Shade whistled. "Talk about an upgrade."
Meera tilted her head at him. It was another human-like gesture, one that she did not think a bat would be able to do. Of course, this bat was a ghost, and ghosts could do many things beyond the ordinary. She put it aside. "Let me check my notifications, and we'll get back to the others."
"You're the boss."
*ding!*
[You have killed a Shrouded Cursed Wraith – Level 102]
*ding!*
[Congratulation. Image Stealer has reached Level 97. You have been awarded 3 stat points]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 75. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 77% boost.]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Shadow Step has reached Level 44]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Vitalize has reached Level 30]
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Shroud of Shadows. Shroud of Shadows – Type: Active. You can cloak yourself in an ethereal shroud of shadows, granting unparalleled stealth and the ability to move unseen in dim areas or complete darkness. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
Meera raised an eyebrow at the notification. It was the same skill as the invisible wraiths. It was beyond lucky that she had gotten its best skill on the first try. She was definitely going to accept it. The only problem was which skill to let go of.
In the end, it came down between Disorienting Flare or Dreadful Wail. One skill let her blind her enemies briefly, and the other paralyzed them. She was confused as they both had their uses. Dreadful Wail's only problem was that it announced to everyone where she was, but once they heard it, it wouldn't matter as they would be paralyzed. She decided to give up Disorienting Flare.
*ding!*
[You have acquired the skill Shroud of Shadows – Level 1]
She tried on her new skill right away. At once, she was gone. She saw herself in a hazy, translucent way, but she was sure Shade didn't as he looked around.
"Can you see me?" Meera asked.
"How can you do that?" Shade asked. "If you could have turned invisible all this time, then why didn't you do so from the start? What game are you playing at Meera?"
Meera turned back to normal and grinned. "I just learned it right now."
Shade gave her a wary look. "What's your secret?"
"It's not that I don't trust you, and I would tell you, but then I don't want to risk the master of this cave hearing about it," she replied.
He stared at her a moment. "Okay, but you will tell me about this later."
"Of course, I have nothing to hide from you." Meera smiled at him and motioned to the door. "Ready to get out of here?"
He flew off without a word. Meera feared she might have created a rift that might widen if she didn't close it soon. But that was not the only reason she didn't tell him about her ability. Silas had warned her to keep it hidden, and then there was also the possibility that Edwyn Toller might take control of him and make him divulge her secrets. She didn't know if this could happen, but Onyx thought it might, and if he could control so many wraiths, then who to say he couldn't control three more?
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She got to the mouth of the tunnel and activated the Shroud of Shadows, and the wraiths came to a standstill. This was even more curious. Even they can't see me.
Then she remembered that Shade couldn't see the invisible wraith without his vocalization, so it was only reasonable that they couldn't see her either. She used Shadow Step, appeared behind the wraiths, and jumped to the first floor. She landed on a knee, blowing up dust.
She was about to uncloak herself when she saw something peculiar. A wraith outlined in faint red lines. Its form was hazy like her own, and it was coming straight for her. Meera pulled off two chakrams and threw one at it. It sidestepped, and the chakram sailed on by.
"Meera, that's one of them!" Shade cried from the air. "The invisible ones."
Her eyes widened, and she got into motion. She knew the wraiths upstairs hadn't moved from their spot thanks to her Mirror Eagle's Perceptivity. She quickly checked her stats.
Stats
[Health: 659/690]
[Stamina: 591/690]
[Mana: 681/720]
She had more than enough Mana and Stamina to take this thing on while keeping her Shroud active. She recalled her chakram, which zipped past the phantom into her hand. She activated Druvis Power and raced for the wraith. It got into action, hands transformed into claws, ready to take her on.
She launched her chakram, which went so fast that it was a blur. It hit with such power that it severed the wraith's right arm clean off. The wraith screamed, and Meera was on top of it. She slashed with her other chakram, and despite her speed, the wraith was faster. She went for an overhead strike, but it left her open, and the wraith capitalized on it by slashing her midsection. Her armor was literally lying in tatters now, with stripes hanging and exposing her midriff.
If it goes like this, I'll be walking around in full heavy plate armor pretty soon.
She finished her overhead strike and wedged her chakram in the wraiths' head. She pulled off another chakram and slashed its head clean off in one swipe, thanks to Druvis Power. The wraith evaporated into nothing. Meera couldn't tell if it was the same wraith as the one from before or a new one.
She didn't have time to ponder this as she uncloaked herself and ran for the tunnel where her ghostly friends waited.
"How are you able to turn invisible now?" Onyx asked, seemingly having overcome his fear of Cinders and standing within five feet of her.
"Good luck trying to get the answer out of her," Shade said.
"Let's say I picked it up along the way." It wasn't a total lie and not the truth, either.
"Well, that's more than she told me."
"It's okay. She'll tell us when she is ready," Cinders said. "The world is vast, and there are many abilities and skills. That is what my captors used to say. For now, let's get out of here. The wraiths are coming."
She was right. Meera could see them through her Perceptivity skill, and they were jumping down from the second level like a waterfall and dashing toward them like bloodthirsty maniacs. Meera activated Shroud of Shadows, and they all stopped in their tracks.
"Yes, that is not too bad, I'll admit," Shade said.
"Next room, please, and hurry. This thing drinks Mana." Meera was right in that. Just in her fight with the wraith, which hadn't lasted for half a minute, she had spent almost twenty points of Mana. This was after having her Mana refined. She could only guess what the cost would have been before that.
Meera followed the animals to the next tunnel, three tunnels away from Cinders'. Once inside the tunnel, she dropped the Shroud and returned to normal. It was a bit odd traveling and not seeing her body, but she would get used to it. At least, it was not as jarring as her new auditory sense, which seemed to be on full blast, where every step left a resounding boom in her ears. But it helped her get used to the powers of the gem. The wailing and shrieking of the wraiths outside also helped as she used it to train herself to filter out background noise.
As Meera entered the door, her anticipation grew as to which animal she would find there, and the room did not disappoint. In here was a lizard, but it was the size of a bull. Its head was sleek, but its open mouth was filled with razor-sharp pointed teeth. Its whole body was covered with shiny black scales, so much so it looked polished.
Meera was about to ask what it was when Onyx gasped.
"Gasp from me, too," Shade said, hanging upside down from the ceiling. "However, did they get their hands on that?"
"I saw them bring it in," Cinders said. "It killed two of its handlers as they struggled to tie it to that table."
"I'm guessing these things are illusive," Meera said.
"More than illusive," Shade said. "My colony was close to one of these things' hunting areas, and let me tell you, even basilisks give these guys a wide berth. Just a flick of their tongue, your muscles will begin to constrict slowly until you are nothing more than a prisoner in your body. I saw many beasts fall prey to their venom. That's nothing to say about their ferociousness and their hunger."
"What did you call them?" Meera asked.
"Drakasaros, more commonly known as a Drake," Cinders said. "A close cousin of the venomous dragons."
Meera nodded and filed this information for later that if she ever came across one in the wild, she was to run as far away and fast as possible. "Let's see what crystal they made from this Drake," Meera said.
"If I had money to bet, I would say it would have something to do with its venom," Shade said.
Onyx neighed from the door. Meera took that as agreement, and Cinders lay quiet as she watched the corpse of the dread beast.
Meera opened the box next to the diary, which no doubt contained the intent of the experiment on the predator. She didn't bother with it and focused on the black crystal.
[Crystal Of Drakasaros Venom - Whosoever crushes this crystal will earn a skill that will turn their saliva as venomous as a Drakasaros' tongue. One touch and your enemies will know unimaginable pain as they are trapped in their own bodies.]
"So…" Shade prompted.
"You were right." Meera dropped the crystal in her Hoard belt and moved for the door. She didn't even want to entertain the thought of having such a power. It would be downright cruel to put someone through so much pain. She couldn't just sentence a person or beast to such a fate, no matter how easy it would make her fight. Not after what her mother went through for years.
"Wait, you're not going to use it?" Shade asked as he flew from his perch to land on her shoulder.
"No, I don't want such a power, and that is all I will say about that."
"B-But—"
"Leave it, Shade." Cinders slithered up Meera's pants to rest on her other shoulder. "She's making the right call. You're not the only one who lost kin to those monsters. It's best if that crystal never sees the light of day. It will not bode well for anyone if humans get their hands on such a vile skill."
"Show me the way to the next room," Meera ordered.
Shade sighed and flew off down the tunnel.