Chapter 11: Dark Domain, Dark Veil and Shadow Stealth
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At the Gates of Shadow Woods.
"Hm, why is there so much dark mist in the air we are a kilometer away from the shadow woods forest at this point there should not be dark mist spreading to the gates." A Tier 1 Advance Grade soldier guarding the gates spoke.
"If only we could get this Levi guy and get this over with. I don't want to waste my time standing here, this is not even my shift, goddamn it." another Tier 1 spoke with a bit of frustration at doing extra work.
"You two should be more focused on your job and less chatting." A sudden deep voice came from behind the 2 soldiers.
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
The Captain almost gave a jump scare to his soldiers.
"Alright, guard your posts properly. I do not want to do this dirty work just as much as you. So find that kid and don't disappoint me." saying that the captain left the 2 soldiers to their business.
"Don't you dare speak about your laziness? I don't want to be lashed by that man for your mistakes." The soldier spoke to his fellow brother who complained before.
The man shivered at that thought.
"Fortunately he is just as much annoyed at doing this job. Let's get this over with and get that kid."
The man sighed lightly but he felt as if in the mist something moved. He sweated thinking it was a monster who had travelled far from the shadow woods.
He felt something moving on the ground and immediately looked down finding nothing but his shadow which was looking bleak due to the mist.
"This is getting scary or maybe I am getting paranoid, we don't have to guard all day right?"
He resumed his guard duty while thinking about other things. Unknowingly, his shadow moved again. Streaks of darkness moved from shadow to shadow of people who were in the line, slowly inching towards the shadow woods and silently bypassing the gates.
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The Dark streak traveled through the shadows until it reached the periphery of the shadow woods forest.
The tentacles arose from the Dark Streak-like shadow as if turning corporeal and then looked here and there as if searching for something, before diving back into the Darkness.
Soon even more tentacles formed from the darkness and intertwined with each other forming the body of a young person.
"Bunch of idiots, but that captain of theirs has a keen sense he must have mastered some skills." The shadow spoke hoarsely before revealing his face. It was Levi covered in the darkness looking at the gate from afar where many people were forming a line to get in.
"I bet they never expected a Tier 1 to master so many 1-star skills. It's as if a whole Dark Arsenal of 1-star skills was given to me. If I could hunt monsters of other affinities I couldn't even imagine how strong I could become. I am already able to bypass a strong defense like the shadow woods gates while using these skills."
Levi has used a combination of 3 skills,
One, use the dark domain to increase the dark elemental properties in the atmosphere, as the gates were far away from the reach of shadow wood normal atmosphere.
Two, using the dark veil to make the surroundings misty enough so that he can execute his techniques more efficiently without anyone noticing.
Three, The shadow stealth technique which uses the shadow as the medium to travel, allowing him to reach the shadow woods easily without facing any danger.
Only Existences with sharp senses or high tier could find him. Normal Tier 2 elementary grades are not capable enough. However, something about the Captain at the gates made him cautious. Levi did not want to take risks and travel through shadows in front of him. It was as if the captain could see through the darkness, or maybe he could feel the darkness.
Levi made a note in his heart not to execute his skills in front of such existences. Powerful people always keep their powers hidden and that was not limited to just Levi.
Levi turned towards the forest planning to slaughter Tier 1 Advance Grade monsters. However, the problem was that Tier 1 Advance Grade monsters were near to the regions where Tier 2 existences were. It was best if the commotion Levi makes does not arouse them from their slumber. Levi had made preparation for that too, Dark Perception, at least it would allow him to sense such existences from the amount of energy and natural affinity they had. The more stronger the monster was the more it would be visible like a thermal vision when Dark Perception was used. Unless he faced monsters capable of hiding their energy and excel at assassination.
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'What's happening?' the monster only had one thought when his brethren were slaughtered without them being alarmed.
'This was supposed to be a safe haven, the Dark Eclipse Bears protect us from these humans how could they reach here and slaughter us, aren't they afraid of a counter attack? Do they really think that it is easy to enter the Shadow woods?.' The Tier 1 Advance Grade beast was angered cause he had never faced such kind of slaughter, he had always been the one to slaughter emerging out victorious and being chosen by its ancestors to enter the safe haven so that they could be the next generation Tier 2 powerhouses.
But all those happy dreams remained dreams. If he was unscathed while his brothers died, that would be a blemish on his status as a proud Dark Claw Bear then he won't earn respect even if he became a Tier 2. Tier 1 beast weren't allowed to enter deep into the forest where Tier 2 beasts usually slumbered.
'No, I must avenge my brothers.'
"Rooaarrr!!!" The Dark Claw Bear roared before pursuing the murderer of his brothers.
It followed the bloody trail left behind by the human slowly entering the region of shadow leopards.
Bits and pieces of flesh strewn around, the shadow leopards were killed mercilessly.
The Bear stopped when he found signs of life in the pile of fleshes.
"Roar" [ Is someone there?? ]
"Growl" [Go away.] A Shadow leopard appeared, from the darkness as if it was natural.
[Was your brethren murdered too?] The bear asked.
[Go away. This human has learned our skills we have never seen someone like this in the history of the shadow woods forest.]
[Hmph, whether he had learned our skills or not does not matter, today will be his death day. Do you want to forget about our skirmishes and fight this human? How could we let some human enter this place don't you feel angry?]
[Even if I do feel angry what can we do about it? He is above our league, we can only wait for ancestors to take action and hide for the time being.]
[Fine!! this valiant beast of shadow woods will personally slaughter it.] The bear roared out before proceeding in the direction of the beast killer.
After travelling some unknown distance in his rage the bear stopped after a metallic scent struck its nose.
Clang.
Clang.
Swish! Spurt!
Three life signs came into his vision. The surroundings where filled with a dark mist but he could see the shadows of 3 living beings fighting inside.
"Woow! I never knew bones and can make those sounds. It was a good idea to fight you two guys hand-to-hand. You were better than your peers at least. Hahaha"
The bear looked at the human who had a large scratch mark on his chest that bleeding profusely. The bones on his chest were showing out but there was no sign of damage on them, compared to the blood and flesh on it. The human's hair and body had been bathed in red with blood, his eyes were bloodshot.
Compared to the human the 2 shadow leopards looked very terrified they have never fought a human who knew this many skills. The bones even made a metallic sound when clashed with their claws, their claws looked like they would break if they made another attack on his skeleton. Adding to it, the fact that the human's wounds were healing slowly while he was eating the flesh of leopard's comrades, made them fear the human. Even the flesh looked different like it was purified by some energy making it potent.
The bear approached the Veil of dark trying to sneak attack the human.
"Hmm, what is your kind doing inside someone else's habitat, little bear? Are you here to take revenge?" The human spoke in a deep voice.
The bear did not know human language but he knew he was caught. The bear's eyes widened instantly because the voice did not come from one but multiple directions.
Step! Step!
A human stepped out from the smoke screen smiling and beckoning to the bear with his right hand to come to him as if challenging.
"I am in no mood to entertain other people. Come I will give you a chance to avenge your kind."
The bear knew what the human was saying with the smile on his blood-filled face. But he suppressed the warnings inside his head and rushed to the human.
The bear roared loudly before pouncing on him and made a huge Dark Claw with all his energy.
Slash! Boom!
The Claw hit the human perfectly even his bones were not able to withstand it but the smile on the human's face did not disappear. Soon starting from his face to his whole body thin dark lines appeared. The Dark lines covered its body almost like cracks on tempered glass. It looked like the body would break anytime soon.
Shatter!
The human disappeared into fine dark particles, the bear was feeling happy for he had avenged his race. However the smile of the human at his final moment as well as the panicked face of the 2 veteran shadow leopards betrayed his expectations.
"The right time to kill is when the enemy least expects it."
All the colors of happiness faded from the bears face before its vision darkened, he could feel his whole skull being crushed but his life had already ended and he was fortunate enough to not feel the pain since it ended too fast.
"Looks like he was not as smart as you two." The same human appeared from the darkness as if it were normal. The human's body and tone matched Levi's, who had been hunting in the habitats of these monsters. It was Levi who had used the [Mirage clone] to fool the bear into attacking, making the bear waste its chance and let it's guard down.
"Let's get this over with, I can't wait in one place otherwise, Tier 2 existences are bound to appear. You two are not easy to be able to resist me with 2 seeds active, guess I will activate the 3rd seed." Levi said while the darkness engulfed his body again. The shadow leopards were very terrified of him by now.
They looked at each other and nodded to fight to their grave.
The battle started again.