Chapter 34: Shadow Ogre

["...? What? What did you say?" Jerka was lost when he heard your voice, confused but somewhat recognizing it. The guards who stood in the front ran to the back as you stood on the other side. When they arrived, they noticed you, standing tall and towering. Your gaze had turned cold the instant you sensed the two guards running up to you.]

["A-ah! Elder, it's Warrior Chilly," Tyrn stammered, surprised by the dominating presence. Bjorn was no exception; he too looked at your mind-blowing abs, scary face, and thick arms. He couldn't help but be thankful that you hadn't come here to murder them.]

["Ah? Warrior Chilly!? Is that really you?" Elder Jerka raised his voice from within. Hearing this, you replied in a subtle tone but with the same dominant killer's gaze that stared down the guards, "Indeed, Elder. It's me. I've come as you have instructed. May I enter?"]

[The guards were scared. They didn't move and simply remained there while you waited for permission to enter. As for Jerka, an evil smirk sat on his face as he devised a new plan.]

['Originally, I wanted to use my follower Harks, but he died while I performed the ritual. Tsk, even after death, he turned out to be useless... look at all these burns.' Jerka's arms had some burn marks. It was because controlling a body directly using zombification would cause 1/10th of the pain and damage dealt to the Puppet to be transferred to the caster.]

[Jerka pulled a long robe and covered his arms. His thoughts proceeded, 'I can use him as my next Puppet. And since he is stronger than most, perhaps... just perhaps he could withstand the ritual too!']

["You may enter," he raised his voice. Hearing this, you instantly walked towards the entrance, allowing the guards to live a little longer. In your mind, you had already decided to kill them - 'Once Jerka is dead, it will be your turn, and trust me, I'll give you such a painful death that if you were to ever get reincarnated or reborn, you will desire to die over a hundred times!']

[You arrived at the entrance. After taking one deep breath, you entered the hut, ready to embrace the situation ahead.]

[You walked inside, instantly noticing the dark nature of the hut. There were some purple glow stones that cast an ominous light.]

[Finally, in the dim light, you noticed Elder Jerka walking towards you. "Welcome, Warrior Chilly! It looks like you arrived a little earlier than I had said. Excited, aren't you?" Jerka winked at you as he said that. Despite the urge to slap him or worse, you controlled your emotions. You replied with simple words, "Yes, Elder! I couldn't control myself. Can we start the process? I really want to be your disciple..."]

[Hearing that, Jerka smiled internally. He stretched his left hand and pointed towards the second half of the hut where a large carpet was laid out. A magic circle was drawn on the carpet, and around it were about six magic stones, each darker than the previous. They held a black flame burning with them. You didn't confuse them with simple magic stones, as you read the words loitering above them - Dark Stones.]

[Dark stones were a particular type of magic stones used by those close to the Dark Element. They were awakening stones that were quite difficult to obtain, so seeing Elder Jerka possess them was quite a surprise.]

["This... Elder? What are these crystals?" You knew full well what they were but pretended ignorance. Seeing your lack of knowledge, Jerka chuckled and said, "They're not crystals. They are a useful tools that will help us with the ritual. Come, sit in the middle."]

[Nodding your head, you did exactly as he said. The Elder sat straight across from you, but outside the circle, there were various coconut shells that were half broken. Those shells acted like utensils, holding some liquid. Due to the darkness, you couldn't make out the color of the liquid, but its stench was horrible.]

[When you first entered the hut, you had no such feeling, but now, you wanted to vomit as the stench suddenly exploded. 'Is it only me, or was this place always so smelly?' you wondered to yourself.]

[Jerka then stood up and brought one of those shells carefully. Bending over, he handed it to you as he whispered, "Drink it. Do not waste even a single drop."]

['Poison?' you questioned yourself instantly when Jerka asked you to drink it, but after staring at the liquid, you realized what it was thanks to the words floating above it - Dark Wyvern’s Blood.]

['Dark Wyvern’s Blood? Is it from the same Dark Wyvern that I know?' you correlated this blood to the Dark Wyvern that was on the sides of the goblins. Moreover, you pondered why you were given this to drink. The answers that you heard from the system were completely astonishing.]

Ding!

[The ritual conducted by Jerka is to awaken a bloodline of Darkness. The host, if successfully awakened, could use skills related to darkness. One or the other skill may even evolve to match the element or gain attached skills and abilities. Drinking the blood of a superior beast of the dark attribute is a prerequisite for awakening.]

['But does it have a low chance of success? Because if that was possible, wouldn't Jerka awaken himself and someone else who is more trustworthy than me?']

[Hearing your question, the system replied - [Jerka has already used it on himself and has succeeded in awakening. He gained the skill Zombification(S) in the process. As for others, even after continuous efforts, they failed to awaken.] Your eyes widened even more. Without hesitation, you took the coconut shell without dropping even a single drop of the blood.]

["Drink it and then meditate. Circulate the power that you feel and start absorbing the light coming from these stones." You heard Jerka loud and clear. In one gulp, you chugged down all the blood and then proceeded to lick the shell completely. Jerka was moved by this act, as none of the previous did so much as lick the shell and take his words literally!]

[You focused your mind, waiting for the energy to surge within you thanks to the blood. However, rather than a pleasant surprise, you got a painful stomach ache.]

[Your expression almost instantly changed. Your eyeballs bulged in pressure, and your muscles seemingly twitched rapidly. You felt the urge to puke but refrained from doing so as you heard Jerka's loud command, "No matter what, do not vomit! You can't waste the blood!"]

[You controlled the urge to vomit as you tried to bear the immense pain. Imagine your toe bearing a long nail, hitting the corner of a wall... if that's less, then imagine getting hit at your balls, so hard that your balls teleport out of the universe! Even those pains were less compared to what you were feeling right now.]

[You wanted to move, roll, and try to suppress the pain. But Jerka forbade all of those acts. Gritting your teeth, and biting your lips right after, causing the lips to bleed in order to decrease the effect of the previous pain, you couldn't help but stay focused at the moment... it was a life-changing moment after all.]

Ding!

[You drank the Dark Wyvern's Blood. Due to the important essence, your body is undergoing transformation!]

Ding!

[Your rank is rising as a monster.]

Ding!

[Your race is being improved by improving your base bloodline.]

[Improving...]

Ding!

[Your race has been improved. You have become a Shadow Ogre!]

Ding!

[Your strength has increased. It has been doubled.]

[Your agility has increased. It has been doubled.]

[Your perception has increased. It has been tripled.]

[Your Dexterity has increased. It has been tripled.]

[Your Vitality has increased. It has been tripled.]

[As a result of increasing Vitality, your Max. HP has increased. It has been tripled.]

[Your intelligence has increased. It has been tripled.]

[As a result of increasing intelligence, your Max. MP has been increased. It has been tripled.]

Ding!

[The existing skill Giant's Stride (C) has gained an attached skill: Shadow Leap (A).]

[The existing skill Rage of the Berserker (S) has gained an attached skill: Rage of the Shadows (A).]

[The existing skill Toughened Endurance (A) has gained an attached skill: Shadow's Endurance (A).]

Ding!

[You have gained a new skill: Shadow Control (A)]

Ding!

[You have gained a new skill: Rise of the Shadows (??)]

[As the ritual seemingly completed and you got a set of skills, your body glowed in the faint dark. There were white stripes that sat on your body resembling a tattoo, extending from head to toe. Jerka, who sat not too far from you, was now drooling as he saw your transformation!]

[He couldn't help but clap again and again and praise, "You have succeeded! Yes! I've succeeded!" It was as if his life-long dream had been achieved. He jumped with joy... however, little did he know, the creation of the monster had just begun.]

[Blast! One of the dark stones that kept the dark flames captive exploded.]

["Huh?" Jerka was flabbergasted as the explosive sound echoed throughout the hut. His face held confusion and bafflement.]

["No... no! the Dark Stones! N-", before he could say anything else, one by one, the stones exploded, the simple wave of energy of which flung Jerka out of the hut after driving a hole in the wall.]

[You didn't know what was happening. You couldn't hear the voices outside... but you did hear someone calling out to you.]

[The black flames twisted like a tornado, and then blazed towards you in thin bands of flames, ultimately surrounding you. The white lines that had appeared on your body started to absorb the flames.]

[And it was only now that you realized what kind of phase you had entered... what you had missed in the previous simulation, an upgrade that should have always been yours!]

Ding!

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have-]

Ding!

[You have gained a new skill: Flames of Darkness (???).]

Ding!

[The ritual is complete. You have gained the title: Vessel of the Darkness.]

[And with that, the ritual was finally complete. You, however, couldn't check or understand any of what had happened due to the immense pain that had ultimately caused you to faint.]

[You lay on the ground, unknown to you how much of a monster you had become...]

[Chilly] [Level: 45]

[But surely, if you were awake, you would have wished for this to happen to your real body.]

A/N: Just a simple comment like ‘TFTC’/‘Thank you for the chapter’/’Thanks’ will also help. It keeps me motivated! Do comment!