~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday!
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Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta—all seven had already turned eighteen.
Another morning, waking up with Beta in his arms.
Shino looked down at her.
So cute.
Even her sleeping face was beautiful.
Beta’s eyelids fluttered.
She opened her eyes.
“Good morning, Phantom-sama!”
Her voice was still thick with sleep.
“Good morning, Beta.”
Shino got up and left the room on his own.
Beta needed to change out of her sleepwear.
At times like this, he should be a gentleman and leave of his own accord.
Phantom-sama doesn’t have to leave when I change clothes!
Beta thought to herself as she watched him go.
Time flew.
Gamma had already been here seven days.
Their daily tasks were the same: follow Shino in practicing mana control, methods to increase mana capacity, and swordsmanship instruction.
Gamma’s talent matched Beta’s, but her physical coordination was terrible.
She was always falling over.
Today, as usual, they practiced swordsmanship.
During their sparring match, Gamma would fall at the slightest provocation, ending up covered in dust.
“Phantom-sama…
am I really useless?” Gamma said, head bowed.
“Of course not.
I know you’ve been working very hard.” Shino smiled and patted her head.
“I need to change up your training.”
He snapped his fingers.
A mass of mana separated from his body.
It slowly formed into a human figure beside him, eventually becoming an exact copy of himself.
“Beta, this is a mana clone I created.
Its mana capacity is twice yours.
Your goal is to defeat it.”
“Phantom-sama…
it has your face.
I can’t bring myself to strike it.”
Beta had seen with her own eyes how good Shino was to her.
She couldn’t attack him.
“I didn’t think that through.”
Shino snapped his fingers again.
The mana clone dissolved back into a mass of mana, then transformed into an adult wearing a black mask.
“Gamma, come with me.
I’ll design a training plan specifically for you.”
Gamma followed with her head down.
Beta watched them leave.
She turned to face the mana clone.
Her body was covered in slime mana.
A Slime Sword materialized in her hand.
She vanished from her spot in an instant.
CLANG!
Their swords clashed.
The mana clone only defended.
It never attacked.
Shino’s control over the clone wasn’t strong enough yet.
If he accidentally let it kill Beta, he’d have no one to blame but himself.
Gamma and Shino arrived at an empty clearing.
Shino controlled his mana, extending four mana arms.
He used them to prop himself up, suspending himself in the air.
“Gamma, what do you see?”
“Phantom-sama is flying!”
From her perspective, she couldn’t see the mana arms at all.
Shino snapped his fingers.
The mana arms became visible.
“When your mana capacity and control reach a certain level, you can use mana like this to support yourself and fly.”
“You can also disguise the mana arms, make them invisible.”
“Your balance is poor.
It’s an innate defect.
I can’t change that.
But your mana control isn’t bad.
As long as you practice diligently, you can use mana arms like this to stabilize yourself.
You won’t fall over on flat ground anymore.”
“Phantom-sama, you’re amazing!
Please teach me!”
“First, you need to learn how to control mana…”
Shino personally guided Gamma in mastering mana control.
Meanwhile, Beta couldn’t defeat the opponent whose mana capacity was twice hers, no matter how hard she tried.
After countless failures, she finally managed to win.
At night, Cid happened to pass by.
Seeing Shadow Garden being managed so well by Shino, he didn’t reveal himself.
“Not a bad harvest today.
Shino sure is diligent, teaching the new members of Shadow Garden.”
“Our Eminence in Shadow family has gained a few more members.
Joyous occasion.”
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
Beta and Gamma’s strength had skyrocketed.
Gamma could now successfully control the mana arms.
During regular training, whenever she was about to lose her balance, the mana arms would help her steady herself.
And Beta’s strength had already surpassed Shino’s sister, Claire.
One must understand that under Shino’s guidance, Claire’s strength had become unprecedentedly powerful.
In the entire Kagenou domain, excluding Shino and Cid, even if everyone attacked together, they probably wouldn’t be Claire’s match.
Shadow Garden’s temporary base wasn’t in the Kagenou domain.
It was in a desolate, uninhabited area.
But today, uninvited guests arrived.
A group of demon swordsmen came to this place.
“Boss, look at this house.
It’s so new.
Must have been built recently.
Perfect for our base!”
“Yeah, I never thought we’d find such a good base out in the wilderness after wandering for so long!”
“Boss, what if there are people inside?
How should we handle it?”
“How else?
Kill the men, keep the women.”
At that moment, Shino wasn’t there.
He was in the Kagenou domain.
After all, he had a family, parents.
Usually, he still had to show his face at home most of the time.
But thanks to his efforts, the mana clone could now observe Beta and the others’ situation through his thoughts.
Shino’s mana clone watched everything from the shadows.
If they encountered danger, it would step in to help.
Shino controlled the clone to observe the situation while simultaneously hurrying back.
The clone only possessed one percent of Shino’s strength, and it couldn’t gauge the mana capacity of this group.
Both Beta and Gamma noticed the people outside.
They pushed the door open and walked out.
“Boss, we hit the jackpot this time.
Only two girls.
Girls this age are just right.
Haven’t touched a woman in ages.
Gotta have some real fun.”
Beta, perhaps due to some special talent, had started developing early.
She was already an A-cup.
And Gamma had become quite appetizing.
She was already a modest B-cup.
The bandits all grinned from ear to ear.
“That white-haired elf is mine.
I’m going first!” one bandit declared.
He charged straight at Beta.
Beta was about to make a move when a hand stopped her.
“Beta, let me handle this.
You’ve already been in real combat.
I haven’t yet.
Let this be my first real battle.”
Hearing this, the bandit laughed lewdly.
“I’ll make sure you girls get a real taste of combat.”
THUD!
The bandit slammed into an invisible barrier.
This was the barrier Shino had set up to protect the members of Shadow Garden.
After Shino’s upgrades, the barrier could now recognize people.
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Shino, and Cid could walk through it without any issue.
Anyone else would just crash straight into it.
“What the hell is this thing!”
The bandit leader swung his sword at it.
His sword was deflected.
He was thrown back, crashing to the ground.
He looked at his men.
Feeling he had lost face, he immediately got up.
“Bastard!
Break!”
He gathered his mana, concentrating it all into his sword, and struck the barrier with all his might.
CRACK!
A sound of shattering rang out.
He thought he hadn’t lost face this time.
But when he looked closely, a crack appeared in his sword.
The next moment, the crack widened.
His sword instantly shattered into a pile of fragments.
That’s when Gamma moved.
She rushed out of the barrier at high speed and swung her sword at the bandit leader.
Watching her approach at terrifying speed, he felt he was done for.
But Gamma missed.
Just as she was about to reach him, she swung.
She misjudged the distance.
She swung too early.
The sword almost hit him, but it just grazed past.
He felt the chill on his neck.
It was the wind from the sword’s rapid swing.
After missing, Gamma swung again.
But the bandit leader immediately dropped to his knees.
That last swing had made him feel like he saw his great-grandmother waving him over.
“Spare me, warrior!”
This swing shaved his hair clean off.
Seeing the enemy beg for mercy, Gamma didn’t know what to do.
It was her first time facing a surrendering enemy.
She turned her head to look at Beta behind her, wanting to ask what she should do.
Taking advantage of her turned head, the bandit leader pulled a dagger from his bosom.
He stabbed it straight at Gamma’s abdomen.
The dagger snapped instantly.
He stared blankly at the hilt remaining in his hand.
He looked again at Gamma’s undamaged black Slime Bodysuit, falling into deep thought.
“Am I dreaming?
This was a mana dagger I bought for a fortune.
Stronger than my sword.
And it can’t even pierce a black piece of clothing!”
Gamma came back to her senses, realizing the enemy had tried to ambush her.
This time, she swung her sword.
The enemy had no time to react.
He was instantly decapitated.
Seeing their leader dead, none of the other bandits tried to flee.
They were all desperate outlaws, looking for a place to settle.
They knew fleeing was definitely not a good option.
“There’s only one of her!
Let’s all rush her together!”
The group of bandits charged forward, weapons in hand.
During the fight, Gamma would frequently lose her balance out of nowhere.
Just as she seemed about to fall, she would stand back up again.
It baffled the bandits.
Gamma’s fighting style couldn’t be called beautiful.
Clumsy was a better description.
To the bandits, her movements were indeed clumsy.
But it was this very person who killed them all, one by one.
Every single bandit died with an expression of disbelief.
Beta watched Gamma’s state.
Killing people, no discomfort at all.
She thought back to her own reaction the first time she killed someone.
She felt a bit embarrassed about herself.
➤ Next: Delta