A new panel appeared instantly.
[Class Transition]: Death's Heir
[Warning]: This action is irreversible. Once the transition is confird, your current class will be permanently altered.
Do you wish to proceed?
[Yes]/ [No]
Michael looked at the warning for a mont. Then he selected Yes without hesitation.
The panel changed.
[Class Transition]: In Progress
[Condition]: To fully transition into Death's Heir, engrave a Rank 3 undead.
[Progress]: 0/1
[Note]: Engraving is the act of imprinting the essence of the dead directly onto oneself. Channel the death energy of a Rank 3 undead under your command and imprint it into your existence.
Michael stared at the condition for a mont.
So it wasn't imdiate. The ticket had started the process but the class would not fully take hold until he completed the requirent himself. It made a certain kind of sense.
Soon knowledge of how to perform what was called engraving entered Michael's mind. However it was only knowledge of how to do it, not of the effects or what ca after.
Michael exhaled slowly, his gaze shifting toward the Damaged Coffin of the Forgotten where his undead waited.
He already knew who he was going to use.
A mont later, standing before Michael was a young man in his early twenties. He looked almost nothing like Michael, yet as they stood in the sa space sothing similar seed to pass between them. He had long hair like Michael, pale fair skin, and green, beautiful eyes that seed to glow faintly in the darkness.
It was Lucky. Michael's first undead.
Lately in terms of power Lucky had been falling behind so of the others, but Michael wasn't worried. All the wolf needed was a little upgrade and he would be back at the very top.
Regardless of where the others stood, Lucky still held a special place. Since this was his transition to a new class, just as his understanding of his talent had begun with Lucky, Michael wanted the sa here. He had also only chosen Lucky because the knowledge he had just received gave no indication that the engraved undead would be negatively affected.
Michael raised both hands slowly and began.
The first circle appeared between them, a single rotating ring of dark energy about the width of his shoulders. He kept the output deliberately low, conscious at every mont of the strength sitting beneath his skin like water pressing against a dam.
A second ring ford inside the first, rotating in the opposite direction. Then a third. Each new layer added density to the structure, and the space between the rings began filling with connecting lines that curved and branched according to patterns the knowledge in his mind supplied automatically. It was not like drawing. It was closer to rembering sothing he had always known, guiding each elent into place with careful deliberate intention.
The formation grew more complex as it built outward. By the fourth layer the structure had developed an inner geotry that made it difficult to look at directly, angles and curves intersecting in ways that didn't quite resolve into anything familiar. By the sixth it was humming.
Lucky watched the whole process without moving. He stood a short distance away with his head tilted slightly, those green eyes tracking each new layer as it appeared with quiet attentive curiosity.
The seventh and final layer locked into place.
Michael exhaled slowly and steadied himself. The full formation rotated in multiple directions simultaneously.
He pressed inward.
The formation shrank. All seven layers compressed toward a single point in one smooth controlled motion, the hum rising briefly as the structure collapsed, and then the whole thing folded against Lucky's chest and disappeared into him.
Lucky blinked.
Then his outline softened.
It started at the edges. The clean definition of his silhouette blurred slightly, his pale skin darkening inward as the solidity of him began to give way, his form breaking apart in fine particles of black ash. His long hair dissolved strand by strand. His hands, his shoulders, the careful stillness of his expression, all of it gave way gradually to the sa dark drift until nothing of his physical form remained.
In the space where Lucky had stood, a small green fla burned, and around it the ash that had been his body condensed in a slow rotating
circle.
The green fla was Lucky in his truest undead form.
His soul fire.
Now it was ti for the next part.
After thinking for a mont Michael chose his back as the location.
The green fla drifted toward him slowly, drawn by the pull of his intent. Michael sat still and let it co. He shifted his position on the bed carefully, sitting forward slightly to give the process room, and directed his intent toward the space between his shoulder blades.
"...Go ahead."
He wasn't sure if Lucky could understand him in this form. But the fla drifted closer anyway.
The mont it made contact with his skin Michael's breath caught. It wasn't unbearable. He had experienced worse, considerably worse, and the mory of lightning tearing through him nine consecutive tis made this feel almost manageable by comparison. But it was not nothing either. The sensation was a deep sustained burn that sat just below the threshold of real pain.
Michael kept his jaw set and said nothing.
The process moved slowly across his upper back, tracing a path he couldn't see but could feel in precise and deliberate incrents. This wasn't all but Michael could swear he felt like he was getting heavy.
Several minutes passed.
When the sensation finally faded Michael sat still for a mont longer, just breathing, before he reached back carefully and let his fingers brush the skin between his shoulder blades.
A panel appeared.
[Class]: Death's Heir
[Engraving Slots]: 1/20
[Engraving Registry]
[Source]: Lucky
[Location]: Back
[Stat Bonus to Host]: Strength: 55
Agility: 75
Constitution: 65
Intelligence: 82
[Passive Granted]:
Poison Resistance (Rank 3): 80% immunity Poison Resistance (Below Rank 3): 100% immunity
Intimidating Aura to Rank 3 and below creatures
[Condition]: Bonuses and resistances are only active while the
engraved creature remains passive. All effects are lost upon
summoning.
Excitent surged through him as the full weight of what had just
landed in his hands began to settle.
His gaze dropped back to the panel, locking onto a single word.
Transformation.
Michael's curiosity pulled at it imdiately. He wondered what the
ability actually did, turning the word over in his mind, and didn't realise until it was already happening that his intent had pressed against it. His curiosity had been strong enough to count as a
command.
"...Wait."
But it was already too late.
A surge of energy exploded from his back. Michael's body tensed
violently as sothing tore outward from within. His spine arched, muscles tightening as power flooded every part of him in an instant.
The bed beneath him shattered.
The walls cracked.
Then the entire structure gave way.
The building exploded outward as sothing massive forced itself free. Debris scattered in every direction. Dust rose into the air.
And where Michael had once been, sothing else stood in the middle of the collapsed manor.
Fifteen tres tall. A massive wolf with deep green fur, its body radiating a dense oppressive aura that pressed against the surroundings like a physical force. From its back, dragon-like wings stretched outward, tearing through the settling dust with a low heavy beat. Its eyes burned with a familiar green light.
Michael's thoughts froze for half a second.
Then recognition followed.
"...Lucky."
This form was not unfamiliar. It was Lucky's true form. Only now, he
was the one standing within it.
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