Nicholas, looked onwards to the cold reinforced doors that obstructed his path. Resolved to move on, he looked to his summoned, a Succubus. Her hatred and anger finally having subsided as she fabricated the same fake smile she had used preceding the situation.

“Ready?”, inquired the Shadow Demon, as his dark blue eyes that peered behind the visor met her dark crimson eyes. Small flames, seemed to course through her eyes in contrast to the deep blue, calm, and serene sea which were his. Opposing each other in an imaginary battle of endurance and strength, contesting against one another as they kept their eyes fixated on the opposing individual.

“Haha, sure, let’s begin.”, the sweet melodic voice that contrasted the battle crazed eyes looked over her master before she began to prepare herself. Magic at the ready, as it seemed to course through her body, manipulated to her will as it seemed to rival his own manipulation of the shadows, perhaps even better. A blue shroud of a tinted black began to cloak her in an ethereal substance, mana was his assumption. Nicholas looked back to the steel door, taking a deep breath of the dusty air that plagued his surroundings. The smooth interior of the dungeon competing against the cave he had inhabited but a week ago.

He slowly reached out, his hand gripping onto the handles of the door that were enclosed in frost. The frost failing to communicate the cold it bore, as he pushed the doors outwards. As the doors that had obstructed him left his path, the vast appearance of a cavern met his eyes. He scanned the room to meet a solitary throne, it’s elegance encased in the ice that had frozen it over in its deep translucent blue.

But what had really caught his attention was a pillar of ice, its size and grandeur barely smaller than that of the throne as it was positioned ahead of it. Nicholas and Lia took their time as they began to enter the room with slow steps. Lia, the Succubus, trembling in resistance to the colds grasp as she looked around in a sluggish state. Her eyes particularly eyeing the mound of ice that lay but a few meters before her, it seemed to be laced with the traces of life, but only the faintest hints.

Nicholas, the Shadow Demon, walked in with the same nonchalance and grace he bore in battle. His eyes coupled with the 20 points of perception he held darted around the room, always lying upon the pile of frost that arose an uneasy state of vigilance to mask him. As he was looking away from the mound, he spotted movement. It was small, but it was movement.

He took an offensive stance as his eyes pierced through the translucent ice. As he inspected it more thoroughly, he realised what it was. A deep fracture emerged from the ices surface as it repeated numerous types in various areas. Two dots appeared from within, both bearing what seemed to be a flaming dark blue like raging flames as the ice at this moment began to tremble. A large blast of debris consisting of shards of ice bombarded the 2 individuals as they dodged or defended themselves from the assault.

At the epicenter of the phenomenon, a monstrously large monster lay, it’s great navy blue and ashen skin adding to its intimidating presence. It looked up, its eyes now converting to a more dark serene cerulean blue as it swerved it’s head, lying upon the pair of individuals behind him. Clothed in a variety of heavy armour, a two handed warhammer in hand, it looked over them with a dominating aura. One so strong to bring his familiar to the brink of unconsciousness and himself to his knees.

It was an Orc, but not the traditional kind, something he felt he was not ready to involve himself with. He took a deep breath, positioning himself back to his previous stature, eyeing the large orc, as he began to identify it.

Orc Warlord - Lesser lvl 16

???

It was an Orc Warlord. Thankfully, it was of the lesser quality, although, that still posed an immense threat to the level 1 Succubus and level 15 Shadow Demon. They gradually, over the course of a few minutes, began to rise to their feet before the Orc left it’s comatose state. By the time they were fully operational, both mind and body. The Orc had also became more or less ready. It’s war cry, a deafening roar that reverberated through the ears of the poor individuals. The first to attack being the Orc.

It ran towards them, it’s large size compensating for the low amount of agility as it arrived at their doorstep. It brought round the Warhammer as it collided against the ground, resulting in the creation of crater where Nicholas had stood but seconds before. He tumbled to the ground, the size of the impact created taking him off his feet as he was stunned by its imposing aura. Lia had taken but a small fraction of the damage outputted but had received a near death state as she backed against the wall casting spells.

The majority of them new spells created from the imparted knowledge over her years as a familiar. Although they weren’t assigned as skills or rose in level due to this because of the limits worded around their contracts, resulting in a higher amount of mana being used and a larger time frame to cast.

During this time, Nicholas ran up to the Orc, head on. As he swiftly dodged the warhammer aimed at him. He slid under its gigantic size and through the legs of the collosal, slicing it’s achilles heel, rendering it immovable. He proceeded to grab onto it’s thigh, using the momentum to place him into a superior vantage point where he could inflict more damage. He landed onto it’s lower back as it kneeled at the agony and torn muscles, vibrating in rage. He ran along its back keeping his balance until he had met its neck.

As he arrived, he aimed to plunge his condensed knife into the exposed neck of the large monster to be surprised at the phenomenon that took place. As his knife left his side, coming into contact with it’s skin, a layer of ice met it instead. The shock of its appearance caused him to hesitate for but a second, but that was all the Orc needed as it froze Nicholas’ feet in place upon it’s back. What came next was the sight of the Orc grasping it’s oversized hands around Nicholas’ figure, pulling him off it’s unprotected behind.

During this process, Nicholas resisted in determination. His hands gripping at the pair of large palms that closed in on him. Sadly, after but a moment, his strength was overruled by its own, resulting in a firm grip enclosing him. Afterwards, the sensation of his legs being ripped from his lower body caused him to scream. This scream held agony, helplessness, and dread as it echoed throughout the cavern, and as the piercing shriek suddenly began to subside, it reached its climax.

The substantially loud sounds of pure pain, enshrouded the small room, his legs wilted away as they were ripped from his body. Dissipating into the air, his thighs lead to nothing as there was but raven black tendrils flashing back and forth. The small tendrils of condensed shadows convulsing upon contact with the air before abruptly halting to a stop, dangling in the air. Nicholas, at the epicenter of this experience, had his chest rising in a rapid pattern, a mist of black pervading from his body as he limply hanged there in the great behemoths grasp.

Pain wracked throughout his brain as he tried to comprehend and process the situation at hand. However, the pain was so immense it had him too flustered to think, the sensation of true pain caught him off guard, his health wavering between 97/240 and the depths of hell itself. The last time he had felt something like that was when he had volunteered for the Spartan program, the pain transferring past his unconscious state to his body as he remembered himself trembling and perhaps convulsing in response.

It was a nightmare, and one he wished not to relive. The grasp of death as it clung to him onto that operation table was something he wished not to relive. Not one bit.

The instinctual will to live drove him to hold his head up high as he began to conjure and condense the large amounts of mana he held into reforming his legs. He knew it was a lost cause, but his mind was in a state of chaos, deterring him from the more logical based mindset he possessed, and it was once again assaulted by that pain. An unimaginable pain coursed through him, something he had not expected. The sheer amount caused him to grit what he felt to be teeth as they sunk into his body. Dark blue liquid exuded from the punctured holes evident in his mouth as he bathed in the adrenaline that assaulted him en masse.

He focused all his attention and determination into restoring them to their past brilliance as he closed his eyes. The small shadow condensed muscle tissues and fibers that compose it, the shadow condensed bones, and vessels of blood, now vessels of mana, came into mind. He manipulated the shadows in the area to his will as he brought them towards him. The sight of a multitude of shadows converging upon him caught the Behemoth and Succubus by surprise as they both stared intently.

The sight of the Demons legs being reformed and repaired catching them unaware as they stared, confused. The shadows moved as if a whirlwind as they formed the figures legs, layer by layer as it became whole. Nicholas, gasped for breath as he felt the sensation of his legs, a beam of hope shining down on him from above before he felt the decrease of mana, subsequently resulting in a barrage of pain and disarray to invade his mind. His knife during this time dissipated due to the loss of focus as he looked for an alternative weapon in a frantic series of movements.