Fingers In The Dark

The shadow's grip around Lauri's body disappeared as the strings of light cut through its tentacles. Dropping into its mouth, Lauri collided with the shadow's body. Momentarily dazed by the scream, Lauri bit his lip.

'Too- too loud!' Lauri looked up as the shadow's mouth began to close, threatening to seal him inside. 'From how fast it ate the beetle- If its mouth closes, I'm as good as dead- Plan C!'

The shadow's insides were rather spacious – it seems the belly of the beast grew in size to accommodate its latest meal – dropping to the 'ground' Lauri curled up into a ball as he summoned Luminescent Helper once again.

The shadow only grew louder as its body was sliced by the dazzling strings of light, the shadow's insides began to shake. Spikes erupted from the surface of the shadow meant for Luminescent Helper, it seems the shadow didn't learn its lesson from last time. Missing the small Luminescent Helper, the spikes struck the shadow itself.

Tilting his head, Lauri smirked, seeing the shadow deal damage to itself. The shadow's mouth opened wide as it recoiled from the pain of spearing itself. Lauri's smile shrank as he felt a sinking sensation, 'What, what is that.'

Looking down, Lauri's eyes grew wide, his body was sinking into the shadow's body. His entire left side was almost submerged in the body of the shadow. 'So that's how it ate the beetle so quickly- gah' The parts of Lauri's body that were submerged within the shadow began to hurt as if ten thousand teeth were chewing on every inch of his skin.

"Bastard!" Punching the shadow, Lauri pulled back, "Agh, damn it! Why do I keep doing that!"

Biting his lip harder, Lauri felt something warm in his mouth – with no further time to think on this – Lauri held his free arm up, Luminescent Helper landed on Lauri's palm. "Well, you bastard, let's see how you like this!"

Bringing his palm down, Lauri slammed Luminescent Helper into the surface of the shadow. It reacted with more screams – but at this point, Lauri was becoming a little deaf due to the shadow's incessant screaming. As the light shined on the creature's surface, Lauri's fingers began to slowly sink into its body. Weakened by the light, the consistency of the shadow creature's body was like wet mud, cool to the touch, but also incredibly painful as the shadow was still biting into Lauri's skin.

Despite the pain, Lauri pressed on into the shadow Although the shadow had stopped forming spikes within its body, it seemed content to slowly devour Lauri. Wasting no time to find out what would happen should he be completely consumed by the shadow, Lauri continued to fish around in the shadow's insides.

'Come on, come on, you have to have one, just, give!' Lauri's fingers brushed against something solid inside the transient blackness. His lip curled, 'Got ya.' With one last push, Lauri's fingers wrapped around a small sphere. Pulling back, Lauri grit his teeth as the experience only grew worse, if before he had been pushing his arm into the mouth of the beast, now he was pulling it out, the shadow's countless teeth shredding what was left of Lauri's already ragged sleeve and arm into a mess of fabric and blood. 

Almost free from the shadow's grip, Lauri had his entire arm free, now the shadow only held onto his hand and the sphere lightly held between his fingers. "Let! Go!"

Desummoning Luminescent Helper once more, the strands of light unspooled, slicing the remnants of the shadow wrapped around his fist. 

Suddenly, the shadow gave way.

Dropping to the floor, Lauri let out a pained yelp. "Ugh-" His eyes opened wide as he looked for any remnants of the shadow. But no, it was gone, seemingly disappearing the moment Lauri cut off its connection to the sphere now held tightly in his hand.

The same voice from before whispered to Lauri's ears, the voice was quiet and uncaring of Lauri's accomplishment.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Fingers In The Dark.]

"I know I said I'd not keep Laurence waiting, but," Lauri let out a large breath. "That was so dumb. I could have died… again." Lauri frowned for a moment, his smile returned the next second. Holding his ragged arm up, he looked at his reward.

Held between his bloody fingers, a sphere of white light softly glowed. "My first soul core… Of an Awakened beast, no less. What kind of name is Fingers In The Dark, anyway." Rolling his eyes, Lauri turned his head, spitting blood. Running his tongue over his lip, Lauri winced at the sore spot. 'Note to self, don't bite your lip when you're focusing, because you will draw [Beginning evaluation.]

Lauri took a deep breath feeling the sun shining down on his face, curling his fingers, Lauri felt something brush against his fingertips. It was soft, placing his hand on the ground, Lauri opened his eyes as he recognised the texture. His fingers scratched at the dirt. 

Lauri's eyes fluttered open met with a boundless sky. A bright light shined down from seemingly nowhere. 'Wh- what? Did Laurence find me?' Sitting upright, Lauri was confused by the sight before him.

In front of Lauri, a grassy land stretched on seemingly into infinity, stretching on until Lauri couldn't make it out due to the distance. Looking down at it, Lauri realised he was looking down. Standing up, Lauri looked at the hill he was standing on.

"How strange, grass that stretches on into infinity and I find myself on the only hill…" Lauri's words trailed away as he followed the hill to its apex. Sticking out from the top of the hill, a single, very recognisable plant pointed into the sky. 

"Well, I'll be." Walking up to the young sapling, Lauri took a knee before it. Lauri recognised the tree – how could he ever forget it – it was the same tree that had stopped him from sinking into the depths of the river of the...

Lauri's thoughts paused.

"Was that the underworld? Or the afterlife?" He quickly shook his head. "Actually, I'd rather not know any more about it."

Turning his gaze back to the tree, Lauri tilted his head. Around the tree, two strings of light ran around its trunk. About to reach out to try and touch the strings, Lauri's hand pulled back as the mysterious voice returned to whisper in his ears.

[Celebrations Risen Lauri. You have reached the end of your trial, bearing an Awakened core.]

Lauri furrowed his brow, 'Risen? That was the rank above Postulant.' He slightly chuckled. "So I'm a Risen now. Funny, I thought I'd feel stronger, even if it was just a little bit stronger." Almost immediately as he finished this sentence, Lauri staggered, placing a hand on his chest. Something felt strange.

[Your soul grows stronger.]

Caught by surprise, Lauri yelped as strings of light burst from his body. The dazzling strings floated in the air around Lauri seemingly waiting for something to happen. Lauri took a small breath and stood back up. The strings of light continued to swirl around, sometimes touching each other and subsequently releasing sparks of light. 

The voice began to list the events that had happened since Lauri had left his master's side and stepped into the cave.

[Braving darkness, you recognised a superior foe. You braved the unknown with a trusty implement. You slew a pest and survived an encounter against a familiar foe. Your body broken from traversing rivers both material and immaterial, you were rescued by a new friend. Furthermore, you survived against a hungry shadow and at last lured your foe into the home of your friend, leading to the destruction of its home and its demise.]

[You bear the actions of a coward...]

Lauri was stunned.

Blinking, he opened his mouth, closed it and then opened it again. 'Wh- Did it- Did it just call me a coward? I didn't mean to kill Caretaker...' Lauri frowned. 'I really thought it would be able to kill the 'rhino'- I mean Light Stealer.'

[A coward who lived to see a new dawn.]

Closing in on Lauri, the strings of light wrapped around his body like a second layer of skin. Lauri knew he should be alarmed as the strings of light covered his head and eyes, but for some reason, he felt completely fine. Like this was the most normal thing in the world.

Warmth began radiating through Lauri's chest from his own soul core, akin to stepping into the light of day. As he began to embrace this feeling, Lauri's body began to change, at first it was subtle. Lauri could barely feel a thing, even as the warmth touched his muscles, his blood, his bones, it reached his limbs, warming his fingers, his toes, even his eyes. His entire body radiated with warmth. Lauri felt as if such a feeling of his entire body being remade should be uncomfortable, maybe even painful. Although oddly enough, whether it was to do with the strings wrapped around his body or merely just a property of the warmth, this change was nothing if not pleasant.

He could even feel his wounds being patched together, new skin formed over all the tears in his skin. His right arm already felt brand new, all the damage done to his skin and deep tissue being unmade and recreated.

The hole in his thigh was patched back together, even the exhaustion Lauri had been dealing with was whipped away as Lauri's entire body experienced a great sense of elation. It was incomparable to the good feelings Lauri's body had ever felt.

Alas, it came to an end not long after it began, the warmth receding back into the core on the opposite side of his chest from where his heart was. The strings simply returned to where they had come from, merging into Lauri's body.

[Celebrations Risen Lauri. Your Title has evolved...]

Strings of light formed in the air in front of Lauri's face, although Lauri's attention wasn't on the strings. Looking past them, he stared at the sapling in awe. The place the sapling had been moments ago was now taken by that of a mature tree, the only way Lauri was sure that it was the same tree was due to the two strings of light still running around the tree, although now the strings were running all over the bark. It was like all the adult trees Lauri had seen.

Returning his attention to the strings, any questions Lauri had on the trees vanished.

His previous Title: [Seraph Aspirant] was gone, now replaced by the Title, [Second Seraph]

Title: [Second Seraph]

Title Rank: [Awakened]

Title Description: [Unbreaking in the dark, you have proven you bear the will to stand as one of the Lady's champions. In your heart and soul, a new sliver of sunlight is born. Wherever you go, its radiance will shine.]

The strings continued on listing two three additions: Innate Talent, Talent and Flaw.

Lauri's eyes opened wide as he began to read the new lines of text that had just formed.

blood… Speaking of blood.'

Lauri's eyes moved from the soft light to his arm – the fact it was still functioning was already an impressive feat – Lauri's arm had only been in Fingers In The Dark's body? Mouth? For ten maybe twenty seconds, the state of it.

Lauri's eyes caught on something on the ground, turning his head, Lauri reached out for it. Picking the hilt of his knife up, Lauri furrowed his brow, a sad sensation ran through his mind. 'Well… I guess normal weapons just don't stand a chance against anything past Husk-Born.' Looking around, Lauri wanted to find the blade, maybe if he could find it he could put the two pieces back together and make it stronger. But no, when the blade snapped under the weight of the shadow's attack, it had been flung somewhere into the darkness. Somewhere out of Luminescent Helper's reach. Looking at the broken hilt, Lauri tried to sheath it, but as it was missing its blade, the sheath was useless. Tucking the broken hilt into his waist, Lauri winced, it seemed his adrenaline was finally running out.

Groaning, Lauri pulled himself up. Staggering onto his right foot, Lauri stepped onto his left foot, a sharp pain ran through his entire left leg, causing Lauri to collapse onto the floor. About to bite bit lip, Lauri hesitated. Exhaling with a deep breath, Lauri tilted his head up.

"Right, I forgot about my thigh- Damn it!" Luminescent Helper stitched itself into being above Lauri's head, the dim light the Awakened soul core emitted was quickly overpowered by Luminescent Helper. Investigating his wound, Lauri's face grew pale. The wound Fingers In The Dark dealt to his thigh was substantial. Blood seeped out of the wound, showing no sign of stopping, plus the shadow's tentacle had pierced through his leg, so no doubt there was a hole on the other side.

'This is, this is fine. Laurence trained me for times like this. I just need to, cut off the circulation. Yeah, or cover the wound in some way.' Looking at what remained of his clothing, Lauri tore off a long strip of his shirt. Wrapping it around the hole in his thigh, Lauri winced, 'That doesn't feel normal.'

Tightening the fabric, Lauri looked at his handiwork. 'Well, uh, not my worst.' Looking at his ripped-up arm, Lauri blankly stared at it. His eye twitched, 'That bastard really left a mark, huh.'

Attempting to stand again, it took Lauri a few attempts before he would stand. Shifting all of his weight onto his right foot, Lauri put his good arm against the cave wall, trying to use it as support so he didn't have to put a lot of weight on his bad leg. 

This was how Lauri proceeded for the next hour, an uneventful hour of hobbling through a dark cave. Luminescent Helper doing its best to light the way. Spotting a few cracks in the stone as he went, Lauri looked at them with disdain, giving them a wide berth.

'This has to be the way, I have to be on the right track… The bridge, made of white stone, this, this has, has to.' Lauri's attention wavered, his hand slipping, Lauri crumpled to the ground. Dazed, Lauri frowned, 'Is this, is this what dying of blood loss feels like.' Trying to stand, Lauri frowned. 'Not a fan, not a fan.'

Resting on his knees, Lauri was taking a moment to catch his breath when the cave was fully illuminated with the oh-so-familiar green light the Lucent bugs emitted. Lauri blinked, momentarily stunned by the bright light. Lauri laughed, "So my hero came back to save me in my time of need once more. Lucent Guardian doesn't do you justice, I should just call you Lucent Hero," Turning around, Lauri's eyes began to adjust to the beam of green light. "It's much more fitting…" It dawned on Lauri that Lucent Guardian had no way of doing this, the only green light it emitted was from its exoskeleton. 

"Oh…" 

One hundred feet or so away, Lauri's nemesis stood motionless.

As Lauri's eyes grew accustomed to the light, Lauri could now see it. 'Rhino' was staring at Lauri, its single glowing eye projected the green light right at Lauri. 

Lauri's smile slowly disappeared, dread built up inside Lauri's gut like a poison threatening to make him sick. 'I lucked out that Luminescent Helper could damage the shadow, but this. This just isn't fair… So this is how I die.' Lauri could hear his heart begin to beat rapidly in his ears, the pressure in his head intensifying with every second. All of a sudden, Lauri became aware of another noise, a new noise. It was a dull, repetitive growl.

Gah gah gahhh, gah gah gahhh, gah gah gahhh.

Any feeling Lauri had running through his mind stopped immediately as he realised where the noise was coming from, the 'rhino', it was laughing at him.