"Huh?! What is this, where am I?" whispered Thiago, extremely shocked by what he saw when he came to his senses. As far as he could see, everything was pure darkness, with almost no source of light in sight. Only in the distance could he see an indistinct light illuminating parts of this dark place.
It was good that most cultivators did not really need a physical light source, as they could navigate perfectly with their senses, and Thiago was no exception.
Apart from that, he could make out some fallen trees and deep pits everywhere he looked, it was as if a huge battle had taken place there, or at least some kind of force had affected the environment in this place.
A thick black miasma hung in the air, not from poison but from some kind of dark force that had accumulated over time and infected everything in the place, even the ground looked corroded, and nothing could grow on it, it was a completely dead surface.
Well, fortunately for Thiago, the darkness could not harm him at the moment, for he was a practitioner gifted with the Dark Affinity, so this bit of dark miasma was hardly considered an inconvenience.
What made him feel strange, however, was that the trees and the whole place, apart from the darkness, did not look the least bit like the forest outside, suggesting that it had probably never been part of the forest to begin with and was really a completely separate space.
"Strange, where did this space come from or how did it appear?" Thiago wondered, as he had already come to the conclusion that he had somehow been transported to a different space when he had taken that step further into the cave.
"And how do I get out again?" muttered Thiago, as he had no idea for the time being.
Since he could not get an answer to this question for now, Thiago decided to explore this place, since there might be some precious materials or treasures here. His first target was the distant light source which, according to Thiago, seemed to be centred on this place. 'Maybe I'll find something there,' thought Thiago as he began marching froward in that specific direction.
As he went deeper into the place, getting closer and closer to the source of light, Thiago felt the darkness around him grow heavier with each passing moment, not yet to the point where it could harm him, but already quite strong, and one had to remember that Thiago was still quite far away, yet the darkness could already affect him slightly.
If a cultivator in the same realm as Thiago without the dark affinity had gone through the dark miasma in Thiago's place for such a long time, he would have been corrupted and infected by the darkness by now, and his fate would be unknown.
This was the terrifying power of darkness for the cultivators of the Light Camp, which basically consisted of all the cultivators, beasts, and other races, because none of them could withstand the dark power for too long without being corrupted.
By the Light Camp, we mean those who use the normal elements except darkness, which can only be harnessed by the terrible, vile, dark creatures such as demons that belong to the Dark Apparitions.
Now we can see that Thiago is already quite close to the light source. Then something happens that takes Thiago completely by surprise. A strange creature had suddenly appeared a short distance in front of him, making him jump in fright. "Holy sh*t, what kind of creature is that?" shouted Thiago in disbelief, but even more in fear, for the creature was stranger, viler and more terrifying than anything he had ever seen or heard of.
Well, with the exception of the three existences he had in his soul space, as they were still leagues above the one in front of him, but they belonged to Thiago, so he had never really feared them, but this creature in front of him was a completely different case.
Thiago feels a wave of fear wash over him and a shiver run down his spine as the dark apparition comes into view. It stands in front of him, its towering form, over ten feet tall, seeming to dwarf him in comparison, appearing as a shadowy humanoid figure with rippling muscles and a dark flowing cloak billowing around its form.
His face is shrouded in darkness, with glowing red eyes that seem to burn like hot coals. The dark apparition's body is shrouded in a wispy black mist that seems to swirl around it in an almost hypnotic pattern.
The dark mist that surrounds it seems to choke the air, and its glowing red eyes burn with an intense malevolence. Thiago can see that the dark apparition's arms end in sharp, claw-like fingers that look as if they could tear through steel.
Its rippling muscles flex under its dark cloak, giving the impression of immense strength and power.
The dark mist that surrounds it seems to pulse and writhe, as if it were alive and hungry. As the dark apparition moves, its cloak billows around it like a living thing, and its movements are fluid and almost hypnotic.
Thiago can feel the darkness within it, and it seems to draw in the light and life around it, leaving only a cold, empty void in its wake.
Fear grips Thiago as he realises the true extent of the creature's power. The dark energy emanating from it seems to permeate everything around it, corrupting and twisting even the air itself. It's as if the very fabric of reality is being distorted by the presence of the dark apparition, and Thiago can't help but feel suffocated by the density and heaviness of the darkness that emanates from it, at this moment he can only be glad that he has the dark affinity, otherwise he would have met his end long ago.
Moreover, Thiago could not determine the realm of the creature standing before him, which gave him the creeps, as he had even been able to gauge the strength of the golden basilisk, which had been one major realm above him.
At that moment, the apparition spoke in a heavy, eerie, almost ancient and evil voice that seemed to come from the past, "Another creature has come to be my food, it seems, you human - no, you are actually a beast - will be my nourishment to regain parts of my strength, hehe!"
Before Thiago could realise, what he had just seen and process the entity's words, the dark creature had already struck, leaving Thiago with no chance to fight back.
"F*ck!" Thiago cursed as he saw the dark apparition appear in front of him, only managing to dodge a little to the side, not avoiding the attack completely as he was still grazed heavily in the side by the apparition's claws, causing him yell due to the pain, "Ahh, damn it!"
"Hiss," Thiago sucked in a deep breath of air as he tried to suppress the pain that was coursing through his body at the moment.
He also felt the dark power being injected into his body through the wound, but fortunately it did not matter too much as he was practically immune to the dark power due to his dark affinity.
Well, he could still feel it corroding some of his insides as the dark force was probably of a higher level than his at the moment.
Seeing that his first attack had not hit him perfectly, the dark apparition had a frown on its face, which was not really visible at the moment. But instead of talking nonsense, it attacked again, showing no mercy as it swung its claws at Thiago.
Thiago, on the other hand, was not about to make the same mistake twice. He quickly dodged the attack by jumping backwards, missing the dark apparition's claws by inches.
Thiago really wanted to use his Eyes of Eternal Truth to find out which creature he was up against, but now was not the time to do so, for the moment he stopped to look at the apparition, he would probably be cut in half.
At this point, he used his arsenal of skills such as Shadow Thorns, Poisonous Black Mist and Shadow Binding, but unfortunately it was like throwing a grain of sand into the sea, completely ineffective, as the dark apparition was completely unaffected by these skills, as if they were a light breeze to it.
"What!? No effect whatsoever," exclaimed Thiago in disbelieve as he saw his skills being completely useless and making him feel a sense of powerlessness.
At that moment, the mocking laughter of the dark apparition could be heard, "Ke, ke, ke, do you really think that your puny little dark skills can affect me, a being born of darkness? How truly ignorant.
"Wait a second, how are you able to use dark force, it shouldn't be!"
As if Thiago would answer him...
Realising that these conventional attacks had no effect, Thiago promptly changed back into his beastly form, making his heart ache a little for his now completely torn clothes, well, they had already been somewhat destroyed when the claws of the dark apparition had grazed him, so it wasn't that bad.
So far, he had only tried to fight in his human form, to test his new strength and power in his human form, but he had found that he was absolutely no match for the dark apparition...