In the center of this frozen void sat the Tomb of the Undefeated King. It was not a grandiose monument of gold, but a slab of unpolished, light-absorbing stone that vibrated with a frequency so violent it threatened to desynchronize his heart rate.
As Arthur reached out, his fingers brushing against the frigid surface, the tomb didn't open; it sighed. Inside, there was no corpse, Madra's physical form had long since dig up by pagma to save the world.
[Warning! You have done a hineous act by digging up a grave of a legend]
[You have done the unthinkable deed by normal standards.]
[You have gain the title 'plunderer' the one who wants all.]
[You have gained the skill 'plunder'.]
[Plunder: Active skill
User have a chance to plunder a skill from defeated or killed opponent.
Can used upon a target only once.]
Resting inside the stone coffin is a Sheath. It was a simple, weathered object of ancient leather and star-iron, yet it radiated an ego so suffocatingly powerful that the system's warning windows erupted in a crimson frenzy across Arthur's vision.
[Warning! You have made contact with the 'Ego item of the Undefeated King'!]
[A massive willpower is invading your consciousness!]
Suddenly, the air in the chamber congealed. A spectral figure, translucent and wreathed in the flickering violet flames of a lost era, materialized above the tomb.
Madra, the king who had never known the taste of defeat, stared down at Arthur with eyes that contained the slaughter of a thousand battlefields.
The system chimed, a legendary quest notification glowing with an allure that would have made any other player—including the future Grid—weep with joy.
[Legendary Quest Triggered: The Path of the Bloody King]
[Objective: Assassinate the members of the Red Knights.]
[Reward: Undefeated King's Successor' (Legendary / growth Class), '100,000 Army Swordsmanship'.]
Arthur stood amidst the swirling violet pressure, his expression unchanging, his ruby eyes reflecting the spectral fire of the king.
To the surprise of the ego, and to the silent shock of the Morpheus system monitoring the interaction, Arthur shook his head.
"I refuse," he said, his voice flat and devoid of the greed the ego expected.
The violet flames flared in a surge of outrage.
"Because it's a waste of energy," Arthur replied, stepping closer to the sheath. "I am not a butcher, and I have no interest in your petty vendettas. No one needs to die needlessly just because I want your legacy. I don't seek to be the next Madra; I seek to be the first Arthur. I don't want to absorb you or erase your existence into my own. I want to learn from the peak, not become a ghost of it."
Before the ego could respond to the heresy, Arthur's right hand shot out, hovering just inches from the sheath. "Ciel, initiate the bypass. Do not absorb the ego—we are here to Copy and Plunder."
Inside Arthur's consciousness, the Divine Intelligence Core let out a high-frequency pulse that acted as a digital shroud.
The "Plunder" skill, managed by Ciel to prevent Morpheus from detecting the breach, didn't just steal; it mirrored and extracted.
It began to forcibly pull the raw, structural data of Madra's martial logic out of the sheath, duplicating every sequence, every muscle-memory path, and every ounce of killing intent without damaging the ego itself.
The notifications began to cascade in a waterfall of golden text, visible only to Arthur:
[Unique Skill: 'Plunder' has been activated!]
[Executing Deep Data Mirroring...]
[Plundered: Undefeated King's Swordsmanship (Rank: SSS)!]
[Plundered: 10,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 20,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 30,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 40,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 50,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 60,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 70,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 80,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 90,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
[Plundered: 100,000 Army Swordsmanship!]
The spectral figure of Madra flickered, his rage turning into a strange, haunting respect as he felt the essence of his life's work being cataloged by a force he couldn't comprehend.
He saw a young man who wasn't asking for a gift, but was demonstrating a level of technical and mental dominance that transcended the "Successor" system. Arthur wasn't begging to follow him; he was demanding the right to be his equal.
The system, struggling to reconcile Arthur's refusal of the quest with his successful acquisition of the data, finally triggered a hidden logic gate.
Because Madra had given his "Free Acceptance," the interaction was validated as a unique variant of the legend.
[Hidden Interaction Success!]
[The Undefeated King Madra has granted you his 'Free Acceptance'!]
[New Class Acquired: Undefeated King's Apprentice (Unique - Growth Type)]
Class Description: You are the chosen student of the strongest legend. You do not inherit his name, but you possess his absolute logic. Your power scales with your understanding of the truth.
[You have unlocked the 'Apprentice's Growth' trait!]
[The 10,000 to 100,000 Army Swordsmanship skills have been integrated into your core!]
Status window
Name: Arthur
Level: 1
Class: Undefeated King's Apprentice Unique/Growth
Title: One who will become a Legend
Unfortunate Noble
Plunderer
HP: 160
MP: 20
Strength: 20
Stamina: 20
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 22
-----------------------------------
Charm: 10
Dignity: 10
Insight: 10
Composure: 10
Indomitable: 10
------------------------------------
Super Sensitivity: 10
------------------------------------
Available Stat points - 0
Skills-
•Undefeated king's Swordsmanship(SSS)
•Plunderer
===========================
Arthur felt his soul expand, a searing, white-hot heat flowing from the sheath into his marrow as the copied data became his own. He wasn't bound by the "Legendary" constraints that would have flagged him to every Ranker and God in the game.
Under the cover of the "Unique" rank, he had cloned the most powerful combat logic in Satisfy lore. He had effectively become a "Growth-type" monster—a player who possessed the ceiling of a God but the radar-profile of a commoner.
The spectral ego of Madra nodded once, his figure slowly dissolving into the sheath, leaving it as a dormant treasure on the stone.
The chamber fell silent. Arthur stood alone in the dark, his Level 1 avatar now vibrating with the latent power of a hundred thousand soldiers.
He had successfully "Plundered" the legacy of the strongest human legend without firing a single shot, without killing a single NPC, and without losing his own identity to a ghost. He was now a Blacksmith-to-be with the combat potential of a World Boss.
"Ciel," Arthur whispered, the violet light in his eyes slowly fading back to ruby. "Status on Morpheus's detection?"
"Perfect," Arthur said, a cold, dark smirk crossing his face as he started to jump around the cave. "Let them think I'm just another lucky Unique-rank growth class. While they wait for the 'Real' Madra Successor to appear, I'll be the Apprentice who owns the market and the battlefield."
Arthur looked towards the stone coffin and murmrued, "Later master, be sure to find someone to inhert your legacy, and when you find let him come to find me, lets see who is stronger, someone who followed your path or someone who inherted your techniques and make them their own."
He turned back toward the path leading to Pagma's Forge. He had the sword's logic. Now, he went for the hammer's power. The "Chaos" was no longer just in the soil of the real world—it was now the very architecture of his virtual soul.
But a blue flickering light silently attached itself with the ring Arthur wore and in his mind, the same booming voice sounded again.
"Huh? Master Madra? How come you are outside your sheath? What will happen to your successor who will come later?" Arthur asked. Feeling shocked, confused and worried.
"Sigh. If we are to communicate daily, let's drop the formal speech." Arthur felt headache knowing the ghost of Madra always following him."
"As you wish my Young apprentice." Madra said with his booming voice.