Damon gazed at the big monstrous beast that was a mix between a panther and a dog. It's eyes were particularly enormous and the first thing Damon did was to make sure that he did not see the eyes directly for continuous seconds. Not that it mattered because the beast instantly disappeared as soon as they arrived at the spot.
The next instant Damon felt a blur approaching him from the side. He immediately activated his newly acquired skills. Shadow Cloak and Shadow Step. Before the claw strike could land, he was already behind the final boss, only an after image now in his place.
The claw slashed merely a image which dissipated into shadow wisps. 'The skill feels a lot smoother and easier after that shadow affinity bump.' Damon thought. There were still a couple more skills he wanted to try.
Shadow Bind and Shadow Claw.
The boss roared in agony as Damon ruthlessly unleashed a bunch of shadow attacks. On the other side, his clone was attacking using blood attacks. The beast's health dropped like the stock market and went down to 10% in no time at all. The fight went a lot easier than he expected.
However, the most difficult part was still left.
The Nightmare mode of the fight!
Shadow like tendrils appeared around him and before he could react they locked him in place. A ball of shadow encased him. Damon already knew it was futile to try and break this shadow prison but he did it anyways. He used all sorts of attacks to wreck the prison. It only resulted in his mana depleting.
"Ah fuck it." He sighed and prepared for what was about to come. He always knew that this last boss fight was a tricky one. The shadow prison last for 10 seconds and his health needed to withstand the attack the beast would be waiting with after that 10 second ended.
He was sure his health could handle it, taking an attack or two. But now that his clone was there, even that wouldn't be necessary. He could already sense the clone attacking the boss. The fight should end anytime now.
The only part left was for him to withstand the 'Nightmare'. The fear attack unleashed by the boss while he was inside this shadow prison.
Everything happened very fast but Damon experienced a different reality, like time was slow moving. A pair of monstrous beast eyes appeared in front of him. Damon knew what was going to happen next. He was going to experience the worst nightmare of his life.
Damon wondered what he was going to experience. His face turned cold as the betrayal still fresh in his mind flashed past his eyes. He was going to see that bastard again, wasn't he? Fine. Bring it on. It won't be a nightmare though.
Damon gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Even though this was all going to be an illusion, he was prepared to unleash all of his anger and frustration.
However… something odd happened.
He looked at the beast eyes, the same eyes that activated the nightmare skill and yet nothing happened at all. One second passed by. Then a few seconds passed and yet nothing.
When he stared back at the eyes in anger, the beast eyes unexpectedly shut close and the shadow prison dissolved.
This was not how this fight was supposed to go down!
Damon shrugged with a casual chuckle. Should he chalk this upto his bloodline?
Outside, his clone had already almost finished the boss. Damon was able to get out just in time to sink his fangs into the dying boss.
[Ding! Bloodline Extraction Initiated]
[Target: Bromund – Dungeon Boss – Tier 1 Boss]
[You have acquired a unique passive skill: Shadow Devourer]
[Shadow Devourer – Passive Skill: Absorbing the shadow essence of slain enemies replenishes 1% mana per second for 5 seconds. Kills made within shadow terrain grant +2% movement and attack speed for 10 seconds. Passive effect scales with shadow affinity.]
Damon was hoping for that nightmare skill but this was fine too. He could run the dungeon a couple more times to load up on more skills.
He cleared the notifications when more system notifications flashed in front of him.
[Ding! Dungeon Cleared]
[Ding! You are the first player to complete this dungeon. You have set the Record Time: 00:32:16]
[Ding! First Clear Bonus Rewards]
[You have acquired Silver Rank Treasure Chest]
[You have acquired a Key fragment to the Golden Throne]
[You have acquired a Unique Title: Bromund Slayer – Grants +10% damage against Shadow-type enemies and +5% resistance to fear effects.]
Damon nodded, genuinely impressed with the rewards. These kind of things were never revealed to the public and he had no clue about any of it. In his last life the top guilds who cleared the dungeons first, kept these things to themselves.
"What is this key fragment?" Damon wondered. This was the item which caught his interest the most. While the unique title was quitegood, a silver treasure chest wasn't all that special. The best reward was definitely this key fragment. He wondered what it could be.