Elias speculated that the reason why Shadow Stalkers were not gregarious was because they tended to use others as bait. In a way, they did not trust their kin. They also tended to use their kin’s blood as a measurement of danger.
If they sensed that their kin was injured, it would imply that the enemy was dangerous. In that way, they were good at surviving.
I knelt beside the fallen Shadow Stalker and retrieved a small vial from my pouch. Carefully, I collected some of its blood, the dark liquid shimmering faintly in the moonlight. This would be my safeguard, a way to create a space where I could rest without being disturbed by other creatures.
I moved to the edge of the clearing and poured the blood into a small circle around me. The pungent scent would keep other monsters at bay, giving me a much-needed reprieve.
The effects were immediate. The forest around me seemed to quiet, the subtle sounds of creatures shifting away, sensing the danger implied by the Shadow Stalker’s blood.
‘That should give me enough time for today.’
I sat down, leaning against a large tree, and closed my eyes for a moment. The weariness hit me harder than I expected. I had been coating my body with mana for so long, and the fight had drained my reserves even further. My mana core was nearly depleted, and I needed to recover.
‘Just a short rest,’ I thought, my body relaxing slightly.
As I rested, I thought back to Elias’s notes. He had always emphasized the importance of understanding one’s environment and the creatures within it. Knowledge was as much a weapon as any blade.
‘Using their own instincts against them,’ I mused. ‘Shadow Stalkers don’t trust each other. They’re solitary because they know their kin will abandon or betray them to survive.’
This understanding gave me an edge. It was one of the many lessons Elias had taught me, lessons that now kept me alive in the Shadowed Thicket.
I focused on my breathing, allowing myself to enter a meditative state. Slowly, I drew in the ambient mana from the forest, careful not to disturb the delicate balance around me. It was a slow process, but I could feel my core beginning to replenish.
‘Hmm?’
Just at that moment, I sensed something.
Something that was odd.
*******
For an Awakened, they needed to mediate to recover the mana they had spent. And because Lucavion had been running around for a while, his mana reserves were almost depleted.
Thus, he closed his eyes and imagined drawing mana from the atmosphere.
Just like as usual, he was using the technique that he had learned from his master, [Devourer of Stars].
But at that moment, his eyebrows twitched as if something was different. Being a third-stage Awakened, he did this process countless different times, and he had never felt something like this before.
Lucavion took a deep breath, trying to focus his mind.
The place around him was littered with the remnants of his recent struggle, but his attention was drawn to the massive carcass of the Shadow Stalker lying nearby.
As he continued his meditation, Lucavion began to sense an unusual energy. It was faint at first, like a whisper in the wind, but it gradually grew more distinct.
This energy was not the usual mana he drew from the atmosphere; it felt different—darker, more ominous. He opened his eyes and looked at the Shadow Stalker’s corpse, a sense of unease settling over him.
“What’s this?” he muttered to himself, curiosity and caution intertwining in his mind.
Closing his eyes once more, Lucavion focused on the eerie energy emanating from the dead creature.
As he concentrated, he realized that this energy was being drawn to him, almost as if it were alive. It was a cold, unsettling sensation, unlike the warm and vibrant flow of normal mana.
Despite his apprehension, Lucavion allowed the energy to approach, letting it merge with his own depleted reserves.
The moment the eerie energy touched him, he felt a chill run down his spine. It was as if the essence of the Shadow Stalker had intertwined with his own mana, bringing with it a sense of death and darkness.
‘What is this?’
For a moment, he panicked, fearing that this foreign energy might corrupt him. But then he remembered his training and the teachings of his master.
“No matter what, keep your calm.”
He steadied his breathing and focused on harmonizing the strange energy with his own. The [Devourer of Stars] technique and the cold energy clashed, and his body hurt.
“Urghk-!”
A pained groan left his body. This was the second time his master’s technique was reacting to energy. It did not do it when he was accumulating the mana from [Black Blade of Iron] art.
‘It is similar to [Serpent Flame Art].’
He thought. At that time, the fire energy of [Serpent Flame Art] had also clashed with [Devourer of Stars].
Lucavion’s eyes widened as he understood. The energy he was absorbing was also an attributed one. That was why [Devourer of Stars] was reacting, as it reacted against attributed arts. But then he sensed that the energy was cold and chilly. He closed his eyes, thinking about the nature of the energy.
‘The [Serpent Flame Art] had reacted to my core as the fire inside it was destructive. But at the same time, this one is cold.’
An idea sparked in his mind, one that could be dangerous.
He would attempt to combine the energies. He closed his eyes once again and began absorbing the energy from the atmosphere. He drew in just enough to feel the flow without overwhelming himself. Then, he accumulated the mana using the [Serpent Flame Art].
The fire mana and the eerie cold mana began to mix within him. For a moment, his body did not react negatively. A small smile formed on Lucavion’s lips, thinking he had succeeded in harmonizing the two energies.
But then, without warning, the mana scattered, leaving his body. The cold energy dissipated into the air, and the fire attribute mana extinguished itself.
“What the…?” Lucavion muttered, confusion and frustration seeping into his voice. He had felt so close to achieving something unprecedented, yet it had slipped away.
He closed his eyes again, determined to understand what had happened. This time, he focused on the interaction between the two types of mana.
The cold, eerie energy of the Shadow Stalker was not just any energy; it was infused with death and darkness.
The fire mana of the [Serpent Flame Art] was destructive and pure, but it also had a life-affirming warmth that contrasted sharply with the cold death mana.
‘They can coexist, but they need a mediator,’ he thought. ‘Something to balance the opposing natures.’
Lucavion drew in a deep breath and began the process again, this time more cautiously.
‘If that is the case…..What if I use the core of [Black Blade of Iron]? That one only harnesses raw mana and does not have any attributes. That could be possible.’
He absorbed a small amount of the fire energy around him.
At the same time, he was also not that experienced at [Serpent Flame Art], as while he had converted the art to suit his own condition, he could not constantly practice it as his body was rejecting it.
That was why he was now in pain.
‘It hurts….It is burning once again.’
He thought as he felt the feeling of getting burned all across his body. But at the same time, he gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
But then he had drawn a bit of the cold energy and mixed it with a minuscule amount of fire mana. The burning sensation had disappeared as the cold mixed with fire.
As the energies clashed, he inserted a tiny bit of his own neutral mana to act as a stabilizer. Slowly, he felt the energies beginning to harmonize.
The process was painstakingly slow, but Lucavion persisted. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he concentrated.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he felt the energies stabilize within him. They were not perfectly balanced, but they no longer rejected each other outright.
‘I see…..’
He thought, gazing at his core. There were now two distinct energies residing within it, one that had been nurtured by his old family’s teachings and one that had been drawn from the death of the Shadow Stalker. The two energies swirled together in a delicate dance, neither overpowering the other but existing in a tenuous balance.
Lucavion decided to test the power of this new energy. He focused on his core, attempting to draw the mana into his body. At first, he met with resistance, as if the energies were reluctant to be disturbed. The dark, eerie energy, in particular, seemed to cling stubbornly to the core, refusing to be summoned.
But Lucavion was persistent. He coaxed the mana gently, inserting a trickle of his own neutral energy to persuade it to move. Slowly, the dark mana began to respond. It crawled out from his core, seeping into his body like tendrils of shadow.
The sensation was strange—cold, yet not unpleasant. It was like a wave of darkness wrapping around him, spreading through his veins and bones.
The amount of mana he managed to draw was minimal, just a tiny fraction of what he was used to wielding. Yet, as the mana reached his skin, it caused his entire body to glow with a faint, ominous light. His skin tingled with the sensation of power surging through him, an intensity he hadn’t expected.
Even this small amount of dark energy felt overwhelming, almost too powerful to contain
“This is…..”
———A/N———-
I am planning to change the cultivation setting.
Rather than using stage 3, I will use 3-star from now on. I will also edit the previous chapters when I have time.
———————–
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I am open to any criticism; you can comment on things that you would like to see in the story.
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