Cyrus recovered from the shock as Chase and Thomas walked into the room. Godfrey was too big to be able to fit inside so he stood outside. Coming around Chase asked Cyrus to recount the events of what happened while they were separated. Telling Chase about the shadows and time being reversed was a surprise but the effects of the shadows were still unknown to them all. Next came the details of Victoria Ravencrest.
"So, what happened between you and the Duchess of Mirdual? She seems to have taken a fancy of you." Chase teased Cyrus as he just became flustered by the thought. Shaking his head and turning around he crossed his arms.
"Nothing happened, I just saved her life from being attacked by a shadow that took over a guest." Though he still didn't understand why she was acting all coy with him. Why give him a kiss and why make him feel the way he did, all flustered and embarrassed. "Anyway, I am glad you all are safe. We should get going in a moment, I got to see about the rewards I was given." Chase nodded, though he always wondered how he managed to get these chests to spawn or even how he acquired power so quickly.
Cyrus checked his notifications and found that he had received two chests, 2 levels completing the two floors, a Dark Shard, a Blue Vial, and the Skull of Hur'Drazul, which he guessed was the creature from the previous floor. Cyrus read that the skull could be converted into a piece of armor by a Forger, however the results vary depending on the Forger. The blue vial was a potion called a Panacea, able to cure any disease and affliction to the body. While the Dark Shard was an interesting object.
[Dark Shard: Consume the shard to acquire 2 points into strength. Doing so may have an additional effect if enough Shadow Essence was consumed prior to devouring the Dark Shard.]
Cyrus decided that if his stats were as they are, he would put the two points into his DEX and INT stat. Doing so put a MAX on his INT stat, which upon investigating he found that his stats would be locked at 20 until he obtained another shackle. This was a surprise cause he didn't know there were other shackles he could acquire. But now that he had increased his stats and looking at the shard he decided to consume it. Not wanting to waste it as the extra two points were a big boost.
[Dark Shard consumed, you have gained 2 STR points. Enough Shadow Essence has been consumed to form a new Summon.]
He felt a sudden surge as his body felt cold and traveled up his spine to the nap of his neck. His system told him that he gained a new summon though he had a suspicious guess to what it was. Cyrus pulled up his Summons list and found a new name, The Shadow Within, Vexxitiz. Having now seen the name and title, he understood what it was. The Dark Shard had given the shadow essence he had consumed a form to become whole. He decided to inspect Vexxitiz's capabilities before continuing on.
[The Shadow Within, Vexxitiz: Grants protection by using the shadows to create shields, armor, and all around buffs to the Summoner. However, it is weak to Holy magic and takes the damage that the Summoner would receive when blocking attacks.]
Cyrus looked at it and found it was mostly positive, but the fact he now had a Shadow inside him. The whole prospect made him nervous, though he had realized that he wasn't possessed by it at all. Dismissing the information and the feeling of the cold up his back vanished as he thought of dismissing Vexxitiz. Moving on to open the chests he had received an Alpha Crystal, 10,000 coins, and 4 skill points.
Chase and Thomas looked at Cyrus, confused at what he was looking at though they got used to it by now. While Cyrus was busy putting the items away and now looking for the door out, Victoria had been seen watching him. It was strange to him, but he had never been stalked before. So he didn't exactly know what to do in the situation. As they found the door, the rest of the party were passing thought as Cyrus was the last one. Before he could leave, he felt a hand grab his.
It was Victoria and Malinda by her side, her eyes sparkling with awe when looking at Cyrus. Victoria smiled, "So you are leaving to save our lord?" Cyrus nodded, "Then may I at least grant you something as a farewell gift?" Cyrus blushed a little but didn't refuse, what could go wrong? Taking his hand and bowing before him. "I Victoria Ravencrest, bestow my service and body to thee. Your wish, command, and desire shall be fulfilled by me. You have my home to come to and you have my warriors to call your own. We shall serve the Inheritor with dignity and pride, please save our lord!"
[You have gained Victoria Ravencrest as a follower, all her powers, possessions, and subjects will belong to you in time. Access to her resources will be available when your relationship with Victoria improves. You can now contact her from across the Worlds of Chaos and now can use the CONTACTS tab to open a rift to her.]
[CONTACTS and FOLLOWERS tabs have been unlocked!]
Cyrus' eyes widened and his breath was stolen from him. That is when Victoria smiled and planted a kiss on him again and pushed him through the portal. The last thing he saw was her wink at him and everyone around her start chatting amongst themselves and start asking questions. Even Malinda was shocked to hear what she had just done.
But that was all taken away as he stumbled though the portal into Whisper's shop. He stood there for a moment before he could even process the information he was called over to the rest of the party. Whisper bowed to Cyrus and smiled to see his little flame doing well.
"What... can I... provide today?" Cyrus shook his head then put up 5,000 coins which Whisper pulled out a scroll. "This shall... provide a hint... for the future..." Opening the scroll he saw a diagram of a fountain with a sword coming up from the middle. The tip of the blade just barely touching the surface of the water and the rest of the blade having water travel down its length. Cyrus bowed to Whisper and thanked him for the hint. Then provided another 5,000 for something else, "Wait just... a moment..." As he disappeared into the back.
Returning with a small box in his hand, Whisper set it on the counter. Cyrus opened the box and found a silver pendant inside. His system even called it a "Silver Pendant" though nothing else about it was revealed to him. For 5,000 coins he had to guess it was special for something but to what he did not know. The shape was that of a hexagon diamond that had a little latch on the side.
Whisper than closed the box, "Open it... when the time... is right..." Cyrus nodded and added it to his inventory. With a wave goodbye they left to the next floor. While Whisper went to the case with the Orb of Wealth inside. After depositing the coins, the lit clicked open, allowing Whisper to take it out and hold it in his hands. "He will come... for this... soon..." Then he pocketed it and returned to feeding the animals in his care. For he always had a fascination with animals which is why he kept so many.
While crossing the portal, the group had been fighting a creature that seemed to be twitching and jittery. For every movement they made it seemed to look like they were glitching about. Chase and Thomas went to take on two, while Godfrey just swung his axe around to cleave at the creatures. Cyrus found himself against two on his own, though he thought about summoning Fenrir, Grimm, and Delrune to fight them.
However, when he tried they didn't come out. Instead the cold feeling crept up his spine. As a voice that had a slight echo to it came from within his mind. 'We don't need those other summons, use me instead.' As it finished, shadows enveloped his right arm. The creature approached quickly as its body increased in mass.
Cyrus reacted to the attack as he dodged the creature's fist. He had forgotten that his INT stat was always a 10 compared to most humans. His reaction speed and sensory perception was able to compensate greatly. Cyrus swung his fist into the side of the creature's head. This caused it to topple over to the side and slam its head against the ground.
*BANG*
The splatter of dark ooze and blackened fluids leaked from the creature. It wasn't defeated though as it had used another part of its body to attack Cyrus. Just as it tried a black shield was formed behind him as Vexxitiz blocked the attack. Though he saw the damage he had taken dropped its HP quite a bit. Cyrus then used magic to cast Ice Shard, creating 10 spears that all targeted the shadow on the ground.
[You have defeated Amorphous Shadow!]
[160 CM added to you and your summon consumed the shadows to evolve.]
The shadow armor had ripped the essence from the creature before it dissolved. Allowing Vexxitiz to immediately began to evolve. The armor spread over to his chest, removing the skill and bonus to his Devour skill. Like it was replacing all armor while the Shadow Armor was equipped. Though Cyrus used his Heal spell to recover Vexxitiz.
The next creature took a different approach, hardening its shadowy form into heavy armor plates. This gave it more protection and damage absorption than its standard form. The Amorphous Shadow charged Cyrus throwing a punch that seemed to have immense weight behind it. Using his own punch to attempt to counter it a loud sound erupted from the impact.
*BOOM!*
Vexxitiz took immense damage from the attack which caused the armor to crack. Backing away, Cyrus healed Vexxitiz again then used his own Enhance (Focus) skill to increase his damage. If he was going to beat this thing he needed as much possible damage he could get. That is also when Vexxitiz used his own skill to add more damage.
[Shadow Enhancement: 10 CEP, Can coat the weapon in shadows to deal increased damage based on the tier of Vexxitiz. Current added damage is, + 15 Dark Damage.]
The gauntlet started to leak dark energy as Cyrus was prepared to fight the Amorphous Shadow. With his damage doubled, he charged ahead and went to strike. With his speed at 16 he was just fast enough to get in three hits.
*BANG BANG BANG!*
Craters formed in the Amorphous Shadow's plate-like armor. It had attempted to create spikes on the outer shell of its armor to deal damage to Cyrus. But with his damaged doubled and Vexxitiz taking the minimal damage of 6 points total. The creature flopped and twitched as its body crumpled to the ground.
The dents started to recover but Cyrus wasn't going to give it the chance. Conjuring the magic Ice Shards to form dagger sized spikes to form around his hand. When he went to go strike it again, he let loose all of the shards into the creature's body. This caused some serious damage to the creature.
Each shard was protruding from its body as it stumbled and then collapsed to the ground, defeated. Cyrus was awarded another 160 CM while Vexxitiz also got 160. It wasn't killed in a way that could allow it to consume the shadowy creature so it dissipated and left behind an Alpha Crystal. Having defeated the two creatures, he dismissed Vexxitiz and went to help the others. But seeing they all had defeated their bunch of enemies. He also received 800 for the ones that his allies defeated.
They continued on to deal with another batch of the creatures. This time Cyrus called for Visne to deal with them. As Visne was summoned it sprayed them all with the goo and then proceeded to devour them one by one. Each creature was defeated this way as their defenses were destroyed. Visne was awarded with 4 skill points for defeating enemies this way. As well as 800 points for them both, giving Cyrus another level up.
Knowing that he had close to 20 for his STR stat. Cyrus considered putting the last point into it, but also considered his max HP. For he watched as his summons gained a much higher value of HP when he did. Though it seemed he only got 2 points per base value increase. So he felt kind of stuck with trying to choose. But since he only had 1 point, the 19 STR needed to become 20.
With that they all continued through, Visne chortled happily as it nuzzled Cyrus. "Yes you did good, thank you for your help." Visne chirped then dismissed itself. They continued through the next door to find that there was nothing but a fountain in the room.
The fountain was surrounded by a marble room. Vases of pure white marble with flourishing plants bore fruit. While the fountain's water was still, no movement or flowing water. Cyrus pulled out the scroll and looked at the diagram.
The fountain looked exactly the same but the sword was missing. Looking around Cyrus saw statues with different swords baring towards the fountain. Walking over to the statues and noticed the swords weren't held down by anything. Like they were placed there to be held out to be taken.
Cyrus looked at the diagram again and found that the sword had a particular design. The one he was looking at wasn't a match to the weapon. Moving onto the next statue's sword seeing a flamberge, the next weapon was a shortsword, and so on. The weapons didn't match the design to the fountain.
Chase went over to Cyrus and looked over his shoulder, "Is it some kind of puzzle? Cause you went off on your own to look at the statues." His gaze went to the diagram and noticed that the weapon touching the water was familiar. He thought for a moment placing his left hand to his chin.
That is when Chase had an epiphany, "That sword looks like the Slayer's Short Blade, but bigger." Cyrus turned to Chase in surprise. Raising a hand before Cyrus spoke, "Though as I said, it looks bigger than the short blade." What Chase said was true, the blade was too short to be the weapon in the diagram.
That is when Thomas said, "The Slayer's Blade is not just a short blade, or a Longsword, or even a great sword. It's a weapon that fits to the user's will." Thomas walked over to Cyrus and place a hand on his shoulder. "Try to place the weapon on the water."
To Cyrus, tying to place a weapon "on" water didn't make sense or would have been possible. But it did make sense for the context of the diagram. Walking over to the fountain and placing his hand on the edge. He noticed that the water was clear having no imperfections. It was pretty as he could see his reflection own reflection.
Though looking at himself, he could see he seriously needed a shower when this was all over. He was covered in dirt, scrapes that have healed, blood that got stuck in his hair, all in all, he was a mess. He kind of chuckled to himself and thought how his sister would look at him and see him as a complete mess.
Though there was another thing he noticed while looking at his reflection. His facial features had matured, having a stronger look to them. His eyes were almost a more silver grey than the cloudy grey. The ashen hair was slightly longer and now touched his shoulders. The effects of him leveling was now showing and he finally understood why he was getting stares by the other vampires.
Closing his eyes he then opened his inventory and looked at his artifacts. The Slayer's Blade showed 30% affinity. He attempted to equip it or even pull it from his inventory, but the system refused.
[Can not draw artifact without completing its requirement!]
This annoyed Cyrus a bit, for all he wanted to do was put it on the water. He turned to Chase and Thomas, "No good, I can't draw the weapon or equip it. It seems I need to make its affinity with me 100% before I can do anything with it." They all started to think and were all slightly disappointed. Chase thought that maybe he needed to train with it. While Thomas thought that maybe he can just impose his will over the weapon.
But then Godfrey spoke up, "Cyrus come here for a moment." He gestured with his armored finger. Cyrus approached and was told to sit, "Now I am not sure how the Slayer's Blade works in its entirety. However, I know of a way you can commune with it." Cyrus raised an eyebrow and looked at his inventory.
Godfrey sat down and put his axe across his lap, "It's an old art of a forgotten age, allowing one to understand their weapon better than anyone else. This even makes it so no one else can wield it for the weapon itself will reject them." Godfrey took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Close your eyes and visualize the weapon, picture it in your mind. We can try with Delrune first so you can get a feeling for it."
Cyrus summoned Delrune and gripped the sword. Placing it on his lap he closed his eyes and started to picture the weapon in his mind. He could see the blackened blade, its double edged blade was pointed towards the ground with the hilt towards the dark sky. He waited till Godfrey would tell him the next step.
"Feel it's presence, allow it to reach out and touch your inner mind. The weapon should show its true form to you, this may take some time so don't rush." Cyrus visualized himself inside the dark room kneeling before the blade. Nothing seemed to happen right away, just them in the dark room in silence. As the silence continued, finally something happened.
The eyes of the dragon symbol on the blade lit up with a low red glow. Revealing a figure behind the blade. It seemed to have circled around Cyrus with its massive body. The creature had enormous wings and massive claws. It's own eyes were a pale red. What he was seeing, was a black dragon.