Alex quickly left the camp behind. Every few dozen meters, he send a ping of [gravitdomain], making sure that nothing was trying to ambush him. For the moment he left [shadowcloak] alone, as it was a pretty heavy Magicka hog and he didn’t want to run during a fight. He nearly forgot the new spear, he had bought from Gatex a day earlier, but as he run past Janes and Lins hiding spot, he grabbed it.

‘If a damn dagger wasn’t so pricey, I would have bought a new one, too. But my shadowdagger should suffice for now. Maybe I’ll get a new one later…’ A leather cuirass was much more needed than a dagger and as he had to give his friends at least a weapon, there were only 30 coins left. Still, he supposed, that Gatex had given him a pretty good deal.

‘And I need to spend my refined essence. I may have asked Jane and Lin to wait for me, so we can level up together, but if I hunt, I should do it now…’ Alex looked for the nearest somewhat secure corner and put it in his back. Shortly afterwards he spend a bit of essence on his level and put the rest into [shadowweapon]. He was surprised by a double notification.

Congratulation, you have gained Level 5.

You have earned +2 Dex, +2 Agi, +1 Str and +2 Free Attributes.

You have levelled Shadowweapon to Tier 2.

Name: Alex Braff

Essence: Shadow (M) / Gravity (L)

Class: Shadowblade

Level: 5

Coins: 30

Attributes:

Free: 0

Constitution: 9

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 13

Agility: 14

Intelligence: 6

Willpower: 6

The youth immediately raised Constitution. The higher vitality and better regeneration should be useful in the coming fights, he thought. Afterwards he clicked on [shadowweapon] to check the added effect.

Shadowweapon

Tier 1: Summon one pre defined weapon, doing normal damage.

Tier 2: Adds one weapon to the users arsenal, adding slight magical damage.

‘Damn, that sounds awesome. Which weapon should I choose? The dagger is pretty great. Should I take a spear? Try a bow? What if I need special arrows, or shadowy arrows?’

Alex was unsure. Should he take the plunge? He had some bow and arrow lessons and with a conjured weapon, he’d gain a lightweight, easy to handle option for more distant enemies. He still had his trusty spear and would probably choose it, if he’d gain another weapon at Tier 3. ‘I could ask Gatex, but he already said that he isn’t trained in classes and so on…He has probably no idea what’ll happen…’

Alex continued his musings, completely concentrated on his skill upgrade. Luckily he subconsciously spammed [gravitydomain] and therefore wasn’t surprised as another human appeared before him. They wore a long green cloak, hiding their face in the cowl. A spear was raised in front of Alex, who had already summoned his [shadowclone]s and [shadowdagger]. The Skills [Eviscerate] and [condense] lay already on his tongue, but he waited for the other person to move.

“Who are you,” a girlish voice asked. “I’m Alex, sent by Theo to help you, probably. You don’t have to be afraid of me,” the shadowblade answered. “If I was afraid of you, my partner would have already shot you with his bow and arrow…” she immediately shot back. “Bow and arrow…That’s it. Thanks!” Alex laughed.

He quickly chose bow and arrow as his next [shadowweapon] and tried the skill. Suddenly he held a bow next to his dagger. He dropped the dagger, dismissing it. There was no arrow anywhere, but on a hunch, the teenager pulled back the string. Before the girl could disembowel him with her spear, he turned to the side to draw. A shadowy arrow appeared, perfectly nocked in. Alex let loose and the arrow flew exactly as he had imagined is.

“Perfect, thanks for the idea. As I said, Theo sent me and you have to be Althea, right?” The cloaked figure nodded. Alex let out a breath. He would have abhorred to fight another human right after his triumph. “Then the guy hiding the street over should be Leon,” Alex quietly said. He knew the girl would hear him, but after he had appeared lost in thought, he had to let a bit of his capabilities shine through, otherwise the Hunters wouldn’t take him seriously.

Althea lowered her spear and waved backwards. Some seconds later, the second person jogged over. Alex reached out his hand, trying to break the awkward moment. “Hi, I’m Alex and was sent by Theo. I have to deliver a few kilos of meat to join your camp. You could say, I am on a quest,” he grinned. The common ground he tried to find was lost to both teenagers, though Leon shook his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he grumbled.

The group of three spoke a few minutes more and Alex found out, that Althea had an essence seed of the animal, similar to Jones’, and Leon one of the hunt. He told them about his shadow seed, but kept silent about gravity. They didn’t need to know everything, at least not straightaway. Soon the teenagers found an optimal formation. Alex would scout at the front, shortly followed by Althea and Leon at the back.

Both of them possessed essences to easily find prey, but a hidden Ambusher could still surprise them. Alex [gravitydomain] wasn’t that easily fooled and while he didn’t have that much of a range, it still sufficed. “Do you always hunt in the city? Isn’t the forest so much better?” Alex asked, while prowling through the streets. He hadn’t gotten a ping for the last few minutes and knew, that they were somewhat safe. “It is, normally it takes us a few hours to get a decent catch, but it would take so much longer to walk to the forest and back. So all combined, we’re quicker while hunting in the city.”

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Alex nodded, it made sense. Apart from the wild hog on his first day, he hadn’t seen many big animals, but many smaller would still be better than walking half a day. Just when he wanted to ask another question, their prey appeared in his domain. He put a finger on his lips and pointed to the left. Leon nocked a new arrow and Althea grabbed her spear tighter. Alex meanwhile threw on his [shadowcloak] and nearly vanished.

The group crept closer and closer until Leon had their target in his sights. He loosened his arrow and Althea charged in a semi circle, dodging the arrow. For a moment, Alex looked at their teamwork in amazement. Then he rammed his dagger into their prey. He drew it back and threw the weapon at the second target. A second later, Leons arrow hit. Both teenagers gaped, but before Alex could look up and see their expression, they caught themselves.

You have slain: Duck (Lvl 4) 2

Alex waved away the remaining notifications. He didn’t care for the essence or the coins. He would refine the essence in the evening, as he had done every night before and as long as he didn’t need money, the reminder that he earned some, was useless. Though he liked the affirmation of his kills and he the messages.

“Damn you’re fast…What level are you?” asked Leon, as they dressed their kills. “Sorry, I don’t want to tell you…yet…I will eventually, when we know each other better,” Alex denied the boy. He had learned from the last time he made friends and would be more cautious this time. Althea nodded. She followed Alexs hands, as he cut open the animals. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell us. Don’t let Leon put pressure on you,” she bared her teeth at her partner.

Leon held both hands up, and grinned, “I surrender, you’ve got me. I just asked, so I could easier overwhelm you and then sell you as a workslave.” Althea balked, growled and threw some innards after the boy, “Don’t ever make that joke again.” Leon blanched and quickly apologised, “Sorry, I forgot…I’m…sorry Althea.” His shoulders dropped.

Alex watched their exchange, though held his tongue. Silently he agreed with Althea. “If that’s resolved, should we continue? It’s not yet evening and we still have an hour or so before dusk,” he asked the group. Althea bound the ducks feet together and threw them to the other boy. “You’re carrying them now, as punishment for your bad joke,” she decided.

The group continued on their way, the good mood from before destroyed after Leons ill-conceived joke. With a pointed finger the boy showed them the direction to their next target. Alex shrugged his shoulders and took point again. He caught himself before he slipped into his thoughts. He hadn’t forgotten his swore to keep a level head when outside.

Althea grew restless as they neared their quarry. She quickened her steps and was soon in front of Alex. The shadowblade didn’t really care and yielded his position to the apparently more experienced hunter. She was nearly at their prey, which was standing in a tight back lane. Her Skills giving her an edge and letting her know that game was near. Suddenly Alex yelled, activated his four fighting skills and for the first time, threw a [shadowcurse]. Not on the Huntress, but on the large cat she had overlooked.

The cat was enormous. Two pointed ears, slanted eyes, with knifelike, sharp and nearly as long, claws and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Alex registered it all in the moment it took him from the ping of [gravitydomain] to the cats jump. His curse landed and the graceful beast staggered for a moment. That was enough for the huntress to shake off her surprise and change target. With a yell she threw herself at the animal.

Alex send one of his clones to the foes side, distracting it, while the other went to its back. He [condense]d his dagger and rushed to the other side to get an [eviscerate] in. Leon meanwhile cursed his teammates which were blocking his view. As soon as he had found another position, one of Alexs clones was standing in his way. Therefore he decided to buff his teammates and let the two frontliners do their damage.

The cat, suddenly swarmed by enemies had a moment of panic, before she quickly turned and swiped at the most dangerous foe, the one at her back. Alex who had hoped for such a mistake, stabbed his dagger at the beast. He had dropped his spear earlier in favour of his dagger, as the alley was too narrow for two people with spears. [Eviscerate] crippled their enemy's haunch and the cat yowled in pain. Althea, not wanting to be outmatched by their newest addition, rammed her spear into the other one.

The animal dropped immediately, but before the two teenagers could exploit that moment of weakness, it had rolled and turned. The [shadowclone] at its back already destroyed, Alex gulped. He hadn’t even registered its disappearance. The cat swiped at Alex, and in the last moment, the teenager cast [condense] on himself. The dagger grew lighter and flickered for a second, but the teenager concentrated and it regained its form.

The cats claws caught on the teenagers arm and he hoped they wouldn’t injure him. For an instant, his skin held, but even more quickly, burning pain spread up and down his arm. Alex, growling, biting back the pain, dropped the dagger, caught it in the unharmed hand and stabbed the beast right as it was regaining its balance. On the other side, Althea had activated one of her skills and with a roar, the girl pushed her weapon deep into the cat.

You have slain: Lynx (Lvl 11)

Althea turned to Alex, wanting to embrace the boy, but he quickly stepped back and pointed to his injured arm. She blanched and called Leon, “Quick, we need something to bind it.” Leon immediately got his belt free and helped Alex staunch the wound. “We don’t have any bandages with us, and nobody of us is a healer…sorry Alex,” Althea added. Alex bit back another groan and answered, “It’s okay, I’ll live.” The youths mantle was still working and as long as he was in a shadow, [shadowdrinker] would help him heal.

“Do you think that’s enough meat for Theo and Vivien?” Alex joked, as the other two began to dress the kill. Leon snorted, shaking his head. Althea looked at the boy, she clearly had a sharp retort, but she held her tongue. Alex laughed at the girls expression. ‘Should I tell them about the seeds? Gatex said that there is a high possibility that a seed appears after a mythical kill…does this giant already count?’

Alex decided to trust his two companions. They just went through a life and death fight and if one couldn’t trust another after that, then when could one…