Hey, forgot to notify beforehand: I was away camping for a week. Regular schedule will be back.
In order for Lucian to find a way out of Aurora, he first needs to reinstate himself as his past character. To do that, Lucian requires his former class, Revenant, a unique drop from the hidden boss Nocturne who lay in a maze.
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I waited until dusk. In the meantime, I decided on my plan of action. By plan, all it really was was improvisation. I would proceed by going through the labyrinth, finding the boss and defeating it. Easy.
All the factors in-between, I’d deal with when I get to them.
Nightfall, itself was the capital of the continent. A single statue of the king was located in the middle of the town in the market square and shops and stalls were set up around the statue. Further beyond that, the homes of the residents could be found where it would be deathly silent during the night where cries could sometimes be heard.
I went to the nearest manhole located just north of the statue. The maze itself was actually the entire sewer system, because the creators of the game couldn’t find anything more amusing than watching people walk through tons of crap. In the middle of the maze was Nocturne, which was where the 1 on 1 boss fight would ensue.
****
Before Nocturne came about, people believed that dreams were part of their imaginations, that it was something able to be controlled. This theory was put to the test when Nightfall residents would sometimes wake up screaming, terrified and unable to be calmed down. Some would be unable to sleep, slowly going insane as sleepless nights came and went. Some simply did not wake up.
Thus Nocturne was born, out of the nightmares of the people living above. He continues to terrify and plague the people of Nightfall as long as he remains undefeated. An entity, who’s form is entirely unknown, located deep underground, somewhere where not even the bravest adventurers dare wander.
****
Before I ventured down, I calculated that with the all constant debuffs occuring, it would take 1 hour for me to die from being down there so long. That meant time wasn’t my ally, though it never usually was anyway. I’d have to pace through this as quickly as possible. I checked the time in-game; it was 19:58:02. I’d have until approximately 9pm to complete all of this and obtain my class. Bracing myself, I climbed down the ladder.
Instantly, I felt the full effects of the darkness hit me. The cold, as sharp as a knife, biting at my skin as my body grew weaker due to my defences started being reduced. The overwhelming darkness of the maze made my vision entirely useless. As a result, I started to second guess myself. Is it even possible to beat this? Do I need to do this? Wait, it’s still not too late to go back, I don’t have to risk my life for this.
I tried to ignore the constant popup notifications that warned me of the various afflictions on my body, but it was extremely hard to do when I was there alone in the darkness.
Why am I still standing here? Come on Lucian, focus. Stop wasting so much time. How did I manage to navigate this maze the first time?
I mentally slapped myself for not figuring this out before.
Alright so, I can’t see a goddamn thing here, it’s freezing and I’m going to die if I stay here too long. Good start.
As I shuffled around in the dark, I accidentally hit something which sent it flying down the tunnels, the sound of which echoed as it clattered along. Then it clicked in my mind.
Of course. I just have to see without using my eyes. That was one of the key steps to becoming an assassin.
Skill learned!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:EcholocationBeginner10%Description: The art of seeing with your ears.
Echolocation. The process of making a sound which once reflected, allows the user to locate objects based on the reflected sound. It wasn’t really useful during assassination attempts when you were trying to be stealthy but it was incredibly helpful when you are trying to navigate in the dark. And what better time than now to use such a method without any vision at all. After all, when one of your senses is removed from the equation, it enhances the strength of the other four senses.
With that, I started making a clicking noise that reverberated throughout the tunnel. In my mind, this created an image that the current place I was in right now extended for quite some distance.
I checked the time, 20:07:46. I had already wasted around 10 minutes and made absolutely no progress whatsoever. I could not waste any more. I started pacing down the tunnel, making sloshing noises as I waded in god knows what.
This continued on for some time until I reached what seemed to be like a junction as my clicks started to travel in two opposite directions.
Ugh. How annoying.
I was going to have to guess which way to go and hope that I’d get it right. In the end, I decided to go left which actually led me to a dead end, clarified by the sound of my clicks reflecting against a wall. I went back the other direction, running to make up for lost time.
All of this occurred for what seemed like an eternity; running into dead ends, running back, trying to find the boss room. All the while running out of time and patience as I grew increasingly frustrated.
Eventually, the sound of my clicks started to expand all around me, indicating that I was in some sort of clearing. This was it, I realized, I finally made it to the boss.
I checked my status.
[tr]
Status WindowName:CianAlignment:NeutralLevel:201Class:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesNoneHealth:1800 / 4020Mana:1500 / 2010Stamina:1270 / 2010Movement Speed:Up to 161
To my despair, I saw that just over half my health had already gone and I lost stamina at an alarming rate due to excessive running in the tunnels. This wasn’t going to be a good fight.
As I entered the clearing, the atmosphere instantly chilled. The silence here was almost unbearable, creating such tension made my nerves go on edge, waiting for whatever was going to come next. Then a voice resonated through the darkness.
“All alone…”
“Your point?” I tried to sound brave but my voice came out as more of a stutter due to the cold.
“Are you afraid of the dark, challenger?”
“I-“
Without warning, a searing sensation spread through my right shoulder as claws suddenly raked through my upper torso, causing me to cry out in pain.
“Such…weakness, and you hope to defeat me?”
I didn’t reply as the pain was simply too much. I could imagine the raw mess that was my shoulder, and the amount of healing that would have to be done. That was if I got out of here. Right now, I was writhing around in pain, as if that would somehow help to ease the feeling.
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God, it wasn’t this painful when I first fought Nocturne.
I clenched my teeth and got up on my feet.
I can’t lose more health fighting this guy or I won’t be able to make it out alive. I don’t have enough time either.
So many things I needed to take into consideration but I gave none of it any thought. I only knew one thing. I would not die so easily.
His attack pattern relied on my loss of vision, by taking advantage of this weakness, he’d charge and strike at my position. However, he did not know that I had overcome my lack of vision by using sound instead. In preparation, I drew out my main weaponry, daggers which I had coated with poison from the vials I had bought earlier.
Before I could do anything else, Nocturne charged at me once again but this time I sidestepped him with ease since I could see in my mind something approaching at me with high speed. As I did so, I threw one of the daggers in my hand at him, causing a shriek of both pain and surprise as it found its target.
In all the RPG games I played, this tactic was most often known as ‘kiting’, which was to bait the enemy into attacking you but dodging at the last second and hitting them back. As a result, I removed his strength to fight in the darkness, rendering his ambush attempts useless. He could not use my weakness against me.
This strategy of mine seemed to continue to work well for some time until I realized that Nocturne wasn’t moving.
Strange. That’s never happened before.
“Hahaha… You think darkness is your ally…” His voice echoed throughout the area. “But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it.”
“Hey…you know Batman wins in the end right?”
As I was saying this, I noticed two objects coming at me at a rapid pace from two different directions. What the hell is this? There are two of them?
I sidestepped the first one but this caused me to run straight into the other creature that consequently sliced the air, his claws arcing towards my right leg. I crumpled instantly, the pressure from the wound created proved to be too strong for me to stand.
As I lay there on the floor, the two different entities backed off, ready to charge at me again. That really sucked, considering my right leg was now useless as I struggled to stand up on just one leg. My mobility had been significantly reduced as a result. The situation was starting to get somewhat dire. I had one last attempt at defeating them.
One of the entities started to elongate, forming a spear-like shape from which I could guess he was intending to impale me once and for all. However, an idea popped up in my head. This has to work otherwise I’m dead. Two birds, one stone.
I positioned myself in between both of them so that they were at opposite ends from me; one to my right and one to my left. Breathing deeply, I was ready for my final move.
“Come.”
Needing no more words, they converged towards my position, laughing as they did so.
Wait for it.
I heard the whistling of the air as they grew ever closer, eager to end my life as quickly as possible.
Wait for it…
As they were about to hit their target, everything seemed to instantly slowed down. Time seemed to trickle down like slow motion. In this fraction of a moment, I ducked, landing on my back as my legs were unable to support my body. As soon as I hit the ground, I heard the shrill cry of the two creatures above me. The collision between the two entities above would leave one of them hopefully impaled, theoretically ending the life of the entire creature, since one half could not live without the other, not when they shared a single mind.
Skill Learned!
[tr]
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:StandstillBeginner120%Description: Able to momentarily slow down time
There was a sickening squelch and I felt the slimy remains of the creature drop on me, making me shudder. The area suddenly turned humid, enhancing the gorgeous smell of the waste around me. I guess Nocturne's presence changed the atmosphere in the vicinity. Several notifications popped up on my screen.
Skill Acquired!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:ParanoiaBeginner10%Description: Terrify the minds of your enemies...
Skill Acquired!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Shadow CloneBeginner10%Description: Twice the presence, twice the fear
Title Acquired!
Name: Slayer of the Shadows
Description: You have defeated Nocturne, the Eternal Nightmare.
Effects: People are incredibly unlikely to notice you anywhere you go.
Class Acquired!
RevenantType:UniqueRequirements:Level 200+, Slayer of the ShadowsDescription:The night is darkest before the dawn...Do you accept this class [Y / N]
I did it. I beat him.
However, these were the least of my worries as I still had to get out of this place and with my hp reaching critical levels, it looked closer and closer to being impossible. I decided to equip the class once I got out.
I tried standing up but instead it ended up with me collapsing again. My constant attempts at trying to upright myself were in vain as it was too strenuous an effort. In the end, I resorted to half-crawling, half- limping through the sewer trash but these were acts of desperation. My health only remained at a measly 5%.
There I see the light!
I don’t know if I was delirious from all the pain or if it really was beams of moonlight being casted down the manhole.
2%...
Crawling through all the sludge, I placed one hand on a ladder rung. The light casted upon my body really did make it seem as if I was ascending to heaven. To be honest, I didn’t really mind if I went to heaven.
1%...
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Got the early development out the way! Now on to the more exciting parts of the story.