Author Romeru
patreon
Chapter 63: Julian Winters, Reforged by The Shadow
🕑 Added 2024-11-21 19:02:35 +0000 UTCJulian had only seen the daemons from MEGAN recreating them inside The Between, but he was sure of it—the faces of the people who stepped out of the ship were eerily similar to the daemons.
No.
Perhaps not just similar at all.
“Hm…” Julian decided to move away from the boulder and approach the invaders, checking the way they moved and spoke. Of course, Julian couldn’t really understand what they were saying at all, but the fact they were speaking in the first place intrigued him.
Throughout his entire life, he had been taught that the daemons are mindless beings capable of only acting on their instincts to destroy. Well, true enough, they were still destroying—but these people, these humanoid daemons clearly moved with purpose and intelligence.
These… people could even potentially be even more advanced than the humans.
“MEGAN, are you truly not seeing this?” Julian called for MEGAN again. But alas, it would seem he truly was alone in this vision.
It would have been very nice to get MEGAN’s input on this. But this could also have been for the best—after all, this sort of news would have exploded. Humanity Engineering, and probably even the government would personally approach Julian to get more information…
…and they would most likely discover that his clone’s strength was carrying over to his real body. And as MEGAN told him, they would probably start making tests on him and probably even dissect him.
“Are you truly daemons?” Julian stood in front of one of the humanoid daemons, and to his surprise… it looked back at him. He was about to put up his guard, but then heard a loud scream coming from behind him.
He turned, only to see Erin exploding with rage; tears flying away from her eyes as she passed through Julian’s body, lunging straight toward the daemon on the front.
She didn’t even use any weapons, she clung to the humanoid daemon’s shoulder and snapped its neck in two. And from the shadow the daemon’s head made when it bent, Erin plunged both her hands and grabbed a pair of small katars… which she used to decapitate the daemon she had already killed.
She then pushed herself away from the still standing corpse, almost flying in the air. And then, one by one, she cut them down, her whole body, literally a whirlwind of death as she danced in the air. They had no chance against her fury, Julian did not even have a chance to see what sort of weapons or abilities the humanoid daemons had due to her overwhelming skill.
She moved like a violent shadow, silent and merciless.
And now that Julian was seeing it from an outside perspective, he was starting to understand why he couldn’t even figure out Erin’s movements at all when they fought—well, when she badly beat him up.
At first, he thought that Erin was entering the shadows and leaping through the darkness, teleporting—but no. She wasn’t doing that at all.
She was just literally erasing her presence, almost as if she didn’t exist at all. And even right now, she was just walking toward the last invader… and yet, it felt as if she was nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
Julian have heard of mirages and illusions from MEGAN, but this didn’t feel like it fit their definitions at all.
Erin wasn’t just making illusions or bending the shadows and light, it felt as if she was literally bending space itself… maybe. Julian was the last person to ask about things like this as he had literally been totally blind his entire life.
But that is what it truly felt like—she was bending space itself.
And as the last invader fell, Erin stared as the life whisked away from the daemon’s dark eyes.
She remained like that for a while, all the rage and her wrath dancing on her trembling lips. But soon, both also died down… or perhaps were just given a rest as she stood in front of the invaders’ ship.
For a moment, it seemed she might destroy it, her katar faded away and she pulled a large hammer from the ground. But then, as she posed to strike down… she stopped, her gaze hesitating.
And soon, she turned away, leaving it there to be forgotten—and forgotten it was.
Time shifted. He watched as the ship was swallowed by the foliage. He watched as the lands of Artemia merged and divided, kingdoms rising and falling. And through it all, Erin remained—unchanging, alone.
The years stretched into decades, centuries, and then a millennium. Julian saw her solitude, the weight of her isolation pressing down on her.
She was eternal, yet she was utterly alone. But why? This all felt useless to Julian—why was he shown her eternal loneliness, when the visions did not show at all why? For what purpose was she alone?
What was she doing all these years? Why is Julian only being shown her loneliness and not the other things she had done throughout the years? Her accomplishments, her creations?
And at last, the time came when Erin could bear it no longer. Julian watched as she created something—from the forge she created life. Not a weapon, not an object, but a life—a reflection of her.
Erin created a clone of herself, a perfect mirror.
And this reflection did something she couldn’t—live a normal life. A life Erin could only observe from the shadows.
The reflection grew older, had children, and those children had children. For generations, Erin watched over her lineage. Her family was peaceful, thriving in a world she had perhaps literally forged.
But of course, when peace persists, it will only be a matter of time when war is awakened.
Erin’s family was slaughtered, their blood staining the land. The pain in her face was unbearable to witness. How could it not be… when those who killed her family were also her family?
And once again, the rage that was hiding within her grew. Her grief turning into rage, turning into guilt. From the very hands in which she created herself, she ended them all.
And from their blood, she forged a blade. Her hands trembled the entire time, her emotions in a complete frenzy; perhaps it wasn’t even her that forged the blade, but whatever was left of the life she never had.
She was never the same after that. She still had family, her lineage grew wide—but she was never the same. The light in her eyes dimmed, and darkness began to consume her.
But Erin was fully aware of her descent into darkness, and Julian watched as she isolated herself.
And there and then, she forged and created the very last thing she would ever make—a coffin, the very one Julian had found her in.
She then screamed, causing the entire land to tremble. And from the tears of blood she shed, a ripple formed on the ground as it dropped… and from that ripple emerged the Cube, the very cube that started this all.
She grabbed the cube, placing it inside the coffin… alongside herself and forever sealed it shut. The earth seemed to accept her offering, swallowing the coffin whole as though paying its respects for the very last time—a burial.
Time passed, and the coffin remained buried, untouched.
Artemia moved on, and the Legend of Erin was forgotten.
And then… fade to black.
“Oh… That was it?” Julian’s voice echoed in the void, and he seemed slightly frustrated. How could he not be? He was shown all of those, and at some point, he hoped that the visions would show him Erin crafting a [Mythic] grade weapon—but alas, nothing.
“I… feel like I wasted my time.” He whispered.
And soon, the darkness around him shifted, rippling like water. And from the shadows emerged a figure—a man, imposing… and tall, incredibly tall—the very same shadow giant he had seen at the start, Erin’s master.
And this giant once again pulled out a colossal hammer… and he wasted no time at all to raise it and swing it down toward Julian.
“Hm.” Julian hummed, but he didn’t flinch at all. He even stretched his arm to the side to welcome it as he sensed no malic in the strike.
But either way, malice or not… the colossal hammer struck him with earth-shattering force.
Clang!
The pain was indescribable. Julian felt as though he were being crushed, no. He was crushed. Every part of him shattered into pieces.
But he wasn’t being destroyed, not at all, no.
He was being reforged… into a shadow.
The hammer rose again, striking him once more.
Clang!
With each blow, parts of Julian’s body transformed, turning into shadows. His arms, his legs, his very essence were reshaped, reworked, and rewired into something new.
Clang!
The hammer struck again and again… until it couldn’t.
It couldn’t because Julian now stood tall, unyielding—his hand stretched up to meet the hammer, causing a ripple to explode and cause everything to disappear. The hammer, the man, and everything else dissolved into smoke.
And soon, this smoke was absorbed by Julian’s body.
[Congratulations, Julian Winters.]
And as those words appeared before him, a gasp escaped his lips as his entire being jolted—not jolted awake, as he wasn’t asleep. It was just… jolted.
He was back in the dark cavern, standing amidst the flowers which were once again one by one blooming to fill the wild hall with color. And within those colors, the [Guidance of Artemis] once again made itself known.
[You have been reforged by the primordial element, tempered by its unrestricted potential—as nothing came everything, you are now bound by the ultimate law: nothing.]
“Huh…” Julian muttered as the words kept popping out in front of him.
[You are now the Shadow Blacksmith.]
“I am…?” Julian muttered, glancing down at himself, “But… I don’t feel any different?”
He was also waiting for the Master of Shadows to make himself known, as he always does. But for some reason, he was eerily quiet and not spamming over the [Guidance of Artemis] at all.
Could it be that now that he had finished the quest, the Master of Shadows was completely done with him?
“Hm…” Julian sighed as he looked around before once again glancing down to check on him. He didn’t feel any different at all, but that doesn’t mean nothing changed. And so, he called for—”Guidance.”
[STATUS]
Name: Julian Winters
Class: Shadow Blacksmith [NEW]
Level: 15
Health (HP): 240/240
Mana (MP): 90/90
Stamina (SP): 181/182
Strength: 38^
Agility: 27^
Vitality: 22^
Mana: 10[NEW]
Perception: 30^
Free Points: 0
Skills:
Shadow Forge[NEW] — Your mind and spirit are able to enter the Shadow Dimension, a timeless domain created by your will and the will of those before you. The forge exists beyond mortal constraints, granting you the freedom to craft anything, everywhere.
MP Cost: 1 MP per Minute while inside the Shadow Forge. Cooldown: None
More details: By submerging your hand into the shadows, you can access the Shadow Forge. Time flows differently inside the Shadow Forge, it does not flow at all. The space within is connected to your Shadow Vault, where you can seamlessly access everything you have stored. Once your spirit leaves the Shadow Forge, your physical body will be in the exact position, space, and time it was before you entered the domain.
Shadow Festival[NEW] — The shadows are your domain, and distance is an illusion within them. Slip through the very confines and constraints of space itself, traversing anywhere and everywhere without limits instantaneously.
Domain Range: 10sqm. MP Cost: 10 Mana per Second. Cooldown: 3 minutes
More details: You are able to create a territory within a set area. While Shadow Festival is active, you are able to freely teleport anywhere within the area. Anyone caught within your range is plunged into a world of illusions, where the shadows dance and create chaos, making things appear farther or closer than they actually are and making it nearly impossible for them to predict your movements.
Shadow Sculpt[NEW] — Bend shadows to your will, turning them into solid tangible forms. The complexity of your sculptures depends on your Perception. The durability and duration depend on the Mana spent.
MP Cost: Conditional Cooldown: None
Abilities:
Hyper Instinct - Due to some unknown factor undetected by the [Guidance of Artemis], your senses are highly abnormal. All Skills affected by Perception will have increased effectiveness.
Flames of Searadyn - An Avatar of Searadyn has sworn eternal loyalty to you, granting you the ability to manipulate the flames of the Spirit of Frostfire.
Shadow Vault[NEW] – By submerging your hands into the shadows, you are able to store crafting materials, tools, and weapons you have created in a limited pocket dimension.
More details: Note that any other objects not designated or related to crafting will be spat out. The size of the pocket dimension will grow bigger when certain conditions are met. The limit of object types you can place inside the Shadow Vault will change when certain conditions are met.
Current Storable Objects: Forging materials, Forging Tools, Crafted Weapons.
Current Storage Area: 15cbm
Null Presence[NEW] – You are the shadow itself. You exist and do not at the same time. With massive concentration and focus, you are able to blend seamlessly with the space around you instinctively, becoming almost undetectable. By your will, your presence can be fully erased when standing still.
More details: Note that this effect is lessened or completely canceled for those with a higher Perception than you. Those with detection magic can also cancel this effect. Using this too much will consume a lot of SP.
Active Quests:
The Shadow of Artemia[NEW]
The Flames of Juliet
Explore the world to gain more quests.
[End of STATUS]
“Oh…” Julian squinted his eyes perhaps for the very first time in his life as he stared at the wall of texts in front of him,
“...So, I did change.” He said.
[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]
AUTHOR NOTES
Yes, it is OP. It better be since he couldn't get the Radiant Blacksmith class, which was also OP. lol
But this is where I need your help. I suck at technical writing, maybe those who are verse in LitRPGs can offer advice on how to rephrase the skills to be better understood? Or maybe they're fine already?
Ack. Anyway, TADAAAAA. After 63 chapters, Julian has finally become the Shadow Blacksmith...but not yet LEGENDARY!
Sorry, I had to do it.
Comments
IdolTrust
What is cbm? Is that supposed to be cubic meter, if so you could write it m^3. Surprising he didn’t have a blacksmith skill to craft. I guess having a shadow forge and spirit flame. It’s cool that he can make a whole as item while wasting no real time. The big question would his class follow him to “real world” because he can get a ton of crafting materials and bring it to there and vice a versus.
trustkillerlol
Finally, the Shadow Blacksmith!! Thank you for another amazing chapter.
Rommel Sabido
Uack. Right. And thank you for reading. We reaching the end of book 1! @_@
Manpapper
At first, she thought that Erin was I think it should be At first, he thought that Erin was Thanks for the chapter
teehee15
As for Null Presence, it really depends on how you want to develop your story. This seems like a crucial skill and any suggestions I make can really change the story. You could leave it as a super op skill, but make it really hard to master, meaning, while he can kind of use it, it's tricky to fully bring to bear, or takes extreme focus, or something. You could also change it so it too evolves like Shadow Vault, and have it so he blends in with shadows, meaning he hides better, but only in lower light situations scaling with perception or something.
teehee15
Having Shadow Vault evolve as he grows is fine, I think in order to make things simpler, you should make it grow in only one direction though. Unless you really think you can make it work. What I mean by that is, right now it says it's "limited" in it's space, and when we think of it getting better, that's the first thing that comes to mind, but if you change that, and say it can hold tons, but only of crafting materials, or something similar, then our mind will think it'll expand what it holds as it gets better instead.
teehee15
Okay, if Shadow Festival is a domain-type, then it's a little easier to phrase. Something like, "Control the shadows around you to move through the targeted location." This would allow him to control the shadows to make the "illusions" and it would work for the teleportation within the location controlled.
teehee15
Oh, that's much easier. If it's just a mindscape, call it that. He enters his mindscape and anything crafted auto deposits into shadow vault.
Rommel Sabido
Null Presence - yes. This would prove to actually be his most OP skill, it's also the reason why he had a hard time to follow Erin. Maybe we could lessen the OPness... maybe make it also discoverable by those with something like Detection magic?
Rommel Sabido
As for Shadow Vault, I actually intended it to grow stronger and have the ability to also store some other things. I forgot to specify lol. Or maybe we can just have it store everything from the start to avoid confusion? Hmm...
Rommel Sabido
Yes, the shadow festival is confusing, I agree lol. But yes, it's basically a domain-type skill where it's kinsa a set area? Where he can move anywhere through that space, and it looks all wonky. Kinda like when Erin was all over the place when they fought. Maybe we should specify it's a set area? Hmmm.
Rommel Sabido
Hmm. For the shadow forge, I think I might just go with something like a Mind domain. So practically no physical is being affected-it'll be just basically him having the ability to forge "instantly" in other people's perspective and pull it out. Ack, how do i even phrase that lol.
teehee15
Okay, since you asked for this... Shadow Forge -- Interesting skill, mechanically, it reads as him being able to instantly teleport to a different dimension, but him returning to the exact time and space he left originally means he didn't teleport at all. It's basically his own time chamber where he can spend as much time (as long as he has the mana) inside to do whatever. This has a few abuses, such as training making instant improvements. It also isn't specified if momentum carries over, so he could potentially nullify any kind of movement, whether that be falling off a cliff, or getting punched into a mountain by just flickering there for an instant. As far as how it's phrased, it's fine. There's no major confusion surrounding what it does, so long as above gets clarified. Shadow Festival -- Okay, this one needs some work. It reads in the initial blurb as a teleport skill, which essentially says he can teleport freely, but then in the more details tab outright says it's a domain-type illusion skill. Both are cool ideas and work quite well with the concept of shadows, but they do not work as a single skill. Clarification is needed on which this skill is before any help can be made on how to word things. The only way I can see the current description working as written is if he can teleport literally anywhere he wants and when he teleport, this domain-type illusion surrounds him. Shadow Sculpt -- Generic craft with shadows skill. Not much to interpret here. Shadow Vault -- I think this is intended to be an inventory for crafting stuff and stuff crafted by Julian. I say this because it sounds like what Erin used to store all her stuff, but if that's the case, unless you count healing potions as tools, those shouldn't be included in what can be stored in it as it's currently worded. Maybe change "weapons you have created" to "items you have created." Null Presence -- So this is just so op. As long as he has a higher perception, he's basically impossible to find, because, mind you, this is an ability, which means not a skill and has no cost associated with it. In other words, he can just disappear anytime he wants to anyone with less perception than him. If that's how it's intended, then hey, worded very well.
