Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Lucan put his scepter away as Raze descended into the broken arena.

"Well done." He said to Lucan before addressing the crowd. "From this day forth, Lucan Quilldrake shall no longer be known as my sixth Hand, but my fifth and the Plague Baron shall be forever banished from the shadow realm."

The Plague Baron had just revived himself with his soul stone and had a look of pure hatred on his face.

"You will all suffer for this!" He screamed.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Raze asked.

"I will leave it to you." Lucan said. He had expended all his ethereal mana and couldn't open a portal if he wanted to.

Raze waved a hand and the Plague Baron disappeared.

"In two weeks, there will be a selection to decided who will be my sixth Hand. If anyone is interested, please submit your name in Vertshadow, after paying the participation fee of course. That will be all." Raze said.

The crowd was suddenly clamoring with excitement.

Raze turned to Lucan. "Come to my palace when you are free." Before Lucan could respond the old man disappeared while Lucan was blinking his eyes.

Without wasting a moment, he quickly ran towards the Vertshadow graveyard.

When he was a few blocks away he ran into the four who had helped him. Ignoring the others, he went straight to Silent and taking her into his embrace, passionately kissing her.

"I am so sorry I let you die."

"It's alright, you won, didn't you?"

"But-."

"It's fine. Given the choice again I would do the same thing." She said.

Lucan pulled her close and held on tight.

*Cough* *Cough*

Lucan and Silent turned to see their other party members looking at them awkwardly. Silent quickly pushed away from Lucan.

The warlock straightened his cloak and stepped towards the others.

"Thank you for all your help. MILOCARA, I just transferred the money to your account with a little extra. Thanks for your service."

"It's not a big deal, I know you hired us to kill the Baron's helpers, but he did that himself."

"Only because they wouldn't have lasted long against you guys." Lucan said. "If you are ever looking for more work or want to become an acolyte, let me know."

MILOCARA nodded but didn't respond. He turned and left towards the teleporter.

"Tyrannical Kyp, you have helped out a lot, not just in this fight, but also the battle of Desolation, even if it was cut short. Here."

Lucan didn't give him any physical reward, but since he was one of Silent's acolytes, he activated the beast tamer's wish list and purchased an ability for him. Not only did he buy the ability, but he bought it in its best form.

Lucan gave him the Phantom Champion ability. At the highest tier it could be activated once every hour. Normally the shape of the phantom was limited to a normal size humanoid creature, but for Kyp, Lucan enlarged it so the phantom could look like Tango.

"Thank you so much. If you ever need help again just give me a call." Tyrannical Kyp said before departing.

"Holy you did well. I already paid for your contract but here is a bonus." Lucan said, handing over a bag with 100 gold pieces.

"Thanks, I look forward to working together again sometime in the future." With that, Holy Willow also made his exit.

"Alright." Lucan said, putting his arm around Silent. "I need to visit Raze, do you want to come with?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Silent asked. "Why do they all get presents but not me. I am your w-, wife." She said while blushing.

"Everything I have is yours." Lucan said.

She gave him a harmless punch. "Does, that mean you don't have anything for me, you meanie?"

Lucan smirked. "Actually, I do have something."

He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a small object. Grabbing her left hand, Lucan slid a ring onto her finger. It was a silver-colored band made of Mithril with a rainbow chaos diamond fixed on top. The gem shined in seven different colors when the light hit it.

A player was only allowed to wear two rings, but that only applied to rings that gave stats or abilities. This decorative piece of jewelry didn't take up either ring slot.

A warm smile spread across the rogue's face. "I love it!" She said, diving forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her lips on his.

After a moment, Silent remembered that they were still standing in the middle of the street. She quickly let go and took a step back, but her thumb never stopped fiddling with the ring Lucan had put on her finger.

Lucan took a step closer to her. "Do you have any prizes for me?" He asked.

"W-, Wait till we are married, and you will get your prize." She bashfully said before running off ahead of him.

They both headed for Raze's palace.

Lucan sat down in a parlor with Raze. Silent sat on the couch beside him.

"That was a good win today. You displayed your dominance very well. I applaud you on your mix of real and illusions. Your new phantoms worked quite well." Raze said.

"I was happy with them. I had plenty of time while evolving to work on them. The hardest was turning self-destruct into a spell, but it paired nicely with the phantom fighter."

"Yes, and your soulfire spell worked out well once combined with your phantom caster."

"I am calling that one, the phantom mage, and the other one, the phantom bomber. You can buy them for a fair price." Lucan said with a smile.

"I would be more interested in buying your ethereal spells. I saw you put another one up for sale. Ethereal Dive."

"It lets you phase into the ethereal realm without opening a portal. It's handy but you can't take anyone with you. I am also working on another spell called Advanced Ethereal Step. This one would let you take two steps into the ethereal realm. Doing so will allow you to see into your current realm and the ethereal realm. Not only that, but you can interact with the environment in the ethereal realm. The only down side is that you start to lose your form in the current realm and kind of look like a ghost. But that may not be a downside to some people."

"Hmm, interesting." Raze said while stroking his chin. "The reason I asked you here is because I will be giving you a portion of the Plague Baron's territory, a few thousand square miles that border your current territory. It includes an already developed city. Head there when you get the chance to look it over or you can just send one of your subordinates."

"Thank you." Lucan said. "But what is the catch, since when do you give out things for free?"

"He, he, I am not that bad. Your taxes will increase but you will also earn more, I simply don't want to be bothered managing the area."

"Hmm, alright. I will trust you for now. Is there anything else? I want to go raid the former Baron's castle."

"Yes, now that you are coming into your own as a Hand and have your own unique brand of magic and abilities for sale, I am unlocking the higher tier spells and abilities for you to buy."

"What? You have higher tier magic?" Lucan asked.

"Of course, don't sound so shocked. If I am considered the master of shadow and mental magic, I have obviously combined the two. I have had many different results in my experimentation but the branch I will open to you falls under dream magic. In my opinion, it fits your style the best. But while you can buy dream magic, you are not able to sell it."

Lucan checked his menu and found a new section for dream magic.

"Wow, they seem pretty neat, I can't wait to get my hands on some of these, but the prices. Aren't they a bit ridiculous?"

"It is to be expected, they are advanced magic. I would be willing to give you a spell if… you release your right to raid the Plague Baron's estate and let me reclaim his wealth."

"Here it is. No wonder you were trying to butter me up earlier and gave me something for free."

"The territory is yours; you are free to reject my offer and I will not take back the territory I gave you, but what is more important to you? Wealth or power? If you take a spell, I will also give you 10% of what I claim from his castle."

Lucan thought about it. He would still meet resistance at the Baron's castle. Even if he had fallen, it wasn't as if every one of his people would just leave while taking nothing with them. Raze had a much better chance at claiming the loot, and Lucan wouldn't have to spend money on the Willow organization's assistance.

"Okay, 25% and you have a deal."

"Tsk, I will give you 12%."

"Come on now. Silent and I are getting married soon. Call it 20% and I will count it as a wedding gift."

"Fine 15% percent, I won't part with any more than that."

"Deal."

They shook hands and sealed the pact.

"Quickly selected your spell. The longer you take, the more loot will walk out of the Plague Baron's castle."

Lucan quickly opened the dream magic menu and searched for something that would interest him.

After adding 15 different spells and abilities to his wish list, he began to narrow it down before making his selection.

"Okay, I have decided. I want the Nightmare spell."

"Ah, good choice."

[You have learned the spell Nightmare]

[Nightmare]

[To cast nightmare the user must have an object extensively used by the target or a piece of their body. (Hair, blood, skin, etc.) The only range requirement is that both the caster and the target must be in the same realm. If the target is not asleep when the spell is cast, the magic will rebound and deal damage to the user. Once successfully cast, the user and the target will be transported into an artificial dream realm under the user's control. Death in the dream realm will force the deceased to wake up. If the target died, they will enter a chaotic and agitated state and be unable to rest from sleep for the next three days. They will also only gain 3/4 of the experience they normally gain until they recover and become well rested. If the users dies, they will suffer from a loss of experience equal to half of what a normal death would take away. If the user kills the target, they will gain half the experience they normally receive from a kill.]

Lucan was very happy with his decision. Not only could he fight people in their dreams, he could also get information from them and put his illusions to work.

"One last thing." Raze said. "If you have an issue with the title, Baron of Insanity, you should put a stop to it immediately because the name is spreading like wildfire through the capital at this very moment."

Even if he wanted to change it, it wouldn't be possible. Raze may not understand, but Lucan knew that Super had been broadcasting. The name had spread far past Vertshadow. It had reached the ears of every viewer he had.

"It's alright, I don't care if I am known as the Baron of Insanity or the Insane Baron."

Raze nodded and then disappeared in a whirl of shadows. Lucan guessed he was off to pillage and sate his greed.

Lucan turned to Silent. "Looks like it is time to get married in the game."

Silent turned away form him with red cheeks. "Don't think that I will accept going to a drive through chapel. I want a nice wedding, make proper arrangements." She said before activating a return scroll and disappeared.

Lucan chuckled. He knew that she was nervous about the wedding night, and truth be told he was terrified as well. But he was putting on a brave front, and as much as he was nervous and afraid, he was also excited. He would give Silent everything she wanted. He decided to plan an acutal wedding and give them both time to mentally prepare.