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This closed and rugged land was never lacking in ghost stories of this kind.

Including but not limited to ghouls that would crawl out of graves at night to feast on the remains of the dead, resentful spirits that would possess the bodies of the unfortunate and shred their souls to devour them, and midnight vampire visitors that would quietly arrive on some ill-omened night, among others.

Compared to these horrifying beings, the werewolf bandits roaming the mountains and hills, robbing homes, and the dog-headed petty thieves always craving candles seemed so tame.

In other regions, werewolf and various beasts might be considered dangerous, but in the haunted land of Transia, they had no standing whatsoever.

They were at the very bottom of the dark creatures’ food chain, not even feared by children over ten years old.

This was not a bad thing.

At the very least, it tempered the notorious thick skin and ruggedness of the Transian people, allowing even farmers to dare wield pitchforks against ghouls stealing their livestock.

But the problem was, if the numbers of these creatures reached the thousands or tens of thousands, that would be a full-blown super disaster that no pitchfork could solve.

“Master, I think we might want to change our camping spot.”

Watching Murphy place the Ebony Stone amid the corpses, preparing to absorb the death spirit essence and complete the job change ritual, Maxim suggested in a low voice:

“First of all, I’m not scared!

Master, as long as you give the word, I’ll stand guard here and slay every ghoul and resentful spirit I see. But I’m not afraid only because I’m used to death. Our people can’t deal with this horrific ghoul nest under our feet.

For the sake of your reign, perhaps we should move the survivor camp away from here.

I mean, to a nearby village.

Like Morland Village.”

“Ah, I forgot to tell you, Maxim. Remember that big pit my warriors dug in Morland Village?”

Murphy turned his head and looked at Maxim with an odd expression, saying:

“The Witch Hunters just told me they had a ghoul outbreak there too. They had to blow up half the village to seal that nest. But those ghostly things can hibernate for at least three years without food or water, so while we’re clearing out the underground troubles in Kadman City, we’ll also have to send people to deal with those things.

And the Smuggler’s Woods too.

You haven’t forgotten, have you?

There are two hundred veteran corpses there. Those well-trained elites left unburied could spawn something even more troublesome than ghouls, like a skeleton army.”

“Ah, this!”

Maxim was speechless for a moment.

He was feeling more and more that outsiders’ aversion and prejudice towards the Transia region wasn’t unfounded. Even as a local, he was starting to think his homeland was a veritable haunted land.

How was it just like a dilapidated house, leaking everywhere?

But if you tried to kick it, a bunch of flirtatious vampires would jump out and gangbang you.

“Alright, don’t think too much about it. Let’s just get the task at hand done first.”

Murphy had placed the Ebony Stone and stepped back, drawing the Blade of the Desire Clan. He took out the alchemical sword oil made by Tris and lightly applied a layer to the blade. Upon contact with the spirit essence in the air, the oil imbued with special materials immediately began releasing warm sparks of light, as if the weapon had been temporarily enchanted with a burning effect.

It would be most suitable for dealing with the resentful spirits and ghosts that would appear shortly.

He tossed a bottle of the alchemical sword oil to Maxim, who caught it and applied a layer to Jed’s ritual black blade as well.

There was no need for the spirit venom blade, though.

Precious spirit weapons were already capable of harming spiritual bodies.

“The Ebony Stone can absorb the death essence of spiritual bodies and store it. Once it’s full of essence, adding fresh blood allows the completion of the tomb badge.

This isn’t just the symbol of a Tomb Guard’s identity, it’s also the medium for their spellcasting.

By absorbing and storing death energies through the tomb badge, Tomb Guards can imbue their sword skills with dark or death spirit essence during attacks, enhancing their destructive power.”

As Murphy prepared to deal with the enemy, he explained to the watchful Maxim beside him:

“As the Blood Vulture Clan’s exclusive elite unit, Tomb Guards are similar to the spirit knights the Circle Tower sent charging into the fray during the Ten Year War, masters wielding both physical and spirit martial arts simultaneously.

But their greatest strength lies in using the tomb badge to designate the enhancement of certain skills.

Like Jed.

That guy enhanced his sword skills to unleash lethal energy sword waves, but unfortunately, his tomb badge was destroyed by the sunlight’s burning.”

Maxim immediately picked up on the disdain in Murphy’s words and asked:

“You mean Jed used the Tomb Guard’s power incorrectly?”

“Can’t say it was wrong.”

Murphy’s ears twitched.

He heard faint moans rising from the surrounding horrifically slain corpses, making him aware that the Ebony Stone’s death summons had begun.

He took the starting stance of the Tomb Guard sword art and said to Maxim:

“The ordinary person’s idea is to either enhance offense or defense, which is a decent approach but too mediocre.

In my view, the greatest advantage of a hybrid job like the Tomb Guard lies in versatility. In real combat, no matter how strong your attacks are, they’re useless if you can’t hit the enemy.

So if it were me,

I would use the power of death to enhance my control skills, thereby firmly grasping the initiative in battle.

Here they come!”

“Swish swish swish”

Following Murphy’s warning, streams of eerie green spectral shadows surged out from the surrounding corpses.

They all had vague humanoid forms but no sense of tangibility, like oddly colored plastic bags floating around, letting out death shrieks that could attack the mind while lashing out with icy ghost claws at the oblivious intruders before them.

“Bang”

Murphy raised his left hand, his proficient Spirit Blast – Raging Gale striking the sky. The compressed dark spirit essence burst out like a shotgun blast, deterring the onslaught of resentful spirits and allowing him to step forward, slashing his blade in a flurry to pierce through several ghostly bodies.

They let out chilling wails as they tried to return to the corpse piles and reconstitute their spiritual forms, only to be devoured by the gaping Ebony Stones on the ground.

Within those night-like brilliant crystals, green specks of light appeared.

“At least sixty!”

Murphy said to Maxim:

“The production of tomb badges also has quality levels. The rich young lady’s casually provided Ebony Stone is extremely pure, meaning it can absorb more death essence. Consider this some sword practice while taking care of a minor trouble for our future territory, Maxim.

Slay every resentful spirit spawned from these corpses, then burn this place down.

My warriors will need a foothold when they enter the maze-like sewers later. I think this spot is quite suitable to become their ‘underground save point’.”

“Is that some otherworldly term, Master?.”

As Maxim swung his twin blades to continuously slay enemies, he asked:

“Perhaps you could explain it in terms I’m familiar with? I never understand the strange words your warriors like to use. They like to call me ‘baimao’, which I feel is some kind of insult.”

“No, it’s a term of endearment for you.”

Murphy dodged the resentful spirits’ ghost claw strikes flashing towards him with graceful, agile dark strides as he said in a relaxed tone:

“They call Miriam ‘redhead’, address Captain Natalie as ‘grayhead’, refer to the young lady as ‘rich loli’, address Tris respectfully as ‘beautiful lady’, and call Adele ‘sister E’.

They’re used to addressing you all by your most obvious traits.

Believe me, it all stems from their most sincere and passionate feelings. After all, in their circles, only the closest brothers would use nicknames to address each other.

Hmm, this is probably what’s called a cultural difference.”

“But they address you as ‘handsome guy’ or ‘sir’.”

Maxim shrugged and responded:

“I just feel like they’re treating us differently. That’s not good. I care about them too and always hope they don’t waste time wandering the ruins. Why not practice swordsmanship instead?”

“That’s possibly because you’re not generous enough?”

Murphy let out a hearty laugh and said:

“If you increase the rewards and bonuses you give them each time, I’m sure they’ll quickly and respectfully address you as ‘Sir Maxim’ too, even willingly letting money and equipment blind them into adding flattering nicknames like ‘honorable’, ‘great’, ‘handsome’, and so on.

As I said before, they’re really pragmatic.

But isn’t that precisely why they come across as adorable and straightforward?”

Amidst the casual banter between master and servant, nearly half of the close to one hundred resentful spirits in this underground space were quickly slain. With the right counter-techniques, these things weren’t hard to deal with, especially for two seasoned Black Iron-ranked swordsmen.

This Reality Realm was always pragmatic when it came to combat power.

Weak commoners might become resentful spirits or ghouls after death, but they wouldn’t be too difficult to handle. The true threats were the former professional gang members in the sewers below.

The undead creatures they became would be far more dangerous, not only enhanced by death spirit energies but even retaining some combat skills and tactical thinking from life.

Like the sewer exploration previously led by Joy Stick’s group, which nearly resulted in a team wipe due to two water ghouls utilizing “terrain killing” tactics.

Fortunately, Murphy’s tomb badge only required death essence, which arose from the convergence of death spirit energies with no hierarchy.

About twenty minutes later, the last resentful spirit was shot dead by Murphy’s hand crossbow, and the entire chilly underground area quickly fell silent and calm.

Maxim took out fire oil from his spirit bag to prepare for burning, while Murphy picked up the now completely green-hued Ebony Stone from the ground.

Ice-cold to the touch like gripping a thousand-year frost, the item’s information tag also rapidly popped up before Murphy’s eyes:

Name: Death Stone / Ebony Stone Full of Essence

Effect: Excellent alchemical material and Tomb Guard job change item. Please add fresh blood to complete spirit binding and resonance.

Item Description:

【For some particular vampires, they always like to make their tomb badges look luxurious and intricate, engraving them with useless mottos and runes that do nothing but look good.

But in reality, even a poop-shaped stone can still be called a tomb badge.

The essence of power is truly this unadorned.】

“Perhaps I’m too sensitive, but I always feel like you’re implying something. Although I’m not too particular about these things, I wouldn’t make my tomb badge poop-shaped either. That would be a bit too ‘avant-garde’ for a young vampire like me.”

Murphy pursed his lips, took out the alchemical engraving knife supplied by Tris from his spirit pack, and trimmed the icy Ebony Stone in his hand with a few swishes, shaping it into a decent diamond snowflake form.

This was good enough.

If he really wanted to add some artistic processing, he could take it back to Tris for some decorative embellishments. As a Grandmaster Alchemist, Tris was quite dexterous with her hands.

Hmm, he felt that praise sounded a bit odd too.

Murphy shook his head, pushing the strange thoughts from his mind, then bit his finger and dripped his sticky red blood into the icy Ebony Stone.

The death spirit essence within immediately resonated with his blood drop, this blood connection then applying itself to Murphy in the next second.

“Shua”

A prompt popped up before his eyes:

【Tomb badge binding complete, death spirit energy pool unlocked!

User is a Blood Vulture Clan member, user has mastered Tomb Guard sword arts to ‘Proficient’. Tomb Guard job change conditions met, change job yes/no?】

“Confirm.”

Murphy said in a low voice in his heart. Then a long string of prompts appeared before his eyes:

【Tomb Guard job change begins.

Level 10 base job ‘Blood Vulture Swordsman’ replaced by Level 1 advanced job ‘Tomb Guard’.

Tomb Guard sword art mastery cap increased from【Master】to【Grandmaster】.

Destructive power of Tomb Guard sword arts increased.

In terrain with ample dark/death spirit energy, life and spirit recovery speed increases and temporary strength, agility, and perception bonuses are gained.

New talent【Death Assault】acquired!

Each of your attacks will inflict【Breath of Death】on the enemy, weakening their strength and reaction while dealing minor mental shock damage.

New talent【Death Summon】acquired!

Upon entering combat, each corpse you kill can temporarily summon a resentful spirit to join the fight. The spirits disappear after battle ends.

Note!

This is a passive skill that consumes death essence from the tomb badge with each trigger. It will not function when the death essence is depleted.

The summoned resentful spirits retain half their strength from life, capped at the summoner’s rank, and maintain combat experience and tactics.

New talent【Essence Devour】acquired!

Allows you to extract death essence from corpses or tombs to replenish your spirit energy pool.

Note!

This is a passive skill that cannot affect the living or constructs.

New skill【Death Enhancement】acquired!

Allows you to enhance one of your skills with death spirit energy according to your design, extending it with different effects. This enhancement can only affect one currently mastered skill and scales with skill proficiency.】

“This is exactly what I wanted!”

Murphy smiled and casually applied the Death Enhancement from the Tomb Guard job to his Spirit Blast skill. He then extended his left hand and threw a Spirit Blast – Bind towards the nearby pile of corpses.

In the next instant, to Maxim’s astonishment, those corpses were hoisted into the air as if bound by an invisible noose around their necks. As Murphy released more dark spirit energy, cracking sounds rang out from their throats and spines.

“The young lady gave this move a name – ‘Midnight Noose’.”

Murphy stood beside the hanged corpses, stroking his chin as he said to Maxim:

“But I always felt that name was too artsy. ‘Primordial Force Bind’ or ‘Primordial Force Strangle’ sounds much better. Ah, nevermind, let’s just call it ‘Death’s Grasp’.

Incidentally, in memory of my departed youth.”

“Although I don’t understand what your youth experienced, Master, I must admit this name does have gravitas.”

Maxim flattered him from the side before igniting the gas lamp to set the oil-doused corpses ablaze, the dark sewers lit up by roaring flames.

Murphy watched as the flames consumed the corpses, reducing them to scattered ashes.

Amidst the crackling of the dancing flames, he murmured:

“As an incompetent lord, I cannot give you precious lives, but I can allow you dignified deaths. Rest now, people not my own. Perhaps lingering with resentment among these ruins, you will eventually see the living rebuild an even grander city upon this land.

And then, you shall disperse all resentment and depart in contentment.

I firmly believe this.”