CHAPTER 9: BRAINS OVER FLAMES

I had never felt so much excitement and adranaline buzzing through my veins as I prepared to set out.

It was so much that I had told my twin little brothers, Percy and Jackson about it. That I would be going on a super high level quest with the goal being to hatch the egg.

They were filled with awe on hearing this news and even helped me prepare so that I could leave as early as possible.

"Please be careful, Levi..." Jackson urged with concern.

"I will..." I called back waving at them as the first rays of the sun started to appear.

It was normal for them to feel concerned, the one person they looked up to was intentionally putting himself in a situation that will highly lead to death.

I strapped my gear close to my chest, and set off toward the location of the gate.

The mysterious system made sure to give me accurate directions to the exact spot where the gate was located. And when I got there I was surprised that no one else had spotted it, before now.

It was dead center in the middle of a corn field that belonged to one of the elites in the town, belonging to someone of such high class its natural to think their properties would be under keen eyes. So why hadn’t anyone spotted this gate and reported it to the Reapers Association.

As I shoved long, bristle leaves out of my face, I approached the gates shimmering horizon, hanging in the air with pulsing energy.

The excitement within me multiplied ten fold when I got close enough to feel the intensity radiating from it.

Another gate quest! If i somehow find a way to clear this gate, I would be rewarded handsomely just like the last time.

"But..."

The gate led to a dimension filled with Shadow Creautures and their never ending thirst for Arcane blood.

I stepped through the portal and instantly, my body warped and spagetified till I was transported to a dimly lit cavern.

I opened my eyes slowly to observe my environment, taking in all the elements that made up my line of sight.

"Is it a labyrinth?," I said with a huge sigh.

The air was thick with tension and the sounds of distant howls and growls could be very much audible, if I was in this situation several days ago I would be shaking in my boots. But, now I was confident and a small smirk tugged at the side of my lips.

The layout of the dimensional space was twisting and maze like, with shadows lurking around every corner I turned.

Before long, I eventually encountered my first wave of Shadow creatures: Hooded faceless creatures that were wrapped in tattered robes and shadowy bodies that blurred at the edges like smoke or mist.

Their eyes glowed from a range of red, white and eerie green, I assumed that signified their threat level or how strong they were.

"Tch! Ghost-Type Shadow creatures..." I muttered to myself as I dragged my feet across the ground, falling into a fighting stance.

They floated sightly with their menacing eyes locked onto me, I wasn’t going to let them intimidate me... lets get this over with.

"Skill..."

"Divine Thread..."

I activated my invoked skill to assess and analyze their weaknesses so I could exploit them.

Ding!

~Active Skill Divine Thread~

~Target Identified: 50 Special Undead~

~Weaknesses Detected~

~Vulnerable to light based damage.~

~Bound by Arcane enhanced weapons~

~Anti-arcane stone unstable in sunlight~

~Spiritual form disrupted by sound based resonance~

They were in their numbers, I could barely count.

"I’ve never face this much enemies at once..." I muttered, but I wasn’t afraid, I was calm and focused with my calculative brain going to work.

My blade scrapped against it sheath as I drew it, knowing fully well that they were immune to ordinary steel like this.

"If I was a Pyromancer, I would instantly torch them. Or a Photomancer, I would instantly chant light into their bones...."

I chuckled purely out of instinct at my unfortunate predicament, "I have neither flame nor faith..."

My knuckles grew white on the hilt of my blade. "Think, damn it... what do I know?"

My gaze immediately darted to the still active Divine Thread panel that displayed their weaknesses.

"Light sears them and sound disrupts them..."

My heart kicked as I resolved within myself. "Disrupt... break their essence, then stirike their core..."

I raised my sword high above my head and slammed it down against the sturdy stone floor. The screech of steel against rock split the air like a drunk bell. The Shadow creatures shrieked as their shadowy-mist forms twisted violently with their edges shuddering apart.

"Yes..." I muttered as my eyes narrowed with focus. "That’s it!"

I raked my sword across the ground again, this time with even more kinetic energy than the last time, letting the violent screech echo throughout the entire space.

The creatures dislike for it was very much palpable, their movements faltering as their froms began to loose shape.

I didn’t hesitate, this was my chance to face them head-on.

"...Hghhh!"

I charged into them with the first strike shadow creature lunging at me, bony claws stretched at me. But, I was focused on that flickering light that is their endgame. I drove my blade forward, straight into the glowing anti-arcane stone set deep in its forehead. The blade peirced and the creautre dissolved into shadowy smoke and dust.

"One..."

Ding!

~Enemies Defeated: 1/50~

Another attacked me. I wasted no time, striking my sword hard against the floor, the metallic echo rippled through them once again, creating the same disorienting effect. I pivoted, with my new boots aiding my movements, I drove my weapon into another glowing stone, then another and another and another.

Each one burst apart, as I moved in succesfull fluid motions while the creatures were disoriented by echoing sound.

"...Twenty..."

~Enemies Defeated: 20/50~

They fell around me like raining shadows. Every strike of my sword agianst stone sent yet another ripple of agony through them, leaving them weakened and out of order, wide open for my relentless strike. I moved like a predator among a sea of prey, allowing my blade to flash and slash at will, tearing through their foreheads one by one.

The dimly lit space around me became a storm of screeches, my screams and steel scraping, shadows shrieking and stones cracking. My body was starting to ache with exhaustion, but adrenaline and raw fury still allowed me to push forward relentlessly.

~Enemies Defeated: 45/50~

One after another, they collapsed into nothingness leaving behind the very stone that gave them life.

Finally, the last creature shattered into shadowy dust and crumbled into nothingness, I staggered back with my chest heaving and my sword trembling in my grasp.

"Fifty..."

~Enemies Defeated: 50/50~

I fell to one knee, using my sword to support myself.

"Haha! Brains over flames, every time!" I said to myself with a proud grin spread across my face.

I took a moment to catch my breath and steady my heart rate before absorbing the Anti-arcane stone on the floor.

In a short while later, I was on my way moving through the dimension and it didn’t take time for me to arrive at the heart of the cave, which was coinceindentaly the location the gates boss resided.

I wiped the edge of my sword against the ragged sleeve of my tunic. The steel wasn’t chipped or scarred like my previous weapon, it still held its strength after facing 50 shadow creatures.

My ears rand from the relentless screech of metal against stone, and even now, the echoes seemed to erupt from the place I just left.

The boss chamber.

Behind a litter of broken pillars and cracked tiles, a huge, black iron door stood impossibly tall. It pulsed with veins of red light that pulsed faintly across its surface. The kind of door that didn’t just keep something in, it warned anyone to not enter.

"If fifty shadow creatures were guarding the outskirts... what the hell is waiting inside?"

I tightened my grip around my hilt as fear began to creep in behind my back, disrupting the edges of my resolve, but my supreme intellect and mind control pressed back harder.

"Cant retreat... not now..." I muttered to myself.

I stepped closer and the air grew denser like every inhale and exhale I took was borrowed. My boots echoed the floor as each step sounded too loud in the now silent space.

I raised my hand, pressing it agianst the iron. It was warm, not from fire... but from life. The boss was alive and was waiting beyond the door.

A slow grin crept onto my face despite the chill crawling at the back of my neck. "Alright then... lets see what nightmare needs fifty shadows for a welcoming committee."

"Huh," with a grunt, I pushed the door open.