Chapter 34: Hunting Your Shadow
Trevor eventually came back looking incredibly pale and fragile. Knowing that they still had yet to formulate a plan, they just informed him of the beast and its abilities.
Unlike the rest of them, Trevor didn’t seem as tense about the entire situation.
’He must have a hidden trick up his sleeve.’ Dale reasoned.
But it could be that he planned to use his commands to prevent it from using its powers... though that seemed unlikely.
It wasn’t that his power wasn’t capable of that but the beast was at the same rank as him.
If he couldn’t give absolute commands to Dormant people, then an Awakened beast would be impossible to handle like that.
Dale decided to turn to his understanding of things. Ever since he had joined the boot camp, he had realized his potential to be a scholar.
"Perhaps the solution to this beast isn’t as complex as we think. If it uses shadows to move, then why not attack at night... there are no shadows then."
At first, the idea seemed foolproof, but on further thought, it fell apart completely.
That plan relied on the idea that the night was completely lacking in light... the presence of the moon proved otherwise.
’Not to mention that the last new moon was a few days ago.’ That meant that they shouldn’t expect a moonless sky for almost a month.
That was unfortunately the time they didn’t have.
Secondly, when it was night, another part of the Earth was facing the sun and the other half of it was literally drowning in shadows.
The ’darkness’ that allowed them to see the stars was nothing more than the shadow of the entire planet.
If they did in fact attack at night, they’d unknowingly give it all the space, nigh-infinite, it needed to attack. Their death would be certain and quick.
Dale groaned as he ran a hand roughly over his face. ’I need to think.’
This type of beast wasn’t one that you’d swing your blade and kill. No, this type made you actually think.
The only way to win seemed to be exactly what Sarah had done with the ignition but even that had its flaws.
Firstly, they weren’t fireproof and even if they were, the flames would eat away at the oxygen and plunge them into unbearable heat, thirst, and smoke.
Secondly, eventually, at least a shadow would eventually appear because of the light released by the embers, and with the eagle, shadows equalled death.
He didn’t know why but something told Dale that if they attacked the beast again and failed to kill it, it would give chase irrespective of whether they injured it.
’I do have an idea though.’ Dale looked at Decay and Blight in their sheaths.
The AIDE whispered in his ear as he called upon the description of the weapons.
[Take the darkness from light and keep both.]
According to it, Decay was the kept darkness and Blight was the light.
The beast was nearly impossible to kill because all light was followed by shadows... but what about true, elemental darkness?
Dale’s eyes widened. There was absolutely no way that it was a coincidence that he had picked up the twin sabers.
[Variable(Passive): You are an unforeseen number. Changing fates, directions, and spreading disarray]
He gritted his teeth; had he inadvertently been a marionette for the ability skill?
But the implications of it were even more frightening.
The description said ’changing fates’ so if his finding the blades allowed them to change their fates and survive, then did that mean that they were supposed to die?
Or was reverse actually the case and his presence there was what had doomed them?
In his head, cause and effect seemed to be interchangeable.
Suddenly, he felt glad he had kept the information about [Variable] to himself. If it was truly his fault, then it served to prove how much of a threat he was to order.
Dale pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Thinking excessively wouldn’t help him survive.
Since he had managed to come up with something that could help them kill the bird, he had to think of possible ways it could go wrong and come up with counters.
Even the most unlikely events had to be considered. Being overprepared would leave them feeling stupid but being underprepared would leave them dead.
He certainly knew which he preferred.
Luckily, he had the dark shot that would be an amazing asset considering it’s made out of the very darkness that could cull the ave.
But just as with every other thought he had had, there were issues.
Naturally, no enemy — beast or otherwise — would let them fully prepare an attack. If it didn’t interrupt, it would flee.
Despite its might, it was still a beast with no pride or honor. At the first sign of its potential death, it would immediately try to run.
It was a philosophy Dale tried his best to emulate. What he really hoped for was for the beast to try to fight them off, however unlikely.
And secondly, the bird was insanely fast. He would need it to be in place for his attack since it took too much to charge up.
If he missed, he would die.
The beast definitely had a rudimentary intelligence. If it realized that someone amongst them was capable of producing an attack that could kill it, it would immediately try to get rid of them.
Beasts were led primarily by their instincts... it made them simpler and more predictable but very difficult to deal with at times.
’I have no choice. I will need to practice shooting the dark shot as much as possible... a couple of days should be enough.’ He would have liked to take more time but there was no certainty as to when the bird would be on the move again.
Dale nodded to himself. He would inform the rest of the team of his plan then head with them to practice.
That way if they had any thoughts of their own that would prevent him from risking his life, he would be made aware.
It would soon be time to hunt a shadow.
