Chapter 17
After downing six cups of fiery spirits, vin could no longer bear the brunt of the alcohol. His head
throbbed and ached, and in a blurry haze, he slumped onto a pile of hay and soon fell asleep.
In his slumber, he seemed to travel back to his childhood, to the distantnds of Stormcast. He saw
his mother, his father, his sister, and many familiar kinfolk. The lord''s keep was filled withughter
and joy, a picture of bliss and happiness.
vin ran excitedly towards the familiar figures, but although they were right before him, they
seemed not to see him. He shouted and waved frantically in front of each person, but his rtives
were indifferent.
As if in a daze, everyone grew silent, looking up at the sky expressionlessly, their eyes hollow. Then
rain began to fall, a cold drizzle that soaked everyone, chilling to the bone.
Suddenly...
The scene shattered like a broken mirror, scattering with a crash, and all the people dissolved in the
cold rain.
The rain grew heavier, and darkness enveloped thend.
Gone was the ancient city, gone were his loved ones, and vin found himself standing alone on a
vast, blood-soaked battlefield. Endless beings shed in frenziedbat, their battle cries
thunderous. Mysterious beasts roared amidst blood and fire.
A cataclysm of heaven-sent mes and gales engulfed the world.
The earth crumbled, and the sky copsed as if the apocalypse hade. Amidst this chaos, a
bright crimson streak shed through the darkness, cleaving the inferno, shining like the sun. The
crimson light pierced the battlefield, spreading a fearsome aura of death, causing all creatures to
wail in fear.
vin staggered across the battlefield as if chasing that peerless, tyrannical streak of light.
Suddenly, the light halted and locked onto vin from afar. An endless aura of ughter boiled up
and enveloped him.
vin jolted awake with a start.
It was a dream! A nightmare!
Sweat-soaked and sobered, he gasped for air, struggling to swallow. Why did he have such a
dream?
It had been years since he''dst dreamt.
Wiping away the sweat and feeling parched, vin rose with a pounding head and went to the
courtyard to fetch some water.
In the chilly courtyard, the old man sat under an ancient tree, flipping a dark, sinister-looking dagger
in his hand. It was forged from an unknown material; it looked like ck iron or dark stone and
emanated a chilling aura.
"What?" vin, intrigued by the ck dagger, shook his head vigorously, half-believing he was still
dreaming.
"Hello?" he called out twice.
The old man paid him no heed, slowly lifting the ck dagger.
As vin watched, an inexplicable chill gripped his heart. He felt as though he had slipped back
into his nightmare, overwhelmed by endless ughter, and sensed that the dark dagger was staring
at him.
Carefully, vin shifted his position but still felt the gaze of the dagger upon him. The ck dagger
seemed to possess a strange sentience that was terrifying, yet in the hands of the old man, it was
as obedient as a pet, nimbly flipping with his fingertips.
N?velDrama.Org owns this.
vin was now fully alert, observing the old man and the ck dagger warily. He remembered
seeing the old man throwing knives before, casually using metal scraps as weapons in the
courtyard. After practicing for two days, vin felt quite adept and had crafted nine throwing knives
himself, refining them over three years for defense.
When he faced Nysah, it was the surprise attack with the throwing knife that had given him the
upper hand, catching Nysah off guard.
"The name of the knife, Shadowbringer," the old man said, opening his withered right hand. The
ck dagger hovered over his palm. Its tip pointed down, its body emanated a sinister chill, and the
space around it seemed to warp.
"This knife..." vin felt his hair stand on end as he stepped back, astonished by the sight of the
ck dagger.
With a sudden flick of the old man''s hand, the dagger sang out, vibrating with a fearsome killing
intent that filled the courtyard and permeated the heavens and earth.
At that moment, the elders of the Cobalt Strike''s thirty mountains awoke, sensing a murderous aura
that made their hearts tremble.
vin stumbled backward, but the ck dagger instantly pressed against his forehead, swift as a
beam of light, its trajectory impossible to track. It neither retreated nor advanced, merely touching
the skin of vin''s brow. The sharp tip was exceedingly cold as if it sought to encase vin''s very
soul in ice.
"You..." vin dared not move. His forehead was slick with sweat, and he felt the palpable threat of
death as if embraced by the Reaper himself. His body chilled to the core, and his breath constricted.
"Do not use it recklessly until you''re an Advanced Mage," the old man warned, pushing through the
air with his right hand, and the ck dagger plunged into vin''s forehead with a soft sound. In an
instant, vin felt as though he had fallen into an icy cavern, as a bone-chilling cold had spread
throughout his body, his breath nearly freezing.
His consciousness spun, and he couldn’t tell if it was pain or numbness overwhelming him. vin
struggled to sit up, about to speak, but his body began to emit ck vapors, swirling around him
until he was submerged.
In his daze, the old master walked towards him. His hands were behind his back, and vin saw
only the old man''s eyes, like endless abysses ready to devour him.
"Am I dreaming again?" vin murmured softly, lying down on the ground.
Everything felt surreal, both illusory and terrifying. Was it a dream? It must have been a dream.
When vin opened his eyes again, it was the next morning. To his surprise, he was actually lying
in the courtyard, basking in the warm, pleasant sunlight.