Chapter 28: Dance of the Shrouded Shadow

 

The tentacle rose, residual mana visible in the depression it left behind. I loaded another mana bolt, telling Henry, “I’m going to need an opening.”

 

“No can fucking do! My {Full Curse} isn’t going to last much longer,” Henry retorted, leaving me with less of a chance to get a clear shot on the Chasm Sea Horse, Kaiser. Two tentacles came from opposite sides to crush me, of course {Shrouded Shadow} kept me safe. I couldn’t catch a break, with the tentacles able to find me in the shadows and the possibility of being silenced by Kaiser’s water shots. 

 

I blinked closer to the pool. Six tentacles were sticking out of it and I charged at them after taking a pot shot towards Kaiser. As expected, Kritikikuku moved a tentacle to block the shot, but I used that movement to cut into the thick part of one of the Chasm Kraken’s tentacles. Not just once or twice, but three times. I was in a good position now, with the tentacles having to take a lot more time to move properly to crash into me. 

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

{Adrenaline} allowed the speed of my attacks to increase while my damage was also increased. The tentacles started writhing as a horrid sound could be heard over the rumbling and crashing of the waterfall. The water started moving rashly as something was making its way up through the pool of water. 

 

How much health does a level 34 boss have? The tentacles were smashing into the ground in a rampage. I felt like I was being pushed away from the pool just from the pressure. One of the tentacles rose high enough and came down upon me. {Shrouded Shadow} activated, and I made my way away from the rampaging tentacles—but not before taking the opportunity to get another hit in.

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

I made sure to stay away from Kaiser—who was now tangled up with Henry—as I wasn’t fully healed up yet. The water started falling off the thing that rose out of the pool. It came to a rounded point, and it had a very scary looking face, jagged teeth showing from its open maw as it uttered horrid, guttural noises. The beast’s tentacles were beating the ground like it was throwing a fit. 

 

This was Kritikikuku, the Chasm Kraken. I used {Mana Bolt}, loading the bolt into ‘Vanquisher’ and taking aim at Kaiser. I was hoping I could thread the shot through the rampaging tentacles. I missed though, failing to hit Kaiser—the angle was awful, missing even Kritikikuku’s tentacles. I tried to find a better position, moving quickly but cautiously. I lost sight of Henry and Kaiser—the ground quaking from the kraken’s tentacles making my steps uneven. The water started pouring down faster from the tops of the chasm—the crashing of the waterfall pouring even more water over the face of Kritikikuku. 

 

How is Henry surviving this fight? I thought I was overpowered, but it seems every Hardcore player has some trick of sorts… I dodged one of the raging tentacles, attempting to swipe at it with my ‘Ashen Gladius’, but I wasn’t quick enough. Another tentacle came from behind, so I held my gladius in front of me as the tentacle crashed into both, dealing itself some damage and activating my blink.

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

I looked around, trying to find where Henry and Kaiser had gone, but Kritikikuku didn’t care as it could see me in the shadows. I blinked upwards, trying to get a better look, transfiguring ‘Ashen Gladius’ to ‘Vanquisher’. There. I caught sight of Henry running away from the battlefield, trying to outrun Kaiser. Though Kaiser was a Chasm Sea Horse, it still ran fast on the surface. Henry no longer had those black curse-like marks running along his body. I aimed ‘Vanquisher’ towards their position, trying to find a good spot to shoot the running boss. 

 

Kritikikuku slammed its tentacle into my body, once again causing {Shrouded Shadow} to activate. If I didn’t have {Heart and Soul of a Troll}, I would have run out of mana many, many times. I decided to blink far away, barely reaching to where Henry was running towards. He looked behind him to see how far away from Kaiser he was—which wasn’t much, but the beast instantly jerked its body once it saw me just past Henry—‘Vanquisher’ raised to meet it. Henry looked forward, noticing me and instantly diving his beaten-up body into the ground as I unleashed a mana bolt. 

 

The mana bolt flew past Henry’s diving body, solidly striking Kaiser as it couldn’t move quite quick enough from the surprise. It tried to create a watery attack, but it was far too late. 

 

[Chasm Sea Horse, Kaiser, Warden of Abupho, Lv32 takes 16800 damage. {Lucky Strike!} Chasm Sea Horse, Kaiser, Warden of Abupho, Lv32 takes additional 33600 damage.]

 

[System Notice: You gained 11600 EXP.]

 

[System Notice: Player Henry gained 11600 EXP.]

 

[System Notice: You gained attribute(s) through battle. Willpower increased by 1.]

 

[System Notice: You learned a new Ability through {Assimilation}. You learned {Abuphoan’s Tongue}.]

 

{Abuphoan’s Tongue} - A passive ability. You can understand what Abuphoans say. When speaking directly to an Abuphoan, your words will be auto-translated to Abuphoan.

 

[System Notice: You started learning a new ability through {Assimilation}: ???. Status: (2/4)]

 

“Fuck—thanks,” Henry said, grabbing hold of my leg as he pulled himself out of the water slowly filling in this chasm. This side wasn’t filling up before until the kraken started rampaging, but the cries of the kraken stopped as it took in the other warden’s death. It grew silent—its tentacles no longer thrashing.

 

I looked for a long second before turning to Henry, “Can you still fight?”

 

He looked back at me, “Didn’t you want that fuck for yourself? I’ll just say no—I can’t fight anymore. I’ll stay back here, good luck.” He quickly ran off, leaving me to handle the kraken myself. 

 

It was probably better this way. I was close to leveling, and that fight was deemed powerful enough for {Battle Prowess} to give me an attribute. A few seconds later, the kraken started its guttural, horrid shrieking again as the tentacles rampaged even harder. They drew closer to me as the ground was being beaten again and again. Though, I could actually understand what this kraken was saying!

 

“Why! Why! Why! Invaders—all of you should die! You cannot enter my home, keep away! Why! Die! Die!” 

 

My mana was full, and I took off towards Kritikikuku. I switched into ‘Ashen Gladius’, and wanted to catch the beast off guard during its rampage, an idea brewing in my head. 

 

“You!” The beast shouted amidst its shrieking, and to its surprise, I replied, causing it to momentarily fret. 

 

“Me. Surprise.” It took in the shock as it noticed I understood it, and even spoke to it. I took the opportunity to leave two marks before the surprise wore off.

 

“How dare you!” It raised all eight tentacles, coming at me with an omnidirectional attack, trying to clear me from the map. “Why can’t I—”

 

It smashed its tentacles down on me, clearly enraged, “—catch you!” I danced among the shadows, fighting against the tentacles. As long as I had mana, there was no need to worry about these tentacles. Kaiser was dead, and I couldn’t have my abilities silenced. Now that I thought about it—Henry helped out a ton against Kaiser. In combination with his curse, {Nagascale Magic Ward} helped keep me alive from its magical water attacks.

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

[Chasm Kraken, Kritikikuku, Warden of Abupho, Lv34 takes 3172 damage.] 

 

Although there wasn’t much to it—as {Shrouded Shadow} activated automatically—I tried my best to actually attempt to dodge some strikes. If there came a time where I did get silenced, I needed to do my best no matter the circumstance. And finally.

 

[System Notice: You gained 27200 EXP.]

 

[System Notice: You leveled up to Lv11! Congratulations! Health increased by 10. Mana increased by 2. You received 2 AP.]

 

[System Notice: You gained attribute(s) through battle. Wit increased by 1.]

 

I threw my two ‘Attribute Points’ into Luck as I watched a beautiful, grand spiral staircase appear, moving upwards through the waterfall. I saw a figure run past me then—a tattered black robe whizzing past quickly. 

 

He didn’t look back but I heard his words, “Nope nope, I’m out. Fuck Hardcore-only instances. Thanks for the help, Zeryn!” Henry ran towards the stairs as quickly as he could. The water that had been filling up this zone started being drained into the pool of water in front of where the stairs now were. 

 

I had yet to conquer this floor, and I really couldn’t let that go. I was quite close, with only seven mobs remaining. I left the zone, coming back to the pool of water. Nothing spawned. Did defeating the wardens… keep the mobs from respawning, now? If what I thought was true, then how unfortunate. 

 

I didn’t give up, though. I tried a few times, and then gave up. I made my way to the stairs, ready to head to Floor 13. I took steps towards the stairs as the waterfall crashed down it. Standing in front of it, my hair and body became wet. I let out a sigh, lifting my foot to leave when I heard a sound from the pool beside me. It was faint, very faint. But I definitely heard something.

 

I went to the pool that was pretty much right beside me and knelt down beside it. I peered into it, but I still couldn’t see anything—including my reflection. 

 

[Come.] A faint whisper reached my ears, an old voice taut with power. I reached my hand towards the pool, as I had done once before, and could feel a powerful pull tugging on me. Do I… let it take me? I closed my eyes, somewhat curious about what would happen, but also very eager towards conquering the floor—the rewards also magnanimous. 

 

I dropped into the pool, allowing the tug of power to drag me in. The torrent dragged me deep within, but for some unknown reason, I wasn’t feeling out of breath. Struggle was meaningless, and eventually, I was thrown out of the torrent onto a soft surface. I looked around, noticing I was surrounded. Two Tidal Sharks, three Shadow Eels, and two Chasm Cudas were around me, swimming within the water where I was. I was also in the water—yet somehow fine, feet planted on this soft surface. 

 

“The invader is here!”

 

“The wardens are dead?!”

 

“Get him!”

 

The last beasts I needed to kill had served themselves to me on a silver platter. Lucky how it worked out like this. My movements were a little slower, but I still didn’t understand how I was fine under the water. It barely restricted me, and I was still able to breathe fine. I used ‘Vanquisher’, quickly taking care of the underwater ambush and getting two more Tidal Fangs.

 

[Come.] I heard the voice again, now not quite a whisper. Footprints appeared in the sand before me, seemingly trying to show me where to go. What is going on? I had conquered the floor, gaining an extra 27,700 experience points. I didn’t know how to leave from here now, the stairs being much further above me. Left with no other choice, I followed the footsteps.

 

The footsteps in this underwater area took me a while to follow, the voice not letting up on telling me to come. What eventually entered my eyes was a giant orb sitting in the water, probably a mile wide and tall. The footsteps kept leading me there, and the closer I got, the more anxious I felt. Then, I was hit with a system notification.

 

[System Notice: You have discovered a secret within Floor 12. You have found ‘Underwater Domain of Abupho’.]

 

The last time I discovered a secret like this, I was filled with an immortal dread of impending death. I wanted to turn away, but the footsteps kept leading me there. There were two statues right before the entrance into this ‘domain’, statues of men with fishtails holding tridents stood tall. The statues seemed to move as they looked at me, then resumed the position they had been in. 

 

[Enter.] The old voice spoke, urging me to enter this domain. I followed through with its request, entering the domain, feeling myself rushing out of the water as I felt like I could breathe surface air once again. This place was much larger than it looked outside of it, almost as if it was a continent itself—if not something bigger. Fish people, mermen, fish, whales, sharks—all kinds of underwater species swam around in the air or walked along where I entered. I was getting strange looks, but no one seemed to bug me. 

 

[Close your eyes.] I listened to this voice, closing my eyes. I felt a torrent, similar to what had pulled me down into the depths when I went into the pool of water. 

 

[Open.] I slowly opened my eyes, and was met with a man sitting on a throne. His feet were like mine, a human’s. He held a trident in his hand, and I couldn’t identify who he was—but he was definitely strong. 

 

“And so the prophecy has come true.” The old man said, his beard long and white, as was his hair. “I won’t keep you long, as I’ve now got to find replacements to defend my domain. But welcome, stranger from the outside.”

 

“Prophecy?” I asked the old man. 

 

“Mm. I am told to tell you what you ask. First,” he tossed an item to me—a small round-like jewel. Inside the jewel was nothing—it was completely empty, and I could only see the other side of my hand. 

 

“You need the other half for that, stranger. Now then, the prophecy—yes. I was told to help the young man who can speak our language. I heard it—you spoke to Kritikikuku. That was proof enough for me, and so here you are.”

 

That’s some strange prophecy. I bowed, however, as I didn’t want to awaken the wrath of this man. “I see, thank you.” 

 

“Ah, yes. One last thing—can you understand me when I say———” His voice cut out then, and a ringing started in my ears once again. He saw me cover them and immediately stopped. When the ringing stopped, he said, “Not quite ready. Fine—close your eyes. If you find your way here again, I hope you’ll be ready. You are meant for more than you realize, stranger.”

 

I was about to ask him what he meant, but a torrent of power erupted, and I felt like I was about to be dragged. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was beside the pool of water—the waterfall crashing into it and the spiral staircase.

 

“What the fuck is wrong with this game? No—what is wrong with Hardcore?” I shook my head, depositing the ‘Jewel of Abupho’ into my inventory, placing my foot on the first step of the staircase. An aura of white converged on me, and I was taken away to the next floor.

 

[System Notice: All mobs were cleared on Floor 12: 41/41. Your participation: 88%. You will receive an equivalent reward on Floor 13.]

 

[System Notice: Floor 12 complete. Heading to starting point for Floor 13.]

 

I heard the crashing of waves as the white aura started to leave me. This floor seemed like it would have a water theme to it again. I opened my eyes to be met with wooden boards. I was rocking, and my first judgment was that this was definitely a ship. 

 

[System Notice: You completed Floor 12. You gained 1200 EXP.]

 

[System Notice: For conquering Floor 12 on Hardcore difficulty, you have received the item: Convergence Jewel.] 

 

[Convergence Jewel] - After use, converge one item with another. One item will be erased, but the properties will be moved to the chosen item. The new properties will overwrite the old properties.

 

And with that, it was time to figure out what to do on this floor.