Shadow Slave: Arcadius of the Forgotten

That evening Cade slept early and the next day, he awoke at dawn to the sound of the Dark Sea retreating. He stretched lightly and summoned the Flameheart Forge. He had some meat in his seaweed rucksack, and he had also managed to desalinate a good amount of water from the Dark Sea, using methods taught to him by Teacher Julius.

He felt a little weird drinking water from the abominable Sea, considering that it was actually a Nightmare Creature of immense proportions and not really an ocean. 

A guy's gotta live, he mused as he gulped the desalinated water. Then, after roasting some meat and having a tasteless breakfast, he made to descend from the coral branch. 

However, just before descending, he looked back at the place that had sustained him for so many days. He would not be coming back here anytime soon. Today, the three Sleepers were going to start their journey west and Cade had decided on how to keep an eye on them. 

He would be staying at the place that they vacate and then, keep repeating the process. That meant that if they moved onto the Flat Hill, he would be staying at the Knight's Statue and when they reached the Ashen Barrow, he would inhabit the Bone Ridge, and so on and so forth.

That seemed like a good enough plan. He would only be staying one step behind the trio and making progress by killing the Nightmare Creatures that they managed to avoid. 

It felt very much like living on left over crumbs but for now, feeding his pride was the least of Cade's worries.

He felt quite... sentimental about leaving the old coral branch. This had been his home for quite a number of days here in the Dream Realm, and he felt a weird connection to it.

Maybe it was because he had already been forced to leave a home behind once, back in the real world. So, leaving this place felt quite reminiscent of the day he had been stripped of his home, and had found himself on the streets of the NQSC.

Home, huh? he mused.

Cade scoffed and shook his head, banishing the unnecessary thoughts. Once you found yourself in a different world, there was no going back. So, he might as well forget about his 'home' in the real world as soon as possible. But even knowing that, it sure as hell didn't get any easier to simply bury those memories.

He focused on the seaweed-strewn floor of the coral branch.

"If I'm ever unfortunate enough to come back to this godforsaken place", Cade said, "I'll be sure to pay you a visit. Anyway, it was nice staying here. So... goodbye, old branch." He made a weird salute while looking at the seaweed-strewn floor, which used to function as his bed. 

Then, he made the descent, feeling oddly satisfied with the terms on which he and the branch had parted ways. 

He quickly made his way through the convoluted passageways of the Crimson Labyrinth, getting closer and closer to the Knight's Statue. He wanted to catch a glimpse of the trio before they continued on their journey. 

He wasn't too worried about Sunny's shadow right now, because it was probably out scouting their path ahead. 

He used the Crimson Guide to avoid as many Scavengers as he could, but he still had to face and kill two of them. He hadn't been forced to use his Ability, so, he was good.

It was kind of weird, using the Crimson Guide to avoid the Scavengers. Normally, he used it to locate big groups of them, so, he could massacre them in one place. 

It's me that's weird, he thought as he moved through the labyrinth. Most Sleepers would use it this way. I am a little soft in the head, as Sunny pointed out back then. 

Finally, he turned around a corner and could see the base of the colossal statue. As he was looking at it, Sunny appeared into his field of vision. Followed by Cassie, who was struggling a little while descending with Nephis's rope Memory.

Cade found himself frowning at that.

At last, Nephis descended from the statue and addressed Sunny. They were most likely going over their plans for the day. 

After some time, they started moving west. Today was going to be a storm, a scary one. They obviously didn't know that, but that was alright. Cassie's heightened senses would come through and they would make it to the Flat Hill. Barely. And hopefully.

Now, it was Cade's turn to climb up the statue and claim residence there. But he didn't feel like resting today. His Darkness reserves were at ninety percent currently, and he wanted to see what would happen when he finally saturated them completely. 

So, he decided to hunt down some Nightmare Creatures. However, he was getting kind of bored, killing Scavengers time and time again.

He wanted something more.

A challenge.

A Centurion or even two, if he could.

But he knew that there were going to be no Centurions running around in the vicinity of the statue. He would have to make do with the measly Scavengers. 

A long while after the three Sleepers had left, Cade got up and circled to the west side of the Knight's statue. The shark devil's corpse was almost completely gone but there were still close to twenty or thirty Scavengers scurrying around its bones.

Cade had never taken that many on at the same time before. 

Didn't you say you wanted a challenge? he asked himself, smiling viciously. What better way to challenge yourself than to face off against an overwhelming numerical advantage? 

Still, he wasn't completely stupid. Surely, he would not walk headfirst into a horde of Nightmare Creatures, even if they were but mere Awakened Beasts. He would face them on his own terms. 

Wait a minute, Cade thought, scratching his head, a confused expression appearing on his face. Face them on my own terms? A plan to ambush Nightmare Creatures? Who am I, Sunny? To hell with plans! I need me some carnage... 

With that thought, Cade threw caution to the wind and summoned the Voidfang and the Coral Relic. As the black sword materialized into his hand and the wrought iron bracelet wove into place on his left wrist, he smiled wryly.

I really am crazy... 

Then, without so much as a second thought, he walked up to the shark devil's corpse. He was still protected somewhat by the Coral Relic's enchantment, but that was only transient. As he walked, a few Scavengers turned to glance at him through their glowing slit-like eyes. 

At some point, Cade moved sharply and made a wide swing with his sword hand. His strength had been augmented considerably after absorbing a ton of soul shards.

As he moved his hand down, a Scavenger's head disconnected from its body, falling to the ground and rolling to come to rest at one of the other Scavenger's scythe-like legs. 

The Nightmare Spell whispered into Cade's ear: 

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.] 

[... The Darkness within you takes root.] 

Cade breathed out his Darkness, a smirk crossing his face, and then... and then, all hell broke loose. 

***

The artificial sun hung high in the sky. Its pale glow seemed unable to pierce the veil of Darkness swirling at the heart of the battlefield. Shroudkeeper stood in the center of the vast, barren expanse, his breaths slow but deliberate. His black sword was gleaming faintly in the dim light that permeated his bubble of Darkness. 

Around him, the Scavengers prowled— almost thirty monstrous figures moving with feral intent. Their pincers clicked and twitched with a predatory desire. Their hollow eyes glowed faintly in the dark. They were unseeing, but still drawn to him.

Even now, they hadn't fully registered his presence due to the effects of the Coral Relic but that was neither here nor there. They knew that there was a predator among them, and they knew that he was out for blood. 

Cade shifted his weight. The silence pressed down on him. In his hand, the hilt of the Voidfang seemed to pulse with a life of its own. The black blade was a harbinger of the carnage to come. The Darkness began to pool around his feet. Its black tendrils rose and twisted unnaturally. They spread outward like the opening of an abyss.

He clenched his jaw. He was feeling the familiar gnaw of fury stirring within him. It was like a beast straining against its leash. 

With a sharp exhale, Cade released a little more of the Darkness in an explosive wave. The world around him was seemingly plunged into an unnatural abyss.

He didn't much care for his Flaw right now. There were no humans around and the only recipients of his rage would be these sorry Scavengers. Besides, he had long learned to control himself in the presence of Nightmare Creatures. Adding to that was the fact that he was wearing the Tidemark Whisper. So, he would not be succumbing to his unnatural rage today. 

The Scavengers hissed and screeched. Their movements grew frantic as their senses were drowned in the oppressive void. Cade felt it immediately— the surge of information that came with the black fog, the way it imposed his will as an extension of his soul.

But along with it came the fire in his chest. The rising heat of fury made his grip tighten, his vision blur at the edges. But Cade was used to this feeling by now; this feeling that had seemed so alien not too long ago. 

One of the Scavengers lunged from the side. Its heavy pincers cut through the Darkness with no precision at all. After all, it was effectively blind inside this realm of True Darkness.

Cade sidestepped smoothly. The Voidfang arced upward to meet the pincers. The blade sliced through the appendages, and the claws dropped to the ground with a clang.

Cade twisted his body and thrust the double-edged blade forward, driving it straight into the gap in the Scavengers armor and killing it immediately. Azure blood sprayed into the Darkness. 

Two down... ten more to go, Cade thought, holding back the rage with all his might, as the Spell confirmed his kill: 

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.] 

[... The Darkness within you takes root.] 

Today, he wanted to keep track of his kills. He wanted to know the exact moment his Darkness reserves would be fully saturated. He calculated that he would lose about two percent of the Darkness in today's battle. So, that meant that after ten more kills, his reserves would become fully saturated.

He wanted to see if he would feel any significant change at that exact moment. 

He was only able to keep a small part of his sanity from slipping away, because of the meagre enchantment of the Tidemark Whisper, and the resilience built from multiple struggles against his Flaw. He seemed to be holding on to some little shred of his thinking capability. At least, for now.

Cade turned toward his next victim. A Scavenger came at him, this time from behind, but the Darkness was his ally.

He felt the Scavenger's movements, the subtle ripple in the black mist, and spun around on his heel just in time to bring his sword down in a brutal diagonal slash. The Scavenger's head separated from its body with a sickening crunch. It rolled into the blackness as Cade stepped forward, unfazed. 

Three... Cade noted, gritting his teeth as the rage surged. The Spell confirmed his kill yet again. 

The anger bubbled within him. It clawed at his mind, urged him to revel in the violence. He could almost feel it taking hold. His movements grew sharper, faster, more brutal, more murderous. 

Cade was cutting the Scavengers down with terrifying ease. His [Battle Master] Attribute, coupled with his nigh-omniscience inside the Darkness and the primal fury of his Flaw, turned him into a killing machine that not even the most accomplished of warriors would want to face in battle.

And the Scavengers... they were but mere mindless beasts. 

The Voidfang seemed to find gaps in their defenses like a predator finding weakness in its prey. The Darkness flowed with him. It obscured his movements, and laid those of the Scavengers bare in front of him, on top of leaving them disoriented and confused. 

The fourth and fifth beasts fell in quick succession. Cade leapt toward one. His sword drove cleanly through its chest, before twisting around to slash the front legs out from under another. The latter tried to crawl away, but Cade silenced it with a downward stab, his black blade pinning it to the ground like a butcher's tool. 

He moved like a wraith. His form flickered in and out of the Darkness. Six. Seven. Eight. Each kill was a blur of motion, a cacophony of shrieks and the wet sound of flesh being torn apart, in addition to Spell's never-ending whispers. 

The Scavengers were growing desperate. Their movements were growing erratic as they tried to escape the suffocating Darkness. But Cade wouldn't allow it. In here, he was the storm and they were caught in the center. 

By the time the eleventh beast fell, Cade's armor was drenched in azure blood. His breaths were coming faster. The Darkness around him had thickened. It roiled like a living thing, and with it, the rage inside him burned hotter.

His heart hammered against his ribs; his vision became tinged with red. A part of him— the part that was still sane— recognized the danger. The Darkness was feeding his anger, twisting his thoughts. But he could not bring himself to stop. Not now. Not ever.

The twelfth Scavenger charged straight at him, pincers outstretched. Cade didn't hesitate.

He surged forward, and met the beast head-on. His sword slashed upward. It caught the thing under the jaw and cleaved through its skull in one brutal motion. Azure blood sprayed across Cade's face, and the creature's lifeless body crumpled at his feet. 

Cade smiled viciously. This was the kill that would fully saturate his Darkness reserves. He heard the Spell announce his kill and he waited.

However, his wait was not for long. 

For at that moment, everything stopped.

The Darkness surrounding him grew still... and then, it retreated.

Back into his soul.

Cade's eyes widened. He hadn't called the black mist back. It had retreated of its own accord. And Cade was left defenseless, in the midst of close to twenty Carapace Scavengers. His rage evaporated and his mind acknowledged his precarious situation instantly.

This was bad. But he could not think about it.

Because at that moment... it hit him.

Pain.

Blinding, excruciating pain. 

Cade staggered, his knees buckling beneath him. His vision blurred as an unimaginable pain lanced through his chest. It was as if something had reached inside of him, gripped his very soul and twisted it viciously.

He gasped audibly. His sword slipped from his hand as he clutched at his chest. 

He knew this pain intimately. After all, he had felt it once before. When he had been translocated to this world, he had felt this same exact pain.

The ground beneath him was cold and unyielding. His breaths came in ragged gasps, each one a struggle as the pain threatened to consume him. He was screaming, his whole body convulsing in spasms of terrible pain. The unbearable agony radiated through his entire being. His mind drowned in the endless torrent of torturous, excruciating, harrowing suffering.

Then, he heard the voice of the Spell. However, it was not the usual soft whisper. No, it sounded reluctant, as if it did not want to speak to him. The voice was laced with contempt as it spoke: 

[Your soul is overflowing with Darkness...] 

[The might of the Darkness is overwhelming...] 

[... It threatens to taint your soul.] 

[Your Soul Core has been destroyed.]

Cade's eyes widened upon hearing the words. But he was not in any position to care about them. He screamed at the top of his lungs. He tried to dig his own heart out from inside his chest, leaving bloody marks all over his naked body. The pain was just too much. It was too much to bear.

But oblivious to his pain, the Spell continued: 

[... The Darkness within you is taking shape.]

[The Abyssal Core has been formed.] 

[Otherwalker has evolved.]

[You have acquired a new Attribute.] 

[You have acquired a new Attribute.] 

[Rise anew, Shroudkeeper...] 

[Your transformation is complete.] 

The last few words were spoken with a voice that was laced with venom. It seemed to resent Cade, as if he were the most evil creature to ever walk the lands of the mortal realms. 

But Cade didn't care about that, not right now. He was sprawled on the ground, naked. He had dismissed the Ebonveil Plate and all the other Memories he'd had on him as he had tried to struggle against the unimaginable and blinding pain. 

The pain was gone now. But Cade didn't feel like getting up from the ground. No, he liked it here. He would stay there. For now. For today. For tomorrow. For the next week. For the next year and all the years to come. He was alright, right here on the cold ground. 

But he was still surrounded by almost twenty Carapace Scavengers. They were staring at him with glowing eyes. But not one tried taking a step forward. No, they seemed wary. But wary of what, exactly? 

Cade sat up with a groan. He was coughing and his chest was heaving. He summoned his armor back. But as he did, something strange happened.

Every time he had summoned a Memory before, it had woven itself out of thin air, materializing from tiny glimmers of light.

But right now, the armor seemed to materialize from... from Darkness— Darkness which emanated from within Cade himself. Also, the armor looked... darker, blacker, more ominous. 

What... the hell...? Cade thought tiredly.

Then, without wasting any time, he summoned his runes to take a look at the changes that had taken place. However, as soon as he glanced at the string of runes representing his Attributes and Aspect, his exhaustion evaporated and he forgot to breathe. 

W—wha... What th—the actual hell? he thought, horrified and shaken to his core. For his runes read: 

Attributes: [Spawn of th...], ..., [Otherwalker], [Sliver of Profanity], [Stygian]. 

Aspect: [Abyssbreather]. 

Aspect Rank: Unholy.