'So, what do I do next?' Now standing in front of the entrance he had perceived after consciously cutting off all of his external senses, Valyr stared at the entrance, wanting to capture every detail.
In terms of how it appeared in Valyr's mind, it looked similar to the rift Noel had opened that allowed them to enter the Shadow Plane. However, rather than feel like his connection with Shadow Energy had become stronger because of it, Valyr felt like he was standing in front of the origin of Shadow Energy itself.
Though, with how complex the overall feeling the entrance gave him, making him feel like he was staring at a small yet vast portion of the secrets of the universe, he also felt traces of the Abyssal Energy had control over, as well as two other energies that were of greater depth and breadth than the impure Shadow Energy he currently controlled.
'Should I just try opening it?' Figuratively scratching the back of his head as he wondered what to do next, Valyr eventually decided to put all of his mental power into opening the entrance, considering that it was the only sense he had left after cutting off the external five.
'Hmph!'
Whoosh!
At the very instant Valyr set his mind to pushing the entrance open, a small gust of wind blew around Valyr's body, prompting Noel, who was beside the young man all this time, to look at the former with a surprised yet solemn expression. "It's only been three hours, yet he's already touched upon the connection?"
"As expected of a Herald. Truly monstrous even when compared to prodigies amongst prodigies." Deciding to wait and see whether the young man would be successful in breaking the entrance open on his first attempt, Noel sat down and used his control over Abyssal Energy to form a barrier that protected and shrouded the two at the same time, a faint smile now adorning his face.
'Mngh!' As for the one trying to pass through the entrance himself, Valyr instantly felt a great amount of resistance from the entrance after he put all of his mental power into pushing it. Noticing that it became more and more difficult the more he forced it, the young man decided to retract his mental power for a while, feeling a hint of strain as he wondered how Noel was able to push through the entrance in the first place.
'This has definitely got to be the connection Noel was talking about,' Valyr muttered inwardly, examining the entrance from every angle to see if he had missed an important detail. 'Aside from the fact that the Shadow Energy I have control over just wants to leap out towards it at any possible moment, it ain't the connection to a literal plane if it ain't incredibly difficult to open.'
'Hmm…' Forgetting that he and Noel could only stay in the Shadow Plane before they had to go back and return, Valyr continued to examine the entrance in great detail, pushing his mental power to its utmost limits in the process to make sure he would not miss even a small opening.
Eventually, after examining it for quite some time, the young man decided to try pushing the entrance open once more, feeling a bit more confident thanks to the information he had collected while examining the entrance.
For one, he was now privy to the fact that there existed weak spots on the entrance that posed weaker resistance to his mental power. However, the number of these weak spots, as well as their positions, varied with every passing minute, which left Valyr with no choice but to keep his senses peeled at all times to find them.
'Agh!' Focusing his mental power on the entrance to figure out where the weak spots were, Valyr began to allocate all of it towards pushing the entrance once more after he had found them, making sure that it would congregate towards those weak spots.
Whoosh!
Once more, a gust of wind blew around Valyr's body, causing Noel to look at the young man once more in silence as he felt the earth start to gradually quake.
"…already?"
'Hmph!' Feeling like he was making more progress into opening the entrance than his first attempt, Valyr pushed his mental power even further, focusing a great portion of it towards the weak spots, which continued to move throughout the entrance all this time. Because of it, the young man now felt a great strain in his mind, yet he still persevered in the hopes that he would be able to break through soon enough.
'Push through!'
Whoosh!
A stronger gust of wind surrounded Valyr's body as the young man focused all of his mental power towards the weak spots, while at the same time controlling each and every bit of it to make sure it would hit against those weak spots at all times. Eventually, he felt at some point like there was only a faint amount of resistance from the entrance that was holding him back from being able to connect with the Shadow Plane.
However, for some reason, this bit of resistance seemed to be the hardest thing Valyr was trying to push against.
'Don't force it. Just let things take its course.' Coincidentally, at that very moment, Valyr recalled the last bit of advice Noel had given him before their conversation abruptly ended, wondering to himself for a bit if the old man had given the advice in preparation for such times like this.
Thinking that he would only have to rest for a bit to be able to attempt it again, the young man went ahead and applied the elder's words in action, putting less force into his mental power as he instead moved it in a way that made it seem like it was eroding through the entrance, just like how water would eventually start to drip through cardboard once given enough time.
Fortunately, after minutes of testing out the new approach inspired by Noel's words…
Pop!
The entrance had finally given in, causing the connection he had with his Shadow Energy to grow deeper as all of his external senses were forcefully activated, sending him an influx of information regarding his surroundings.
Regarding the Shadow Plane.
Ding!
[You have formed a rudimentary connection with the Shadow Plane.]
[Your control over Shadow Energy has considerably improved.]
[You have unlocked the passive skill 'Shadow Eye'.]
