NOVEL NEXT Adventure 200 – The Shadow under the Moon
“I know what you’re thinking,” Noxi started back up. “However, this kind of fucked leaves you alive and can help you learn so don’t get too discouraged.”
Liam let out a sigh as he stared at the forest full of eggshell white barked trees, he tried thinking about his options. Could he use Veil of Shadows, slowly making his way through the forest, and in turn hopefully bypass everyone and everything they set up?
No. For several reasons, he didn’t think that would be a good idea. For one, the forest was well illuminated thanks to the full moon above it. The light cast down was bright enough that the trees were able to cast shadows. With how low his ability was, even with the bonus he got with all Shadow magic in this form, he would still cast a shadow they could see move about over the ground. It would be a dead giveaway if they knew where to look. If he didn’t use it in the last test then he could have had a chance to use it, but his luck would have caught up to him eventually.
Another reason why he didn’t think it was a good idea to use it was the fact of how fast he was able to move while being covered in the shadows. His movement speed had increased when it hit level ten, but he still had to move slower than compared to a jog, sprint, or run. Coupling with what Noxi had stated earlier, he felt like if he spent too much time trying to get to a certain point then he would fail just from being too cautious.
He wanted to verify that theory, so he asked, “Am I being timed?”
“Yes and no,” Noxi vaguely started to explain. “As a whole you are not being timed. However, you will be timed when confronted with certain situations. Take too long to get out or away, then the test will stop right then and there.”
Liam nodded. While it wasn’t exactly what he had thought, it still lined up with his guesses. So, sneaking through this entire test wouldn’t be the best idea, especially in areas where an ambush or trap could happen.
He looked back at the forest in front of him and took in everything he could see. He took in the placements, the amount of leaves each crown had, places where the moonlight shone more. He knew things could change the farther he went in, but making notes on what he was able to see now could help him later.
“Let me know when you’re ready and we will start this test,” Noxi announced.
Liam nodded as he continued to think. He didn’t want to sprint as fast as he could because he didn’t know how far the test went. Were there sections that indicated how far one made it? Was the forest full of traps and ambushes that appeared one right after the other? Or was everything spaced out to create some kind of psychological attack making the one taking it overthink and in turn make mistakes as they went?
That last thought made him realize that if that was true then the test had already begun. He shouldn’t waste any more time trying to think about the unknown and the what ifs. Instead, he’d had to take this head on and adapt as he went. That’s how he survived back on Earth after everything fell to shit.
Making a decision on how he would approach this, Liam stretched his arms and legs a bit before looking at Noxi and nodding he was ready. To Liam’s confusion, Noxi started walking a bit behind him. He wasn’t sure, but it felt that he was around twenty feet away from him. As soon as he stopped and turned around, Liam felt both a powerful pressure emanating from the man and his Danger Sense flaring up all around him.
Liam activated Mana Sight to see what was going on. His eyes widened as the color of Air mana mixed with what he was starting to associate as Poison Mana not only outlined his body but started to pulse outwards away from his body.
Liam took a few steps back and was about to ask what the hell was going on, but stopped as Noxi opened his mouth, “I forgot to mention exactly how we were going to measure what accounts for the right amount of time being stuck in a certain area for too long was.”
Liam continued to stare at the man. He didn’t like where this was going, but he should have expected something along the lines this would happen.
“While this isn’t my most powerful spell, it will still do a lot of damage to someone of your level and lack of resistance,” Noxi informed. “We will have the antidote ready in case you do get engulfed by this, but I insist you try not to. Once I activate this spell that will be the moment this test begins. Take a few steps forward so you don’t disqualify right at the start.”
Liam made his way right to the edge of the tree line and turned to look at Noxi.
With a nod of approval, Noxi said, “That’s good right there.” Then with what Liam could associate with a smug expression, Noxi added, “Rolling Smog of the Phantasmal Frog.”
As soon as he finished saying that, Liam watched as he lifted both hands up into the air and a fog of purplish-green fog rushed up into the air. After it reached a certain height, it started to come down at a slow speed like a mist showering down.
Before it could even hit the ground, Liam turned and started his way through the forest. He sprinted as fast as he could to gain some distance from the incoming threat. He didn’t know exactly how fast that mist would move as soon as it hit the ground and he didn’t want to find out. However, he knew he needed to have an accurate estimate so he wouldn’t waste energy from moving way too fast or get caught from moving too slow.
As he maneuvered in between the trees, he stole glances over his shoulder to try and find signs of the mist making its way. He didn’t see any signs of the mist and his Danger Sense, while still there, had dimmed down some. It wasn’t flaring up like it had earlier, but it still lingered letting him know the dangers behind him were still there.
Thanks to this, Liam was able to get a better feeling on how this ability worked. While he had it warn him plenty of times in the past, it had never stayed active like this before. He felt like he could use it to gauge how quickly the mist was approaching him. This was a nice development for him. However, now he wanted to know if it would warn him about other dangers while it still warned him about the one behind him.
Since it had dimmed along the entirety of his back his nerves had started to relax a bit as he slowed down to a light jog. Since he had a nice way to tell when it was getting closer he didn’t want to empty his stamina pool so soon. That had swiftly disappeared as a high pitch scree echoed above him.
Liam looked up to see a white owl with a golden line outlining its face staring down at him. At first he didn’t see it because the color of its feathers and body had blended into the trunk of the tree well.
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 5,350/5,350 HP. 4,210/4,210 MP. Level – 17. Tamed Beast.”
Shit. Liam thought as he heard several other calls echoing back from different areas of the forest.
The owl he had passed opened its wings and flew above his head, almost like it was marking his location. This proved to be bad because not too long after it did this, a few others had joined it. While Liam wasn’t sure exactly what they were going to do, he didn’t have a good feeling about them joining together either. He needed to figure out how to lose them.
As he ran he looked around and tried to think about what he could do to lose their trail. He couldn’t really use any spells due to him having to chant. They could probably easily dodge them. He couldn’t really hide either since all there was around him were trees. Trees and the shadows they created from the bright moon above them.
That’s when he got an idea. While he wrote off the ability being too risky, he might be able to use it to throw the owls’ trail off. He looked around for areas that had clumps of dark areas. If he timed things right he could try and use his Veil of Shadows and then Shadow step to an area that was as close to the edge of his radius as he could to try and throw them off. After that he had to hope they would either move away or stay in that one spot trying to find him.
Deciding to go with this strategy, Liam sprinted for a clump of trees that had their branches and leaves so intertwined that it created a nice dark blanket below them. The flock of owls had to try slow down before making a U-turn.
This small bit of time allowed Liam to reach the area he aimed for before they could start making their way towards him. From their perspective they watched him enter the area and as he passed a thick trunk slight bigger than him, and not reappear. They flew over to the trunk and flew around it to see nothing. He had completely disappeared from their sight.
Not liking the fact that they had lost sight of him, each owl that had joined the flock spread out and hovered in every area of the darkened blanket created by the crowns above. After they got into place, their feathers started to lightly glow. After a few seconds had passed, a pale white light suddenly flashed out from their bodies. This sudden burst of light illuminated the dark blanket, revealing any and all hidden things.
After the flash of moon light dimmed and vanished, each owl searched and scanned for their targeted prey. To their annoyance and irritation, he was nowhere in sight. Getting angry, the parliament of owls split and flew as fast as they could, taking the search back up.
Liam felt his heart pound loudly against his chest. After he used Veil of Shadows, he made his way as close to the edge of the darken area of the trees he used as cover to hide his shadowy figure. As soon as he reached the edge the owls had already reached the air above him and spread. He thought their behavior odd and didn’t want to stick around to see what they would do. He aimed for a tree not too far away from him and used Shadow Step to hide in the shadow it had cast.
His Veil of Shadows had dispersed the moment he appeared there, but to his surprise it wasn’t because he used Shadow Step. Instead, it was because of the illuminated flash of pale white light that had come from the area he escaped from. Luckily for him it only revealed his location due to the ability they had used and not because he was in the area or line of sight. Thanks to the tree he hid behind he was able to use Veil of Shadows once more to hide himself. And to his luck the moment he disappeared into the shadows a few owls had passed over head.
That was Lunar Exposure wasn’t it?! They can use Lunar Magic?” Are you serious?! Liam internally swore. I’m glad I got out of there as soon as I could. That would have been bad if I had gotten caught in that.
Liam changed his direction back towards the way he was originally running and looked around. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes to help shield them in case they decided to use that ability again. While the owls had left in search of him that didn’t mean there weren’t any around or any he wouldn’t run into. It just meant that he now had to be careful going forward. He now had a decision he had to make. Stay hidden with Veil of Shadows and move from shadow to shadow as fast as he can without breaking the ability or try to run as fast as he can while keeping an eye out for those owls. Unfortunately for him, a decision was forcibly against his will.
Liam’s ears twitched as he heard a deep voice say, “Lunar Exposure.”
A bright pale white light suddenly exploded right above his head a few feet away from him. The sudden brightness caused Liam to shut his eyes as fast as he could while bringing his arms and hands up. Luck for him his goggles help darken the effects making the blind debuff less than it would have been if he wasn’t wearing them. Unfortunately for him though, the Lunar magic spell dispelled his Veil of Shadows.
“I must admit that your quick decision to get out of that area right before my little owls used their ability was smart on your part,” Silent Saboteur commented. “It is quite a shame that you didn’t get your stealth ability up in time before I saw you.”
He then gave Liam an amused and slightly surprised expression under his mask as he notice him turn his attention towards the man who was standing up on a branch of a tree not too far away from him. “Able to lessen the Blind Debuff huh? I must say that you have piqued my interest more times than I have ever had it within a single night. That is quite something. However, this is where the test will end.”
Liam noticed the parliament of owls that had flown off returned and hovered around Silent Saboteur. Each of them stared at Liam with an irritated look in their eyes as they flapped their wings to keep themselves in the same spot.
In total there were seven of the birds. Even if there were less of them Liam knew he was still kind of screwed. He assessed each one to get a good feel for them.
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 5,350/5,350 HP. 4,111/4,210 MP. Level – 17. Tamed Beast.”
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 4,270/4,270 HP. 3,233/3,407 MP. Level – 15. Tamed Beast.”
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 5,350/5,350 HP. 4,101/4,210 MP. Level – 17. Tamed Beast.”
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 4,270/4,270 HP. 3,233/3,407 MP. Level – 15. Tamed Beast.”
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 5,350/5,350 HP. 4,210/4,210 MP. Level – 17. Tamed Beast.”
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 4,720/4,720 HP. 3,660/3,760 MP. Level – 16. Tamed Beast.”
“Lunar Tyto Alba. 4,720/4,720 HP. 3,660/3,760 MP. Level – 16. Tamed Beast.”
They are generally around the same level. However… Liam started to think. He wasn’t sure why their levels were so low. They were higher than him, but also seemed too weak to really be of use to Silent Saboteur. Maybe there was a reason as to why they were so low, but he didn’t have the luxury to think about that. Instead, he needed to figure out a way to get out of this mess.
As he thought about his options his mind kept going back to their levels. While they were higher than his they were still within range of him being able to use certain things. Was this a trap? It could be, but what else could he do. He knew trying to use a spell would be a bad idea since they were fast and could easily get away before he finished a chant. Instead, he needed to use another tactic. First though he needed to round them up.
As slowly as he could he stepped around the tree. Feeling a bit amused that the young man wasn’t showing any signs of giving up, he allowed him to try whatever he had planned out. He figured he’d be nice enough to give him a chance to escape. As he waited he noticed a swirl of shadows appear from behind another tree and sighed.
He felt a little disappointed that the young thought he could use his movement ability to try and sneak away from him. If he didn’t see him use it in the last test he wouldn’t have known to look for it, but with his current skills, the young man was sorely outmatched. His Lunar abilities were a great counter to Liam’s Shadow magic. He sent an order to his owls to charge up their Lunar Exposure ability before flying over to the tree. Once they got there he ordered them to release it.
As the flash of lunar light reached a blinding limit the lights that covered his owls started to dim. He used his ability to see through his tamed beasts’ eyes to watch the young man to flail about, blinded from the ability. No matter what he used to lessen the effect earlier a point blank range would still cause some sort of damage.
However, to his utter shock and confusion the figure that stood where he thought the man to be was instead a being made of pure shadow that started to dissipate. The all of a sudden a see-through glass flask was suddenly thrown from behind a different tree. Before he could say anything or send out any orders, the glass flask smashed against the tree slightly above the owls, releasing a thick waterfall of dark fog that poured over all seven owls, forcibly pushing them down to the ground and blackened their vision all around them.
Silent Saboteur released his sight from theirs just in time to see Liam sprinting away from the area. With an approving nod and smile, Silent Saboteur commended the strategy the young man used. Shortly after that he felt the change in the air slowly approaching them. He noticed a figure slowly walking in front of a purplish green mist that was closing in and knew what was coming. As fast as he could he walked over to the dark fog that was holding his tamed beasts captive and heard their cries from within.
With a powerful wave of his hand, a small gust of wind blew away both the dark fog and the gravity that lingered within. It released his beasts, who were angry with what had happened. They let out loud angry screeches begging for their master to let them try once more. Silent Saboteur let out an amused chuckle. He then told them their chance was over and they did well for ones so young. He heard their protests but shot them down. He then ordered them to return to him and rest.
Even though they weren’t happy they did as ordered. He felt them become a collective tattoo on his right arm as they flew right into him. These owls were the youngest of his tamed beasts. They had hatched not too long ago. They were a restless bunch that thought they were better than those not of their kind. While he could have used his stronger tamed beasts, he thought this test would be a good opportunity for them to grow and understand their limitations.
To both his surprise and appreciativeness, the young man helped them to see how weak they still were. Even though they had a higher level advantage and numbers, Liam had still outplayed them. Although he guessed he could say he was outplayed as well since he was the one who gave the owls orders here and there. In a way he had lost to the young man too.
However, even if he got past him, he still had the other two to get passed. While Silent Saboteur fought with a straight forward style with his beasts. Tantalizing Orchid had a much more…distracting way in her arsenal. Coupling that with Lady Arachne’s abilities to set up traps, the young man had a hard time coming his way.