I kinda meant to write this at the first anniversary of this book, but uhh - it's been 11 months since then. I'm quite sorry there's been such a long wait.
————————————————————————————————————————————————
"Care to dance?" the robed man said as shadows were forming from the ceiling and floor. They dropped with heavy thuds, each with distinct, humanly features, sharp claws, and a speed rivaling black marlins.
Even though we were outnumbered and they were encircling us, they kept a good distance away. "They are not much to you, but they are the best we have Shadow Knight." The robed man spoke slowly as he lifted his left hand.
"Night as dark as the void, perfect in every which way, become my mirror, sword, and shield and fight by my side. A flawless knight protects its king until the final blood is shed. [Summon: Nightly Knight](I'm a genius)." he took his time as he chanted, which I gave him.
All the Shadows consolidated into a single point, becoming bigger until it could barely fit in the hallway.
We just stood there, watching the whole thing unfold. The Knight was engulfed in tall, dark flames with the sound of metal being forged ringing in the air.
The flames died down as quickly as they started. In its place stood a gleaming full plate of black armor. There was, from the faceplate, two shiny, red, oval eyes that stared back at me.
This was when I finally decided to say something. "Erm, I think you have the wrong person. As you can see, I'm wearing a cloak." I pointed out.
At first, it was a small laugh but it grew uncontrollably until he wheezed. He tried to calm himself down as much as he could after that.
"Explain the sword, the dragon, and the shadow radiance you emit," he asked in a superior tone once he was able to talk.
"Yeah, I can't explain that." I drew Aaron from my back slowly with a wide smile.
The man snapped his fingers and the knight drew his sword. The knight's was similar to Aaron, except black with a fallen angel wing cross guard rather than Aaron's bland regular one.
"Kani, is there anything you can tell me about shadows before I destroy them?" I stretched a little. "My dad mentioned them once but I do not know anything about them." she jumped off my head and flew in place above me. "Oh well." I held Aaron in front of me.
I dashed toward the knight, who responded similarly. Our swords sparked as we pushed against each other. I hopped back and its sword crashed to the ground.
Even though it was a perfect opportunity attack, I let it rise its sword to swing at me once more. This time it was a horizontal slash, which I backflipped out of, but the move did not stop. The knight used the missed attack to use the sword's momentum to spin around for a second attack. This one I parried with ease, "Cool, but not good enough." I said.
Taking the moment, I took Aaron and stabbed him into his gut like a spear. Well, that was the plan, if they didn't just clink like teacups and bounce off each other.
"Ha, do you not know how to fight a [Shade]? And to think you are to be a hero." the robed man laughed.
"Heh, are you challenging me?" Aaron began to glow. My smile grew to an unprecedented amount.
"Kani, enchant me," I ordered. "Alright," she mumbled the spell for about 15 seconds. I felt a slight growth in power and speed.
I began with smaller cuts, the knight blocked them accordingly. I went faster, and faster, and faster, and faster. My hands moved in unrecognizable blurbs, and the knight was having difficulty in keeping up. I kept hitting his armor, but sometimes he blocked with his blade successfully.
I had still done no damage, but I was determined to keep going.
I felt an adrenaline rush. I was enjoying this, letting it all out on this knight, that I even forgot I was laughing.
I pushed it around effortlessly as if just a toy.
I started getting light-headed, but now was not the time to quit. Please - stop a cry in my head brought me back to my senses. It was Aaron's plea.
I stopped the blade almost immediately and put him back in his sheath to self-repair. The knight took this opportunity to charge an overhead attack.
As the sword curved in a beautiful arch, I questioned why I was here, fighting the impossible, and all the actions I took that led me here.
Winds blew as the sword split the air. The robed man raised his arm to his face and braced the wind.
It stopped.
The robed man lowered his arm to see the outcome.
But the only thing he saw was me.
There was a moment of silence as he processed what had happened.
"Impossible. How did-".
"[Eradicate]."
"No ... it should have not worked, they are both of Darkness!"
"It's not immune to magic, just physical attacks."
I slowly walked up to him, and he walked backward.
He backed into a wall and braced against it.
I stopped inches in front of him, turned to ear and whispered, "Unlike you".
I could see the panic in his blue eyes. "Please, do not kill me! It was not meant to be this way!" he pleaded.
"I feel ... merciful today ... Do something for me and I'll let you go." I let out a devilish grin. I backed off a little.
"Anything! Please!!" he got on his knees and tears flowed down his cheek.
"I'll ask you this only once. Do you want to join me on my journey of conquest? Of vengeance? Only as background members; servants if you will. You're not strong enough to be part of the main cast."
"Yes! Yes please!"
"Fine then." I held out my hand. He took it.
"First order of business, fix this place up. I need a base and this looks like a good spot." I snapped 2 dozen skeletons into existence. "These guys should help you," I said.
He nodded quietly.
"What's your name?" I said to him.
"ᴳᵃʳᵛᵉⁿ" he mumbled quietly.
"Louder, do you think I can hear you?" I boomed.
"Garven." he shivered.
"Very well, Garven. I hope you know what's right and can make this place worthy of your lord's visitation." I smiled.
"I'll be back." I walked away with Kani.
I could easily clean and fix it up myself, but I had to keep up the terror.
"That was just evil," Kani complained once we got outside. "I was just caught in the moment," I exclaimed.
"That doesn't excuse you from what you did to Aaron. He was starting to crack and was about to shatter." Kani puffed. She lightly hit my head.
"You deserve a lot more but I'm not that strong. Wait until I tell Luna," she said. "Wait wait wait, let's not go that far." I let out a cold laugh, I was terrified of what Luna would do.
"If you don't tell her, I'll make you the best steak I can make." I bribed. "Deal." I saw her eyes gleam in hunger.
The rest of the leafy journey was made in silence, except for a small sneeze from Kani.
On arrival of the road, Luna greeted us. "How did it go?" she asked as she rolled to her tiptoes.
"It ended well, but I had to fight a little." I flexed my shoulders lightly. "A little? pff-" I glared at Kani, she hushed.
"We made some friends while we were there. It was just some burning castle. I asked them kindly to salvage it as a base for us." I tried to look innocent.
"What deal did they sign to so they could get mercy?" she saw through my ruse.
"Just becoming our servants," I said. "Sounds about right." she caressed my cheek. I blushed a little.
I cleared my throat, "I told them I would be right back.". "Then let's go to them." Luna jumped back into the carriage
"Hey Deliva and Luna, can you hold the horses down?" I asked as I kneeled down and put my palm on the dry earth. "Why?" Deliva asked back. Luna, instead, did as she was told.
"You better do it.", "Fine." she did it quickly.
I closed my eyes and visualized how the underground would move, how stones would be cut.
The ground began to shake. The horses neighed in panic and thrashed, but Luna made sure they couldn't escape.
The trees split away and newer earth replaced their spots. Smoothly cut stones rose, interlocking on the surface, making a perfect road to the castle.
The earth stopped shaking.
I stood up, "Earth magic is just too easy." I walked to the horses and calmed them down with light magic.
After everything was set to go, the horses back to their station, and everyone inside, we began the ride down the road I made. It was a perfectly smooth ride to the castle.
It only took about 5 minutes to get there. On arrival and exiting our ride, we observed skeletons walking in and out, carrying rubble effortlessly to a large pile.
We walked in together to see the improvements so far. There were less charred remnants around, but the walls and floor were still black from soot.
Garven was busy barking orders that he didn't notice us. He was standing in the middle of the room, pointing and telling what his followers should do. I sneaked up behind him and tapped his shoulder softly.
He turned around annoyedly, probably expecting a follower. He jumped out of his skin when he saw it was me.
"Y-yes?" he said nervously. "Good job. Looks like you had this all covered yourself." I shook his hand. A small smile formed but it quickly disappeared from Garven's face.
"This is my team." I turned him to the group. "Only 3 people?" he asked.
I smirked, "Remember that dragon and sword?", he nodded. I pulled out Aaron, he flinched. "They're both part of the crew," I said as I placed Aaron onto the ground.
Aaron turned into his human form, sitting cross-legged. Kani, who was just sitting on Deliva's head, flew over to land on his. An audible gasp came from Garven. "That is impossible!" he exclaimed.
"Nothing's impossible when I'm here," I said smugly. Garven looked in astonishment.
"So," I summoned a table and a half dozen chairs, "Take a seat, I have a few questions." I pulled on out for him.
We all took a seat, "Why were you guys here?" I asked simply.
"We were waiting for a knight I saw in a vision, armed with a glowing sword and shiny silver armor." he recounted. "Was I your knight?" I asked, intrigued. "I am not sure, but you do have a glowing sword and strong power." he looked hard at me, observing each of my features.
"They will come, I know of it. I know that is their destiny, to become a hero," he said.
"What kind of hero exactly? Was it a summoned one?" I asked.
"No. A real one."
"A real hero." I savored the phrase as it rolled off my tongue.
"So, what's down that road." I pointed out the entrance. "A couple of towns, nothing too big," he said.
"You took this castle with Shades, am I correct?"
"Yes."
I sat back and lifted my left leg into my lap. I moved my hand to under my cloak.
"Would you like something to drink?" I asked as I pulled out a kettle from my cloak. "No." he shook his head.
"Okay then." I gathered water from the air and put it in the kettle. I put my hand on the kettle and heated it up. I threw in various leaves and herbs, and let it simmer a bit.
As it sat, I dug my hand into my [Item Box] and got several cups. They began to [Multiply] as I set them down. I held the kettle and poured some out for each cup, never running out.
I put the kettle back into the [Item Box], "Break time!" I called out. I handed them out as the followers shuffled slowly to us. I had perfectly enough for everyone, even Garven, who asked for some anyways.
I looked to the windows, where the dying light of the day pierced in shades of orange. I got up and got my cooking utensils ready.
And so I began my cooking and kept going deep into the night.
I practically made a buffet: with meats, soups, different loaves of bread, vegetables, and many modified dishes I remembered from Earth.
With everyone stuffed and sleepy, we moved upstairs. I noted to create a teleporter elevator system in the near future, but now was the time to rest.
We all went our own ways, each in our own separate rooms except me and Luna.
Luna and I crawled into the flat bed and I gave her a kiss on the head. She smiled sweetly and cuddled against me for the night.
We fell asleep to the soft glow of candlelight.