Chapter 32: Assassin Class Mutation

Luke lay on the ground, staring up at the cavern’s ceiling. Above him, the massive crystal embedded high in the rock began to glow softly—its artificial light simulating the slow rise of dawn. He didn’t feel pain anymore. Every wound he’d suffered was gone. His body had fully healed when his race reached Level 4.

For a while, he couldn’t believe what he had just done. Fifteen convicts. All dead. He had killed them. One kukri was still clutched in his right hand, blood clinging to the blade, dried and dark. Weeks ago, he wouldn’t have believed himself capable of this. But the bodies scattered across the ruined village said otherwise.

Bones rattled. He turned his head just as Princess Charlie sprinted over to him, her skeletal frame moving with urgent energy. She began inspecting him, checking for injuries.

“I’m fine,” he said, offering a faint smile. “I got healed… just like you.”

The skeletal woman had been restored completely after reaching Race Level 2.

As the light filled the camp, the world slowly shifted from nightmare to a strange, quiet clarity. Luke stood, eyes falling on the statue at the center of the clearing.

“Stupid statue,” he muttered under his breath.

He wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t tired. Even his stamina had been restored. His heart beat faster as he approached it. Everything he had done—every kill, every wound endured—had led to this moment.

Continuing his journey. Finding the tutorial. And one day… going home.

He dismissed the kukris, watching them dissolve back into his inventory, then pulled out the key.

A notification appeared.

[Would you like to activate the portal to the Tutorial?]

Luke chuckled. “Is that even a question?”

At the statue’s base, a hidden keyhole revealed itself. He inserted the key and turned it.

A heavy clunk echoed through the air.

[Your item ‘Statue Key’ has been destroyed.]

The statue’s arms began to shift, no longer pointing toward the dungeon entrances.

[Searching for available tutorials… please wait.]

Luke stood motionless, tension building in his chest. Princess Charlie stood beside him, silent and still.

[Matching difficulty… please continue waiting.]

[Estimated wait time: undefined.]

His breath hitched. He closed his eyes.

“I figured this would happen…”

He walked to a nearby boulder and sat down heavily.

There was a bitter taste in his mouth—disappointment. He had always known the odds were low. Finding a tutorial slot in this isolated system anomaly? Practically impossible. But he had clung to that sliver of hope anyway.

And now it was gone.

“It was all for nothing,” he muttered, glancing at the corpses scattered around him.

Princess Charlie sat beside him and gently patted his shoulder. The gesture was awkward, but oddly comforting.

“At least we have a safe place now.”

She nodded slowly.

He looked at the convicts’ bodies again. He didn’t feel guilt. They weren’t good people. If they had lived, they would’ve only grown stronger, pushing past the limits of the training zone. Eventually, they’d have entered a tutorial next year. And people would’ve died.

He didn’t want to think of himself as a hero because that wasn’t the truth. He did it for himself. But even so, he had stopped something worse from happening. Especially with William. If that mage had kept leveling, Luke couldn’t shake the feeling that one day he’d have turned into something far more dangerous than anyone imagined.

Could I become like that? Someone who kills just for the thrill?

He summoned his kukris again and looked down at them.

No. I wouldn’t become like him.

He stared at William’s corpse.

“I won’t be like him. If I have to kill…” He lowered his gaze. “it’ll be those who deserve it.”

Luke opened his system interface.

A warning glowed at the top of the screen—

[Mutation in progress…]

He decided to ignore it for now. First, he needed to allocate his points.

Name: Luke
Level: 4
Rank: F
Class: [Assassin – Lvl 8]
Race: Half-Demon
Profession: –
Titles: [Dark Lord]
Bloodline: [Bloodline of the Dark Demon]

Health Points (HP): 370 / 370
Mana Points (MP): 230 / 230
Stamina: 210 / 210
Soul Fragments: 13 / 1000

Stats:
Strength: 31
Agility: 41
Endurance: 21
Vitality: 37
Perception: 31
Intelligence: 23
Free Points: 2

Soul Fragments?

Luke stared at the unfamiliar stat. Even after focusing, no tooltip or explanation appeared. But the number and the corpses around him… He opened the notification history and started counting.

Thirteen.

Exactly thirteen enemies he had personally killed.

Charlie had finished off one. William had taken another before dying.

So Soul Fragments came from kills. Real, lethal kills.

What happens at a thousand…?

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He didn’t want to find out.

Pushing the thought aside, Luke turned toward the camp and the forest beyond it. He knew he’d be stuck here for at least a year. And in that time, he had to grow stronger—not just for survival, but to prepare. The dungeon was still active. Creatures could escape. And he couldn’t afford to be weak.

If I want the ones running the Tutorial to notice me… I’ll have to prove I’m worth it.

He placed his two free stat points.

Updated Stats

Strength: 31 -> 32
Vitality: 37 -> 38
Free Points: 2 -> 0
Health Points (HP): 370/370 -> 380/380

“At least now I can equip those items that required Class or Race Level 8,” he muttered, trying to focus on something positive.

Then he opened Princess Charlie’s status screen.

Name: Princess Charlie
Level: 2
Rank: F
Class: [Warrior – Lvl 4]
Race: Skeleton
Title: [Servant of the Dark Lord]

Health Points (HP): 150/150

Mana Points (MP): 30/30

Stamina: 110/110

Stats:

Strength: 18
Agility: 10
Endurance: 11
Vitality: 15
Perception: 4
Intelligence: 3
Free Points: 2

He put one of her free stat points into Vitality and the other into Perception.

Updates Stats:

Vitality: 15 -> 16
Perception: 4 -> 5
Free Points: 2 -> 0
Health Points (HP): 150/150 -> 160/160

With a quiet sigh, Luke rose to his feet.