[You've slain a Level 1 Wanderer rank Apocalypse creature: Red Hair High Orc]
[You've gained 10sp]
"I…I…I just killed a Wanderer?" Lenny stood visibly shaken, shocked at the result of his battle.
It's been more than ten minutes since his escape from those masked assassins, and he has resumed his journey.
Having his body completely regenerated, his Rune Mastery of the Rune of Revival was currently at 50%
He was made a completely new and he's now heading towards the domain of the Level 7 Wanderer rank High Orc.
On his way, he encountered a few High Orc, including this Level 1 Wanderer.
He breathed deeply, staring at the corpse of the towering one spike High Orc, which was soaked in its own pool of grey blood.
"Bring me the mana crystal," Lenny instructed. His shadow clone obeyed as it moved forward.
The shadow summoned the Sandel Crimson Dual Daggers, tearing off the flesh of the Fallen creature.
It plucked out a shimmering crystal, Lenny could feel energy generating from the crimson crystal.
The shadow clone made its way towards Lenny, handing over the mana crystal to its original.
"Thanks," Lenny received the crystal with a smile. He summoned his tether system, opening the dimension storage.
His dimension storage could not store living things and animated objects, it could only store inanimate objects.
Like Fallen Relics and Treasures which were rewards for taking down boss monsters in Dungeons.
Lenny glanced at his shadow clone, a subtle smile appeared on his lips, "This guy has been helpful since the beginning"
"If it wasn't for my shadow, I wouldn't be able to escape from those assasins" He took a deep breath.
"Either way, it's time to leave now," he concluded. He was about to take a step forward when the Fallen System whispered in his ears.
[Rune Mastery: 100%]
"Oh?" Lenny raised an eyebrow, "My mastery of the Rune of Shadows is complete?" His lips curled into a faint smile.
The Fallen System continued.
[Your shadow is evolving…..]
Lenny's eyebrows furrowed "Evolving? How can shadow evolve? What's going on here?" He glanced at his shadow clone but it was no more.
It had already reverted back to being his shadow.
His shadow rippled behind him.
[Congratulations…..]
[Your shadow has evolved into a Shadow Familiar]
Lenny's smile faltered for a second "A shadow familiar? That is new" He muttered, "What exactly is that?"
Without his command, his shadow materialized itself once again, and it mirrored Lenny.
Taking his form, height, and shape, but this time, Lenny felt something was different, something had changed.
While it mirrored him, his shadow had now become a living breathing entity.
But instead of having the presence of a Fallen Regulator, it gave off the energy of a Fallen creature.
A Wanderer rank Apocalypse creature.
It felt stronger than before; his shadow familiar stood before him, and both entities locked eyes with each other.
"What is it?" Lenny asked, unbothered by the dark cerulean eyes of his clone, his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed something.
His shadow's lips curled into a faint smile. It slowly went down, kneeling with one leg, and bowed its head before Lenny.
"What's the meaning of this?" Lenny asked, not hiding his confusion, just then, the Fallen System whispered.
And the status window flickered before his eyes.
[Your shadow familiar desires a name]
[Will it grant it a name?]
[Yes] [No]
Lenny softly exhaled, "A name huh?" He chuckled, "I really don't know what's going on and neither do I know what a shadow familiar is"
"I don't know why the hell it has the energy of a Fallen creature while it mirrors me"
"But a name shouldn't be a problem right?" Lenny lingered for a moment, staring at his familiar.
Exhaling a soft sigh, "You shall be called X"
[You've granted your shadow familiar the name "X"]
[Your shadow familiar "X" has been permanently registered]
[Your Rune Class has been upgraded from "Shadow Clone" to "Shadow Familiar"]
[A new Rune Slot is active]
[You've gained a Transfer Card]
[Transfer Card: {0/1}]
Lenny frowned, "A transfer card? What does that mean?" He asked.
[Transfer Card Info: Player can transfer an Imagined Fallen Rune to his shadow familiar]
[Player and his shadow familiar can't share a single Fallen Rune]
Lenny raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I can share an imagined Fallen Rune with my shadow familiar, huh?"
"It seems since my shadow familiar can't mirror both my primary and secondary Fallen Runes, it can only use the imagined ones" Lenny thought.
"And I can't use the same imagined Fallen Rune as my shadow familiar, that means after transferring a Fallen Rune"
"Another Rune Slot will be opened for me, this is perfect." Lenny chuckled out loud; it was hard to contain his excitement.
"Stand," He commanded, his shadow familiar obeyed as he slowly rose up to his feet.
The familiar stood motionless,
"Lenny breathed in deeply, he grinned, "This….this is really interesting." He chuckled.
***
"Prepare yourself, something's here" the loud scream of Jay reverberated through the air.
The K&B party immediately positioned themselves, before them stood the young boy.
Yet they couldn't see him, the young boy raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What a suprise" He chuckled.
He glanced at Jay for a second, "That dude didn't see me, but he was able to sense me, huh?" His eyes flickered.
While approaching the party, He shrugged, "Well, it doesn't matter….I was going to show myself anyway"
The young boy was a whisper, a ghost, a non-entity. He approached them, unnoticed, unseen.
But his shadows had other plans.
Dark tendrils began to writhe, like living things, from his skin. They swirled, coalesced, and wrapped around him, as if drawn to some hidden cores.
The air thickened, heavy with anticipation, as the shadows deepened and solidified.
The party started, and they saw the unearthly shadows and the emergence of a young unearthly figure, engulfed by the unholy darkness.
Benita's body shuddered. "Shadooowww." She screamed out loud, "What is a shadow doing in here???"
"Move back," Jay instructed, his body quivering. The party obeyed as they quickly fell back.
Creating a large distance between themselves and these coalescing shadows.
Beads of sweat dripped down from Jay's face. "What the hell is going on? Who the hell is this boy?" He was scared, his heart raced fervently.
It was as if the very darkness itself was birthing something, something that had lain dormant within the boy.
He grew taller, broader, his form blurring like a painting in the rain. The shadows solidified, taking shape- armor black as the night, plated and imposing.
A helmet, visor down, hid his face, but the dark cerulean glow of his eyes seeped through the slits, like stars in a midnight sky.
The armor creaked, leather and metal protesting as it molded to his new form.
A scabbard, thick and battle-worn, hung at his waist, a sword's hilt peeking from the darkness.
The armor seemed to absorb the light around him, as if it too was a part of the shadows.
The very air around him seemed to vibrate with power, with a presence that was both ancient and primal.
The transformation was complete.
He stood tall, a shadow knight, tenacious and imposing. The party felt it- a chill, a weight, a presence that made them shiver.
Their eyes, once oblivious, now locked onto him, drawn to the darkness that seemed to emanate from him like a palpable force.
The knight's gaze, unseen but felt, swept over them, they knew- they knew.
They were in the presence of something not to be trifled with.
This was a creature of the night, a being of shadow and steel, forged in the very heart of darkness.
Kennedy's hands quivered, "J…J…Jay, what the hell is this" Kennedy whispered with shaky breath, "W…why is there a Level 8 Nightmare standing before us?"
"Shouldn't this be a D-tier Dungeon?" Benita collapsed on her knees, her legs lost their strength, and she bent her head, not daring to look up.
To gaze at that monster.
Her eyes shook "We're dead, it's going to kill us...this Nightmare is going to kill us all!!" She screamed.
A deep horrifying chuckle resonated through the air "HE-HE-HE-HE-HE, THE CUTE LADY IS RIGHT"
Each step he took caused the air to ripple, the entirety of the Labyrinth shook vigorously.
A D-tier Dungeon lacked the strength to accommodate such a terrifying atrocity.
Jay's eyelid twitched for a second. "We…we…we need to run," He roared, before he could move an inch.
The unholy knight appeared right beside Kennedy in the blink of an eye,
Kennedy's body shuddered, his eyes widened in shock "What the….." Before he could complete his statement, the unholy knight swung down his hand.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Kennedy felt it, his bones breaking, his bloods unclogging, he bled from every corner of his body.
"Keeeeuuukkkk." The impact sent Kennedy crashing across the corridor's stone walls; the air shook vigorously.
In a split second, half of the Labyrinth was destroyed by that single blow.
"NOT SO FAST PEOPLE..." The hoarse voice of the unholy knight caused their bodies to shiver.
"LET LITTLE CORINTHIAN HAVE HIS FUN….."