Against my own shadow, my dark side

Every person has a dark side, his or her shadow. It would always take over that person, playing with his or her weaknesses that would cause him or her failure. But if you were giving the task (or advice) to face that shadow and conquer it, would you do it?

That's what I realized during the time Crestfallen, my fighter in Fiesta, was tasked to enter the Shadow Dungeon as part of her promotion quest. After I gave the Shadow Key (the way to access the dungeon) to the Grand Master in the Forest of Haze, I was asked if I'm ready to enter, but before I said yes, I first stocked up on HP / SP stones as back-up.

By the time Crestfallen entered the Shadow Dungeon, she faced her first enemy: her own shadow, which had more HP & SP than her normal self. I tried to kill her shadow, but her normal self died, thus I failed accomplishing it. I knew I had to hurry up because the dungeon has a 20-minute time limit.

She was spawned back to Argos by the time she recovered from her death. I had her weapon upgraded to +3 by Smith Ironhand, and I even bought one Shield Defense buff scroll from one of the vendors near the Storage Keeper. Because of her death, I became more fearful, but I forced myself to calm down for the sake of regaining my composure and to remain focused. And so, she mounted onto her mover on her way back to the Forest of Haze, but in the middle of Pebble Beach, I dismounted her and created some HP & SP potions, just before I resumed her journey.

Thankfully, I didn't have to get another Shadow Key in order to enter the Shaow Dungeon again, for I just to talk to that NPC again for her second attempt there. Buffed with Vitality & Shield Defense, she went in to the dungeon again. Just like in her first attempt, she faced her own shadow first. I dealt damage over her, and I was able to survive her attacks, but she ran away after I took out a chunk of her life, thus I have to follow her there.

Along the way, I had to kill Joker Kebings first, for they disturbed her normal self. She found herself in another room after the gate was opened after killing all of them. Then I had to kill all of those Raging Skeletons & even their Archer counterparts in order for another gate to open. I killed another set of those Joker Kebings again by the time the gate was opened, and so the room became pitch black. But thankfully, there was a blue way of light that led her to the path to the final room, since her shadow told her to follow that light in order to face her again.

By the time Crestfallen reached the ending point, the light went back on, and she was already in the final room. Just before her shadow appeared, she had to deal with those Sparrow Rogue mobs, including the archer & even that giant (I hope I said those names right). Alas, her shadow appared, and I had to kill her again. Adding insult to the injury was when the other mobs began to disturb her. My hands trembled as I spammed my skills (Too bad they have cooldown, though) and my HP/SP stones & pots for the sake of defeating it. But in the end, her shadow was finally killed, suceeding the dungeon, and I breathed a sigh of relief as she was teleported back near the NPC in the Forest of Haze.

She obtained the Sign of Promotion after she successfully accomplished the dungeon. And when I gave it to the NPC, I was given the option to choose the starting weapon for her new job. Since I wanted Crestfallen to become a tank, I chose the Roumen Sword (the one-handed sword type) as her reward, aside from fame. I couldn't help but to shout in jubilation as she was successfully promoted to being a Clever Fighter. There, promotion quest finally accomplished! Wohoo!!

With that experience, I can say that one must not be afraid to face his or her own fears. With faith, perseverance, and even with a little luck & inspiration, he or she will get over it, and that person's goal will become true in the end as a sign of accomplishment.

More Fiesta chit-chat to come soon. Later days!! ^^