Lux took a slow breath to steadying himself as he stepped deeper into the cavern. The air was damp and carried a scent that made his stomach twist. It smeels like old rot mixed with something else unknown.
The dim light came from an unknown source and flickering faintly, casting his shadows across the rough stone walls.
He didn't know what a Lesser Shade was. He didn't know how it moved, how it attacked, or if it could even be killed by someone as weak as him.
His hands curled into trembling fists. He had never fought in his life. His past had been spent in study. His mind can be said as sharp but his body was frail. He had no weapon, no skills, no experience.
And yet, here he was.
A whisper of doubt crept into his mind." How am I supposed to kill that thing?"
But before the thought could take root, the rage returned and roaring back into his chest like fire.
Strangely, the rage calmed himself. Then he felt different in his body.
The strange power that the voice called the Abyss System had changed something inside him. He wasn't sure how but he could sense a strange awareness humming beneath his skin.
His body still looked the same, thin and untrained, but there was another energy lingering deep in his core. Maybe, just maybe, he was already stronger than before. Lux was hoping thatt it was true.
His nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists tighter. The image of his family's bodies flashed in his mind.
His father's headless corpse. His mother's strangled body. His little sister impaled against the wall.
His teeth gritted. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
"Fine. If I have to kill, then I will kill."
Lux muttered the words under his breath, his voice was just a whisper but filled with determination.
He pushed forward with unsteady yet resolute steps, closing the distance between himself and the looming figure of something that possibly the Lesser Shade.
The creature then start to move.
It was a formless mass of black mist that writhed in the dim cavern light. Its shape was ever-shifting, tendrils of darkness extending and retracting as if searching and waiting for him. It had no face, no eyes, no mouth. Just a pulsing and shifting void of pure shadow.
And then it moved.
With an eerie movement, the Shade charged toward Lux. A chill rushed through his body, every instinct screaming at him to run.
But he didn't.
Instead, he lunged forward.
"HYAAAAA!"
Lux's fist struck the Lesser Shade's writhing mass but it was like punching through thick smoke. His arm passed through the shadowy body with no resistance, impact, and no damage.
Before he could react, tendrils of black mist lashed out from the creature.
They wrapped around his legs, arms, body and his neck.
It feels cold and suffocating. The tendrils coiled like living ropes and tightening in an instant.
Lux gasped, his hands clawing at his throat but strangely, the shadowy limbs had no substance whene he touched it. His fingers passed right through them yet the pressure around his neck only grew stronger.
"Ghhk—!"
A crushing force wrapped around his limbs pulling him in different directions. His bones ached under the pressure and a searing pain spread through his body.
His lungs screamed for air but he could barely breathe.
His vision blurred. Black spots clouded his sight.
"I'm going to die—"
The thought barely formed before the Shade throw him away.
Lux's body flew through the air like a ragdoll. The cavern walls rushed toward him and then...
BRUGH!
Another burst of pain shot through his back as he slammed into the stone wall. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs, leaving him gasping in a heap on the cold ground.
Sharp pain flared in his shoulder, ribs, and arms. His entire body was in pain.
He struggled to push himself up, but his strength had drained away in a matter of seconds. His arms shook violently and can not to support even his own weight.
He was still weak after all.
Tears burned at the corners of his eyes.
His chest tightened with frustration and helplessness. He clenched his teeth so hard they hurt.
Why? Why was he so powerless? Why had everything been taken from him? Why did he have to suffer like this? Is he had been cursed by something? Didn't he always pray to the Goddes of Light almost everyday?
The pain. The exhaustion and the sheer unfairness of it all...
Lux's breath came out in shallow gasps.
First, the grief of his family's deaths crushed him. But then, the rage come like wildfire and consuming his heart. He wanted to destroy everything and rip apart whatever had done this to him.
But then, the despair come next.
Tears fell freely now. His hands gripped the stone ground, his nails scraping against it as his body shook with silent sobs.
Why? Why him?
He had never asked for this. Never wanted this pain and suffering. He had been forced into it.
He was nothing.
He was weak.
And yet...the whisper stirred in the back of his mind.
A cold, familiar voice.
["Are you going to give up, Lux?"]
Lux's trembling fingers stilled. He gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to give up.
"No."
His voice came out as a growl almost like its filled with something primal.
The voice chuckled.
["Good."]
There was an edge of amusement in its tone, as if it had been expecting him to break but was pleased that he hadn't.
Then something fell in front of him with a clank. A dagger.
Lux blinked and look at the weapon.
The blade was white and smooth as if made from bone. It was sleek almost elegan and around thirty centimeters long. The hilt was simple, black leather wrapped tightly around the grip.
It was a weapon.
Lux's breath hitched. He reached forward with trembling fingers and wrapped his hand around the hilt. The moment his skin made contact a cold sensation shot up his arm, sending a strange tingling feeling through his veins.
"What is this...?"
But there was no time to think because the Lesser Shade was moving again.
The writhing black mass lurched toward him, its form twisting and contorting, tendrils stretching out.
Lux gritted his teeth and moved as well.
He jumped to his feet, ignoring the screaming pain in his limbs. His body was battered, but something was different now. He have the cold of the dagger in his grip and the burning determination in his chest. It was enough.
The Lesser Shade lunged and Lux charged at it.
He ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding a tendril of shadow that lashed toward his head.
He kept moving forward, ignoring the way his body screamed in protest. But just as he thought he had an opening another tendril shot out from the ground and coiled around his ankle.
Before he could react, it yanked him off his feet.
Lux's face smashed against the cold rock floor. The impact sent a jolt of pain through his skull, but he refused to stop.
He still had the dagger.
With a desperate motion he slashed at the shadowy tendril wrapped around his leg. The blade sliced through it like a hot knife through wax. The moment the dagger made contact the dark mass shrieked and recoiled then dissipating into nothing.
It could be cut now. It could be hurt.
Lux didn't have time to be surprised.
Fueled by instinct, he pushed himself up and lunged again.
Another tendril came for him, this time from his right. He twisted his body and swinging the dagger down. The blade connected and severing the mist appendage cleanly. The severed mass of darkness writhed for a brief moment before vanishing into thin air.
He didn't stop.
Lux sprinted forward. The Lesser Shade loomed in front of him — a pulsing, amorphous void of darkness shifting and writhing as if sensing his approach.
Lux finally reached the creature and drove his dagger forward with all his strength.
The blade struck solid resistance. Unlike before where his fists had passed through harmlessly, the dagger met something tangible beneath the swirling darkness. The Shade let out an unnatural screech and shuddering violently.
Lux gritted his teeth and kept stabbing.
Again, again, and again!
Each thrust of the dagger dug deeper. the creature let out agonized wail that echoed throughout the cavern. The pulsing darkness writhed and twisted then shrinking.
And then, with one final piercing shriek, the Lesser Shade dissolved.
The cavern fell silent.
Lux stood there with chest heaving, his arms trembling as he held the dagger. For a moment, he simply stared at the spot where it had been, unable to fully grasp that he had won.
Then, his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.
A soft chime echoed in his ears. A notification from the System.
[Objective Complete!]
[You gained 100 exp!]
[You Leveled Up!]
[Basic Combat Skills acquired!]
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