What a pleasant morning.
Rain streches his sore muscles, cracking his joints audibly.
Ahhh
A moan of pleasure slips.
His arm moves to shield his eyes from the orange rays of the morning sunlight, but then he stops mid- motion, closes his eyes and preens forward, letting his face soak in more of the pleasant rays.
A smile tugs at the corner of his lips- one full of glee.
The enforcer cohort is dead, taken care of– for now, he'll capitalize on the little time they bought him.
That is, before it is realised that the cohort tasked to find him are dead.
But the thing bothering him was ghat he wqsn't growing stronger as fast as he would have liked...only if he could find means to hasten the speed of arcana infusion.
Speaking of arcana and its infusion, he prompts his interface to open.
[...]
Name: Rain
Race: Iksana
Rank: Novice
Saturation: 19.6%
Soul Fragments: 5/100
Legacy: Embrace of Shadows
Aspect: Shadow manipulation, Domain of Souls[Restricted]
Shades: 0/2
Companion: Kai
Titles: The empath
Insignia: Unshackled
Skills:
Domain of souls[Restricted]
Basic dagger mastery
Greater poison resistance,
Appraise
Shroud
Basic shadow manipulation
Shadow vault
[The shadows accept you as their kin]
Everything was as he suspected, an extra soul fragment from Darrin.
The infusion was barely rising, crawling at a snail's pace.
At this rate, reaching fifty percent infusion will take ages, yet time was not merciful– ranking up to adept rank was pertinent to his survival.
He knows that soon he wouldn't be able to fight off his oppressors, only chains and shackles await.
"Wait a minute," Rain murmurs,rubbing his chin deep in thought whilst his gaze was locked on the saturation.
It takes a fraction of a second for him to connect the dots– a rise of close to three percent!
Yet, he hasn't been actively absorbing arcana, neither did he go to a place of abundant arcane energy.
"It has to be that," he muses, further connecting dots, he's always realised a bump in saturation whenever he claimed a life.
Thats the logical explanation he could come up with.
Better get huntin' then
"Not yet, lemme enjoy this once." He murmurs under his breath, further preening to get more sun rays on him.
What had been planned to be a short break before grinding, to allow for breakfast digestion, transformed into a full blown lounge and introspection session.
Time had flown by;- span of close to an hour had already passed- with him still immersed within the pleasant atmospheric ambience.
To hell with everything! Just enjoy the peace and quiet.
He muses.
You just had to say it!
His face contorts, iritated– now he had to move!
His thoughts wouldn't settle now that he'd 'mistakenly' reminded himself of awaiting obligations and commitments to be seen through.
He still had close to an hour to lounge, get his things in order yet he walked off nonetheless.
A few minutes later, his silhouette emerges and gradually disappears beyond the greenery.
In his hands, a jade tablet– his eyes were tracking the three red dots.
One was representing him of course, the others were tracking the remaining two martyrs.
It was so unsettling to know that his position was being revealed and broadcasted real time.
He shudders imagining that someone might be prowling, waiting for him to lower his guard before pouncing– paranoia surges.
He cautiously looks around, his muscles tensing with every faint rustle.
This has to go
Rain mutters, massaging the carved rune on his face, his fingers running through the scabbed contours.
An idea strikes him just then,
"This might work."
The elusive nature of shadows might obscure or even totally erase it.
And so, he triggers [Shroud], the shadows wrap his figure as he enters stealth.
He gazes at the jade tablet, noticing that the dot had only dimmed, yet still broadcasting his location.
Damn it
A frustrated sigh sounds.
Nonetheless, the failure did not put him down, rather, it showed him that hiding the rune was possible.
He just had to be creative while tackling it.
And so, he firmly grabs at the motes of shadows beneath his feet.
Darkness surged, rolling waves of miasma-like shadows forming into a solid mass covering his temple.
There!
The red dot flickers, growing larger and more vague– its precise location falters, now hinting at the general locality.
A gleeful chuckle emerges from Rain.
He was satisfied, even though it wasn't fully erasing his presence, it obscured it enough to confuse the jade tablet– this new obscured location would give him little time to find out something was amiss and react incase someone was at his tail.
Not the best, but good enough to work, for now.
But to his horror, the laurel of shadows disintergrate and dissolve into motes of arcana, the red dot blinked and solidified, marking his precise location yet again.
"Shit!" He curses, he'd only discovered a solution for another to rear its head.
Covering it with shadows was not sustainable, unless...
Yes! That might just work
He bursts into motion, debarking an oak trunk, his fingers and daggers intricately twisted, carving out the bark.
With the dislodged bark in hand, he fashions out a mask, making eye holes and holes for ropes to secure the mask.
Urghh.
He winces as the cold and moist bark touches his face.
The sequence repeats– he calls forth the shadows, which respond to his call and surges forward.
He watches as his location on the tablet obscures, waiting to see how long it would hold up.
Four minutes!
It took about four minutes for the shadows to dispel– good enough for now.
[Ding! Basic Shadow manipulation upgraded>>> Intermediate shadow manipulation]
"Huh?" Rain gets startled by the sudden notification.
Sweet
His mind celebrates.
It turns out that the continous use of skills will increase proficiency and thus upgrade the existing skill.
Rain didn't hesitate and quickly casts another band of shadows around his face.
He waits, testing out its capability.
To his utter surprise, the band now lasts close to six minutes with the mask on.
Six minutes!
Furthermore, the red dot on the tablet is further obscured, and thus his location is better hidden.
Such a profound upgrade.
But this had him deep in thought, why not go full throtle and find a better mask to hold the band of shadows from dissipating.
And the thing that came into mind?
Forest guardians!
Those abberations had visages that could make exquisite masks.
He'd be a fool not to capitalize and get one– though the hunting and procument would be a daunting task on itself.
So be it
Kai shows his face just then, curiously watching his masters antics.
Rain grabs him,
"Kai we're going treant hunting."