Chapter 33: Entering the world of shadows 1

Levon looked at the list for a little while longer.

Looking at things critically, the drawback seemed steep, but he was very confident they could pull it off. After all, he would be the one holding the flag.

After giving everything one final thought, he clicked the yes button. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Another screen appeared right in front of him.

[Are you sure you want to accept the challenge?]

Levon immediately clicked yes.

[Congratulations, you have successfully accepted the request.]

Almost immediately the group chat exploded.

"What? We are finished. My precious storage space."

"Is the Shadow Monarch really this selfish? Some of us are just trying to survive. Look at the team he accepted and take a proper look at that drawback. It makes absolutely no sense under any circumstances."

[Competition starts in 24 hours. Good luck preparing. Pick a role: flag bearer or flag chaser.]

Levon immediately clicked on flag bearer. It came with far more advantages for him personally. If he really wanted to play it safe, he could simply slip into the shadow world and never be found.

But he couldn’t do that. He honestly had no idea what the shadow world was actually like. He had never been there before, and exploring it during a competition was clearly the wrong time to be trying something like that for the first time.

"Hello everyone. I am pleased to inform you that I have officially accepted a challenge from another starter village, and I would like us all to work together on this.

For the competing team, I would like the top 30 players in the system stones ranking to prepare themselves, with me serving exclusively as the flag bearer. The competition begins in 24 hours, so do your best to prepare accordingly," Levon typed into the group and sent it.

After all, he owed no one an explanation for his decisions. He was simply doing what was best for the village. Facing tougher opponents was the only real way to grow here.

Just as Levon was turning things over in his mind, Aria finally stirred on the bed.

She lifted her face, still looking slightly exhausted.

For the first time since meeting Aria again, Levon took a quiet moment to actually look at her. She looked exactly as he remembered from his past life.

Light skin, full hair and sky blue eyes.

She looked completely vulnerable, but that was far from the truth. In his past life, many people had made the mistake of judging Aria by her calm, soft-spoken nature, and it had cost them dearly.

She was deadly.

But as Aria opened her eyes she jolted upright immediately, sweat pouring down her face.

"You had another dream, didn’t you," Levon said as he moved closer on the bed to meet her.

Aria didn’t answer his question. Her eyes were still wide, her small premature horns making her look like a young demon.

"I am... I am really a demon. I promise the prophet was right. I am the problem. I will cause the downfall of humanity. I’m serious. I see it in my dreams. I see it everywhere. The demons are talking to me. I am very sure about it and and..." Aria kept going on and on.

But Levon had already known this long before it unfolded.

Aria had always complained of terrible dreams, even back in his past life. At the end of the day she had endured it and kept moving forward. But she had still died, and the prophecy had never come to pass.

So what made this time any different?

Or had he been sent back specifically to help her survive and fulfill the prophecy after all?

No, that wasn’t possible.

After some effort, Levon finally managed to calm Aria down enough for her to check her storage space without spiraling back into talk of demonic entities speaking to her and forcing her toward the prophecy.

In a short while Aria was able to catch up with everything that had happened.

"I’m 25th now on the ranking after gaining 1,000 system stones from the awakening, which means I qualify for the contest too," Aria said with a curious look.

"And I understand why we need to challenge stronger villages to grow faster, but don’t you think this one might be a bit much?" Aria asked calmly, a faint note of worry in her voice.

It made Levon smile slightly.

"No, it’s not. Now get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. If you’re hungry, you can buy whatever you want from the online trade store," Levon said calmly as he settled himself.

He was planning to enter the shadow world tonight. And he needed to get back quickly so he could rest too. Rest was an important factor in this world. Going without it could cause a player to lose HP at a faster rate than intended.

Aria immediately shot him a strange look, still sitting up.

It was more than obvious she was afraid to go back to sleep. Afraid of dreaming again.

With a quiet sigh, Levon calmly settled beside her on the bed and began talking through the events of the day with her.

He even went as far as describing his encounter with the griffins in detail, telling her about how they had thrown him around the room. The way he told it made her laugh hard and slowly ease under his presence.

Gradually, and almost certainly, she began to drift off. She tried her best to fight it, but in the end sleep won.

Meanwhile Levon kept talking to absolutely no one for about thirty more minutes. The moment he confirmed she was fully asleep, he carefully slipped off the bed, making sure not to make a single sound that might wake her.

Levon had so much to learn. His bloodline was vast and he needed to start fighting far more monsters to unlock skills tied to it, along with finding compatible weapons and equipment.

But what he wanted to discover most right now was his sword. The Sword of Oblivion and the world of shadows it held the key to.

Without wasting any more time, he immediately opened up his storage space.