Chapter Title: Wizley Village (1)
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Wizley Village was a tiny settlement with fewer than two hundred residents in total. But it had one interesting feature.
All two hundred of them were archers, warriors, or mages of varying skill levels.
'This village was founded for extraordinary reasons from the start.'
Wizley Village had been created for a single purpose. The people living here knew that purpose, which was why they had built their homes in this remote spot.
"This is the Statue of the Goddess. If you've accumulated enough Karma, you can offer it here to the goddess and grow a bit stronger."
"I see."
He had finally reached the place he wanted. The Statue of the Goddess. This was where skills could be upgraded and evolved. It was finally time to spend the massive pile of Karma he had amassed.
"Village Chief! We need your help over here!"
At that moment, a villager called out to Ribel. Ribel turned to Dante and said,
"I'll be right back. Oh, and if you have any questions, just ask anyone in the village. They'll be happy to help."
Once Ribel left, Dante gazed at the Statue of the Goddess. The statue, slightly taller than him, was carved so vividly it seemed like it might spring to life at any moment.
'She's ridiculously beautiful, as expected.'
The goddess who appeared first in the game's story, taking the form of Athena. As Dante reached out and placed his hand on the statue, a familiar system UI appeared in the air.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ UI enabling skill upgrades and evolutions.
Seeing the UI exactly as it had appeared on his monitor, Dante felt a surge of familiarity and began tapping the text to manipulate it just like old times.
'First things first: skill evolutions.'
Not every skill could be evolved or upgraded right away just because Karma overflowed. Each required minimum levels or specific conditions.
'But that doesn't apply to me.'
One of the best perks of this modded Necromancer class, chosen by the users, was that all skill restrictions were gone.
Some skills required learning prerequisites, or completing quests, or using items. But not for this class. No restrictions at all.
'And every skill is already registered.'
In this game, learning new skills meant acquiring a skill scroll, registering it at the Statue of the Goddess, then acquiring it.
A wide array of skills appeared. Some were even boss monster skills that normal users could never learn.
And Dante could acquire them all without issue. The only "limit" was the massive Karma cost per skill—but his Karma was nearly infinite.
In short, nothing stood in the way of learning skills. As long as he had enough mana to cast them, he could use any skill he wanted.
"Cheat life for the win."
Muttering that softly, he began evolving his skills in earnest.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Would you like to evolve the skill 'Undead Mastery'? Evolving to a higher skill costs 1,000 Karma.
He tapped 'Yes' on the UI before his eyes. Light flashed, and the evolution completed.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The skill 'Undead Mastery' has evolved to 'Undead Mastery-2'.
"Keep going."
As a passive skill, it didn't consume mana, so maxing its level and grade was no issue.
Ignoring Karma costs, Dante evolved it until it could go no further.
Next came upgrades. New skills in the game always started at D-grade, no exceptions. Players spent Karma to upgrade them gradually—that was how skills grew stronger.
Powerful skills demanded exponentially more Karma, but with his near-limitless supply, Dante had no worries.
After fully evolving and upgrading, the results were these skills:
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Aura of Death (M) - Max Lv. Emit an Aura of Death to boost all summoned undead's power and curse nearby enemies with death. = +20 summonable undead. = Summoned undead Attack Power, Defense, Resistance +150%. = Summoned undead Attack Speed, Movement Speed +200%. = Summoned undead Max HP, HP Recovery +300%. = All enemy stats within 500m radius of user -30%. On/Off toggleable.
"Broken. Totally broken."
The performance was absurd, but acquiring and mastering it was equally grueling. It had cost over fifty million Karma—just one skill. Normal players could never dream of it.
'Now the real challenge.'
Skeleton Summon. Evolving and maxing it was easy. The issue was whether Dante could actually use it.
Undead summons reduced mana costs, but didn't eliminate them. At level 2, his max mana was fixed, and he had to work within it.
'Let's evolve it once for now.'
Evolve Skeleton Summon to Skeleton Warrior Summon, then acquire Skeleton Mage Summon fresh. Max both grades. Results:
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Skeleton Warrior Summon (M) - Max Lv. = Summon Skeleton Warriors. = Summoned Skeleton Warrior level +20. = Max 10 summons. ⚔ STATUS ⚔ Skeleton Mage Summon (M) - Max Lv. = Summon Skeleton Mages. = Summoned Skeleton Mage level +20. = Max 6 summons.
"Next up..."
After acquiring and maxing a few more skills, Dante removed his hand from the statue.
Suddenly, a bell rang out across the village. With the tolling came villagers shouting urgently as they rushed somewhere.
"Whew. At least the monsters showed up after I finished learning all the skills."
The village bell signaled incoming monsters. Living here, he'd hear it ad nauseam from now on.
'In-game, they spawned every few dozen minutes. Wonder how it'll be in reality.'
Dante ran with the villagers. Beyond the broken wooden wall, he saw dozens of goblins—and among them, orcs over two meters tall.
"Arrows! Get the arrows!"
"Damn it! Those bastards never tire!"
"Prepare magic!"
As villagers scrambled, Ribel directed them in battle prep. Watching, Dante quietly activated his skill.
"Skeleton Warrior Summon."
With the aid skill 'Multiple Summon' allowing multiple at once, he called the max his mana permitted.
As the skill activated, mana drained rapidly. Dizziness hit, and Dante staggered briefly.
A massive magic circle flared, summoning five Skeleton Warriors.
'I can summon up to thirty. So five is my current limit.'
Regretting his low mana, he eyed the five warriors. Proof of Aura of Death's effect: they exuded black auras.
Villagers panicked at the sudden black-aura skeletons, but Dante commanded them.
"Kill all those monsters."
The Skeleton Warriors vaulted the wall, charging goblins and orcs at blinding speed.
Unlike basic skeletons, these wore proper iron armor, shields, and swords. They bashed goblin heads with shields, slashed orcs in one stroke, massacring them.
✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ Lv. 2 → Lv. 3 ✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ Lv. 3 → Lv. 4
"That's more like it. This is Necromancer life. This is the game."
The Skeleton Warriors hunted diligently. Levels rose in sync. Watching his levels climb effortlessly, Dante smiled as he observed their rampage.