Lostlyne turned to the Paladin and shared what he saw; the master advised him to continue interacting with the screens. Richard suspected that these visions were part of the Gift that had just reactivated. When Lostlyne said: "I don't know how to communicate with this thing to get information about this skill..." a third screen opened. With the usual blue color, it was displayed a summary of what had appeared before, but additionally, Lostlyne could read the name of his Gift, "Last Hope," which had no description. In addition, he could see the description of his first acquired skill, "Life and Death," which said: "By touching someone, you will be able to see the most important actions and choices belonging to that person, from life to their death." Upon the first reading, the two found similarities with the Paladin's ability, "Judgment," which allowed him to see all the good actions and sins a person had committed. With the Paladin's permission, Lostlyne touched him. The young man saw the past and future of the S-rank Hunter, even the imminent gruesome death. He would be killed by a woman with dark armor and red hair. Paladin, listening carefully to what Lostlyne had to say, believed him without too much reflection because the description matched one of the Four Knights.
After finishing the dungeon by beating the boss, which was a low grade monster, thanks to the Paladin, a portal opened, connected to the one through which the two hunters used to ender in the dungeon. Once outside, the two, still thoughtful about the events in the dungeon, walked towards the refuge in silence. This silence, which lasted a long time, was broken by Paladin Lionheart: "I think I've always known how I will die; the only unknown was who would kill me."
"But now that we know all this, we can prevent it," Lostlyne said fervently.
"I doubt it; we don't know when it will happen, and we're not sure if the future can be changed," Lionheart said disheartened.
"We're not even certain that sending you back in time will erase this horrible present."
"It's she who entrusted me with this mission, convincing me of its importance; we can't demoralize ourselves! We have to fight as long as we can until we win!" he said with a strong tone.
"You're right, young man," Paladin Lionheart said, clearing his throat. "Now let's return to the base; with what we have, we can finally get you lighter armor and a weapon that can help you more than the current one."
Three months had passed since Lostlyne's arrival. His character was more tempered, his appearance more mature, and his body well-trained. It was morning, and Lostlyne, by now accustomed to this routine, woke up at five in the morning for the usual patrol with the other hunters to eliminate the monsters near the refuge and assist people if necessary. Yawning and with his vision blurred due to sleep, Lostlyne began to dress. His equipment consisted of black boots with plates of lightweight metal, pants fastened by a belt, and a torso similar to the Paladin's, a sort of incomplete knight's armor that covered only the chest, back, left shoulder, and had knight's gloves covering forearms and hands. Unfortunately, the blacksmith hadn't managed to do better with the materials given, but he did make this armor more resistant to magic than the standard. Subsequently, he wrapped himself in the hooded cloak to protect himself from the scorching sun outside the refuge. To conclude, Lostlyne took his sword, now worn from the number of monsters slain, and left the room, meeting the Paladin in the corridor.
The two were room neighbors; Lostlyne slept in a small single room with an old bed and a small wardrobe, while the Paladin occupied a slightly larger room, where he slept on a hard and smelly sofa because the room was shared with his daughter, Evelyn, who slept on the bed.
"Good morning, Lostlyne" greeted the Paladin with a smile.
"Good morning, Paladin" replied the boy with a yawn.
"That sword is no longer suitable for you, boy" the Paladin said with concern.
"Maybe we'll find some useful drops in the next dungeon to create a new weapon."
"You could die without a proper weapon. Come on, follow me."
The two went to the Paladin's room; once the door was opened, Lostlyne noticed that Evelyn was still sleeping on the bed.
"Be quiet, Evelyn is sleeping," whispered the Paladin.
Opening his wardrobe, the Paladin pulled out a sword. "This was the first sword I received when I was named The Paladin by the world. I stopped using it because it was no longer suitable for someone of my level, but I'll give it to you."
"Stop making noise, you two, get out," said the drowsy girl.
"Sorry, Evelyn, we'll leave right away," said the Paladin.
"I apologize, Eve," he added with a small bow as the girl looked at him with sleepy eyes.
"I can't accept it, Paladin. This sword is a memory for you; it would be a shame to damage it in battle."
"Nonsense, weapons are not meant to be revered; human lives are more important."
The Paladin took the ruined sword from Lostlyne's scabbard and inserted his new weapon, which despite its age, was still valid in battle thanks to its good craftsmanship.
"Thank you, Paladin. I'll make good use of it," said Lostlyne, shaking his hand.
"Go on, it's time for your patrol; the others are waiting for you in the main hall."
"I'll go right away."
After leaving for the usual daily patrol with hunters of various ranks, to clean the streets from the few monsters wandering around the base, Lostlyne distanced himself from the group of hunters to start his morning training. However, when he turned the corner, a small red portal opened. Alarmed, Lostlyne turned to go back to alert others, but in front of his eyes appeared the blue screen he hadn't seen in a while. Inside the frame, it said:
[Enter the portal; I'm curious to see how strong you've become.]
"Who are you?!" Lostlyne took a step back and unsheathed his new sword.
“Let's make a deal” it communicated through messages appearing in the form of a screen.
[Enter, face this dungeon, and in return, I will tell you who I am]
“I'm not able to complete a dungeon alone! What if it's a high-level dungeon?!”
[If you can't face a dungeon alone, how do you think you are humanity's last hope?]
Reflecting on it, Lostlyne couldn't resist the curiosity; there were too many things he wanted to know.
[MISSION: BEAT THE BOSS] [REWARD: INFORMATIONS]
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Now determined, he entered the portal alone.
The dimension beyond the portal contained a vast world, a stretch of sand, and a starless night.
Monsters emerged from the sand, which, in Lostlyne's eyes, closely resembled centipedes. The difference lay in their size and the horrifying appearance that generated tension. To Lostlyne's inexperienced eyes, the grade of those monsters would be around D, making them equal adversaries, if not for their annoying ability to swim in the sand and attack in the young Grade E hunter's blind spots. The centipedes, attacking on instinct, managed to throw the young Paladins' apprentice into the air, but he clung to one of the monsters' backs with his sword. Lostlyne attempted something daring: riding one of those instinct-driven monsters. As expected, it didn't last long, but with the sword already embedded, he penetrated the tough shell of the monster, and pushed harder, moving the sword blade horizontally, causing one of the monsters to bleed to death.
Having learned the method to kill them, it took little time for Lostlyne to end the lives of those monsters. At the end of the fight, a message appeared: [Congratulations, but this is only the beginning]
Annoyed, Lostlyne asked: "What are you? Why do you talk to me through these messages? Do you use telepathy? I thought these screens were due to my Gift."
"All in good time, Lostlyne."
Now unsure where to go, he stood still, began looking around, and noticed a construction. He decided to head towards it. After a long walk, Lostlyne arrived at a temple. The gate was already open, and the hunter noticed that from the outside, the building was well-lit, but inside it seemed pitch dark. Lostlyne entered, and fortunately, the gate remained open.
"I think this building contains the boss room." Lostlyne reflected.
From his pocket, the young man took out his lighter to lightly illuminate the environment. Although the Paladin did not smoke, during the early expeditions with Lostlyne, he pointed out that without large teams handling various tasks, there were no longer people taking care of lighting in dark dungeons, like mage-type hunters who mastered fire. So, the Paladin taught Lostlyne to always keep a lighter on hand to illuminate the path.
With the fire lit, Lostlyne saw the path: a long carpet leading to another door. Lostlyne did not stay still because the antechamber was empty and the place was very cold; he wanted to finish everything as soon as possible.
With the sword in one hand, Lostlyne extinguished the lighter to open the door with his left hand. As soon as he entered, he lit the lighter again and exclaimed in amazement, "Holy cow!"
What he saw was a horde of terracotta soldiers; each statue was corpulent and at least two meters tall, but what surprised him the most were their insect-like bipedal features.
Approaching one of the statues, he tried to touch it with a finger. It did not respond; it was obviusly, lifeless. Lostlyne reached the opposite side of the room, but another door blocked the way. He illuminated the surroundings with the lighter and tried to open the door, but nothing; it was locked. He heard a horrendous sound, as if the stone was breaking, as if terracotta was crumbling. With speed and concern, he tried to relight the lighter, but in haste, he failed. Something run against him and squeezed him tightly whit arms; he felt a buzzing, and his bones almost broke. It was evident that the statues, lifeless just a few seconds ago, had come to life. The lighter had fallen, but the sword was still in Lostlyne's hands. Fighting with the sword was complicated, so, with his right arm, he took his dagger near his thigh and managed to stab the first enemy. Unortunately, the reanimated enemies were no longer terracotta but living beings and therefore mortal. The sound of crumbling terracotta became increasingly frequent, causing anguish in Lostlyne.
"You must help me escape; I can't see anything in the dark," he said, holding the sword to protect himself.
[I will evolve you as a person]
"Evolve? What are you saying?"
[Last Hope Activated]
[New Skill Avaible]
[Eyes of the Superb ability acquired]
Lostlyne felt his eyes burning like fire. He covered his eyes with one hand, feeling them swell so much that he feared they would explode. Blood started to trickle from his eye sockets, but the pain gradually subsided. He opened his left eye slightly and was surprised; he could see better in the dark. He couldn't see everything perfectly, but the view was clear enough to distinguish moving figures. The situation was worse than he thought. All those insect-like creatures dressed as knights were in motion. Lostlyne calmed down and went towards the center of the room. The attacks of those dungeon creatures were so strong that one simple punch would have made Lostlyne faint if it weren't for the fear of death.
"There's no way to take them all down alone. Every time I try to kill one, others come and push me away, attacking me."
"I have to retreat."
Lostlyne ran towards the door, which unfortunately did not reopen. His breath became labored; there was no choice but to fight. But after a few seconds, Lostlyne was surrounded by enemies, one of whom pierced his armor and chest with a single punch, slamming him against the door.
"It can't end like this; I must return to my family..." he said, gasping and spitting blood.
[Last Hope Activated]
[New Skill Avaible]
[Regeneration ability acquired]
[Regeneration initiated]
Lostlyne, leaning against the door, watched the soldiers about to assault him, unable to move due to his lack of strength. Just moments before one of the soldiers would have delivered the final blow, the Hunter realized that the enemies were moving strangely: they were retreating.
[Last Hope]
[Time Rewind]
Lostlyne, reading the messages that appeared, quickly understood the situation. While time was rewinding, he felt something pushing him from behind. It was the door reopening due to the temporal rewind process.
The ability stopped once the door was open again and the monsters were petrified once more. Perhaps Lostlyne, involuntarily, managed to control the ability. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he escaped through the door, finding himself safe but exhausted and dripping with blood, he fainted.
Lostlyne woke up hours later due to the light hitting his eyes. In a fraction of a second, he looked down to check his wounds, but to his surprise, they had completely disappeared. Rising, he exclaimed in confusion:
"What happened?"
[Last Hope Gift Activated]
[Time Rewind Successful]
[Regeneration Completed]
The awareness of having obtained a second chance through the mysterious Last Hope gift began to dawn on Lostlyne. With a mix of confusion and determination, he prepared to face what destiny had in store for him in this new opportunity, aware of the mysteries surrounding his gift.
"I have to finish the dungeon for answers."
"I should go back to the shelter, but I can't. I need to know who you are, how to go back in time and how to become stronger."
Exhausted from the battle, Lostlyne concluded that he would have to stay inside that dungeon, fighting against the enemies in the desert to improve his skills and return to the impending battle. Lostlyne returned and looked for twigs to light a fire, but found nothing. He decided to walk around to explore the area and fight against the monsters. Lostlyne was still amazed by his eyes; they were getting more accustomed to the darkness. He felt the ground tremble; the time for battle had come, but now he was aware that he had a chance to win compared to a few hours earlier. The strange thing he noticed was the orange-colored word above the monster's head that read "Scolopendra".
"What is this, Keeper?"
[Nice name, Keeper]
[I appreciate it] replied the Keeper via message.
[New Ability Available: Eyes of the Superb]
[your eyes see beyond normal]
[Description: Gain night vision and the capacity to better understand the power of enemies]
"Interesting ability. Does this mean you can give me interesting skills? Are you perhaps a divinity? Then make me immortal and let's end this."
[it does not work like that.]
The Scolopendra didn't wait; it attacked immediately, but Lostlyne managed to block the blow in time with his arms. The armor protected most of the damage, but the metal gloves broke.
"Do you know how long it will take to repair it?" Lostlyne ran toward the monster, unsheathed his sword, and with all his might, threw it at the Scolopendra's snout. The sword embedded itself in the tough shell but not enough to inflict significant damage. Without a sword, Lostlyne was forced to fight with his dagger.