The enormous beast glared down towards us with its glimmering eyes, an ominous aura surrounding its body. I felt my body shiver with fear, trembling uncontrollably. Then, Avid suddenly grabbed my right arm, before pulling me with him. “Come on! We have to get out of here, now!”

  “R-Right..!” It took me a second to process what the assassin had said, however after I had regained control of my body, I felt his grip disappear from my arm, before I dashed after him — the two of us making a mad dash back towards the cliff edge we had originally leapt from to enter this giant crater. The beast let out an echoing roar that shook the very ground we were standing on, making running a lot harder, however not enough to throw me off my balance.

  Then, I felt the ground tremble violently.

  Throwing a look back, I noticed that the beast had taken a step forward, before leaning forward. The crystals covering its body suddenly lit up, as if charging. Then, my eyes widened, before I turned back around and leapt towards Avid, tackling him down to the ground. “On the ground!”

  Right as we hit the ground, the beast fired off a beam that just barely went above us, annihilating the cliffside we were running towards and eviscerating the forest just beyond it. Just one attack from the thing, had done so much damage.

  Then, suddenly I felt the weight being pushed down on me increase.

  The density of magical energy in the area had increased once more. I struggled to get back up onto my feet, and so did Avid, however he seemed to struggle a lot less than me — most likely because of the power difference between us both. We threw our gazes back at the beast, which glared at us with its red eyes, opening its jaws slightly and breathing out – acidic saliva dropping from its mouth, which seared into the dirt below it.

  “Christ almighty, what kind of abomination is that thing…” I shed a cold sweat, feeling my body tremble in fear again. Avid remained silent for a moment, throwing his look all around the place.

  “Escape won’t be an option. At least, not for both of us.”

  I looked at Avid, who looked at me with a serious gaze through his mask. “I will serve as a distraction and divert its attention. You must make a run for it and get to Ordial to alert the guards about this entire thing.” As soon as his plan was voiced, I felt my heart sink a little.

  It wasn’t as if I didn’t want to make it out alive, but – to do so, because someone I had literally only met a day or two ago sacrificed himself to allow for that, would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. “Hell no! You’re going to die if you—”

  “I know the risk of this. Besides, I have a far, far better chance of lasting just long enough against this thing in combat than you. So please–” He placed his right hand onto my left shoulder. “Get on out of here. Now.” After saying that, he didn’t waste a single extra second or breath saying anything else.

  Instead, he let go and dashed towards the beast and then to the left side. “Hey! Over here you rejected child of gods!” The beast turned its full attention to Avid, roaring towards him, before slowly following after the assassin, who simply made a mad dash to the other side of the crater.

  My heart was racing.

  My thoughts — were flying all over the place.

  What was I supposed to do?

  I couldn’t just leave him here to die. Even if he is doing this to allow me to escape and inform anyone at Ordial about this monster heart and I’m guessing the beast appearing here, it simply wasn’t the right move for me to leave someone for dead.

  Most people would do it.

  Most would use this opportunity to do exactly what Avid had just told me to do — to run away and seek help, or even to simply run away and escape with their life. But me?... I just didn’t have the courage to do so.

  No – rather, it went against my personal moral compass to leave someone for dead.

  I grit my teeth.

  “Jesus Christ, this is my problem… I am far, far too stubborn for my own good.” Powering through my own body's fear and the immense pressure I felt upon my body from the density of magical energy in the area around me, I stood back up before taking in a deep breath.

  Then, I looked at the beast, which chased after Avid, while the assassin evaded its attempts at blocking his path. I felt a small internal flame almost ignite. Yeah — I was still scared. My body was shaking. I was sweating. However, I will not let that fear control me no matter what.

  Individual Skill [Beasts Will] has been activated.

  Through your determination to stay and help Human ‘Avid’ you have shown your resolve and will.

  All stats have been boosted by 100%.

  I could barely notice the notice window, before I dashed towards the abomination of a beast and Avid, forming the Venomous Spear on the way there, before leaping high up into the air, using my ‘Venom Mastery’ skill to form a small solid orb at my right foot midair to propel myself from towards the beast.

  I gripped the spear with both of my hands, before exhaling.

  “No turning back.”

  Avid leapt to the right, just barely avoiding a stomp from the beast, before unsheathing his dagger and charging at the beasts leg, leaping onto it and then quickly making his way up its body, while the beast tried to shake it off and grab him with its claws. Making his way up to its torso, he leapt off of it and towards the head, grabbing the blade of his dagger with his other hand, before black mist surrounded it.

  “Arts of Imminent Death, fifth technique – Mist of Death's Shadow.” He quietly said to himself, before the dagger in his hand was engulfed in the black mist. Then, he pulled his arm holding the dagger back, as he approached the head — letting out a loud battle cry as he crashed into the head, stabbing the dagger into it.

  It was a struggle.

  The crystal that made up the beast's bones was absolutely resistant, not even budging from Avids initial strike, however the assassin pushed his dagger further and further - until…

  The crystal slightly cracked.

  However — that was all that happened.

  The beast roared, flinging Avid off of it and his dagger out of his hand, before grabbing him in its jaws and easily tearing through his clothes and armour. Avid coughed up blood. A slight shhh… sound came from the mouth of the beast, signalling that the acidic saliva of the monster had come in contact with his clothes and body as well.

  “Arghhhh—!” Avid let out a pained scream.

  The beast flung his body around for a bit, before tossing it to the ground. Avid hit the ground heavily, coughing up more blood, before looking at the portion of his body that had been inside the beast's jaws. His clothes were torn, alongside his armour. His other dagger was shattered, his skin was pierced through and also singed and burnt by the acidic saliva.

  His vision blurred for a split second, before he flipped over and looked at the beast, which leaned forward, casting its shadow over Avid, while its red eyes pierced through the shadow over its nuzzle.

  “Hah… I only got in one strike and already am out of the game? What kind of pathetic display was that? Especially after that whole brave act, that I will buy some time… What an embarrassment." Avid thought, before clenching his teeth and forcing his body to stand up. He visibly struggled, stumbling forward and back, while his body bled out and he coughed up even more blood. He couldn’t stand completely straight.

  His entire body trembled, while he grasped his punctured stomach.

  “Even if I somehow live here, I will probably die before I can get medical help at Ordial…” The assassin raised his other arm towards the beast, his vision blurring again, while the beast opened its jaws, saliva dropping from its mouth while it breathed out, reaching its head closer and closer towards Avid.

  Then, before anything else happened, Faofa crashed into the neck of the beast, piercing through its scales and immediately cracking the crystal bones beneath the scales. The beast roared in pain, before violently flipping around, flinging Faofa off.

  However I didn’t hit the ground heavily at all, instead, I used the shadow beneath the beast to quickly catch myself and lower myself down to the ground, before spinning the spear in my hands and stabbing it into the ground, manipulating the beasts own shadows to shoot up as appendages, before tying around the beast and its limbs, binding it down.

  Then, I dashed towards Avid, who looked shocked.

  “Wh…” He coughed, tumbling forward. I quickly caught him, helping him to stand. “Why are you still here…?! You… need to run… now!”

  “Yeah, a little too late for that.” I replied before looking at the beast, which was beginning to break free from the shadow binds around it. With the stat boosts from ‘Beasts Will’ I could attempt to try and fight it, however I would not be able to utilise all my skills if Avid is here to watch.

  “I will deal with the beast. You get to Ordial.”

  Avid looked at me dumbfounded. “What in the name… of the dragons are you—” I looked away, extending my right arm towards some nearby shadows created by some rocks. “Please work, please work…”

  “Child of Shadows, I order you to appear before me now!”

  Individual skill [Shadowlord] has been activated.

  The shadows below the rocks moved, before forming into a larger shadow, from which something leapt out of, landing in front of me. It was a creature that was entirely composed of shadows shaped like a large, large direwolf, and that was just like Arvalor, only this one — was a native resident of the world in the shadows that I could access.

  A Shadow Beast.

  I quickly placed Avid onto the back of the beast, before gently patting its head. “H-Hold on…!” Avid coughed again, before gasping for air. I looked at him and smiled gently. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

  Then, I exhaled.

  “Go! Take him to Ordial!” As soon as I gave the order, the shadow beast howled, before flipping around and dashing away with incredible speed, towards the cliff edge me and Avid had originally headed towards, before leaping into the shadows that were there, with Avid.

  With the assassin gone, I was now alone.

  I turned to face the abomination once more, while the beast finally broke out from its bindings and let out a loud, pounding roar, before glaring at me with a furious gaze. I took a deep breath. My whole body was still shaking. I was still feeling the enormous weight upon my body from the density of magical energy in the air around me.

  However, I didn’t waver.

  I formed the Venom Spear once more, spinning it before walking towards the beast, with shining eyes. “I’ve done a lot of dumb things in my life… but this…” I smiled slightly, a nervous sweat rolling across my face, as I narrowed my eyes on the Beast. “This is definitely the dumbest one of them all.”

  The beast roared at me again, before its crystals charged up and it fired its powerful beam at me. I quickly leapt into the air evading the attack before forming a lot of small orbs of venom in the air around me, before sending a barrage fire down onto the beast and then propelling myself down towards it.

  The barrage of venom bullets came raining down onto the beast, however, as probably expected, they didn’t so much as scratch it. “As expected, that did absolutely nothing… But that doesn’t matter. It wasn’t supposed to do any damage any way– just distract it!” I pulled my spear back, before crashing into the back of the beast's neck, staggering it a bit, however unable to break through the crystal that made up its inner body. The beast tanked the upcoming barrage of bullets for a bit, its body trembling before it flung its head up, its eyes shining bright as it let out a screeching roar.

  I was immediately flung away — not necessarily by the beast itself, rather, by its booming voice. However, I managed to slow down my momentum and stand on my legs, before leaping to the side, as the monster fired off another one of its beams towards me. “If I just keep tickling it, I won’t get anywhere… I have to start doing big hits.” I thought, as I dashed around the monster — the thing slowly turning around to follow my movement with its head, its red eyes shining bright.

  I scoffed, before picking up my speed even more and practically accelerating myself forward, before locking my eyes onto the shadow beneath the beast. The monster swiped its tail towards me, forcing me to leap into the air to dodge, spinning a bit, before narrowing my eyes onto the shadow below it, pulling my free hand up. In an instant, binds shot up from the shadows once more, wrapping themselves around the beast and pulling it down towards the ground.

  The monster resisted, snapping through some of the bindings as it attempted to push back, however I would quickly create new ones around it. I had a plan in mind, but for it to work, this thing had to be immobilised.

  “Praying that this works…” I thought, before propelling myself down towards the beast again, but instead of crashing onto it, this time, I went under it, sliding against the shadow like I was on rollerskates and examining the area below it, searching for any potential weak spots or anything that would give a clue on how to beat this thing. But nothing — it was just the same as the rest of the thing's body. “Nothing here… well, either way, there’s one more thing I want to try.” I thought, and right before I slid back out into the open, I sunk my spear into the shadow, keeping it inside there for a few seconds, before the beast tore through the shadow bindings once more and roared, forcing me to quickly leap on out of there.

  The monster was engulfed in a powerful violet aura, before it turned around to face me, its eyes burning red as it roared towards me once more and then fired off a fiery breath, which I promptly dodged, by leaping into the air, spinning the spear I had pulled out of the shadow.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  It worked.

  My small experiment.

  Shadows, through the use of ‘Shadowlord’, behaved a lot more like a ‘liquid’ or a type of energy. Thanks to that, I was able to form them into whatever shape and form I wanted, as long as they were connected to a source of shadow — as to manipulate shadows, there needed to be shadows.

  So, I thought…

  What if I was to try and combine the shadows and my venom spear? And well, the result was what was in my hands right now. It was a longer, sharper version of the Venom Spear. It was a lot more durable and had a more ‘veiny’ texture to it, with the shadows and venom forming a bit of a ‘synergy’.

  Shadowvenom Spear – [ B-Rank Weapon ].

  The Beast wasted no time, flinging its head up and firing another energy beam towards me, while I lingered in the air. I quickly propelled myself back to the ground, before dashing towards the beast, tightly gripping the newly made weapon in my hands, before slowing myself down just a tiny bit, leaping into the air and crashing into the beast's right side — spinning my spear and jamming the weapon into its body.

  At first, it resisted, but then the crystal bones of its body cracked and then shattered, managing to stab into the body and causing the beast to roar loudly — seemingly in pain, before thrashing around, trying to fling me off of it.

  However I held on.

  The spear was lodged into its body, not coming out easily which allowed me to use it as a grip to hold onto. While it thrashed, I scoffed, before looking down at the shadows below it. Summoning large appendages, I quickly bound its legs, preventing it from moving so much, before pulling out the spear and running up onto its back, stabbing the spear into where usually the spine would be — breaking through the crystal bones in an instant, before dashing down its ‘spine’, dragging the spear along with me, slowly ripping open the back of the creature.

  The beast roared in pain, tearing through the bindings on its legs before the crystals that made up its body lit up brightly once more, as the creature unnaturally flung its head back — as loud crack and then snap sound echoing from it. It was as if the thing had broken its own neck to flip its head a full one eighty degrees to glare at me, before opening its mouth and beginning to charge another energy beam.

  “That is the most uncomfortable thing I’ve seen in my entire life-” I thought, leaping off of the beast's tail, as I finished my dash across its back - lingering in the air above it. The beast moved its head to match my new position, before the beam it was charging grew even larger. My eyes widened slightly.

  Then, the beam was fired. I had almost zero time to react, so dodging was out of the question. Instead, I chose to take the hit, bracing for it — before reinforcing my defence with the shadows on my clothes. As the beam crashed into me, it sent me flying away, hitting the ground rather hard for a second before regaining my balance and slowing down my momentum. The Shadowvenom spear hit the ground not too far away from me.

  “Now that wasn’t so bad…” I thought, before dashing after the spear, grabbing it and then dashing back towards the beast, as it spread its legs a bit, before lowering its head down to the ground. Then, its eyes lit up brightly.

  Followed by the eyes, the crystals on the creature's back began to light up, charging up while magical energy from around the area began to flow towards the beast, becoming visible. I slowed myself, just watching what was happening before my eyes. The creature's legs rooted themselves into the ground underneath the beast, while magical energy flowed into its body, causing the crystals of its body to shine brighter and brighter with every passing moment.

  “What the…”

  Then a small window appeared before me as I sharpened my eyes onto the creature. A massive warning sign flashed onto my face from the window as soon as it appeared.

  Warning;

  The Southern Edge Beast has activated the Individual Skill [Gluttony].

  “Gluttony..? What on earth is that—” Then, my attention wavered away from the window, as I noticed that the human body I had made using the ‘Mimic’ skill was beginning to slowly and slightly break apart, magical energy making it up flowing towards the beast.

  Immediately, I leapt back, creating as much distance between me and the beast as I could. “I get it… The skill it activated, it’s similar to my ‘Devourer’ skill — it absorbs magical energy. Only this one is different… It seems to absorb all the magical energy in the area around it.” That meant that my human form, that I had made using magical energy through ‘Mimic’, was also susceptible to the creature's skill.

  As magical energy flowed more and more into the beast, a massive orb above it began to form, charging up from the magical energy that the beast was absorbing. It was clear that day, that THAT was not a good sign.

  “Most likely charging up some kind of attack, I should—” My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden blast fired towards me, which forced me to quickly create a shield of shadows to protect myself. The fired off blast tore the shields to shreds, however I suffered no damage, simply brushing off the dirt and dust that was shot up because of the impact. Then, immediately, I dashed to the side, before leaping into some nearby shadows.

  There was an idea in my mind. Since the darkness found in the shadows could be fused with my venom — why not try the same with my body?

  Inside the shadows, I used ‘Shadowlord’ to bring the ‘darkness’ towards me, before taking it inside my body. It was a hard and rather painful process, as I felt the darkness brush against what had to be my very soul, however eventually, I managed to do it.

  Successfully infused shadows with your vessel.

  The Resistance of the body has increased.

  Durability of the body has been increased.

  Bingo.

  I dashed towards the beast within the shadows, before leaping out of them right below the beast, slashing my spear against its bottom, before sliding out and dashing as far as I could, the beast simply groaning, but not reacting to my attack in any other way.

  Now that I was so close to it, I took a look at my human form.

  It was still somewhat breaking away, however a lot, lot less and much more slowly, which meant that the shadow infusion with my body had worked. Dashing in a circle around the beast, I formed a pair of venom orbs in the air around me, which followed my movement, before slowing myself and firing them towards the beast as long tendrils, to try and smash its body, however the beast brushed off the attacks like there were nothing, before retaliating by firing off another blast from the orb above it.

  I quickly used the tendrils of venom I had made to create a shield around me, blocking the blast, which shattered the shield, but before I had time to do anything else, another blast came out of nowhere and connected, flinging me back quite a bit.

  I felt my human form break a bit.

  “That’s some serious damage that those blasts do… I should be careful.”

  Then, I dashed towards the beast. Its head moved slightly my way — as if it turned its head to look at me, before the orb above it raged a bit and then a giant laser was fired towards me, which forced me to leap up into the air. The area the laser hit was obliterated, leaving a giant crater there. I shed a slight sweat, before exhaling and getting some stable standing ground with a small venom platform behind me, propelling myself towards the beast.

  Spinning my spear around, I formed a large venom shield in front of me, as another laser was fired off by the orb above the beast, blocking it before crashing into the beasts back and smashing my spear into the crystals on its back, which easily cracked them — as well as broke off a few of them. The beast reacted, its body swaying, before it let out an ear piercing roar, which eventually went outside my hearing range.

  “Right, I simply gain the senses I don’t have with this human form. Everything else stays the same as if I was a snake…” I commented, before being flung off of the beast, the Shadowvenom spear staying stabbed into the beast's back. Then, the orb above the beast began to rapidly fire off bolts towards me.

  I was forced to run — dodging and blocking the attacks using my venom as well as occasionally ‘Shadowlord’. I had to retrieve the Shadowvenom Spear – that was the only thing currently, which would allow me to damage the thing.

  As I circled around the creature, I changed my course, dashing directly towards it, all the while still dodging and blocking the incoming barrage fire from the orb above the thing. As I got closer and closer, the rapidity of the beams increased, until I leapt into the air, right above the beast and then narrowed my eyes onto the orb.

  “Let’s… go!” I propelled myself down towards the beast, crashing through the orb – which didn’t hurt at all, in fact, I couldn’t even feel a thing. Then, I landed on the monster's back, before dashing to the Shadowvenom Spear, about to grab it, before the crystals on the beast's back suddenly shone extremely brightly.

  My eyes widened.

  “...What—?!”

  Before I got any chance to react in any way, I was engulfed in a massive tower of energy. I felt my very body and essence burn, letting out a loud screech that then turned into a hiss, as my human form was burned away – before it became completely inaudible.

  As the energy pillar subsided, Faofa was flung off of the beast's back, his somewhat still together human form now charred and bits and parts broken off, with black mist trailing off the broken parts. The monster glared at Faofa, who laid on the ground motionless. The Shadowvenom spear on the beast's back dissipated, while the creature turned towards Faofa's body and opened its mouth, the magical energy it was absorbing now beginning to charge together into an orb in its mouth.

  I felt cold.

  And I also felt hot at the same time.

  My vision blurred.

  I managed to push myself up from the ground a bit, lifting my head up to look towards the beast that was charging up a shot to fire at me. “What the… hell…” I thought. How was this fair? That thing had pulled a move completely out of nowhere, catching me off guard.

  And the damage I took — it had felt like I had rammed straight into the sun itself. That beam practically burned away at my very soul.

  My breathing was slow and heavy.

  I could feel my own heartbeat. I was… shaking. I was afraid.

  But this fear — this fear was different. It wasn’t a fear of me seeing an abomination I couldn’t beat. No… It was the fear of me meeting something even darker and stronger than this thing ever could be. It was a fear of death.

  “I can’t… Waste this miracle of a reincarnation I was gifted here… I can’t die…” I tried to push myself back up, however nothing. The legs of my human body were severely damaged, almost broken apart completely at this point. That beam had damaged them the most.

  All I could do was stare at the beast, as more and more magical energy was charged into its mouth — the orb growing larger and larger. Then, I closed my eyes. All the sounds around me disappeared. “...Is that really all? Am I going to die here…?”

  I thought.

  However — then, I felt myself grit my teeth.

  “I sent Avid away, telling him I could handle it… I was given this second chance at life for a reason. I cannot waste it here. I cannot… I cannot let my promise to Avid seem like a lie. He’ll never be able to walk it off.”

  I pushed myself up again, my entire human body shaking.

  I could practically hear a loud alarm echoing in my head — as if my body was telling me to just stop and accept my death. However, I resisted it. “If I die here, someone else will feel guilty for it. If I die here, someone else won’t be able to sleep at night, believing that he had caused my death. So, no… I won’t allow myself to die here.”

  I glared at the beast, my eyes shining for a bit, before extending my right arm out towards the beast, gritting my teeth and squeezing my hand into a tight fist. “Screw you death! Screw you world! And…” I felt a burning flame inside my chest, as I managed to push myself to stand up somehow, before letting out a loud yell of pure rage.

  “Screw you, you abomination!”

  Then, red lightning emerged and raged from Faofas body. The magical energy that was being absorbed by the beast suddenly began to falter, instead flowing towards Faofa. A large red spell circle appeared below Faofa, at the center of which was the symbol of a serpent's head.

  A red aura engulfed Faofa's body, while his eyes turned deep, deep red, with red lightning crackling from them, as he flung his head down, gritting his teeth and pointing his arms towards the beast. The same spell circle that was below him manifested in front of his hands, before the red lightning and magical energy being absorbed into the circles began to flow into the spell circle in front of Faofa.

  A massive wind force raged on.

  A storm-like tornado formed around Faofa, with red lightning and clouds forming around, twirling around him.

  The beast growled, before firing off the charged up beam towards Faofa, the beam being the same as the pillar it had unleashed from its back, just fired off horizontally. A voice rang out in Faora's head.

  Successful.

  Individual Skill [Serpents Wrath] has been learned.

  Activating [Serpents Wrath] immediately.