Those few seconds he was engulfed in darkness, Luke realized something. This wasn't smoke or any other physical substance. His opponent wasn't covering his vision. He was making Luke see the darkness. It was an illusion, or something close to it.
However, if Luke had dispelled the darkness by raising his Intelligence stat, as he eventually did, the enemy would never have revealed himself.
That was why Luke deliberately staged the entire act of being struck by the poisoned needle. If the poison had actually been dangerous, he would have immediately raised his Endurance stat. Fortunately, it wasn't potent enough. On top of that, the healing potions he had consumed earlier still left enough detoxifying agents in his body to suppress the toxin.
GRR
Moments later, a beast emerged from behind the shrouded man.
