MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

Leo was still falling through the endless void. With closed eyes he was humming some kind of melody while a small smile playing on his lips.

Whoosh...

The wind brushing against his body was the only thing interrupting his peaceful time spent in the darkness. The sunlight has long been gone and the only thing enshrouding him was darkness and bats, huge bats chasing after him.

The monsters were the same creatures Leo had defeated in the sewers. Normally they'd pose a threat, but Leo was moving at such speeds that none of the flying abominations could catch up to him.

Screech...

The screeching sound left one of the monsters' throat making Leo frown.

"Can you stay quiet?"

Sending a Lightning Bolt towards the sound Leo hit one of them, but didn't seriously wound it.

Lazily opening his eyes Leo saw nothing, but darkness and sighed. The boredom was slowly getting to him, he had already been falling for a few hours and he hadn't even reached halfway through the pit.

At this pace Leo wouldn't be able to reach the end of the abyss before he had to go eat dinner.

'I need extra weight...'

Looking through his inventory Leo quickly found an item he was looking for.

Taking out 3 Mithril Bars he had bought from an auction, some time ago he stacked them on his chest increasing his weight by twofold. Mithril was a very heavy type of metal, usually only used to make equipment for Orcs who had robust and muscular bodies.

Trying to stay awake Leo started sorting out his inventory by binning some worthless/cheap stuff, while keeping the rest.

[ Congratulations! Player Ava has found a hidden Tomb! ]

[ Congratulations! Player Eli has found a hidden Tomb! ]

The world announcement caught Leo off guard, especially when the people responsible for it were his former teammates.

Recalling that both Ava and Eli were probably exploring the Elven Forest in search of the wandering merchant, Leo frowned.

"The only Tomb nearby is the Fallen Angel one..."

The timeline was once again going off track, Ava and Eli weren't the ones supposed to find the Hidden Tomb and Leo was probably the direct cause of that.

Massaging his templates he sighed.

"Ava should've bought it off the shop..."

Recalling the legacy that could be found in the Tomb, Leo couldn't help, but slightly pale, recalling its fearsome firepower and its extra special property.

If Ava managed to get her hands on the thing this early in the game Leo didn't know how the power dynamic would change, the item would even pose a threat to him, mainly because it was a mental type of attack.

"Beauty is a weapon..."

Murmuring under his breath Leo pinched his nose bridge trying to forget the angel-like appearance of the girl he had seen in his past life.

"I should get charm resistance..."

Feeling the sweat pouring down his back Leo frowned. He felt that he'd be in danger if he didn't do so.

Screech...

Throwing a look towards where he heard the bat screech Leo immediately launched a Lightning Bolt.

<Draconic Bat x1 Killed! >

<LOOT >

1:1500 EXP

2: Draconic Scales x2

3: Draconic Bat's Fangs x2

~~~~

Smirking at the system message Leo fell through the darkness contemplating which charm protection he should get.

***

A giant orc and a beautiful elf were standing in front of a huge stone statue of an elf with white feather wings. The creation was very detailed with even the smallest details like eyelashes being perfectly replicated.

Below the sculpture there was a small waterfall with moss and vines growing on the rocks nearby.

"There has to be something behind it..."

Looking at the falling water Eli spoke and Ava nodded her head. It was usual for games to have some loot or chests hidden behind such objects like waterfalls.

Using her robe as an umbrella Ava trespassed through the running water while Eli just ignored it and went right through.

They were right, there was a certain something behind the waterfall, but it wasn't what they were expecting.

Rattle...

A skeleton turned it's fleshless head towards Ava and Eli while the two jumped backwards.

"What is an undead doing here?"

Frowning Eli asked while Ava raised her eyebrow looking at the skeleton before them. It was different from the ones Grim Reaper could control, this skeleton had black, withered bones and two red flames shining in its eye sockets.

[ The @*#€? has appeared! ]

Looking at the system message both girls frowned. At first they saw a huge angel statue, then a waterfall underground and now an unnamed monster.

Slowly moving its bone body towards Eli and Ava the skeleton radiated an almost tangible black aura around it. Wherever it went trails if dead plants and grass followed.

Seeing this weird phenomenon Ava gestured to Eli to fall back while creating a fireball and launching it at the monster. She didn't use lightning, because Leo said it'd be ineffective against undead.

Rattle...

With no vocal cords the monster couldn't speak, but its mouth moved in pattern as if it was talking or rather murmuring.

Whoosh...

A bright purple circle with various unknown engravings appeared in the air. Like a mirror Ava's spell bounced off its surface returning to its owner.

"Dodge!"

Seeing the incoming spell Ava felt that it was twice as strong and used one of her skills, 'Lightning Step' to appear a dozen meters to the side.

Eli also used her muscular legs trying to escape the explosion, but was slightly grazed by its flames.

"That hurts!"

Hissing in pain she glanced at her slightly burnt hand.

'How did Leo cut it off?'

Eli couldn't quite comprehend how one could keep himself composed, even if his limb was detached. Was Leo a war veteran?

Whoosh...

Another magical circle appeared in the air and huge chains shot out of them aiming to pierce through Ava's body.

With a calm expression the elf jumped behind one of the bigger trees, hiding behind its large trunk.

Unfortunately for Ava these metal chains could be controlled remotely and barely managed to avoid them by using Lightning Step for a second time.

Puff...

She felt her body weaken, skill Lightning Step consumed a lot of her mana and she didn't expect that she'd need to use it so oftenly.

Taking a deep breath Ava avoided another set of chains breaking some of them with a fireball.

Boom...

Eli also didn't waste her time, sneaking up on the withered skeleton and using her scythe to send it crashing against the tunnel's wall.

The monster's red eyes dimmed and soon it crumbled into dust.

Looking at each other Ava and Eli frowned, no system message informed them about the kill.

...

...

...

In silence both approached the dust and used a stick nearby to touch it.

As soon as the twig came in contact with the remains of the skeleton it started withering away, losing its color or rather vitality.

Seeing its corrosive effect both girls jolted away from the ashes making sure not to come in contact with any of them.

"We should ask Leo for help..."

Eli thought out loud. No matter the situation, Leo seemed to always have a way to get out of it.

"We could hire him as a Mercenary..."

Ava also nodded her head. She has seen the interview he did a few days ago. She felt strange hearing him talk about Mango Ice cream, because it was her favorite flavor or rather, because somebody left them behind her door.

'It has to be him...'

Recalling the man sitting right next to her during the class Ava's expression unknowingly loosened up.

'Eli was right saying he was handsome...'

Slapping her both cheeks Ava focused on the path before her.

"What were you thinking about~?"

With a grin Eli spoke, but was ignored. Ava didn't want to let her guard down and the conversation with Eli would do just that.

Rattle...

Another withered skeleton appeared in their view and Eli bolted towards it, this time keeping her distance a bit further, just in case she could be affected by the skeleton's weird corrosive ability.

Clank...

A purple magic circle and chains soon appeared trying to trap Eli, but she shook them off, hitting the Skeleton's skull and shattering it on the spot.

Looking at her friend Ava sighed, she was feeling kind of useless.

Rattle... Rattle...

Her train of thought was interrupted as a massive skeleton of a beast emerged from the shadow.

The monster was a fleshless carcass of the massive wolf with massive fangs and claws decorating its mouth and limbs respectively.

Both Ava and Eli grew slightly pale, feeling the oppressive Aura of the beast; if they could, they'd probably run, but both knew it was rather impossible.

"We can't run, We have to fight it..."

Throwing a glance at her friend Ava prepared her spell while Eli tightly clenched her weapon.

***

Leo was still falling through the abyss. The bats were long gone, but his boredom wasn't.

'I have around 15 minutes...'

Looking below he sighed. He had already been falling for a few hours and the result was hard to tell, everything around was dark.

Suddenly the temperature around him slightly increased, informing Leo that he was about reach his destination.

"Finally!"