A profession was basically like an official path that one set for themselves, like Knight, Archer, Mage and so on. One could choose a profession after they completed certain requirements, and in turn they could get stat bonuses and skills that were specific to their profession alone. Right now I was on the generic warrior path and so later on I’d have to actually choose a profession, something more specific like say Swordmaster.
“Zoran, I hope you get that I expect you to keep this information to yourself,” Freya said, breaking me from my thoughts.
“I understand,” I said, still not entirely sure of just what was going on with her whole secret identity thing. “I’m still a bit confused about your race though,” I said. “I umm....used my analyze skill on you a while after I first met you, and I’m quite certain it said you were human.”
“It would also have said that my name was ‘Frey’,” she chuckled. “There are ways to manipulate what other people see about you through skills like Analyze. All the info that you saw before was doctored information.”
“Ah, I see,” I said, quite stunned that one could manipulate what others saw of them through analyze screens. My mind then drifted away, focusing instead on the fact that Freya was a Moon-Elf.
At the moment the most I could recall about Moon Elves was that they were nocturnal beings and had a strong affinity to Light Arts. Light Arts was known to be one of the harder arts to grasp, and tougher ones to execute, so it was quite impressive that an entire race had a strong handle on its use. I couldn’t really see why a Moon Elf would be an Assassin though. Light Arts weren’t really suited for the profession, but then again, maybe being a nocturnal species made up for it.
Ah, that’s how she created that portal, my mind suddenly clicked, recalling that the portal was one of the higher level spells from the Light Arts. It was honestly impressive that she’d been able to do that, even if she was a Moon Elf with a high affinity for Light Arts.
“I’m sorry about this,” Freya said, a little calmer than before. “I just didn’t…expect someone to discover who I was.”
“I’m sorry too,” I said, saying what I could to make her feel better. “We’re kind of an odd pair now,” I smiled. “One with a fake identity, and one with no identity.”
“Yeah,” she laughed, the clear sound ringing in my ears like music.
Why does everything about elves have to be graceful? I grinned.
“Let’s get back to focus,” she said. “Now that my secret is out, I don’t have to use the annoying Ga’em message thing to communicate, and that means we can have a proper conversation about what happened back there with that man.”
“Oh yeah,” I realized. And so I told her about how I resurrected into the Goblin Tunnels, met Asterion, got teleported to some tower and was asked to join the Dark Alliance.
“I see,” she sighed at the end of it all.
“Asterion said my capture was a direct order from the Emperor of Dargonia,” I said.
“That statement could mean anything,” she said. “The Emperor of Dargonia always changes. It’s not hard to believe that a faction that believes in overbearing power has its own struggles with keeping its leadership stable.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“This is only the Dark Alliance’s first attempt to induct you into their ranks,” Freya said. “It’ll probably get worse the more they try.”
The more they try, I thought, realizing there were going to be a lot more attempts to kidnap me. Didn’t exactly make me feel good knowing that in advance. Being an Eternal was going to be hard.
To be honest though, I’d probably be okay with it if I actually got all the powers I was supposedly capable of wielding. So far things had been pretty…normal, and that was vastly different from what I was supposed to be.
“So…how did you end up meeting Viola?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going and giving it a lighter tone as well. Silence was calming at times, but this was definitely not one of those moments.
“We didn’t really meet per se,” Freya said, an amused smile on her face. “We were in one of the cities on the northern side of the kingdom. I was just roaming around but apparently I’d been going to the same places she had. So she thought I was following her for some reason,” she laughed. “I mean, sure I’m an assassin, but that was still kind of funny. She was apparently in the city to chase after a criminal and by some stroke of luck I managed to find him before she did. The guy mistook me for a civilian and tried to attack me. Didn’t really end well for him because I took him down in a second. I handed him over to Viola and that’s how we slowly became friends, even though I never said a word to her the whole time.”
“Ah,” I said. “So the Kingdom that you’re from-”
“The Kingdom of Iskaeil.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Is that close to Aingard?”
“Nowhere close,” she chuckled.
“I see,” I said, not asking where exactly it was then. It seemed clear that Freya wasn’t intent of providing that information to me.
DING!
Congratulations! Your relationship with Freya has changed from ‘Stranger’ to ‘Ally’. The Moon Elf will fight beside you with her life for as long as your visions and motivations align with each other.
Wow, I thought. So she’s my Ally now, huh?
The winds suddenly picked up around us, swirling in and out of the trees. A crackling sounded, as though the air was freezing over. The glow from the spring dulled, like something were stifling it.
Freya stood up, her eyes jerking around the darkness. She threw her hooded tunic back on and grabbed her longsword, gripping it tightly in her hand.
“Freya?” I said, looking around me. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.”
Great, I thought.
The trees around us turned grey, and the air between them filled up with intense darkness, as if the shadows themselves had taken on bodies and spawned to life. Pairs of red-ruby eyes glowed in the dark air and I immediately knew my thoughts weren’t far off from the truth. A small group of black humanoids emerged out of the twisting darkness, charging us fast.
“The Valdar!” Freya yelled, astonishment in her voice. She threw her hands into the air and swung them around, her palms and fingers making a specific pattern. Strands of light traced her motions, drawing a rune in front of her. She yelled a word and the circle surged out, forming a dome of light around us.
A barrier, I realized.
The shadowy men, around fifteen in total, charged into the wall of light, thudding against it on contact.
“We need to find a way out of here,” Freya said, sounding more panicked than I’d expected her to be. She was a high level 45. The fact that she herself was flustered didn’t do good for my mentality.
An intense shriek pierced through my ears. I turned around to see these ‘Valdar’ crashing into the barrier with renewed vigor. And before I could even react, the wall of light shattered into pieces, dissolving into the air in a flash.
“Get ready,” Freya said, gripping her longsword and pointing it at the enemy. “We need to take them out.”
I felt the urge to tell her I wasn’t ready. But I said nothing. I knew what was needed of me. And I was going to do it. I quickly analyzed the creatures, noticing that they were around Level 27 or so. That was a little too high for me to take on, but I wasn’t going to deter from it either.
I crouched down, lowering my center of gravity. I pulled out my sword, tilting it towards the enemy. The Valdar shrieked as they charged us, their black swords on display. I took a strong step forward and swung my sword into the first being that reached me.
My blade cut into his arm, and his health bar went down by just a third of the max. I quickly slid to the side, dodging the downward swing from his sword and attacked again, pushing my weapon hard into his abdomen.
The Valdar’s health sunk fast, emptying out in a second. He stared blankly, and his body began to haze, as
if he were black ice that was defrosting. He collapsed to the floor as smoke rapidly dissipated from him, and within half a second, he was completely gone.
I heard sounds of metal behind me as swords clashed. Freya was on the move. I turned around, watching as she took on the other Valdar, taking them out one after the other. She was keeping them at bay, pushing them with her weapon, swinging through their darkness.
I rushed towards her, my sword at my side. I jumped into the air and landed my first blow at a distracted Valdar’s shoulder. I quickly pulled back my weapon and slashed another three times, killing the being in seconds.
Two down, I said. Probably ten more to go.
I charged to another Valdar, however this one was ready for me.
I saw the shadow being pull back its sword, ready to attack. My legs instinctively gave out from underneath me and I slid low on the ground. I swung the weapon in the awkward position, maiming the Valdar’s legs and bringing it to the forest floor. I was about to swing again when I felt a presence at my back. I quickly turned around and saw another Valdar with his dark sword mid-swing towards my spine.
I quickly threw my blade up and the swords connected. The black weapon thundered into me, pushing me hard to the floor. I gasped, trying to suck back the lost air into my lungs.
“They’re extremely strong,” Freya said, mid-swing. “Once they determine you to be their enemy, they will not focus anywhere else until you’re dead.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I muttered as I pushed myself back onto my feet.
The Valdar warrior retreated back from the weapon-lock we were in and charged at me, his sword pointed at my chest. I held my ground, holding my weapon up in the air. I noticed two Valdar rush me from behind me as well, their weapons tight in their hands.
Let’s hope this works, I took a deep breath and lowered my body, ready to spring into attack.
“Bladestorm!” I yelled and charged forward. My blade flowed automatically, helped by nothing but my instinct and my special skill. The world passed by me in slow motion as I whirled around, taking on the Valdar around me, all at once. My blade cut into them multiple times, all before any of them even had a chance to touch me. When the move ended the only thing that was left of them was a cloud of dark smoke and silence.
That was a lot more effort than I expected, I took a second to catch my breath and then looked towards Freya. She was still taking on the majority of all the Valdar, at least the ones that were left that is.
Just as I was about to go help her, a chilling sensation hit my spine, making it tremble within. Freya stopped batting as well, falling back to my position instantly. It was clear she’d noticed something as well.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I have no clue,” she said, closely watching the Valdar. “But it can’t be good.”
A ring of darkness formed around us, the dark shape emitting darker smoke. The dark beings fell back immediately, shuffling back to the edge of the circular outline.
The ring suddenly expanded, flooding the field with smoke. I instinctively put my hand to my nose, not sure of what this dark smoke was or if it was safe to breathe it. It only lasted a few seconds though and quickly dissipated away, as if it had been sucked in by something.
I looked around. “Well that was-” I froze, my eyes staring at the view right in front of me.
Freya followed my gaze. “Oh damn it,” she muttered, noticing it as well.
There, about fifty yards in front us stood a Valdar army. A row of archers were out in front, their arrows already nocked into their bows and ready to fire. Valdar soldiers and knights on horseback stood behind them, armed with swords and spears.
“They planned this all along,” Freya muttered. “They baited us into this position.”
“What do we do?” I whispered, still gasping from exhaustion.
The elf stayed silent for a really long time. “Run,” she said.
“What?” I blinked.
“Do it!” she yelled and shot forward, heading straight for the enemy. Freya swiftly blazed around the field, ready to swing her sword at every target he could find.
I saw a faint shadow immediately disappear from behind the ranks of the Valdar, and all the warriors fell back even further.
Something’s wrong, my eyes widened. “Freya!” I yelled. “Fall back! You have to fall-”
A giant Valdar thudded into the ground in front of me, his body more than twice as large as mine. He swiftly brought his shadowy hand down, clasping my neck and lifting me up into the air.
“ZORAN!” Freya yelled, turning around and rushing towards me.
A shriek resonated through the air and the Valdar army mobilized, swiftly spreading out and creating a wall between me and her. I turned my eyes to Moon-Elf, my arms and body limp in defeat. My vision slowly started to fade away as the large being tightened his grip on my throat.
“Well, hello there,” a new voice spoke into my mind, its tone playful.
Great, I’ve become delusional, I cursed.
“On the contrary,” the voice said. “You’re in luck!”
I coughed, my lungs heaving as they began to lose oxygen.
“My, this Valdar warrior should be taught a lesson or two about good manners.”
I clawed at the shadow-man’s hand desperately, hoping he would somehow loosen his grip. But it was no use, he was far too strong for me. My eyes rolled up inside my head as my body started to turn numb, losing all sensation.
“Well, then,” the voice chuckled. “This should be fun.”
The man strangling me suddenly disappeared, and I dropped straight to the floor. I gasped, my lungs expanding again. I knelt over and coughed up blood, clearing my wind pipe and taking in a big breath of air. I slowly turned my head, looking around me. Everything was pitch black, as though the very world had disappeared.
I froze. Did I die? I touched my neck, calming down only when I felt the warmth of my skin. I seemed alive enough. Just what was this place then?
Is this all a dream? I wondered.
“Maybe,” the voice spoke again. “But it’s time to wake up now.”
The floor rumbled and the darkness around me unfolded, like a curtain that had been dropped to the ground. In a split second, the scenery changed completely and I could feel the wind on my face again. I was back in the forest, and it was still night time. The air was cold, and the sounds were silent.
Freya stood beside me, her eyes wide in surprise. “Zoran,” she said. “What the hell did you just do?”
“What?” I turned around, and my eyes immediately widened. “Oh my god,” I gasped.
In front of me were the lifeless bodies of every single Valdar who had attacked us, their joints forcefully twisted into unnatural positions. Dismembered heads and limbs lay all over the ground slowly dissipating into dark smoke.
I looked at Freya. “What…happened here?” I asked.
“You,” she said.
“What?” I asked. “What do you-” I stopped, realizing what she was saying. My eyes went wide. “No,” I gasped.
TRING!
A prompt screen faded in.
Congratulations! You have defeated the Valdar Squadron (Level 23). Reward: 21000 XP. Reward: Warrior’s Restoration Potion (x10).
I stared at the screen and then the bodies in front of me, my mind stunned at what had just happened.
The Valdar had been massacred.
And I had done it.
***
CHAPTER TWELVE
I stared at the grotesque scene before me, at the painting of death that I had created. The Valdar were no longer men, but broken bodies, unrecognizable and inhuman. They were but spots of mutilated darkness frozen under a darker sky.
I did not know what scared me more; the fact that I was capable of something like this, or that I did not feel an ounce of regret for what I had done.
Freya walked up to me, her eyes calmer than before. “Are you okay?” she asked.
; My head stayed still, unsure of whether to nod or shake. “I’m just confused,” I said quietly.
“We both are,” she said even quieter.
“What happened?” I asked, averting my eyes from the death in front of me.
She bit her lip. “You don’t remember?”
I shook my head.
She hesitated for a second. “Your eyes turned a solid black and this weird wave of dark light surged out of you in one wide ring,” she said. “One moment the Valdar were fine, the next they were all on the ground, their joints and limbs mutilated.”
I cringed, my mind imagining the scene play out even though I didn’t want it to. I thought hard, trying to see if I could recall doing anything close to what Freya described, but nothing came to mind. It was almost like I’d gone somewhere else for that part of time alone.
“You heard the voices again didn’t you?” Freya bit her lip.
I froze. “How did you know?”
“I sensed a foreign presence once again,” she said. “Similar to the change I felt back in the Lumia Knights HQ. This was caused by one of the voices then, wasn’t it?”
“I think so,” I nodded.
“Was it like back then when you heard multiple voices in your head?”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t make out what the voices were saying back then,” I said. “This time I had an actual conversation with one of the voices.”
She thought for a few seconds, as if she was processing this new information. “Did you recognize it?”
“It sounded a little similar to the one I’d heard back when I talked to the Lumina Knights Head Council.”
“Ah,” she said. “This situation is quite contradictory though. After the event with the council I’d assumed the voice was your enemy, but now it almost seems like it’s…helping you.”
The Eternal: Awakening - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 1) Page 11