Chapter 23: The years spent II
2.-3. Month
After Hein had defeated Igris and cleared the first part of the job-change quest, he was exhausted. This was still hard for him and he went all out. Still, he was happy about his victory. That was very cleanly done.
The second part of the quest was also the same with more and more knight-puppets being summoned and attacking him.
So just as he predicted he did need the penalty of the daily task and used it to level up some more and recover his stamina with potions. After that ... it was a massacre. He rushed around those knights like he was the wind and killed the wizards among them with ease.
The rewards were worth it and Hein FINALLY became the Shadow Lord. It was finally time for him to start amassing his shadow army.
Hades who was controlling his avatar could feel the connection to death and shadows that this new power held. He knew that he had almost fully achieved what he had come to this world to.
And then it was finally time to set a phrase that triggered the shadow summoning. He wanted to go crazy here and went with: "Get your ass off the ground you sad f*cks and fight!"
..
..
He did not use that in the end. In the end, he went with: "Rise and serve."
It was quite cringe for him but you can't have everything.
4.-6. Month
Hein had to make a hard decision. He decided to leave the 'Feinschmöker' guild and work alone. He could not afford to have others see his powers and he no longer wanted to hold back when he cleared dungeons.
Therefore he used a similar tactic as Sung Jin-Woo did in the story. He bought the rights to gates and then hired 9 random people who needed money and would not talk to wait outside the gate for him.
It worked perfectly. Hein was able to clear dungeon after dungeon and gathered more and more shadows to increase his army. In the beginning, he was a bit frustrated about the limit of shadows he could possess, but it got better the more he used it and the higher his level got.
Of course, Hein got Igris in his army and he was happy about that. Contrary to Sung Jin-Woo, Hein was able to convince him, on the first try. Hades might have something to do with that though.
Status
NAME: HEIN LV.51
CLASS: SHADOW LORD
TITLE: THE ONE WHO SURVIVED DOOM
(+1 MORE)
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HP: 15050
MP: 1400
FATIGUE: 0
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STRENGTH: 140 STAMINA: 130
AGILITY: 128 INTELLIGENCE: 110
PERCEPTION: 110 AP: 12
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PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 25%
MAGICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 3%
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7.-10. Month
Well, it happened. Hein became an S-ranked hunter and had to undergo a reevaluation. He knew that this would make him famous and create waves in the world, but he was ready. He was strong now and could defend himself to a good degree.
And the grind never stopped anyway. He would go and clear a dungeon whenever he could. His level was rising and thanks to diligently doing the daily task he got stronger than his level 68 would have you think.
Now as an S-ranked hunter, it was recommended that he found a guild, but Hein was not interested. Why would he do that? He had no interest in getting help from others to clear dungeons. He would however start to donate a lot of money to help those who need it.
He didn't do these things because he wanted to make money. He was only here to get the powers of the Shadow Monarch and then leave. But before that, there was something he had to do. And that was to go to South Korea and join their efforts in clearing the S-ranked dungeon on Jeju Island.
But that was still a few years away he thinks and there was someone else that he had kept an eye on. His buddy Sung Jin-Woo would probably soon register as a hunter and take it upon himself to help his family's financial situation.
Hein would look into that and give him a helping hand soon. Now there was something that he had to do first though. He still wasn't strong enough to face everything that would come in this world.
... well at least 'Hein' wasn't strong enough. Hades was far more than strong enough to fight all the Monarchs at the same time.
So it was time to level up some more and get an important milestone out of the way. Level 100 had to be reached.
10.-14. Month
The time had come. It was time to go back into the double dungeon. He managed to get over level 100 and was invited back into the Double Dungeon. He took the time he still had to level up some more and increase his advantage.
He had gotten a few skills while he was leveling up over the last months. He was a master martial artist and he got skills for that. One was called Martial Arts LV. MAX and the other was Sword Arts LV. MAX. He was also working on his mastery of the spear.
He knew that in the future he would use a bident as well and was preparing for it.
The Double Dungeon was almost the same as it was for Jin-Woo. There was however a MAJOR difference.
Double Dungeon:
Hein entered the double dungeon and told everyone not to enter as it was a dangerous one. Thanks to his publicity and strength people listened and did not go in after him.
He passed the doors and stood in the same room as he did a bit over a year ago.
"I never expected you to be the one with the most mana in here.", he said to the statue that held up the stone plates.
"Ah, you found out. Good that means that you are capable of doing the last test."
"Hm? Last test?"
"Yes. The last test, defeat them all."
Hein looked around and saw all the statues as well as the sitting one opening their eyes and walking towards him. Ah, it was time to fight these stones. Better get to work.
Blunt damage was the best way in his opinion unless he used the weapons that the stone statues had themselves. He waited and let them come closer. It was important that he finishes this fast and then gets to deal with the Architect.
And as we all know, the more people participate in a fight, the less skill is needed to win. And why that is true was showcased by Hein perfectly. He waited until the very last moment when almost every stone statue was standing right around him.
In one moment he shot into action and dodged the overhead swing from the first statue. He sprinted up to the statue and punched it in its face. The punch managed to unbalance it and it fell backward.
Or it would have fallen if it actually had space. But it didn't and in turn, fell into the statue that stood behind it.
Standing on the statue's face, Hein waited for the inevitable attack that came.
The statues weren't smart, they were simple constructs that hacked and attacked very simply.
Hein dodged the arrow, which then buried itself into the statue he was standing on. And that was his plan. He would use the proximity and lack of space to have the statues attack themselves and he would spare stamina.
Not long after, Hein was finished with the last statue and walked in front of the Architect.
"Ahh, an impressive display of tactics. But I'm afraid that you're not quite finished yet. You see there is another opponent that you must face."
"You?"
"Oh, you truly are intelligent. You are correct. You must face me to see whether you are truly qualified."
The Architect attacked Hein but was met with quick punches and kicks. He had no chance as Hein was an incredible fighter and his battle instincts allowed him to fight beings much stronger than he was. The Architect was baffled.
"Incredible. You have come very far indeed. Well, time to increase the difficulty."
6 new arms materialized from the architect's body. And in each hand, there was another weapon. Someone should tell him that it doesn't help his chances to use more weapons. On the contrary, it was harder for him to effectively use all those.
Nevertheless, it was an interesting fight. Hein had to take some nasty hits and was bruised and beaten when their fight reached its conclusion. The Architect looked worse for wear and was cracked up (lol) in multiple places.
"Marvellous. You have surpassed what I thought was possible for you. Now it is time for things to take the turn that they were supposed to... don't you think so ... Ashborn?"
Everything went black for Hein and he could feel something happening with his body. Another soul had entered and tried to take over.
"Thank you mortal for your help with this. I apologize that it had to take this turn. But you are far too interested in getting stronger and your thirst for power could lead to problems.
I will take over now and try to make things right again. Please forgive me."
A pressure came over Hein and the Shadow Monarch's power settled and tried to take over.
... ...
"Interesting ...", a voice said.
"WHAT? WHAT IS THIS? WHY CAN'T I TAKE OVER?", Ashborn screamed as he had just bumped into an insurmountable wall when he tried to take over.
"... hehe. Do you think you can take something that belongs to me, Hades? Foolish little Monarch."
"Wha- who are you? What are you doing here? Are you also taking over this body?"
The Shadow Monarch was confused of course. Who wouldn't be? Here he was trying to get a body for himself and he couldn't.
"No. This is my avatar."
"WHAT? ... NO!!!"
"Oh yes. It seems you understand what this means then. Good, then you can make it easy for everyone and accept it."
"You planned this? Do you think you can take over ME? I'M THE SHADOW MONARCH ASHBORN!!! NO ONE TAKES OVER MY BODY!!!"
"How sad. Someone should know when they're defeated. I indeed planned this. I knew that you Monarchs were trying to find vessels. So showing that I had an affinity with death was enough to ensure you would pick me. I was after your power after all.
Nothing personal though."
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Ashborn had no chance. This was Hades' avatar and therefore also his body if he so wished. He commanded boundaries and as soon as Ashborn decided to take over his body ... it was already over.
Hades took everything from him. His power, his soul, his skills, and his memories. There was nothing left when he was done and finally, he had achieved what he wanted the whole time.
After that, Hades took over the reins again. Hein was now forgotten and Hades was back. It was now time to finish up in this world and pack his bags to get back. He had plans with the Underworld after all. His inner Minecrafter was screaming to him to finally get to work and he couldn't agree more.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Cedric_7512
Cedric_7512 Well, what did you think about my take on Ashborn deciding to take over Hein's body?
I thought that the reason why he didn't do it in canon was because he saw how much Sung Jin-Woo cared about his family and wanted to get stronger for them.
*Blergh* how boring. The ladder is all there is. (JK)
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