“The Shadow Plane…” Murmuring the name of the place Noel had mentioned to him, Valyr thought to himself how it was slightly absurd that evolving a couple skills to a higher grade was the only thing hindering him from gaining access to such a place that not many would have access to. With that, he felt a bit grateful that he had planned on taking the subclass he had wanted to get back then, feeling a bit of excitement and nervousness at the same time as he continued to stare at the dark rift before them.

Whoosh!

“Alright. It’s stabilized.” Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Noel released his hands off of the magic circle as the Abyssal Energy emanating from him gradually disappeared. Seeing as the rift remained where it was, he then took a look at Valyr, who was continuing to look at him all this time.

With that, he then gestured to the young man to head into the rift first, only to stop the latter just as he had taken a step forward.𝒪𝗏𝑙xt.𝗇𝓔t

“On second thought, I’ll take the lead.” Saying these words, Noel called upon his connection with Abyssal Energy once more, shrouding his entire body in a faint black haze as he soon headed into the rift, disappearing from Valyr’s field of vision the very moment he stepped in.

Swoosh!

“So… should I head in?” Seeing as Noel had disappeared in front of him, Valyr scratched the back of his head for a bit, wondering whether to enter the rift or not due to how the old man had stopped him from doing so earlier. Fortunately, while he continued to remain standing, pondering over what to do, Noel’s voice soon echoed from the rift.

“You better head in,” said the elder in a slightly annoyed tone. “I didn’t create a rift to the Shadow Plane just to waste my Abyssal Energy for no reason.”

“However, make sure to steel yourself for what you’re going to see on the other side.” Leaving these parting words to the young man, Noel stayed silent after that, causing the young man to look at the rift for a bit as he decided to open up the description of the quest he had just received.

“Haah…” Letting out a low sigh as he closed the screen he had brought up, Valyr took in a deep breath before proceeding to move closer to the rift, eventually taking a step into it.

“Then again, I never expected to get the subclass this easily.”

Whoosh!

…

“Where am I?” Feeling that his feet had stepped on solid ground, Valyr went ahead and tried to check his current surroundings, only to find out that he could not see anything at all. A few seconds later, he realized that his sense of hearing had gone out as well, tapping his fingers onto his ears multiple times, only for him to hear no sound from them at all.

Though he felt a bit of panic due to two of his more prominent senses becoming cut off, Valyr began to breathe slowly, trying to maintain a calm and collected mind as best as possible as he thought about the reasons why Noel had brought him to the Shadow Plane in the first place.

‘Calm down, Valyr. Noel wouldn’t bring you to a place that makes you lose your sight and hearing for no reason,’ Valyr thought to himself. ‘After all, he’s a part of the clan’s supportive faction. He would hope that I become stronger for the sake of the supportive faction, right?’

‘…but what if he was lying to me? What if he was actually part of the rebel faction all this time?’ Continuing to take slow and deep breaths as he discarded all of the useless thoughts that surfaced in his mind, Valyr eventually regained his sense of calm, deciding to take a look at the quest’s description once more.

Ding!

————

Returning to One’s Roots (Subclass Promotion Quest)

Difficulty: A

As someone who has awakened their Shadow Energy and its connection through unorthodox means, becoming a Neophyte Shadow Serpentine Lancer, you have been given a chance by an Abyssal Serpentine Lancer to tread the proper path to power, giving you either the option to take a slow yet stable approach, a quick yet dangerous approach, or a difficult yet rewarding approach.

You have decided to take the difficult yet rewarding approach.

Because of this choice of yours, you have been given access to the Shadow Plane, the realm where Shadow Energy originates. With the Abyssal Serpentine Lancer that has taken you under its wing guiding you, you must now refine this impure Shadow Energy to its original state, returning it to its roots, lest your journey as a Shadow Serpentine Lancer ends here.

Time is ticking.

Quest Objectives:

> Improve your Shadow Energy to the point the system recognizes its existence (0

/1)

> Improve your Shadow Energy Mark to the 1st Cleansing grade (0

/1)

> Improve your Shadow Energy Mark to contain 10 points of Shadow Energy (0

/10)

> Slay a Shadow Serpent (0

/1)

Quest Rewards:

> Promotion to Shadow Serpentine Lancer subclass

> ??? (Additional rewards dependent on performance during the quest)

————

“Hello? Can you hear me, Valyr?” Just as Valyr was finished reading through the quest’s description a second time, the young man heard a familiar voice resound through his mind, letting out a deep sigh of relief in response. After that, he wondered whether the other side would be able to hear his response through his thoughts, deciding to test it out as he asked a question back.

‘I can, Elder Noel. Can you hear me, though?’

“Loud and clear,” said the voice in response to his question, allowing the young man to finally feel a bit of weight being removed from his shoulders. However, this sense of relief swiftly disappeared once he heard the voice’s next words.

“Unfortunately, we can’t maintain this kind of conversation for long. Even though the quality of my energy is superior when compared to Shadow Energy, a great portion of it is consumed for every second we continue conversing.”

“With that, I’ll have to get straight to the point.”

“Valyr, what you have to do…”

“…is form a Shadow Eye.”