[Ding! Congratulations, you have completed the Second Awakening Trial “Abyssal Demon Realm (???)”!]
[You have completed the trial task, and received the reward: Boundless Key (Divine level)!]
[You have acquired new skills: Magic Runes Domain (Awakened), Forbidden Domain (Awakened), Heavenly Fire Domain (Awakened), Imaginary Domain (Awakened), Wind and Thunder Domain (Awakened), Sea of Blood Domain (Awakened)…]
…
In a flash of light, by the time Luca regained his senses, he had already returned to the Vessel of the Dead.
At the same time, several game notifications appeared before him.
Domain-related skills only appear after the second awakening, and within these domains, the player’s class abilities are greatly enhanced. For example, within the Magic Runes Domain, when Luca uses magic runes, the skill effects will be doubled. The other class domains have similar effects.
However, the greatest gain from this trial wasn’t just this.
In addition to the Soulgrass, he had also acquired a large amount of high-level equipment materials. Just from the Superclass materials obtained in Tiberius’ lair, there were more than thirty items, including three types of Transcendent materials, which were just enough to forge new fixed magic runes.
The creation of Soulwater was now a problem. Relying on Zenobia was definitely not dependable, so he would have to wait for his Witch Doctor skill to level up before attempting to create it.
The remaining task was to forge two fixed magic runes, which he could do right away.
“Looks like you’ve gotten quite a haul,” a black skeleton wearing a captain’s uniform said as it walked toward him.
The hollow eyes scanned Luca for a moment, quickly noticing something unusual about him.
“Just lucky,” Luca said with a smile.
He wasn’t wrong. His luck had indeed played a large part in this. Otherwise, with his current strength, surviving in the Abyssal Demon Realm would have been a challenge, let alone reaping so many rewards.
Levin, although unaware of what Luca had gone through, certainly didn’t buy the “luck” explanation.
But he didn’t press the matter further. Instead, he said, “The sea area where Ellie and the others are located isn’t far from here. Once we find them, I’ll send you all back to the Sea of Mist. Prepare yourself.”
Luca caught the underlying meaning in his words and responded, “Aren’t you going to meet her? Ellie came to the Sea of Mist just to find you.”
Levin fell silent for a long while before replying, “I am already dead, and I will never leave this ship. Some things are better left in memory—at least it preserves some semblance of beauty.”
Luca couldn’t quite understand his thoughts, but it was Levin’s choice, and he had no reason to interfere.
Nodding slightly, he agreed.
“By the way, there’s something you might be able to use,” Levin suddenly remembered something, reached into his chest, and pulled out an object, tossing it toward Luca. Luca instinctively caught it, only to realize it was a black ring, engraved with an odd pattern.
It seemed to depict a city, and it looked like it had been around for quite some time.
“What is this?” Luca asked, looking at Levin with confusion.
However, Levin gave no explanation. He simply turned and began walking toward the dark captain’s quarters, saying, “You’ll know when the time comes.” Read exclusive content at empire
Luca furrowed his brow. He hated riddles.
The Vessel of the Dead sailed slowly through the death-infused ocean. The skeletons floating in the sea would always make way when they saw the ship. If they couldn’t move out of the way in time, the Vessel of the Dead would crush right through them without hesitation.
Taking advantage of this moment, Luca selected two types of Transcendent-level materials and began forging his fixed magic runes. There wasn’t much to choose from, as there were only three types of materials.
A black skeletal hand and a slowly pulsing gray heart appeared in his hands.
[Troll Hand Bone: Transcendent-level material, one of the former rulers of the Abyssal Demon Realm, later slain by Tiberius. Used for crafting equipment, it greatly enhances strength attributes and has a high chance of granting the talent skill “Giant’s Bloodline”!]
[Necrotic Heart: Transcendent-level material, Tiberius’s heart, also the core of his power. Used for crafting equipment, it significantly boosts undead-related skills and has a high chance of granting the talent skill “Resurrection”!]
The reason Luca chose these two materials wasn’t just because they didn’t conflict with the magic runes he already had, but because they both had a chance to unlock hidden abilities.
Under normal circumstances, such chances would be considered a bonus, but Luca was currently under a hundredfold luck buff, which essentially meant that obtaining these abilities was almost a certainty!
Suppressing his excitement, he immediately began forging the two Transcendent-level materials.
Now that he had reached the Superclass, Luca’s speed in crafting magic runes had also significantly improved.
The two Transcendent-level fixed magic runes combined only took less than half a day to complete.
[Ding! You have acquired a new fixed magic rune: “Troll’s Hand (Transcendent)”!]
[Congratulations! You have acquired the talent skill “Giant’s Bloodline”, a passive skill. Your strength and defense are tripled, with no cooldown!]
…
[Ding! You have acquired a new fixed magic rune: “Necrotic Heart (Transcendent)”!]
[Congratulations! You have acquired the talent skill “Resurrection”, a passive skill. Upon death, you will be resurrected at full strength in the same location, with a cooldown of 7 days!]
…
Luca checked the descriptions of the two talent skills. As expected, they were both excellent. Especially “Resurrection,” which essentially granted him an extra life, increasing his margin for error. Although with his current health surpassing three million, it was unlikely he would be killed in the first place.
He then examined the attributes of the two fixed magic runes.
“Troll’s Hand” mainly enhanced his strength. Using magic runes would boost his strength by five times, and upon awakening, it would double again. The three skills all focused on increasing and amplifying strength, making it a force that could crush any obstacle with raw power.
“Necrotic Heart,” on the other hand, focused mainly on undead-related skills. Using magic runes allowed him to freely use undead skills up to Superclass level, and upon awakening, it even granted the ability to summon fallen strong warriors to fight for him.
Luca was very satisfied with both magic runes. Whether it was the power boost from “Troll’s Hand” or the undead abilities from “Necrotic Heart,” both were new offensive capabilities he hadn’t had before, and neither would conflict with his other magic runes.
Next, he opened his status panel.
He saw that his mental attribute had risen to 800,000, nearly doubling, and he was just one step away from the million mark. The other three attributes had also grown by double.
As a player’s level increased, the difficulty of leveling up grew exponentially, and similarly, the strength gained from future upgrades became more significant.
When calculating the overall growth, it wasn’t just a simple doubling. Luca estimated that with his current power, he was already strong enough to face ordinary Transcendent-level monsters.
This was excellent news. Perhaps soon, even without relying on his fate-based abilities, he would be able to confront Transcendent-level monsters head-on.
After calming his emotions, about half an hour later, Luca clearly felt the ship’s speed slow down. He knew they were likely nearing the sea area where Sophia and the others were. He stepped out of the Vessel of the Dead’s cabin.
In the distance, through the gray mist, he could already vaguely make out two massive black shapes.
They were slowly drifting side by side. One by one, gray-white undead creatures, resembling sea leeches, clung to the ship’s hull, desperately attempting to board.
Isaac, Gavin, Keik, and the soldiers were doing their best to prevent the monsters from boarding the ship. Though the hull was covered in a thick layer of frost, making it more difficult for the creatures to climb, the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming.
Despite their efforts, the creatures kept coming, and it seemed like they couldn’t hold out much longer. The situation was growing increasingly dire. Luca didn’t waste any time. A flicker of black light flashed in his eyes.
A howling wind filled the air, and a massive black magic circle enveloped the entire sea.
Wind and Thunder Domain!
Countless black wind blades and silver arcs of lightning rained down upon the undead creatures clinging to the side of the ship.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
The undead monsters didn’t even have a chance to react. The moment they came into contact with the lightning and wind blades, they were reduced to charred remains.
The hurricane swept through, sending countless undead creatures flying into the sky.
By the time Gavin, Isaac, and the others on the ship had recovered, the once-dense swarm of monsters around the ship had been reduced to only a few stragglers.
“What the…?” They froze, exchanging confused glances, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
At that moment, a black figure suddenly landed on the ship.
Isaac and the others immediately tensed, but once they saw the figure’s face, their expressions turned to surprise.
“Luca, what are you doing here?” Ellie asked, astonished.
When they were attacked by that massive eye, they hadn’t had time to warn Luca and ended up in the Underworld themselves. They never expected to find him here. Sophia also gave him a questioning look.
“It was the Vessel of the Dead that saved us,” Luca explained, leaving out any mention of Levin.
Hearing that they hadn’t fallen into the Underworld because of the giant eye, but rather had escaped it, everyone was somewhat taken aback.
“I spoke with the captain of the Vessel of the Dead,” Luca continued. “He’s willing to take us out of here.”
Following his gaze, the group looked out over the gray mist-shrouded sea and saw the dilapidated black ship. Compared to the magnificent Windrunner Ship, it looked like something from a bygone era.
They also spotted the black skeleton in a captain’s uniform standing on the Vessel of the Dead’s deck.
Levin nodded at them.
Ellie furrowed her brow. She felt like she had seen that figure before, but couldn’t quite place where.
However, there was no time for her to think it over.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope we will never meet again in this life,” Levin said, offering them a final blessing.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a skeletal staff materialized in his grip.
He pointed it toward the distant sea.
The waters churned, and a gray magic circle unfolded. A massive silver gate appeared, adorned with ancient, intricate patterns.
The Gate of the Ferryman!