Unlucky?Player

(A/N: Okay so if you're a quick reader then you probably noticed me using the word Praises instead of Personifies, which was a mistake. It's Poetry that Personifies The Night and nothing else)

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"So how many?" Eve asked as she looked around the group. Currently, everyone was sitting in a circle in the middle of the battlefield. The soldiers who were asked to retreat were now clearing up the bodies of the monsters.

"How many what?" Nate asked as he used both his hands to support his head, which ached after his earlier demonstration.

"Levels dummy, how many levels did all of you guys gain?" 

"Oh that....I only leveled up 4 times, but I'm happy with that, to be honest," Davinky said as he looked at his brother.

"Same," Noxx raised both his hands in defeat. His armor was covered in scratches and mud. There were a few dents here and there, but he decided that he was going to throw the armor away, so there's no point crying about it.

"3 for me," Layla said. This wasn't exactly what she excelled at, at least not yet.

"2 here..." Mocha said as he held a peace sign up with a wide grin. He wasn't embarrassed about it, it was the price he had to pay for running around and healing everyone on the battlefield.

"Hah! Suck it! 8 for me," Eve said as she blew raspberries at the others. It was only natural that she would level up so much, she was a mage who specialized in the fire element, one of the most volatile and violent of elements. Even the aftermath of her attacks was enough to kill certain monsters. "And?" she looked at Nate for an answer.

"And what?"

"Levels...."

"Oh, 10 only," Nate said instantly crushing Eve's heart once again. First, it was the achievement and now it was the number of levels gained. It was as if Nate was the better version of Eve.

"Who cares, levels don't really matter anyway," Eve said as she sat back down. Nate was more interested in Shade. If the Guardian really did cross level hundred then that meant he must've ascended or at the least, evolved.

"Eyes of the Primordial," he muttered under his breath.

[

Night's Shade

level 99

Grade: Uncommon

Hp: 240,000/ 250,000

Skills:

Being of Nyx(passive): +40% resistance to dark attacks, has a 50% chance of converting 10% of the damage dealt by skill into users Hp. Triggers once every 1 minute.

Shadow veil: Can hide in any shadow within the reach of the user. User can hide in the shadow of one being for a maximum of 5 seconds.

Retaliation Strike: A strike that deals 100% of PhyDmg. If used within 5 seconds of taking damage increases to 400%. Cooldown: 5 minutes.

Shadow Create: Summons Shadows of the Night. In a place where there is an abundance of shade, MP requirement drops to 0, Cooldown: 30 seconds.

My Prince(passive): When the user is fighting alongside his Lord all damage is increased by 15%. 

It is I, Your Subject: Switch positions with your Lord. Range 10 meters. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Umbrakinesis(Degraded): "You are a subject of Darkness"

The user has authority and control over darkness and shadows. 

Frost Touch(Degraded): Grants the user to manipulate Ice, for manipulating higher tiers of ice skill proficiency must be increased. 

**Skill status Degraded: The level of the skill is always a level lower than the user's Lord.**

]

'One more level....'

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Night never saw NPCs as mere NPCs, he saw them as actual people capable of affecting and getting affected. He valued the relationships he had made so far, with Njal and Frode, Pythia, Cassandra, and Alaric but most importantly, Noel and Blade.

If Blade wasn't there to guide Night, then would he be where he was today? After all, Night viewed himself as a reflection of all his experiences, even the tiniest of ones. Naturally, he credited a majority of his success to Blade and Noel.

So seeing the dying smile of one of his benefactors was heartbreaking, it was confusing and overwhelming. Night's eyesight got blurry and he could feel something roll down his cheeks The human brain deals with grief in mysterious ways. While some may find their peace in crying their eyes out, some look towards other methods. 

"...Master...." Night whimpered, his throat was dry, unusually so, he could barely muster up the energy to call out to Noel. However, the latter had his eyes closed until Night called for him. Noel was happy that he was safe, he was thankful for Blade and Night, both for different reasons but most of all, he was grateful that he was told about his unborn child.

"Ye-...."

Before he could finish what he was saying, his eyes fell upon Blade, instantly destroying the vision he was having. His smile faded and his eyes that were full of hope and expectations turned to nothing. However, as soon as he managed to process what had happened, they were falling down from at least 10 meters above the ground.

Night was out of mana, maintaining two skills at once was no joke, especially after he left his domain active for such a long time. He was not in the correct mindset to look out for his mana, after all, Night was trying to understand the pain he felt in his throat and chest area.

*THUD THUDDDD*

They crash-landed and went rolling for a few meters, however, by the end of it, it was clear that the crash didn't exactly bother anyone there, however, as soon as they touched the ground, both, Noel and Night made their way to Blade's body.

"Senior...we're safe now..." Night said as he held Blade's head up, allowing it to rest on one of his legs. His voice was hoarse and just talking hurt it. Sand covered his temples and cheeks as blood slowly trickled down from his forehead. His knuckles were red and some of them had cuts and bruises from punching Neo's body.

"...." Noel choked on his own tears. All the time he spent with Blade flashed through his eyes, from the moment he first took him in, to the moment he was stopped from making a stupid mistake. If Blade wasn't there, then surely Noel wouldn't be alive at the moment. "Blade...." he gripped his fists, the aura used to cover the wound in his shoulder broke open, as blood continued flowing down his arm.

Was it a coincidence? Night could've run out of mana at any given time, the probability is impossible to pinpoint, however, because of him losing the ability to fly, they crash-landed and fell right in front of a structure that both, Night and Noel were familiar with, however, only one of them properly recognized it.

"The Sacred temple.....of Apollo..." Night muttered as he looked at the broken-down pillars all around the main building. The vines and creepers reminded him of the time when Gaia swallowed them into her domain. 

"....It's my fault isn't it?....." Noel asked as the tiny leaves and sand grains scattered around, slowly moved towards his feet. As individuals who've fought multiple battles, both of them were aware that there's no way to save Blade. Hence, Noel wasn't attempting to deny the truth.

"..."

"If I hadn't acted so selfishly or impulsively then none of this would've happened...."

"Do you truly believe that?" Night asked as he swallowed his tears. "Wasn't it Neo Thallius that attacked us? What difference would it make if you were going to face him anyway? Both of us know, that he has the potential to destroy the entirety of Vraun if he wanted to. Maybe, just maybe, if Madam Pythia and Master were to fight together then you could beat him, but that's putting two Guardians of the Kingdom at risk, one of them is an oracle who has protected the throne for decades, while the other, which is you, Master, is the future King of Vraun...."

'If only.....if only I hadn't accepted Shade's request to follow me...if only I hadn't gone to the Forest of Silence...if only I hadn't set out on the adventure...if only I hadn't gone to the doj-...'

Night caught his thoughts before he could finish them, he looked to his right and gripped his fist as hard as he could. With not even a hint of hesitation in his eyes, he punched himself in the face. He was embarrassed, furious even, that he almost regretted going to the dojo where he first met his Senior Blade.

"....." Noel stayed quiet, he was quiet, this was the first time Night had ever spoken to him in such a way. He wasn't angry at him, after all, he could never be mad at the truth. "I'm sorry.....you're right. This isn't the time to sit around here, Blade wouldn't want that,"

"With that being said. Get ready. It's time I fulfill my role as your teacher. I'm going to make it so you can kill that bastard with your eyes closed," the debris swirling around Noel, gained more force until they were trembling in the air, however, the very next second, everything fell to the ground. Noel looked towards the Temple, revealing his void-like eyes. The thin white outline was sharper and clearer, the darkness in the center seemed stronger and more vicious than ever. Perhaps it was the tears, but there was a change in his eyes. Until now it, they only LOOKED to be absorbing everything around them, however, now there was a slight swirl in the space around both his eyes. It was as if they were sucking the very reality into them.

"Is that clear?"

Night gently laid down Blade and kneeled down on one knee over which he had a hand placed. He looked up at Noel with his purple gems that radiated a certain aura. The one thing common between them was the terrifying look on their face as well as the pure dark aura practically oozing out of their bodies.

"Yes, Master"