In the forest, several figures darted swiftly between the glowing Nightlight Firs and rocks like agile nocturnal creatures. The fluorescence illuminated one rather weary face—it was Leon, panting heavily.
He leaned on his knees, his chest heaving violently, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the swift figure ahead.
Yano, a knight, how did he achieve such high agility?
It was simply unbelievable.
Coupled with a knight's stamina, which far surpassed that of an assassin, they had been chasing for several minutes, yet he was only slightly out of breath.
Before Leon could ponder further, his peripheral vision caught more Stone Descendants converging from various parts of the forest.
Even Max, lured by the shadow creature fleeing through the trees, darted out from behind a rock and joined the pursuit.
"Leon, why are you here too?" Max asked in surprise, maintaining his run as he looked at him.
"Don't... don't worry about that now!"
"Huff... huff... I'm exhausted... I don't know what kind of magic potion Yano took to run so fast..."
Max initially thought that a knight's explosive power was strong, and that surpassing an assassin who wasn't using skills for a short time without heavy armor was normal.
But after just a few minutes, Max finally understood what Leon meant.
The figure ahead not only showed no signs of slowing down but was actually getting farther and farther away from them.
He wore the same expression of disbelief as Leon.
Damn it, how is he able to keep running this fast?
"I... I can't... I can't run anymore..."
Leon was the first to give out, abruptly stopping, hands on his knees, gasping for great lungfuls of air.
"This shadow creature... whoever wants it can have it... I... I have no strength left to fight for it..."
The other Stone Descendants who had also chased from the forest boundary had mostly exhausted their stamina by now, stopping one after another, leaning against rough tree trunks to catch their breath.
Strangely, as if seeing the Stone Descendants abandon the chase, the shadow creature stopped running instead, pausing atop a collapsed temple overgrown with fluorescent moss.
It then revealed a massive, pitch-black form resembling a mammoth. However, viewed from the side, one could see this shadow creature was far thinner from the side than from the front, like a piece of paper standing upright.
"Leon, it stopped running, look!" Max's tone instantly became excited. Suppressing the soreness in his muscles, he turned back and reached out to pull up the nearly limp Leon.
"Max..." Leon panted, looking at him helplessly. "Didn't we agree that once the trial started, we'd be competitors?"
Max was taken aback, then pulled Leon up with force. "Forget about that. The trial depends on luck. If it chooses you, it's yours. If it chooses me, it's mine."
Leon motioned for him to look towards the ruins. "Did you forget Uncle Yano? I'm afraid the two of us combined wouldn't be a match for one of his hands."
The group gradually gathered in the clearing surrounding the collapsed temple, seeing that Yano had already arrived there, standing under the ruins and looking up at the massive shadow.
Yano looked at this big fellow, feeling somewhat troubled.
Nilly hadn't taught him how to communicate with shadow creatures.
He hesitated for a moment, then could only tentatively pick up the glass bottle hanging at his waist and shake the powder inside at the huge shadow above.
The other Stone Descendants who arrived one after another also adopted a try-anything attitude, taking out their prepared magic potions, bone fragments... someone even softly chanted an ancient melody said to soothe shadows.
Unexpectedly, this shadow creature actually reacted, its hollow gaze fixed directly on Yano. Several shadow-constructed "legs" moved independently with a strange gait, as if trying to approach Yano.
"It... it's interested in Yano!"
"Uncle is going to succeed!"
Disappointment instantly filled the faces of the other Stone Descendants.
Duel Yano? They admitted they didn't have the strength, so they could only watch dryly.
A flicker of nervousness arose in Yano's heart. He slowly took a step forward, spreading his hands in a harmless gesture, afraid any sudden movement might startle this seemingly clumsy giant.
"Hum—"
However, before he could continue forward, a humanoid figure coalesced from the shadows beneath a Nightlight Fir, stretching its shadow to a point between Yano and the shadow creature, blocking their path of approach.
"What happened?"
"Why did an ancestor suddenly intervene?"
The watching Stone Descendants exchanged bewildered glances, not understanding.
Yano also stopped in place, full of confusion, not understanding why this ancestor was stopping him.
That figure uttered some murmurs that sounded like dream-talk, seemingly directed at him, yet also like a warning to the shadow creature ahead.
After being blocked from approaching, the shadow creature actually became restless, trembling all over. Its shadowy body suddenly split open for most of its length, as if opening a jagged-toothed maw, revealing a ferocious side.
"Careful!" The crowd was startled and quickly shouted.
Just as that jagged maw occupying half its body was about to descend, before Yano could dodge, the figure in front of him seemed to become a portal. A head poked out from within.
"Auntie's here!"
Facing this ferocious shadow monster, Nilly continued to lean half her body out, her right hand already gripping an entirely pitch-black short blade, which she casually swung forward.
"Rip—"
The terrifying shadow monster was torn apart like fragile cloth, neatly split in two from the middle, losing all vitality and collapsing limply to the ground.
Only then did Nilly fully step out from the humanoid portal, flicking the pitch-black short blade in her hand, which then vanished as if merging into the shadows.
"Done." She clapped her hands as if she had just swatted a buzzing fly.
But before everyone could relax, a tadpole-shaped shadow shot out from the corpse, emitting a sharp, piercing screech, wagging a short tail, and frantically trying to flee the scene in panic.
Nilly simply crossed her arms, calmly watching this "little tadpole" dart around without obstruction.
The next moment, the shadows cast around the clearing began to churn violently as if boiling, coalescing into numerous humanoid figures.
They stood silently, forming a shadow wall encircling the entire clearing, trapping the "little tadpole" inside.
"All set."
"Don't just stand there dumbfounded, come with me."
Nilly nodded in satisfaction, then beckoned to Yano, who was still somewhat dazed.
Yano quickly walked to Nilly's side, looking at the restless shadow and couldn't help but ask, "Auntie, what exactly is this thing?"
Nilly crossed her arms. "A Heart-Stealing Shadow. It's said to be the shadow left behind after certain Demons die, later molded into a shadow creature by the Shadow Dragon, Eryn."
"They are like natural enemies to other normal shadow creatures, capable of parasitizing them, and can also harm the shadows of living beings."
"However, risk often accompanies opportunity. For shadow mages and assassins, a Heart-Stealing Shadow can be a decent partner."
She glanced around at the young Stone Descendants and raised her voice. "So, anyone who wants to give it a try can step up. Otherwise, it'll be Yano's."
The other Stone Descendants, hearing this, quickly shook their heads, taking half a step back in unison.
"Forget it, forget it, Auntie, we'll keep looking for others..."
"This thing is too weird, we can't handle it..."
Yano asked in confusion, "Then how do I contract with this guy? What if it bites me the moment I get close?"
Nilly's gaze fell on the glass bottle in his hand, and she spread her hands.
"Simple. Sprinkle the Shadow Dust on yourself. This stuff lets you temporarily touch shadows. As for how to tame it, that's up to you."
Yano was stunned, looking down at this bottle of powder he had previously suspected was a "scam." He never expected it to have such a magical effect. He finally decided, "Alright, I'll try."
Just as Yano prepared to tame this Heart-Stealing Shadow, Chen Yu, who had followed along, had already hopped over to the side of the torn shadow corpse.
He extended a gel hand, touching the seemingly non-existent shadow substance.
Huh? It seems... edible?
Embracing the spirit of expanding the Slime culinary repertoire, Chen Yu opened his gel, his gel body generating a suction force.
"Slurp—"
The shadow remains were quickly sucked into his belly, and then he let out a satisfied burp.
Looking inside the gel now, one could see a mass of constantly flowing black substance within his body.
Honestly, this shadow really is edible.
It just has no taste whatsoever, the texture is like chewing a big wad of cotton, though it did make his belly a bit round and full.
A few seconds later, the shadow was fully digested, and a panel popped up.
[Devour Digestion Lv.7 triggered—Shadow creature characteristics fully recorded. Talent acquired: Shadow Traversal Lv.1]
Huh?
The same skill as Nilly?
Good stuff!
I'll study it properly after going back.
Suppressing his joy, he hopped back onto Nilly's shoulder, his focus shifting to the center of the clearing.
There, Yano had already made his preparations. He pulled out the stopper and poured the gray-black Shadow Dust from the bottle over his head from above.
The black dust drifted down, cloaking him in a layer of illusory shadowy gauze.
The moment the powder touched his body, he felt the world around him change. The shadows that were originally just projections on the ground or objects now seemed like tangible entities he could touch.
He instinctively reached out, catching a strand of shadow filtering through the gaps in the leaves. His fingertips registered the peculiar sensation of touching living skin.
And the seemingly silent humanoid figures around him—their murmurs he could hear clearly.
"A Stone Descendant knight... interesting..."
"Agility isn't bad..."
"If he succeeds, he might become the first knight in the family's records to master shadow power, but this doesn't align with the Lady of Shadows' preference..."
"Hah, times are changing. Someone has to bring new changes."
"Don't forget, before Duke Castor rose and established the assassin's path, Stone Descendant warriors weren't uncommon..."
These are the ancestors' voices?
Yano steadied his mind and walked up to the Heart-Stealing Shadow that kept emitting sharp screeches.
He tried to soften his tone, as if soothing a frightened animal. "Don't worry, little one, no one will hurt you anymore."
The Heart-Stealing Shadow paid no heed. It even targeted his shadow, opening its jagged mouth to bite.
Seeing it was uncommunicative and still wanted to bite him, Yano also got annoyed. Dodging the bite, he grabbed its tail.
"Behave." Yano punched it, instantly dispersing the shadow with the blow, stunning the Heart-Stealing Shadow.
Several seconds passed before the shadow mass struggled to reform a vague head outline.
"Ah—!!!" As soon as it regained consciousness, it started struggling again.
"Smack!"
Yano gave it a slap.
"Will you behave? Will you behave?"
Nilly simply crossed her arms, calmly watching this "little tadpole" dart around without obstruction.
After a good while, Yano somewhat reluctantly stopped. For a moment there, he felt this punching bag was actually quite satisfying to hit.
"Submit or not?"
The Heart-Stealing Shadow now had completely lost its spirit, curling into a ball, trembling, and emitting whimpers.
Seeing Yano clench his fist again, it quickly bobbed its head up and down, indicating submission. Then, like living ink, it rapidly coiled around the back of Yano's hand, finally solidifying into a teardrop-shaped black pattern.
As the effect of the Shadow Dust faded, that wondrous perception reappeared.
It was as if all the shadows around him had become solid entities. And even more peculiar was that it seemed if he willed it, he could freely manipulate his own shadow.
And in Chen Yu's vision, the moment Yano successfully contracted the Heart-Stealing Shadow, the light and shadows above his head shimmered, and a light screen appeared.
—
Reputation Title: Shadow Attendant
Acquisition Condition: A human with ties to shadows must, under the witness of a Shadow Elder or shadow creature, compete to find a willing shadow partner for a contract and successfully adapt to shadow power.
Title Effects:
Note: This is the first step into the world of shadows. When a human learns to coexist with shadows, he finds his own path between light and darkness.
—
Yano had finally passed the trial.
Before Yano could carefully comprehend and explore this newly acquired miraculous ability, Nilly walked over.
"Congratulations. But let's talk business first."
"Ask your new partner how it entered the depths of the Fluorescent Forest."
Hearing this, Yano concentrated, communicating with the Heart-Stealing Shadow.
At first, the Heart-Stealing Shadow was still cowering and resistant, but under Yano's patient threats, it intermittently gave the reason.
"It says there's an unstable planar rift deep in the forest. It came in from there, and this rift is connected to the one controlled by the vampire clan."
Then, Yano's gaze subconsciously shifted to Chen Yu, who was perched on Nilly's shoulder, and he thought to himself, "Boss, it also seems to say that rift might also lead to the swamp area."