CHAPTER 29: CLASS AWAKENING QUEST 3

~50:20~

"Tch, keep counting down, why don’t you?" I muttered, my breath ragged as I pushed forward. Behind me, I heard the distant snarls of both elemental dogs as they tore through the air in pursuit of me. Theier elemental powers lightining up the gloom with flashes of ice blue and firey orange. They’d catch up soon, but I couldn’t afford to slow down.

"Skill..."

"Divine Thread..."

Ding!

~Active Skill Divine Thread~

~Arcane Reserves: 1500/2000~

A skill that allows me to see the weaknessess of anyone or anything that expressing killing intent towards me. It was such a useful skill to be used at this moment, because since I entered this dungeon gate Shadow Creatures had been lurking at every given corner waiting to strike.

As I sprinted deeper into the dungeon’s heart, the twisted landscape seemed to pulse with malice, like the very ground was alive and plotting some evil shit against me.

The purple black sky still hung low, jagged with shadows that danced unnaturally across the dead trees and my boots pounded againt the slick earth, each step kicking up clumps of mud that clung to my legs. The aura of the anti-arcane energy in the air was was thick- almost chewable and it made my skin tickle abit. Ic uld feel the system’s timer ticking away in the back of my mind relentlessly, even further fueling my drive.

Behind me, the snarls of Cryo and Pyro were audible through the woods, growing fainter as the finsihed off shadow creatures that I didn’t kill. They were loyal Arcane pets, bound to my will through the systems arcane threads, and I knew theyd catch up soon. The dungeeon was sprawling with hiddedn clearings and every second wasted was a step closer to failure.

The path I was on, widened into a small clearing, ringed by gnarled trees that twisted uprad like skeletal fingers. And there, skulking in the dim light, were more shadow creatures htat looked stronger that the webfangs I had been fighting, but still far from boss level caliber.

These shadow creatures were different from anything I had ever faced before, according to the Divine Thread information, they were called Shadow Lurkers; humanoid wisps of darkness with elonged limbs ending in razor sharp claws. Their forms flickered in and out of cisibilty, blending with the gloom, and their eyes glowed a sickly green colour. There were four of them, circling the clearing as if guarding an invisible threshold.

They hissed in unison, sensing my approach and thir bodies coiled like smoke to strike. I didn’t break stride, I may never have faced them before but the Divine Thread information told me exactly where and where to compromise in their bodies.

"Cryo... Pyro, flank and engage!" I shouted, my voice cutting throught the silence like a whip lash.

The portals shimmered briefly behind me as my elemental dogs burst into the cleairng, their paws thundering against the ground as the immediately went to action with cryo veering left and its icy fur bristling as frost spread in a web beneath it. Pyro went right, flames igniting the small patches of dead grass into brief infernos. The shadow lurkers reacted instantly as well, two sprinting towards me while the other split to intercept the dogs.

"It would be foolish of me to try to make sense of Shadow Creatures..." I muttered to myself as I let my arcane reseve sqaush opening, pouring a good amount of arcane energy into the bone white daggers.

The first lurker slashed at me with its claws, ablur of shadow that would have destroyed a less stronger version of myself.

"Erebis!!" I intoned.

Booom!

Arcane flames burst from the bone white daggers, adding an extra level of lethality to the already formidable blade.

I twisted sideways, my daggers flashing in a defensive arc that met the creature’s arm with a satisfying crunch, severing the shadowy limb clean off from the rest of its body.

Black ichor sprayed uncontrollably and evaporated tinot mist before it even hit the ground. The lurker recoild, screeching, but I pressed the advantage I had just created for myself. I spun low, seeping my left dagger across its legs, hamstringing it in a spray of dark essence.

As it crumpled, I drove my right dagger upward, pircing its chest area where the pulsating anti-arcane stone layed at its center. The blade absorbed the energy, glwoing faintly as the creature dissolved into a wisps of smoke.

Ding!

~Congratulations, You have Levelled up!~

"Elemental Ice Technique... Frost Nova!" I commanded, glancing left where my icy dog was locked in combat with another lurker. Cyro instantly obeyed without hesitation, planting its paws and unleashing a burst of arctic energy. A dome of freezing wind expanded from it, encasing the lurker in a thick layer of ice. The creature froze mid swipe, its claws inches from cryo’s flank. And with a powerful leap, cryo shattered the ice with its jaws, crunching through the brittle form and scattering frozen shards across the clearing.

On the other side, Pyro was a whirlwind of fire. It lowered its head as flames erupted along its spine as it barreled forward like a living content. The lurker facing him tried to evade, melting into the shadows, but pyro’s charge ignited the air itself.

It slammed into the creature, engulfing it in a roaring blaze. The shadow screeched as its form ignited, burning away layer by layer until only ashes remained. Pyro shook himself off, embers flying, his amber eyes locking onto the last lurker that was now turning towards me.

This one was somewhat craftier than the rest of them, phasing through my initial dagger thrust as if it were mist. It managed to do this by moving the anti-arcane stone located in its forehead to another location.

I cursed under my breath, flipping backward to avoid its counterattck, which was a sweeping claw that raked the air where my chest had been. The bone-white daggers thrummed in my grip, their edges sharpening with the black flames of my skill Erebis.

In a swift and fluid motin, I feinted left, then struck right, my blades weaving a deadly pattern. The left dagger grazed its side, drawing a line of sizzling shadow that made it solidify for a split second.

That was all I needed.

I plunged the right dagger into its abdomen, twisting to maximize the damage. The creature wailed, its form destabilizing, but it lashed out widly, scoring a shallow gash across my arm. The pain flared with hot and sharp pain, but I ignored it as adranaline flushed into my system constantly.

"Finish him!" I ordered, coordinating me pets assault. Pyro whipped its tail, sending a whip of fire cracking through the air. It wrapped around the lurker’s legs, searing its shadowy flesh and pulling it oof balance. Cryo followed up seamlessly, exhaling a stream of icy chains that coiled around the creature’s upper body, freezing it in place.

Trapped between fire and ice, the lurker thrashed helplessly. I darted in, my daggers moved in a blur of black. Left slash to weaken its defenses, right thrust to pierce the core. The blades sank deep, absorbing the last of the stones energy as it exploded into harmless vapour.

Panting, I wiped sweat from my brow, the open clearing was now silent except for the distant buzz of the dungeons energy. Cryo and pyro trotted over, their elemental auras clashing in a steam of hot and cold.

Cryo’s tongue lolled out, frost forming on the ground where his saliva dripped. Pyro’s flames dimmed slightly, conserving energy.

"Good boys," I muttered, as I turned towards the direction the bosses aura was eminating from. The system’s timer nagged at me constantly, and I could feel the dungeon shifting, as if the shadows were regrouping.

Without wasting anymore time, we pressed on, the path narrowing again into a dense line of dead vines and thorny bushes that scraped at my clothes. The magical energy grew denser, making every breath feel like inhaling thick syrup.

U[ ahead, the terrain opened into a larger ravine, which was a sunken pit lined with jagged rocks and swirling mists. And there, swarming like live insects, were more creatures which Divine Thread identified as Void Stalkers. These were quadrupedal shadows that were sleek and agile, with tendrils of darkness whipping from their backs like lashes.

They werent boss level, but their numbers made them dangerous.

A pack of eight, prowling the ravine floor, their yellow eyes scanning for intruders. I gripped my daggers tighter, the bone white blades still pulsing with black fire of my skill, enhancing their cutting edge.

"Alright, boys... lets carve through the, Cryo lead with Blizzard Veil, Pyro follow with EMber storm!"

Ding!

~Your Arcane pet Elemental Dogs have activated a skills~

Cryo dashed forward with a growl, leaping into the ravine. It channeled its power outward, summoning a swirling veil of blizzard winds that blanketed the area in snow and ice. The void stalkers hissed as their movements slowed by the freezing gale. The total visibilty of the entire area instaly dropped, but it was part of the plan as suggested by my Divine Thread skill, it disoriented them while I navigated by pure instinct