Chapter 53- Fragment Of The Shadow Monarch's Dagger (Part 3)
Under the veil of darkness, a figure could be seen as it moved sneakily from one street to the other. Rin was wearing an all-black outfit that helped him blend with his surroundings perfectly. Even though his agility wasn't that high, barely in the F- realm he was still quite fast.
That was because his mana core was so pure and his mana was by far the best type of mana in existence, it made his abilities way stronger than his actual rank.
So, his F- agility could actually be compared to F+ or even borderline E- agility. Rin tried to ask the system about the reason for this great quality of his mana but he didn't get a satisfactory answer at all.
'The night is beautiful. I never really liked it that much before.' Rin thought to himself as he admired the scenery silently.
Night had always been something that he related to loneliness and fear. Things that made him almost lose his sanity at some point. The sense of dread he had at the mere thought of spending hours and hours alone in the dark ate away from his mind.
However, now, for some reason, he started liking this darkness. Maybe it was influenced by the Shadow Manipulation skill or maybe it was because he now had a family he cared for but either way, Rin felt as if this atmosphere is where he belongs.
The journey to the castle took him almost 25 minutes on foot, running at full speed. He had 30 minutes before midnight.
Rin silently watched from up a tree near the castle. In less than 2 minutes, he saw almost 20 guards going around on patrols. He was sure there were more around the place and these were merely the ones that guarded this part of the castle.
'Don't betray me now, Shadow Manipulation.' Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and activated his skill.
In a matter of seconds, his shadow engulfed his body and started pulling him inside it. The scene looked really creepy yet also mesmerizing. The way the shadows gently caressed Rin's body and pulled him in was like a child hugging their father or something along those lines. They treated him with such care that it could be seen by anyone. That shows the high level of affinity Rin had with this element.
When his body was fully submerged in the darkness, the shadows started moving toward the castle silently. In the past few days, Rin had tried to master this technique he used in the fight against Lina. He had no idea that it was something possible but it seems it was indeed possible and also very easy.
The level-up of the skill increased his control over shadows and helped him learn it quicker than expected. However, the problem is that it consumed a huge amount of mana so he could only keep it for a maximum of 4 minutes before he needed to leave and regenerate his mana.
The shadow moved past the gates and made its way toward the inner parts of the castle. Rin made sure to memorize the way to Elise's room before leaving.
From time to time, he would pop his head off from inside the shadow to check his surroundings before submerging it again. The castle was quiet and no one seemed to be working at all at this hour except for the guards.
Rin's journey was very smooth till he reached upstairs. Everything was working perfectly. There were no guards that noticed anything suspicious.
'Now, if I recall correctly, Elise's room is around this corn- Oh shit!'
Feeling the presence of someone, Rin quickly hid around the corner and took a peek secretly. There, he could the silhouette of a person standing in the corridor in front of Elise's room.
It was dark but the moonlight revealed who it was to him.
'Isn't that princess Maria? What is she doing here?' He cursed as he watched her carefully.
The girl looked around her as if she sensed that something was off, her intuition was very sharp for someone her age.
'Fuck! I only have 1 minute before my mana pool is emptied.'
[Maybe she's giving a visit to Elise.]
'At this hour? Man, my luck is dogshit.'
[I might argue against that, host. Your luck is by far the best in the whole universe.]
'Hahaha! How is that?'
[Well considering the fact that you inherited the powers of the strongest existence that ever lived, got reincarnated, given another chance to revive your own family, and also get another one. I dare say that's the luckiest a human could be, host.] freewebnovel.c om
'Wait, what do you want to say?'
[I want to say that you are indeed a very lucky and gifted person. You are liked by fate, host.]
'So you want to say I'm the protagonist?' He asked.
[I will leave those interpretations to you, host.]
'Oi! Don't throw that in my face and leave! Hey, system! Answer me.'
However, the system ignored him and didn't reply at all. Rin sighed and focused on the matter at hand.
It seemed that during this weird conversation he had with the system, Maria decided to walk straight toward him.
Rin felt a chill run down his spine as he quickly tried to hide somewhere before she finds him. He had barely 35 seconds before the time is ver so he had to hurry.
'Damn it! If I can just drink a mana potion! But, I have to at least deactivate Shadow Manipulation before using one and that will expose me. Please, just move quickly and don't look back.' He prayed in his head.
Luckily, it seemed that his prayers were answered since Maria didn't stop and continued walking until she vanished somewhere.
Breathing out a long sigh of relief, Rin deactivated his ability and made his way to Elise's room. Then, he knocked seven times on the door.
After a few seconds, the door opened and Elise appeared in front of him. She was wearing casual clothes: a shirt and long trousers that hugged her soft thighs. Her huge breasts were compacted inside the shirt as she left one button open possibly to make it easier for her to breathe.
This casual look made Rin's mind freeze for a good 3 seconds. It seemed no matter how much he looks at Elise, he will never get accustomed to her jaw-dropping beauty and amazing curves.
"It's 12:02… you are late."
"Maria was standing in front of your room for some reason. She was about to knock on the door but then decided not to for some reason."
"Did she discover you?"
"I don't think so. She just walked away without looking back."
Squinting her eyes, Elise sat down on the bed casually.
"If that girl discovers this, consider the plan screwed."
"Hmm? Why?"
"That girl is… complicated."
"Complicated?"
"I can't explain it in words. You have to see for yourself to understand. Anyway, let's focus on the important things now."
"Ah! Yeah! Let me drink a mana potion first."
Pulling out a bottle filled with a clear blue liquid, Rin gulped it down and made a satisfied sigh. He felt his huge mana pool filling up till the 30% mark. So, he pulled another two more bottles and gulped them down which ended up almost filling his mana pool again.
"How big is your mana pool?" Elise wondered.
"It's C-. What about yours?"
"..."
"Elise?"
"..."
"Hey! Don't stay silent like that. I will feel like I'm some kind of freak." Rin smiled awkwardly.
"That's most likely because you are."
"Huh? Aren't you the same?"
"Mine is E+."
"Damn, that's unexpected. I thought we both had the same stats."
"We don't."
"I mean. It is indeed high but it can barely suffice for using Shadow Manipulation. The skill consumes a huge amount of mana. Sigh, anyway, we should go before anyone discovers us."
Then, Rin approached Elise and extended his arm for her. The latter looked at him questioningly.
"Just grab my hand. You will see for yourself." He explained with a smile.
Elise didn't hesitate any further and touched his hand. Then, Rin quickly activated his skill and the two of them were engulfed in the shadows.
"Hm?" Elise looked slightly surprised as she unconsciously tried to release herself. However, Rin was quicker to calm her down.
"Just let it do its work."
Then, the two of them vanished completely from the room as if they were never there in the first place.
Elise opened her eyes again and looked around here. However, all she could see is darkness around here.
"Welcome to my world." Rin stretched his arm with a grin as he floated in the darkness in front of her.
"Buckle up. We are going on a journey."
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