8 Usage Rules
Gris cursed as he could not find any valuables from the three dead children nearby. What he needed was an exit map, but none of them had one.
The sword and shield were too heavy for him. He could only take the girl's spear in addition to his weapon, deciding not to use the crossbow anymore.
His focus shifted towards Alaric, who had successfully fended off his attackers. A brief moment hung in the air as they locked eyes.
"I'll see you later," Alaric said before leaving without looting the items of the people he had killed.
Looking for an advantage, Gris approached the corpses of other children. The gruesome sight he saw next left him stunned for a moment.
Indeed, he was an assassin in his real life. But he killed cleanly, studying forensics to trick the investigators.
He stood in stark contrast to Alaric, who seemed unconcerned about the aftermath of the murder. With no authorities present, Alaric saw no restraint in ruthlessly dealing with his enemies.
"Oh, wait. Can't I do that too?"
Gris fixated on the gruesome sight of dismembered body parts and pools of blood decorating the ground. A shiver ran down his spine as he entertained the darkest possibilities of his imagination.
But he quickly erased those thoughts. Alaric was one of the villains that readers hated because of his indiscriminate killing.
With full awareness, Gris did not want to be like that. The Doomsday Committee also has a 'morality'. All members are prohibited from killing people and destroying areas that are not on the target list.
The punishment for violating was deducing points that were very useful in magic transactions. The most severe was being expelled from the committee and having their powers revoked.
Alaric became a former committee member as the story progressed. All his powers were revoked, but since he was a werewolf, he was more potent than an average human and still spread terror in society.
If Gris violated the morality of the committee, he would not be able to survive after his privileges were revoked because he was just an ordinary human. The heroes continued to hunt down former committee members even after they had been expelled.
"Well, let's forget about my horrible imagination for now. Who knows, I might be able to execute it while fighting with the committee's targets."
Gris sifted through the lifeless bodies without flinching at the gruesome sight, searching for their belongings. Despite his hands being stained with their blood, he pressed on, unwavering in his determination to complete his business.
He was on the verge of cursing once more when his fingers brushed against a scroll tucked in a child's pants pocket. With a quick unraveling, he confirmed it was the map he had been seeking all along.
"Could it be my luck stems from being a transmigrator?" he mumbled, a content smile spreading across his face.
The poisonous snake and the exit map. These two things made it easy for him to survive the Forest of Death Test.
He took a shirt from the corpse as his shirt was still trying to stop the bleeding. The shirt he snagged bore the marks of violence, evidence of Alaric's brutal encounter with his adversary. Despite its unsuitability, it served its purpose—shielding his wounded and shivering body from the biting cold.
Thanks to his excellent perception, he managed to avoid the other children and arrived at the gate without being detected by anyone, even if it was Rowan and Rowena.
Gris could not help but let out a sigh of relief as the harrowing memories from the forest of death faded away. He looked down at his calloused hands.
As he walked stealthily to avoid opponents, memories of him sneaking into the cemetery flashed through his mind. He wondered if it was confirmed that the unreasonable perception came from his strange habit.
"Damn. I am trying to remember all the details of the original story. If I had known I would transmigrate, I would have reread it by heart. But I'm sure Griswalden has nothing interesting besides his abilities and father."
Stopping to think about perception, Gris asked the system to show a detailed explanation of his ability. A gray transparent system window immediately appeared, and his request was processed.
[Route of Death Usage Rules:
1. You must lock eyes with the target until the spell is completed. If eye contact is broken, you must restart the spell from the beginning. There is no limit, but you may get frustrated and cancel using this ability.
2. Spells can be recited aloud or within the confines of your mind. There are no strict regulations regarding the tone or pace of the incantation. Pronunciation is left entirely to your discretion, but the verse of the spell must remain unchanged.
3. Each route has its own requirements and time limits. For example, you need a high-level magic sword to kill the target, which must be completed in one day. If you fail to fulfill the requirements, you can no longer see the Death Route on the target.
4. Successfully eliminating the target triggers a one-hour cooldown. Failure doesn't trigger a cooldown, but you will not get back the spent Dark Energy.
5. You can employ this ability against targets stronger than yourself. However, bear in mind that meeting the conditions to eliminate powerful targets might challenging.
6. Since your ability rank is still F, you are limited to using Route of Death twice a day.
Notes: Rank progression will be shown when you use the ability.]
Gris read the usage rules carefully since they were not listed in detail in the original story. After memorizing everything, he asked the system, "What are the side effects of using?"
[The side effects differ based on your chosen target. Opting for vital targets can have a profound mental impact, often inducing fear and hesitation to carry out the kill.]
The answer made Gris grit his teeth. In the original story, Griswalden almost succeeded in killing Lux.
But the Rhetoric Dominance affected him mentally, so he ordered his Cursed Souls Legion of three thousand souls bound to retreat.
The assault by the Doomsday Committee on the Amarthia Empire, the final target, posed a formidable challenge as Griswalden grappled with a severe mental breakdown.
After a fierce battle, Lux's side finally took down the Doomsday Committee. And that was how Griswalden ended up in the execution hall with the other villains.
"Speaking of Lux, what is he doing now?"
Gris sat on the sofa and thought about Lux while sipping the herbal tea that Alberic sent to help restore his stamina.
Rhetoric Dominance was a significant ability that made Lux overpowering. But at the beginning of his career as a hero, he was underestimated because he was granted the Bard class at a time when his brothers and sisters were granted rare classes.
Bards are a group of unique characters who combine art and magic. They have a natural talent for singing, playing musical instruments, and speaking in an entertaining style.
They are usually artists, entertainers, and storytellers. Because they tend to be less physically strong and have low endurance in combat, Bards are categorized as low-class by people.
Most Bards preferred an entertainment career rather than choosing a role as a hero or villain. If they did choose, they usually did not have a clear role in the group and only served as side support.
"On second thought, Lux is a great main character. He knew Rhetoric Dominance was extreme, so he pretended to be weak to gain people's sympathy. Thus, he fulfilled the requirement to use his ability, which required emotional involvement from the target."
Gris did not hate Lux at first. His feelings changed because Lux killed his favorite character, whose body he possessed.
He thought the Doomsday Committee would win because Amarthia was the last target. But the ending showed otherwise, the virtuous side won.
Inevitably, he had to find a way to avoid ending up like the original Griswalden. He had to do that in case he did not find a way back to his world.
He would not become a Hero. His identity as Blayz's son could get his head cut off by the empire when his father's crimes were exposed. A fearful society would not accept the son of a criminal.
"Lux has no fatal flaws..." Gris tapped on the table and grinned as he recalled something important. "Author, I'm sorry for commenting maliciously about the harem plot. Thank you for including the harem in your story!"
Rise of the Low-Class Hero attracted readers' attention with its manipulative, kind main character. Although Lux was good at manipulating, he still stuck to his morality.
He sympathized with the weak and often helped them. The girls he saved were attracted to him, leading to a harem later.
The problem was that only some of the girls in his harem developed into stronger ones. Certainly, they become his weaknesses that irritate the readers.
Gris thought the bad harem ruined the storyline. He once expected Lux to build a strong harem if it was inseparable from the plot.
But now, he hoped Lux would take many weak girls he could utilize someday.
