Reborn Regress Return: I Am the Heir of Shadows!-Chapter 62: A Moment of Recovery

The sound of goblins' guttural calls echoed in the deep, their movements and small howls creating unsettling background music.

Julian's muscles pulsed with a dull ache like he ran a full marathon after pushing himself too far. Even though he recovered his health and mana, his abdomen ached like someone kept punching him.

"Let's hurry over the bridge, then have a rest." His voice sounded weak and hoarse as he leaned against the stone wall, shifting towards the bridge.

'I never thought that magic could be so dangerous.'

"W-Wait… my legs are like jelly," Maria called out to him as she limped towards him.

The truth of an actual battle caused both of them to understand how difficult the future might be.

'It's nothing like when I used to fight as a guardian.'

When he fought with a sword and shield, Julian never experienced this kind of exhaustion or muscle pain. Rather, he would damage limbs and muscles often. But the high defence of a guardian meant he healed faster naturally.

'Being an Evoker is so annoying.'

"Hurry, if we don't seal the stone doors in the next room, then goblins will spawn infinitely and attack us, at least if we close the doors they won't attack until triggering the event."

"Ugh, help me walk, Julian."

Maria's arm wrapped around his neck, and her scent of sweat and perfume wafted into his nose. Despite the battle, he couldn't deny that she smelled nice.

'She seems exhausted. Her ankle is red and swollen. Is a dancer that amazing, when they have to adapt their bodies from scratch?'

"Tsk, whatever, don't take advantage of me."

"Haha, who is taking advantage—Ack, it hurts."

'Why does he have to make a scene when I'm in so much pain? Idiot…'

'He smells so good, such a raw and masculine scent, different from the past. It makes me dizzy.'

Fran hopped across the broken stones, the damage created by the fallen goblin elite, yet noticed something strange.

'Why are they not collecting the loot?'

She watched as Julian and Maria held each other, causing a slightly sharp pain in her chest like someone poked her with a dagger. However, Fran ignored it and shook her head, clenching her fist while gazing at her swollen fingertips.

'It seems I will have to use daggers in the next fight.'

Umbra stood quietly over the corpse, watching Julian and Maria approaching, her face hidden by the black armour of shadows, yet her eyes narrowed, creating a slit of red light that shone menacingly while her body shook.

'Why is he close to another woman again?'

After fusing with her soul shard, Umbra's emotions and thoughts evolved to a faint sense of sentience.

"M-Master…"

A voice of concern, in a familiar yet strange tone... as if someone took 'her' voice and dropped an octave, becoming deeper and more raspy.

Julian's shoulders trembled upon hearing Umbra call out to him.

Her beautiful ruby eyes glared at him—a savage tide of emotions sealed within.

Nocta stood beside her silently, a pleasant aura oozing from her fluttering shadows.

She seemed to enjoy protecting the party and fighting the huge goblin.

'Good work Nocta, now take some rest.'

She turned her head while gazing at him and nodded.

Narrowing her eyes into pleasant crescent moons and showing a rare but distorted smile.

'It seems that Nocta's figure will be interesting when she evolves.'

Julian didn't ignore Umbra on purpose.

He just felt a little awkward when interacting with her and couldn't help but put it off.

"Umbra, you did amazingly, I am proud of you."

"E-Eh?"

Her body trembled a little at first... then her hands and legs shuddered as her black armour faded, revealing the pale-skinned beauty with her white hair wrapped in a braided ponytail.

The malice and jealousy in her eyes vanished as she flickered forward several yards with each ghostly step.

"Did I really help you, Master?"

A pale hand extended, her cold fingertips hesitating before caressing his cheek, causing Maria's eyes to widen before she bit her lower lip and turned away.

'Why are there more rivals appearing out of nowhere?!'

Maria occupied Julian's arm, but his left hand reached up and tapped Umbra's smooth, creamy hand. He didn't know why he couldn't remain angry or upset with her.

Even with her likeness, nothing like her, she just resembled the spirit of someone he once knew.

'She resembles the past world's Sena... cold, arrogant yet sickly sweet towards me.'

Umbra's eyes glowed with a red flame as she curled her lips upward into a soft smile before nodding to herself.

"Thank you for choosing me first, Master..."

Her voice paused as she brushed her thumb over his lips, squishing them as the tip touched his saliva. Her body puffed with black mist, and she pulled away.

"I'm... I'm glad you survived."

With those words, she faded into the nether and returned to wherever his summons waited for him.

'Come to think about it, where do they go...?'

"You enjoyed that ghost touching you, didn't you?" Maria said in a low, doubtful voice, poking his chest and huffing as she turned away.

"I did, but the feeling of her body is much better."

"Eh?!"

Julian learned quickly, so when she started teasing him, he kept watching and studying how to defeat her. Curling his lips into a mocking grin, he watched Maria's cheeks turn pink, and her orbs rotate faster after transforming into small heart shapes.

"Are we going to collect the loot?"

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Fran's voice interrupted the couple's flirting as her ears flickered, gazing at the small floating box, wondering what could be inside with shining pink eyes.

"Ah, I forgot."

"How could you forget, are you stupid?"

Maria scolded Julian, but he knew it was fake because she didn't push him away and instead leaned against him more, her hand wrapped around his tighter than before.

"Shall we quickly open the chest then rush over?"

"Sure, but hurry... my leg's starting to cramp and it's killing me."

'Her face is a little pale... I should take a look at it before we continue with the dungeon.'

Click!

Fran touched the chest, her hips swaying as she bounced up and down.

Her face was full of excitement as she watched the golden chest sparkle with magical glitter.

[Golden Chest Opened]

[●●●●●●●●●●]

◊ Gauntlets of the Forsaken Prince (????)

◊ Black Iron Breastplate (Rare)

◊ Ghost Arrow Quiver (Rare)

—

The moment the items appeared, Fran called out.

"Oh~ two amazing items dropped, but can any of us use the breastplate?"

'Two items?'

Maria also seemed a little strange as she glanced at Julian's chest and tapped the air. Her face looked weird, and she gazed at Julian with a bitter smile.

"I can use that breastplate... but the quiver is only useful for Fran right?"

'Huh? What about the gauntlets?'

Before he spoke, he flicked his gaze to the item screen and noticed something strange on the item loot screen.

[Golden Chest Loot]

◊ Maria automatically passed on Gauntlets of the Fallen Prince (????)

◊ Fran automatically passed on Gauntlets of the Fallen Prince (????)

◊ You rolled a 100 on Gauntlets of the Fallen Prince (????)

◊ You passed on Black Iron Breastplate (Rare)

◊ You passed on Ghost Arrow Quiver (Rare)

◊ Fran rolled a 55 on Ghost Arrow Quiver (Rare)

◊ Maria rolled a 31 on Black Iron Breastplate (Rare)

——

"Eh? There was another item?" Maria's voice echoed the moment the announcement sounded when a pair of black leather gauntlets with a black metal plate and knuckles appeared.

"Oh my, they look so fierce... but can an Evoker even equip them?"

Julian narrowed his eyes and remained quiet. He didn't check the status of the girl's equipment, but the item he received shocked him.

'How do I even use these?'

He lifted the heavy gauntlets with a slightly curious look.

Their size seemed to match that of Graug-Fam each one almost the thickness of his thigh.

'Well...'

[Equip - Gauntlets of the Fallen Prince (????)]

◊ Warning: You cannot remove this item!

'Although the warning is like this... somehow I get the feeling, I should equip them since the system practically forced them on me.'

The moment he removed the noble gloves, he slipped the gauntlets on, and their weight and size quickly adjusted to his hands.

'Oh?'

He also noticed that he could make them invisible or completely hidden with a simple thought.

——

Gauntlets of the Fallen Prince

CURSED

Item Level 20

Bind on Equip

Unique Growth Item

Leather/Cloth

Gloves/Weapon Slot

+2 Magic+2 Defence+2 Attack

Requires Level 10

Growth Level 1: [□□□□□] 0/100

"Once worn by a prince who fell in battle, these gauntlets are imbued with the sorrow and power of a fallen hero, growing stronger with every sorrowful tear shed in their wake."

• Gains +1 Magic, +1 Defence, and +1 Attack every level.

[SKILL]

Umbral Claws

Description: The gauntlets channel dark energy, creating two ethereal claws that enhance the wearer's combat abilities.

The claws empower attacks with a temporary Attack and Magic boost, converting these attributes into melee damage for a brief period.

Duration: 1 minute

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Effect: Increase Attack by 15% and Magic by 10% for the duration.

Bonus: Each melee attack with the claws deals Shadow Damage based on a portion of Magic and Attack combined.