Shadow felt cold sweat immediately cover his back, he could feel a presence behind him but he couldn’t turn around, his body simply defied his trying as every fiber of his being was telling him to run.
The person behind him was definitely someone far above his current power, simply being in its presence and hearing a voice was enough to paralyze him in fear.
Fear?
Since when did he fear anything though?
Shadow’s mind spins as the unfamiliar sensation continues. Even when his father scolded him, when he fought in the gang together with Reign, even when their lives were in danger he never felt true fear, mostly just worrying what their dads would say if they saw them injured.
Taking a deep breath Shadow uses every ounce of strength to go against his instinct and turn around. He finds nothing, there was no one there.
“Ohh, to actually overcome fear and turn around, marvelous little one.”
The voice was heard again, this time it didn’t simply echo in his head, it was coming from his right side, slowly Shadow turns his head around and takes a first look at the person that showed up.
Darkness.
Fear. ．𝚌ｏ𝚖
Death itself.
Those would be the words Shadow would use to explain the feeling the man in front of him gave off, the same words he would use many times in the future as well.
Long black hair that reflected no light as it was simply absorbed into it, a stubble on the man’s chiseled jaw gave off a feeling of unkemptness while the eyes, the eyes were like two black holes that would suck your very soul if you looked too long in them.
Shadow was dumbstruck, he could not turn his sight away from them, it was as if the man’s eyes were drawing him in with no chance of escape. The man notices this and simply blinks, that action was enough to break Shadow’s trance and allow him to look away.
“Gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you, that should be a quote famous on your planet, correct?” The man asks Shadow casually while patiently waiting for him to collect himself. The man’s voice was deep and crude and a feeling of dread would overcome anyone that could hear it.
He towered over Shadow as he was 2.2 meters tall, his black robe was long and fluttered in the wind, even though no wind could be found. Underneath the black robe was an ancient armor the man was wearing, the armor had many cuts and cracks on it while dark gold lines decorated it.
He had no weapon, it was simply because he needed no weapon here, the beings in the small planet were far below him, a single slap would be enough to kill anything, even crush mountains.
“Who are you?” Shadow looks up to the man and meets his gaze once again, confident that the same thing would not happen to him again. He was correct, the eyes were still incredibly mysterious but they didn’t give off the same feeling again.
“All in due time boy.” The man answers before slowly walking towards the draif, well slowly would be the wrong word to use as a single step was enough to reach the monster. Standing in the air next to the monster the man looks down at Shadow and asks.
“Do you wish to gain power strong enough to defeat this creature?” Shadow was taken aback by the question, not knowing how to answer. He of course wished for such power, power strong enough to help him win and help Reign, but he knew nothing in the world came without a price.
Steeling himself he takes a deep look at the draif, the monster was simply frozen in the gray world, the gleeful expression was still on its face and Shadow could feel anger rising inside him.
“Yes.” He looks at the man and answers, the man shows a small smile before appearing in front of Shadow.
“I can give it to you little one, but.” The man looks into Shadow’s eyes before continuing. “There is a price that you need to pay.”
“I figured, just say it, what’s the price?” Shadow looks unwaveringly at the man as he clenches his teeth.
“Your soul, after the power disappears I will take your soul.” The man smiles again as he looks down menacingly at Shadow.
“Deal.”
It was now the man’s turn to be taken aback, there was no hesitation in Shadow’s voice as he answered. His eyes showed an unwavering determination while his fists were clenched.
What else could he do, his friend’s life would end if he didn’t accept. For strangers, Shadow would be cold and merciless if needed, but for his friends, he would do anything in his power to protect them.
“No hesitation, incredible.” The man laughs lightly after he finishes his words. “I came here simply because I could feel the aura of that foolish little brother of mine here, to think I would actually meet someone so interesting.”
“Here, take it.” The man gives Shadow a flower, a narcissus.
“Narcissus, wait, you’re-” Shadow widens his eyes as he takes the flower in his hand, before he could finish though the flower erupts into black flames that travel all the way to his right eye, creating a mark similar to the narcissus around his eye.
[ Player has successfully received “Narcissus of Hades” ]
Description: The Goddess Persephone was gathering the blooms of the narcissus before Hades had kidnapped her so he could marry her. After millennia the anger Persephone had towards Hades had turned to love and Hades had kept the flowers with him, only gifting them to those he felt worthy enough to become his disciples. The mark of the narcissus represents the potential Hades believes you have and it will allow you to channel the power of darkness better.
“Death and Darkness are two domains of mine, do not worry about your soul as you have shown determination above my expectations. Do not disappoint me little one, I will be waiting for you.” Hades had disappeared as his voice was heard in Shadow’s head, slowly the world was regaining its color as time slowly flowed again.
The draif was surprised as Shadow was no longer at the same place as before, looking around he was able to locate him some 5 meters away from the previous position.
“What, how did you do that.” The draif asks Shadow who simply looked at him coldly, the mark on his face shines with an eerie black light as he could feel his power growing immensely.
Ding!
[Player has successfully unlocked one condition for ability evolution, please continue to work hard and evolve your ability.]
The system notification was not important to him right now, the only thing on his mind was to kill the draif and hurry to help Reign.
Darkness rose from underneath Shadow’s feet and embraced him, creating a coat of darkness that gave draif chills.
“W-what is that, what did you do human?!” The draif screams and tries to turn around and flee, before he could finish the simple maneuver however Shadow extended his arm towards him.
“Shadow Blade.” The shadow that was cast from the draif’s wings moved suddenly as a sharp blade came from it. The blade moves with incredible speed as it cuts off the wing in one clean motion. The draif was suddenly falling down to the ground as one wing was not enough to keep him in the air.
Right before the draif hit the floor the shadow he had cast on it moved, numerous shadow blades sprung up to the draif’s horror. They mercilessly penetrate his body, ending his life.
Shadow looks over to Reign and suddenly stops, he was confused as he could see his friend standing while two identical opponents were in front of him, one slashes the air, opening a tunnel of sorts before stepping into it and disappearing.
Shadow could see Reign charging over to him but he gets stopped by the hobgoblin that was left, they exchange a couple of blows and it was evident that the opponent would be no danger to Reign. Shadow exhales in relief, it seemed his friend would be fine without his help, quickly he looks around the area to see if anyone else was in trouble, the power he gained from the mark would soon disappear.
From the left side he catches sight of Beast who had stopped and grabbed an arrow in his hand, Shadow felt it was weird, why would Beast hold the arrow like that, it was similar to the way he held his daggers. Immediately he understands as he sees Beast attacking the woman who came from the corner of a shelf, Shadow sprints immediately, hoping he would get to him in time.
On his way there Shadow was surprised by Beast’s actions, the hit with the bow, the judo throw, those were things he never thought he would see Beast do. The summoning of his wolves and grabbing the woman was an incredible thing that turned the whole battle around, but he still didn’t stop, he didn’t know why but he had a bad feeling.
The feeling came true as the woman used a powerful skill to blow away Beast and the wolves, suddenly both of them were pointing their bows at each other and Shadow knew the woman would shoot, she was simply a puppet after all.
As the arrows were shot Shadow could see Beast’s eyes, there was no fear in them, the guy was determined to die together with the puppet so he could end the fight. Using the shadow blade again Shadow was able to destroy both arrows and save both of their lives before binding the woman.
As he was lying down on the floor he couldn’t help but smile, he had gained a mark like Reign and Wolf, and his powers had grown stronger.