Thirty-One: Death Guard
Dusken's vision cleared and he saw himself sitting on a small rock in the middle of a vast blue sea.
He was no longer wearing rags, instead, he was dressed in traditional, samurai clothing.
He was adorned in a loose, light-coloured robe with wide sleeves. His wrists and forearms were tied with crisscrossed wraps, giving him the air of a combatant.
His robe was tied at the waist with a dark sash, making it cling to his body. On his back, his dark sword was strapped and this made him completely look like a young combatant.
Dusken observed himself, a weird light passing through his eyes. He surveyed his surroundings, and everything that came tp view was water.
Except in the distance where a castle stood, the area surrounding it was completely dark.
Black clouds hung low as dark lightening streaked through them from time to time, giving it am ominous feeling.
'That's probably where the core of this inheritance lay. That voice had said that we only have five hours to fight for the inheritance or die.' Dusken thought as he gazed at the sky.
The setting sun in the sky was of the colour blue, casting the area in an azure hue.
However, Dusken had to find a way to cross the ocean and get to the castle for the legacy of Nothing.
His stare moved below, staring at his pale reflection casted on the surface of the water. His short white hair, dark obsidian eyes, pale white skin and slightly mature build.
'So that's how it is. I have to say that gods are really overpowered.' Dusken noted. When he had entered the trial, his physical stature had changed, making him look older than a ten-year-old.
He had been suspecting that perhaps, he had taken the body of someone else, but now, his conjecture was proven wrong.
The god of darkness had increased his age to about 15 in the trial from his previous ten. This was the reason why he couldn't recognize the other candidates.
Although he had seen them before entering the trial, they were all just ten like him, and now they were suddenly 15 or 16, so it made sense why they couldn't recognize each other.
Dusken snapped out of his thoughts and summoned his soul script.
Name: Dusken
Innate Name: -
Rank: Awakened
Level: 1
Abysmal points: [92/1000]
Spell Cards: 1
Scrolls: 1
Material Cards: 3
DeathNote: 0
Entities: [Open]
Talent: Abyssal Star
Talent Rank: Ultimate
Talent abilities: [Darkshadow control]
Side abilities: [Child Of the Abyss]
Innate abilities: [Dark Flame]
Legacy: None
'Interesting. 92 abysmal points from 30, war is indeed a very resourceful undertaking.' Dusken knew that if it wasn't for that battle, he wouldn't have had such great improvements.
'Oh, from one material card to three, not bad, not bad indeed.' He nodded inwardly, but then saw the 'entities' on the screen indicating that he should open.
Normally, the soul script had many words, and Dusken could choose the ones to view.
If he wanted, he could make his Talent abilities become; Talent Abilities: [Open] to save more space and for more accuracy.
He commanded with his mind and following his instructions, the words on the soul script changed.
Entities: [Ebon]
Entity Type: [Death Guard]
Rank: Awakened
Level: One
'Hmm, Interesting. It seems there's more to this death guard than what meets the eye.' Dusken thought as he continued reading.
Ebon's Information: [An entity made by an Abyssal Star borrowing the authority of an Abyssal Demon.]
Ebon's abilities: [Death Hunt]
Ebon's side abilities: [Shadow sense], [Shadow Pool]
Death Hunt ability description: [This guard can locate the enemies of its master and hunt them down.]
'This ability is not fitted for combat but is extremely deadly if used properly.' Dusken smiled darkly as he began thinking of those youngsters who had ambushed him.
His gaze moved back to the screen, and he kept on reading.
Shadow sense ability description: [This death guard has a good connection with the shadows and can sense through them.]
Dusken immediately identified it as the perception that Ebon had shared with him. And this thought made him curious if Ebon had a mind of its own.
If it was true, would it one day rebel? Or would it become a subservient guard for life?
He smiled at this thought even if all these were true… so what? His stare moved back to the screen.
Shadow pool side ability description: [This death guard has poisonous nails capable of making any lifeforms become a pool of shadow.]
This was all the information there was about Ebon - his so-called death guard. Dusken didn't know if the creation of the death guard was a result of his talent or if the god of darkness had something to do with this. After all, Nothing was also the god of death.
Shaking his head to dispel such thoughts, he decided to call upon Ebon. As soon as this thought surfaced in his mind, his shadow shook slightly as something crawled out.
It slowly transformed into a kneeling Ebon. Dusken scrutinized, from what he saw, it looked very much the same as it had been before the creature's death.
The black hair covering its body, its dark, narrow eyes, slim, bony hands, and thick, strong legs. The only difference was that it was exuding black smoke and was pitch black.
Dusken hesitantly stretched his hands and touched the death guard. He subconsciously flinched, thinking that the black smoke would harm him, except that it was the opposite.
'Hmm, all good. The only thing I don't know is how it grows stronger and how it should level up.' Dusken pondered on this thought. When it killed that beastman, he had been the one who received abysmal points, not it.
Staring at the vast expanse of water and the distant castle, he knew that to leave this place would be a hectic journey.
'How do I cross this river to reach the castle? Once again, I'm stranded.' Dusken shook his head, letting out a silent sigh.
"Don't tell me I have to swim?" He muttered under his breath as his gaze swept the expanse of the sea, he seemed to have no other choice.
However, he still hadn't checked his new material cards, but that would be a thing to do another time. The more he remained idle, the less time he had as the five-hour deadline was ticking by.
The last ray of the blue sun vanished beyond the horizon and with it came a huge movement of the sea.
The entire ocean seemed to have come alive as they all surged at him.