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SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) EVERYTHING CRUMBLES
The widow had just said “Four months”. To think that the wet rot had been going on for this long, I was shocked at the integrity of the inn.“Four months?” I looked at her with a surprised look. I concluded that her husband must have been the one in charge of the inn, thus, the wet rot must have spread after his death.Also, it seemed that the widow didn't know of wet rot and its dangers to wooden establishments such as this inn.“Yes... sire?” she began to feel worried from the expressions I was showing her.I needed to confirm my conclusion so I asked, “Wait, tell me this, the...‘wet spots’ when did you first notice them in the inn?”What she said next sent shivers through my spine...“Well, I first noticed the wet patches a month before my husband passed away.”I stepped away from the pillar immediately. “A month? You're sure you had these wet spots a month before your husband died!? That's almost 5 months since your inn's been infested with wet rot? Do you not realize the risk you
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) THE DARKNESS CREEPS IN
"Wake up! Wake up, damn it!" I had in my arms, the dame I saw in the shadows doorway, she was unconscious and hard of breathing.We were in a tricky situation, “Wake up! Create the doorway! Otherwise, we die!” I smacked her across her face. She was still unresponsive.Right this evening, we were on the edge of a grassy clifftop, pushed slowly to the very edge by a multitude of smaller, stunted green human-like earth beasts, earth beasts widely known as Goblins.With their green skin, they faded into the grass, screeching and laughing. Armed with stone axes and wooden clubs, a few leapt from below the silage and attacked at random.With the unconscious same in my arms, I stood my ground and fought back the green beasts, slashing and thrusting my rapier into their green bellies and thin necks.But they kept pushing me back. “They just won't stop coming! Damn it!"I was right on the edge of the cliff, only a foot away from the precipice and the plunging valley of scree below.And then it
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) PARASITES IN WILL'S INN
Once I got to the door that had the wooden name tag 'Peter Williams' on it, *BANG* I broke through the door with my foot and a bit of aura, “Dash it!"The room looked deserted, the man and lady were nowhere in sight, almost as if they just disappeared. I would have found out if any traces of them or their aura remained, but I was too exhausted to use my WPS skill.Just as quickly as I had stepped in, without any hesitation, I rushed and stuck my head out the hall, hastily looking left and right down both sides of the hall.But there was no one on this fourth floor, even in the rooms opposite this one as I checked them by trying the doors to every room.I returned to Mr Williams' room, feeling exhausted and dejected, “Ha...! Ha...! Alas and alack, I've lost them...”I raised my head in confidence and told myself, “No matter... I'm sure I'll find out what those two were doing here. It doesn't matter where they hide, I'll eventually find them.”I took a white handkerchief from my pocket
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) SOMETHING EVIL THIS WAY COMES
As I lay unconscious on the cold, dusty wooden floor, I had a dream... Well, it was more like a nightmare.I saw a figure in the dark, a slim and nimble creature in a scary forest, shimmering beyond the full moon's light, even as the translucent white light shined through the forest greenery, the creature was still hidden behind all the light of the full moon, just behind some trees.I was scared to approach the creature but did however catch a glimpse of its wings... They weren't wings per se, no, they were more like endless flowing light stuck to the creature's back. I was intrigued and curious.I still couldn't see it from the few feet of distance between us and that perturbed me, I wanted to close the distance between us but it moved away from me, almost as if it was teasing me. That made me disturbingly curious, so curious that I ventured towards the unknown creature without care.“I need to see,” I uttered as I went forward to get a better look at it.As I slowly approached the
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) SOMEONE DIES
I could have just left the room and that would have been fine. All I needed to do was step out through the doorway into the hall and find myself downstairs in the lobby, but no, I had to take care of something first, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.“Get me a piece of cloth, Paige,” I ordered“Pardon me, sire? Why do...–"“–It matters not! Get me a piece of clean cloth now!”“Err... At once sire!” He sprinted out of the room to get the material.“And oh! Don't forget to get a mop and bucket filled with water, gloves and a broom as well!” I yelled as he left.It took a few minutes but Paige arrived with all the tools I asked for albeit he was a bit tired. “Umm, sire? What do you need any of these for? Will it help us catch the culprits?”I put on the gloves, saying, “Umm... No.”“Pardon?” Paige tilted his head in confusion.“I just to get this damned closet clean! Now let me work!” I yelled at him and proceeded to clean the closet, starting with dusting off, folding
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) THE SHAME OF MAN
The night had fallen. Paige and I had finally arrived at the bottom of the inn, the lobby.The lobby was used as a sort of bar and eatery that accepted customers and inn-staying guests.On a calming night such as this, the reconstructed lobby looked magnificent, with the newly made furniture, more intricately designed crystal lanterns, and well-dressed workers in black and white suits which were uniforms I designed myself.As well as the beautiful checkered design of white marble and glowstone tiles, the entire lobby of the inn was very attractive and professional in every way.I carried the weak Paige by the shoulder through the bustling area of old drunken men and loud youths. As I passed by the many occupied tables, I was surprised to have spotted a familiar face and... Bald head.It was Lord Ferdinand having fun with a bunch of other nobles with a numerous pile of empty ale cups on his table. He was completely drunk from all the ale and in the process of having his cheers with the
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) A BEAST IN DISGUISE
Most of the people in the inn gasped at my sudden change of target. I could hear the innocent guy behind me fall to his knees and let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like I had scared him a bit.Right at this moment, I had the real culprit or should I say the bastard thief in my clutches, he was as tall as me, he had rough but fair skin, a bearded face with long sideburns, dark unkempt hair, amber eyes and upon closer inspection, a muscly physique.“H-How!? How did you know!!?" the thief gruntingly asked as he tried to struggle for air even as I continued to tighten my hold on his neck.“That's for me to know... And for you to suffer... Huh!?” I tightened my grip on him but his muscles suddenly bulged and he escaped my grasp.“Hmm...” I pondered as I carefully blocked the exit with my body.He looked around and didn't see any other way to escape, even the windows were somewhat locked, closed and guarded by the crowd of people surrounding us.The thief clears his throat while confronti
SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO) AS A ROYAL I MUST BE BETTER
“Argh! How!? How are you alive!?” I cried in agony as the werewolf lifted me by my right wrist whilst impaling my very bones.He brought me to his burnt face and said, “You didn't stand a chance, Gladian Prince.” He whisked me onto a side window which I broke through to the outside, breaking the wooden glass window into glass shards upon impact.Once I collected myself from the stone floor outside, I noticed that my tunic was torn, exposing my bare chest and the crescent birthmark that laid on my left breast.“Mother always warned me to keep it hidden, I can't let it be seen.” I thought upon seeing it, so I kept my mildly broken and pierced right hand over my left breast to hide my birthmark while struggling to get up from the cold floor.I stood up with what little strength I had but the truth of the matter was that I was cut, bruised as well as injured all over my body, my left leg was mildly broken and my aura was... Depleted.Worst of all, there was a huge shard of glass painfully
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- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
AURA ABSORBER
The illusionist had us trapped in between walls of the garden labyrinth; two walls blocking the paths towards the outer layers of the labyrinth and one wall, blocking the very centre of the labyrinth where the source of all the aura illusions, the illusionist dwelled. I observed the two other walls, and I raged, "Damn it! They're solid illusions as well. That bastard's got us just where he wants us!"*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*A resounding clash of fists against the centre wall was heard, over and over and over. It was Sir Dustin.He was using all of his might to punch that illusion wall, however, no matter how many times he punched the wall, he couldn't even make a dent on the wall. It was made stronger than any other illusions so far.After a few minutes of non-stop punching, he finally stopped. His knuckles were cut with some of the skin peeled off, the edges of the fingers were bruised and the cut areas were bleeding a bit.Feel
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
TRAPPED, TRAPPED LIKE RATS
I reached for Sir Dustin's arm and yelled, "Run!" And we sped away from the area, speeding through a few corners.Once we came to a stop at a dead end along a long path, we took a long moment to catch our breaths. I was on the hard floor, with my knees on the floor and my back to the wall. Sir Dustin was still standing tall, his excalibur still in his hand and his other hand on his waist.We were now sweating, dehydrated, starving and exhausted from the long run. We made sure to run through five different corners and changed paths a few times to get to where we were.While gasping for air, Sir Dustin questioned, "Do...Ha...! Do you think they'll appear again, I mean the lightmen, sire?""I...I couldn't say. But I think...Ha...! Ha...! I think we lost them for now. Right now, we need to recover what little strength we have left."The moment we dropped our guards, a flash of blue light struck the unsuspecting Sir Dustin on the back and he f
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
AMONGST THE HUMANS
Sir Dustin's eyes widened at the truth that I exposed his ears to. Conflicted, he stood up from my side on the wall and took a moment to think to himself. He walked aimlessly around me which was annoying and somewhat dizzying to watch.I thought as I watched him stressing, "Where does he get the energy? I'm gasping for air down here and he's busy speed-walking left to right repeatedly!"He even began scratching his head and rubbing his chin in deep thought as he speed-walked around me.While moving erratically, Sir Dustin muttered to himself silently, "Poison to humans, life to aura benders... How? Why?"I could see it all from his body language, he was very intrigued, curious and maybe a bit afraid."Is it too much information to handle?" I said, stopping his random erratic movements."But sire, that...just doesn't make any sense," he stated with doubt in his eyes.I sighed for a bit then rubbed my eyes, I felt like telling this truth to someone as dimwitted as Sir Dustin was coming
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
THE POWER OF ILLUSIONS
Sir Dustin and I ventured back into the labyrinth abandoning any thoughts of escaping the labyrinth but instead, finding the culprit that trapped us here.As we followed the illusion deeper and deeper into the maze-like labyrinth, we found ourselves being attacked, psychologically."Hmm... We're getting closer to the source of the illusions, I can feel it." I said.Sir Dustin mentioned, "Sire, from the looks of it we seem to be going to the very centre of the labyrinth.""Indeed," I replied.Navigating our way back into the labyrinth was not as difficult as finding a way out, we were making good time as well. But then..."Sire, look out!" A sword made completely of just aura appeared and tried to strike me down.I fell to the floor, weaved and dodged the attack, accidentally hitting my back on the labyrinth wall that was behind me, I was a bit injured from the impact.As I looked up, I saw the aura sword that struck
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
LABYRINTH MIRAGE
At the garden labyrinth, Sir Dustin and I were navigating the path of the garden labyrinth with haste for hours on end...I caught sight of an opening. “Over there! There's Come on, man! Pick up the speed!”Sir Dustin was right behind me, we ran as quickly as we could speeding through all the corners to reach the exit.As we sped through the labyrinth, the paths behind us began to exponentially grow in vegetation, closing up the paths we came from.Some may have wondered, why couldn't we just climb over the wall of the labyrinth? And they wouldn't be wrong for asking such, but there were three problems to even attempting to climb the walls; First of all, the walls were at least 9 ft tall, which would be difficult to climb in the first place.Secondly, even if we tried to climb the tall walls of thick vegetation, there were sleeping vines growing in between the walls. These were thick strong vines that had prickles all over them and each prickl
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
RATS IN THE MANOR
Sir Dustin stood there, dumbfounded and somewhat confused as to what I meant. I turned to him and gave him the rose, instructing him to hold onto it. His brows immediately furrowed with confusion when I gave it to him.He just kept staring at the peculiar wild rose as if he was trying to solve a puzzle with his eyes. I, on the other hand, was trying to solve a bigger puzzle.Once the rose was in his hand, I turned away from him once again and marched along another path away from the dead end.As I marched along the new path, I ordered the confused silver knight, “Follow.” And he did with the rose delicately in his hand.As he obediently followed me, Sir Dustin's expression changed from confused to intrigued...“Sire—"I immediately interrupted him, “—Quiet! Just follow.” Once we got to a corner, I stopped and ordered, “Pull out a petal from the rose.”“Pardon, sire? I don't understand.”I sighed, scratching my head i
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
SURVIVAL AND PROTECTION
Sir Dustin looked at me with a confused expression.“Excalibur?” he uttered a question.I answered, “Yes, that shall be the name of your sword from this henceforth.”He retrieved his 'Excalibur' and sheath it. He stood up to me and asked, “But what exactly IS Excalibur? I don't think I've ever heard of such a sword before.”I tucked my hands behind my back, holding that stance as I walked away and gestured for the silver knight to follow me. As we strolled through the winding labyrinth of the garden I began to explain the origins of the name, Excalibur...“The sword known as Excalibur is an old tale of a medieval time”“Medieval time, sire?”“Yes, well... It's a time long before the great world war, a time of simpler time kind of like this one but less... Evolved.“Evolved? Sire?"“Well... We're not savages, we do have some knowledge of science and technology."“Why yes, sire. You do have a point, but didn't we lose all that during the great world war?”“Haha, you would think...”“Pard
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
EXCALIBUR
I stood there dumbfounded by Sir Dustin's request, no, his life wish. This wasn't a game, this was life or death. And he was betting it all on me. I was seriously stressing out. so much that I began to retreat from the scene.“Master?” Sir Dustin looked at me slowly retreating with such sincere eyes.I was perturbed, I stopped myself and stood still. I began to think but no matter how I thought about the situation I couldn't reach a better conclusion.The more I saw him on his knee with his bleeding hand, it made it even more difficult to decide if this was the right course of action or not, I couldn't just trust him but...his conviction to serve me made me think otherwise.At the moment, all I could do was...“Fine...!” Menacingly, I rolled back my golden-dyed curly bangs back as I said that. My expression had suddenly changed from calm to thrilling.“Pardon, sire!? Did you say...?"“I said I'll do it but you're going to have to
- SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)
BLOOD KNIGHT
“I... I... I'm not,” Sir Dustin was speechless and demoralized by my questions. He couldn't even muster any rebuttals. His expression had become that of a defeated man, utterly sad.I left his head to fall, and his other knee fell with it. He was quiet after that, it made me think, “It seems that I may have broken his will and pride. That's unfortunate. I'd have thought he was stronger than that.”I pocketed my hands and began to step away from the fallen silver knight. As I did, I also thought, “No matter! If he wasn't able to handle a little criticism, then he would never be able to handle the burden of staying by my side. My path, after all, is a treacherous one.”As I slowly walked away, my ears caught some noise from behind me, it sounded like a deep inhale and...“Is he... Still...?” I turned back only to witness Sir Dustin, still on his knees inhaling the cold air around him.“What is he...?” I couldn't finish my thoughts.With
