Fate Online: Shadow

In the immersive virtual world of Fate Online, players sought fame, fortune, and power by embarking on epic adventures. One such player, a skilled player named Solitary Tempest, had been moving around the Forest of Despair since yesterday looking for any signs of a mining cave, abandoned or not, in the hopes of finding even a small piece of Mithril Ore.

After her harrowing encounter with Dark Fel that almost killed her.

Solitary Tempest had continued to descend into the depths of the mine, her footsteps echoing through the dark, damp tunnels. The air was heavy with the scent of decay, and her torch cast eerie shadows onto the walls. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was lurking in the darkness, watching her every move.

'This place gives me the creeps' she thought, her hand instinctively resting on the hilt of her weapon.

'But I've come too far to turn back now. I at least need to see the end of this mining cave to satiate my desire for that damn ore, if it even exists here!'

As she ventured deeper, Solitary Tempest slowly realized that her surroundings were growing increasingly sinister. The remnants of a hastily abandoned mining equipment lay scattered about, suggesting that the miners had fled in terror. She went over wanting to touch it, but just as her hand made contact with the object, it immediately turned into dust, mixing in with the gravel on the ground.

Looking at her hand as she slowly stood up, she couldn't help but wonder what had driven them away.

'What could have frightened them so much?' she pondered.

'Whatever it is, I'd better be prepared for anything.'

Suddenly, she heard a guttural growl echoing at the tunnel ahead of her.

Even though it was just a game, her heart still raced as she realized that she really was not alone, there were monsters lurking in the mine!

'Alright, whatever monster this is, it will certainly be stronger than those outside this place' she told herself.

'It seems it's time to put my skills to the test once again, though let's hope that it's not too strong of a monster or else this would have just been a waste of time!'

The first creature that emerged from the shadows was a grotesque, malformed beast with razor-sharp claws!

"A zombie!?"

[Level 50 - Miner Zombie

A corpse of a once former miner. Due to long years of being immersed in the influence of miasma, it was reanimated and now walks the ground of its once former workplace.]

Solitary Tempest quickly activated a movement skill, allowing her to move with supernatural speed and agility. She darted around the monster, evading its attacks and looking for an opening to strike.

But something immediately happened that made her freak out a little.

"Is this even a zombie? Why is it moving so fast!?" Solitary Tempest's surprise grew while looking at the movements of the zombie before her!! Since unlike zombies that moves so slow like a 70 year old man. This one zombie madly chasing after her was the opposite of that and moves with such agility in its movements that she couldn't help but let out a yell in frustration!

'Now's my chance!' she thought, spotting a slight pause in the creature's movements. She activated her [Soul Crash] skill, imbuing her weapon with dark energy with the skeleton appearing behind her, and struck the monster's exposed flesh with a slash!

"Groaaarr!"

The beast let out a pained roar as Solitary Tempest's attack tore through its defenses. The dark energy from her [Soul Crash ]skill coursed through its body, causing it to convulse and made the zombie even more mad!

It kept attacking Solitary Tempest with more gusto as it seemed to have gained more speed from its rage!

"What the heck is wrong with this zombie!?"

Swoosh!

Dang! Dang! Dang!

Solitary Tempest could only keep blocking and narrowly dodging its attacks while her Health Points grew increasingly low by its maddened attacks!

"I can't even have the time to record it, what a freakish monster!"

Frustrated, she just kept dodging and dodging until the zombie finally showed signs of slowing down and Solitary Tempest didn't let this chance to slip away and immediately delivered a barrage of blows towards the monster, who seemed to have lost its speed and agility after its burst of rage and had become as slow as a snail.

And a couple of minutes later, the zombie was finally well while dropping just a pair of rotten teeth.

[Zombie Teeth (Unique)

An incredibly rare alchemy ingredient that can only be gathered after taking down its source, a super rare zombie variant. It's one of the key ingredients in producing an incredibly powerful poison. An item sought by alchemists and merchants alike]

"Unique Grade! And from a zombie variant to boot! So that's the reason why it doesn't move like your typical slow zombie. It's quite strong too" Surprised flashed across her face after reading the item description, but it was quickly replaced by delight since Unique Grade items, especially ingredients, are even rarer than an ordinary Epic Grade item in the market.

"But damn, if there's already such an abnormal monster here, then doesn't that mean that whatever is in the end of this mining cave would be an even more freakish one!?" She thought out loud, still catching her breath.

'Since the first monster I've encountered here is two levels higher than mine, I should really keep my eyes peeled since there might be even more troublesome monsters ahead.'

As Solitary Tempest continued her exploration, she encountered more Miner Zombies lurking in the mine's depths. Each battle pushed her to the limits of her abilities, forcing her to rely on her cunning and skill to survive.

At one point, she found herself cornered by a pack of snarling, feral zombies, and with no room to maneuver, she knew that her [Ghostly Steps] skill would be of little use.