The Dark Extra: Awakening of SSS-Skill Demon Emperor Legacy
Chapter 47: Saber Necromancer

Chapter 47: Saber Necromancer

"What? A merchant?"

Agares chuckled slightly. There was a reason why he laughed at the man, and it wasn’t to mock his profession.

No, Agares simply found it strange—he had never seen a merchant inside a dungeon before.

Everyone knew that dungeons were dangerous and life-threatening places. Yet the man in the black cloak, who kept smiling at Agares, didn’t seem to feel threatened at all.

Agares stepped closer to the merchant, who kept looking at him with warm friendliness. Just as he stood directly in front of him, Agares felt something odd.

"Wait."

He reached out and placed a hand on the merchant’s shoulder. To his shock, his hand passed straight through the man’s body, making Agares widen his eyes in surprise.

"You’re... not human?"

"Correct, sir. I am not a human, but a holographic system manifestation of this dungeon," the man replied. His name was Li.

The man in front of Li squinted his eyes, continuing to observe the odd situation before him. He hadn’t expected holographic systems in this world to be far more advanced than those on Earth.

Previously, Agares had received an interactive system like Nyx. Now he had encountered a merchant who looked human but was actually a responsive holographic projection. Agares was genuinely impressed.

"So, what do you sell?" asked Agares.

"Many things."

Li raised his hand and touched something in front of him. A medium-sized panel appeared before Agares, showing a variety of items that could be purchased.

Not only that, Li also accepted items in exchange.

The system panel worked like a menu page. Agares glanced at the bottom right and saw there were 20 pages. He could scroll through them to find what he needed.

Merchant Li sold a wide range of useful items for adventurers exploring the dungeon. He sold HP and Mana potions, gems, artifacts, even swords and crafting minerals.

There was something unique about Merchant Li. Agares noticed the payment could be made in two ways: by using monster cores or by exchanging dropped items.

For item exchanges, the price would be determined after Li scanned the item, assessed its quality, and checked its availability.

The rarer the item and the lower the stock, the higher the price. According to Li, the lowest value for a dropped item was two monster cores, while the highest he had ever given was 1,500 monster cores.

"Would you like to try it?" Li asked.

Agares cleared his throat. His attention turned to the menu panel as he read through the items. On the first page, nothing caught his interest. He swiped to the second page.

He furrowed his brow as he kept reading. Li didn’t seem to mind; he patiently waited for Agares to make a decision.

Eventually, Agares stopped at page 13. This one was filled with swords bearing cool names and impressive stats. Most of them were tier 4 to tier 5 swords.

Some of the names included Crimson Dirge, Seabreak Blade, Terravolt Splitter, Lunaria Fang—and one dark-element sword that immediately caught his attention.

The sword had a black blade with a sturdy, well-balanced hilt. When unsheathed, it released a thick dark aura. One of its key buffs was anti-magic.

It was the sword called Shadepiercer.

"Show me this sword," said Agares. Li gave a wide smile.

"An excellent choice, sir."

From his hand, Li produced the sword sheathed in a black scabbard. When it was still in its sheath, Agares couldn’t see any dark aura emanating from it.

"The price is 500 monster cores, sir."

"500?"

"Correct. This is because the sword has a dark affinity and is tier five."

Damn, I only have 29 monster cores. Do I need to sell some items to cover the rest? Agares thought.

Should I wait? But the next battles will only get more dangerous. My current tier three sword won’t last long.

"I’ll buy it with monster cores and by trading items," said Agares.

"Of course, sir. You may present the items."

"Sorry for the trouble."

Agares tapped his magic pouch and took out a bunch of low-quality and dropped items he had collected in the dungeon.

Li’s eyes scanned each item hovering in front of Agares. All Agares could do was hope the scan results gave him a fair price.

About five minutes passed as Merchant Li completed the scans. His eye movement paused, and another panel appeared in front of his face, showing a detailed breakdown of the scanned items.

[Scan complete]

[Total items: 160]

[Calculating total value]

[Calculation complete]

[160 items = 524 monster cores]

"Congratulations, sir. You’ve received 524 monster cores from exchanging 160 items," said Li.

[Item gained:]

[+524 Monster Cores]

"Whoa. That’s a lot. What made them so valuable?"

Li smiled and revealed two items in his hands. Agares’s attention was drawn to them; they looked familiar.

’Howl Core and Kobold Core. These are rare drops from floor bosses. Only those who defeat the bosses alone can obtain them.’

’Howl came from the Voidbound Hound, and Kobold came from the Emberfang Kobold Chief. It’s true—I defeated both of them on my own. But I didn’t expect their monster cores to be worth so much,’ Agares thought.

"Based on our valuation, the Howl Core is worth 10 monster cores, and the Kobold Core is worth 30 monster cores."

"I see."

"Would you like to pay with additional monster cores or use the ones gained from your item exchange?" asked Li.

"Just use the monster cores from the trade," said Agares.

"Understood."

[Payment successful]

[Item: Shadepiercer]

[Tier: 5]

[Affinity: Darkness]

[Description: A dark-element sword that splits the void and nullifies magic. The pinnacle of dark swords below tier five.]

[Buffs: Increase ATK by +20% || Resistance by +10% || Physical Lifesteal by 25% || Anti-Magic]

[Debuffs: Reduce AGI by 15% || Reduce 50 HP after use || Reduce DEF by 20%]

Agares gripped the sword—and immediately felt a surge of power. He dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. His head spun, and his stomach burned.

He looked up and saw that Merchant Li showed no reaction. Agares shook his head.

"The difference between a tier three and tier five sword is vast. Your body isn’t used to the buffs and debuffs of the Shadepiercer yet," said Li, watching him.

"I am a Saber Knight with a darkness element."

"I will master this sword!"

Agares forced himself to his feet and unsheathed the sword. A wave of black aura erupted, forming a shadowy monster with glowing red eyes in front of him.

"So you’re my new wielder? A human with darkness affinity? Tch!"

"You’re not worthy of my power!"

"Nonsense!"

He roared and drove the sword’s tip into the ground. A shockwave followed, releasing a blast of energy.

Slowly, the veins on Agares’s arms darkened—tainted by ancient dark energy.

Li turned, stepping beside Agares with a blank expression.

"I forgot to mention something."

"What?" Agares asked, his eyes glowing purple as he tried to resist the sword’s overwhelming darkness.

"A tier five sword is a soul weapon. If you fail to align your soul with the sword’s spirit, your body will be taken over—and destroyed."

"In the end... you will become a Saber Necromancer."