Chapter 29: Nekros
Since the creeper would die no matter what choice it made, it decided to have these vile humans accompany it to the afterlife. It seemed one had already died as it could no longer detect mana from her body, so this only left the boy.
The monster made its final death throes as it ran at Marcus with wild abandon.
The swamp creeper already possessed minimal intelligence, but now it had truly just become a mindless beast. As it approached Marcus, a voice rang out in his head. That master of his hadn't said a word to Marcus this entire time but now decided to speak.
"Let this be a lesson to you boy. Never turn your back on the enemy. You must always ensure your target is dead."
Marcus barely paid attention to his master's words as he gazed at the creeper rushing towards him. No emotion could be seen in the boy's face. Only a blank stare was present and he seemed completely detached from everything around him.
It was only a hundred meters away now. Then one hundred turned to ninety, then to eighty, sixty, forty, twenty...
When the creature was only ten meters from Marcus, a change took place within him.
His eyes became entirely black and a malevolent aura appeared around him. Marcus raised one hand to the creature and just as it was about to run him over and crush him, Marcus closed his hands into fist.
As he did so, countless tendrils of darkness appeared and enveloped the creature, stopping it right before Marcus's face. The darkness latched onto all four of the creeper's main limbs and pulled.
A sickening tearing sound was heard as the creepers arms and legs were ripped off in four totally different directions. The creature didn't even get a chance to scream as its head was also enveloped by a dark tendril.
Its head was then ripped from its now limbless torso and enveloped in complete darkness.
Then, something occurred within each of the dark tendrils that had ripped away a piece of the creeper. The dark appendages absorbed the creeper's various body parts and returned to their original sharp-tentacled like shape.
Afterwards, as if they had a mind of their own, they all 'faced' Marcus and approached him, traveling through the ground and to his feet. When they reached his foot, the darkness slowly crept up his body and enveloped him whole. The creature's body was completely gone and only a black figure stood where Marcus was.
After a minute had passed the darkness started to recede into Marcus's body and his appearance was revealed.
His previous malnourished and frail body now looked completely healthy. His scars and bruises had all but vanished and the only evidence that he'd previously been fighting for his life were his tattered and worn clothes. Not to mention, he no longer felt hungry and tired. It was like he was restored to peak condition.
Marcus looked down at his hands and opened and closed them several times, seemingly surprised at his newfound vitality and power. He didn't understand what happened when he 'killed' the creeper but it just felt right, almost like it was natural.
"Did you do this," Marcus spoke seemingly to no one.
"No. This... this is her power. How is this possible," the voice replied while making sure to stress the word 'her'.
'Sister, do you still yet live?
'No, that's impossible, but its the only explanation for-'
"Who are you referring to?"
The voice waited a few moments before answering.
"My sister. This is her power."
Marcus's face scrunched up in confusion. He didn't know who this 'sister' was but he didn't bother asking. If his master didn't elaborate further then he probably wouldn't get the answer even if he asked.
Instead, he chose a different approach.
"Well whoever your sister is, she's a helluva lot more useful than you are. I mean, here I am about to be crushed to death and all you could offer to help are a few measly words. What good is a lesson if I'm dead," Marcus spoke in a condescending and bitter tone.
The voice ignored Marcus's attempt at pissing it off and decided to only speak on the latter half of his statements.
"Quite often, the best lessons are the hardest. Had that creature succeeded in running you over, I am certain you'd never make such a mistake, as to turn your back to an enemy, again.
"But I'd be dead!"
"You wouldn't have died," his master stated in a serious tone.
Marcus was confused. What did his master mean 'he wouldn't have died'. The way he saw it, had no one intervened he'd have been crushed to death.
His master didn't answer his question and decided to conveniently change the topic instead.
"It seems to me you lack the resolve to actually follow through on those words you spoke earlier. How do you plan to stand on your own when all you do is blame others for your own misfortune. How long will you rely on other's 'helping hands' before you take responsibility for your own actions?"
To this, Marcus had no words. Everything the voice said was true. Directly after he 'killed' the creeper he felt a slight disgust and revulsion for the power he wielded.
Why had said power only manifested after Beatrice died instead of when he was surrounded?
Surely the one who bestowed the power to him could have done it sooner but they chose not to.
Was his master's so called sister truly worthy of his gratitude then?
Marcus didn't think so.
However, his master's words put a stop to such thoughts.
Marcus couldn't rely on others to save and protect him forever. Eventually, his luck would run out. Also, he didn't know why, but he was almost one-hundred percent certain his master wouldn't be able to revive him a second time.
As Marcus continued to remain silent, his master began speaking again.
"Though I am uncertain about the extent to which you can wield my sister's powers, I can guarantee you that you'll need more than just that if you wish to protect those you care about."
Marcus stopped lamenting his previous actions to pay attention to the voice.
"It will provide you with a unique advantage over most, if not everyone else, but without proper training and guidance you're only destined for mediocrity. Now, open your Terra."
Marcus let those words sink in as he called upon is system and was surprised by what he saw.
------------------
Str = 25
Mag = 15
Dex = 15
Spd = 20
Def = 10
Res = 15
Lck = 0
Health = 500/500
Class = Unavailable
Rank: Elementary
Mage Arts: [Darkness Manifestation]
Constitution: Eclipsing Phantasm
Elemental Affinity: Darkness
------------------
He wanted to ask about his new constitution and mage art but thought better of asking his master a question without thinking.
Clearly these new additions had not been there prior to the mysterious being bestowing him her power. So he drew the conclusion that this was indeed the power she'd given to him.
Marcus also looked over his other basic stats and noticed there growths as well. It seemed killing a rank-F monster was quite lucrative.
Marcus didn't know just how right he was.
Once he was satisfied looking through his stats, a familiar prompt was shown to him. It was the contract the voice proposed earlier to Marcus. Only this time, its contents and the contractor's name were now all visible to him.
Marcus hurriedly went to read the information within the contract in case his master suddenly decided to hide it again.
As he read it, he took notice to the contractor's name which now read 'Nekros'.
"So, that is your name, Nekros huh?"
Nekros, the voice that had been communicating with Marcus, didn't reply to his statement so Marcus continued to read the rest of the contract.
The contents only mentioned that Nekros would provide Marcus with power and in exchange, Marcus would accept any one request made by him. If either side failed to meet their respective requirements, they would die.
This was all very vague and general to Marcus and he started to become suspicious once again. However, remembering Nekros's previous words about his lack of resolve stopped his indecisive thoughts from flourishing and instead led him to question Nekros about something before he accepted it.
"The contract doesn't elaborate on how much power you intend to bestow upon me. Nor does it mention what you'll request of me. For all I know you could request me to kill the very people I wish to protect. That is concerning."
"Will you not accept then?" Nekros asked in a tone that was surprisingly not annoyed, but curious.
"Of course I'll accept. The fact remains that I need power and you have it. Also I highly doubt anyone with the ability to revive the dead is weak. Any power you bestow upon me should be extremely helpful and I'd be a fool not to accept. The only thing I'll say is this, if you require me to harm those I care about, contract or no contract, I will kill myself."
The surrounding area grew eerily quiet after Marcus's statement. He wanted to let those words resonate with Nekros so that he understood his stance on the matter at hand.
Nekros would be a fool if he thought Marcus would ever do such a thing.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone