Dark Lord: Rise to Power

Arin was speechless over Ragna's perspective. Suddenly, she reminded him of his mom, whom he had largely forgotten by now. She used to say something similar: "It is a sin to lose faith in others!" Well, her trust in people had been repaid generously by her friends and relatives, who had denied any kind of support to her or her only child when they needed it the most. Arin had realized through all his life experiences that humans are the most ungrateful and selfish creatures, who will gladly take your favors but never repay them when you need it the most. His mom had learned this the hard way, and so had he. Ragna would learn it the same harsh way, he thought, only to realize that she had already been stabbed in the back. Strangely, she still hadn't learned her lesson.

Arin instinctively kept his hand on her head and patted gently. Ragna was taken aback by this sudden behavior. She blushed for a moment and then quickly made a stern face and grabbed his wrist. "You weakling, do you have a death wish?" she exclaimed.

Zulkarnash suddenly burst into laughter. This eerie and loud laughter from the undead would scare any living being other than Ragna, for she actually knew the nature of this undead as well as what made him laugh out loud. "Like leader, like follower!" she remarked and moved on.

While traversing the second layer, Ragna had detailed what had happened to her in the cave. Their quest was to collect ten intact crystals protruding from the walls in the third layer. Any crystals beyond the ten would count as a bonus. They had agreed to collect at least ten crystals each, a minimum of forty crystals in total. In their team, Sihana, the Elf Swordswoman, was the tank who would pull and hold aggro. Ragna was the off-tank and a damage dealer. Husar, the Human Archer, was the main damage dealer. Parturd, the dwarf, was the healer.

However, this time, despite being the main tank, Sihana was not drawing aggro much, and Ragna always found herself performing the role of the tank. She had taken it as a challenge to prove her worth and went with the flow. At the third level, the team had decided to pull nearby mobs to secure the area first, and then dig for the crystals in peace. However, Sihana pulled too many mobs for them to handle, most likely to ensure Ragna's demise and then stage her death as just a common mishap in dungeon-type quests. As too many mobs were pulled, the three of them found it hard to run away, as Ragna could not hold aggro by herself.

As Ragna was completely overwhelmed by all the monsters, she looked back once to see her partners running away. Most likely, the dwarf could not outrun the monsters and was left to die as well. She heard the cacophony of howling beasts mixed with the dwarf's shriek, followed by the sound of an explosion behind her. She was not sure what had actually happened, as she did not have time to look behind. However, her best guess was that the Dwarf priest, in his dying moments, had activated some high-tier spell that burned all his enemies.

Arin held her hand and pointed towards the entrance. It was morning now, and golden rays of sunlight were pouring into the dark cavern like a waterfall of light. The rope was intact. Arin gestured, "Ladies first!"

Ragna teased him, "You think Ragna of the Icespike Tribe will need a rope to traverse such a short distance?" The hole was definitely much higher than Ragna's height. Arin could not understand how she was going to reach it without using the rope. The wall was not suitable for climbing either. However, he wanted to observe how the Barbarian lady would achieve what she claimed.

Ragna took a deep breath and centered herself, focusing on the goal above. She bent her knees slightly, her muscles coiling like springs ready to launch. With determination in her eyes, she took a small step forward, feeling the ground firm beneath her feet. She pushed off with all her might, her legs driving her upwards as she extended her arms towards the hole. Her body soared through the air, her heart pounding with exhilaration. Time seemed to slow as she reached the peak of her jump, her fingertips brushing the edge. With a final burst of effort, Ragna grasped the rim of the hole, pulling herself up and out of the cave, victorious and unyielding.

Arin could not believe his eyes. Zulkarnash broke the silence, "The blessings of Lodraz are still with the Frozenbloods." Ragna probably overheard Zulkarnash's remark. She said, "May Lodraz's strength fuel your battles." Zulkarnash replied, "And may his fury be your shield." Ragna smiled back at Zulkarnash and nodded.

Arin whispered, "Who is Lodraz?" Zulkarnash replied, "God of War, Carnage, Brutality, Savagery, and Gallantry! He is the patron deity of the Frozenbloods, whom people here call Barbarians." "I thought you were a devotee of our Dread Father!" Arin teased him. "That I am," the Lich replied calmly, "but that does not mean I cannot pay respect to other deities. Especially The Lord of The Underworld and The Prince of Carnage are considered to be always on very good terms, and both are hated by Malkurt and his ilk." Arin was going to grab the rope to climb up, but Ragna stretched her hand. Arin held her hand, and she pulled him up with just one of hers. Zulkarnash simply levitated himself up.

Arin never felt he would ever feel so happy to be in light, but today he felt really great.

He had expected he will be flooded with notifications, but nothing such happened. It was surprising, whether there was some issue. And then he remembered he had not fulfilled his original quest. As he picked up his Singing Mushrooms, he started receiving notification-

[Simple Weapon Skill Progressed by +48. Skill Progression 62/150]

[Scrying Skill Progressed by +1. Skill Progression 10/150]

[Life Drain Spell Progressed by +6. Skill Progression 27/150]

[Feeble Spell Progressed by +1. Skill Progression 2/100]

[Wither Spell Progressed by +1. Skill Progression 13/100]

[Erode Spell Progressed by +2. Skill Progression 3/100]

[You have killed 15 enemies. You have been awarded +150 exp]

[You have killed 15 enemies of level higher than you. You have been awarded bonus +75exp]

[You have killed 10 humans. Kill 40 more to unlock title ??????????]

[Congratulations. You have accumulated enough experience points to level up]