I Alone Breed Dragons

Chapter 62: Shadow Magic Mastery

My legs crossed, I sat in a lotus position, using adaptive learning to master shadow.

I forced the absorbed affinity into my palm, eyes shut. I was presently seated under a tree, in an isolated hill at the edge of the village, for better concentration. The stronger my concentration was, the faster adaptive learning worked.

Two days had passed since I, Randall, had started his affinity training. So had I started shadow affinity.

[Adaptive learning].

Shadow affinity mastering: 60%.

Affinity control: intermediate.

Construct master complete.

Affinity logged in core.

[Skills available to unlock:]

Shadow manipulation (default control).

Shadow paralysis (technique) unlocked.

Shadow penetration (technique) locked, requires full mastery of affinity.

[99+ techniques available.]

I broke my concentration, peeling my eyes open. I looked at my palm, as the dark matter swirled in a sphere.

I parted my hand; the shadow widened, following my control. I curved it through the air, changing the shape of the shadow. My control was fluid, but this was the magic I had absorbed. Let’s see if I could create shadow with my own mana.

"Magic, unleash: shadow magic."

I swatted my hand and the shadow shot from my hand. It splattered on the ground. It lingered there before fading away — it was weak.

Then I channeled mana beneath me. The ground spread out, the soil darkened, my shadow kept expanding, covering a large expanse of the hill.

One of the things shadow could do was stealth, giving the wielder shadow step. With weaker shadow, it just acted as a blind smokescreen to escape. With advanced shadow, I could manipulate shadow around me, use them to hook a target to the ground — shadow paralysis. An advanced form was the ability to enter shadows themselves and travel through them.

The skills that had unlocked from mastering shadow were endless. Unlike it, I had mastered in the dungeon — I hadn’t put full concentration into it, since I needed to be fully alert.

But with my full concentration, perfect knowledge had influenced shadow magic.

I used my shadow, entangling it with the tree’s shadow. I closed my eyes, manipulating the shadow. The dark crept up the tree; the roots wrenched from the ground as the shadow forced it down.

The tree tilted, falling. The leaves rustled as it collided with the ground behind me.

I was simply testing the strength of the shadow, and it exceeded my expectation. I didn’t feel like I moved a muscle — the extra weight a wielder receives when using magic for heavy duties wasn’t there. That was one perk of shadow magic: it made everything lighter than using all other magic.

Still, I needed it perfected as soon as possible. I took a deep breath. After taking a little stretch, I resumed my lotus position, continuing my concentration, using adaptive learning. My mana flared, back in repose. I conjured shadow at my palm, deeply burying my mind to the construct.

I was still in the lotus position, my legs sore from sitting in a single spot, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t endure. I didn’t know how much time had passed, the number of hours. I wasn’t opening my eyes till I heard the familiar chime of my system notifying me shadow affinity was fully mastered.

More hours later, I felt the cool breeze washing against my skin. The sunlight stopped beating on my skin. Crickets made their noises in the distance, which signified the sun had set, and night had already drawn its curtains over the village.

[Shadow affinity: 100%.]

Fully mastered.

100+ techniques unlocked.

I exhaled, finally. I peeled my eyes open to the pale moonlight, squinting as my eyes adjusted to the light.

Then I peered away, at the village. Torches lit up the village, still alive as ever. I released myself from the lotus position, stretching my sore back.

I looked down at my shadow. Of all the entire techniques I had perfect knowledge of how to use, this one in particular was the one I really wanted to try, since it matched the exact description of that hooded woman who had taken Amiko’s body.

I activated shadow domain. My figure slowly sank into my shadow, past my knee height. The landscape faded away till I was fully engrossed in my shadow.

My eyes couldn’t see anything, just a thick void which stretched without limit. I swam around, surveying, not seeing anything.

I could feel myself pushing forward as I transferred into another shadow of a rock nearby. I looked above me; I could see the surroundings, blurry, darkened. Staying in shadow state, I knew what shadow I was moving to. I pushed forward, transferring myself to the shadow of another rock.

This was taking slower than expected because it was light. The hill was covered in darkness; I didn’t need to jump from shadow to shadow. I slid through the shadow, stretched around, moving between them.

I sped up, didn’t slow, as I witnessed the village grow closer, the light got brighter, the spacing of each shadow varied. I reached the market, jumping from random villager shadows, cart shadows. I surveyed where I was heading to, moving towards my house.

With such a technique, escaping between places was far easier. There was no place I couldn’t penetrate as long as there was shadow. Realizing the goblins had such magic made it more frightening.

Who knows, they might be inside the village, hidden in anyone’s shadow right now, without notice.

But jumping from shadow to shadow was really mana consuming. Staying any longer in it might result in the wielder growing mana strain, making the wielder weakened, which was a loophole I could exploit — they can’t stay in their shadow forever.

I moved to my house when I leaped into someone’s shadow. Looking out from the shadow, I noticed the person was emitting mana, wings folded at her back.

She paused, looked down at her shadow, with a frown. "A pervert with magic... looking at women from beneath her skirt. Show yourself."

And she leaned closer to the ground, arms crossed. I saw her face — Maltie. She must have brought the grimoire with her.

I submerged from her shadow, revealing part of my head.

"So this your hobby?" She tucked a hair strand behind her ear, looking at me with a disappointed look. "Peeing at women’s panties, I thought you’re better than that."

I pulled myself fully from her shadow, standing straight before her. "I wouldn’t argue with you. Say whatever you want. I wasn’t looking."

She straightened up, raised a grimoire, black leather cover, with dark purple veins craving along, pulsing with mana. Bulky chains with symbols inscribed in the metal were wrapped around, snapped at its end with a weirdly shaped lock.

Maltie, reluctantly, offered it to me. "Here’s the grimoire you asked for."