shadowmancers charged in unison I tightened my grip on the starmetal blade,
calculations racing through my mind.
"Info." What I needed right now wasn't strength or speed, but knowledge. The most crucial thing was that
As the larger shadowmancer lunged forward, I dove beneath its attacking claw and pressed my palm against its scaled leg. The touch lasted barely half a second, but it was enough to work my key ability
"From what I've learned so far about my ability it's lets me take someone's memories,Memories are just another form of information, and I can experience them as if they were my own. But there's a catch
I can't pinpoint specific memories or events right away. It's like being thrown into a storm of scattered thoughts, emotions, and sensations, forcing me to piece everything together over time.
It doesn't stop at memories, though. If I focus, I can analyze more than just thoughts
I can understand the structure of things. A person's body, their strengths, their weaknesses... it's like having a blueprint of everything they are it's like having a cheat code, telling me exactly where to strike and how to break them in a world where knowledge is the difference between survival and death, I wouldn't trade this for anything."
Information flooded my consciousness unexpected and vital
Shadowmancer were apex predator what I saw was a glowing stone with a threads connected to mir stones through shifting it's locations each second it's is called a energy links
But then I remembered what Master Edhir explained to me once.
"Every creature in the 'World of Sins' and 'World of Keys' has a crucial weakness a thread connected to a mir stone Cutting the link from the mir stone could send the monsters into a vegetative state, But the link moves every second, making it impossible to cut. Most of the wanders wouldn't even think of cutting the link.
"What are the wanders that you mentioned just now ?" I had asked
Master Edhir smiled at me and said, "The ones who enter the 'World of Sins' and 'World of Keys'... we call them 'Wanders of the New World"
Wanders ?
"Right now, you don't have a rank
They also has ranks !
"Yes they do " master edhir said while shighing
wanders are also divided into ranks.
"Right now, you don't have a rank, but when you own a key, then you will have one your first step as a wander "
Mortal – The lowest rank; every wander starts from this rank.
Nightborn – Higher than Mortal; above humans. One Nightborn rank can handle 5 or 10 Mortal ranks easily
Seeker – A first step towards the horizon, meaning ascending to higher realms.
Horizon – When you reach here, you are known to be on the boundaries of two worlds.
Gothic – "If you manage to stay alive and reach the Gothic rank, then you will come to know a new world," they say ? I interpreted him
"Who?" I asked in my flat voice
After a second of looking at me he said
"The ones who reached it ,There are only a few people who have reached the Gothic rank."
After gothic rank there comes the
Chronicle – As I know, only nine people have reached this rank in the history of the 'World of Keys.'
Forgotten – "They say in the history of all of the worlds, only one person has reached it. What was his name again...? Ah, they called him
'The One Who Swallowed the Star.'"
As I remembered Master Edhir's words, I rolled away from a second attack, narrowly avoiding the smaller shadowmancer's tail as it carved a furrow in the earth where I was standing My mind raced and felt heavy because of the new information
"Mir stone links...haa"
I backed toward the crystal pool, observing both creatures with renewed attention they slowly Approaching me the larger shadowmancer opened its maw to roar, and a loud roar tore through its throat
I muttered
"Was that the link Master Edhir was talking about? After remaining silent for a second, I said,
" I want to... live"
If I was correct what I saw was a mir stone them i knew it location but not of the link what i needed to do now was to test my theory If the glowing stone and the thread were really the links then i could survive ,
As the creatures advanced in their synchronized pattern, I waited for the right moment. The smaller shadowmancer moved to left and run towards me I performed my square formation technique, vanishing from my position and reappearing directly beside the creature. My energy was almost drained. I was forming the square too often, and my healing ability had been active since the start of this battle.
The longer this drags on, the lower my chances of survival , With whatever strength I had left , I drove my starmetal blade toward the glowing spot I had seen again i put my hand on it's body pushing all of it' memories aside only focusing on it body structure and information the moment I saw the link i held my blade and drove in it even after a second nothing happened
" I think i missed the link by milliseconds "
Black ichor erupted from the wound, but the shadowmancer remained fully active, whirling toward me with undiminished ferocity.
"Too slow," feeling blood still dripping from my back wound as I backpedaled and landed on my feets
Those creatures roared in unison, as time passed their movements were becoming more aggressive. I studied their attack patterns i darted between fallen trees, using them as temporary barriers while I considered my approach. My healing ability was working too slowly , and I couldn't outlast these creatures. What I needed was precision and timing
the larger shadowmancer smashed through a log I had hidden behind, its massive head lunging toward me. I sidestepped the attack and touched it scales and again the same thing I saw the the glowing stone and a constantly moving link the second i got to know the location and Swing my blade Again, I missed link as it shifted to the base of the creature's spine My blade scraped against the scale, barely penetrating the thick armor
And with this attack i came to know one thing
"The link moves faster when it senses danger"
The smaller shadowmancer circled behind me, forcing me toward its larger companion I was being herded, my options dwindling. I could use my square formation technique one more time, but my strength was fading rapidly then i desided to retreated toward the skull which the waterfall flowed, keeping my eyesfixed on both creatures,
I backed against the rough stone, pressing into my wounds. The shadowmancers approached with predatory patience, obsidian scales glowing in the unreal light of the crystal pool. My revelation about their attack patterns was useful, but executing it would be another matter entirely.
tasting blood in my mouth i muttered "I need to provoke and time it perfectly."
The smaller shadowmancer lunged first, its claws raking the air , I ducked and rolled, feeling the ground tremble as the larger one smashed My muscles screamed in as I forced myself upright, forming the square to move, draining nearly all my reserves.
Pain lanced through my back as my wound reopened. The healing ability that had saved me countless times before was barely functioning now, overwhelmed by the severity of my injuries. Dark spots swam at the corner of my vision
I hissed and gritted my teeth. "One chance."
The smaller shadowmancer circled to my left while the larger blocked my escape route. Their movements had become more coordinated, more deliberate as if they had recognized me as a genuine threat But why? I was like a piece of candy to them fighting over a mere candy !
Haaa !
I feigned a stumble,exposing my wounded side. The smaller shadowmancer took the bait, launching itself toward my apparent vulnerability. As it committed to the attack, I moved just a step towards side touching it with my shoulder and again the same thing when I came to know the links location
With everything I had left, I pivoted and thrust the starmetal blade directly at the glowing link. For one terrible moment, I thought I'd missed again but then I felt the blade connect with something that wasn't flesh or scale. A sound like shattering glass filled the clearing.....