As soon Archer[Quinn] saw Drake[Oscar]'s apparent body, he knew something was wrong. The last time he had seen Drake[Oscar], it felt like there was no chance for him to come back, nor any wish for him to come back either. So it made him wonder just what had happened, so his body had gotten in the hands of Francis[Richard] Ryo[Eno].
'What have you done….' Archer[Quinn] thought.
Using his inspect skill, he could see that his hunch was correct. Drake[Oscar] was no longer a human. Instead, his inspect skill told him he was something known as a Dullahan. However, this was a word or a creature Archer[Quinn] was unfamiliar with.
"It looks like you know a little more than I do, " Jola[Mona] said, standing by Archer[Quinn]'s side. She had made the assumption due to his shocked expression, but perhaps that was just the fact that he had seen Drake[Oscar] in such a state.
The two of them were looking at the head rather than the body. It looked like Archer[Quinn]'s entrance had grabbed his attention since it was no longer staring at Jola[Mona] but just Archer[Quinn].
Seeing this, Archer[Quinn] moved his hand from side to side, but the eyes didn't follow, but taking a step to the left and right, it did.
"What is he looking at?" Archer[Quinn] wondered.
"Maybe it wants another head buddy?" Jola[Mona] joked.
It was then that Archer[Quinn] started to move just his head, rather than his body, even bending forward. The joke that Jola[Mona] made didn't seem so funny anymore. Since its eyes had just followed Archer[Quinn]'s head.
'Odom[Vincent], do you know what it is?' Archer[Quinn] asked, hoping to answer Jola[Mona]'s question. Even though he knew the name of the subject, since it wasn't created by Archer[Quinn] himself, he was unable to see information like when he would create a subclass.
'The headless horseman or woman.' Odom[Vincent] answered. 'It was a legend told, or a story that was told when I was very young. However, even to vampires, such a creature is more mythical than anything. I'm not sure if it's a vampire subclass. At least one hadn't been created during my time, and there were no records of such a thing.
"However, we have learnt that even Dragons exist, which I would have thought was mythical as well. For as long as vampires have lived, we have never seen such creatures as Dragons, yet we are.
'It makes me wonder if Ryo[Eno] tried to create an entirely new creature, similar to what Blake[Jim] did, or if what we are seeing here is a legendary creature being reborn. Perhaps just like dragons, they had died out, and Francis[Richard] had found a way to bring one back or create one through Drake[Oscar].'
Although Archer[Quinn] had learnt a little more about the Dullahan, he didn't learn about its nature, powers or skill[ability]. Archer[Quinn] had repeated to Jola[Mona] what he knew, and she didn't seem to have any knowledge of the creature either.
"So what do we do now? It's Drake[Oscar], we should take him out, right? After all, Francis[Richard] said he had prepared rewards that would help us, and this should be my reward."
Hearing this, Archer[Quinn] wanted to ask Jola[Mona] what her trial was, but decided against it, in case it was something personal. Maybe he would ask once he learnt about Tobias[Logan]'s who they had yet to see.
"I'm not sure if he's friendly or not. The way he's looking at me is giving me goosebumps. Let's just try to figure out how to get out first. We won't leave without him, don't worry." Archer[Quinn] answered.
The two of them looked for a way out, but just like Jola[Mona], they could only find the other doors that neither of them had come through from. There were two more, which was strange in itself.
"When I completed my task, I came through this door, so maybe Tobias[Logan] is still doing him, and then he will come through one of the others. If we wait for him, maybe he will eventually come through one of the doors." Archer[Quinn] suggested.
Jola[Mona] agreed that the logic was sound, so they waited and waited, but there was no sign of Tobias[Logan], and neither of the doors were opening. Since both of their tests were so quick, they were wondering if Tobias[Logan] was struggling to make it or if he had completed his task or not.
As time went on, Archer[Quinn] was tempted to use his shadow abilities and enter the room.
"Maybe it's because I haven't accepted my reward." Jola[Mona] eventually said, making Archer[Quinn] forget about his previous urge.
Since they might leave the room anyway and with nothing else for them to do, Archer[Quinn] thought that they could try to free Drake[Oscar] regardless. In the first place, Archer[Quinn] had gotten a boost from his reward, so he was sure that Francis[Richard] wasn't lying about these rewards helping them. On top of that, if a fight was to break out, was the Dullahan a creature capable of stopping him, even with his stat boost?
Drake[Oscar] was strong, but a lot of his strength came from his soul weapon and Demon tier weapon, both with which he no longer had.
Out of the two parts in separate containers, Jola[Mona] and Archer[Quinn] agreed to free the body first. The head just felt creepy. On one of the computers, there was a clear button to open the two glass containers.
One on the left and one on the right. Assuming the one on the left was connected to the left container, they pressed down on the button. The glass container immediately started to drain. Once it did, the glass began to sink down below into the ground. And the wires connected to the body were ejected.
'Okay, gotta be ready for anything.' Archer[Quinn] thought, activating his shadow and keeping it hovering by his back.
When the body was free, it started to move around and stretched a couple of times. It looked like someone who had been stuck or asleep in the same potion for a long time. The body was muscular and completely naked, so they could see everything in the flesh, but something strange happened.
From its neck upwards, a bright blue mist started to show. It looked like a flame, yet they could also tell that it wasn't a flame. A few seconds later and it snapped its fingers. The light blue mist spread to its body and started to materialise an armour set on itself and a sword behind its back.
'What is this? Is it something similar to my shadow skill[ability]? Where I can keep items in my dimensional space. Did Ryo[Eno] also prepare all this for him?'
Using his inspect skill again, Archer[Quinn] wanted to see the stats of the armour and the weapon he had just summoned. Still, he was in for a surprise as the items themselves were not beast armour.
'Is this possible? Is Drake[Oscar] now some type of god?' Was Archer[Quinn]'s thought. After learning of the gods, and dragons, it wasn't something that he would put past him. Maybe Francis[Richard] had captured one of the gods' dormant souls and placed it into Drake[Oscar].
"Drake[Oscar], can you hear us? Are you friendly?" Jola[Mona] shouted out to the body.
However, instead of answering them or walking over to where they were, it turned around and looked towards its head. It walked up to the glass, and the head's eyes looked at its own body.
"What's it goi-"
A smashing sound was heard. The glass container broke with the Dullahan, pushing it. It then grabbed its own head by the top of its hair and pulled it towards itself.
"Is it going to wear it? Or put it back on, I mean." Archer[Quinn] thought, carefully watching its every move. Strangely, it didn't attempt to put its head back on the mist. Instead, it just grabbed the head and tucked it in by its side.
"Can you speak?" Archer[Quinn] asked.
Lifting up the head, it shook it, indicating that it couldn't. Even though the head had a mouth, with the creepy smile still there.
"Are you going to hurt us?" Jola[Mona] asked.
Using the head again, it shook it, indicating it was a no. Both of them looked at each other and were thankful that this was the case. They wanted to ask it more questions since it seemed to understand them but thought it would be hard to talk this way.
"Maybe we can get it a pen and paper, and we can see if it can talk properly to us, or a tablet or something, " Archer[Quinn] said.
While making this suggestion, they could see that Drake[Oscar] was walking towards one of the doors, and unlike with them, the door had started to open.
"Huh, what wait let's follow him. Maybe that's where Tobias[Logan] will be, " Archer[Quinn] said, and the two quickly followed but also made sure not to get too close to the headless person, just in case he would turn on them.
When they entered the room, though, there was no sign of Tobias[Logan]. Instead, it was something they both didn't expect to see. A creature of some sort that was trapped in a cage.
"A horse?" Jola[Mona] said.
That's when it clicked in Archer[Quinn]'s head from what Odom[Vincent] had told them.
"The headless horseman."
To be continued........
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