Chapter 19: Shadow Severance!

[Quest Rewards]

[EXP: 14,500]

[+20 STR]

[+30 WIL]

[+10 PER]

[Shadow Mana Affinity]

[Skill: Shadow Severance]

<anno data-annotation-id="d749c0bd-9e9b-6623-3467-7fdd990ad0d3" data-title="[Tier: Grandform]">[Tier: Grandform]¹</anno>

[Perfected Glimpse Applicable]

Zishan became completely silent.

His attention went first to the EXP, then to the Stats, then toward the Shadow Mana Affinity, and finally settled on the Skill.

Grandform.

Stormwing Rend was only Form-Tier. This Skill was an entire Tier higher. His fear suddenly began fighting with his greed.

’Fourteen thousand five hundred EXP...’

[Correct.]

’Thirty fucking Willpower...’

[Correct.]

’And a Grandform-Tier Skill?!’

[Correct.]

The next notification appeared.

[PRECEDENCE AVAILABLE]

[Claim Rewards Before Completion?]

[YES / NO]

Zishan did not even need one second.

’YES! WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WOULD SAY NO?!’

[ADVANCE CLAIM CONFIRMED]

[Processing Quest Rewards...]

"PROCESS FASTER!"

Commander Holtz suddenly moved.

Zishan’s eyes widened. "WAIT! I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU!"

The commander crossed the distance between them before Zishan could properly raise the sword.

[ADVANCE CLAIM SUCCESSFUL]

[EXP: +14,500]

[Level Increased]

[Level: 10 → 20]

[Distributable Stat Points Gained: +30]

[Total Distributable Stat Points: 57]

[+20 STR]

[+30 WIL]

[+10 PER]

[Shadow Mana Affinity Awakened]

[Skill Acquired: Shadow Severance]

[Tier: Grandform]

[Perfected Glimpse: ACTIVE]

Zishan’s Mana had recovered considerably while he was resting and sorting supplies with Ollie, although it still wasn’t completely full. He had enough to fight, but wasting it would be a terrible idea.

The changes hit him at the same moment Commander Holtz’s sword struck.

CLANG!

Zishan blocked by pure instinct, but the force still traveled through the sword and straight into both arms. His feet left the ground, and he was thrown several meters backward before crashing into the dirt.

"FUCK!"

He rolled once and immediately forced himself back onto his feet before Commander Holtz could think of attacking him again.

However, something inside his mind had changed.

Shadow Mana moved through his body for the first time, and Perfected Glimpse immediately showed him how Shadow Severance was supposed to work. He understood the proper grip on the sword, how Mana had to circulate through his arm, where his feet needed to be placed, how his shoulders should turn, and how the shadow beneath the blade could become part of the attack itself.

The problem was that Commander Holtz was still moving too fucking fast.

Zishan barely raised his sword in time. Another impact threw him backward, but this time, his increased Strength allowed him to recover his stance faster.

"Are you trying to assess me or launch me back to my hometown?!" he blurted out, gritting his teeth.

Commander Holtz ignored his complaint and attacked again.

Zishan activated Rift Steps before the blade could reach him. His body disappeared from the commander’s front and reappeared several meters to the side, where he immediately turned and swung the sword.

"Shadow Severance!"

Black Mana crawled across the steel. The sword cut horizontally through the air, but its shadow did something completely different.

A second dark edge rose beneath the actual blade and cut upward from another angle.

Commander Holtz’s expression changed slightly.

His sword redirected almost immediately.

CLANG!

Commander Holtz blocked the sword itself, but the second attack came from its shadow almost instantly afterward. He tilted his head, allowing the second slash to pass beside his face and cut several strands of hair instead.

Zishan froze.

Then, his eyes widened. "OH! OH! DID YOU SEE THAT?! I ALMOST GOT HIM!"

"Focus!" Maela shouted.

Commander Holtz was already in front of him again.

Zishan’s celebration ended immediately. "SHIT!"

The commander’s sword came down. Zishan activated Rift Steps, vanished, and appeared near one of the broken fences just as the ground where he had been standing split beneath the force of the commander’s restrained attack.

Zishan stared at the cut on the ground.

Then, he looked at Commander Holtz.

"You said you weren’t going to kill me!"

"If that attack was going to hit you, I would’ve stopped it."

"HOW THE FUCK WOULD I KNOW THAT?!"

Commander Holtz advanced without responding.

Zishan had no choice but to continue moving. ’Then so be it!’

Rift Steps carried him across the open ground several times, but Commander Holtz kept following him without any visible difficulty. The difference between their levels was so ridiculous that Zishan eventually understood something very depressing.

He was not escaping. Instead, Commander Holtz was allowing him to escape.

That realization annoyed him enough that he finally stopped running directly away and tried attacking instead.

Shadow Mana flowed into his sword, and Perfected Glimpse corrected his movement as he stepped forward. Zishan swung once toward the commander’s shoulder, changed the angle midway through, then created the secondary shadow edge from below.

Commander Holtz blocked both attacks.

Zishan immediately followed with Rift Steps and appeared behind him, attacking again before the commander could fully turn.

Or at least, that was what he thought...

Commander Holtz’s sword was already waiting for him.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The flat side of the blade struck his ribs. Zishan was sent rolling across the ground. He groaned while trying to push himself back up. "How did you know where I was going?!"

"Your exit point is obvious."

Zishan stared at him with deep resentment. ’I hate strong people.’

[The Dumb Host wishes to become a strong person, though.]

’That’s different!’

Commander Holtz suddenly stopped moving.

Zishan did not trust it.

The shadow beneath the commander’s boots began spreading across the ground.

His eyes slowly widened. Four dark figures rose from it. They resembled soldiers, although none of them had actual faces. Their bodies were made entirely from condensed shadow, while swords and spears slowly formed in their hands.

Zishan looked at Commander Holtz. Then, he looked at Maela before returning his gaze to the four shadows.

"Oh right! He’s a Necromancer too! This couldn’t go any worse, right?"

Necromancers themselves were not particularly rare in Cyrune. Ollie had already mentioned them while explaining some of the Magic Professions earlier. Some used corpses, others bones, spirits, remnants, or shadows depending on their Skills and Mana Affinities.

Zishan had found the explanation interesting at the time.

But now?!

"WHY DO YOU NEED FOUR?! I’M LEVEL TWENTY!"

Commander Holtz raised an eyebrow. "Twenty?"

Zishan realized what he had said. "...Ten! I meant ten!"

There was no time to fix the mistake.

The first shadow lunged at him with its dark sword.

Zishan blocked it while twisting aside from a spear coming from the second one. Perfected Glimpse immediately showed him where the third was moving, forcing him to lower his body before another dark blade passed over his head.

He used Rift Steps and escaped their formation before all four shadows could surround him. Unfortunately, Commander Holtz was already standing where he reappeared.

Zishan screamed.

"CAN YOU STOP DOING THAT?!"

The commander struck him across the shoulder with the flat of his sword.

Pain exploded down Zishan’s entire arm, although the thirty provisional points of Willpower somehow made it considerably easier to stay focused through it.

Then, he stumbled away, raised his weapon again, and released Shadow Severance toward the nearest summoned shadow.

The actual blade cut through its chest, while the secondary edge passed through its waist. Then, the shadow split apart.

"HA!" Zishan smiled in triumph. "THAT’S ONE DOWN! HAHAHA!"

Black Mana immediately began gathering the body back together.

Zishan’s smile disappeared. "Oh, fuck you."

The second and third shadows attacked at the same time. Zishan ducked under one sword, blocked another, and kicked the third creature away before realizing that his new Strength had made the kick far stronger than expected.

The shadow flew several meters.

His eyes brightened. "WAHAHA! I’M STRONK—!"

Commander Holtz suddenly hit him from the side.

Zishan also flew several meters. "FUCK!"

<annotations style="display: none;">Trace → Script → Form → Grandform → Masterwork → Sovereign → Dominion → Imperial</annotations>