I Killed the Hero and Took His Achievements-Chapter 12: I Stole A Ferrari With No Gas

[Location: Deck of the HMS Death-rattle]

[Status: Parked on the Rose Garden.]

I stood at the control center of my new battleship. It was magnificent. Four hundred feet of black steel, bone, and menacing spikes. It had enough firepower to level a city block.

"System," I commanded while patting the bone-wheel. "Set course for the Northern Empire at a very full speed."

[Command Acknowledged.]

[Engine Start Sequence Initiated.]

Whirrr...

Clunk.

Sputter.

The purple lights on the dashboard flickered momentarily, then died.

[System Error.]

[Fuel Critical: 0.5%.]

[Aether Drive: Damaged.]

[Soul-Lock Protocol: Active. Biometric Scan Required (Director Nibras).]

I stared at the screen. "Are you kidding me?"

I kicked the control panel. "I looted a junk. A 50-million-gold junk."

Sylvia walked up to the control center met me. "It runs on Refined Aether," she said quietly. "The Necromancers distill it from tortured souls. You... you can’t buy it anywhere."

She pointed to the flashing red ’Soul-Lock’ icon. "And even if you fueled it, the ignition is coded to Nibras’s DNA. But you killed him."

"I have his skull," I offered while reaching into my inventory.

"But still, it needs his living bio-signature, Master. A retinal and pulse scan."

I looked at the skull of Director Nibras in my hand. "Very inefficient design, indeed," I muttered while tossing the skull somewhere.

I sighed. So, the Draconia Invasion was postponed momentarily. I couldn’t fly there. Walking there would take at least three months. I needed to patch the ship first.

[Quest Generated: Pimp My Ride.]

[Objective 1: Repair the Aether Drive.]

[Objective 2: Bypass the Soul-Lock (Requires Hacking or High-Tier Technomancy).]

[Objective 3: Obtain 500 Barrels of Aether Fuel.]

I looked at Sylvia. "You’re the Princess of the North, you know their tech, right?"

"I... I know the theory of it," she admitted. "But to bypass the lock, we need a Master Arcanist. And the only one in the city is..."

She pointed toward the Academy tower. "Vice-Principal Hemlock."

"Hemlock," I repeated. "The guy who handles the budget?"

"Right, he specializes in Magical Security but... he despises everyone."

I grinned mischievously. "That’s perfect. I love people who hate me. It makes the negotiation so much simpler."

————————————————————

[The Captain’s Quarters (Loot Sorting Room)]

Before I dealt with Hemlock, I needed to process the haul.

I sat on the Director’s chair (which was made of human ribs; uncomfortable, but stylish).

"Empty the bags," I ordered. My Shadow Slaves dumped the sacks on the table.

CLATTER. CLATTER.

Thousands of glowing green stones spilled out. It was Soul Stones.

[Item: Soul Crystal (Small)]

[Value: 100 XP or 1,000 Gold.]

[Count: 4,500.]

Seraphina stared at the pile. She looked sick. "Those are... people," she whispered. "Souls trapped in crystal."

I picked one up. It was warm. "If we release them, they dissipate. If we keep them, we get stronger."

I looked at her.

"Seraphina."

"Y-Yes, Boss?"

"You’re Level 18. That’s pathetic for a Healer."

I tossed a handful of stones at her. "Devour them."

Seraphina flinched. "What? No! That’s—"

"That’s an order."

I leaned forward. "The Necromancers are coming back. Next time, they won’t bring one ship. They’ll bring a fleet. If your healing output isn’t higher, we die. Do you want to die, Saintess?"

"No..."

"Do you want me to die?"

She hesitated. The "Fallen Saintess" trait flickered in her eyes.

"No."

"Then devour."

Seraphina picked up a stone. Her hands trembled. She closed her eyes. She crushed it. Green mist swirled into her nose.

[System: Companion ’Seraphina’ Absorbed XP.]

[Level Up: 18 -> 19.]

Her skin flushed.

"It feels... warm."

I pushed a pile toward the Ice Princess.

Sylvia didn’t hesitate. She was desperate to regain the power I stole. She grabbed a fistful and crushed them.

[Level Up: 25 -> 26.]

I watched the two broken beautiful women that were consuming the souls of the dead to serve me better.

I took the rest. About 4,000 stones. I fed them to the Void Ring.

[Gluttony Active.]

[Ring EXP: +400,000.]

[Tier 3 Progress: 50%.]

"Good," I said, standing up. "Now that we’re buffed..."

I checked the time. "Let’s go to the Faculty Meeting."

————————————————————

[Location: The Academy Boardroom]

[Time: 10:00 AM]

The Boardroom was fancy, mahogany table, and portraits of deceased wizards.

Dean Merlin sat at the head of the table. He looked like he had aged ten years in the last hour.

Around him sat the Board of Directors. Twelve old, wrinkly, bureaucratic nightmares. And to his right sat Vice-Principal Hemlock.

Hemlock was thin, pale, and looked like a praying mantis wearing a suit. He was polishing his glasses.

[Target: Hemlock]

[Class: Arcanist / Bureaucrat.]

[Level: 42.]

[Trait: Rules Lawyer.]

I kicked the door open.

BAM.

"Sorry I’m late," I announced while walking in. "Traffic was jammed, literally." I pulled up a chair. I didn’t sit in it, but I put my foot on it.

The Board members gasped.

"You!" Hemlock stood up while pointing his index finger toward me. "Cain Cross! The unauthorized combatant!"

"Professor Cross," I corrected. "I still have an academic tenure."

"You have nothing!" Hemlock slammed a stack of papers on the table. "You destroyed the Courtyard! You landed vessel on the Dean’s roses! You even endangered the student body!"

"I saved the student body," I said, picking at my ear. "And I charged a very reasonable service fee."

"You stole the Airship!" Hemlock shrieked. "By Academy Law, any salvage recovered on campus grounds belongs to the Administration! That ship is ours by law!"

I looked at Dean Merlin. "Dean? Your mad dog is barking."

Merlin coughed. "Hemlock, please. He did defeat the raid leader..."

"Irrelevant!" Hemlock sneered. "The law is the law! Surrender the ship keys, Mr. Cross. Or we will expel you and have you arrested."

I smiled. I took my foot off the chair. I stood up menacingly. "Hemlock," I said. "You know what ’Salvage Law’ says."

"Yeah, I wrote the book on Salvage Law!" Hemlock bragged. "Section 4, Paragraph 2: ’Property claimed without a registered claim ticket is void’."

I walked around the table. The Board members shrank back. They smelled the blood on me. I stopped behind Hemlock’s chair.

"Actually, I prefer the Ancient Law."

"What Ancient Law?" Hemlock sneered.

I leaned down. "Finders Keepers."

I grabbed the back of his head.

[Trait: The Usurper (Touch).]

"You’re a Master Arcanist, right?" I asked pleasantly. "You know how to hack Soul-Locks?"

Hemlock froze. "Unhand me! This is assault!"

"No," I whispered.

[Skill: Mind Ransack.]

This wasn’t a copy. This was a memory raid.

I dove into his brain. I saw his memories. I saw him embezzling funds. I saw him collaborating with the Necromancers to lower the barrier (Jackpot.). And I found the Arcane Hacking skill.

[Skill Copied: ’Magical Cryptography’ (A-Rank).]

"AAAAHHH!" Hemlock screamed as I rifled through his cortex like a filing cabinet.

I let go.

He slumped onto the table, drooling.

"He... he attacked the Vice-Principal!" a Board member shouted. "Guards!"

"Sit down," I said. My voice carried the weight of the Void King.

The room went silent.

"Hemlock was a traitor." I pulled a piece of paper from Hemlock’s pocket.

"Look here. Evidence he lowered the barrier."

Dean Merlin picked up the paper. It was a receipt for a sandwich, but Merlin was smart enough to know what I wanted. "My god," Merlin gasped. "Hemlock... how could you do this?"

"Good catch, Dean," I winked.

I looked at the Board. "Now. About my ship. It needs some repairs and fuels."

I pointed at the Board members. "You, the fat one. You own the Alchemy supply. You, with the monocle. You own the Steel Mills. I want 500 barrels of Aether and 10 tons of Metal delivered to the courtyard by noon. If you don’t..."

I tapped the hilt of my Soul-Eater’s Fang. "I might find ’evidence’ in your pockets too."

The Board members looked at Hemlock’s twitching body. They then looked at me. "We... we will arrange it immediately. Uh.. right away!" the fat one stuttered.

"Excellent."

I walked to the door. "Oh, and Dean?"

"Yes... Professor?"

"I’m taking the rest of the day off. I have a date."

"A date?"

I grinned slyly. "With a Dungeon, of course."