The pain hardly registered to Grey at this point. But death didn’t come as immediately as he expected either, forcing him to linger on that feeling and giving him enough time to think...
Did he want to die like this?
If a single sneak attack took him out, even with his Resonant Frame senses at full bore, then what chance would he stand when things really started to test him?
But there was a firmer thought in his mind.
What could he do to make it most likely his gramps would see him on the big screen.
Grey grinned a bloody grin and his Stamina plummeted by more than half in a single flashing instant of time. Burning white gold flames surrounded the hole in his stomach.
The world faded back into existence as though he had been yanked away from a long, winding path toward a distant, looming light, right back into reality...
Just in time to see a wild-faced Frantz appearing in front of him with spear in hand ready to skewer his head through.
’Not this time, asshole.’
Grey’s Shadow Forces pulsed and he vanished.
—
Name: Shadow Forces
Rarity: Legendary
Class: Established
Accepted Type: Linear; Branching
Rejected Type: Recursive; Resonant
Description: Dance of the madmen, howls of the free. These shoes are not to be worn by the weak and faint of heart, they will eat you alive. But should you be able to keep your mind clear and your chest light, the glowing lane at the end of the tunnel will lead you to curb stomping catharsis.
Abilities:
Shadow Retrace. Leave trails of shadow steps in your wake and return to them at the cost of 1 Stamina per Retraced Step or 10-meters traversed.
Lingering Haunt. Fuse together three Retraced Steps to form a semi-permanent Shadow Node within a 50 meter radius. Pay one-time cost of 10 Stamina and continuously use this Shadow Node over the course of a battle without stamina cost.
—
If Grey was honest, this new ability was lackluster and required more brain power than he was willing to put into most battles to use effectively, especially considering the Shadow Nodes couldn’t be moved. So if an opponent was ready, it would cause problems.
But this was the exact sort of battle he wanted to lock in for.
’Watch this shit, gramps.’
Grey’s eyes flashed and all his charm, smiles, and giggles seemed to vanish into a cold, calculating madman.
His head was moving forward toward Frantz’s spear as though to impale his own skull through, but at that moment Frantz’s blade lost the last of its momentum. The envoy hadn’t expected Grey to suddenly vanish like he had, and Grey himself seemed to be capable of perfectly calculating exactly where the blade would stop.
Grey slipped to the side, his blade carving up toward Frantz’s side.
A panic echoed in Frantz’s previously wild expression, the rage that had consumed his thoughts just moments ago fading into a holding on for dear life.
Holy Energy flooded out from the envoy’s body as he activated a familiar shielding, but Grey couldn’t even hear his shouts or the roar of his energy.
CLANG.
Grey’s arm reflected back, but the blades that had fallen out of his control and clattered to the ground behind him echoed in his ears more clearly than anything else.
One of them curved around, slicing right into the opening his own sword had created just now.
PUCHI.
The blade pierced right through Frantz’s body.
The envoy’s silhouette split in two. A life-protecting treasure leaving a clone in his place as he flashed away and to the side.
Frantz huffed out a breath, raising an arm and aiming for Grey’s head. At that moment as well, Calixan seemed to realize his attack hadn’t actually killed Grey and this wasn’t a young man on his last breath.
The bishop’s eyes opened wide and he made a move to join the battle, but Grey was faster.
PUCHI.
Frantz’s raised arm froze as a blade pierced through his back. The envoy froze, coughing up a mouthful of blood as the afterimage that was the Grey he was looking at slowly faded from existence as well.
Grey ripped his blade out from Frantz’s back and looked up to meet the frozen Calixan’s gaze.
Flickering crimson danced across Grey’s helm frame, his gaze hidden beneath its grates, and yet so very focused nonetheless.
The last of the white gold flames in Grey’s chest closed, leaving nothing but smooth, tanned skin that looked as though it had been baked and bronzed beneath the pelting sunlight for years on end.
That and muscles so carved and chiseled it almost looked as though he hadn’t eaten a single calorie above maintenance in his entire life.
Grey threw the sword in his hand to the ground as though to discard it, the nine hovering blades falling as well.
He held a hand to his face almost as though to hide his features, yet two pulsing lights came from the helm frame.
The first was a dense black. When it appeared, it felt as though Grey’s form had become much harder to grasp and nearly impossible to track. Another shadow of him appeared across the landscape, falling neatly into the footsteps he had left behind with his Forces.
The second was a crimson brass. Pulsing waves of energy radiated out from Grey, making the ground look almost as liquid as a rippling lake.
—
[First Helm Selected: Call of the Skrill]
—
[Second Helm Selected: Crimson Rage Helm]
—
Grey’s STR and SPD stats shot up by 500 stat points. His DEX stat shot up by 100.
All at once, he burned over 1600 Energy Units from his Helm Frame and his power shook the air around him like his presence was far larger than his body alone could contain.
The echoes of horns and the beat of drums steadied the beating of his heart and a digital, jagged grin of energy and metallic grates split his mask in two.
"Let’s dance."
Grey flashed forward so fast he was little more than a blur of white-gold, ruby-violet, and black.