Chapter 178 – A Good Tool


    Niki breathed out as he finished absorbing the crystals. All of them rewarded him with three stats points. Furthermore, as he waited, his undead went ahead and started hunting more monsters.


    The monster can be E-rank, but it could not defeat his undead monsters. These monsters were organized and attacked as one, unkible, and used the darkness.


    However, very few monsters can survive the darkness. Most of the monsters they encountered were dark beings, but they awarded Niki more mana crystals than normal monsters did.


    The dark beings were not undead, and they were not immortal. Humans thought of them as immortal because usual elements were weak against the dark element. Unless someone has the element of light, or holy powers, or a lot stronger than the being, then they cannot kill a normal dark being.


    As for Niki, his element was on a different level. His Abyssal Art, which he got from Lex, brought his darkness to another elemental level: Destruction.


    This made his undead very powerful, even against monsters who were stronger than them. Their stats were low, but Niki knew that their nature gave them an advantage. This brought him plenty of crystals.


    [Vitality: 77]


    –   [Blood Energy: 19.]


    [Strength: 82]


    [Agility: 91]


    [Intelligence: 70]


    [Mana: 102]


    Four of his stats were at thete stages of the F-rank, while mana was even higher than the usual threshold. There was no evolution needed from Niki to ascend a higher ranking, but he required special training to control more skills.


    Many people had stats befitting an E-ranker, but they were not truly considered to belong into that ranking. The reason was simple. They did not strengthen their souls to make another contract with a skill.


    The Absolute Shield was the best proof that skills were not static beings but manifestations of power that had their level of consciousness.


    "This strength," Niki clutched his hand as he muttered. "I took years to reach this level because of Julian and Luke. I was denied strength because of Valkyrie, and things only went downhill from then."


    His hatred intensely burned within him. It was the umtion of countless years of suffering and struggle, all then dedicated to a single person who betrayed him.


    "I am being too distracted," calmed down Niki with a smile. "Justice will be served. That is right, I am only an ally of justice," he said with sarcasm.


    "GGGOOOO!"


    His Ghoul gave a rageful roar,pelling Niki to see what was happening. He found his four skeletons attacking an entrapped giant bird who kept attacking the Ghoul pinning it down. Niki could see that the wings had ck holes in them, probably caused by his mage soldier.


    The Ghoul struggled against the giant flying monster, and Niki watched as it raised the enemy and struck it down. Then, Ghoul stomped on its neck and killed it.


    [Ghoul has leveled up!]


    [A card dropped. You can equip it using the system.]


    Niki saw the two notifications arrive as his Ghoul breathed heavily above the monster. The monster cannot be tired, but it seems he was savoring a difficult victory.


    "What odd creatures," Niki felt amazed by their level of intelligence, almost feeling like they were people instead of monsters. His finger pressed the different menus, opening the card he obtained.


    [Giant ws Card.]


    Niki could figure out what it was by seeing it, but he did not think their bodies could be modified. So he dragged the card toward one of the skeletons and equipped it.


    A dark mist left the skeleton soldier''s hands as they morphed. Niki watched as sharp ws appeared instead of its earlier hands, and it threw away its sword and started shing apart air.


    The shes left a trail of darkness behind them, and it seems the ws were embedded with the element. Niki could see that the ws were bony, fitting the skeleton''s body.


    Then, he equipped the card to his Ghoul. The monster raised its arms toward the sky as giant ws appeared on its hands. Each sharp nail was as long as a short sword and just as sharp.


    "GOOO!" it roared with ecstasy, and Niki felt like it deserved the card, so he left it.


    Then, his nose sniffed the scent of living humans.


    "There are humans in the darkness?" frowned the necromancer. "I need to see for myself, but there seems to be a lot of them. My undead, return," as he said with a wave, the undead disappeared into his pocket dimension.


    The best function of his pocket dimension was to store his monsters. As it was constructed out of darkness, Niki could tell that his undead liked it in there.


    His body turned to ck mist as he entered his stealth. Niki then stomped on the ground, tasting his new stats, and bolted forward. Thendscape rushed by as he approached the group of humans.


    When he finally got close enough to see them, Niki frowned because the symbol painted on their armor was one that he recognized. A pair of wings.


    "Vangir," muttered Niki with apprehension. It was a good call to stop his undead from attacking them. This guild was one of the most powerful in the kingdom, and it was the one that Hyde infiltrated. "However, they should not be taking this route."


    Their headquarters were in a different direction, a ce far enough to guarantee that they would not cross paths with Niki. Yet, they were here.


    "Are you sure this is the way, Miss Cecily?" asked one of the men at the lead. Niki walked close behind them to listen. The name he said was one he read not so long ago.


    "I believe so," she said. "I survived by following my guts. This is what the darkness is telling me. The way is from here."


    Her lie amused Niki because her gut feeling was none other than him. He saw Cecily look around in search of something, and it made him wonder how she found him.


    "I should get rid of her," decided Niki as it was annoying for someone to follow him. "However, I cannot do that straight away. I need to find who works for Hyde in this guild, and I can use her."


    A n started to form in his head. First, Niki needed to find Hyde to answer his question. He also needed to help that fence, Ash, who was bound to be in Abani Ruin after Niki promised to help him.


    After the decision was made, Niki needed to arrange a private meeting with this young woman. A good tool is better left alive until he no longer needs it.


    ***


    Cecily looked around the darkness, looking for any clues of that man. But, unfortunately, there were no footprints or anything that she could use to make her find him.


    Her only wish was to meet him, but she needed this guild to protect her until she did. That was why she lied to them about guiding them herself.


    However, she did not deceive them and bring them to their deaths. Cecily was confident about finding him here because of a reaction she felt a day earlier from her most treasured item, the notebook.


    That notebook was a gift from her mother when Cecily was three years old. It was the item that stayed by her side the longest, and she poured her soul into it.


    The change happened when Cecily was bullied by her cousins, who took the notebook and hid it. Her desire to find it created a link with that notebook on a spiritual level.


    However, the link was lost after she woke up. Cecily could not feel where the notebook was, but there was a brief time where she managed to do it. It was a day ago, but she did not know what had changed.


    ''The dark being must be the one keeping it and preventing me from finding the notebook,'' she thought while looking around. The guildsmen were growing doubtful of her abilities, and they might realize that they were being fooled.


    However, Cecily did not lose hope. The notebook was in this direction, and the dark being should be close. She has epted that a dark being helped her, but this made her even more interested in that creature.


    An intelligent form of life that used the darkness. Furthermore, he looked no different than a human, as far as she could tell. Cecily wanted to meet him, or it, again to sate her curiosity. And to thank him, she thought at the end.


    As the guildsmen were growing more tired, they heard a roar of countless monsters. Cecily flinched as she looked toward the source and found that a few dark beings had found them.


    "You said that you can avoid the dark beings!" shouted one of the guildsmen with fury. "This woman is ying us into being her servants, dammit."


    His words were not responded to, but she could feel their res falling on her body. Finally, however, they had no time to waste, and they started the fight against the dark beings. Meanwhile, they ignored Cecily, who retreated to the back.


    "We meet again," a deep voice said from behind her.