Chapter 41: Shadows vs Darkness

Tristan

March 21, 1787, Realm Time, The Outworlder Base's basement

With Eliza behind, Tristan walked into the cave. It was dark and damp, nothing unusual for such a place. There were fluorescent arrows on the ground—markings left by Aldric—and four hundred yards later, they arrived at the facility, inside a storage room filled with cleaning supplies.

"Let me go first," Eliza said. The guards know me. I'll try talking to them."

"I should go first," Tristan said. "I can knock them unconscious with my aura."

She hissed like a cat, and it could be related to only one thing: Tristan's aura was the only thing allowing him to win their spars. When he didn't use it, she had the advantage in speed and technique. Getting the upper hand against her in close quarters was rare.

"We go together," they said in unison.

Tristan pressed the handle. The door was unlocked, and he opened it an inch, peeking inside. The corridor was dark; only the evacuation signs lit. Plenty of shadows to melt in. Jumping from one dark corner to another like a pebble ricocheting on a pond, Tristan reached the security room first, but waited a second for Eliza to catch up.

[Eliza]: I changed my mind. I open the door, and you go AOE.

[Tristan]: Much safer this way. I'll take care not to hurt anyone.

[Eliza]: On zero. Three, two, one…

She snatched the door open, only to gag and bend in two, vomiting the next second. The room was filled with corpses, about ten of them. Two guards and the researchers, dressed in their typical gowns. The bodies had been cleaved in two with a precision only the sharpest magical blades had. Innards were spilled all over, and some hits had been so strong they had destroyed the monitoring consoles and screens behind.

"I… knew… all of them," Eliza sobbed. "Connie… All of them… They were my friends… Why?"

"This is no misunderstanding; it's a takeover," Tristan said coldly, keeping his tone neutral, not because he didn't consider the scene horrific, but to try to calm down his partner.

"Why?" Eliza repeated. "They could just lock them—"

A scream made her stop mid-phrase. It was so desperate that Tristan didn't think; he acted. Unsheathing his dagger, he glided through the shadows, following the echo. The source was a lab, the same place where he had been examined. Slamming the door to the wall, he darted inside, with Eliza following suit a split second later. She retched loudly, throwing up again.

The chief scientist was tied to a medical chair, his torso exposed, the shirt ripped. Parts of his skin had been peeled off. The responsible party was a tall woman with fair skin and dark hair. A thin, dark thread was hanging out from her index finger, touching the man's chest. As the thread moved, the skin blistered and evaporated in its wake.

There was no need for words. Tristan Shadow Stepped ahead, preparing to deliver a thrust. Instead, he got slammed into the wall behind him. Eliza got the same treatment. He tried to use a shadow in the next corner to get behind his adversary, but didn't make it. Something wrapped itself around him, a brown liquid, thick like molasses, trying to get into his nose and mouth. Stabbing around blindly, he managed to cut through the spell, or whatever that attack was. Eliza did the same by biting and clawing. The assault renewed a second later, and this time, the ribbon that the woman projected from her finger lashed at them like a whip.

Eliza screamed, her leather jacket ripped apart over the shoulder, blood spurting out. Tristan tried to duck, but the whip curled, getting him in the thigh and leaving behind a deep gash.

"Why don't you just die!" the woman screamed, lashing her whip again.

The others got cut in half from the first strike… Tristan thought.

Eliza transformed into light motes, attempting to evade. Still, she reappeared suspended in the air by the throat, with a hand made of shadows choking her.

"Use light magic!" the Scientist whispered. "Light is the counter."

With Eliza taken care of, the dark ribbon wrapped itself around Tristan's neck, trying to cut his head off. Despite the growing dizziness and being on the verge of fainting, his reasoning was swift, and the conclusion unflattering. The woman's magic used shadows. The counter was light. Problem: He had no light magic, and Eliza's light motes had been smothered out. Yet, there was another way to fight shadows. Make sure they didn't appear in the first place.

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"The Dark!" Tristan hissed, feeling the ribbon go through his cut trachea, mangling his throat and veins, stopping only in his spine.

All the lights in the lab popped out of existence. There was no light in The Dark, but without light, there were no shadows either, only Darkness. The ribbon disappeared, and he grabbed his throat with his hands, trying to keep his head on his shoulders while it spread tendrils of flesh, healing back, returning the blood flow.

He stepped ahead briskly, stabbing blindly toward where he remembered the woman had been. Tristan's dagger found her chest and plunged inside it, twisting. A burst of siphoned health went through his body.

There were gurgling and slurping sounds. Tristan dismissed his AOE, and light returned. Eliza had torn the Shadow woman's throat with her fangs and was feeding, while Tristan's blade was planted in Eliza's chest, on the right side.

"Sorry!" Tristan yelped, pulling out his blade.

Eliza's answer was only a frown. The Shadow Shepherd's body became limp, falling on the floor, but she followed, sucking blood and life.

His regeneration was slower than Eliza's, though. Her wound closed in seconds while his throat still hurt a lot, missing some muscles. Her Constitution and Endurance were higher than his, and it showed.

I have to do something about it, Tristan thought, reading the notification.

You made a major contribution to slaying The Shadow Shepherd, level 80, Third Tier. MAIN QUEST TARGET ELIMINATED (1/10). You have leveled up and are currently level 58.

+1 to all stats. +2 in Constitution and Endurance.

Although he didn't understand what the Main Quest was about and how it appeared, the text came as a pleasant surprise, bringing Tristan eight levels all at once. Getting XP had been much harder at the second tier.

Okay, where was I? Yeah, putting points into Constitution and Endurance to reach seventy-five, like Liz.

Lately, he had invested more in Arcane Power and Darkness Potency. Not a bad choice, since The Dark saved their skin, but that woman had mopped the floor with them. It was time to get his attention back to his Body stats.

You have unlocked Dark Knight Greater Toughness. Whenever you take considerable damage, the hurt organs will be replaced by a copy made of Darkness. Only one of the two main organs, the brain or the heart, can be sustained by this ability. Duration of the spell: one hour.

Not fair! Liz's perk is stronger.

Since he had five more points, he put them into Perception, raising it to thirty, hoping to avoid accidents like stabbing a friend instead of a foe. The Perception increase took effect instantly, drawing his attention to the man tied to the chair. The old Scientist was in very bad shape, barely breathing. At least a dozen strips of skin had been taken off his chest.

"I'll bring Cedric to heal you," Tristan blurted, dismissing his notifications.

"It's… too late… My gla… glasses…"

The scientist's head slumped on his chest, his gaze staring into nothingness. Tristan closed the man's eyes and said a short prayer.

"Bitch!" Eliza hissed, finally releasing the woman's corpse before wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Was he also one of your friends?" Tristan asked.

"Yep… What did he mean by the glasses?" Eliza asked, looking around and picking the spectacles from a desk.

"He wants to be buried with it?" Tristan guessed.

"Nonsense. The bitch wouldn't have tortured Jim just for fun. She searched for something. Secrets. This must be some sort of hint," Eliza said, examining the spectacles, raising him to look at the lenses, then turning them sideways. "Aha!" she exclaimed triumphantly when one of the arms gave way, revealing a tiny metallic rectangle. "A USB!"

Inserting the item into her phone, she began tapping the screen, scrolling. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"What's up?"

"This is our list."

"He stole it?"

"No!" Eliza screamed. "The list with us! "

"Us who?" Tristan rolled his eyes. "Don't assume I'm a telepath."

"Sorry… my nerves are broken… First, the murders, then this… The list contains all the awakened names and powers. Jim was the only one supposed to know them. Whoever has access to this information," she raised the phone, "can make more awakened, with specific builds, avoiding mistakes, and counter every one of us. Or use it for blackmail, or sell the information to the highest bidder."

"May I see it?" Tristan asked, picking the phone from her hand.

"Not now. I must tell Sam. This is much worse than we thought."

The next second, Tristan felt the activation of a movement skill, and Eliza disappeared. She was running back up to get a phone signal. He followed in her tracks, but regenerating was taking a toll on his Mana, and he had to walk the last part through the cave. When he reached daylight, she was already talking with Sam, walking back and forth as she spoke, with the rest of the group gathered around her.

"…torturing him to get the data about our strengths and weaknesses. Of all of us, all teams included," Eliza was saying.

"Forward it, please," Tristan heard Sam's voice.

"Already done."

"Somebody wants to know how to kill us," Dorian said. "It's the only logical conclusion."

"They are bad people," Pops said.

"I'll work on some defenses for our castle," Aldric promised.

"I'll help with the sensors," Max said.

"Any clue who else is involved?" Sam asked. "I mean directly

"If Shadow Shepherd went rogue, a few other magic users from the magic team did too," Claudia said. "Some of them are very shady."

"And evidently parts of the Council," Eliza said. "This was not done without inside information."

"Okay, we talked enough," Tristan said. "Team, prepare for action. We'll storm the base."

"Negative," Sam said over Tristan. "Not before we're sure who is in this willingly, and who's just following orders because they're clueless."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Tristan asked. "Ask politely: Are you an accomplice? Please stay put so I can shoot you."

"Not at all. It's my turn to investigate. I think I'm about to be invited inside," Sam said. "The Smith guy is approaching."

"What do you know, it was all a misunderstanding," a man's voice said. It was fainter than Sam's, so somebody was talking with him. "You are clear to come in. I'll escort you."

"Great," Sam said.

"It's a trap, you idiot!" Eliza yelled. The call cut off abruptly.