James was having the most pleasant of dreams, he was frolicking around on a large beach with his bestest bud/roommate ever! There was a bright light shining in the distance, like a pillar reaching to the heavens, and James had this strange urge to go to it, to explore its depths and see where it leads, he was sure that if he did he would never need to worry about anything again.
As James was skipping over to the light he thought he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He whipped his head around, but no, it was just more of the perfect beach, with a beautiful crimson red sunset behind it. Yet a small bit of unease had crept into his heart.
Then a cold wind traced down the back of his spine, sending a shiver running throughout him. James turned around again yet it was still just the beach and that red sunset, wait squinting at it James realized that it wasn’t the sunset that was red it was sand. James glanced up at the sunset again, except there was no sun it was just complete darkness, and then something so vast it blotted out the entire sky moved; it looked like thousands of tentacles and teeth in a weird blob. James turned to the pillar of light his heart was racing and his adrenaline was shooting through the roof. Where was it again James whipped his head around scanning for it he kept scanning back and forth faster and faster until his head looked like a blur he only saw the beach in every direction except it wasn’t a beach it was a desert where was that pillar? Oh, there it was, James calmed down knowing that its warming presence was still there, except something felt off about it. Dark tendrils wormed themselves though the pillar pulsing as if alive. James' heart started to race again feeling like it was going to burst out of his chest where had the sun’s warm presence gone? Looking up only revealed more and more darkness stretching into infinity except the infinity had a face and that face grinned the most wicked of grins James had ever seen James started running he didn’t know where but he needed to get away and as he did a fat raindrop fell against his cheek. The raindrop brought with it a strong sense of peace and calm and as more and more fell James began to calm down. His heart stopped racing and he felt a presence trying to embrace him.
James looked at his surroundings, it was a small peaceful oasis in a gentle storm. Walking to the pond James saw that it stretched down going down into the darkness. Yet this darkness was strangely comforting and as he stared at it he noticed something that made all James problems wash away. It was a small little fish, a rich blue in color. Bubbles swam around in circles before diving into the water swimming away. And James, with no more hesitation jumped into the water after him swimming until there was no longer a sky when you looked up. He swam so long that he should have run out of breath several times over but he ever once felt the need to swim back up.
._.__._.
James coughed as he painfully woke up, everything hurt and it felt like someone had stabbed him in the arm and gut. Then he remembered that he actually had been stabbed in the gut and arm. Struggling to sit up James looked at his stomach and saw that it had a large ugly gash but it was no longer bleeding out. James had been feeling a small mist fall against him since he woke up and a quick search revealed it to be bubbles, who was flapping his little fins to knock some water on James.
James smiled and tried to stand up, his working hand sinking into the sand red with his blood.
“You know” James said with a cough “this water and red sand reminds me of the weirdest dream I just had, it was about-”
James thought for a long moment.
“Nevermind I already forgot it”
James grabbed his sword which he found lying in the grass next to him and used it as a walking stick to push himself up.
“That's odd, I’d swear this sword looks different now”
Shrugging, James went over and started dragging the tank with Bubbles in it over to the forest.
“Let's see if we can find a place to rest for a while.”
As James slowly trudged away he failed to notice the small dark tendrils in the blood coated sand, and the other ones just underneath his skin along his gut and arm.
._.__._.
“Huh, hey Bubbles look at this” James said well waving a little sticky note at him. It had been a few hours since James had woken up and in that time he had used his Basic Crafting Skill to create a small fort for the two of them to hide out in.
Well looking over his sword James found a note stuck to its scabbard, it read:
“This sword is a small gift from me, with it you might survive the situation you find yourself in, with every shadow you reclaim it will grow in power -Alice”
James could swear he had heard the name Alice before and with a bit of searching found a notification tab on his character screen, or at least that's what James was calling it. It was the screen he used to assign his stat points from leveling up and James had discovered that just thinking about it would bring it up; a little creepy that it seemed to be able to read his thoughts but there wasn’t much he could do about that now.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Anyway in the notification tab James was able to scroll up and see a previous notification.
Beware! For you have caught the eyes of the Transcendents. Tread carefully for woe to those that catch their ire.
Glackdabar The Power Crazed Glutton, Laughs at your inevitable corruption
Lendinthrin The Unquellable Leviathan, Has little faith in your abilities
Aurora The Cosmos Elemental, Is Convinced in its kin, even corrupted as it is
Drikilsin The Destroyer, Chuckles at you eventual demise
Alice The Phantasm Lady of Darkness, Believes that you can succeed
Drakilsin The Caretaker, Supports you and thinks you'll conquer your plight
If the Alice on the note and the Alice from this blue screen were the same person then that meant something, probably. Honestly James had no idea if that actually mattered or not, but someone called The Phantasm Lady of Darkness was not someone James particularly wanted to cross. Darkness was scary, he couldn’t remember why but he was sure that darkness was. He felt like it had to do with a face, no that didn’t sound right, maybe something about tentacles? Whatever the reason James didn’t care he knew darkness was bad and that was all that mattered to him.
That wasn’t the only notification James found interesting, there were two others that he didn’t remember seeing.
Congratulations!
You have killed 1 Shadow Tainted Peasant Crab
You gain bonus XP for killing something above your level.
Congratulations!
You have killed 1 Peasant Crab
You gain bonus XP for killing something above your level.
E̴͖͇͋͐̕͝R̶̤̟̫̜̭͊͑̀̚ͅR̴̯͍̭͆O̷̢̮͕͖̜͗͐͊̑Ŗ̴̮͈̮̤̳̕!̶̘̯̩͚͑͜
̶̛̱͑̆̂
̵̮͑̈́́̽Ÿ̶͖̞͔̪́o̶̖̱͇̰̣͍̚ư̶̻̯̠̋̀̉̏̕ ̵̧̼͊͛̓͂͘͝ä̴͇́͌̐͊̃͑l̵̛̠̼̽̔̋͝m̴̨̼̠̣̌ò̷̭͂̐̏͌͘s̸͖̤͛͜ť̵͇̖͉̫͗̂͂̆͠ ̴͉̀d̴̩̺̜͙͒̾̂̌͠ì̵͚͎͎̰̩̫̄̀͆ė̵̬͎̈́́̏͗͝ͅd̷̡͕̥͍̥̺̂̆̆,̸̢͚̯̦̭̽̄̀͗ͅ ̴̢̛͈̹̠̐͗̈a̴̹̦̣͚͙̬͂͗̓̏ ̸̣̍̌̀̾̒̕T̶͕̝̲̟̩̓̊͛̆͗̓͜ŕ̸̝̉̉̃͘͝a̸͓̪͉̬̲̟̕ň̸̢̲̬͇̮̏̌̑͜ş̷̩̰̠̗͎̅̆͌̍̀͝ç̵̧͈̫̞̓̕ĕ̸̥̤͜ń̶̛̺̭d̴̢͋e̶͚͚̐̂n̷͚̥̉̉̐͜t̷̮͋ ̷̰̅͂̃͘r̵̢̲̳̥̖̋̉̒̔̏ͅĕ̶̜́͘à̴̮̏̅͊c̸̯̓̃̍ḧ̶̛̼̩̞́́e̷̯̜͉͎̊͐d̶̛̯̬͈̈́̀͋̒̃ ̴̣̟̈́̎͊͌o̷̘͂̀̈̍ͅų̵̫͕͚̐͌t̵͖̻̞́͋͗̓̔ ̸̜̭̣̍̓̔̌̍t̵̩̭̦̙̀ö̸͇́̂̏̆͂́ ̸̲͕͈̬͐͆̑͂̓̉ý̴̺́̀̔͆̔o̶̰̥̲̰̩͂̽̄͌̉̂ͅu̸̗͈͍̗͛̓̈́͜ ̷̯̘̩̍̒̀͜r̷̮͓̣͇̱̍̔̃ẻ̴̘͖̮̈́́̓̒ͅȁ̸͍͆̈́͝͝d̵̨̰̲̍ỹ̵̛̲̺̳͇͓̐͊͝ͅ ̵̡̩̱̫̼̈́t̶͙̦̮͍͙̳́͝o̷̰̣̫̰͐̆ ̶̡̹̜̎̍͑c̶̙̗̓̏̅̾͆̀͜l̶̢͖͍͇͎̯̀͋ą̵̧̜͍̻͊i̷̗͔̘̬̋͆̈́͜m̵̡̙̼̝͆̔͑̽̑ ̴̰͖̺̩̩̑̿́̍ý̴̞͈͍͑͛̇͠ò̷̧̹̙̌͒͌̅̀u̵̙̘̎͒͘͘r̷̛͖͕̘̘͑̐ ̸͈̘͇͈͖̣̓̎͒̒͝ḽ̶͍͍̏̓͂̊͘o̸͖͍̫̖̓s̴̭͇̱̗̋̀͛͒͛t̸̢͔̯͉̼͇̋̈́̇͐̕ ̵̡͉͚̫͐̓l̴͇̯̺͑͆͐̇͊ȋ̵̢͕̙̬̕f̶̹̲͙̯͑̓̓e̴̛̙͙̳͕̎̃̌͘,̸̛͔̺̘̳͙̉́̍̐ ̵̨̛̜̞̩̜̔͐y̴̢̼̲̖̾̿e̷͙̜̠͚̩͖͊t̵̖̩̫̖͚̭̂̈ ̵̪̳̜̜͑̐̌̌̄̃y̴̨͊͂̎ö̴̢̫̘̭̰́̇̿͆u̶͈̲̫̍̈́͑̈́͊̄ ̷̧̝̙̺̩͂̌̿ͅą̶̛̠͓̝̜̼̆̊̈̀v̶̞̝̰̑̾̿o̵͕̫͉͕̗͎͌i̵̱̻̕d̶̹͚̯̖̟̬͂͆e̸̖͔͙̓͆̈̚d̷̹̩͔̙̳̀̄ ̴̥̹̥̥̣͂̃̅i̸̯͙͒̀͛͘t̶̖̝̰̎̃,̶̹̳́̕͝ ̵̭͍̺͈͚̈̆̂̅̕͝h̸͍͋o̴͚͖̘͆̏̉ẅ̸̡͈́̅ ̶͍͕̚u̷̠̳͕̹̒͘n̴̖͜͝í̸̩̱̪̥̭͈͑̾̾͊q̷͚͚̉ú̵̡͎͇̈́ẹ̷̙̪̃̇̾͆̽.̷͕̱͖͎̻̾̿̂͑̚ ̸̙̖̪̣̩̃Í̶̛̘̮̙̰̼̮̅̋̈t̵͔̤̦̙̃̊͜ ̵̖̟͇̘̙͋i̸̟͓͓̳̰͂̋͂͆s̶̨̱̳̩͒̉͂͐ ̴̫̯̣̔̆̆̾h̵͖̣̖̊̆̌̚͠i̷̧̧̞͉̖̓̽̃̐͘ḡ̸̈͋͒ͅḫ̵͖̖̞̖̋̏́͘͘l̶̖̏̈́y̷͈̏̈́̽ ̴̛͖̻̦̺̿̒̕r̴̡̘̭̟̰͝ḙ̵̼͙̼͙̄̚c̷͉͖̅o̷͚̝̔͋m̴̹͗̀̏̌̕m̷̼̓͒͠e̴̢̠̟̾͒̍ͅn̵̦̯̈́̈́͐̊d̸̢͉͂́̃̀͝ẹ̵̮̻̰̦͊͌̔̕d̸̮̖̻̖̊́͌ ̷̧̙̉̋̈̇͘ṱ̸̢̹̞͐̉̀͘̕ò̵̹͚̣̫̦͊̆̚͜͝ ̶̪͋́n̸͎̽̀́̍ő̷͚̥͈͎̱͜͝t̵̛͍̽̍̔̉ ̶̞̫̘͕̠͛̍̇̋̆ͅg̶͈̿̂̇͑͝ė̶̪̪̹̺̬͗̈͛̃̃t̵̞͔͇͕͕̖́̊̅̏͘ ̷̥̬̻̭͊͐̏̑̔̓i̷͕̭͇͂̀ǹ̸̨̡̹̗̉̇͂̇ť̶͍̑̒̐͛̄o̷̯̻̯͈̦̱̅͛̏͌ ̶̫̗̪̔s̷̡͕̠̆̓̈̒͝i̵͈̽́̓̓͝ţ̴̯͔̩̪̭̐̔̓̽́û̴̲͔̞̼̻͛̉̆ạ̶̧̛͇̠͇̒̋́͑t̵̡̰̲̜͐͗͜į̸̻͎̜̯͇̕ơ̷̟̱͙͑̈̑̑̅n̷̛̦̈̈́̋̎ś̷̹̱̻̘̊̒͜ ̸̢̱̓l̵̮̊̇̌ȋ̶͎̮̀̐k̸̫̠͖̆ę̵̡̾͐͘ ̸̢̖̙̿̏͝ť̴̡̻̐͌̎͘͠h̵̖̹͈̄͛͘͠a̷̢͖̖͒̈͋̈͐̊t̴̗̪̥͐̔̾́͑ ̵̮̓̏̎̅͒̄ḁ̷̀́̆̀̐̓ĝ̴͇͖̈́̚ā̵̢̤̌ḯ̶̝̻̿̔̋̌͠n̴̛̻̣̤̫̑̒́.̵͉͓̖̝͎͗̽͘
̶̘̙̫͓́̅̿͠
̵̛͕̲͕̤̑̀̇̋͗T̸͉̱͍̔̎ͅḩ̶̟̣̭̯̕̚ẽ̴̺͓͖͂̄̆̂ ̴̣͎͌̏̓̆͝T̴̡͙̽͒͑̎͠r̵̺̱͆͂͝ả̶̛͓̹̜̍̿̾ń̵̡͈̦͓̖͝s̷̨͇̗̉͑͑̍̕c̶̮̻̝̈̈́͝ͅẹ̸̜͂̋̒̀̋n̸̜͉͂͛̕d̶̡̙͙͍̲̊̄ë̶̢̹͖̭̠̬n̸̡̬̝̠̺̠͆t̶̘͇̺̖̝̕ ̴̝̿̏̀͜͝t̸̠́͜ͅḧ̴̨̼̼̳́͠ä̸̲́̓̈̇͘ẗ̷̘́ ̶̡̙̼̃Ṛ̴͖͚͚͑̒͋̈͘é̸̱a̴͉̺̱̝̎́̃̓̀c̶͎̥̍ĥ̶̞̝̪͓́ȩ̴̳̮̪͇̙̿̃̋͘̚̕d̴̨̠͍͖̐́͂͘ ̴̺̄ő̸͈̀u̵̧͛ẗ̸̥̱̲̻ ̶͖͙͆̆w̸̘̥̤͚̫͕̉́̊å̶̞̫͓͙̯̋͠ş̷̟̥͈͕́͑̚ ̴̨̯̙̳̘͆͛̎̕͝Ȅ̷͙̩̖͔͙̯̆͒͒͛R̸͉̱̣̱̥̾̐͗̒̓̓͜Ř̷͍͉̗̞̜̂̃͝Ơ̶̰̬̈͒͝R̷̡̙̣̫̟̟̿͒̆ ̷̣̬̰͚̙̦̈́́̈́̇T̸͈̀̉̓̉͘ḩ̴̧̳̻̓̈́̆͊͐ȅ̷̤͊̓͠ ̸̞̥͓͇̠̀̀̄̈́͘ͅĘ̸̞͓͙̬̭̃Ȑ̴̹̻̲̝͔̌Ṙ̸̰̮̘̄̏͛́O̶̭͓̠̪̩͍̓́͐̕R̷̖̖͐͂.̷̖̥̹͊
James scrolled down and looked at the two screens, for a moment he thought he saw a third one pop up, but after scrolling through his notifications again he only managed to see the first two.
James was curious on what the difference was between a Shadow Tainted Peasant Crab and a regular Peasant Crab. He guessed it had something to do with the line about reclaiming the shadows that was written on the note. It would explain why his sword seemingly got stronger after killing the crab with the darker carapace. At least he thought it got sharper after killing that crab, things got a little blurry around that time.
Of course if the sword did get stronger from killing these Shadow Tainted then James had a new goal, kill every Shadow Tainted creature he could find and get a sword worthy of being welded by He-Man himself.
Luckily for him he thought he saw another Shadow tainted already, unluckily he was still recovering from his fight with the crab. The creature he saw was some weird monkey-like creature. James stared at it for a while and was surprised when a new screen popped up.
Shadow Tainted Bonobos
These clever creatures ruled the forest of the pleasant little island they lived on. But one day there came a dark being from the heavens and with it a taint spread across the land turning these nice little monkeys into murder machines, and the really unlucky ones it turned into a shadow of their original self, giving it dark powers at the price of its sanity,
James probably shouldn’t attack it. But on the other hand he really wanted to get a stronger sword.
“Optional stealth mission it is” James muttered to himself as he stood up lifting his sword.
“Let's mess that monkey up.”