Vol. 1 - Chapter 35 - The Shadow Breath

Malakai followed after the old man, who had the entire tavern turn silent at his sight, especially the three guys who still were at the counter, by now drunk. Their expression was shocked, whispering with each other.

"That brat, the crazy old man didn't kill him."

"Shut the fuck up idiot, I don't want to be killed by the old man for talking behind his back." said another drunkard to the one who mentioned Bayek.

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Exiting back to the outside, where the dark sky was illuminated by stars and a moon, he heard the old man stretched his right arm and back.

"This night sure is nice. Follow up, kid. I will take you to my testing grounds."

Malakai could only agree with the old man and follow up until minutes passed and he was still walking. It seemed that old Bayek was taking Malakai closer and closer to the Royal Castle, without the guards stationed vigilantly around the surrounding zone to notice.

Vlad gazed with curious eyes around himself, and he could see a large shadow at his feet and Bayek's.

'The old man can manipulate shadows, just as his name mentioned? Crazy, those guys can't even notice me as we pass by their face.'

Making a turn, not entering the royal district of Reinhard, distancing once again, he reached an open garden with different sized trees.

Standing at the center of the garden, he heard the old man tell him.

"I want you to complete a path in a specific timeframe. Climbing every single tree one by one and finishing everything in fifteen minutes before returning to where I am sitting right now."

[First Hurdle: Climb the trees of the Reinhardt Garden as per Bayek's instructions]

[If you fail to complete the hurdle, the quest 'Assassin's Qualifications' will be failed]

'High risk, high reward. I can't expect more from a crazy old man who left me wait for about two hours at the front of his door.'

"Start whenever you want. I will start counting your time after you make the first move with climbing intent."

"Understood. You don't care if I take my time to plan out, correct?"

"Whatever. Maybe I will go to sleep on the grass."

"No need. I'll start soon," commented Malakai, who walked towards a zone with trees that were close to each other.

Opening his Status Window, he started to distribute his 30 free stat points he gained from leveling to Lv. 4 after finishing Isabel's quest of carrying her painting materials, canvas, and other mischievous things to her shop.

He had in mind what Mathias said to him, but with this opportunity he gained from this crazy old man, he couldn't let it go, and in doing so, he strengthened his stats according to what the situation demanded, stacking everything in agility and strength.

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'Status Window'

Name: Malakai / Class: Beginner

Level:4(260/2100) / Title: none

Health: 175/175 / Mana: 24

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Strength: 15 / Stamina: 10

Agility: 25 / Intelligence: 12

Stat Points: 0

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Looking around the location and at the trees that were each about 10-20 meters with a focused expression, he got set, readying his mind and body while also doing a cross that had the old man look at him with interest.

'Always do a cross at hard times. If there is a God in the world, maybe he or she will listen to me.'

Then from nowhere, he burst, rushing toward the first tree and quickly using his strength and mobility to get to the top. Bayek started counting in his mind each second, starting with a cold look on his face.

Malakai, when getting to the top, looked down a bit before starting to climb down the same way he climbed. One minute passed, and he cleared one tree, following up with the adjacent tree, that he climbed and got off with the same vigor, taking him about one minute.

Like this Malakai, who had to clear about 20 trees of the garden, exploded with every bit of energy he had, and when he was at the 10th tree, he looked at the quest timer that showed 9:47

'Fuck. fuck. I will fail the quest in this manner. I need to get crazy and pray I don't break my bones.' thought Malakai noticing he was out of time pretty quick.

Old Bayek, too, had a disappointed face when he saw that Malakai was bound to fail, saying to himself.

"It seems the gods don't want to show any favor with me and really abandoned me. I can't transcend my human limits, nor can I find someone to take me to the human limits. Disappointing, this life sure is disappointing. In about 15 years, I will also lose my spirit and die off, returning to dirt."

However, as he watched Malakai get on the top of the tree and quickly climb down when the young man was at the mid part of the tree, he suddenly released his grip, dropping down with great momentum on the ground.

"Ohhhh, that's more like it." commented Bayek when he saw Malakai use his hands that began being grinded by the trunk of the tree, splitting his hands up and covering his descend in a bloody mark.

"FUCK ME!! THIS HURTS SO BADLY! I CAN'T STOP NOW. I GOT 9 MORE OF THOSE BLASTED TREES!" cursed Malakai, who got on his feet, dashing back to the next tree, while the notification windows was starting to go red in his face.

[You are affected by the 'Bleeding' losing 1% of your maximum HP]

[Stamina:75/100]

Not caring about the notifications, he climbed the trees while losing 1 HP each second. He climbed up the tree fighting the pain and getting on the treetop, later using the same strategy to release himself while using his palms to cut off the gravity force.

Quickly minutes passed, and old Bayek watched every single movement Malakai did since the moment he approached the hurdle in a desperate mode.

Malakai was on the 18th tree and still had about 2 minutes before his time would run off. His HP also reached a low end because of his constant bleeding, barely being able to feel his hands from the pain he suffered.

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[Health: 78/175]

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'Just a bit more, come my body, we can do it. If my brain and body can endure this pain, this means that I shouldn't collapse now.'

Dropping on the ground, he swiftly got to the last tree after doing the climbing of the 19th tree. The time was also not really on his side as he roared in pain when getting to climb the final tree.

[14:15]

"JUST A BIT MORE!" growled Malakai in pain, as he reached the top of the tree, and seeing that his time was [14:32], he did a final touch before jumping off the tree at about 14 meters and landing on the ground.

[You have suffered 60 damage from the fall.]

[You suffered the debuff "Broken Bones'. You can't move until you heal up your wounded leg]

"ARGHH, I BROKE MY LEG. MOTHERFUCKER! THIS PAIN IS EXCRUCIATING." screamed Malakai in pain as he laid like a dead fish on the ground.

Soon, he saw the old man appear next to him and stare down at him with his abyssal eyes.

"Have I passed, old man?" asked Malakai, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Hahaha, what a crazy kid. He isn't even trained and still used such a maniac manner of climbing the trees. Even jumped the tree to complete his task, ignoring death and any possible outcomes. Marvelous, a truly spectacular performance, brat." laughed the old man with a happy hint on his tone while staring at Malakai that was gritting his teeth, fighting off the pain.

[Health: 5/175]

"Have I passed or not, old man?"

"Indeed, you have passed my first hurdle."

[Congratulations, you have cleared the 'First Hurdle' gaining the following rewards [2] levels, affinity with Bayek +2, Agility: +15]

His body was enveloped into the level-up effect, and he could feel that his body was cleared of the debuffs he suffered and that his broken bones also healed.

Slowly getting up on his feet after leveling up, he faced Bayek, who had a creepy smile on his face.

"Follow me to your Second Hurdle." said old Bayek coldly, walking ahead toward another part of Reinhart, followed closely by Malakai, who kept quiet, until he saw that they went back to the zone of the Royal Castle, point where they entered inside, undisturbed by the guards.

Looking down at his feet, he could see his shadow being gigantic, covering a 20 meters radius around himself.

Old Bayek walked casually in this royal district that was heavily guarded by guards, and not too long, was welcomed by the sight of a building that looked like a garrison.

"Old man, are we entering inside?" asked Malakai with a quiet voice, not wishing to attract unwanted attention to them.

"Yea, we will use their training ground for the Second Hurdle. Don't worry, kid, I will put down my Shadow Realm on that training ground, so we are not disturbed."

Saying that, old Bayek grabbed Malakai by his clothes, and from nowhere, they appeared in the center of a training ground filled with dummies and all sorts of paths.

"There is no problem for us being here, right, old man?"

"Even if there was a problem, they can't do nothing to stop me. Wiesbaden should be glad I stay in Reinhart."

"Who is that?"

"The king of this nation. Anyway, this matters less, kid. Your second hurdle is to fight against my shadows and pick up the basic assassination skills."

"Don't I need a weapon, old man?" asked Malakai when seeing Bayek envelop the entire training ground into a wave of blackness that turned the floor into something akin to an eclipse.

Bayek later turned at Malakai, who was checking if he needed a weapon, and nodding his head, he created 4 humanoid shadow figures that came from his big shadow and later created a shadow long dagger that he tossed to Malakai.

"Use this. It should suffice for the Second Hurdle."

Picking up the dagger, Malakai inspected the stats of the shadow dagger he received.

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[Shadow Dagger]

Rate: Quest Item

Durability: 1/1 / Shadow Damage: 1

Item created by Shadow Master Bayek using his own shadow power. The item doesn't hold much meaning to him, only that it is the weapon used by the possible candidate to receive his powers.

Condition to use: Only if Bayek wills it.

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Malakai watched as every one of those smokey black figures walked around him with weapons in their arms, and following their movements was old Bayek's cold voice who told him what his second hurdle was.

"What I want you to achieve in this Second Hurdle is to learn every single technique I throw at you. I want you to be like a sponge that takes all the water it would be imbued with. If by the end of this night you fail to learn everything I plan to show you, I will take it as you are failing the hurdle, losing all qualifications to become my disciple."

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[Second Hurdle: Learn every technique shown by Bayek]

[If you fail to complete the hurdle, the quest 'Assassin's Qualifications' will be failed]

.

"This means when the light starts showing up, and if I haven't learned by then what you showed me, I failed the hurdle, correct?"

Old Bayek nodded his head, only saying to him before letting his shadows attack him. "That is correct, so you better don't disappoint me, kid. I have big expectations from you."

[You have accepted the quest]

The moment he took a defensive stance with the shadow dagger, the quest was automatically accepted without him saying anything. He saw one shadow among the 4 dashes toward him, using a specific dagger stance.

Yet, thinking he was prepared for the challenge, he saw the shadow disappear from his vision and appear right in front of him doing a cross strike with its dagger that later sent him flying, hitting a practice dummy.

[You have suffered 1 damage.]

[You have suffered 1 damage.]

"I haven't seen how he appeared, but the strike, it looked like a cross attack holding a lot of force." said Malakai getting up on his feet after being sent flying.

Standing there, he tried to mimic the shadow making that attack, but as he tried, he got attacked once again, by the same time attack, being sent flying again.

"No, no, it looks different. There's something inside each attack. But what is it?" asked Malakai, who saw the same shadow move toward him, moving its long dagger around.

In such way, time passed for Malakai, who was entering a hellish training, being constantly sent flying by those shadows who showed all short of different attacks, from the cross-shaped attack that had a knocking back effect, to the flurry of attacks that was a combo of 5 swift dagger strikes that targeted vital organs or zones where there were nerves centers.

Looking at the clock, it showed 00:25, and he still hadn't learned a single skill that shadows were demonstrating over and over again. Still, he wasn't discouraged because he got the starting movement of the attacks but failed short to deliver like the shadows.

Old Bayek made a chair out of his shadow and stood there watching Malakai as he was trying to mimic the skills he was showing using his shadows.

"Could it be? He isn't as talented as I thought at first? No, no, let's way for more. There are only 4 skills he needs to learn from me to pass the second test, [Lost Cross], [Swift End Cut], [Eviscerate], and [Backstab]."

"So far, I took him slowly, so he could get the easiest ones, the cross, and cut. Kid, you still have 5 hours. You better start increasing your rhythm of assimilation."

About two hours passed since the second hurdle started, and Malakai finally, after much pain and sweat being dropped on the ground, unleashed the two attacks he managed to comprehend.

[Congratulations, you have learned the skill 'Lost Cross' and 'Swift End Cut']

"Ohhh, it was about time I nailed those skills after wrapping my head and smashing it onto those practice dummies."

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[Lost Cross] - Lv.1

Rating: Epic

Swing your weapon into a cross shape, dealing 108% of your physical damage with a 5% chance of knocking back the target of the attack.

Skill Condition Usage: Requires dagger or sword type weapons to be activated

Mana Consumption: 150 MP

Skill Cooldown: 60 seconds

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[Swift End Cut] - Lv.1

Rating: Epic

Using five fast, nimble attacks using your weapon to pierce the vital points and organs of the enemy, bringing an assured end to your enemy. Each strike does 98% of your physical attack damage, with a 5% chance of activating the debuff "Bleed'.

Skill Condition Usage: Requires dagger or sword type weapons to be activated

Mana Consumption: 125 MP

Skill Cooldown: 60 seconds

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Malakai's expression turned sour when looking at the mana consumption those skills were consuming.

"I can't even use those skills for a second time because of my lack of mana? But hey, those skills are strong. When I bring this up to that jerk, he will for sure be pissed and salty."

Old Bayek noticed Malakai's achievement in succeeding in learning and using two of his skills, and with him only having four more hours before the sun would start rising, he also increased the intensity of his shadows who constantly pumped him down.

Especially when it came to the skill [Eviscerate] and [Backstab], delivering those skills was an art in itself, which required something outside of just the movement.

"Nonetheless, if you don't have it in you, those attacks can't be understood. You might see them as a pierce of dagger inside your stomach and drawing back, but there is something more into it."

"Tsk, maybe I should have gone to that nasty mansion filled with inhumane emotions." commented old Bayek from the sidelines, seeing how his four shadows were using [Eviscerate] and [Backstab] on the young man who screamed in pain from all the agonizing attacks he was placed in with the increased rhythm of the shadows.

Malakai looked with red eyes at the shadows, who were mercilessly stabbing him on his front and back without him being able to do anything. He wondered how come he wasn't dead by those nasty attacks, but the truth was old Bayek shadow technique was so advanced that he could turn intangible shadows into the tangible matter.

In such a manner, he could also attack Malakai without actually splitting him up.

One and a half hours passed since old Bayek placed Malakai into the training for [Eviscerate] and [Backstab] and the young man's gaze was cold, with a hint of madness into it as he was looking at the shadows which moved to attack him once again.

With boiling madness and only bad intentions in his heart, he also moved to attack those shadows, no longer caring about learning something from them.

Dashing at one shadow, he moved to stab it like how he was stabbed in his guts, chest, and all over his body. Once the dagger made contact with the shadow, he gazed coldly at the shadowy black puppet and drew his dagger out of the puppet's body with the nastiest mindset in his life.

When seeing this old Bayek raised from his shadow chair and looked at Malakai, who looked with an indifferent expression at the shadow puppet he almost bisected, and from nowhere as he manipulated his shadows to gang on him, he shifted his position getting to the back of another puppet that he stabbed straight where the spine was.

"Well, well. What a little monster. So the kid has it in him."

Malakai, who ended the second puppet, still looked indifferent at the shadow puppet who dropped on the ground, moving toward the other two, who he used an improvised attack, sending a leg kick to the back knee of one puppet, dropping it on the ground, and being alone with only one puppet, he dodged an [Lost Cross] before delivering a [Eviscerate] that dropped on the ground the shadow.

Shifting his gaze at the one that still moved, he dashed fast at its back, and jumping on him, he delivered a [Backstab] straight to the back of the neck.

Assaulted by the notifications of him learning the [Eviscerate] and [Backstab], he looked vigilantly around himself, visibly entering a survival mode. Malakai calmed down when hearing the round of applause from the old man who was walking toward him.

"Marvelous, little Malakai. Truly Marvelous. You weren't bullshiting me when you said you wanted to become an assassin. Do you recognize that feeling you had when you attacked my puppets?"

"Annoyance, hatred, indifference, coldness, wishing to deliver pain, and end their life."

"That is the essence for assassination, little Malakai. At the start, you didn't have those in you, or at least they didn't show up to the surface. Because of that, you couldn't understand the true core of [Eviscerate] and [Backstab]. So, those four skills are my basic assassination skills, the ones I developed in my long 65 years long life."

"Does this mean I passed the second test?" asked Malakai, taking a deep breath, looking around himself, where only darkness surrounded him.

"Theoretically, yes. But, I want to test you with just a brief part of my Shadow Lord skills. If you manage to understand this skill, I will show you. I shall take you as my disciple and guide you in becoming the second Shadow Lord after your master, me, Bayek of Shildari."

"The same time span?" inquired Malakai, only to see the old man give him a wicked smile.

"Indeed, so you better open your eyes if you want to become my disciple without having to take the third and fourth hurdle."

[Update: Shadow Master Bayek changed the conditions of the Second Hurdle, adding another clause, which, if the user passes, will gain the class [Shadow Master Apprentice].]

Bayek looked at the shadow puppets on the ground, and extending his right arm, they were sucked back into his body.

"Done with the cleaning of those puppets. Listen well, little Malakai, this following ability I will show you is the catalyst of all my abilities, I call it [Shadow Breath]."

Malakai looked at old Bayek as he started to slowly do a breathing exercise with his eyes closed that didn't look like much to Vlad, until he noticed the old man shift his intensity, breathing with stronger breaths, while around his body shadowy smoke began being released slowly.

Then, after those shadows were released, he stopped his breathing exercise and stopped breathing altogether, standing in front of Vlad's eyes as if he was dead.

'Old man, do I have to die to get those abilities or what?'

Then as Malakai hypothesized what Bayek was doing, he saw him open his abyssal eyes that were releasing dark smoke-like light that was filling the surroundings and also touched Malakai, who sensed coldness from those shadows.

"You have to embrace death and move deeper than what the simple human has ever gotten. We Shadow Lords tap into a mystical realm to gather the shadows of the world and use them as we choose to. To enter this state, you have to stop your breathing and submerge yourself until you feel your life is moving past you, getting so close to this mythical realm that I don't know what it is and how to explain it to you."

Malakai dropped to the ground and took a meditative stance, unlike old Bayek, who just sat on his feet and was breathing with ease. He tried the same technique as the old man, but when he reached the part of stopping his breath, his reflexes kicked in, not letting himself die.

"I can't do it. My reflexes block me from not trying to breathe."

"Try more. If an old man like me who is close to death managed to stop his breath until tapping into that power, a maniac like you could do it for sure."

"Old man, do you want to hear something?"

"Huh?"

"You are the crazy fuck here for creating a suicide technique, not me. Nevertheless, I will try it."

Old Bayek released a crazy laugh while Vlad focused on his breathing, the first sequence, before blocking at the non-breathing aspect.

Like this, the two old man and the young man kept cursing one another, Vlad for finding Bayek's technique dumb, and the old man cursing Vlad's disrespect on his technique.

When he should be in bed by now and preparing for the next day of work on Monday, he was trying to clear his quest by learning the [Shadow Breath].