question about whether to evolve was flickering in front of him.

“Since I don’t know what will happen anyway, Evolution!”

Deimos was finally going to proceed with his second evolution……that was his thought. But New World wasn’t that simple. When the information window disappeared, a huge disk appeared in front of Ark. It was a giant roulette wheel made of bone that was divided into colours, with one single finger bone attached at the top as a pointer.

“What is this?”

Ark was perplexed as another information window appeared.

At present, Deimos’ bones is composed of 32% warrior, 27% thieves, 8% magicians, 15% undead and 18% other things. The number of professions he can evolve to is 17 types. However, the player won’t be able to choose the occupation of the summon. The great power who watched over the Netherworld will choose the most suitable profession for Deimos depending on his stats and alignment.

“What, what the? He can evolve into 17 different types of professions?”

Ark muttered with a silly expression. When they evolved using the Magic Sword, they received the profession of the former owner. But now there was no owner of the magic sword to give a profession. Instead, the profession was gathered from the bones. Thanks to that, Deimos had the opportunity to change into many different types of professions. Indeed, there were the names of professions written on different sections of the roulette disk.

“This means that he can change professions into one of these?”

Ta da da da da!

Then before Ark could read the names written on the roulette, there was a strange sound and it spun around. The roulette gradually slowed until it landed on one point. The roulette board was divided into small and large spaces, and it had landed on the most spacious part. The problem was that there was no name written on that portion.

“Why did nothing happen?”

Ark became anxious.

Pepepepeng!

Deimos suddenly wobbled and kneeled down after the noise. At the same time, a message window appeared in front of Ark.

<Unfortunately, a ‘Fail’ has appeared. As a penalty, Deimos will permanently lose 200 health. All stats are destroyed by 10. There is 3 evolution opportunities given every 20 minutes. If all 3 attempts fail, the evolution will end and he will receive an additional penalty. However, there is no penalty if you cancel the evolution>

“Huk, what it this?”

Ark stared in astonishment at the information window before looking at Deimos. Just like the message said, he had his health and stats decreased.

‘Dammit, what is the great power who watches over the Netherworld? Isn’t this just luck? Is Luck the true identity of the Netherworld’s great power?’

Before he could even understand the situation, he had lost some stats painstakingly gained through meals and bone collection. Fury rose in his throat but he pushed it down and endured it for the moment. Although he couldn’t tolerate it, what could he do?

“Fortunately there are 3 chances to evolve. If it fails then the opportunity to evolve will completely disappear and a penalty will be received….!”

“There’s still 2 chances. No, is this the second time?”

Ark repressed his anger and looked at the roulette. If was necessary for him to understand the situation. He could choose a profession. And obviously it had to suit Ark’s profession. Even if he couldn’t select the job, he could still examine the options and decide which one suits Deimos the most. The roulette wheel had many types of professions scratched on its bones. Skeleton Captain, Immortal Skeleton, Skeleton soldier…….occupations associated with warriors, magicians and thieves were all present.

“It is quite vague……”

Ark scratched his head as he looked at it. It was difficult to choose a profession. Ark’s level and stats were considerably higher compared to Dedric and Deimos. Dedric had the ability to fly so he could avoid a monster’s attack if he kept to a reasonable distance. But Deimos’ position was different. He didn’t have the ability to fly like Dedric, nor was he clever. Yet he inevitably ended up fighting monsters head on. Even so, Deimos was capable to keeping up thanks to his knight profession. His defense and health increased and he could block using the shield. No, there was no particular way to utilize him right now. No matter how high his defense became, it wasn’t possible for him to fight head on with higher level monsters.

‘If I look at Deimos’ overall stats then a warrior or knight profession would add that much. Even if he gained more health and defense thanks to the evolution, the level of the monsters is so high that it wouldn’t be enough. The skills associated with warriors are difficult but……..’

Becoming a warrior was still relatively good. The problem would be serious if it landed on a thief profession. Thieves needed to be surprisingly clever. If Deimos switched to a thief then he would be in danger all the time. A magician profession was also impossible. Deimos’ intelligence was so low that he might not be able to learn magic and he didn’t have enough mana to use it. Naturally magic ate up a lot of mana. A magician with 7,000 mana would run out in one battle.  As a new magician, Deimos wouldn’t be able to use those skills or be of any benefit to Ark.

‘In addition, a thief and magician has no defense. With the level difference, he wouldn’t even last one or two hits before being forcefully recalled. When that happens, I will receive half of his health as damage. His evolution might make a battle even more difficult.’

While thinking about it, Ark came to the conclusion that a warrior or knight was the best option.

‘If he becomes a warrior then his stats will become much higher and I’ll be able to utilize him more.’

But the problem was the number of choices. It was at that time. Ark sighed before a surprising profession caught his eye. The job accounted for 2% of the total roulette.

“Huk, that’s…….Death Knight!”

Ark’s mouth dropped open. He had never directly seen a Death Knight in New World yet.  However, of course he knew the name Death Knight. It was the strongest among the undead in all online games, a knight wearing dark armour. The Death Knight!

‘As expected from something that relies on luck……it is right next to the ‘Fail.’ This is it. The target to win. A smaller assigned space meant a rarer profession. With the bonus stats from evolution, this clearly is the best possible choice for Deimos! With the proper armour then he could fully utilize my pets!

Ark clenched his fists.

Ta da da da da!

The roulette began to turn.

This time Ark was not confused. He had no choice but to pray that it would land on the Death Knight.

“Please…..Please……Land on it, Death Knight!”

Ark looked like a man holding a lottery ticket as he stared at the roulette wheel. After some time passed, the roulette gradually slowed down.

Bump, bump, the roulette wheel reached the Death Knight area and advanced past…..it did not stop at the last moment.

‘God dammit……..!’

The chosen profession is ‘Skeleton Merchant.’

This is a very unique profession as the ‘Skeleton Merchant’ can trade goods with villages and monsters.  He will also become more discerning about the various bones and leather used to make new items. However, the pet cannot carry the items directly. Since the Skeleton Merchant cannot deal directly with merchants, it can assist the user with making the various calculations on profit and loss. And the undead cannot trade with hostile NPCs.

<If you choose to cancel the evolution, a penalty will be applied and you can try again>

A Skeleton Merchant…..It was definitely a ridiculous profession.  In addition, the merchant could not hold its own goods. Ark would have to store it and listen to him while trying to calculate a price while trading in stores. How was he supposed to do that? If Deimos became a merchant, wasn’t it just like carrying around a portable calculator?

“I would rather have him not evolve!”

Ark would rather have him not evolve then become a merchant!

Ark cancelled the evolution without even considering. There was another boom and Deimos stumbled again.

“Dammit, one by one……is it going to end up like this?”

Tears gathered as once again Deimos’ stats and health were cut. No wonder so many rewards were given at the same time. This could mean the difference between a crisis and an opportunity. After 2 failures, Deimos had permanently lost 400 health and 20 points on all stats. A fortnight? A month? All the stats he raised with great difficulty was gone in over 10 minutes.

‘There is one chance left. What if the merchant profession appears again?’

His stats would once again be cut. The worst result! He would’ve discarded a bunch of stats for nothing.

‘If I give up the evolution here then I’ll be able to keep the remaining stats.’

But he couldn’t regain the stats already lost. In addition, he had just obtained the long-awaited opportunity to evolve. Since it was so valuable, he might suffer a bigger loss if he gave up.

‘And to give up the chance to evolve into a Death Knight……’

It was a huge dilemma. Was this how people who gambled felt like?

A cold sweat started forming on Ark’s forehead. Ark wasted time while hesitating. Dedric had been watching from afar and he finally walked closer and mumbled.

“I told you.  As an undead, that fellow has no luck.  Do you think that an undead has any luck? Lucky would only look good on a noble vampire like me.” 암.”

“You really are…..!”

“Ah, no, I was just talking.”‘

When Ark glared at Dedric, he became surprised and immediately closed his mouth. Although anger swelled up inside Ark, there was no time to punish Dedric. 4 minutes had already passed. During the remaining 16 minutes, he had to decide whether to give up or gamble again. But Ark’s heart had already made a decision.

‘This opportunity is too good to give up.’

If he knew all the information then he might’ve given up before spinning the roulette wheel. But he had already begun. He had to continue to the end.

‘Who is to blame?  If the stats are cut again then I’ll just feed him food.”

Ark closed his eyes tightly and made the decision to turn the roulette. Then, all of a sudden Dedric’s words struck his frontal lobe.

‘Wait? Luck? Deimos’ luck?’

After receiving a shock, Ark’s frontal lobe began to actively work. Ark had thought the results of turning the wheel was due to luck. However, this place was a game. And coincidences don’t exist in games.

‘Yes, that’s it!’

Ark’s eyes brightened. These days Ark was exceptionally lucky and found good items. But looking back, there was an explanation for this. He had received the ‘Sacred Branch’ from Popo. The option was especially worth noting, with an extra +30 to luck and a +20% chance of finding magic items. Ark had received it before Nagaran and then forgotten about the effects. Then the effect came into play in the Netherworld. Yes, monsters dropping items depended on the results of numerical calculations. And the thing that could be applied in this situation was the…..luck stat!

“Character Information Window!”

Cat Paws (Gloves): Attack Speed +10%, Agility +15, Critical Hit +10%

Raccoons Pith (Helmet): Agility + 10, Wisdom + 10

*<King> Set effect: Strength + 10, Agility + 10, Stamina +10, Defense +20

Warrior’s Transcripts (Shoulder Blades): Strength + 3

Wind Spirit’s Boots (Shoes): Agility + 30, Movement Speed +30%, Attack Speed +10%, ‘Slide’ available

Galgashi’s Fur (Mantle): Cold resistance +100%, Agility +20, When health is less than 50%, ‘Magic Protection’ automatically activates.

Adelaine’s Necklace (Necklace): Defense + 40, Affection +10, ‘Blessing of the Sea’ available

Resurrecting Spirit (Ring): Strength + 5, Mana recovery + 5%

Mind’s Eye (Ring): ‘Mind’s Eye’ enabled

Amulet of Vitality (Bracelet): Health + 50, Health recovers by 5 every 20 seconds

Gladiator’s Honour (Bracelet): Strength, Agility, Stamina +10, Fame +500, Sword-based Skill Growth +5%

* You have the ability to hide in the darkness (20 minutes duration. Cancelled when you get into combat)

* Resistance to Fear, Darkness, Blind, and Seduction spells is increased by 50%.

* You can bring out the true abilities from all types of tools.

* Shock absorption is increased by 20%.

* Poison resistance has increased by 50%.

* 10% increased attack and defense

Ark’s luck was currently 103….

With the effects of Sacred Branch, it was 133. However, all his stats increased by 40% thanks to the dark attribute bonus. In other words, the final value was 186. It’s quite high compared to other games where the luck stat was generally low.

‘It is too weird. My luck is 186, yet first I received the ‘Fail’ option and the next time it landed on a useless profession for me? If so, my luck isn’t applied to this roulette wheel.’

Then the answer was that Deimos’ luck stat was applied to the roulette wheel! He opened the information window and saw that Deimos only had 26 luck. In fact, when he first evolved Deimos had 50 stat. But when he used bone collecting, stats like strength and agility went up while luck fell. Ark hadn’t really cared about the luck stat. No, he had welcomed it when Deimos’ strength and agility went up. Therefore he was caught off guard by this situation.

‘Dedric’s complaints are sometimes useful.’

If Dedric had not mentioned it, he never would’ve thought of the undead’s luck.

‘The waiting time for the roulette is 20 minutes. I had wondered why it required waiting time…..but it turns out to be needed. It is for a skill that can change the rules of the game! If there was 20 minutes available, wasn’t there time to change the rules?  Anyway, once I know the problem then solving it isn’t difficult!’

Ark’s face, which had begun to look despairing, brightened.

“There is no time. Survival cooking recipe list!”

A list containing hundreds of different recipes appeared in front of Ark. The remaining time was 14 minutes. Ark used filters to get rid of the unnecessary dishes. There were approximately 40 dishes that gave a ‘lucky’ effect. But he could only make 5 at the moment.

‘Creating 5 dishes can boost the luck by 60. With Deimos’ current luck, he would have 86 at most. But there is only a 2% probability of landing on Death Knight. Damn, if I knew that luck was this important then I would’ve packed extra ingredients to raise it……’

It was too late to feel regretful.

‘There might be a way to raise the luck above 86.’

Ark took out all his ingredients and made a dish. He paid attention to the pot’s thermostat and added expensive spices. Then a brilliant light exploded from the pot and a stunning dish was created.

The pancakes decorated with four-leaf clovers have been cooked well and symbolizes good fortune. Because of the decoration, eating the pancakes will make you feel more lucky. Although it is a relatively simple dish, your sincerity has create an a la carte dish.

<Recovers 400 health over 3 minutes. Luck +15 for 1 hour>

<A la carte bonus: 200 health recovered. Luck +10>

‘That’s it!”

That’s what Ark was aiming for. A la carte dishes provided extra bonuses through sincerity! It wasn’t easy to receive the ‘A la carte’ or ‘Miracle Nursing’ effects. But now it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that life or death rested on the luck stat. The brain scanning unit detected this and he was able to create an ‘A la carte’ dish.

“What is this? Ah ha, have you finally realized that you treated me poorly? Huhuhu, it isn’t necessary for you to cook for me…..well, I did receive some unfair treatment. Since it’s already made, I’ll eat it well.”

Dedric approached after smelling the fragrant dish.

“Don’t be annoying and go away!”

Ark kicked Dedric aside and fed the pancakes to Deimos.

“Eh? “M-master! Are you really going to act like that?”

Dedric obtained a bruise on his eye and once again started complaining. But he had no time to pay attention to his pet’s feelings.

‘There isn’t a lot of time left. I have to create all the dishes and feed it to him before then!’

Ark quickly made the rest of the dishes. However, he rushed too much and failed to make an ‘A la carte’ dish.

“Damn it! No, it can’t be. Let’s calm down. I can’t rush too much. Come, Dedric eat these dishes.”

“I don’t want to, you petty and dirty….ugh!”

Ark crammed the failed dishes into Dedric’s mouth and took a deep breath. After several more failures, he was able to make an ‘A la carte’ dish.

“Ugh….am I a rubbish bin for food? Gag, I’m about to burst.”

Dedric’s stomach swelled so much that it looked like it was going to burst. Anyway, after making the ‘A la carte’ dishes he was able to raise Deimos’ luck to 140.

“That’s it, this is the best that I can do. 140 is not a small number in regards to luck. I hope it lands on Death Knight…..if not, at the very least a skeleton warrior, Deimos!”

Clack clack clack clack!

Deimos also nodded nervously. At that time the message window showed up.

Ta da da da da!

Ark, Deimos and Radun looked at the wheel anxiously. Dedric was distracted by rubbing his bloated stomach and picking his nostrils. Well, he couldn’t break the tense atmosphere as the roulette wheel spun and the bone rattled loudly. Once the wheel start to slow, a sense of anticipation was seen in Ark’s eyes.

“Okay, okay, it looks good. Just a little more….a little more…..!”

Ta da da….da da da….da da…da…..

The roulette was close to the Death Knight area. If he measured the distance and speed, there was a high probability that it would land on Death Knight. The atmosphere became expectant like a jackpot was going to appear! Ark, Deimos and Radun tensed up while Dedric rubbed his nose and his body shook violently. The roulette wheel attracted all their eyes as it stopped. Ark’s eyes lit up.

“T-that’s it….Death Knight!”

“Hu, r-really? A, a, a…..achoo!”

Dedric freaked out with his fingers stuck in his nostrils and sneezed. Then, was this fate’s joke? The roulette which had landed perfectly on Death Knight, made a noise and moved onto the next section. Instantaneously, Ark and his summons all froze.

“What, what the? Dedric you…..!”

“It’s not me! My sneezing couldn’t have possibly moved the wheel!”

Dedric screamed spectacularly. Of course, Ark was also aware of that. If he could’ve controlled the random roulette that Ark would’ve already done so. But the roulette had a semi-transparent form and couldn’t be touched with his hands. It was just bad luck. But it was still an emotional problem.  Since he had been picking his nostrils for no reason, as soon as he sneezed then anger welled up. Dedric sensed the mood and kept quiet.

“My wish!

Ark cried out.

‘Dammit, this was a perfect opportunity to evolve into Death Knight….. What other profession is after Death Knight? Skeleton warrior? That is still good.’

Since it was a useable profession, he would still accept the evolution. But when he thought about the Death Knight, Ark couldn’t shake off the feeling of tremendous loss.

At that time the message window appeared.

The chosen profession is ‘Death Master.’

The Death Master is a profession Deimos can evolve into using the knowledge obtained from the necromancer Tamura’s skull. There is no public information available on Death Master. After the pet’s evolution, a significant bonus will be applied when the player learns skills related to death, and they can even exert power over death sometimes. It is an occupation highly recommended for an undead summon

<This is the player’s last chance. If you cancel the evolution then the evolution attempt will end in failure and a penalty applied>

“Yes, a Skeleton Warrior is also useful…..eh? What? Death master?”

Ark murmured in a stunned voice.

“What is a Death Master?”

He hadn’t seen that profession on the roulette. Ark thought it was a mistake and approached the roulette closely. Then he realised there was a part he never saw. Between Death Knight and Skeleton Warrior, there was a small gap that wasn’t easy to see unless looking with a magnifying glass. And the occupation Death Master was written in a straight line.

“Death master? ‘What’s this?

He had never heard of this profession.

‘The space assigned to Death Master is only 0.5%. Since the probability is so low, it is an even rarer profession than Death Knight…..that means…..the good luck was applied after all?’

Ark looked at the roulette wheel with a strange expression. Although he picked a lot of targets, it was amazing that he ended up with this absurd situation. And the problem was that Ark wasn’t aware of what type of profession Death Master was. He couldn’t tell by looking at the name or the information present.

‘It is a profession with a low probability but…..’

He was somewhat hesitant to choose it.

‘But I don’t have a choice. If this evolution fails, Deimos will lose 600 health and 30 points in each stat. And the chance to evolve will disappear.’

Although the profession was ambiguous, he couldn’t accept the penalty. There was also Deimos’ reaction. Although he looked grouchy when Skeleton Merchant appeared, his eyes were lively once he saw Death Master. It was similar to when he trained Deimos in Bone Collecting and Dedric in Vampirism.  Based on previous experience, his pets would listen better when it was something they liked.

“Okay. Let’s just do it. Evolution!”

In the end, Ark choose to evolve and closed his eyes.

Oduduk, Odududuk…!

At that moment, there was the eerie sound of Deimos’ bones changing dramatically. Until now, Deimos had been made up of different parts. The ribs of an ogre, the shoulder bones of a gnoll…..there were various bones of monsters mixed together as well as Andel’s bone. Since it was from different species, the appearances of the bones didn’t match. He was also wearing a ragged cloak and just looked like a pile of trash. But once the evolution started, his bones became shiny and black. A skeleton made of black bones…..and his eyes flowed with a red gleam.

Clack….clack clack…..clack clack clack…..

The sound of his bones also changed and became gloomier than before.

All the components have been optimized to a form suitable for a Death Master’s growth. The great power who oversees the Netherworld has granted the name ‘Razak’ to the Death Master. Razak can now acquire the knowledge necessary for a Death Master.

A resident of the Netherworld who has evolved after collecting bones.  After absorbing the fragment of knowledge from the necromancer Tamura’s skull, his understanding of death has deepened. Although arrogance is in his nature, his loyalty to his Master means there will be an additional bonus applied after learning death related skills. In addition, the performance of his blade has gone up.

Alignment: Dark

Ranking: Lower class

Health: 1,724 (+ 250)

Loyalty: 620 (+ 30)

Strength: 253 (+ 20)

Agility: 95 (+ 20)

Stamina: 279 (+20)

Wisdom: 58 (+ 50)

Intelligence: 76 (+ 50)

Luck 26 (+10)

* You have learned the skill ‘Death’s Equations.’

* You have learned the skill ‘Pledge of Death.

<A rank resurrection: 3 bones consumed. B rank resurrection: 2 bones consumed. C rank resurrection: 1 bone consumed>

If the player dies, the Pledge of Death will be activate and the pet will exchange his health with his Master’s. However, the pet will die instead and will receive his Master’s death penalty of -1 to all stats.

‘This is…..should I be glad?’

Ark read the information window with a dumb expression. After evolving, his stats rose considerably. 170 points were added to health and loyalty. The effect had raised Deimos 17 levels. But as expected, Death Master had a magician characteristic. It focused on wisdom and intelligence rather than strength and agility.  However, it was unreasonable compared to a magician. Since he evolved holding the sword and shield, strength, agility and stamina all increased a little bit. Naturally, his defense and attack also rose a little bit. Although Deimos would grow along the path of a magician, fortunately Ark had raised him as a warrior.

‘The increase in blade damage isn’t really meaningful. An 7 point increase in damage meant an attack of 30~42. It is a lot weaker than Gwisal’s sword. While a one-handed sword is quite strong, I’m familiar with Gwisal’s sword so it isn’t necessary to change it.’

But since he sometimes used the whip, the increase in damage was great. The problem was the skills ‘Death’s Equations’ and ‘Pledge of Death.’ He could resurrect dead monsters and use them freely.  It sounded amazing but when thinking about it, the technique required sacrificing Razak’s bones every time it was used. It meant that it would cut the stats obtained through bone collecting. Of course, he could always regain the stats back through bone collecting but he didn’t want to sacrifice stats just to raise monsters with 50% of their abilities.

‘Well, it might have a huge effect if I resurrect a boss…..’

But resurrecting such a monster would require 3 bones.  Furthermore, it wasn’t possible to go someplace else because Razak couldn’t move. There was also ‘Pledge of Death.’ Instead of Ark dying, he would share Razak’s remaining health. However, it was only good if Razak had a lot of health remaining. If Razak’s health also decreased then Ark and Razak would just lose some stats.

‘I can’t grasp whether the profession and skills are good or bad.’

Ark thought with a strange expression. Prior to the evolution, bone collecting was used to raise the stats. But now the skills created after evolution only decreased the stats.

‘I can’t just excessively use the remaining bones.’

Although Deimos finally obtained new skills, Ark didn’t want to test them out.

‘Overall it is not that bad. Death Master seems like a mix between magician and warrior. Since the attack and defense wasn’t lowered, I’ll be able to use him sometimes to tank. And the peculiar skills could be surprisingly effective in some situations. Well, now I need to create some dishes to regain the stats.’

Ark was satisfied with the results. The fact that he didn’t evolve into a Death Knight was still inconvenient but at least the Death Master profession was somewhat useable. Wasn’t it a hundred times better than a Skeleton Merchant? Ark smiled and looked at Razak.

“Okay, now you’ve evolved. Deimos…..no, now it is Razak?”

Clack clack…..clack clack clack….

Razak leisurely nodded. In fact, this was what he found disagreeable about the evolution. When Deimos was made out of a patchwork of bones, he had a lively feeling.  That was his charm……but now Ark couldn’t find that feeling after the evolution into Death Knight. Although it was quite intense, the atmosphere felt more gloomy and drab. Dedric also shot a dissatisfied look towards Razak.

“Sheesh, this conceited child has now completely changed his atmosphere?”

Clack clack? Clack clack clack……

“What the?” Ha, just because you’ve succeeded recently? Don’t be ridiculous. All you did was pick up some bones in order to evolve! I have inherited the noble blood of the vampires! I can’t be judge with the same standards as a brainless child!”

Clack clack clack, ttaak…..clack clack clack clack!

Razak laughed (?) and shrugged his shoulders.

‘What, what the?’ This bastard, do you think it is settled? Not too long ago you were rolling around on the ground and now you’re ignoring me? Do you want to experience that again?”

Dedric huffed and burst out angrily.

“Dedric, stop. Why haven’t you calmed down and kept on talking so noisily?”

“What the? Now even Master is ignoring me?”

Dedric’s face contorted at Ark’s words.

“Are you going to keep on acting like this?

“Yes, I am. Why? Are you going to beat me again?  Go ahead! You think that I’m a vampire who can’t evolve? Ha, good, good! Hit me! Tear my stomach!”

‘Why is he behaving like this?’

Ark sent an absurd look towards Dedric.

Then, a thought popped into my head.

‘Wait? Maybe this guy…..aha, this is good.’

Ark noticed something about Dedric and burst out laughing. If he returned to the past, their relationship when there were a bat and a skull wasn’t that close. Dedric could talk from the beginning and he had a flying ability. So he just ignore the skull rolling around on the ground.

Ark> bat > skull > snake.

That was the ranking in Dedric’s mind. In addition, Ark evolved him first so he really became smug. And that relationship continued even after Skull evolved into Deimos. But this was the first time that the ranking sequence was broken. Dedric naturally thought that he should’ve evolved first. But now Radun and Razak had evolved first, so his sense of security had started to collapse. As a vampire, Dedric was exceptionally proud so this cut like a knife.

“Laughing? Am I funny? Dammit, don’t laugh! I am Dedric!”

‘Okay, it is a very good reaction. Why didn’t I think of that?’

Ark finally noticed why Dedric was grumbling like a little kid. He tried it out. Even if Razak had a high degree of loyalty, he still made them eat food. There were no problems. Dedric was the one who always complained but that didn’t happen this time.

‘That’s right, trying to balance the two of them might’ve been a mistake. Now Dedric’s pride won’t allow him to complain about food just in case the gap with Razak widens. Kukukuk, this is an effective new method.’

Thanks to his show of weakness, Ark had caught the rebellious Dedric in his claws.

‘This guy is clever but he still acts like a little kid.’

Ssak ssak ssak!

At that time, Radun who had been wandering around returned. There were 200 dead Nakujuk in the underground square. Radun had swept through every corner and obtained 300 japtem. Although there were no special items, the overflowing number of items was still worth a large amount of old so Ark was happy. After finishing everything, Ark went up to the 2nd floor where everyone was waiting.

“Now, let’s go.”

“Bah, pah, sheesh!”

Dedric grumbled and followed behind them.

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