Lucius stood on one side of the cave, holding the sword just like the shades did. The black aura that surrounded him kept growing bigger, and he was absorbing the creatures faster and faster.
The shade moved towards him, not making a single movement.
It became a blur in Lucius' eyes, but it was a slow blur to him.
'I can see it!' In an instant, he moved forward, shooting towards the blur while swinging his sword.
Only the gust of wind was with the shade; Lucius couldn't help but be stunned by the skill the creature used.
It allowed the creature to remain unheard and nearly unseen. Nearly...
Clank!
Lucius countered with his sword, finally being able to see the shade.
When the two clashed, the shade was once more visible, so he attacked it furiously.
The shade stood firm in one spot, blocking all of his attacks while counterattacking itself.
'This is it.' Lucius moved in again, striking the creature with the weapon over and over again.
Every strike made by Lucius seemed practiced and refined; he didn't seem to miss his target one bit. With the way he swung the sword without restraint, it was clear that his intention with the sword was to kill.
The knight itself didn't buckle under his assault; they seemed matched in strength, but the knight was still keeping up. Even if Lucius was faster than it, it still managed to block every strike without moving an inch from its position.
'I just can't understand it. I'm faster, but it's managing to defend itself.' He gritted his teeth, increasing the speed and ferocity of the attacks.
One thing he really needed to understand from the shades: they fought exceptionally well in close quarters, and they were so good at it.
Lucius had watched how a mere shade knight fought off four centipedes while standing its ground. It didn't run, nor did it show any fear. Even when it was on the brink of death, it could still go on.
'What makes you so confident?'
Lucius' sword tore through the air again and again, each strike faster than the last, his rage fueling the speed of his arm. Sparks screamed as steel met steel.
'How is it… still blocking everything?' Lucius thought, grinding his teeth as he struck downward, only for the knight's blade to flow into place like water meeting stone.
He lunged, spun, cut from the side—yet every motion was met. Not with brute force, not with desperation, but with something… different. The knight moved as if it wasn't fighting at all, as if the battle was simply a dance it had already memorized.
Lucius' shoes cracked stone as he pressed harder, his sword a blur. The knight didn't step back. Its footing never shifted. Every deflection was precise, not a hair wasted in excess movement.
'It's not just fighting… This is what I'm trying to learn, its fighting style.'
He felt it in the clash, in the rhythm of blade meeting blade. This was more than strength—it was form, flow, perfection carved into steel. The shade knights didn't fight with wild power; they fought with flawless conviction, their very existence sharpened into technique.
Lucius roared and brought his sword down again, but his lips curved into a smile. For the first time, he wasn't only swinging to kill.
Lucius' blade hacked downward, but this time, when the knight's sword rose to meet it, he twisted his wrist and let the impact roll past him, sliding into another slash without pause. His movements, once wild and jagged, began to smoothen, sharpen—like rough stone ground into a blade.
The knight's eyes glowed faintly, its silence unbroken, but for the first time it shifted half a step back.
Lucius' heart pounded. His body wasn't just reacting anymore—it was mirroring. Every block, every deflection the knight used, he stole and bent into his own strikes. He lunged low, twisting his shoulders like he had seen it do, the sword cutting across with fluid precision.
As he absorbed the memories of the shade knights he killed, it all became clearer to him. How to fight, and how to win.
Steel clashed with steel. Sparks flew. Lucius grinned through gritted teeth, noticing his blade had cracks on it now.
'Yes… this is it! This form!'
The knight struck for his chest in a clean thrust, and Lucius' arms moved on instinct, parrying not with reckless strength but with a gentle redirection, the way the knight had done against him countless times. His blade slid the enemy's strike aside, and for the first time the knight's balance wavered.
Lucius pressed forward, step by step, his strikes gaining weight without losing speed, his body learning in real time the art of the duel.
He roared, his sword flashing in a storm of steel, every movement tighter, sharper—less of the raging survivor, more of the knight he was clashing with. And in that storm, he felt it—an intoxicating rush of clarity.
'This is what it means to fight as a knight… but with my hatred, my rage, I'll take it further.'
Lucius' aura surged, black flames twisting off his blade as his refined strikes blended with raw ferocity.
'I'm done here.'
Black flames surged from his blade, and he stood calmly. The knight's sword fell on his head.
In a split second, Lucius vanished in a black flash, reappearing behind the knight. He thrust the sword deep into its body, letting the flames burn it from within.
The body of the knight fell with a low thud, and the sword in Lucius' hand, now charred, finally crumbled into shards.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
Lucius went ahead to pick up the sword of the knight. It looked like the one that the shade scout used, but it was clean and silver, not chipped.
A sturdy weapon.
Ding!
[You are now a D-rank ???]
"Wow." Lucius mumbled softly, looking at the notifications.
Thinking back to the fight, he smiled. He was able to end the battle without much stress due to the element of surprise.
'That was the first time using Null Gate in an actual fight.' He looked at his fists.
He could feel it deep in his bones; he was growing stronger.
Glancing around the quiet cave, Lucius spread his hands, the black aura around him getting darker and darker.
[You have absorbed +3 Strength stats]
[You have absorbed...]
~"Marvelous. Truly wonderful."
Lucius rolled his eyes.
"What do you want?"
There was a strong urge to insult the woman claiming to be a goddess, but he couldn't know for sure just how powerful she was. For her to be able to give him life, or what was similar to it, she clearly couldn't be a nobody.