Luke heard Fleur’s heart rate speed up—and his own slow down.

  Even with the vision stat, the shadows untouched by the candlelight inside were hard to pierce, but Luke could make out every set of eyes trained on him and his elf party member. To his relief, none came to him, yet, that is.

  Cautious of the hindered sight, Luke fed frost essence to his eyes. The shadows turned to gray, and he could see clearly enough. Bloody, broken tiles made up the flooring, ruined paintings lined the walls, and shadows mucked every corner not revealed by the candles.

  Dust, blood, and iron overpowered any other aroma. A Gothic, vampiric cathedral, as any other. On the very end of the ebony cloth path was a sanctum, with a black barrier—too abyssal to see through—enveloping it in its entirety. Floating shadow orbs came in every section, hanging around every separate monster group.

  By Luke’s account, there appeared to be ten such groups, with four in particular giving off a greater danger sense. Black pools mucked and bubbled—Luke could see creatures hiding in each. Something he believed abnormal, still, he inspected the creature in the nearest black muck puddle.

  [Shade Vampire] (High Elite)

  Tier: 1

  Level: 46

  HP: 8150/8150

  Masters of the night, jumps through the shadows, vulnerable to light, otherwise difficult to pin down. Likes the necks of virgins, such as the elf next to you.

  An organ note began to play softly in the cathedral, and the previously stationary monsters began to move. Luke scanned the other three creature types he could see in the two groups poised to attack him soon.

  [Void Sentinel] (Elite)

  Tier: 1

  Level: 45

  HP: ???/???

  Invulnerable; deactivates once the Shade Vampire Linked to it is killed or exorcised.

  [Shadow-Bound Thrall] (Elite)

  Tier: 1

  Level: 43

  HP: 6100/6100

  Loyal servants to their masters. An unlucky few are converted from foolish invaders.

  [Vampiric Acolyte]

  Tier: 1

  Level: 43

  HP: 3200/3200

  Fiercely protected by the others, able to heal at an incredible rate and sate their master’s sanguine desire.

  Undergoing a lightning fast review, Luke made a quick plan; the Acolytes had to go. And the Thralls here appeared to have some variance. One in particular stood above the rest, clad in hunter gear, as one would see on a Warrior. Probably a ‘converted’ as mentioned by the Interface. Maybe the fifth member from the slaughtered party lay two dozen feet away from him and Fleur.

  Other than those two, the Void Sentinels came as a package with the Shade Vampires. Take care of the Vampire; take care of the Sentinel. The Hallow Priest’s Fleur had spoken of appeared further in the Cathedral’s back, in the three pathways leading away from the blocked off Sanctum.

  “Fleur, give me a quick rundown of what you can do. I’ve seen you cast a gale strike often and two twisters that bind a creature down. What else?”

  The ice Luke planted around her lips melted off, putting down the butt of her staff to the stonework. Fleur said, “Soothing Winds can boost your speed, restore stamina, and moderately heal you over time. I’ve got a push back Wind Barrier that only blocks physical attacks, and finally, I can summon a cyclone that attacks in a straight line, pulling in nearby enemies while dealing a serious amount of damage. The cooldown is longer than my other spells.”

  “I could use that Soothing Winds. The speed boost sounds like it would come in handy. When something else jumps into the fight, and I can’t immediately handle it, use your other spells to pin them down. Keep the barrier for your own protection. I won’t need it.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “You’ve seen enough of me back in the Blood Forge. That should be your answer.”

  Flaring out Xera, Luke took decisive steps, once a suitable distance, he applied Triple Step to his back right foot, pouncing onto a nearby muck pile, holding a Shade Vampire within. Infusion already empowered Xera, boosted further by Essence Bond. Applying a white ice layer to Xera through Elementalization, Luke thrust Xera right through the Shade Vampire, which was still in waiting.

  The hunter had become the hunted. A terrible screech came from the surprised high elite. With the speed from agility, Triple Step, and the silence effect from Whispering Tome, Luke caught the entire group off guard. The Reaver applied Essence Bond to the Shade Vampire, and it forcibly ejected from the black oozing pool, already severely injured. Raising his right arm, Luke fired off a point blank Essence Lance at the six or so monsters next to him, the impact slicing into their bodies and knocking them back.

  Ice froze over the bloodied stone before any creature could gain a foothold, and they slid. Luke brandished Xera into the High Elite Shade Vampire again. The monster tried to slip away in the shadows. Both Elementalization and Essence Bond kept it stationary; the rejection of its usual tactic sealed the creature’s fate. Luke sliced off its neck while his free hand—covered in a frost creation—pierced into its chest, crushing the already dead heart.

  Futures up to two steps ahead overlaid every monster Luke saw. Since the Shade Vampire died before revealing any of its real might, the Void Sentient, which had been blasting Shadow Volleys, vanished—returned to the abyss. Commanding the built up ice surrounding the remaining monsters, silent implosions ripped apart most of them. The acolytes died, their bodies shattered by the ice. Three Shadow Bound Thralls remained, already half crippled, two missing most of a leg.

  With a forceful push, Luke rammed Xera into the middle of one, twisted up, cutting the creature smoothly up the middle. Using a frost gauntlet, Luke caught one Thrall’s axe strike. A bit of blood leaked from his hands from the action, nothing worth sweating about. The last Thrall summoned shadows to restrain the Reaver. Flexing the innate strength he’d gained over countless battles, he made the solid shadows brittle from ice, smashing them apart. In an ironic twist, the pullback allowed him to build additional force, slicing the Thrall from the shoulder to the waist, killing it in one fatal strike.

  Bulging muscle clutched onto the last creature’s weapon, then ice spread from the weapon to the attached arm, turning it into pure white crystalline frost. Using the predicted future from Frost Essence sight, Luke turned his head, avoiding a horizontal swipe from the Thrall’s other arm. Xera whipped up into its armpit, cutting off the arm at the shoulder. Luke kicked the creature square in the chest, concaving the cavity, and ice took care of the rest.

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  The other nearby group, which had similar numbers as the first, came within a threatening distance of Luke. Knowing there’d be perhaps two seconds before they engaged, Luke applied Silent Domain from Whispering Tome onto the group. Interestingly, this forced the Shade Vampire out of its bubbling black pool. The Reaver felt a slight sapping from the shadows he remained within.

  Kicking off a nearby back wall, Luke cut in an arc with Xera; a blast of ice extended the range. With the initiative, Luke sheared the healer Vampiric Acolyte from the waist down, making the monster come apart in two halves. Shadow Thralls attempted to shadow step to him, but the silencing domain rejected their efforts. With the added slow from Silent Domain and Luke’s ambient ice creation, the group had yet to come together and cover one another. A Void Sentinel floated uselessly; finally, the Shade Vampire, the overall largest threat in these groups, came within Luke’s striking distance.

  Using ice to implode around his triceps, Luke thrust Xera into the Vampire in and out in a mechanical-like motion, yet pressurized and fast enough that it turned the Vampire into a literal blood sieve. One command to let the ice already forming in the Vampire later, and it blew apart into an icy, gory, blood pile. Fleur reacted, blasting out Wind Gales and using her Twin Twisters to pin another Thrall to the ground. The teamwork between the two made short work of the remaining monsters.

  Claiming their stake in the Cathedral grounds, the portion nearest the entrance now became cleared. Luke’s gear began to shed the blood, guts, and ice covering him.

  Xera hummed a tune very out of place with the rest of the atmosphere, happy as could be. Words like ‘Master is best,’ ‘Ice is nice,’ and ‘Bones are crunchy’ came out her crystal every so often. Fleur had been informed about Xera’s sentience, and Sylen populace in general slowly became aware of her presence. The city’s second two-form weapon. Forming a Gale Barrier, Fleur approached, “How can you see anything out here, Luke? I’m drowning my eyes in mana, and the visibility is still terrible.”

  “Can you attribute your mana decently?”

  Fleur hung her shoulders and pushed her staff down, “No, I’m stuck at late Novice. Consistently injecting wind into my mana is difficult. I’m better off using regular mana to enhance my vision.”

  “There’s your answer, Fleur. Since I put frost into mine with zero effort, everything around me looks like a grey undertone. I can see the three Vampire groups glaring at us from a distance.”

  That gave Fleur a shudder. She haphazardly looked around, fruitlessly—since her vision was too weak—and ended up subconsciously clinging to Luke. Catching herself a moment later, she released him, “Where are they? Are the monsters showing any signs of moving toward us?”

  Slowly shaking his head, Luke said, “None. They seem to be waiting for us. I wonder…” Luke noticed a set of candles decremented the space between them, and the next wave of monster groups. An ebony cloth drape styled the path down the middle. The candles bled wax at a moderate pace, but certainly faster than natural. Luke put it together. Those weak light sources kept any invading party from being overwhelmed immediately.

  But the shadows around him kept sapping at his stamina and Essence. Fortunately for Luke, he regenerated fast, especially with the Dejen’s Diligence passive from Hunter’s Ice Blessed Trousers. Fleur also appeared to be holding up well. Perhaps she had a similar item or passive ability.

  Pushing aside his uncommon advantages, it spells the theme to this dungeon room. You had to clear within a set period and maintain that clear speed. Otherwise, you’d find yourself fighting one monster group and another two deciding to come in after you once the candlelight keeping them back finally died out.

  Forming Xera into a wand, Luke got ready for the next engagement. Rather than wait for the candles to die, he’d rather take on a third group, ensuring a fourth couldn’t come in moments after the engagement, much like what happened with these two groups he put to the sword. Pushing Fleur on the back, he said, “I’ll get the Shade Vampire to appear. I want to see what you can do. Since that’ll get the biggest threat on its back foot, this should be a cakewalk to someone like you.”

  Fleur released a yelp at the gesture, then seemed to steady herself, hints of embarrassment played at her features, “How are you going to get the Shade Vampire out in the open? That’s always the biggest headache for groups attempting the Sanctum.”

  “Like this,” Luke set his palm out, Essence Bond entangled the Shade Vampire hiding with its black pool. It materialized, fangs glinting, black eyes transfixed on Luke due to his aggression. The beast attempted to manipulate the shadows to disappear but failed. Luke found it entertaining to see the thing try to turn invisible, only to be revealed again by Essence Bond’s glowing rune circle. Boxed in by the candlelight, the melee fighters—mainly the three Shadow Bound Thralls—were kept back, unable to shadow step to where Luke stood.

  Turning to Fleur, Luke slapped a palm over his face, beside himself. He flicked the distracted Wind Mage on the nose, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you can’t tell me you made it to level fifty acting this way. Get a hold of yourself. Several monsters are chomping at the bit to attack us. More than just the Shade Vampire is a threat. This time, I’ll support you; get to it.”

  Rubbing her nose for a moment, Fleur accepted the criticism and began to display her ability, she sent out a slicing gale, grabbing the Acolyte’s attention. Using the disadvantage the up close melee types were facing, she began to chuck her ranged wind spells at the Acolyte and Shade Vampire, focusing most of her efforts on the Acolyte. She interrupted it with her Twin Gales when it began to cast a healing blood spell. Pinned to an unfortunate situation, the Shade Vampire spiked shadows up around Fleur, stabbing into her feet.

  The mage kept her composure, and a Gale Barrier appeared, forcing back the manipulated shadows, and obstructing a visual on her. A cyclone blasted out in a direct path, smashing into all seven monsters rotating them in with one another. The Acolyte summoned a blood bat just before it too was sucked in, being shredded by magic wind. The tip of Fluer’s staff shone brightly, making an enormous slicing gale that beheaded the Acolyte. At the same time, the monster pulsed blood magic, empowering the Shade Vampire, and three Shadow Bound Thralls.

  Luke pushed Essence Bursts—literal manipulation of his raw resource—out of Xera’s wand tip, meeting the shadow blasts coming like turret fire from the Shadow Sentinel. Fixating on the nearest candle, Luke noted the item melted at an accelerated rate. But the other candle, the one keeping back the fourth group across from the third they were engaged with, still burned at a steady speed, with plenty of time to go.

  The candles can’t be overused to make your next fights too easy. A shame, but it looks like you still get a reward by clearing faster as it’s definitely making this fight more straightforward than it would be otherwise. The man internally observed.

  Using the dying light, Fleur gathered winds around her. A soothing wind enveloped both her and Luke. The Reaver noticed his stamina had returned to full, and a moderate heal kept rotating around his body. With the winds at his back, he felt like a single movement would easily be twenty to thirty percent faster. Now freed from the candle’s luminous tyranny, all three Shadow Bound Thralls stepped into the darkness, reappearing before Fleur, stopped by her Gale Barrier.

  The slicing wind wounded the three but failed to stop their advance completely. Three shadow infused weapons bore their might down on the Wind Mage. The barrier stopped two attacks; the third got through. Showing her experience, Fleur shifted her body, avoiding the third strike by a razor thin margin.

  For his part, Luke decided to keep the Shade Vampire busy. Ice bursts matched the Void Sentinel, and Xera—now in sword form—sliced into the Shade Vampire’s swipes and shadow based attacks.

  Unfortunately for his quarry, every moment for Luke played out in slow motion, and he saw two or occasionally three steps ahead. At this point, one could call his participation in the battle casual, yet vital.

  The Reaver felt…unchallenged by a High Elite and its turret; all the previous struggles bore fruit at such a time. Summoning a rotating Essence Lance, Luke hurled it while detonating both its third shards and the ice covering the Shade Vampire. The combination obliterated the Vampire, making it fall into a pile of ice dust; its Shadow Sentinel companion returned to the void simultaneously.

  Fleur was locked in struggle, her Wind Barrier on cooldown. She alternated between using her staff to block melee attacks, and wind blasts to knock down the three Shadow Bound Thralls attacking her. A multitude of cuts decorated her body by now. Just as one seemed poised to land a deadly strike to Fluer’s neck, Luke plunged Xera through the monster’s upper right back, ripping off the arm in the process once he put some power into it.

  Sweeping the monster off its balance with a kick to its left knee, Luke sunk Xera into its exposed mouth, funneling Ice to its insides and then fulminating it. The Shadow Bound Thrall died. Sheathing Xera, Luke wandered back to the nearest wall, weak candlelight illuminating his face, ice mist pervading off his eyes, and arms folded.

  Xera, confused at the sudden stop in action, veered her sword point to the two monsters still locked in combat with Fleur, who finally regained the edge against them, “Why stop! There’s still more for us all to enjoy.”

  “I need to see what she can do. If Fleur seems to be in a bind, I’ll help her out. Better now, than when we try the Hallow Priests or final boss.”

  Reluctantly seeing Luke’s point, Xera murmured, “Aw…no fair.”