Luke was about to categorize his gains. The hairs on the back of his neck raised.
He dove to the side, and a poisoned dagger ripped through the void, sinking into the tree Luke had stood behind.
“Luck? Or is it something more?” A disembodied voice echoed around the cavern.
A monic man clad in black leather stepped out the void. Two daggers in each hand. Violet runes adorned his cheeks. His hood covered the eyes, with only his lower face exposed.
“Who are you? What do you…no, never mind.” Luke’s gaze hardened, “You want to kill me. It doesn’t matter why.”
Luke communicated to Sooty using their link. The bird swept off into the air to begin on his instructions. Luke strained his body. The man before him wasn’t something he could handle. Survival depended on whether he dragged this out long enough and his brief plan around Sooty would work.
The monic assassin stepped, the moonlight burned into his clothes. He dissipated, seemingly from his command; the white mist spread then rose. Luke’s vision lowered, he spun around, failing to trace the new enemy. He lurched, trying to twist back and avoid two daggers glinting from moonlight. Two arms exposed themselves from the void. Luke tried to parry with Xera, but his brain couldn’t keep up with the speed.
One dagger punctured into his arm, the other grazed his side, half saved by his reflexive movement.
The assassin’s head appeared, whispering behind Luke. “The Red Gorrids grew interested in an upstart Spell Sword. But that’s not what you are. No Spell Sword creates a fissure like that.”
Luke lashed out behind him with Xera, the assassin already protected himself with the shadows. Poison circulated in his blood, impeded by the poison resistance he possessed, but its quality must’ve been above what the resistance could handle. His arm grew purple, the incision black with rot. Luke quarantined the poison, blocking the flow with his frost essence, freezing one section of his arm.
The Reaver flipped back, two daggers thrust out, one ripped into his calf. His expression distorted as frost flowed to the fresh wound.
Multiple shadow figures rose out the mist, a moonlight wrapped to their edges. One would speak a sentence for another to finish, each time in a different direction.
“A genius with elementalization. A sword that can turn into a wand and talk.”
Luke continued to move around, never staying in one place. He tracked the voices through the mist. To the front?
“They knew you’d be a harder mark.”
He activated Polar South. No, to my side.
“The Red Barons sent in a real expert for once.” Arrogance dripped from the assassin’s tone.
A faint whisper rose in Luke’s left ear, “You’re powerful for an untested, but any of your sort is an ant before an expert.”
Another dagger, this one abyssal black, sank into Luke’s shoulder. He felt it coming but couldn’t keep up. Frost isolated more parts of his body as he experienced stab after stab. Minor cuts he could extract out, but the deep wounds were stacking quickly. At this rate, he’d be poisoned to death. Polar South allowed him to adjust the assassin’s games rapidly, but poison slowly did its work, to which he had no permanent solution.
How much longer, Sooty?
Caw.
What do you mean ‘ten beats of your wing?’
Rattle!
Alright, I’m running then.
The shades swarmed him, and Luke failed to discern which was real or which was not. In frustration, he yelled without words, and frost exploded from the young man. A dagger strike from behind his neck slowed enough for Luke to dodge the ambush.
A periodic tick of damage sprang into Luke’s vision. The number slowly increased each time. Moonlight melted the frost. Darkness covered over Luke, drastically dropping his sight. Without the vision stat, Luke would be blind.
“A pattern ability, poison resistance, and the vision stat, you're a series of surprises. Who is your patron?”
This guy’s seen everything. He had to be here since I came to this cavern or even before that.
Luke escaped toward the dungeon’s exit. No portal had appeared like when he cleared Asani. He struggled to reach the way he came in. The short distance felt like an eternity to him.
The Reaver noticed a shadow undulate around the moonlight, heavily covered by the mist and consuming darkness around him. Polar South barely allowed him to discern its movement. He sprinted in its direction, then bounded beside it, accelerating at the last moment. He unsheathed Whispering Edge while slashing with Xera. Whispering Edge parried the predicted dagger strike, but a shadow-covered hand gripped onto Xera.
Luke tried to bring Xera back, but the hand didn’t budge or loosen. Listening to his growing battle instincts, he transformed Xera into a wand, the lost mass turned into gaseous essence, and the assassin lost his grip. The power struggle from the parry with Whispering Edge forced him back. Luke pushed away with his legs and created a gap.
“Yet another of the two-form artifacts has appeared. A sword wand isn’t on the list. A forgotten class?” The monic assassin appeared to Luke’s side. Luke barely avoided the twin dagger strikes but took a kick straight to the stomach. He flew back into the sky, casting Essence Bond onto the assassin while in midair. He fell a few yards away from the cavern’s entrance. Sooty was there, feeding the rune with essence to open the cavern to the path out.
The cavern wall turned more transparent, about to crumble to the ground.
“I’ve seen everything you can do, Luke Wallace. You won’t leave this floor breathing.”
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Two solid shadows rose from the expanded mist and grasped Luke’s body, holding him to the ground. Veins rose as Luke exerted to move, but the shadows kept hold with additional effort.
The assassin walked leisurely then stepped through the shadows quite a distance away. Essence Bond steamed against the monic man’s body, dimming. Half a second later, two daggers snaked toward Luke’s chest. Sooty’s Shadow Wing appeared, protecting Luke in the nick of time. Sooty’s constant feeding finally satisfied the rune, and the cavern wall sank into the ground. Xera alighted, and Essence Fissure opened beneath Luke. The assassin and two shadows rose into the air, nearly crashing against the cavern’s ceiling. The Fissure’s sudden appearance slackened the shadow’s grip on Luke enough that he escaped their restraint.
Luke glanced up, and while the shadows were countered, the assassin descended, burning shadow and moonlight dissipating the pressure. Essence Bond dispersed far before the expected duration.
“This isn’t high tier enough to stop me, untested.”
The Reaver ignored the assassin’s words. He dove to the exit. The rune began to lose its light, and the cavern wall gradually closed; a mix of darkness and moonlight flames blazed against the seal, slowing down its reformation.
Luke spat out blood, black swirls in its middle. Heavy breathing paired with inexplicable exhaustion, his eyes felt heavy. “You know everything already. Why don’t I show you the rest? Stay behind.”
The Reaver formed an Essence Lance and melded it into his body. A winter storm detonated from Luke. White frost completely iced over the young man. Ice battled the strange flames, cooling them quickly. Xera returned to sword form. Lacking time, Luke mentally placed Whispering Edge into the inventory. With Wraith Wail on Cooldown, the sword had little use in the situation. Infusion empowered Xera and himself.
Luke took stance; he slowly pulled Xera back. Sooty Essence screeched, slightly staggering the monic man. Ice coated the blade. Luke swept Xera out, slicing the air. An icy arc slammed into the assassin, steps away from the entrance. The frost trail snuffed out the dark moon flames. Without their interference, the cavern wall shut. Luke turned, and he commanded his frost.
Arctic ice cracked under his feet, and Luke bounded forward multiple times faster than his top speed outside of Essence Feedback. Sooty struggled to hold on; Luke switched Xera to his left hand and supported his crow with his right.
“Flush out the poison now before it eats you alive,” Wayfinder said.
Frost essence flooded throughout Luke, flushing poison out through his skin. A moderate amount stubbornly remained. Unable to focus on it, Luke continued to dash down the Ice cave. Frost added a new layer to where he passed. He glaciated beasts along the way.
Following the path toward the nexus point, Luke turned, blazing his trail. He zoomed past another hunter group; the unfortunate victims turned into ice before slowly beginning to melt once Luke created a suitable distance.
“Almost out of time.” Luke’s eyes shone with the frost essence rushing around them, “One more push.”
Whispering Edge reappeared, sinking into the wall beside Luke. He jumped up and smashed both legs against the sword, flying. At the same instant, he commanded Whispering Edge to re-enter his Inventory. He rocketed through the air, barely clearing over another group in battle with Boreal Basilisks.
Luke landed in a track starter position. Snow below him billowed as he sprinted, desperate to reach the nexus. Essence Feedback ended, and a coldness sprang up in his body, deeper than the glacial temperature around him. Thanks to the constantly upgrading frost resistance, Luke could move but slowed to a fast jog against his will.
[Essence Feedback has ended. All Reaver Abilities Sealed for 8 minutes]
A health potion came out into the air. Luke grasped it and chugged it back, smashing the vial on the ground as he kept running.
“Sooty, go on ahead, try to see if you can get anyone who can help. Steal a return scroll if you have to.”
Sooty clicked her beak, then beat her wings, spiraling through the air.
Luke’s speed lowered again, unable to completely suppress Essence Feedback’s backlash. His body felt empty of Essence. Polar South had ended long ago. Luke yelled out to the hunter group within earshot behind him, listening to the last bit of a conscious he had left.
“Leave the dungeon now if you want to see another day.”
Struggling to keep moving, Luke barely registered a confused response. His pace stabilized to a light jog, unable to shake the bone-deep cold within to go faster. Step after step, his breathing exaggerated, sweat perspired over his body. Muscle fatigue set in and worsened rapidly.
Step.
“A Chimera round up, and now an assassin.”
Step.
Even if I escape, he saw everything.
Step.
Emotion boiled within Luke. And a desperate hunger arose. While he internally knew the ways of this world, the assassin’s appearance made it plain.
Step.
Being powerless for much longer would get him killed.
Step.
Luke stopped and turned around. He released a long breath, a hopeless gap reared its head toady. The hunters behind him were beheaded. The Boreal Basilisk’s body split in two by shadow flames.
As the Reaver placed Xera in front of him, he said, “Stop playing with your food, assassin.”
Luke’s eyes wandered about, but the assassin didn’t reveal himself. Another taunting voice rang throughout the cave.
“I’ll admit, you nearly got away. Your last trick made this job too close for comfort. Now, rest.”
An Iron Feather rotated around Luke before immediately snapping. A dagger sprang up from Luke’s belly. Sooty released an angry caw before trying to Talon Strike the assassin, who melded back into the shadows.
The monic man threw a dagger then appeared on the other side of Sooty, trying to flank the companion from both sides. Sooty vanished, then aimed Reaver Beak at the assassin’s skull after she reappeared behind him.
“A companion for a shadow. How valuable.” The assassin parried the tactic, Sooty moved too slowly to be any real threat to him.
Sooty wasn’t done. She Essence Screeched, and the sonic vibrations shook the snow around her. The assassin staggered but recovered in less than half a second. He brandished his dagger, and Sooty vanished again to preserve her life.
“Pest, forget it; you’re not the assignment,” the assassin said.
Luke convulsed on the floor, rapidly turning purple. In his weakened state, only the passive poison resistance fought against the assassin’s envenomed blade. The stab from earlier threw him over the threshold. Luke lost control of his body.
The assassin threw a dagger at Luke, aiming for his neck. Wind sang as the dagger traveled in the air. Luke couldn’t turn his head, much less move his neck. Unlike before, he refused to close his eyes. As the dagger had less than a second to sink into Luke’s neck, he sent a short mental apology to his old man.
Sorry, dad. I’ve been a bad son, failing to find you. I'll go meet up with mom first.
A blur rocketed through the air skillfully hitting the dagger and filled the area with a sharp metal clang sound. An arrow sank into the floor next to him. The dagger deflected in a different direction, planting inches away from his face into the snow packed soil.
Black blood bled from Luke’s nose, and his eyes yellowed. The poison would soon finish what the dagger didn’t.
“You aren’t allowed to die before I recruit you, Luke Wallace.”
A black arrow pierced through the assassin’s heart. The monic man widened his eyes as blood erupted from his mouth. He attempted to speak, but no words came.
“No point, Red Gorrid dog. Learn to wag your tail for the right master in the next life.”
Sooty squawked around Veyri, urging her to help Luke.
“I’ve got it, crow. Melen, keep other hunters away from here.”
Melen nodded and paced back from Veyri.
Veyri shot a blue arrow into the cave’s ceiling, water pillars manifested, smashing into the assassin and Luke. The assassin became stunned, while Luke felt the poison leave his body. Veyri shot a lightning-covered arrow into the assassin’s neck. It bore in, ripping out the other end, trailing into the cave behind. Unsatisfied, Veyri pelted five arrows within the stun duration, turning the assassin into a dead pincushion.
The woman launched a radiant arrow into Luke, recovering him back to perfect health. The Reaver sat up, astounded. It was one thing to see the healing arrow’s effects, another to experience it firsthand.
He looked up at Veyri and then at the assassin’s corpse already lying on the ground. Luke felt he owed a debt he currently couldn’t repay.
Luke brought out his sigil stone, “After that, the least I could do is agree to link my sigil like you asked for earlier,” Luke paused, “Let me keep some secrets first. Okay?”
Veyri smiled, revealing white predatory teeth, “Knew you could be reasonable.”