Lord Shadow-Chapter 53: Talents need to be appreciated

The group was in the fourth floor by now. The sound of panting and moans of pain can be heard.

And the dripping of water. A drop for every second. Each drop….could be heard clearer. The deeper they go, the more Azief could hear it.

The sound that getting stronger and stronger….beckoning him to it….like a siren song that leads sailor to their deaths.

The more they come down the more they were shocked…shocked at the scenes, shocked at the power and terror this dungeon possesses.

And they are not talking about the cave sceneries but of its danger.

The deep they go, the colder the area becomes, and each of them could feel something in their body.

For Pillar Forming stage in the group like Loki, Sina and Sofia, they could feel that the deeper they go, their pillars trembles….each time more violently than before.

For Orb Condensing stage which is Azief stage, he could feel his orb is enduring an invisible pressure…and each time his orb resist this pressure, it revolves faster and faster, the luster of the golden violet pales more and more.

And now in the fourth floor, each of them could feel it even more…..so they decided to take a rest in one of the open areas of the fourth floor dungeon.

The moment Loki lay on the cold hard ground of the cave, he sighed. Sina pick a place on the side and close her eyes as she leans on the cave wall.

She did not say anything but she seems to be thinking of something. Then she took a glance at Sofia and glared.

She has contributed to the group with her unique abilities of creating miracle pills.

Loki seems happy about it. Azief, who Sina has good feeling about is also satisfied with her performance as a team member but only Sofia seems to be annoyed with her.

Nothing she did could appease her it seems.

And Sina doesn’t understand what makes her so annoyed with her.

At first she thought it was because her apparent uselessness at the battlefield but Sina didn’t think that was the case.

Call it the intuition of a woman but there is something else that bother Sofia about her.

Unlike Sofia who is a normal class, Sina is a unique class and as such her leveling process seems to be a little bit different.

Loki once explain to her that Lord Shadow unique class in the beginning will level the same way as normal leveler and only in the long run his leveling process would differ from those that is not unique class.

But there is also cases of unique classes who in their early leveling would level in a disproportionate way and different from normal user.

For example her. Her stats in the very beginning push her to level up her comprehension stats and intelligent stats.

And now when she already formed her pillars she also formed the pillars of alchemy, comprehension, creation, and fusion.

She sighed as she thinks of other ways to contribute tote group.

Not too far away from her is Loki complaining silently about the level of monster here in the cave and words like preposterous and the prince was crazy to challenge this before could be heard.

Sina once ask who this Prince Loki always seems to complain about and he always answer a good old for nothing imaginary friend.

But Sina could understand Loki feelings.

The monster that they have faced has really tested their mettle. In the first floor they were greeted by larger than normal frogs who was not only disgusting but also very annoying.

The second floor was giant centipede. The first floor was an annoyance…while the second floor could be categorized as dangerous.

If not for Sina antidote most of them would be poisoned to bad that they could no longer keep fighting because of the centipede venom which paralyzes them waist down.

When they barely survived the second floor and march deeper to the third floor they were ambushed the moment they enter the third floor.

And what ambushes them would be fit to enter as one of one of nightmares Sina and the rest of the group would like to forget

The third floor has a giant worm with razor like sharp teeth and almost an indestructible shell.

It was because of Azief ingenious ideas that they manage to find its weakness which is its mouth.

It is the only thing not protected by the monster hard scale.

It reminds Azief of the fight Heracles had with the Nemean lions. It’s that kind of monster that only had that one weakness.

They barely survived that and now they marched deeper down. After all they did enter until the third floor and to give up then would leave a bitter aftertaste.

And now they are in the fourth floor.

The moment the group enter the fourth floor they quickly hides themselves fearing another ambush.

The monster at the fourth floor they discovered is slithering snakes with blue colors. Their size is like two adult sized grown men combined into a slithering snakes.

Their regenerative abilities is godly and Azief had to keep attacking the snakes to make sure the snakes really dies.

It was hard and taxing job….But they also got some great loots.

The teeth of the worm monster can be a substitute for a knife since it is really sharp and Azief has stored all of it in his bag of holdings.

He possessed thousands of those sharp teeth that resembles daggers inside his bag of holding.

He could imagine himself controlling thousands of teeth like dagger using his telekinesis abilities creating a scene like in fantasy stories, controlling thousands of weapons, flying in midair.

The giant centipede on the other hand is really beneficial for Sina experiments.

She has managed to create another new poisons and an antidotes. The potency of the poisons is very high and could paralyze a person under level 40 easily.

She also uses the poisons to substitutes some ingredient in her other pills.

She also has finished refining the skill point pills and give them to Azief and Azief has distributed it to others.

He get the most of the pills. He got 50 pills skills point while other get about 25 each. Sofia on the other hand almost max all of her skills.

Her arrows abilities right now could be said a true AOE attack. One of her most powerful AOE abilities is Strom Arrows.

Storm Arrows is a skill which creates a pulsating current of airs filled with energy arrows that shred any monster that had the unfortunate fate to end up inside the vortex of that storm.

The reason why Sofia manages to max all of her skills is because her loots is mostly skill books.

Instead of learning new skills, she gave it to Sina to refine it into a skill points pill. She decided to max her skills rather than learning many skills.

Azief who was tired right now sat down for a while, leaning on the blue cave walls as he drink a healing potion.

In front of him was a campfire. He did not afraid that the snakes would come attacking here.

Since this in an open areas and usually as his experience in other floors teaches him, open areas like this is the same kind like a rest area in a game.

Dungeon plays by a different rule than the outside world.

Azief and the group notices that there is some rules in place in the dungeon. In the outside world it doesn’t matter if you are in an open area or a closed area.

If there is a monster they will attack you.

But the dungeon is different. Usually if it’s a wide open area, it is a rest area. So now, he is relaxed.

He sneak a peek at Sina and sighed.

‘She really is a cheat. An enviable ability’ Then he thinks again about Sina disadvantage and he then added

‘Maybe not that enviable’ and he sighed again.

Sofia who was busy tending her wounds then approach Azief and sit beside him. For a moment they did not say anything.

After all, Azief is not really the conversational type. So different from how Sofia remembers him.

‘You ok?’ she asked. Azief nodded. Such a non-committal gesture she thought to herself looking at Azief.

In the distance Loki looks intently at those two, trying to understand the relationship dynamic between Sofia and Azief.

Then he sighed as he gave up trying to make sense of the Prince and Sofia relationship in the future and how both of them never say anything about their relationship.

Stubborn both of them. He thought to himself.

Those two always mess me up. Nothing good ever comes messing with those two. But at least Loki could finally understand why the Prince was so protective of Sofia the Divine Archers.

It seems that those two know each other in the past. But then why would the Prince wanted to kill Sofia?

Loki still remember the time when he ask the prince about something that bother him. He ask the prince who is greatest enemy.

The Prince smiles, closes his eyes, creased his eyebrows and then he said his answer.

And his answer shocked Loki. The Prince answer was something that Loki never expected or even think about.

‘My greatest enemy will be Sofia the Divine Archer. She will be my undoing. She will be the one that destroy me. That was my prophecy’

That is what he said…calmly and without even a slightest change in his expression….saying it like it was other people business

Why was it shocking?

Because at the time the Prince utter these words, Sofia was not even a half step towards Sovereign yet the Prince said that the Divine Archer would be his greatest enemy.

Not to mention the ‘will’ part.

The Prince didn’t say that she is.

He said she will….implying that in some unforeseen future that the Prince greatest enemy is the Divine Archer and not only his greatest enemy but his undoing.

And that is saying something.

The Prince has battled intergalactic mass murdering alien, an annihilator from a destroyed race, villains from other Earths, Invasion from intergalactic alliance yet he named her, named the Divine Archer as his undoing.

Loki at the time of hearing it could not see in what possible worlds that the Prince would be defeated by such an insignificant character.

And even now he still couldn’t believe it. But then he sighed again. Well, that is a story for another time.

For now…all that matters is making sure the Prince become stronger.

On the side of the cave Azief and Sofia is still talking to each other.

‘You sure you ok? You look weak’ She said looking at Azief condition. He looks pale.

‘We could stop for a while.’ She suggested.

‘No stopping’ Azief said.

‘Why the rush?’ Sofia said as she added another firewood into the campfire.

Azief did not say anything and keep gulping the healing potion then he asked.

‘How about you? You ok.’ Always changing the subjects. Sofia grumbles again as she whispers her thoughts. Azief ignored it.

‘I’m fine’ she said.

‘Your skill has become a lot more refined.’ He complimented

‘Not enough’ she said.

‘One step at a time’ Azief encourages.

She just snorted. Azief smiles a bit. Then he ask

‘What do you think about Sina?’ Saying this, he looks towards the direction of Sina leaning on the cave walls, closing her eyes.

‘She is weak.’ Sofia said mercilessly

‘True’ Azief said nodding his head.

‘But she is useful.’ He added as he smiles again.

‘Could you not see how useful she is?’ Azief of course notices that Sofia is not very thrilled of having Sina in their group and that puzzles him.

When Loki joins the group she was ok with it but now Sina joins the group, she acts differently.

Woman. He never could understand them or their idiosyncrasies he mused.

‘Still’ she said, grumbling.

‘She is weak and will become a burden to us. We always need to protect her and that would harm our concentration. I am not saying this out of malice but how many times we have to risk our lives to save her when she was attacked.’

Sofia states her reason. And for a moment she belies what she is saying instead acknowledging that what she is feeling is jealousy.

‘And how many time she saves ours? She at least deserve credit for that.’ Azief defended Sina.

Sofia rolled her yes. She feel angry that Azief keep taking Sina side.

‘You mean the centipede poison. True, she helped but that doesn’t mean we will not survive it even without her abilities. With your regeneration ability and healing skills we could still survive that ordeals. It might take us a little time but it will still be survivable with….or without her.’ Without realizing it she has increase her tone fo voce.

In the distance Loki looks amused. And he thinks to himself. Wow, she is really jealous. The Prince is really dense.

No wonder in the future, he got so much in trouble with women. Jean’s mother. Boris sister. Freya. That Iranian Princess…..not to mention they were twins

The one night stand story with Freya was famous. Well, Freya herself is not really well in the head.

She always like men stronger than her.

Jean’s mother on the hand was really enchanted with the Prince face that she drugged him and sleep with him.

This happen on the first World Government meeting which is why Jean flipped out.

It is funny considering that the World Government had to offend the Prince at the time and imprison him because of Jean pressure. ‘

However the story of his escape was a mystery. Thinking about it, in that future, probably Sofia saved him.

The Iranian princess story on the other hand happens because they were drunk.

Katarina on the other hand…she was a bit special. She was not a one night stand. And not like Jean mother drugging antics. She was a story that the Prince never told.

A playboy….at least he was before he become Sovereign and ripped out the Oracle eyes to gain the abilities to see the future.

On the other side, Azief began detecting hostility from Sofia

‘Why are you angry?’ Azief ask not understanding. It is clear that Sofia is angry but what Azief didn’t understand is why she is angry.

‘Why do you want her in our group so much?’ She ask Azief. He smiles and then he said confidently

‘You see, I was always interested in history. I have read many books about history and the road to success is always the same.’

Sofia hearing this knows that Azief is about to enter one of his speech mode again.

‘Liu Bang and Xiang Yu contend for the throne of China in what was called the Chu-Han Contention. Xiang Yu compared to his rival Liu Bang is perfect in every way. He comes from a respectable lineage, a genius war commander, undefeated in warfare and a master strategist, able to lead a million man army. Xiang is someone who boasted about his achievement and thought very highly of himself. He was capable and has the bearing of a King. He preferred to depend on his personal abilities as opposed to learning with humility from others. Sina taught me that while my strength and hers are different we could learn from each other, complemented the part where I’m lacking. Do you know how Liu Bang won even though he was inferior towards Xiang Yu?’

Sofia shakes her head. Azief feigns a chuckles and he continues.

‘Because there is one aspect that Liu Bang excelled, even superior than Xiang Yu. It was that Liu Bang appreciates talents. Don’t possess great courage without great wisdom. That is the way to ruin. Liu Bang uses the talents at his disposal, listen to the advice of the people around him and they won him the throne. Having Fang Zheng but unable to use him. The Hegemon King of Western Chu could not use talents and brought ruins to himself. Liu Bang uses Han Xin and Han Xin bring him military glory. Using Zhang Liang he was praised as a wise emperor. Using Xiao He, Han Gaozhu create an able administration. When there is talent in front of you, do not waste it. Appreciate talents and use them.’

Azief said. And then he added

‘I admired Sina. Her talents is one that should be appreciated. So what if we are delayed? So what if we are to protect her. Talents like her are hard to find. Abilities like her would not appear again. She is a unique class and special. Having her is like having a thousand army.’

And Azief smiles proudly.

He didn’t notice that Sofia feel even more uncomfortable hearing his praise towards Sina. It’s not like Sofia didn’t know but she didn’t know why she didn’t like Azief paying so much attention towards Sina.

She shrugged it off and then she ask.

Is that all? Her abilities. Is that what tempts you to put her under our group? And saying this she look straight at Azief eyes and that startled him.

But he remains calm and he nodded. But he didn’t say the other reason why he accepted Sina into his group.

He still remembered the determination in Sina eyes after she killed the two men that killed her friends and Azief believes that Sina herself has other secrets.

Thinking of this he looked at Loki direction .He is pretty sure Loki knows the abilities that Sina is hiding but he is not telling him.

Then the group heard the shrieks and they all tensed up.

‘Are they coming?’ Sofia ask Azief. Azief searches with his divine sense and did not sense anything. freℯ𝓌e𝚋𝐧𝘰vℯl.𝐜𝚘𝗺

‘Not yet.’ He could feel that this shriek is not the snakes but something else. Something in the fifth floor.

Something under them. And thinking of this, his golden violet orb revolves again.

This darn feeling he said to himself.

‘We need to quickly replenish our energy.’ Azief announces to the group

Sofia nodded and she began eating some bread. Loki also is drinking a cupful of water while Sina has already woken up and is making more pills for the group.

Azief then get up and sit down in a place where he can survey the area more effectively.

He then looks at the skill point spill in his bag and he began to eat it as he level up his skill.

For some reason he could feel there is an ominous existence below this floor.

And this existence make even his orb trembled and revolve faster like some danger he should not provoke.

He is now level 46 after all the hardship he endured. He did not know it but he and his group has already spends a week inside the dungeon.

They sometimes sleep in some large areas inside the dungeon.

Now Azief distributes his skill points to his skills and he smiles. Some of his skill has become maxed out.

He checks his newly maxed out skills

DIVINE SENSE (MAX)

PASSIVE SKILL. COULD DETECT LIVING ORGANISM WITHIN A DISTANCE OF 5000 METERS. WILL FEEL THE PRESENCE OF LIFE BY THE USER. COULD ALSO SEE THE SURROUNDING LIKE THE USER IS THERE. TO ACTIVATE THINK OF SENSING THE ENVIRONMENT

CLEAR EYE OF NIGHT (MAX)

PASSIVE SKILL. WILL ACQUIRE NIGHT VISION AND SEES FARTHER THAN DAYTIME. SENSES AT NIGHT WILL BE GREATLY ENHANCED. THE USER EYES COULD EVEN FARTHER THINGS NOW AND HAS THE ABILITY FOR ZOOM ABILITIES.

SLASHING WIND LEVEL 10

ACTIVE SKILL. PRODUCED A SLASHING ENERGY DIRECTED AT YOUR OPPONENT. THE USER WILL BECOME FIVE TIMES STRONGER AND THE USER AGILITY WOULD BECOME FIVE TIMES FASTER. LAST FOR 30 MINUTES FOR THE USER AGILITY ATTRIBUTE

FEARSOME FEAR AURA (MAX)

YOU CAN EMIT AURA OF FEAR AFFECTING THE MENTAL STATE OF BEAST AND MUTATED SAPIENS IT WILL ALSO MAKE THEIR MOVEMENT SLOWER AND THEIR SPIRIT WILL BE LOWERED BY 70 PERCENT. A PASSIVE SKILL. TO USE IT, ONE NEEDS TO WILLS IT, THINKING IT IN THE MIND. CREATE AN IMAGE OF THEIR DARKEST FEAR. A MENTAL ATTACK. USER AND MONSTER WHO IS UNDER LEVEL 30 WILL BE INSTANTLY PARALYZED WITH FEAR

ENERGY FIST LEVEL 10

RELEASING AN ENERGY SHOT FROM THE USER HAND. INFLICTS GREAT PHYSICAL DAMAGE IMBUED WITH VIBRATION ATATCK. DEPENDING ON THE USER STRENGTH IT WILL RELEASE AN ENERGY THAT COULD EVEN PENETRATE MENTAL ATTACK.

GREAT TELEKINESIS LEVEL 10

USER WILL EXHIBIT TELEKINESIS POWER AND COULD MOVE ANYTHING UNDER 100 KILOGRAM OF WEIGHT. COULD ALSO MOVE ITEMS AS THE USER WILLS IT

Some of it is maxed out because of the 40 skill point’s pills. Some he increase by eating some of the skill point pill dropped by the monster from the loots he got on the floor of the dungeon.

He then checks his status.

NAME LORD SHADOW GENDER MALE

LEVEL 46 CLASS SHADOW LORD

RACE ADVANCED HUMAN FAME 9650

CURRENCY

91574 GOLD

59876 SILVER

546378 COPPER

SKILL POINTS 0 Orb GOLDEN VIOLET

Attributes

[DEATH] [DARKNESS] [TIME] [VOID] [LIFE] [FEAR] [CHAOS] [WAR] [PESTILENCE]

[LIGHT]

NORMAL SKILL

BODY FORTIFICATION[01]

PRECISION [01]

PERCEPTION [01]

DIVINE SENSE [MAX]

FEARSOME FEAR AURA [MAX]

CLEAR EYE OF NIGHT [MAX]

GREAT TELEKINESIS [10]

WATER MANIPULATION [01]

BEAST TAMER [02]

HEAL [01]

SLASHING WIND [10]

ENERGY FIST [10]

IRONFLESH [01]

CLASS SKILLS

SHADOW CLONES LEVEL [06]

SHADOW IMITATION LEVEL [05]

SHADOW BINDING LEVEL [05]

SHADOW MANIPULATION HIGH TIER LEVEL [20]

SHADOW HASTE LEVEL [10]

SHADOW STEP LEVEL [01]

SUMMON WRAITHS LEVEL [01]

SHADOW ESCAPE LEVEL [01]

SHADOW PRISON LEVEL [10]

INHERENT SKILL SKILL LEVEL

SHADOW TELEPORTATION 01

UNIQUE SKILL SKILL LEVEL

SCALE BODY TECHNIQUE –

RACE SKILLS

[LEVEL REPRESSION UNLOCKED]

[RACE SUPERIORITY UNLOCKED]

[PILLAR REPRESSION UNLOCKED]

[BLOCKING SENSES UNLOCKED]

LIFE SKILLS

EXPERT SWIMMING

NOVICE UNDERWATER BREATHING

NOVICE DIVING

NOVICE HERBALISM

MASTER COOKING

EXPERT THROWER

NOVICE DRAWING SWORD

NOVICE BLACKSMITHING

MASTER SPEED READING

MASTER ATHLETICS

NOVICE ROWING

MASTER COFFEE MAKING

NOVICE RIDING

NOVICE CRAFTING

NOVICE SCULPTURING

NOVICE FARMING

EXPERT GUITAR PLAYING

NOVICE ARCHERY

NOVICE RIDING ARCHERY

EXPERT TRACKING

NOVICE WOUND TREATMENT

NOVICE BANDAGING

NOVICE FIRST AID TREATMENT

EXPERT PERSUASION

NOVICE BARGAINING

NOVICE TRADE

NOVICE RAFT BUILDING

NOVICE SHIP BUILDING

NOVICE HOUSE BUILDING

EXPERT TENT BUILDING

EXPERT POISON MAKER

NOVICE PILL MAKING

EQUIPPED ITEMS

BAG OF HOLDING

BAG OF LARGE HOLDING

RINGS

STORAGE RING

RING OF MINIMAL STRENGTH.

RING OF MINIMAL STRENGTH.

RING OF DARK SPIRIT.

RING OF SPEED

WEAPONS

HIDDEN BLADE OF SHADOW LORD

DARK SWORD OF SOULS

His items are all stored inside his bag of holding now. Even though his status looks great for some reason he can’t help but feel apprehensive.

He could feel that whatever in the next floor is not some pushover. They finally feel what it is like to be on equal grounds.

The three floors taught Azief and his group that even though Azief is stronger and they are powerful against other humans, monster still holds an edge over them.

An hour later they moved again. Meanwhile in the fifth floor a smiles could be seen on the face of a blue faced creature with six arms.

And his smiles are full of malevolence.

***

EMPIRE OF JAPAN

KYOTO

While Lord Shadow and his group is busy exploring the dungeon the world is undergoing major changes.

Shinji who was tasked of inviting Lord Shadow and Loki failed and return to Kyoto.

The great men all over the world also joins the first world government meeting. Raymond which represent the former USA.

With his military power growing by the day and his success driving back the hordes o monster and zombies he was the perfect candidate for the formation of the core of World Government

Hirate as the Shogun of the Empire of Japan represent the Emperor of Japan. Some of the influential Daimyo of Japan also joins the meeting.

The Tiger of Kai and the Dragon of Echigo also joins. Both are reputable daimyo and has large military power. Jean acts as the representative of the Party in France.

Jean has manage to pacify the Party and gain control of the political party using brute force.

His March to Paris is famous among Frenchman where he cut down anyone who disobey his orders.

When the peace settles the Party that was bickering was demoted to advisories capacity in the new regime of Jean reigns.

He styled himself the Emperor of the French, Empereur des Fran?ais with an eagle as his standards.

Rollo and Odin become the representative of Norway. Their war against each other is famous and their military prowess is admired by Norwegian.

Xue Ying who has established his dominance in Jiangdong is also invited. Wang Jian his greatest general also get a seat in the First World Government Meeting.

Then there is Boris who has taken over the Red Army and changes it to his military. Coming with him is his sister, Katarina.

UK was represented by a man named Will. He was a lone wolf yet was entrusted by the Monarchy of Britain, to represent them in the first world government meeting.

Will is a speedster.

A dark speedster. His abilities seems to give him enhanced speed and as he leveled up while his power and defense is not high, he seems to becomes even faster….so fast that he can even run fast as sound

Black and yellow lightning always coils around him when he runs.

With all this great heroes, the first World Government Meeting commences

***