Leo blinked his eyes open. Darkness.

He blinked again.

Nothing.

At least I can blink… which means I’m probably not dead.

He tried to move his body and it responded without issue. Looking at his resources they were all full. Fire mana coursed down his arm and into his palm as he attempted to light a flame.

The room lit up, blinding him for a moment as his eyes adjusted.

It was like a prison cell. A tiny room with a single doorway for an exit. There was nothing of value when he looked around, only shadows flickering in the palm-light, illuminating plain stone walls.

A system message appeared before him.

Quest Received: Vault of Shadow

You have broken into the Bank of Lurentis, alerting its guardian by gaining forceful entry.

The guardian has placed you within its prison.

Find your way out or spend the rest of your tutorial within

Be warned, while you may not be locked in, leaving will not be easy.

Objective: Escape

Reward: None

“Well, that sucks.”

Leo groaned as he read the system text, broken in? He thought that the doors were just a bit stiff. Apparently not, as whatever this ‘guardian’ was had grabbed him and taken him here.

“What do we do now, Ells?” Leo said, his voice fading as his memories flashed. In his final moments of consciousness he released her in case he had died.

Emptiness.

It was like a part of him was missing. It was entirely unlike when she just went off to be with his friends. At those times he could at least feel her presence still.

He looked at her stats and it didn’t say she had died, as her Rebirth skill hadn’t activated. That meant she had gotten away or not been taken by whatever shadow monstrosity had abducted him.

Leo sighed. “Guess I should find my way out of here.”

The first thing to conquer was the darkness. His flame was enough to light up the small area around him, but past the shadowy doorway he was completely blind.

An idea came to mind as he opened his tutorial store—glad to see it still worked. Inside, he selected the torchstones. They were cheap, and somewhat effective.

He purchased twenty to begin with, all appearing within his storage ring. Taking one out, it looked just like a normal rock, with a single rune on it.

Infusing mana into it, the stone lit up with a brilliant light. The more mana he poured in, the more it seemed to glow. That being the case, Leo pushed as much as it would take. The brighter the better… right?

*Pop*

The stone exploded into shards, not dealing any damage but clearly destroyed as the dust of what was left scattered across the room.

“Okay. Too much juice. Bit less this time.”

The next stone was lit up until it was dwarfing his flame by a fair margin. Stopping his infusion, he tossed it through the doorway. The stone skidded along the stone tiles, meeting zero resistance.

The hallway was completely illuminated, and it looked…okay?

It was a simple stone hallway with no markings and no enemies. He could have believed it too, if not for his first step into the doorway, his danger sense warned him that this was no simple hall.

Sadly, there was no other way out, not that he could see. Nothing else for it but to brace for whatever was coming. He hoped it wouldn’t be whatever attacked him when he ‘broke in’.

He took his first step. Silence. Nothing happened at all.

The same happened with his second and third.

Then a spark surged through his body, telling him to move out of the way. Leo ducked as a blade sliced out above him, dodging a decapitation by no more than a second. He quickly ducked back inside the prison cell, breathing heavily as sweat began beading on his head.

If not for his Voltaic Reflex, he’d one-hundred percent be dead.

After a quick heavy breathing session, his body had stopped shaking and he made his next attempt.

This time he moved swiftly, dodging the same blade that came out again, then dodged a few spears that burst out of the wall aiming to impale his legs with a twirl of motion.

His Cloak of Wind manifested around his body, and immediately he sped up—taking large leaps. There was only a few more metres of light to work with and he used it as best he could.

Spikes, darts, blades, you name it, Leo had to dodge. It was like this place was a storage for every booby-trap known to man.

A slight oversight dawned on him as he jumped over a particularly sharp looking axe.

The hallway wasn’t ending, and he hadn’t lit another stone.

He grabbed another out of his storage and it began lighting up, but it was slow and the traps did not stop, even when stationary. Inwardly, he cursed his inefficient mana practice, wishing he’d spent more time doing so. He was basically a brute when it came to it.

It was barely enough when he was forced to throw it, but it landed true. At the end of the dim light was a doorway.

Yes!

There was his way out. Leo was saving his Spark Dashes for when he found the exit and there was no time like the present to use em’.

Lightning engulfed him as he warped forward twice in quick succession, quicker than the traps could even react to. He tucked and rolled into the room and prepared himself for attack from another trap.

It didn’t come.

Leo breathed out in relief, then promptly lit up this room with another stone.

The young prisoner cursed. “Oh, you have to be kidding.”

One exit into another hallway would have been one thing. Three exits was a bit much.

There was no system prompt or any kind of indication which way to go so he did all he could. A torchstone was sent down each hallway, completely filling them with light.

His eyes were like slits as he looked down each passage. Starting on his left was a hallway similar to the one he had just gone down, stone walls, no markings. Still dangerous most likely, but an expected danger.

The middle hall was almost broadcasting treasure and freedom. There may have well been a ‘FIRE EXIT’ sign above the doorway. The hall had railings and sigils carved from intricately cut solid gold. The light reflected off the walls and made things even more brighter and welcoming.

This had to be a joke. Surely it wouldn’t just give him a quick way out with a likely promise of treasure after one hall of traps.

Although, looking at the final hallway made him consider just heading down the middle hall anyway.

Shadowy tendrils rose up through the floor with every heartbeat, the walls were coated in fleshy growths and bulbous sacks containing things he did not want to find out about. All the mana in the stone he’d thrown was quickly sucked out until the light dissipated.

Death. That was the feeling that came from that hell-hole.

So his choices were: doom, apparent safety, or death. An easy choice…right?

Thankfully he had his danger sense to at least sway things. First, he checked the safe and rewarding passage and it screamed. The danger that this one gave off was unlike anything he’d ever felt, as much as the shadow-monster that had taken him. There was no doubt in his mind that if he went down this passageway, the only ending he would get was a bad one.

“Yeah, I expected as much,” Leo said to himself, nodding sagely.

Only an idiot would have believed that it was actually safe.

Surprisingly—or perhaps not—the left passage was also extremely dangerous. It was probably only traps but most likely more difficult than the previous hallway he’d passed through. It could also just be the wrong way to go, leaving him dead in a dead end.

Leo was fast, but was he fast enough to dodge another hallway of traps with increased danger? Not something he really wanted to test if he could help it.

That left the death route…

Leo took a deep breath and approached it and his danger sense responded. It felt less dangerous than the left hall but it came with its own issues. Mainly the whole death and despair, dying in the dark kind of issue.

Am I really considering the death tunnel?

Sighing, Leo charged a few torchstones, storing a few and throwing one down the third hallway. As soon as he set foot in the hallway, all of the shadows locked onto him with rapid aggression, aiming to pierce him as he dodged backwards back inside.

The light faded and the shadows retracted.

Leo let out a frustrated puff of air. Maybe this wasn’t the right passage after all.

Deciding to give one last try, Leo stepped out again. Only this time he didn’t use any torchstones, relying completely on his Voltaic Reflex for when the shadows came—no point in wasting another.

The shadows whipped around him as his flame died out in his hand, then they stopped. Resting. They felt almost… peaceful.

Leo did not feel at peace. It was complete darkness and he saw what lay in here—fleshy growths and don’t-open-me sacks. Trying his best to remember the layout, he slowly progressed.

Careful steps and cautious hands. Leo was moving—but to where? This hallway could be endless, or suddenly be dropped into a pit. His danger sense was quiet but that could mean anything.

Paranoia crept in as his mind started to wander. He so desperately wanted to conjure a flame. The endless darkness was eating at him. Not in a way he could combat with his Aura skill either. This mental attack was completely of his own doing. A terror felt in the hearts of many children and adults alike.

Fear of the dark and that what lay within.

Leo stumbled, unsure on what he caught his foot on and landed on one of the sacks. Its gooey pus-like substance coated him and began eroding his skin. His Stoneskin was warding off some of it but the pain was beginning to ramp up as it sizzled. He started to try and push it all off him but the acid was sticky. He looked at his body and could see how covered he was.

“Why can I see my hands…” Leo whispered in worry.

The acid started to glow purple. Starting with his hands and then his body. His danger sense started to hum faintly with impending danger.

“Uh oh.”

Leo took off down the hallway, the shadows wrenching out at him, trying to pull him down. His cloak appeared around him, giving the mobility he would desperately need. A tendril sliced out at his leg, cutting through the Stoneskin like it wasn’t there.

Even with his reflex skill, the shadows were too fast when he also couldn’t see properly. The only reason he hadn’t died was that the light wasn’t enough to fully anger the shadows.

But he was getting brighter.

It was like the acid was flaring with light as it also flared with pain. His health was declining along with his stamina. A flash of light lit up the hallway for a brief moment as he dashed, forced to use it to avoid a maw of shadow that snapped up from below him.

The hallway felt like it shrieked at his luminous transgression. Shadows cascaded towards him. Leo broke out all he had with reckless abandon.

Walls of stone blocking off one side while he dashed every cooldown. The constant attacks, along with the acid, had done a number on his health bar, reducing it to less than fifty percent.

This was with the attacks being mostly dodged. Taking any of the more devastating ones would have been a swift ending.

Panic was rising in his chest as the hallway seemed to stretch on forever. The acid on his skin had relented in its pain but the light was still unending, which continued the assault. Minutes passed this way, Leo’s resources dwindling with every one.

The shadows grew more dangerous. His reflex could barely keep up. Surges of lightning forced him in every direction as his body struggled with deciding which spark to follow.

As another shadow struck for his throat, something inside him snapped into place. Lightning raced down his nerves in a way they had never done before, the world sharpening for a heartbeat.

Voltaic Reflex (Common)

Upgraded to

Nerveflash (Uncommon)

His body moved before his mind caught up, slipping past the strike as if he had seen it coming a moment early.

His body staggered as he rolled along the ground, his head spinning for a brief moment as he felt his stamina take a massive hit. There was no time to think about the upgrade. The shadows were not stopping.

Leo groaned as a shadow sliced his side, cutting right through his armour as if it wasn’t there. The next second he tripped, and hit his shins off something hard. Then his body followed and he put his hands down.

What the acid illuminated seemed to be… steps?

Quickly, he scrambled up the stairs, the shadows did not seem to be slicing at him but were attempting to drag him back down. Spark Dash came off cooldown and his body was encased in lightning as he shot forward. With a dash from his boots and colliding his shins into the oddly steep staircase yet again, Leo finally had room to breathe.

The staircase ended after what felt like eternity, climbing at least ten flights worth. He splayed out on the landing, breaths hitching as he struggled to catch his breath. He had less than ten percent health remaining. Stamina was at a minimum.

How was anyone else meant to get out of there?! I’ve got so many bonuses and it almost killed me.

Realisation struck as he quickly raised his head and looked around. Darkness, but not entirely. It looked like a massive concourse, closer to a buried plaza than a room.

Pillars of pale marble lined the massive room in perfectly measured intervals, each one lit by the dull glow of torchlight. The yellow light was weak, barely enough to illuminate the floor, but strong enough to cast long, shifting shadows between the columns.

But the shadows were not normal.

Some of them moved.

Shadow Sentry - Level 35

Shadow Sentry - Level 36

…

There were many.

Just going off the torchlight, Leo could spot at least thirty. All flickering back and forth between shadows as the light caught their silhouettes.

Leo slowly shuffled his body back down a few stairs, careful not to gain their attention—if he hadn’t already.

None of them seemed to be violent. Leo watched their patrols and saw there was a bit of a pattern to it. Also small gaps where he could sneak by if careful.

Is that the challenge? To sneak through somewhere? Leo sighed.

Stealth… was not his thing.