Waking up, the first thing that greeted her was a soft knock on her door. Opening it, Jarren stood, his hands clasped behind his back with his signature serpentine smile gleaming down on her. "Your rate of growth isn't sufficient with what I had in mind therefore I'll aid you with your game." His words followed with a gesture revealing the trinket hidden behind his back.
A mask came to be, pristinely white with cracks of obsidian running erratically all over it's face. Other than the cracks nothing else about the mask seemed to stand out. "Consider it a gift from my past self to you." He didn't elaborate any further as he marched back to his room.
She inspected the mask, whispers could be heard emanate from the mask and grace her ears. Most were incoherent ramblings while others seemed to call out her name. She hesitated, her gut warning her about the dangers of something she had been gifted. Coming from Jarren, there was no option for her to turn it down.
'Just what is this?' She couldn't help but wonder as she began to prep herself for the day. Over dinner last night, Jarren had told her that the two would start with her training, the venue and means were still a mystery to her but she didn't protest.
...
Making her way to the lobby of the hotel, Jarren remained seated, his gaze absorbed with a book in hand. The rest of the lobby seemed frozen in time, with no breathe audible as if scared of offending him. Bell boys and clerks watched his movements, calm and smooth as his smile never faltered from his lips.
He didn't need to look up to know that she was there. "Where will we be fighting?" Her voice shattering the ice that refused to thaw. "On the outskirts, we'll need some room for what I have in mind." His hands closed the book, a sign of theatrics as he placed it down and the two took their exit
With their departure, the staff seemed to breathe once more.
Some still shocked that a monster like Jarren would turn up overnight and request a booking at their hotel. The inn manager had kept his best game with him, offers that would make others freeze in shock were all sighed with apathy by Jarren. Walking down the streets, the air from the lobby traveled with them.
Lyssara felt the sharp gazes landing on her back, some with contempt and others curiosity. "You couldn't have chosen another way to make it to the outskirts?" With how the scene kept on playing out, it was clear to her that he wanted it to be the way that it was. "The carriages from Tharan have returned back to Caerthalas, from here to Reuthar we're on our own."
Her gaze lingered on his face, skeptical. "But still..." She murmured with a sigh of resignation. A few more minutes and the two were prone to the vast landscapes of green grass and fields of wheat far off into the distance. The air was calm, a light breeze swaying Lyssara's hair as the two kept on with walk.
"This should be far enough." His muse followed with a look of the land. "What exactly are we going to be doing?" She was still unsure of whether it would be weapons, her form or malcore. ""We'll focus with your flames for now, after all in the game it's output is pathetic to say the least."
His revelation of his watch over her wasn't anything new. "I'm sure that you know about my malcore pools." His smile told her all that she needed to know. "I know and the game should take care of that." Stretching out his hand, a small ball of black flames flashed in his hand.
"Flames, something that can be of great use to you should you learn to master it well." His tone growing more playful with each word. "Or it could be your ruin." The flame in his hand began to destabilize, growing more wild before it faded off into the breeze. "Try it." Her body tensed as she shot out her hand.
Five minutes passed and yet nothing formed on her palms, still he waited, watching what she would be capable off. "Gah!" She cried with a look of disappointment flashing on her face. "It's way too taxing for me to use it." Her muse met with a chuckle. "Then in that case I have nothing else to teach you." And with that he sat down, laying on his back as his shadow stretched from it's word stepping into this world.
Forming an umbrella, it's hollow white eyes never left her figure which subtly unnerved her. Her lips parted for a question and yet no words escaped her lips. Recalling the mask, she hesitated to put it on as the whispers grew louder the more she glanced at it. "It's too soon to let you pass." He lazily mused as he nibbled at a strand of grass that somehow made it's way to his mouth.
With a final sigh, she dared to put it on. The world remained the same, sounds went on as normal and her gaze was the same. 'What is the point of this mask?' With her narrowed vision, it only proved to serve as a detriment to her. She tried once more with her flames and yet the outcome remained the same with nothing more than a flicker flashing on her palms.
"Hah!" A low mocking chuckle escaped his lips as he lazily swung his right leg over his left. The strand of grass in his mouth now gone with no trace. Taking it off,the voices that made her pause were gone. Inspecting it once more, she put it back.
Glancing back at Jarren, it was clear that he had more to offer however his lounging figure proved otherwise. She knew that he wasn't asleep despite the light snore she heard from him. His shadow still locked with her figure, it's gaze unyielding. Looking around, the vastness of the plains was what met her and with a final sigh, she collapsed next to Jarren.
She glanced at his face, his hair lightly swaying in the wind and his grin that still persisted. 'Just what do you want me to do with this mask?' Knowing Jarren,it was clear that the mask wouldn't do simple however regardless of what she had tried, nothing seemed to work.
'My progress!' At once it seemed to click on her mind as she brought out the mask. Inspecting it's craftsmanship, she put it on once more before diving back into the game.
...
[{Player Lyssara has entered the world}]
The cave and rack of weapons wasn't anything new this time however what shocked her was what remained in her hands. 'Looks like I was right.' She muttered triumphantly as she put it on.
[{Warning!}]
[{$+($)(&)3QPFUJEN018!//}]
Her heart froze, thinking that she had done something wrong however the notification faded as soon as it came. Silence followed that once assuring now felt odd. She glanced at her hands, still hers before making her way to the racks.
This time she grabbed the estoc and a glaive.
[{$+($)(&)3QPFUJEN018!//}]
The notification came on once more but nothing about her body felt off. She assessed the tuck in her hands, light and nimble while perching the glaive on her back. With a sigh, she was ready for the madness that was to come. A descent into the cave, this time the walls were rich with moss and moisture and to some extent the floor as well making it hard for her to run.
'Well it looks like I won't be getting much use out of the glaive.' With a long ranged weapon like the glaive that required a steady posture and balance, the slippery floor was no doubt a factor that would make her less inclined to use it. Still she persisted with the dive as she came across a mutated rat.
[{Beast: Mutated Radioactive Rat}]
[{Level 5}]
The appraisal feature took her by surprise before reaching out for the tuck. The rat without delay made a leap for her frame however halfway through the air burst into a cloud of acid that forced her to retreat. 'Damn it the water!' She cursed ready to see her health take a dive however much to her surprise a small barrier formed around her shielding from the acid.
There was no elaboration of what it was, it came and left. 'I wonder what more functions this mask has.' With the mask, she wouldn't have to be so passive with the fodder beasts but that didn't mean that she would dive head first into fights without a proper gauge of what she was getting herself into.
'Maybe with this I can clear the first floor.' She was curious about the other floors and now with the mask, it seemed her chances of clearing the first floor were promising. A few more steps and she came across a small pack of mutated rats. Before she could draw out her sword, a small explosion of black flames engulfed the scene flooding her vision.
By the time it was done, all of the mobs lay dead, their corpses turning into digital static before dissapearing. 'That explosion seemed to mirror the same from the rat earlier.' Her confidence grew the more she thought about this. 'Then in that case I won't have that much trouble with the fodder enemies.'
Despite this revelation no smile graced her lips as she went on with her dive. Any beasts that she came across were wiped out by her explosions before they had a chance to realize that she was there.
[{Beast: Mutated Shrouded Bat}]
[{Level: 7}]
Her figure came to a stop as she looked at the path ahead which was empty and yet the notification flashed. Rescuing for her glaive, she thrust it at the ceiling a few times before a shrill filled her ears. The system would show her a message about the enemy she faced generally ahead of her, not their exact location.
The bat finally came to her vision, it's body far larger than the other bats that she had faced with Seryn other than the elites. With a thought her glaive flashed back to her hands, her figure taking a stance to fight the beast. The shrouded bat didn't make a move on her just yet, first choosing to watch her.
It's cold obsidian eyes staring down on her as it bared it's fangs. Still her resolved remained firm as she prepared for the fight to come. The screech failed to faze her, a dive from the beast followed which made Lyssara leap into the air resulting with a clash with the bat.
*Whoosh*
The shrouded bat dodged to the side eluding her attack however rather than worry, she reached out to her tuck with a twirl and brought the bat to an end. Her land gracefully followed with the thud of the bat crashing onto the moist ground. She glanced at her own hands, shocked with her quick reaction as if the body she was in wasn't hers.
Her mind drifted back to the whispers, now convinced that it was an error to put on the mask. 'I've already had a piece of the steak, I might as well lick the plate.' She wondered as she placed the glaive on her back and resuming with her dive.
[{You have received a passive skill}]
[{Black Shroud Flames- Allow your body to be bathed in flames allowing you to be masked into the night avoiding detection from nearby enemies}]
There was no further dive of the information given to her nor the choice to turn it down. 'It wasn't a level up but rather a skill I could only assume the Shrouded Bat possessed. Doesn't this mean that I have a siphon skill within the mask?' Each times spent with the mask, her worry rather than fading only grew stronger.
Rather than be swoon with the benefits, she knew that the price of it all wouldn't be cheap given the difficulty of the game. 'I doubt that he would give me such a monstrous item this early on with no form of limit or regulation.' Her mind drafting the means that she would be curbed.