Before me stood two long Sand Serpents, hissing their melodies at me. Their sandy colour stained by the burgundy blood stains spread across its grooves. My swords were indeed not capable enough of doing any real damage to them, but now it's different. I now have insight in frin I could've never imagined existed.
My pure white skin turned into pure darkness, the type of darkness fabled in children's bedtime stories. One that could swallow everything that it came into contact with and erase it from existence. Long tendrils of shadow sprouted from my skin growing into vines that crackled with every snap of the wrist.
(''Let's fight you ugly snake.'')
Dozens of black panels appeared in front of me, carrying me forward with more speed than before. Air thinly sliced at my skin with its pressure, trying to grip me back like it's frin nature, but nothing could slow me down at this point.
My shoulder cracked as I whipped my arm toward the giant snake, latching the tiny spikes into its skin. I pulled down towards, trying to sever the head, but I found myself dangling below its head from my arms.
Shit. I'm not strong enough for that, what should I do then? If I can't pull and tear it off then I should…
An idea came to mind which could kill two birds with one stone. Below me a few more panels bridged the path between me and the other Sand Serpent. My feet throbbed from frin overload, this is the down side of creating so many panels.
With my free hand I swiped at the snake's head, trapping its neck in a bind of vines. They both struggled to pull free of my grasp…which worked to my delight.
Four heavy thuds shook the ground as two heads and two large bodies kicked up a tsunami of sand. Monsters are easy to outsmart when they aren't on Void's level. As I thought this, a laugh echoed through my mind. I can only guess this was her agreeing with me.
The last four Sand Serpents grew weary of me after seeing their fallen allies. Projectiles of acid flew towards me, missing by not even a centimetre. This time not only using my legs to bridge the enormous gap. Panels appeared in random places for me to use vines to swing across the sky.
I could feel it, the agitation of the creatures. It was matched with something overflowing in myself…pure ecstasy. Hahaha. This is awesome! Swinging through the air, slaying giant creatures like they were wild pests. (''Cool it boy, I know these emotions are addictive but you've got to concentrate.'')
Void? She can communicate with me when I'm awake too?
(''This was a mutation in your genetics boy, you dived into my blood craze and ingrained into yourself. I am inclined to guess that if you consume more frin from my core we might establish a proper full connection where we can constantly maintain a conversation.'')
A proper connection? That seems interesting-
(''Ghh'') I slammed directly into the serpent's body. This is what I get for not paying attention.
Almost like a snake, my whip slithered around the serpent's neck, getting a good grip. Blood was already starting to trickle from the binds. I swung towards the second serpent, nearly kicking in the head before my whip wrapped around its head. And just as before, the ground shook from the four thuds that followed.
My vision grew blurry as I stared at the last serpents. Their sandy colour seemingly morphed into the darkness of the sky, or at least that's what I was seeing. Very well, if my normal vision refuses to work, then I use particle vision. And so the world lit up in many colours. The giant tube-like creature glowed yellow from its sandy frin, swerving and swaying trying to throw me off.
Even though my muscles screamed in agony from all the exertion, I was purely powered by adrenaline at this point. But even that was running out with every passing second. It felt like chains bound my limbs into an unmoving state, making me a prisoner of in free fall. The all familiar wind bit down on my skin with its icy fangs, trying to tear me apart.
(''Void I have one request.'')
(''Let's hear it boy.'')
(''Shoot up two of those shadow pillars.'')
(''Very well.'')
And without a second passing, two giant torrents of shadow frin shot up to the sky, covering the intrusive moonlight. It basked the cart in a darkness more menacing than any violent monster.
Even my particle vision grew dark.
(''Great job kid.'')
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(''You sure do love passing out, kid. Well at least you deserve this rest. You managed to create a mid-ranged weapon in such a short amount of time. You also shoved magic theory into that brain of yours.'')
Her familiar voice filled my ears with an emotion I hadn't felt with her before. It bundled in my chest like a warmth bubbling to spread throughout my body.
(''It was all with your help. Thank you. I hope in the future we can work together to create more spells and weapons.'')
With her help I managed to kill six Sand Serpents. Something I never could've done by myself. I can…definetly grow past Zeraf with this.
(''Yes boy you can grow past your little girlfriend's level-'') My cheeks instantly flushed into a fiery red.
(''And you can eventually even achieve your little goal of becoming King. Don't act surprised that I know about it, I can see through some of your memories.'')
This feels really awkward to have someone who tried to kill me, now live inside me and read through my head.
(''Well you are gonna have to get used to it. I am here to stay until you die boy. But since I've got you here for some time how about I teach you something new.'')
That would actually be great. Learning anything at this point was an improvement, increasing my chances of growth. I think with time me and Void will grow to be good friends.
(''I agree boy, we will be the best of friends. So no need to be spooked by me, I can't hurt you anymore. So let's begin our lessons!'')
Dozens of swords popped into existence in the surrounding dark space. Just by the shine on them I could tell their sharpness was nothing to scoff at.
(''I thought you said you couldn't hurt me anymore. So uhm…why did you summon these swords?'')
(''Yeah, I can't hurt you. The swords are a different story though.'')
As soon as she finished each sword came flying towards me, slashing and swiping at me. What the hell am I supposed to do here?! Die??
(''Boy, you've always managed to entertain me. Think up of a way to survive these blades before they speed up.'')
Speed up? Is she insane?! I stuck my arm out and summoned a darkened blade. The metallic clank rung in my ear, shaking my brain and ruining my equilibrium. A blade sped towards my head-
-Clang-
I open my fearing eyes to see a black circular object blocking the sword. Is this what she wanted me to do? Learn how to use the shadow panels in order to block attacks? That is genius, on a level I couldn't even imagine.
(''At least you figured it out boy. Now I can speed up the attacks!'')
(''Wait no-'')
-Clang-
-Clang-
-Clang-
I threw up three panels blocking the near instant attacks. She wasn't kidding!
(''Less thinking more blocking boy!'')
-Clang-
-Clang-
Another two spawned from thin air high above me, plunging down into my new panels. With each hit new cracks spread across the darkness like a spider's web. This posed a huge problem as summoning a new one each time required a lot of frin.
Wait..what if I reinforce each panel. Yes it would demand more frin with a higher concentration, but ultimately it would cut down on the cost long term and provide better protection.
Very well. I closed my eyes and popped a panel in front of me. Its particle build up was right before my eyes. There were holes inbetween each particle, trying to rip each other away from its neighbours. This certainly isn't ideal when using magic as a shield.
I reached my hand out, and a ball of pure shadow frin materialised before it. My hand motioned to push it against the panel who seemingly pulled away from it. Particles flew off from the sphere into the gaps inside of the panel, creating a stronger new layer which was stronger and more durable.
My eyes flicked opened and spawned the fortified panel at the oncoming sword.
-Clang-
The sword shattered into hundred of miniscule shards, bouncing off the dark floor. No cracks were to be seen on the panel's surface. Hell yeah! A success!
(''Congratulation boy, you never cease to amaze me.'')
Receiving compliments from Void was something I never thought would happen…but its pleasant nonetheless.
(''Now you have to wake up boy.'')