Shadow Slash

Hot blood oozed between my fingers as I clutched my mangled shoulder, each heartbeat sending fresh waves of crimson down my arm. The forest canopy blurred into a green maze above me as I leapt from branch to branch, the rough bark digging into my feet with every landing. Each impact sent daggers of pain shooting through my shoulder, but I couldn't slow down. Not with the lives of my teammates hanging by a thread.

Thirty minutes. That's all the time I had before the cursed mist lifted and exposed them to those nightmare-inducing plague spreaders. Under normal circumstances, this journey would take well over half an hour of casual walking. But these weren't normal circumstances, and I wasn't exactly planning a leisurely stroll.

'Fifteen minutes,' I calculated, forcing my burning legs to move faster. 'Twenty at most. Just need to reach the city walls before—'

A deafening whoosh interrupted my thoughts as a violent gust of wind slammed into my back. The force knocked me clean off my perch, sending me tumbling through the air like a ragdoll caught in a tornado. Tree branches whipped past my face, leaving stinging cuts as I plummeted.

*ding*

*HP reduced to 50%*

*Warning: Left shoulder severely damaged*

The ground rushed up to meet me with bone-crushing enthusiasm. I hit hard, the impact driving what little air remained from my lungs. My body rolled several times, each rotation painting the grass with fresh streaks of blood, before coming to a stop against a gnarled tree root.

'Get up!' my mind screamed as my muscles screamed back in protest. 'Every second wasted is one less second they have!' Using the tree for support, I hauled myself to my feet, ignoring the way the world spun around me.

A quick glance over my shoulder revealed the wind doves hovering in formation, their wings creating visible distortions in the air as they prepared another blast. Their pink eyes gleamed with an unnatural intelligence that sent chills down my spine. These damn beasts weren't normal– as far as I knew, normal beasts wouldn't cooperate with each other just to kill a single 12-year-old boy. Something or someone was controlling them.

Time slowed as I analyzed my options. Fighting them head-on would be suicide in my condition, but I couldn't outrun them forever. I needed to thin their numbers, and I needed to do it smart.

I dove behind a thick oak trunk just as another gust tore through the air, splintering smaller branches where I'd been standing. Perfect. The tree's shadow stretched long in the afternoon sun, providing exactly what I needed.

Taking a deep breath, I activated <shadow step>, feeling the familiar cold embrace as darkness swallowed me. I emerged in the shadow of a nearby pine, mere feet from one of the doves. The bird's eyes widened in surprise – they might be controlled, but they could still feel fear.

Before it could screech a warning, my dagger found its throat, slicing through feathers and flesh in one clean arc. Its head separated from its body with a wet sound that would have made my stomach turn if I had time for such luxuries.

*ding*

*You killed a level 15 wind dove*

*Experience gained*

The small victory was short-lived. A high-pressure jet of water cut through the air like a laser, the whooshing sound giving me just enough warning to throw myself left. But my dodge brought me straight into another trap – a waiting swarm of bees, each the size of my fist.

Their synchronized buzzing filled the air like a nightmare orchestra as they surrounded me. Dozens of stingers flashed in the filtered sunlight before plunging into my flesh. It felt like being stabbed by white-hot needles, each carrying liquid fire into my veins.

*ding*

*Multiple injuries sustained*

*HP reduced to 40%*

*Warning: Multiple lacerations detected*

"That's. Bloody. ENOUGH!" I roared, my vision tinting red with pain and fury. My dagger became a silver blur as I spun and slashed, moving my dagger as quickly as I could to hit as many damn bees as possible.

The queen bee, twice the size of her workers, dove at me from above, probably sensing an opportunity to end the fight. Fortunately for me, she dove right into the trajectory of my next swing. I pivoted, using her momentum against her, and drove my dagger through her compound eye and into whatever passed for a brain.

The swarm froze, their synchronized movements faltering as their leader's corpse fell to earth. I didn't waste the opportunity. <Shadow step> carried me away from the disoriented insects, though the effort made my vision blur.

*ding*

*You killed multiple level 8 bees*

*You killed a level 18 evolved bee*

*Experience gained*

*You have levelled up to level 25*

*You can now learn <shadow slash>*

*Use 4 skill points to learn <shadow slash>, yes/no*

My heart leapt at the notification. Finally, a real attacking skill! The 'yes' was formed in my mind before the prompt even finished. Information flooded my brain.

<shadow slash: a damaging skill< p>

Consumes 5MP to activate.

A strong skill in which the user's blade would be coated by shadow attribute. When the user swings the blade, a slash-shaped attack exits the blade and moves in a straight line for 5m, attacking everything in its path.

The attack also ignores all the opponent's defensive skills (like barriers)

Warning: the skill has a cooldown of 10 seconds after each attack>

'Whistle!' Completely ignores barriers, now that was one broken skill right there, it had a cooldown but hey, I was more than competent to survive for 10 seconds and kill whichever beast was attacking me.

As I was admiring my skill a scaly fish caught my eye, jerking me back to reality. One of those absurd winged goldfish – and I still couldn't get over how ridiculous that concept was – had its mouth open, water condensing between its jaws. I tried to dodge behind a tree, but my body betrayed me. Blood loss and exhaustion had taken their toll, slowing my reactions to a crawl.

The water jet caught me square in the stomach, feeling less like water and more like a battering ram.

*ding*

*HP reduced to 20%*

*Internal injuries detected*

*Multiple severe injuries detected*

*Warning: User approaching consciousness threshold*

'F*ck' I cursed as the impact knocked the remaining air from my lungs and sent me flying – straight toward a waiting chunky rat. Its maw gaped wide, rows of yellowed teeth promising a quick but extremely unpleasant end.

Time seemed to slow as I spun in the air, my mind focused despite the pain. This was it – time to see what this new skill could do.

I mumbled "<shadow slash>" and felt the shadows around me move and cover my dagger. They flowed like liquid, turning my dagger pitch black. The darkness seemed to suck in the surrounding light.

After appreciating the blade for a second, with a roar, I swung the blade towards the large rat. The shadow coating exploded outward in a crescent-shaped slash, crossing the distance to the rat in an instant. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then the rat's eyes widened as a clean line appeared across its body, and it simply... fell apart.

*ding*

*<shadow slash> skill is now under cooldown. It cannot be used for the next 10 seconds*

No time to admire my handiwork. I pushed my screaming muscles into motion one more time, using <shadow step> to reach a high branch. Through the thinning trees ahead, I could finally make out the grasslands that bordered Chandola.

'Hold on, everyone,' I thought, gritting my teeth against the pain as I forced myself forward. 'Just a little longer. Please stay safe for a little while longer.'