MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

Falling through the dark abyss Leo was half-dreaming, trying to think about everything except the absolute nothingness surrounding him.

Feeling the temperature rising he sighed in relief and took the mithril bars off his chest.

"Finally!"

Seeing a red dot in the distance he cried and positioned his body, so he'd fall face first.

Nearing the ground Leo closed his eyes and soon his body turned into light particles. He didn't die though, he appeared on a huge cliff with a wide view to the red wasteland surrounding him.

Looking around Leo saw nothing, but red sand and strange, ancient ruins. He even noticed some kind of ugly monsters with horns, similar to his, roaming across the red desert.

[ Welcome to Hell! ]

A system message appeared and Leo frowned, he was already thinking of a way back, but couldn't quite find an accessible one.

The average monster level in hell is around 80. Leo couldn't even dare think he could fight any of them.

Feeling his clothes sticking to his skin, Leo frowned. Hell is considered to be one of the middle realms where the climate is uninhabitable for normal players.

Since Leo had no kind of Fire or Heat resistance, he'll have to deal with the insane heat all the time.

Looking in the distance Leo noticed a huge tower with orange clouds gathering around its peak.

"Already!?"

With a panicked expression Leo's eyes darted around searching for a cover, with sweat continuously running down his face. It was starting to get hard to see, but Leo was lucky enough to stumble upon an underground pit.

Not even inspecting if someone was inside Leo fell into it and quickly covered the entrance with sand, as much as he could.

Boom...

Soon he felt a massive explosion shake the whole world around him and momentarily held his breath waiting for what was about to come.

Hisp... Hisp... Hisp...

Hearing weird whispers he curled up in the corner of his shelter tightly shutting his eyes and covering his ears.

While Leo was hidden in the shelter he found a few minutes ago, red fog, like a wave, was moving and consuming the world above the ground.

Dead forests, ruins, everything was devoured by the intangible fog. Even the demons that were unfortunate enough not to find a shelter were swallowed by the red wave.

Screech...

Leo heard a muffled, blood freezing screech of a creature, but soon it went silent, bringing the world its quietness once again.

Hisp... Hisp... Hisp...

Hearing the whispers nearing him Leo gritted his teeth trying to remain composed.

Feeling a soft sensation on his arm Leo shivered, it felt like a human touch.

'Don't open your eyes... Do not open your eyes!'

Repeating the same words Leo bit his tongue when another voice, not his own, appeared inside his head.

"What a beautiful eyes you have~ can you look at me~"

Hearing a seductive whisper of a female Leo paled before tightening his grip around his ears.

'Shit!'

"Come on show us your eyes~"

The voice kept insisting, but Leo only strengthened his resolve not feeling the drastic change in the temperature surrounding him, it was turning freezing cold.

"Show them!"

The tone of the female's voice was now raised and Leo felt something trying to forcefully move his hand out of the way.

'Demonic Flame'

Summoning white flame he covered his body hoping that it'd scare away the voice, but received a giggle in return.

"A lighter~!"

The spell he grew for about a month was compared to a lighter. Even though the voice said it, he didn't feel any more touches and sighed.

The temperature was also becoming normal and Leo felt mental fatigue wash over him, like a tsunami.

'Mental attacks are dangerous...'

Massaging his templates Leo frowned and slowly opened his eyes only to see nothing besides himself.

Dusting off the red sand that stuck onto his cloak Leo stood up and climbed out of the cave.

The world above ground was different, previous ruins were now shining in strange blue light as if charged, while the dead forests were now blooming.

Looking at the tower in the distance Leo noticed no clouds at its summit and sighed.

"I wonder how much time I have until the next wave..."

Throwing a last glance at the huge spire Leo chose the direction opposite of the tower and drew a huge arrow on the red sand.

"This should be enough..."

Interacting with the system window Leo's body started turning transparent and soon he became Light Particles. Shadow mage has logged off to have dinner with his family.

***

Meanwhile Ava and Eli were trying to fend off against the giant skeleton wolf. Both of them were struggling to damage it, because of its sturdy bones and huge reach it had.

As soon as Eli tried to get close to smash its skull, she would either be met by rows of teeth or the creature's claws.

Ava also couldn't properly damage the creature, because her INT wasn't high enough to seriously threaten the monster.

Even though both players couldn't do massive damage the progress was visible.

[ HP: 1300/1850 ]

Rattle...

Moving its skeletal body the wolf tried to leap at Ava who was midway through casting the fireball and wouldn't be able to dodge, but a giant orc used its massive scythe to hit the creature in the ribs cracking some of them.

Crash...

The strength of Eli was no joke and the wolf was sent crashing into the nearby wall. A cloud of dust was raised as the creature collided with the wall, obstructing Ava's and Eli's vision.

"Careful, something's wrong!"

Sensing something amiss Ava tensed looking at two shining orbs within the dust cloud.

Rattle...

Suddenly the sound of bones being broken resounded across the tunnel, making both players jerk backwards.

"W..hat is that?"

Looking at the reemerging wolf Eli stuttered, the creature had long bone tentacles growing out of its back.

The monster's ribs have been shattered and reconstructed in order to create these, the wolf basically traded its defense for offense.

"Don't get hit by them!"

Looking at the bone limbs stretching out of the skeleton's back Ava warned Eli before throwing a fireball at the monster's face.

Surprisingly the wolf didn't try to dodge it, he simply commanded one of its tentacles to block it. The spell didn't even damage the creature, new limbs didn't suffer from any damage.

"Focus on its main body!"

Seeing Ava's momentary confusion Eli spoke before using 'Fiery Strike' on her scythe and swung it against the creature.

Since Eli's weapon was from an undead, it did some extra damage against the wolf, making Eli the main damage dealer during this fight.

Clank...

Unfortunately the tentacles were stronger than she had anticipated. Her weapon, even enchanted by a skill, was deflected off the bone limb leaving Eli defenseless.

Whoosh...

The other bone tentacles tore through the air, aiming to pierce through her body, but Ava was already prepared and dashed through the air using 'Lightning Step' to push Eli out of the way.

The bone limb didn't hit any of them, but both players suffered from light wounds, due to colliding against each other.

"I think you are more dangerous than that skeleton"

Massaging her butt Eli had time to complain before avoiding another tentacle strike.

Ava couldn't help, but roll her eyes hearing her friend's comment. Didn't she save her life?

Looking at the wolf Ava's gaze was momentarily captivated by its red eyes.

'It can't be?'

Conjuring a fireball she threw it directly at its face, but the creature avoided the projectile by moving to the side.

"Aim for its eyes!"

Shouting to Eli, Ava used the Lightning Step to close in the distance between her and the wolf before throwing another fireball at its face, trying to garner its attention.

It turns out that the withered skeleton wasn't killed because Eli shattered its skull. It died, because its eyes were damaged as well!

Rattle...

Three tentacles shot out from the creature's back aiming to stab Ava in the air, but she masterfully dodged all of them by performing some movements that not even all the gymnasts could do.

Eli even frowned while looking at her friend's bent body.

'Does she have no bones?'

Dashing towards the wolf she thought before swinging her weapon in a wide arc, aiming to deal as much damage as possible.

Crack...

The skull of the being was hit, but it was still alive. One of its eyes was dimming, but the other still shone bright red.

Whoosh...

Ava didn't let the creature recover and thrusted her hand with a spell inside its eye socket, making the other eye explode as well.

'Ouch...'

Feeling the corrosive effect of the skeleton Ava jerked backwards pressing her hurt arm against her chest.

The wolf turned into ashes like the withered skeleton did. Eli and Ava, both, drank a HP potion, before continuing to venture further into the tunnel.

Even though no words were exchanged, both were disappointed that the monster dropped no EXP or Loot.