R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 2

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 2 (In editing-v1)

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A cool breeze swept through a large stone canyon, fluttering freely as it soared across cracked brown rocks and swarmed above wide jutting boulders. This wind crossed the 500-meter gap from one wall to the other, floating above the meandering river that guided the canyon’s path. 

Warm sunlight shined down on this canyon from above, giving it a rather cheerful appearance that was decidedly at odds with its grim name: the Dark Canyon. 

Located at the southern border between the Divine Might Sect’s territory and the Ground Demon Sect’s territory, the Dark Canyon stretched for hundreds and hundreds of miles long. Just like how the Dragon Mountains served as a natural barrier against the Silent Sword Sect to the north, the Dark Canyon served as a boundary for the Ground Demon Sect to the south. 

At first glance, it seemed to be far less effective of a barrier. The Dark Canyon stood only a half dozen miles thick at its widest, while the Dragon Mountains sat between 100-200 miles throughout. In that aspect alone, regardless of how long the canyon was, the two sites were incomparable. 

Nevertheless, it was common knowledge that the Dark Canyon was significantly more dangerous to cross.

Shin kept all of that in mind as he took a deep breath and then exhaled, his gaze never wavering as he stared down a long scope. 

The blonde-haired man was perched precariously on the side of the canyon wall, resting on a ledge that jutted out merely half a meter. He was dressed in a set of faded brown pants and a dull brown shirt, camouflaging himself against the brown stone walls.

In Shin’s hands was a long, silver rifle inlaid with various blue symbols. He held it with a sense of familiarity and practice, two fingers resting on its trigger while he aimed down its scope.

“Careful now…” Shin muttered as he adjusted the long gun slightly, focusing on his target. 

Around 350 meters in front of Shin, strolling along the rocky canyon floor, a dark, humanoid shadow could be seen. This creature had two arms and legs, a torso and a head, many of the normal features of a human… but not all of them.

Instead of possessing a mouth, eyes, or nose, the shadow’s face was eerily blank. It was like a mannequin, having a body that appeared normal at a distance, but lacking the true essence of a human. 

Shin breathed in. 

Shin exhaled. 

The shadow continued to move. It might not possess any eyes, but the creature picked its path carefully, walking without hesitation.  

It didn’t seem to be aware of Shin, but… it just so happened to be walking directly towards him. 

Shin raised his gun ever so slightly, a small bead of sweat forming along his cheek. He made several small adjustments as the shadow continued moving, keeping track of things like the distance, the breeze, and anything else that might matter. 

Seconds slipped by. 

The shadow kept walking, closing the gap between it and Shin by 50 meters. 

Shin breathed in.

Shin exhaled. 

The bead of sweat that had formed continued to travel down his cheek, stopping only after it reached the edge of his chin. 

In that time, Shin’s hands tightened, shifting his rifle by a few millimeters.

The shadow never stopped moving, now only 250 meters distant. 

Shin breathed in.

Shin exhaled. 

The drop of sweat fell from his face, dripping lightly onto the rocky ledge. 

Shin’s eyes twitched. 

The shadow abruptly froze, its faceless head jerking to point at Shin. 

For a tiny, split-second, nothing happened. 

A moment later…

Shin pulled the trigger. 

‘Expand.’

A small, silver bullet silently blasted from Shin’s gun. As soon as it emerged, it rapidly began to swell up in size. It went from being the length of Shin’s middle finger to around the size of a skateboard in a fraction of a second. 

That bullet ripped through the air lightning-fast, flying forth in a blur. It crossed the distance between Shin and the shadow so quickly it seemed like it should’ve been impossible to notice.

Nevertheless, somehow, the shadow reacted. 

Its dark body twisted as it lurched a step to the right. The creature actually took this step before Shin even pulled the trigger on his gun. Despite the large distance between the two, the shadow had immediately sensed when Shin was about to kill it, allowing it to preemptively dodge. 

Unfortunately for the shadow, that didn’t matter. 

Shin’s silver bullet, in mid-flight, adjusted its trajectory. Instead of piercing towards Shin’s original target, the space where the shadow should’ve been standing, it landed one step to the right…

Exactly where the shadow had dodged to. 

The huge bullet slammed into the shadow’s chest and obliterated it, a flash of silver light searing out. It travelled clean through the shadow and pierced into the ground behind it, sending up a storm of stone shrapnel and shattered rock. 

The shadow collapsed, its body caving in as it fell apart. Its corpse dissipated as it vanished from existence, all remnants of it fading away.

Just like that, the shadow was gone. 

“About freakin’ time.” Shin lowered his rifle, heaving a huge sigh of relief as tension vanished from his shoulders. He took several steadying breaths as he got to his feet, a small smile appearing on his face. 

A moment later, Shin vanished as he teleported away from his ledge.

Instead of inspecting the spot where the shadow had died, Shin moved in the opposite direction. He spent the next several seconds teleporting over and over, speeding through the canyon.

It was only after he crossed through thousands of meters that Shin finally came to a stop, landing atop a large stone pillar in the middle of a barren stretch within the Dark Canyon. 

“Welcome back, Shin. How’d it go?” A woman’s voice greeted Shin moments after he appeared.

“Yo, Sofa.” Shin smiled a little wider as he glanced at the speaker. 

A brown-haired woman sat on the rocky ground, leaning her back against a small stone boulder. She was dressed in a plain brown dress and brown boots, her eyes shut tight in meditation. Two grey shortswords rested in her lap, covered with a hint of red energy. 

“The Shadow Seeker’s dead! My Soul Rifle’s working great.” Shin patted his rifle affectionally.

That long-ranged Artifact weapon was very similar to the Soul Pistol he’d obtained on the First Layer. Just like his Soul Pistol, it was capable of firing most types of bullets and allowed him to guide them as they shot forward, adjusting their trajectories. 

The main difference between the two was that this gun was stronger and more precise, able to shoot farther and with more accuracy. His Soul Pistol had cost him 26,500 Points while this rifle cost about three times that, Points well spent in his eyes. 

“Did anything change?” Sophia kept her eyes shut as she responded, remaining in her meditative pose. 

Shin stretched his right arm while Sophia spoke, sitting down shortly after. He stretched his left arm in the same motion, though simply out of habit. That arm looked like a normal arm, but was actually a metallic Melding Plate Arm, an Artifact he’d used to replace his left arm after he’d lost it in battle on the First Layer. 

Shin dangled his legs off the edge of the stone pillar as he replied,

“Yeah! This time, it tried to dodge before I even attacked!” Shin’s voice held a hint of excitement. 

When Sophia heard this, she finally opened her eyes. Her pupils glowing pink in the afternoon light, shining eerily. 

“It sensed your killing intent!” Sophia smiled as she began to get to her feet,

“That’s it! We can finally move on!” 

Shin grinned back at Sophia, clenching his fists as he nodded in agreement. 

They could finally leave this hellish place.

Before Micheal left the First Layer, he had sent Shin and Sophia a detailed message outlining his plan for them. Most of that plan centered around the Soul King’s Inheritance, a famous tomb located within the Dark Canyon, roughly 40 miles from Shin and Sophia’s current location. 

According to Micheal, for the plan to work, they needed to camp within the Dark Canyon for several days first, something no sane inhabitant of the Second Layer would do.

It was an unusual idea, to put it lightly. The Dark Canyon was considered an extremely dangerous place for good reason: the existence of the Shadow Seekers.

The Dark Canyon was not inhabited by any living thing. It was like a barren desert, devoid of life. 

The shadowy humanoid that Shin had killed earlier, a Shadow Seeker, was not a living creature. In fact, it did not even exist in the Dark Canyon normally. 

They only came into existence when a living being stepped into the territory of the Dark Canyon, with a singular purpose:

To hunt.

Each Shadow Seeker was different. The magical beings mimicked the appearance of their targets. In terms of power, Micheal had claimed the first Shadow Seeker they would encounter would be roughly as strong as they were. 

They found this out for themselves five days ago, right after Shin and Sophia started camping in the canyon, and seven days after they arrived on the Second Layer. The unnerving creatures had shown up out of nowhere, moving in to attack from different directions. 

The shadowy beings were drawn to Shin and Sophia, able to track them down with perfect accuracy. According to Micheal, even if they left the Dark Canyon and fled a thousand miles away, the Shadow Seekers would still hunt after them, following at a methodical pace. 

You either killed them or they killed you. So long as you lived on this planet, they would never stop.

The duo managed to defeat their respective Shadow Seekers with relative ease the first time around. The Shadow Seekers were strong, but the Abilities, Artifacts, and individual skill that Shin and Sophia possessed gave them the upper hand. 

Once a Shadow Seeker died, it would no longer hunt its target. 

However… if that target remained within the Dark Canyon… 

6 hours later, that Shadow Seeker would reform and begin its hunt anew.

Over the past 5 days, Shin and Sophia had spent a good portion of their time hunting down Shadow Seekers, over and over. The dark beings grew a little stronger each time they died, transforming from easy targets into, by now, considerably dangerous foes that had to be handled carefully. 

It was a waste of time, in most regards. Shadow Seekers didn’t drop Points and this canyon was far from a good place to meditate. The time each Shadow Seeker took to respawn made them less-than-ideal training partners.

The only thing the duo had appeared to accomplish was to make their Shadow Seekers significantly stronger.

“Shin, do you need to rest? If not, we'll go immediately.” Sophia’s voice took on a commanding edge as she jumped up. The air fluttered around her as she activated her Wind Sweeper Ability, floating up until she landed on a large, 5-meters tall stone boulder. 

“Yeah, I’m ready to leave pronto. Let’s get the heck outta’ here.” Shin gave her a thumbs up. He pulled back from the edge of his stone pillar, wiping a bit of dust off his legs. 

“Perfect.” Sophia’s eyes glinted as she turned her gaze to the west, in the direction of the Soul King’s Inheritance. 

They may have wasted 5 days in the Dark Canyon, and 2 more days traveling to reach here, but it was fine in the end. 

The Soul King’s Inheritance was known for its legendary treasures and mystical rewards, but the real reason Sophia and Shin were headed there, and why Micheal had them spend so much time preparing, was completely different. 

Shin and Sophia had great potential, but they needed time to grow. They wouldn’t be able to keep up with Micheal otherwise. 

None of the rewards they could possibly earn from this Inheritance could fix that problem. 

However… 

Rewards weren’t the only things that existed in an Inheritance. 

Inheritances were, in some ways, a lot like games in amusement parks. 

If you wanted to earn a prize from them, you first needed to complete a challenge. 

The rewards earned might not be able to help the duo… but what about the challenges themselves? 

The Soul King was the strongest Dark Wraith to ever exist, but not because he was skilled in battle or a legendary warrior. 

He was a genius, not at battle, but in research. He studied things like Concepts, the Divine Language, and Artifacts, becoming a legendary figure in the era of Torens and Blue Drakes. Even Yvvtal the Destroyer drew from his work. 

Far and wide, his name was known.

Tallanoran, the Soul King.

Master of Time.

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