Why do I only have motivation to write at 5 am...
sobsob
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Rin raised a hand as she took a step back from the wall, reaching into her hair and brushing her hand against the petals seemingly made of shadows. The feeling was smooth, even a little silky on her skin as the velvety texture of the flower wrapped around her fingertips. It didn’t seem like the morbid thing it was as she cradled it in into the delicate embrace of her palm and brought it before her eyes.
As Rin peered closer into the shadowy flower, she noticed tiny specks of luminescence scattered among its petals, resembling the twinkling stars of twilight.
‘Beautiful...’
Staring at it for yet another second, she turned it over before once again placing it within the tresses of her hair; the flower’s roots extending and tangling itself with the white strands to secure its position. It then started to nibble on her mana, drawing an insignificant amount of energy into itself before suddenly stopping, seemingly satisfied with its meal.
“What the hell was that?!”
Although, interrupting her thoughts was the rogue as she forcefully spun the girl around to face the party. Rin assumed that the woman in front of her was quite angry, hence the frown placed on her lips.
“Did you know how dangerous that was? You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” Anna sputtered as her eyes flicked to the flower. “And those—” her frown turned down into a scowl of disgust. “Those are only supposed to turn dark when the bodies they’re devouring are dead.”
Hearing this, Rin was about to shrug in annoyance before she noticed the look in the woman’s eyes.
‘Maaybe not...’ she quickly thought. Instead, she muttered a quick apology. “Sorry.”
It seemed to work as the rogue turned with a hmph and crossed her arms before heading to the front of the party.
“We’re wasting time, we only have rations for a day. Let’s go,” the woman said with a tone that implied that she wouldn’t take any objections.
Agreeing with her words, the team headed onwards as the rocky ground started to descend with a gradual slope. The number of thorny vines that once almost covered the entirety of the walls started to decrease as well as the temperature.
To Rin, it didn’t matter much as the cold was her home turf, but to the others, it was a mild discomfort. Definitely something they would be able to handle easily, yet it was also a signal that they were now approaching a potentially dangerous area.
“Keep your guard up,” Anna said in a hushed whisper, lowering her stance which caused the pace of the party to slow to a crawl. “We’re nearing the first zone.”
Soon, the slope of the narrow passage smoothed out into a flat surface while the vines had now completed disappeared. And after another minute, the cave walls separated away from the party, likely meaning that they had entered another space. Another factor pointing to that was that the ground was now covered with a patch of grass.
Rin looked around with a frown, noticing that the grass appeared to be in immaculate condition, meticulously cared for and perfectly trimmed. Each blade stood at the same height, forming a soft, lush green carpet that spread to the ends of the darkness.
Looking further, her eyes were unable to pierce through what the torch couldn’t as an eerie silence enveloped the party, the only sound remaining: their shuffling footsteps.
“Emma, light up the space,” Anna whispered from ahead. The woman’s eyes were glued to their front, watching for anything that could approach as she signaled with a hand.
Emma nodded, her staff knocking against the ground as a quiet chant was murmured from her mouth. She then raised her staff into the air, and as the gem at the end of her weapon started to glow, a swirling ball of flame the size of her head came into existence.
The fire mage sent it forward into the darkness as the rest of the party stared on warily. They watched as the condensed flame soared through the caverns, lighting up the cavern with a flickering red shine.
Above the party, the ceiling was covered in an uncountable number of stalactites while the space itself was revealed to be an enormous section of the dungeon which Rin estimated to be nearly 150 metres in diameter.
However, when the flame completed its journey and exploded with fiery brilliance at the end of the cavern, Rin heard a hitch in the breath of the girl right next to her. Although she could care less about how the girl felt as a slight smile came to her lips, eyes plastered to the sight right in front of herself.
[Umbral Wraith – lvl 45]
[Umbral Wraith – lvl 47]
[Umbral Wraith – lvl 42]
[Umbral Wraith – lvl...]
It was as sudden as if a mask had been ripped from a hideous face, hundreds of monstrous faces appeared before them, their gleaming eyes reflecting the fading light of the flame. The creatures appeared to be tending to the pasture, their lanky arms holding enormous sickles that hovered above the blades of green at a set position. Yet it looked like they had no intention of making peace as the party had indeed disturbed their peaceful pasture...
The warrior stepped forward, the arm holding his great-sword firm as he took command.
“Kai, behind me. Protect the fire-mage.”
His voice was slow, unwavering without a trace of fear as he took another step forward, his eyes never glancing back at the party. While the guardian immediately moved, running forward and slamming his shield into the depths of the grass. Then, from the bottom side of the shield a magic circle spread on the floor. Stone rose from the ground as a massive bulwark surrounded by a protective barrier spread around Emma’s position, allowing her the freedom to cast while also defending her from all angles but behind.
“Tanner, Anna, to the wings. Defend our flank and ensure that no creature dares attack from the rear.”
And finally—Rin’s breath paused, expectation overflowing from her body as her spine shivered with excitement.
“Ice mage...” Adam looked back, “With me.”
The smile on Rin's spread into a wide grin as she effortlessly vaulted over the barrier and landed lightly on the grass. She looked up at the warrior’s face, receiving the same stoic look he always seemed to have. Although this time, she did find something a little interesting, and that there existed a very faint twinkle within his eyes.
‘I agree...’ Rin thought, tearing her gaze away and looked forward at the approaching army.
As if on cue, Rin felt a heat growing on her back as a massive fiery sphere formed, growing stronger with every passing breath until its light turned night to day. Then, the sphere shot forward, erupting into a storm of flames as the entirety of the pastures was instantly ignited. Setting alight the stage for the performance of the two adventurers and ultimately marking the start of the battle.
“Let’s have some fun. Shall we?” Rin muttered, but soon froze in shock when the man let out a scoff.
“Try to keep up.”
The warrior launched off the ground with a deafening boom, the ground trembling as a crater was created in the dirt. But all Rin could do was stare at his fading figure.
‘Did he just smile...?’
Quickly shaking her head, she summoned strength into her legs and raced after the man’s footsteps. By now, the flames from Emma’s initiation had been mostly swept away, but there were still a couple lingering lights spreading across the grass with only more to come.
Flicking her wrist, a sword crackled to life within her right hand as her legs put on a burst of speed. Rin looked ahead, a breath of silence filling her lungs as the first blood of battle was drawn.
The man unleashed his aura, raising his sword and leaping forward before his weapon came crashing down, cleaving through a wraith from shoulder to hip and instantly killing the creature. Immediately after, he spun, boots digging deep into the dirt as a scythe that gleamed dangerously close to his neck was deflected to the side. Its owner’s corpse falling to the ground just mere seconds later.
Rin whistled in admiration. She didn’t feel any trace of mana leak out from the man’s body. No, what she had witnessed was pure strength and technique. From the moment they had first encountered each other, she knew that not an ounce of the beloved energy she used at a whim was contained in his being. Perhaps it was foolish to disregard such strengths, but Rin respected the man for that. It was his way of life, his path and journey, and to come to such strength—easily overshadowing her stat values, was nothing short of impressive.
‘Still, there’s a reason that I'm a mage,’ she chided.
Stomping on the ground, a magic circle spread from her feet as the first of her opponents whooshed towards her. A number of its kin followed soon after, until Rin found herself surrounded in the middle of a horde. Their rapidly approaching gleaming eyes and menacing blades would instill fear into anyone, but... most had a feeling that Rin would argue that she wasn’t just anyone.
And so, she released a laugh. Stabbing her blade down directly into the center of her construct, mana rushed out from her core. Like lightning, it flowed through her arms before being charged directly into the magic array. A cold glint emanated from the circle, its light eclipsing anything else in its vicinity as numerous wraiths flooded towards her.
Rin waited, the smile never leaving her face until finally, the first of many was within arm's reach of her body. A scythe rose to the skies, her eyes tracing the very movement as it came crashing down at her slender neck. However, in the end, it never found purchase.
A shearing noise, followed by countless unnatural screeches reverberated through the air as her hair; white as snow was painted crimson. Surrounding her body was a forest of sharpened pillars, the base of the ice erupting out from the ground as their ends punctured through the wraiths, leaving them helpless in the air. Blood spilt from their bodies and seeped into the dirt, but there didn’t seem to be enough as the crimson liquid continued to pool around her feet, gradually growing until she was up to her ankles in red.
Letting out a breath, she brought her hands up to her face and did her best to wipe her skin clear of the blood. While for her hair, she ran her fingers through the silk-like strands and squeezed the liquid out. Satisfied, she brought up her status page.
Name: Rin
Equipped Titles:
Mana Core Connoisseur: (Ability to eat Mana Cores)
Irregular (lvl - 2): (Gain 500 stat points in all attributes)
Exorcist: (Increases effectiveness of Wisdom and Vitality by 300%)
Race: Hum-{Error}
Class: Heiress of Ice, Seraphim of the Night
Level: 29
HP: 53,500/53,500
MP: 64,320/100,000
[Attribute Multipliers: Protection of Ice (Effectiveness of All stats Doubled)]
(Base Stats + Equipment + Title) * Modifiers
Strength: (10 + 0 + 500) * 2
Endurance: (40 + 0 + 500) * 2
Vitality: (35 + 0 + 500) * 5
Wisdom: (500 + 0 + 500) * 5
Intelligence: (225 + 0 + 500) * 2
Agility: (200 + 40 + 500) * 2
Unassigned stat points: 0
Current Status Effects:
Available Skills:
Seraphim of the Night: [Locked]
Heiress of Ice: [Collapsed]
Equipment: [Collapsed]
Looking over the screen, a frown came to her lips as it appeared to be the exact same since she had last checked it. It confused her because she thought she would’ve gained at least a level from the current feat just now, although... she wasn’t able to think much further as her thoughts were soon interrupted.
A groan rang through the air, emitted from one of the wraiths as the girl’s gaze immediately flicked to its source.
“Not dead, eh?” she muttered, realizing that she hadn’t heard a single ‘ding’ to notify her of any deaths.
Wading through the blood, she came right up to the creature. Its body writhing about frantically to escape from the pillar embedded through its chest. Her face turned emotionless as she reached forward, delicate fingers grasping around the chin of one of the wraiths and tilting its head upwards to match her gaze. It appeared pained, yet there wasn’t a single semblance of sentiency within its soulless irises. Confirming this, her palm moved directly underneath its jaw as a shard of ice was sent straight into its brain, instantly killing the creature.
Rin took a step back, the wraith’s head lolling to the side as she glanced around at the rest of her scene of carnage. The sight was of the same, bodies, writhing, flailing with anguish almost as if begging for release from the pain filled her sight. While their horrifying screeches that she had formerly drowned out now rushed into her ears like thunder.
But all she did was cackle. The wraiths reminded her of the reapers only known to death itself, yet what were these pitiful excuses, carrying a weapon as such. They were nothing but sheep in a pasture.
Tsk... Tsk...
Rin knelt down, reaching for the wraith’s sickle and bringing it up to her eyes. She turned the weapon over, shoddy the only thought that echoed through her mind as she walked back to her sword embedded in the array. It was constantly sapping at her mana to upkeep the pillars in existence, and now it was time for that to come to an end.
Holding the scythe out with a neutral grip, she slashed through her blade of ice, shattering the weapon as her hold on the magic was released. However, due to the abrupt nature of how it was broken, the condensed mana within the pillars had nowhere to go except outwards and that could only result in one thing. Cataclysmic implosion.
As Rin waded through the blood-filled mud, particles of crimson ice fell to the ground around her. This time, the ding did indeed ring through her mind.
[System Notification: You have attained Level 30]
[System Notification: A skill has been rewarded]
[System Notification: Stat Point gain increased]
