Kailen finally stood up, about to sort through the bags of the trio for some clothes. However, a light shrouded his figure in the next second. He looked at himself, only to realize that he was donned in a casual white hoodie, blue jeans, and white sneakers.
Kailen shook his head.
This system was just too unpredictable. When he was in need of clothes in the cave, the system completely ignored him, only to help him out now.
Kailen knew that trying to start a banter with this wicked system would never end in his favor, so he remained silent, then focused on a more important order of business.
> "I need to increase the number of my shadow creatures.
However, I have only four slots left at the moment. If I create shadow creatures out of these three scoundrels, I will have only one slot left after that. The only way to increase my slots would be to become a C-ranked awakener. The Shadow Necromancer skill is tailored in a way that, as long as I increase my rank as an awakener, the number of shadows I can create will also increase.
What do I do?... For now, let's turn all of them into shadow creatures since I need all the strength I can get. The more strength I have, the easier it will be to navigate the forest to find opportunities to increase my strength."
Before Kailen used shadow necromancy on the three corpses before him, the system screen popped up.
> [Ahem, you have completed the hidden quest "Kill or be killed." You did not hesitate to end the lives of those who attempted to end yours. You have received a temporal reward for this achievement that will only last for the next 5 seconds. When the 5-second period is up, the temporal reward will disappear.
The reward is this: By using shadow necromancy, the shadow creatures created from these 3 corpses will merge into one single and more powerful entity.
Your clock ticks now.]
Kailen ignored the unpredictable, non-robotic, and unconventional nature of the system, then decided to use the Shadow Necromancy skill before the time period was up.
> "Agglomerate."
The familiar ethereally dark shadow energy appeared on the three corpses at the same time. The shadow energy on the corpses then congregated together towards a spot in the air, beginning to assume different shapes.
In the blink of an eye, a tall humanoid shadow creature about five meters tall appeared before Kailen.
The creature's whole being, standing on two legs, brimmed with power. Quickly, it made a bowing gesture to Kailen on one knee, then placed one hand on its chest while the other rested on its knee. The creature remained in that posture, as though waiting for Kailen to acknowledge its presence.
> [You have created a C-rank shadow creature. The time period for the temporal reward is up. The reward has disappeared.]
The system screen popped up before Kailen, startling him.
> "That was close. I was quick enough to make use of the reward before the countdown ended. Wait—a C-ranked shadow creature?"
> [Like I said earlier, the special nature of the temporal skill led to the creation of a more powerful entity. This is what led to the creation of a C-ranked shadow creature rather than the norm, where your shadows are just a single rank above yours.]
> "I see."
Kailen turned towards the shadow creature, having understood the system's reasoning.
> "Let's think of a name for you."
When Kailen spoke, the shadow creature's expression perked up, as though it were anticipating this moment.
> "Avarice. From now on, your name is Avarice. After all, it's your greed that got you killed, hence the name Avarice. Now you can rise."
Avarice stood up from its previous salutatory posture, the subtle expression of satisfaction on its face for being named barely noticeable.
> "Avarice, show me what you can do."
Kailen commanded the imposing shadow creature.
Immediately after he spoke, Avarice made a gesture as though it wanted to take Kailen somewhere. Although Avarice could not speak, Kailen naturally understood its gestures since it was literally his shadow creature and therefore bound to him.
> "Very well," Kailen agreed.
Avarice knelt down, gesturing for Kailen to sit on its imposing shoulders.
> "No need, you can stand."
Kailen leaped from where he stood, landing on the creature's shoulders. He sat comfortably as Avarice began moving through the thick foliage of the forest.
> "Where are we going?" Kailen asked, intrigued by the shadow creature's actions.
The creature glanced at him, nodding its head.
> "Oh, you want to find a place filled with diabolic beasts so that you can demonstrate what you can do. Interesting."
Right after Kailen spoke, the growls of diabolic beasts could be heard from a distance. Avarice continued moving forward. Very soon, Kailen realized they were at the edge of a valley, where a group of C-ranked diabolic beasts had gathered a couple of walks away.
> "Dark Fiend Hounds," Kailen recognized them at first glance.
These diabolic beasts were very common, yet very dangerous assassin-type beasts. They were extremely fast, well known for their speed and ability to eliminate enemies before they even noticed their presence.
A large shadowy flute with intricate glyphs suddenly appeared in Avarice's hands. Kailen, observing from its shoulders, was intrigued.
> "A flute? Well, that's new," Kailen mused.
Avarice started to play the flute as the glyphs glowed. A very eerie melody flowed throughout the surroundings, drawing the attention of the fifty C-ranked Dark Fiend Hounds. The creatures showed signs of aggression, intending to get rid of the intruders who had ventured into their territory uninvited.
They growled, then rushed angrily toward Avarice and Kailen.
However, what happened next caused Kailen's mouth to fall open in shock.
As the eerie melody of the flute intensified and the glyphs continued glowing, the Dark Fiend Hounds suddenly stopped moving—then turned on each other.
That's right. All fifty of them started attacking one another.