A moment of silence passed between us. I glanced at her. What do I do now? I wondered. Was it okay to ask her what was going on? Should I wait for her to tell me of her own accord? What was the right thing to do? There were so many questions I wanted to ask, and so much confusion over what to do with them.
I looked at her face, and my Analyze skill automatically activated.
DING!
Name
Freya
Race
Moon Elf
Level
45
Freya, I thought. Her male alias was but a sole vowel away from her actual name. She was a strong Level 45, and her Mana levels were really good. One look at the race tag and I could see why.
Moon Elf. I glanced at her and noticed the pointy ears peeking out of her luscious black hair.
Her eyes shot towards me. “What are you doing?” she asked, and her gaze lowered to the screen I was looking at.
“Nothing,” I yelped, quickly closing the prompt. It’s been more than five seconds, I realized.
Freya wore a blank expression. “You used your Analyze skill on me, didn’t you?”
“Uhh….no?” I said. I definitely sound like the worst liar ever, I thought.
She stared at me for a moment and then sighed. “I don’t blame you,” she said. “There is no normal way to react to…this.” She looked at herself, and then at me. “Just for the record, I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation. But since we’re going to have to stick together for now, I’m going to tell you anyway.”
I nodded. I didn’t care what her motivation for telling me was, so long as she told me what was going on here.
“As you can probably tell from your Analyze screen,” she began, sounding annoyed already, “my real name is Freya. I’m a Moon Elf from the Kingdom of Iskaeil. I’m an assassin by profession and have no Alignment to either Alliance.”
An assassin? I blinked. Did not expect that to be her profession. Her preference for a hooded tunic made more sense now. How many people has she killed? I wondered, but I didn’t dare ask her. I didn’t want to be added to her kill list, and based on how annoyed she was already, I probably wasn’t that far away from being put on it.
Can’t believe she has a profession, though. I grinned.
A profession was basically an official path that one set for themselves—like knight, archer, mage and so on. One could choose a profession only after they completed certain requirements, and in turn they would get stat bonuses and skills that were specific to their profession alone. Right now, I was on the generic warrior path, so later I’d have to actually choose a profession, something more specific, like, say, swordmaster.
“Zoran.” Freya broke me from my thoughts. “I hope you get that I expect you to keep this information to yourself.”
“I understand,” I said, still not entirely sure of just what was going on with her whole secret identity thing. “I’m still a bit confused about your race, though,” I said. “I, umm…used my Analyze skill on you a while after I first met you, and I’m quite certain it said you were human.”
“It would also have said that my name was Frey,” she chuckled. “There are ways to manipulate what other people see about you through skills like Analyze. All the info that you saw before was doctored information.”
“Oh,” I blinked. Didn’t know you could do that. My mind then drifted away, focusing instead on the fact that Freya was a Moon Elf.
At the moment, the most I could recall about Moon Elves was that they were nocturnal beings and had a strong affinity to the Light Arts. Light Arts were known to be one of the harder arts to grasp, and tougher ones to execute, so it was impressive that an entire race had a strong handle on its use. I couldn’t really see why a Moon Elf would be an assassin, though. Light Arts weren’t really suited for the profession, but then again, maybe being a nocturnal species made up for it.
Ah, maybe that’s how she created that portal. My mind clicked, recalling that the portal was one of the higher-level spells from the Light Arts. It was impressive that she’d been able to do that, even if she was a Moon Elf with a high affinity for Light Arts.
“I’m sorry about this,” Freya said, her voice softer than before. “I just didn’t…expect someone to discover who I was.”
“I’m sorry too,” I said. “You know, we’re kind of an odd pair now.” I smiled. “One with a hidden identity, and one with no identity.”
“Yeah,” she laughed, the clear sound ringing in my ears like music.
Why does everything about elves have to be so graceful? I grinned.
“Let’s get back to focusing,” she said. “Now that my secret is out, I don’t have to use the annoying Ga’em message thing to communicate, and that means we can have a proper conversation about what happened back there with that man.”
“Oh yeah,” I realized. And so, I told her about how I’d Resurrected into the goblin tunnels, met Asterion, gotten teleported to some tower, and been asked to join the Dark Alliance.
“I see,” she sighed at the end of it all.
“Asterion said my capture was a direct order from the Emperor of Dargonia,” I said.
“That statement could mean anything,” she said. “The Emperor always changes. It’s not hard to believe that a faction that subscribes to a doctrine of overbearing power has its own struggles with keeping its leadership stable.”
“Makes sense.”
“This is only the Dark Alliance’s first attempt to induct you into their ranks,” Freya said. “It’ll probably get worse the more they try.”
The more they try, I thought. There are going to be more attempts, then? That didn’t make me feel good. Being an Eternal was going to be hard.
I’d probably be okay with it if I actually got all the powers I was supposedly capable of wielding. So far things had been pretty…normal, and that was vastly different from what I had been told.
“So…how did you end up meeting Viola?” I asked.
“We didn’t really meet, per se.” Freya smiled. “The two of us happened to be in one of the cities on the northern side of the Kingdom. I was just roaming around, but apparently, I’d been going to the same places she had. So, she thought I was following her for some reason.”
She shook her leg inside the waters. “I mean, sure, I’m an assassin, but that was still kind of funny. She was apparently in the city to chase after a criminal and by some stroke of luck I managed to find him before she did. The guy mistook me for a civilian and tried to attack me. Didn’t really end well for him because I took him down in a second. I handed him over to Viola, and that’s how we became friends, even though I never said a word to her the whole time.”
“Ah,” I said. “So, the kingdom that you’re from—”
“The Kingdom of Iskaeil.”
I nodded. “Is that close to Aingard?”
She smiled. “No.”
“Ah, I see,” I said.
DING!
Your relationship with Freya has improved!
From Stranger to Ally!
The Moon Elf will fight beside you with her life for as long as your visions and motivations align with each other. Freya has been added to the contact list on your Message Menu.
The winds suddenly picked up around us, swirling in and out of the trees. A crackling sounded, as though the air was freezing over. The glow from the spring dulled, like something was stifling it.
Freya stood up, her eyes darting through the darkness. She threw her hooded tunic back on and grabbed her longsword, gripping it tightly in her hand.
“Freya?” I looked around. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.”
Great, I thought.
The trees turned gray, and the air between them filled with intense darkness, as if the shadows themselves had taken on bodies and spawned to life. Pairs of ruby-red eyes glowed in the dark air, and I immediately knew my thoughts weren’t far from the truth. A small group of black humanoids emerged out of th
e twisting darkness and charged at us.
“The Valdar!” Freya yelled. She threw her hands into the air and swung them around, her palms and fingers making a specific pattern. Strands of light traced her motions, and drew a hovering rune. She yelled a word and the circle surged out, forming a dome of light around us.
A barrier, I realized.
The shadowy men—around fifteen in total—charged into the wall of light and thudded against it on contact.
Freya’s eyes darted between their forms. “We need to find a way out of here.”
An intense shriek pierced through my ears. I turned around to see these “Valdar” crashing into the barrier with renewed vigor. And before I could even react, the wall of light shattered into pieces and dissolved into the air in a flash.
“Get ready.” Freya pointed her longsword at the enemy. “We need to take them out.”
I felt the urge to tell her I wasn’t ready, but I said nothing. I knew what was needed of me. And I was going to do it. I quickly analyzed the creatures and noticed that they were around Level 27. That was a little too high for me to take on, but I wasn’t going to pull away from doing it.
I crouched down and lowered my center of gravity. I pulled out my sword and tilted it toward the enemy. The Valdar shrieked as they charged at us with their black swords on display. I took a strong step forward and swung my blade into the first being that reached me.
My weapon cut into his arm, and his health bar went down by just a third of the max. I need more. I quickly slid to the side, dodging the downward swing from his sword, and attacked again, pushing my weapon hard into his abdomen.
The Valdar’s health sank fast and emptied out in a second. He stared blankly, and his body hazed, like black ice that was defrosting. He collapsed to the floor as smoke rapidly dissipated from him, and within half a second, he was completely gone.
Whoa. I blinked.
Sounds of metal came from behind me. Freya was on the move. I turned around, watching as the elf took on the other Valdar and defeated them one after the other. She was keeping them at bay, thrusting with her weapon, and swinging through their darkness.
I rushed toward her, my sword at my side. I jumped into the air and landed my first blow at a distracted Valdar’s shoulder. I quickly pulled back my weapon and slashed another three times, killing the being in seconds.
Two down, I said. Probably ten more to go.
I charged to another Valdar. However, this one was ready for me.
The shadow being pulled back its sword, preparing to strike. My legs instinctively gave out from underneath me and I slid over the ground. I swung the weapon from the awkward position, maiming the Valdar’s legs and bringing it to the forest floor. I was about to swing again when air breathed down my back. I quickly turned around and saw another Valdar with his dark sword midswing, directed at my spine.
I quickly held my blade up and the swords connected. The black weapon thundered into me and pushed me hard to the floor. I gasped, sucking back the lost air into my lungs.
“They’re extremely strong,” Freya said, midswing. “Once they determine you to be their enemy, they will not focus anywhere else until you’re dead.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I muttered and pushed myself back onto my feet.
The Valdar warrior retreated from the weapon lock we were in and charged at me, his sword pointed at my chest. I held my ground, weapon raised in the air. Two Valdar rushed from behind me as well, their swords tight in their hands.
Let’s hope this works. I took a deep breath and lowered my body.
“Bladestorm!” I yelled and charged forward. My sword flowed automatically, helped by nothing but my instinct. The world passed by me in slow motion, and I whirled around, taking on the Valdar all at once. My blade cut into them multiple times, all before they even had a chance to touch me. When the move ended, the only thing that was left of them was a cloud of dark smoke and silence.
Didn’t think that’d work. I grinned. I took a second to catch my breath and then looked toward Freya. She was still taking on the majority of all the Valdar—the ones that were left, that is.
A chilling sensation hit my spine, and my bones trembled. Freya stopped battling as well and fell back to my position instantly.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I have no clue,” she said, watching the Valdar. “But it can’t be good.”
A ring of darkness formed around us, and the dark shape emitted darker smoke. The shadow beings fell back immediately and shuffled to the edge of the circular outline.
The ring suddenly expanded, flooding the field with smoke. I instinctively put my hand to my nose, unsure of what this dark smoke was, or if it was safe to breathe it in. It only lasted a few seconds, though, and quickly dissipated, as if it had been sucked in by something.
“Well, that was—” I froze, staring at the view in front of me.
Freya followed my gaze. “Damn it,” she muttered.
There, about fifty yards in front us, stood a Valdar army. A row of archers were out in front, their arrows already nocked into their bows and ready to fire. Many more Valdar stood behind them, armed with swords and spears.
“They planned this all along,” Freya said. “They baited us into this position.”
“What do we do?” I whispered.
The elf stayed silent for a second. “Run,” she said.
“What?” I blinked.
“Do it!” she yelled and shot forward, heading straight for the enemy.
A faint shadow disappeared from behind the ranks of the Valdar, and the warriors fell back even further.
Something’s wrong. My eyes darted around. “Freya!” I yelled. “Fall back! You have to—”
A giant Valdar thudded into the ground in front of me, his body more than twice as large as mine. He swiftly brought his shadowy hand down, clasping my throat and lifting me up into the air.
“Zoran!” Freya yelled.
A shriek resonated through the air and the Valdar army mobilized, swiftly spreading out and creating a wall between me and her. I turned my eyes to the Moon Elf, my arms and body limp in defeat. My vision faded away as the large being tightened his grip on my throat.
“Well, hello there.” A new voice spoke into my mind.
Great, I’ve become delusional, I thought.
“On the contrary,” the voice said. “You’re in luck!”
I coughed, my lungs heaving as they began to lose oxygen.
“My, this Valdar warrior should be taught a lesson or two about good manners.”
I clawed at the shadow-man’s hand desperately, but it was no use. He was far too strong for me. My eyes rolled up inside my head, and my body started to turn numb.
“Well, then,” the voice chuckled. “This should be fun.”
The man strangling me suddenly disappeared, and I dropped straight to the floor. I gasped as my lungs expanded again. I knelt over and coughed up blood, clearing my windpipe and taking in a big breath of air. I slowly turned my head, and looked around me. Everything was pitch black, as though the very world had disappeared.
I froze. Did I die? I touched my neck. A pulse throbbed under my fingertips. Seems like I’m alive. Just what was this place, then?
Is this all a dream? I wondered.
“Maybe,” the voice spoke again. “But it’s time to wake up now.”
The floor rumbled and the darkness around me unfolded, like a curtain that had been dropped to the ground. In a split second, the scenery changed completely, and the wind washed over my face once again. I was back in the forest, and it was still nighttime. The air was cold, and the trees were silent.
Freya stood beside me. “Zoran.” She spoke much quieter now. “What the hell did you just do?”
“What?” I turned around, and my eyes immediately widened. “Oh my God,” I gasped.
In front of me were the lifeless bodies of every single Valdar who had attacked us. Their joints were forcefully twisted into
unnatural positions, like broken dolls. Dismembered heads and limbs lay all over the ground, rising into the air as dark smoke.
I looked at Freya. “What…happened here?” I asked.
“You,” she said.
“What?” I blinked. “What do you—” I stopped. My eyes went wide. “No,” I gasped.
DING!
A Ga’em prompt faded in.
Congratulations! You have defeated:
Valdar Squadron (Lv 23)!
This is going to be a problem. Reward: 21000XP. Reward: Warrior’s Restoration Potion (x10).
I stared at the screen and then at the bodies in front of me. Oh gods. I trembled.
The Valdar had been massacred.
And I had done it.
***
CHAPTER TWELVE
A painting of death stood before me.
The Valdar were no longer men, but broken bodies, unrecognizable and inhuman. They were but spots of mutilated darkness frozen under a darker sky.
I didn’t know what scared me more—the fact that I was capable of something like this, or that I didn’t feel an ounce of regret for what I had done.
A hand grabbed my shoulder. “Are you okay?” Freya asked.
“I’m just confused,” I said quietly.
“We both are.” Her voice was even quieter.
I averted my eyes from the death in front of me. “What happened?” I asked.
“You don’t remember?”
I shook my head.
“Your eyes turned a solid black and this weird wave of dark light surged out of you,” she said. “One moment the Valdar were fine, the next they were all on the ground, their joints and limbs mutilated.”
I cringed, imagining the scene playing out. I thought hard, trying to see if I could recall doing anything close to what Freya described, but nothing came to mind. It was almost like I’d gone somewhere else for that stretch of time.
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