The Ruined Death Knight-Novel

Danzel determination to turn his [Long Sword of the Sand Emperors Blade] into a truly cursed blade was pretty high.

The potential that the skill [Siphoning Soul Blade] had was enormous as it could infinitely make the skill stronger even if he didn´t upgrade it at all.

"Such a powerful skill is only on its 3rd-tier? I can´t even imagine how the skill will turn out after reaching the max level." Danzel though.

`I wonder how much each upgrade costs...´ Danzel thought before opening the cost of [Siphoning Soul Blade] upgrade.

[Siphoning Soul Blade]: Cost 700 000 XP (+50 000 per level)

"..."

Seeing the cost of the skill, if Danzel had a heart, by now he would be experiencing a heart attack. Most of the 3rd-tier skills generally cost around 350 000 to 500 000 XP in total. But this skill reached a total of 700 000 XP! The only other skill that cost so much was [Soul of Death Essence]

Luckily though, thanks to his talent [Superior Unique Concioness] and the passive skill [Soul of Death Essence]. He gained a total of 45% discount on upgrading skills that had soul affinity. And that skill that was categorized as death skills was instead only at 25%.

Sadly the talent [Superior Unique Concioness] didn´t cover for his death skills.

So instead of paying 700 000 for the first level, he now only had to pay a total of 385 000 XP. Which almost was half the price.

"It isn´t that bad now that I think about it..." Danzel thought as he finished calculating the cost.

Thanks to his 660 intelligence, his mind was so efficient that making such calculations took him a mere second to finish.

"I guess I should increase it at the very least at level 9 in the future, but now... the remaining is somewhere else needed." Danzel said before closing the [Siphoning Soul Blade] window.

He had already decided on where all this XP would be used for now.

"I guess the last remaining is [Hand of Mana Affinity]. It waited long enough to reach its 3rd-tier." Danzel mumbled to himself before pressing the upgrade window.

[Hand of Mana Affinity level has increased from Lv.9 to Lv. 10]

[The skill Hand of Mana Affinity has reached this maximum level]

[The skill Hand of Mana Affinity reached the modification stage!]

[Choose 2 of the given options for the skill to focus on!]

[Dead Mana Affinity]

[Soul Affinity]

[Projecteles Increase]

[Speed Improvement]

[Durability]

[Power Increase]

Scanning the given option, other than [Projecteles Increase], the other option wasn´t that particularly exciting.

He guessed if he picked [Projecteles Increase], he would be capable to summon more than 2 hands at the same time.

Considering how the spell was mostly used by other magic casters, [Projecteles Increase] would probably be the best choice.

The more hands one had, the more convinced it was after all.

But since Danzel used the skill in a more combat-oriented way, he decided to ignore that option.

He also went ahead and ruled out choice the [Speed Improvement] as it wasn´t as valuable as the other options.

After stepping on the 3rd-tier, the usage that Hand of Mana Affinity had seen started to lessen, and for a good reason at that.

They were fragile and lacked the strength to stop those of the 3rd-tier. They were barely enough to disturb a 2nd-tier expert's movements and that is if they were taken by surprise.

But even then Danzel hesitated in choosing the [Durability] and [Power Increase] options as it would probably turn the skill to be barely usable against 3rd-tier experts.

One had to remember that this was by level 9 of the skill.

Even if 3rd-tier skills were much stronger than their 2nd-tier past form, that also went for people who became 3rd-tier.

`If it just improves, then it isn´t going to be enough to use against those with a similar level as me. It will end up being used as just picking up my stuff from the ground.´

Wanting to avoid such a fate for a much-loved skill of his, Danzel decided to go to another room with [Hand of Mana Affinity].

And it was by picking both [Dead Mana Affinity] and [Soul Affinity] in hopes to change the effect like how it was done with [Mortal Reminder].

He hoped for the latter option to turn the skill into some form of ethereal form and fix the durability problem somehow, whereas the former option was simple to place some sort of effect that would damage his opponents such as a decaying effect or a curse.

Anything to solve the firepower of this skill would be a blessing at this point.

That´s how hopeless of a situation Danzel found the [Hand of Mana Affinity] skill to be...

`Even though it´s my favorite skill, I will have to risk it.´ Danzel thought slightly hesitant.

Finding no other solution to the current problem, he went ahead and picked both affinities.

[The modification for the skill Hand of Mana Affinity has been chosen]

[Hand of Mana Affinity Lv.10 becomes Grasp of the Undying Lv.1]

[Grasp of the Undying]: The caressing touch of an undying being on one's soul. The undying being forms an ethereal hand made out of [Soul Essence] to influence the physical world. If the hand starts to influence the physical world, then it becomes visible. Additionally, if the object that the hand touches hold a soul, then one is capable to pull some of one's vitality and [Soul Essence] while also dragging the part it touches in a certain direction in a short amount of time. The pulled away vitality and [Soul Essence] are then sent to the undying being to recover himself. The skill can always influence the physical world, but pulling once [Soul Essence] and vitality has a cooldown of 2 minutes.

...

"Sigh...fortunately it went well." Danzel sighed out loud in relief.

Bearing through the headache that he received from all the previous upgrades, Danzel followed the information given to him and manifested the [Grasp of the Undying] skill in front of him.

Compared to the [Hand of Mana Affinity] where it looked like a floating gauntlet, [Grasp of the Undying] looked totally different.

It looked like his dark green skeleton hand where the fingertips of the hand excluded a much intensive color, making the fingers look like sharp claws.

Pulling his sword out of its sheath, Danzel gave it to the skeleton hand.

Once it made contact with his sword, the skeleton hand seemed as if it became a much darker color, whereas when it wasn´t touching his sword it became a much lighter color.

"So that´s how it works, huh? It should be invisible to others, but I guess since I am the caster, I am able to see it? Will have to test it tomorrow..."

Taking his sword back, Danzel made the skeleton hand disappear, before looking at his total XP.

[XP: 4 585 800]

`It seemed like the harvesters brought some extra XP in the meantime...´ Danzel thought internally before focusing back on his status screen.

More specifically, he focuses on his [Black Guard] class.

[Black Guard Lv.1]: 50 000 (+5 000 XP per level)

"Mhm, that should be enough XP to level up my class a couple of levels.

Pressing the upgrade option on the window, Danzel watched how a wave of notifications appeared in front of him and how his XP was being drained at an alarming rate.

[Black Guard level has increased  from Lv.1 to Lv.2]

...

[Black Guard level has increased  from Lv.12 to Lv.13]

...

[Black Guard level has increased  from Lv.30 to Lv.31]

[Strength Increased by 120, Agility Increased by 90, Intelligence 120 Endurance 120]

[You gained 90 Attribute Points]

[A part of the Black Guard skills have been unlocked!]

With the surge of power overwhelming his body, Danzel glanced at his hand a few times before nodding in satisfaction. He was quickly able to adjust to the changes to his stats since he was used to being affected by [Sin of Wrath].

Though he much more attributes now than when he was affected by the talent, it wasn´t to the point of being unable to control his strength.

After all, he experienced such sort of thing more than one time.

`Status.´

[Status]

Name: Rue Danzel

Level: 100 [Max]

Race: Wight

Class: [Black Guard Lv. 31]

Sub-Class: [Runesmith of Undeath Lv.80]

Health: 33 367/33 367

Mana: 7908/7930

Attribute points: 90

Attributes: Strength: 673  Agility: 936 Intelligence: 720 Endurance: 591

Great Rune: [Great Rune of Undeath Existence]

Talents: [Superior Undead] [Sin of Wrath] [Reinforced Soul] [Superior Unique Consciousness ] [Rune Vision] [Dead Rune Knowledge] [Undead Carver] [Dead Mana Affinity] [Dead Mana Resilience] [Undying][Lower Class Death Magic] [Mastery of Himself] [Affinity Carving Mastery]

Skills: [Death Guarding Swordsmanship Lv.1] [Stone Wall Lv.1] [High Jump Lv.1] [Presentless Steps Lv.1][Soul of Death Essence Lv.1] [Swift Movements Lv. 1] [Shield Charge Lv.1] [Soul Reaping Wind Lv.1] [Existential Sense Danger Lv.1] [Curse of Exhaustion Lv.1] [Mortal Reminder Lv. 1] [Grasp of the Undying Lv.1] [Undying Guard Lv.1] [Armor of Vengeances Lv.1] [[Siphoning Soul Blade] Lv.1] [Soul of Death Lv.1] [Coating Miasma Lv.1] [Curse of Scourge Lv.1] [Greater Raise Undead Lv.1] [Undead Reconstruction Lv.1] [Eyes of the Damned Lv.1] [Curse of Five Bindings Lv.1] [NecromatiRestorationon Lv.1] [Death Rune Removal Lv.1]

[Remark: A wight who is able to influence the soul of others. terrifying existence that witnesses the realm of the dead. If it weren´t for the lack of knowledge that he has inside his empty skull, he would already be a calamity. At every cost, avoid confrontation against the undead named Rue Danzel.]

[XP: 310 800]