The chieftain did not give him time to recover.
It advanced without haste, each step deliberate, the weight of its presence pressing harder with every pace it closed. The air itself felt thicker, like the chamber had decided there was no room left for anything but the two of them.
Nathan raised his daggers.
His arms shook.
Not from exhaustion alone—though his body screamed with every breath—but from the knowledge settling deep in his chest. This wasn't a fight he could win cleanly. This wasn't something he could outplay.
This thing was better.
The chieftain struck.
Nathan barely caught the blow, steel ringing loud enough to hurt his ears as the impact drove him backward. His boots skidded across stone, heels scraping sparks as he fought to stay upright. A follow-up came immediately, faster than the first, slamming into his guard and breaking through it.
Pain exploded across his ribs.
Nathan hit the ground hard, the breath torn from his lungs in a harsh, choking gasp. He rolled on instinct as the weapon came down again, the strike shattering stone where his head had been a moment earlier.
He pushed himself up, vision swimming.
'Move. If I stop, I die.'
The chieftain didn't rush him. It never did. It advanced, step by step, cutting off angles, forcing Nathan toward worse footing. Toward the walls. Toward the places where shadows pooled thick and heavy—and felt wrong.
Nathan tried not to think about Shadow Movement.
The moment the thought crossed his mind, fear followed. Not panic. No doubt. Something older. Something deeper. The same instinct that had screamed at him to live when the world had ended once already.
Every time he even brushed against the darkness, it felt like standing at the edge of a drop so deep there was no bottom.
If he stepped into it now, he wouldn't come back.
Steel met steel again.
Nathan ducked under a sweeping strike and slashed upward, Mistilteinn biting into the chieftain's forearm. The cut was shallow, barely drawing blood—but it landed.
The chieftain reacted instantly.
A shoulder slammed into Nathan's chest, driving him back into the wall hard enough to rattle his teeth. Stone bit into his spine as he collapsed to one knee, breath coming in ragged pulls.
The chieftain raised its weapon.
Nathan barely managed to roll as it came down, the impact cracking the wall where he'd been. Dust and stone rained down around him as he scrambled upright, daggers trembling in his hands.
"You're slowing," Nott said quietly, her voice tight but controlled. "If you fall here, it won't stop."
Nathan didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His legs burned. His arms felt heavy. Every breath scraped like broken glass through his chest. The hum behind his eyes had grown louder, uneven, pressing in waves that made it hard to focus.
Not guidance.
Not help.
Just pressure.
The chieftain moved again, faster now. The restraint from before was gone. Each strike came heavier, sharper, forcing Nathan to give ground until there was nowhere left to retreat.
His heel caught on broken stone.
He stumbled.
The chieftain didn't miss the opening.
The blow caught him across the side, pain flashing white as he was thrown across the chamber. He hit the ground and didn't get back up right away.
For a moment, the world narrowed to sound and pain.
Slow footsteps approached.
Nathan forced his eyes open.
The chieftain loomed over him, weapon raised, its presence bearing down like a physical weight. There was no triumph in its expression. No rage.
Just certainty.
'This is it.'
The hum in his head collapsed into a single, sharp pulse.
Then—nothing.
No pressure.
No fear.
Just stillness.
Nathan felt it then.
Not the darkness reaching for him.
He's reaching for it.
Not as an escape.
As a choice.
'If I go into shadow… I might not come back.'
The thought came clear and calm.
'But if I don't, I die anyway.'
He stopped resisting the fear.
Stopped fighting it.
And stepped forward.
The shadow beneath him opened.
Not like before. Not hungry. Not suffocating.
It answered.
Nathan vanished.
The chieftain's strike cleaved through empty air.
Nathan emerged from the darkness behind it, fully, cleanly, the fear gone the moment he committed. Time felt stretched, the world sharp and focused in a way it had never been before.
Mistilteinn struck first, cutting deep into the back of the chieftain's knee.
The joint gave.
Before it could recover, Carnwennan followed, driven up beneath the ribs with everything Nathan had left.
The blade sank deep.
The chieftain froze.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then the weight in the chamber vanished.
The goblin collapsed forward, its presence unraveling as its body hit the stone.
Silence rushed in to fill the void.
Nathan staggered back, barely staying upright as the darkness settled around him again—calm, familiar, no longer resisting. The hum returned, deeper this time. Steady. Warm.
He dropped to one knee, daggers slipping from his fingers.
"Good," Nott said softly, the tension finally easing from her voice. "You chose."
Nathan didn't answer. He just breathed.
The hum surged once more, stronger than before.
Not painful.
Not overwhelming.
Just… complete.
———————————————————-
Name: Nathan Relix
Title(s) -
Darkness Apprentice
Your hard work paid off.
+10% Darkness effectiveness
+20% Wisdom when practicing Darkness-related skills
Talent: ???
Trait(s) -
???:
Endurance
Runner
Crafty
Bunny Slayer
Spearman's arm
Knowledge of Mana
Born in the Shadows
Element(s) -
Darkness
Skills-
Dash
Shadow Movement
Stats -
Strength: 16 -> 31
Constitution: 14 -> 22
Agility: 34
Wisdom: 15 -> 35
Charisma: 5
Luck: ???
———————————————————-
Nathan closed his eyes, letting the hum settle fully.
This victory hadn't made him strong enough.
But it had shown him how far he still had to go.
And that was enough—for now.