Dark Lord: Rise to Power

The room was not much well lit, contrary to what Arin had anticipated. "Lord Dovanseer!" he asked. But there was no answer. "Lord Dovanseer" He asked again. But again, silence was his only reply. Arin thought of getting himself out, as something was screaming to him about a danger which was lurking in this grand mansion. But, the daredevil delinquent in him did not let him go, and rather pursued him to press on. For third time, as the guard had advised him, he called "Lord Aedric Dovanseer!". But no replies again. As he was hesitating whether to hang around there a bit more or leave the mansion, he heard a sound of something heavy metallic thing falling aloud on the floor. The sound came from upstairs. He could hear a bit scream as well. Something must had happened with the Patrician. Arin rushed upstairs.

All the things were messed around. As if a heavy fight had happened. A groan was heard from a room far down the alley. Arin followed it to see Lord Dovanseer lying in the floor. He rushed to him.

"S..sa..save me…. Adventurer" Dovanseer spoke to Arin and fell silent, with eyes closed. Arin checked his pulse. It was weak but running. He was breathing as well. Arin guessed the lord must had feinted. He was busy trying to bring the unconscious man to his senses,being oblivious to the danger lurking in the shadows.

Suddenly Arin felt a sensation, and looked behind to discover two assassins, with feline grace, was pouncing on him; their blades aimed at his heart. He spun around just in time, deflecting the first attack with a swipe of his arm. However, he was not fast enough. The second assassin's blade slashed at him, grazing his side. The dagger's tip got coated in Arin's green fluorescent blood. The assassins' faces could not be seen, for they were covered. But their eyes displayed how surprised they were watching this strange masked man bleeding strange green blood.

Well, now as they had known Arin's secret, there was no way Arin could let them live. He had no weapon, but that was not much of a problem. In his past life, his years of physical training had made him a formidable opponent. He could make anything around him in his weapon. And Arin's new body seemed to had regained muscle memory of his past life. Arin grabbed a small stool beside him and threw it like a saucer. The assassin who was the target swiftly repelled it with his left hand, but the impact hurt his hand greatly.

Arin's hand was still bleeding. But ignoring the pain, he chanted an incantation, dark energy crackling around him. "Feel your strength wane," he hissed, casting 'Feeble' upon his second attacker. Before the first attacker would get ready to attack him, Arin cursed him as well with 'Feeble'. The assassins faltered, their movements slowing as their muscles betrayed them. Seizing the opportunity, Arin lunged at the nearest assassin, his fingers curling into a claw-like grip.

With a surge of dark power, he cast 'Life Drain', siphoning the assassin's vitality. The assassin's scream echoed through the ballroom as he crumpled to the ground, lifeless. Arin turned to face the remaining assassin, who was struggling to regain his footing.

The second assassin, realizing the danger, threw a dagger with deadly precision. Arin sidestepped, the blade whizzing past him, and closed the distance with terrifying speed. His fingers wrapped around the assassin's throat, squeezing with inhuman strength.

The assassin clawed at Arin's hand, gasping for breath. Desperation gave him strength, and he lashed out with a concealed blade, slicing the Necromancer's arm. Arin growled in pain but did not loosen his grip. He uttered the words of Life Drain once more, dark tendrils of energy wrapping around the assassin, "Life essence of thee, let it flow to me!". The assassin kept stabbing Arin again and again, but the wounds were getting healed quickly as his lifeforce was being absorbed by Arin. The assassin's eyes widened in horror as his life force was pulled from his body. His strength faded, and he collapsed, lifeless, at Arin's feet. The dark energy dissipated, leaving Arin panting but victorious.

Arin stood over his fallen foes, his eyes glowing with an unnatural light. He picked up one of the assassins' blades, a grim smile curling on his lips. The mansion, once again, fell silent, its halls echoing with the whispers of the dark spells.

"All Hail to Ner'thazir" Arin heard a shout. As he promptly turned his head towards the source, he found Aedric Dovanseer prostrating at his feet, "I knew it, it was true! We will be redeemed!"

"Whaaat Daaa Hellllll" Arin exclaimed. It was clear that this Noble had witnessed Arin in action and realized his real identity. He had to be disposed of at any cost!

Arin pointed his finger towards the prostrating noble to shut him up forever. "Wait my lord….wait!" Aedric said scared.

- "I can not let you live!" Arin spoke in a stern voice.

- "My life belongs to you milord, but first hear me out!" Aedric pleaded.

- "Okay speak!" Arin gave him permission.

-"Milord!" Aedric nodded, and started telling his story.

"For past few days I was getting strange dreams. A voice was beckoning from beyond! And last night, I found myself lost in a strange city of twilight. And I found myself in front of statue of Lord Ner'thazir. He told me that I have been given a rare opportunity to redeem my family, my ancestors, my lineage!"

Arin found it odd, but did not stop him in mid and let him continue.

Aedric continued, "The Dread father spoke to me, that his champion has arrived; and if I swear fealty to him, and serve him loyally, the curse will be lifted and my family will be redeemed. As I woke up in middle of the night after this dream and later came to know that corpses are rising suddenly creating rampage in the city, I knew the dream was true. Today morning, as I saw you in plaza for first time, I felt in my heart, it had to be you. However, I am a businessman. So, I just wanted to test you. That is why I hired two assassins to gauge you. And I feigned unconscious to let you unleash your full power."

"So, it was your plan all along?" Arin grumbled, his raised his hands, vortex of dark energy swirling around his fingers.

"You can kill me milord. But that was only way for me to know that you were the Champion Dread Father told me about!" Dovanseer pleaded.

Arin realized that Lord Aedric Dovanseer made sense. He lowered his hands, and asked, "So tell me about this redeeming your family."

Dovanseer replied, "Milord, you may not know, this city was actually a prominent holy site of Lord Nerthazir. There was a grand Ziggurat dedicated to our God. But the God of Light and his paladins attacked the city. And…."

"And?" asked Arin.

"And it was my ancestor, who had opened the city gate and let them enter and sack this site!" Aedric spoke with utter shame.

"WHAT? So, your ancestors were the reason why the Holy City was destroyed, and Zulkarnash was buried alive?" Arin gritted his teeth.

"You know of High Priest Zulkarnash? I heard my family was blessed by him." Dovanseer replied.

Arin did not answer him and ordered him to continue.

"As you command, Milord" he bowed and continued, "after this treachery, my family was made a Nobel of the Kingdom, and we became Patrician of this newly built city. But Nerthazir's curse lingered upon us, and none of my predecessor lived long after having a child. They always had to chose between staying alive or keeping their bloodline alive. And all of us had nightmares of our ancestors languishing in pain and torment post death, because of our treachery to God of Death. And only I have been bestowed with rare opportunity to redeem our bloodline and save my ancestors from this torment." Dovanseer fell on his knees and grabbed Arin's feet, "Milord, please take me under your wings. My wealth, my power, my influence all belongs to you. Please let me serve you as your most loyal servant!"

"Your ancestors had betrayed our Dread Father once. Why should I trust you?" Arin raised suspicion.

"I am revealing myself to you milord" Aedric replied, "please accept!"

Arin did not understand what he meant but he received a notification-

[ Aedric Dovanseer has offered to share his Status with you. ]

[ Do you Accept? ]

< Yes? / No? >

Arin said "Yes" in his mind, and in front of him appeared Dovaseer's status window-

=============================

| Name: Aedric Dovanseer |

| Profession: Patrician of Siterion |

| Race: Human |

| Level: 4 |

| Experience: 52/200 |

=============================

| Strength: 25 | 

|Agility: 10 |

|Magicka: 5 |

|Wisdom: 70 |

|HP: 110 |

=============================

| Resistance: |

| Blade 2% | Blunt 2% | Piercing 6% |

| Fire 1% | Water 2% | Earth 4% |

| Light 0% | Dark 0% | Mental 45% |

=============================

| Status: |

| Cursed Bloodline (Permanent) |

=============================

| Skill: |

| Simple Weapon Proficiency – Novice |

| Unique Weapon Proficiency – Novice |

| Light Magic Proficiency – NA |

| Dark Magic Proficiency – NA|

| Destructive Magic Proficiency – NA |

| Creation Magic Proficiency – NA |

| Observation – Adept(38/150) |

=============================

| Spells Learnt: |

| NA |

=============================

One thing was surprising to him was, how Dovanseer, being same level as him, had so low stats compared to him. Now he was sure that his stats were boosted because of his special permanent status and profession. Only that would explain how he was defeating enemies who were of higher level than him.

But it was not time to ponder upon those technicality.

"Okay, leave my feet now!" Arin said, "and get rid of these corpses. They reek of dark energy!"

"It will be done milord. No one would find their trace!" Dovanseer assured Arin, and then asked, "So your next command?"

"Your next command is to tell me everything you know about this kingdom, the dynasty, trade, economy all!" Arin commanded.

"It will be done Milord" Aedric bowed, "let us discuss over dinner table".

Arin obliged and then walked towards the dining room.