"So… let me try and summarize everything you've told me so far." After asking Valyr a couple more questions amidst the young man's narration of everything that had led up to the current situation, Noel took in a deep breath as he sorted out his thoughts, organizing all of the information he had just received from the young man in his mind.
"Go ahead, Elder Noel." In response, Valyr nodded, waiting for the old man to begin.
"To start off your entire narration, you used to have a wooden spear, transmuted it with Lesser Tidemother Blood, and eventually had your spear siphon the blood and energy of a recently killed Tidemother to improve the spear even further."
"Yes." Valyr nodded.
"And then, because of that, a higher being became enraged and gave you a curse that has a mark on your back."
"That is also correct." Valyr nodded once more.
"And that curse basically makes any wild animal within a certain distance away from you grow stronger and turn hostile towards you… is that correct?" Seeing Valyr nod one more time in response to his words, Noel flashed a soft smile at the young man, only for the smile to turn bitter as he thought about Valyr's current situation a bit more.
"It must suck living with that kind of curse," said Noel soon after, to which Valyr flashed a bitter smile of his own.
"It's not bad when you're in the cities or the kingdoms." Valyr bitterly chuckled. "Then again, there was a time where I more or less removed all of the rodents within a village because of it."
"Of course, I haven't tried testing the effects of the curse in a monster-filled area yet, nor do I have a death wish to want to do so." At those words, the smile on Valyr's face became more bitter than before. After that, he let out a faint sigh. "In any case, it's not like I don't have a way to turn the curse's negatives into positives. I do know a couple ways on how to utilize it, fortunately."
"But at the moment, the cons outweigh the benefits, right?"
"Right again, Elder Noel." Valyr let out yet another bitter chuckle, causing Noel to become silent as he decided to shift the topic to something that was still related to the curse, but at the same time wasn't.
"Hmm…" Rubbing his chin for a bit, a thought soon popped into the elder's mind. "Now that I think about it, the blood of a Tidemother is a common material used in creating equipment, especially weapons made in the cities and kingdoms due to its properties of allowing the wielder to passively regenerate stamina and health."
"With that, there should have been a case of someone being afflicted with the curse you currently have in the past, considering the amount of blood those blacksmiths used whenever they would forge high rarity equipment." At this point, Noel's expression became somewhat curious. "I wonder… did the curse only appear because it has something to do with the fact you siphoned the Tidemother's strength through your spear just as you killed it?"
"I guess?" Valyr shrugged his shoulders in response. "Anything during that time could have been the reason as to why I got the curse."
"Then again, when I handled Lesser Tidemother Blood for the first time to transmute my wooden spear into a stronger weapon, nothing of the sort had occurred at all."
"Hmm…" Deciding to ponder over the thought for a bit, Noel eventually gave up as he came to a dead end in his thought process, letting out a low sigh as he then shifted his thoughts to Valyr's current condition of being unable to showcase his full might with the spear.
"Well… since there's a short window of time that allows you to use the spear at your full might, I guess you should save the spear's techniques as a last ditch effort to turn the tides around." Though he felt a bit of pity at the fact that the young man wasn't able to use his spear right now, Noel was certain that there would eventually come a time where Valyr would be able to showcase the might of his spear and his subclass to its greatest extent.
"For the meantime, continue to use your magic. Or, if you have a set of techniques stronger than the magic you currently use, feel free to use that instead."
"So, pretty much what I've been doing all this time. Got it." Finding to take delight upon from Noel's words, Valyr let out a bit of laughter as he nodded in response, to which Noel responded with a chuckle of his own.
"What next, then?" After the two finished letting out a bit of laughter, Valyr posed a question to the old man, prompting the latter to shrug his shoulders in response.
"What else other than to kill more Shadow Mammoths?" As Noel said these words, he activated his [Shadow Eye]'s ability to see Shadow Energy, focusing his attention on the connection Valyr had with Shadow Energy that extended from the latter's forehead. "With how much your progress you've made, you would only need to kill a few more groups, actually."
"And that would allow my Shadow Energy to be recognized by the system?" asked Valyr with a hint of expectation.
"More like you would need to move to a stronger creature within the Shadow Plane to continue improving your connection."
"I see. Well… that also works, I guess." Shrugging his shoulders in a way that told Noel he wanted his Shadow Energy to be recognized by the system as quickly as possible, Valyr let out a low sigh before proceeding to walk around the area in search of Shadow Mammoths to kill.
But not before finding how much time the two of them had left before they would have to leave the plane.
…
"Grooooghhh…!"
"And that's the last group of Shadow Mammoths I think." Taking note of the fact that the two of them had already been in the Shadow Plane for about 10 hours or so, Valyr watched as the Shadow Energy from the Shadow Mammoths' corpses slowly floated upwards before zipping through the air to make their way towards the young man's forehead.
After that, the Shadow Energy condensed themselves into a single orb before proceeding to head towards a certain spot within Valyr's mind, reinforcing the connection he had with his Shadow Energy as he felt his perception of the Shadow Plane grow a bit clearer.
Eventually, while looking at the connection with [Shadow Eye], Valyr felt that his connection with Shadow Energy had reached a saturation point, only to feel the remaining bit of Shadow Energy left to be absorbed to dissipate into thin air soon after.
"So, what creature would I have to kill next?" Turning around to look at Noel as he felt the remaining Shadow Energy eventually disappear into nothingness, Valyr threw a question at the old man, to which the latter quickly responded.
"Fortunately, you don't have to move that far." Watching Valyr fight from a high-up branch on a nearby tree, Noel looked at their surroundings for a bit before looking back at the young man. "Just move a couple of meters to your left."
"A couple of meters to my—!"
"Graaaooooo!!!"
At the very instant he had done what Noel told him, Valyr heard a soft yet deep growl resonate throughout the area, prompting him to shift his gaze towards the origin of the sound. However, just as he was expecting to see a large creature come his way, what he saw instead…
…was a dog-sized bear.
"…"
"[Greater Analysis]."
Ding!
[Shadow Bear (Epic Elite)] (Level 37)
Class: Shadow Ursa (Uncommon)
HP: 4,860/4,860
MP: 2,304/2,304
Stats: 270 VIT, 272 STR, 188 AGI, 266 DEX, 128 INT, 136 WIS, 98 PER, 74 LUK
Skills: [Charge], [Hibernation], [Basic Shadow Energy Affinity], [Basic Physical Damage Resistance],…
Remarks: You definitely don't see a dog-sized bear that often.
"Haah…" Swiftly closing the screen he had brought up in front of him, Valyr took in a deep breath before letting out a long sigh, watching as the Shadow Bear gradually got closer to him. Then, seeing that there was only a fair distance between the two of them…
Valyr sent out a barrage of blades made out of orange crimson flames at the Shadow Bear.
"[Crimson Blade Torrent]."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"GRAAAOOOO!!!" Though it had become aggressive due to the effects of Valyr's curse, the Shadow Bear's behavior surprisingly returned to how it was originally at the very sight of blades made out of orange flames heading towards its way.
However, before it could turn around and flee away from the overwhelming threat of the blades, the blades bombarded the Shadow Bear's body from every possible angle, leaving a charred yet disfigured corpse in its wake.
Swoosh!
Not long after, the Shadow Energy it had cultivated soon hovered above the disfigured corpse, zooming through the air to meld with Valyr and improve his connection with Shadow Energy beyond the saturation point.
Weeeenggg…
…
…
Ding!
[Your connection with the Shadow Plane has undergone sublimation, increasing a level in quality.]
[Your connection with Shadow Energy has undergone sublimation, increasing a level in quality.]
[You have been recognized by the Shadow Plane.]
[Your connection with Shadow Energy has been recognized by the system.]
[You have gained the 'Shadow Energy' stat.]
[You have gained the passive skill 'Shadow Energy Mark'.]
