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Chapter 165: Cobra (2)

Through the darkened caverns that the group had been in for nearly the entire day, Shinto walked on the rocky steep ground as he stopped at his steps. In the next moment, his eyes glanced around the area whilst speaking out in a hushed tone.

"You can come out now," Shinto stated. "My group's preparing themselves for tomorrow, so till then we have time to talk before time's up."

"..." In reply to Shinto was silence. However, the silence soon stopped as, from the shadows, a figure of a woman dressed in black attire appeared. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience that I've caused you earlier..."

"Huh?" Shinto raised his brow at the sight of the woman in front of him. "...you are?"

"Ah, I have yet introduced myself yet," the woman muttered out as she soon coughed slightly. "Ahem... I am the Shadow of the Serpent, Kiara of the Shade's Race. Or, you may better know me as 'Cobra of the Empress's Sting'."

"The Cobra of the Empress's Sting..." Shinto mumbled out in surprise. He hadn't expected that the person who had asked him whether or not he was scared of snakes had the figure of a human. He had thought that the servant would've been an animal just like how Kon was. "...I'm surprised. Unlike Kon, you like just like..."

"...a human? Hmm, should I have introduced myself in the other form?" Kiara uttered out in slight worry. "Ahh... Maybe I should have. Damn it. I'm messing up like Kon!"'

"..." Scrutinizing the front of him, he noted that woman who introduced herself as Kiara had long silky black hair with golden-brown eyes. Meanwhile, her attire which was completely black looked similar to that of an assassin's garb whilst her hands had remnants of scales on it, though, it wasn't as prevalent and seemed that it could've been hidden. "Hmm, so you're saying you can transform back into a snake anytime you want?"

"Ahem... Well, yes I can but... Not exactly?" Kiara mumbled out as she soon shook her head abruptly. "Argh! I'm horrible messing up like Kon! Ugh... Take deep breaths, Kiara..."

"Calm down. Just take it easy, there's no rush," Shinto calmly stated. "You don't have to act all flustered around me."

"Sigh... Apologies, master," Kiara continued taking a deep breath as she finally calmed herself down. "I became too flustered that I lost control of myself. Ahem. In any case, to your question earlieryes, I can transform back into a snake. However... Being a snake in itself is inconvenient for me, so I'd rather not."

"Hmm... I see. So it's a matter of wanting to be a human or a snake?" Shinto nodded his head. "Then among those two, which is your true form?"

"It is neither. I am no snake nor a human," she stated. "I'm a being who was born in the shadows that was meant to disappear away like darkness. However, you, or well, our previous master, gave us new meaning and thus, we now serve him."

"..." Listening in on the Shadow Serpent's explanation, his interest now piqued. "...Kiara, in regards to your 'previous master', would you be obliged to tell?" Unlike with Kon where he couldn't answer as many questionsShinto felt that he could finally know what exactly the 'Shadow Diviner' class is. Yet, he felt hesitant.

"If it's what you want to know, then I am obliged to answer as much as I know," Kiara stated. "Should I start with what Kon had failed to do?"

"...yes," Shinto nodded his head in a slightly hesitant manner. "Please about the beings of shadow and divinity."

Perhaps it was due to the previous events that had occurred, but he seemed to rather prefer to know the answers as time passes by rather than to know the entire story at once. But, even then, he still needed to know to prepare himself for the future to come.

"It's simple. The beings of shadow are those who have formed a bond with the previous master, and as you're apart of the new generation, we are obliged to serve you," Kiara explained. "In regards to the divinity side, however... Besides their attitude, I'm afraid I too do not know much about them."

"...I see. Then another question: What is the duty of a Shadow Diviner?"

"For what the Shadow Diviner's duties are... Well, perhaps if you ask others, they'll have different definitions," Kiara calmly replied. "As for meI say that your duties would be to balance between the light and darkness of the world. Not to cleanse them, not to rid of the evil, but to be the medium that creates equality."

"...?" Shinto raised his brow in curiosity. "To balance between light and darkness you say?" From what he had known so far, on the divinity side, all of the quest that he had gotten had to do with ridding away 'evil'. However, for the side of Shadows, it seemed that he received new enlightenment on what the class was about. "How would it be different from the others?"

"I'm sure you know of the cases, to rid away evil, to cleanse away the darkness, to form an alliance with good and evil," Kiara shrugged. "All of these are typical definitions of what a Shadow Diviner would do, but this is what I think your duty is. Though... Do take my words with a grain of salt. Even the previous master himself knew not his duties."

"Even the previous shadow diviner himself?" Shinto questioned himself. "Hah... So knowing what the class is exactly about would be more complicated than I thought..." It seemed that in order to fully understand everything, he had to follow suit with his original plan, after all, to learn as time goes on. Of course.

"I'm sorry for not being as much help if my answers were not up to your tastes," Kiara closed her eyes in a solemn manner. "But, this was what you were supposed to know when you first used your ability. However... With all the misconceptions in regards to who goes first, Kon took the place."

"It's fine, I understand," Shinto nodded his head.

"Will that be all?" Kiara tilted her head.

"Yes, that will be all," Shinto stated. He still had questions in his head like 'What was the previous Shadow Diviner like?' or 'How will I obtain the sealed powers?' but, those questions were on the note of impatience. Thus, he refrained from asking them. He knew that he wouldn't get any clear answers from what he had heard already. "In any case, thank you for answering."

With everything settled, he now only needed to summon the 'Black Bird's Darkness'. But he still had to do something before moving on with him. With his eyes silently opening up Kiara's status window, he soon scrutinized it.

...

[ Shadow Minion's Profile ]

Name: Kiara (NPC)

Race: Shade's Race (Human Form)

Level: ???

Class: Shadow Serpent

-Class Attribute-

*The Shadow of the Serpent, one who offers themself to serve the Shadow Diviner - When the class 'Shadow Serpent' is partied together with the 'Shadow Diviner' certain bonuses will be attained: Target and Aggro Rate -20% / +15% Movement Speed / +5% Speed.  (Effect only applies to the Shadow Serpent when the Shadow Diviner or the Shadow Fox manually adds them to the party.)

-Titles-

[Shadow of the Serpent]

*STR +15 / AGI +20 / DEX +20 when in the near vicinity of the Shadow Diviner.

*DEX +15 / Movement Speed is increased by 7% when in the near vicinity of any of the Shadow Diviner's allies or servants. (Effect does not stack.)

-Stats-

HP: ??? | MP: ???

Strength: ??? | Stamina: ???

Intelligence: ??? | Agility: ???

Dexterity: ???

Stat Points: ???

*Until you're able to summon 'Kiara' without a time limit, you're blocked from seeing her stats as she is still under the protection of the previous Shadow Diviner.

-Skills/Passives-

*[Stillhoute Enshroudment]

*[Midnight Edge]

*[Viper's Sting]

*[Serpent Mark]

*[ ??? ]

*[ ??? ]

*[ ??? ]

*Until you're able to summon 'Kiara' without a time limit, you're blocked from seeing certain abilities and passives as she is still under the protection of the previous Shadow Diviner.

...

"...?" Shinto raised his upon looking at her stats. It seems that if he wanted to know the numbers and all of her abilities, he had to summon her permanently like Kon. But to his dismay, he's unable to as of the moment. "Sigh... At the very least, I can view the four available abilities."

Wanting to take a look at the four abilities that he could, Shinto was quickly interrupted as he could hear the certain cries of the night that had suddenly resounded through the caverns.

"...?" Turning to the direction of the sound, he noted the familiar red eyes that he had seen earlier. "...sigh. They're back again?"

"Master... Please stand back, I'll handle it," Kiara stated as she soon took out the daggers from her pockets. "These bats sure are persistent... Much the same as a certain someone I know."

"Hmm... It looks like I can finally see your skills in action," Shinto uttered out as he turned towards Kiara. "Then let's go with that then. Kiara, would you mind accompanying me to their den?"