Corruption

Fusing it will grant me wings and enhanced protection since the sword acts like an extension of my body. But if I wanted a roof above my head, I needed the feather in its current state to show to the village.

And I was right in the middle of a forest of god knows where with no knowledge direction of the village I should be heading to.

"Warning. Several enemies have been detected. Approach with caution. Analyzing the enemies now," reported the voice.

"There's not enough time to do that. I'll have to attack first," I whispered, clutching my sword.

Just my luck. Looks like all the low-level monsters are coming out since the two powerful Mages are gone. And who knows what other enemies are hiding in this forest. I was even more worried that the rest of the Mages are trying to find me since I was a foreigner.

I took out my sword once more and prepared my stance. Sure enough, a few monsters were crawling towards me. They looked... Horrifying. Like, they were woodland creatures but they looked like they've just crawled out of hell to fight me.

They didn't have any eyes and their flesh was falling off their bones. They were shrouded in a dark purple mist, dragging their bodies in an attempt to get me. I was disgusted and shaken to the core. Remembering what Mavislin had said, I refrained from using any Magecraft.

Which led me to remember that I have no way of getting food as well. Sure I can kill and cook some animals, but if the animals of this place look like the creatures in front of me, then I'm in big trouble. I leaped from the spot and slashed the creatures down.

It was easy since they were all slow-moving, like zombies from the walking dead. If only I had my twin rapiers, it would have done a better job. I made sure to sever their heads to prevent them from coming back alive. They may not be returning but they'll be haunting my dreams from now on.

After the first swarm, I was soon attacked by more of those creepy shadowy creatures. I shivered as I swiftly took down the last of them. I slew so many of those things that my blade was starting to shroud in the shadows that plagued my enemies. It looked scary.

Finally, after the last one was done, I slumped against the trunk of an oak tree. I took in a deep breath, finding comfort that there were no more enemies around me. Hopefully, for now.

"Notice. The skill 'Shadow' has been acquired. The skill 'Avarice' has been achieved, replacing 'Gluttony'. Poison has been nullified in the future and you have night vision now. The Element of Corruption has been found, but you can't use it until the next opponent."

"Requirement to use the Element of Corruption is to absorb an enemy's Element that has the same level of Elemental power as your current level."

Wow, so just by using my sword, I can get skills from the monsters I killed? Having night vision would be excellent for the nights to come and poison resistance comes in handy when dealing with poisonous enemies. Or if I happen to ingest the wrong type of food.

The skill, Shadow, can be useful when going undercover. I just wondered if the Shadow Skill and the Element of Shadow would be the same but a giant cross appeared in my vision.

"Notice. The Shadow Skill cannot be used as an attacking move. It can only be used as a support to your coming battles, like hiding your Elemental Aura or creating a quick getaway. The Element Of Shadow is an Element related to the Element Darkness, which is part of the arsenal."

So, there's no reason why I should have the Element of Shadow... Since I have the Element of Darkness? Which is stronger than the Shadow Element?

"Affirmative. The Element of Darkness is the base Element for the Element Of Shadow. According to this Universe's lore, the Element of Darkness is one of the Five Founding Elements. Thus, having that Element would be a trump card against second-rate Mages."

However, I am curious about the Element of Corruption. I was happy with the rest of the power-ups but I was extremely worried about the Corruption Element. If memory serves correctly, Corruption was the downfall of most Mages within the Great Noble War, if that War existed here.

It was still an ongoing fight since the puppeteer was still alive. And to see myself having this Element would make me an enemy to the Mages that gave me food earlier. I will never want to have such powers or use them in any given circumstance.