Erindor stood up , a smile plastered on his face...
He felt completely in sync with the skill. It was as though the shadow mask skill had been deeply engrained in his very being.... The skill had become a part of him. It was like the feeling one got when they had played a particular instrument ,say a piano for a very long time... One would not even have to look on the keyboard to ascertain where next to put your hand... It naturally came to the individual the moment they placed their hands on the keys... The point was that , Erindor felt like he he could use the skill like the same way one would control their limbs...
-" As expected... This feeling never gets old... I read that in the old times people had to literally practice a skill manually for many years before they could reach a certain level of mastery.. But now, thanks to application of nanotechnology and worldly natural energy , all one has to do is assimilate a skill and one would have complete mastery over the skill"
Erindor glanced at a gym apparatus nearby, feeling a strong connection to the shadow of the apparatus...
Quickly in the blink of an eye, Erindor disappeared from where he stood... Erindor found himself in observing things from a worms eye view ... He could percieve the beautiful ceiling of the training hall above him... -" I'm inside the shadow of the gym apparatus..."
An interesting thing about the whole situation if one looked at the current shadow of the gym apparatus was that nothing seemed to have changed, it still assumed the same silhouette of the apparatus , with the same size...
" This skill is specially tailored for spying on others for information... I suppose I've tested out this skill... However , what if I were to use the shadow manipulation skill after using the shadow mask skill... After merging with the shadow of another person, I suppose the shadow manipulation skill can still work right. Besides I can now be classified as my own shadow and at the same time the shadow of the gym apparatus since I've merged with the shadow of the gym apparatus ... This means I can manipulate the plural shadow I've become to form something... In this state, I may even be impervious to physical attacks as a shadow..... I can use this for even assassination purposes ..".
Erindor quickly got to work...
Quickly,the shadow of the gym apparatus started to twist , then coalesced into an ethereally dark human silhouette holding a dark shadowy sword...
The silhouette struck the gym apparatus with the dark shadowy sword...
Clanng!... The gym apparatus remained at the same place, impervious to the attack...
-" Tsk,for it to be this impervious to my attack, this apparatus must be coated with some S rank monster's body or something..." .. Erindor quickly felt himself fading from the shadow of the gym apparatus... Quickly ,he deactivated the shadow mask skill and the shadow manipulation skill at the same time, causing the shadow of the gym apparatus to resume it's previous state. He also appeared at where he was before he used the shadow mask skill on the gym apparatus .
"This application of using the shadow manipulation skill after using the shadow mask skill is quiet useful... Let's call it Umbra kinesis.. I don't even know why I'm giving it that name, but it kinda sounds catchy "
Erindor noted " The shadow mask skill's effect seems to last for about 4 minutes at my current rank..Also were the time duration for maintaining the skill active is up or were I to deactivate the skill before the time duration is up ,I will appear at the location I was at before I used the shadow mask skill... "
"Initially I planned to learn the last skill in addition before I hop into Ultra Fighters,however I suppose I'm tired ... I've been at it for a while now... Let's get something to eat, take a cool shower and then hop into the VR game... I will learn the last skill later... "
******
Erindor stared at the VR helmet of the Ultra fighters game lodged at the edge of a comfy sink like looking cabin..
-"I can't believe I finally get to try out for this game that has its videos bombarding social media video platforms continually ". Erindor was inquisitive...
Wasting no time, he donned the helmet and lay in the comfy cabin, then pressed a side of the helmet to activate it and closed his eyes.
A monotone robotic voice rung in his head " Initiating virtual reality in 3....2.... 1"..
Erindor suddenly saw himself standing in a large void with myriad of colors...
"Welcome to Ultra Fighters Awakened Erindor Thorne... Would you like a change of your appearance?" The monotone robotic voice spoke..
Erindor was quick to respond " I would prefer keeping my appearance the same"...
What was the use of hiding his identity ... He had been humiliated all his life, now that he had the opportunity to make something of his life, what was the use of hiding who he was from the world?...
" Duly noted... Would you like to change your name to something else...let's say an Alias. .. Lots of awakened use an alias to represent themselves on the Ultra Fighters virtual reality platform" The Artificial intelligence voiced.
-" An Alias huh ... This is giving me a headache... Well, I suppose I could choose one, how about Viper?". Erindor decided then told the AI...
"Alias, Viper, has been registered, enjoy your time in the game, Viper " The AI responded...
As soon as the AI finished talking, a holographic screen appeared before Erindor, hinting at aliases of awakened who were currently online(had logged into the game ) and not engaged in any battle he could battle with.
He could also decide to spectate the matches of awakened... Erindor decided to first of all spectate a match and see how the environment in the game was first before he decided to have a battle with anyone...
Quickly he clicked on the "spectate a match" holographic text, causing a couple of arenas where matches were happening live to appear before him...
He quickly selected one of them randomly, then found himself suddenly seated in a large collisuem with a large number of people , about a thousand of seated in random bleaches in the collisuem .. The collisuem was bustling with chatter and activity ..
Erindor was surprised... This was too realistic...
"So this is what the advertisement meant by 99% reality simulation ... I can even sense the shadows of others in this place..... I suppose this is extremely realistic ...."
He placed his hands in the pockets of his white hoodie then walked to a part of the arena which was less crowded ...
" Red Magma is freaking awesome... She's secured 14 consecutive wins in all her matches without even losing a single match... This lady is freaking awesome..."..
" Tenacious is actually pretty awesome too... He's secured a lot of wins although not consecutively... It's quite difficult to predict who will win this match .. I suppose since they both possess the fire affinity, this match will determine which one of them is better than the other "..
Various chatters concerning the two individuals about to duke it out in the arena reached the ears of Erindor ,who finally found a place to sit..
The match could be observed on the large holographic screens spanning the collisuem to give the spectators a better view of the fights... After all, some of the spectators were seated at the far end of the collisuem and could not observe the matches up close ...
Erindor glanced at the two individuals on the holographic screen closely... -"The petite lady with the black hair and red eyes in a red hoodie seems to be the Red Magma lady... She deserves her name.. Her eyes are red, she's dressed in red... Is she a fan of little red riding hood or something?.. hehe... Well... this Tenacious guy is pretty buffed I gotta say... He looks... Tenacious...with his big black eyes,bald head and bulky physique
... It looks like these people have better naming sense that fits them I do .. heh..."...
Swirls of red flames suddenly surrounded Red Magma, assumed the shape of six small birds and shot towards Tenacious...
Tenacious, standing at the same place and not even moving a single step, swirled his fists around and punched them together. The moment he did that , a large ball of flame manifested on top of his head then started shooting out small but many flames towards Red Magma in rapid successions...
The lady demonstrated uncanny agility, manifesting another sort of flame affinity skill that improved her speed. With flames around her feet she sped towards the other party....
" The Tenacious Fella probably only focuses on a more brute approach and is not utilizing fire affinity skills that can make him well rounded... It seems the Red Magma lady might win this match "... In the moment of a few seconds ,right when Erindor spoke, the Red Magma lady appeared before the Tenacious Fella and performed an aerial kick, aiming to land a kick on the temple of Tenacious...
Tenacious swerved his head to the side, then dodged the attack,... Flames manifested around his right fist ,as he aimed to the kick his opponents in the guts.....
However just when he started to ponder where she had suddenly disappeared to all of a sudden, a painful feeling travelled from his nether regions to all parts of his body ...
He had been kicked in his sacred jewels...
The towering man squealed in pain, leaving himself to an opening...
Red flames suddenly danced on his head, eviscerating it to nothings ...
His body fell down, turning into smithereens of light
as simultaneously, the monotone voice of the AI rung in the coliseum with a large holographic text...
" Red Magma wins"...
A cacophony of cheers erupted in the coliseum ...
Red Magma had won... And she had won... Ruthlessly...