I’d never encountered a beast with a Rage status. It was temporary, lasting about an hour, but while the status was in effect, they were twice as strong, twice as fast, twice as durable.
When the Error Wolf attacked the second time, terror shot through me like lightning as I barely managed to defend myself in time. A shallow scratch to my thigh, easily slicing through Duskblade’s barrier. A bite to the shoulder that made me hiss in pain.
【NOTICE】
Please wait while your Demon Core [2%] regenerates your Form…
This may take a while. You may consider further tethering your Demon Core.
My chest heaved, my entire body remembering what it felt like to die. I evaded their next series of strikes, barely, pushing my agility even further than I’d tried before and relying on my strength to compensate for my injury. My shoulder throbbed, blood soaked through my clothes.
If I didn’t find a way to win soon, I’d die.
Again.
I narrowed my perception on the Error Wolf, searching for a way to survive as fear frayed my nerves, chipped away at my confidence and resolve. Something I’d missed before as I dodged another fatal attack. Death bit at my heels, and each narrow miss brought a reminder of when death had called my name before.
The beasts's claw nicked my neck, and my mind went to the snap of the sound of my own broken neck thanks to the demon Father had summoned. Not unlike the crunch of Harorin's death, as fresh as the crack of Father's cane against my head again and again.
Each time I brought up a shield using magic to block their heavy blows vibrated in my bones and stabbed into my head in memory the feeling of how absolutely weak and powerless I was. All of this played in the back of my mind, fighting for my attention as I fought for my life. The closer I was to death, the harder it was to even focus on keeping myself alive. Maybe dying was easier.
I wasn't strong enough for this. How could I be? How could I be strong enough to beat a Transcendental beast in Rage when I hadn't even been strong enough to stop Irthrothun before killing my friend? I'd gotten Harorin killed, no matter how I tried to reassess the situation. I'd been weak, and I was still weak. I'd made too many decisions based on fear, and his blood was on my hands.
At least I'd die knowing I deserved it.
My vision darkened, blurred. My consciousness divided between the Error Wolf in front of me, dripping saliva in eagerness for my blood and the taste of my flesh, and the fear choking me near to the point of giving up. It'd be easier to die. Beasts didn't tend to go after cores after. I'd regenerate eventually. Maybe Khoulgan would die, but he'd gotten himself into this mess, and I'd stupidly walked into it while giving him my name.
The Error Wolf pounced, and time stopped when I saw it.
The faintest glow of a core in their chest. A light gray that was easy to miss in the darkness of the Shadowland and the blackness of their fur.
Beasts didn’t have cores, yet somehow this one had one that was about the same quality as my own soul. That had to be why the system had an error, and why this overgrown beast was called an Error Wolf. But how? ...Unless it was possible that a demon had possessed the beast of a wolf.
I'm fighting another fucking demon alone. Another fucking demon is going to kill me when I'm supposed to be a demon slayer.
Realization strummed through me with anger, my own core pulsing with it. The [Infinite Chains] clinked against my wrists as if to remind me of its existence, to remind me that I might be alone but that—as Sak'hed had said—there was a piece of my mother here with me somewhere.
The Error Wolf was almost on top of me, and I took a gamble, threw out my arms as innate knowledge of how to use the item compelled me. The separate chains shot toward the Error Wolf, doubling and tripling in size as they linked back together, and crashed into the beast in midair. A yelp was followed by the sound of the heavy chains knocked to the ground, rattled against each other as they wrapped around the wolf and pinned them to the ground.
It'd worked.
My heartbeat filled my ears in the subsequent absence of the threat of death, hammering so hard in distress that my chest hurt.
“Thank you, Endless Slayer,” I said with a sigh. Thanks, Mom. “I would’ve died without that.” I would've died without you twice now.
【NOTICE】
You have defeated the <#ERROR!> Wolf [Transcendent].
You have been awarded:
1,000,000 EXP┃ 10,000 FP┃ 4 EP
Do you accept this award?
Yes.
【NOTICE】
You have leveled up to Level 88.
You have been awarded:
10 FP
Do you accept this award?
Yes.
The wolf trashed and whimpered, but the chain’s interlocking chrome links held fast—for now. I didn’t have much time; two percent of an hour was about a minute.
I covered the distance between us and gutted the wolf with a single swipe. Their innards gushed out of them, intestines and liver and stomach. I dug out the core, pocketed it, and gave them a scratch behind the ears.
“I didn’t want to kill you,” I said. “And I can’t say that for everyone. I hope when you regenerate, you’re a Silver Wolf again.”
Now to find someone I did want to kill.
I stretched out my perception again, tried to track traces Khoulgan might’ve left. No surprise, he’d left plenty. He must’ve used some illusion skill so that he could sneak off and get himself killed despite my effort.
Following his trail at a run, I gritted against the pain in my shoulder and searched the sky for Callas’s circling. Not too far, my perception picked up the familiar feeling of her, and I doubled my speed, ignoring my injury as best as I could.
He hadn’t gotten very far, ending up just past the point where the trees became more sparse. It only ended up lucky on his part because I managed to arrive in time to save him again.
【DUNGEON NOTICE】
You have encountered a Shade Phoenix [Transcendent].
A bird beast with a wingspan twice my height, the Shade Phoenix dived at Khoulgan in a show of its sleek black feathers that bled black into blue into purple into red. A long train that looked like it was made of inverted fire trailed behind it, whistling against the air.
But I’d make him sweat first.
【NOTICE】
You have activated Forgotten Son [Uncommon].
Your presence is suppressed so that others forget you, rendering you able to act freely without being perceived for up to five minutes a day.
You have 2 minutes and 3 seconds of use remaining today.
Kicking from my sprint, I leapt between Khoulgan and the phoenix as the bird pulled up to nab him with huge, crow-like feet. Duskblade clashed with sharp talons with an ear-splitting screech.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The force of the impact sent us both flying back—me straight into Khoulgan, knocking the wind out of him with a pained grunt. My shoulder jarred as he hit the ground and skidded to a stop.
【NOTICE】
Please wait while your Demon Core [2%] regenerates your Form…
This may take awhile. You may consider further tethering your Demon Core.
Shit.
I could see how getting hurt again and again in the same spot made regenerating difficult. That wouldn’t have knocked Helas off her feet, though. Stumble a bit, sure. Just how weak was this asshole?
Adjusting my grip on Duskblade, I found my feet, deactivated [Forgotten Son], and put it to his throat. “You didn’t stay like you said you would, you liar.”
“What the—?” He startled but quelled it before he sliced his own neck. Too bad. “How long have you been there? Did you just—”
I cut him off. “Party with me,” I said as the phoenix recovered and reassessed the fight. Measuring me up. Reprocessing their chance of catching some fresh meat. My heart hammered in my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“Did you just almost let me die?”
“No,” I said with a little more force than intended. Honestly, it was probably a bit of a lie. “You left me alone to deal with the wolves, and so I did. Party with me.”
He bit his lip for a moment, then scoffed and raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, if it’ll make you that happy. Gladly.”
【NOTICE】
You have a request to party from: Khoulgan Drahk
If you accept this request, they will have full access to your status. The rewards earned by a party are gained by every party member. You may cancel the party once all active quests have been completed.
Do you accept this request?
I winced but accepted before I overthought the decision. I needed those experience points more than I needed to keep more secrets from Khoulgan. At least we didn’t have to split the reward in a training dungeon.
“Don’t delude yourself,” I said, retracting Duskblade and taking up a defensive position. “I’m not partying with you because I want to. The emergency quest changed because you got yourself into even more danger.”
The phoenix took to the sky with a powerful beating of its wings, a draft washing over the area and blowing loose dirt into the air. I raised an arm to cover my face from the debris but kept my eyes trained on the bird. Shadows danced in its wake and trailed like wisps of smoke.
I activated [Revenge Best Served Cold] and confirmed its weaknesses. Soon, it’d dive down again. We had to be prepared. I pulled up Khoulgan’s status to see if he could help me at all.
And all my questions were answered.
【STATUS】
Name: Khoulgan Drahk
Patron God: Malfon ┃ Class: Scholar [Rare]
Soul: S-Rank (Stage 2)
Level: 15 ┃ Exp: 6,660/14,000
STR: 370┃ AGI: 375┃ STA: 355┃ PER: 545
FP: 1┃ EP: 4
Skills: 4/4 ⌵
Never Judge a Book by Its Cover [Common]
Put Pen to Paper [Common]
The Memory Remains [Common]
Seeing Double [Common]
Typical skills for academics—a reading skill, a note-taking skill, a memorization skill. He’d obviously used the fourth one to create a double of himself to sneak away. The most important part was that I’d been right about the quality of his soul.
“You’re a Slayer?” Khoulgan whispered. “Level 88? Your patron god…?”
I didn’t have to look at his face to know what expression was on it. His tone had painted the picture for me—awe, fear. I didn’t mind.
For someone who’d entered this dungeon confident he could clear it because his soul quality made him exceptional, that seemed like an appropriate response. He should be in awe of me. He should fear me.
“You’ll only break a promise to me once,” I said. “I’ve saved your life twice, and I’m your ticket to defeating the dungeon boss, clearing the dungeon, and earning millions of experience points. You’ll tell no one about me. Get up.”
He squinted at me, seeming to consider his options as if he had any, then picked himself up. His bracelets clinked along his forearm, and his earrings almost hidden between his long hair and fur coat. The jewelry that marked him as Sørgener nobility.
Of course.
“Now listen closely,” I said. “Phoenixes are resistant to fire magic only to an extent, and shade beasts are resistant to physical damage. A ring of fire isn’t going to do the trick, and neither will my blade alone. You need to fucking scorch it. Got it?”
He nodded, offering a lazy grin that fell at the sound of the phoenix’s cry—a piercing shriek that echoed across the Shadowlands and stirred trepidation in my chest.
【NOTICE】
Your Demon Core [2%] has completed regenerating your Form.
Good timing.
“I want to see ashes,” I said.
“Anything for you,” Khoulgan said, almost singing in a morbid melody. His heartbeat raced, his breathing shallow. “If we make it out of this, I think I’ll owe you more than my life.”
I grunted, but the phoenix’s second cry drowned it out as they dove toward us. So fast that they almost blended into the hues of twilight, leaving trails of shadows in its wake. The embodiment of darkness. A vision of elegance.
Reacting on instinct, I darted out to meet them with Duskblade. I’d said physical attacks didn’t work on a shade-type phoenix, but Duskblade wasn’t only a physical blade. Both shared the shade attribute, and so when its barrier met with the shade of the phoenix, their effects nullified.
I had no protection, but the Shade Phoenix also had none.
“Manio isati!” Khoulgan yelled, engulfing the bird in fire that flickered against their shadows, wavering and distorting them for a few moments but nothing more.
“Is that all you can do?” I called to him.
I clashed with the Shade Phoenix again, talon and metal, but we’d both learned from the first and braced for the impact. Strike for strike, we matched each other’s strength and speed. A knick of my blade there. A slice of their claws here. Without using [Forgotten Son] and exposing Khoulgan to the bird’s attention, I had nothing to push the odds into my favor.
The phoenix was all grace, its swoops and soars unlike any fighting style I’d ever encountered. They left no room for mistakes, no space for anything less than absolute precision and my entire concentration.
With each swing, my blade disrupted its shade and sliced into the bird’s flesh. I strained to channel all my strength into each swing of my sword, and each impact reverberated through my entire body with a satisfying thrum.
Khoulgan tried to manifest an inferno, roaring flames flashing to life with an intense heat. He released a long shout as he pressed to feed the spell more of his immense energy.
“More!” I barked.
The phoenix made to gain distance, retreat back to the sky where I couldn’t follow them as well. Callas swooped in front of them, seeing her opportunity to shine, and nipped at its beady eyes. With a growl, I launched myself at them, lodging my sword in their belly.
“Manio isati!” Khoulgan yelled again.
This time, the fire magic wrapped the phoenix into a blazing inferno. I cried in pain as I burned along with it.
This asshole.
I flung myself away from the bird and used magic to create a shield as they wailed and shrieked, the fiery onslaught overpowering their shade and embracing the beast in all-consuming flames. With a final, resounding cry, the Shade Phoenix’s wings unfurled one at a time, their body crumbling into a pile of ashes and leaving behind the lingering scent of burning feathers.
【NOTICE】
Your party has defeated a Shade Phoenix [Transcendent].
Each party member has been awarded:
1,000,000 EXP┃ 10,000 FP┃ 4 EP
Do you accept your award?
Obviously.
【QUEST NOTICE】
Your party has successfully completed Captive of the Savage Shadows [Epic].
For having partied with the student Khoulgan Drahk, this quest has been changed to [Transcendent], and each party member has been awarded:
1,000,000 EXP┃ 10,000 FP┃ 4 EP
Do you accept your award?
Give it to me.
【NOTICE】
You have leveled up to Level 108.
You have been awarded:
1 Skill Slot ┃ 1 new Skill or 1 EP ┃ 20 FP
Do you accept this award?
Yes.
【NOTICE】
Would you like a new Skill or 1 EP?
Hard choice when I'm on fire.
I forced myself to think. Usually it'd be easy; at this point, I'd need 100 EP to evolve any of my skills or items to Rare. On the other hand, I had three empty skill slots now. There were more ways to get skills though, so I was still far off from 100 EP. I could keep my skill slots empty for now.
【QUEST NOTICE】
By defeating the Shade Phoenix, your party has met the condition to clear the dungeon. Rewards will be calculated upon exit of your party.
Khoulgan crouched near me and hesitantly muttered, “Manio suwa.”
The water from his spell doused the fire, cooled my healing burned skin in a brief moment of relief.
“Thoughtful,” I croaked. Callas landed nearby and hopped over to my side. I groaned again as I rolled onto my back to check if she’d been burned anywhere.
“You’re angry,” he said.
“No shit!” I said. Callas was unscathed. “Thankfully, I regenerate. Just slowly. There are rabbits in the satchel. Start up a fire, roast them up. You’re going to help me clear the rest of the quests in this dungeon before we leave.”
He swallowed but knew better than to argue.
☰☰☰
It took the entire time roasting the rabbits for me to heal. The burns were everywhere, but apparently Helas had prepared for that because Khoulgan found an identical set of clothes to the ones she’d given me in the morning. The worst part of the wait was listening to him prattle on about how many levels he’d just gained.
If only he knew how little that counted for against the Rashirat.
Alone, I could’ve completed the rest of the quests within a few hours just by virtue of taking my time and wanting Callas to have time to soar as far and wide as the dungeon allowed. With Khoulgan, everything took twice as long, and I regretted not making the decision to just leave once we’d defeated the dungeon boss.
When we stepped back into the forest behind the academy, another level stronger, Helas and the dean were both waiting a few steps away. The heat and humidity of Ridahr smacked me in the face. I’d entered the dungeon so early that ten hours later it wasn’t dusk yet.
Callas returned to Helas’s shoulder, and the old woman grinned like she was meeting a long lost friend. “Did you have fun?” she cooed, ignoring me completely.
“Khoulgan Drahk,” the dean said pointedly.
He opened his mouth, but I cut him off.
“He knows everything,” I said, passing Helas’s satchel back to her. “Figure out how to keep him quiet and I’ll apply.”
If he was smart, he’d leverage my secret to prevent the dean from kicking him out.
【DUNGEON NOTICE】
Your party cleared the training dungeon: Silvernight [Common]
Each party member has been awarded:
100 EXP┃ 1 FP┃ 1 [Common] Core
In addition, for having completed a total of 15 quests with a party of two, each party member has been awarded:
10,000 EXP┃ 100 FP┃ 1 EP
Do you accept your award?
Underwhelming, but yes.
【NOTICE】
You have canceled your party with: Khoulgan Drahk
“First day of next week,” the dean said. “We start taking applications at dawn.”