I stared at the System notification for a long time.
Until recently, I had believed that killing monsters was merely a way to survive and gain resources.
I hadn’t expected it to grant me EXP as well.
More importantly, my Core had finally started progressing.
I looked at my left hand.
“Noxveil, do you know what determines how much EXP I receive?”
My Lord, I do not know.
However, I have sensed that something inside you has changed.
Whatever it is, it doesn’t appear to be harmful.
I frowned.
Something inside me had changed?
I already knew that Noxveil had helped me in ways ordinary Awakened could only dream of.
But this EXP system seemed to be something different.
Who—or what—had changed my body?
Could it have been the System?
Or was there something else hidden inside me?
I could spend hours searching for answers, but I didn’t have that kind of time.
Ten days.
That was all we had.
If I wanted to survive what was coming, I needed to become stronger as quickly as possible.
I pushed those questions aside and focused on something more immediate.
“Noxveil, can you change my fighting style?”
My Lord, I can.
I raised an eyebrow.
“What kind of fighting style do you know?”
My Lord, your fighting style is copying others.
I stared at my left hand.
“…What?”
Your fighting style is based on imitation.
“I heard you the first time.
I just don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Noxveil answered patiently.
Shadows have no fixed form.
They take whatever shape they are given.
Because of that, you don’t need to confine yourself to a single fighting style.
I scratched my head.
“I still don’t understand.”
To put it simply, My Lord, you must learn to copy others.
“Copy others?”
Yes.
I looked around the forest.
“Then what am I supposed to copy?
The way trees stand?
The way grass moves in the wind?”
You could begin by copying the beasts.
I stared at the nearest tree.
Then I looked at my hands.
“I am not a four-legged creature.
Why would I copy beasts?”
My Lord, that isn’t what I meant.
I was trying to explain something else.
“Then explain it properly.”
There was a brief silence.
Does anyone know you better than you know yourself?
I paused.
“What does that have to do with fighting?”
Everything, My Lord.
Before you can understand how to imitate others, you must first understand yourself.
I fell silent.
That answer was annoyingly vague.
But there was something else I wanted to clarify.
“Noxveil, are you a part of my thoughts?”
No, My Lord.
I possess thoughts of my own.
I can distinguish between right and wrong, and I can make decisions independently.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Then how do I know you won’t harm me?”
Because I belong to you, My Lord.
I am a shadow that requires a master.
A shadow cannot see without its master.
I considered those words.
“What if someone stronger than me appears one day?
Will you abandon me and follow them instead?”
Noxveil answered immediately.
Never, My Lord.
I belong only to you.
I was created to serve you, and no one else can change that.
You need not worry about such a possibility.
I remained silent for a moment.
Then I nodded.
“All right.
I accept.”
At least I didn’t have to worry about my own weapon betraying me.
That was one less problem to deal with.
Unfortunately, I still had a much bigger problem.
I had only ten days to awaken my stars.
If I wanted to make meaningful progress, I would need to kill an enormous number of beasts every day.
Based on my current EXP gains, I estimated that I might need to hunt around a hundred beasts daily to reach my goal.
The problem was that finding that many beasts was difficult enough.
Killing them was another matter entirely.
Fortunately, Noxveil could cut through ordinary One-Star Beasts with ridiculous ease.
If I could improve my combat abilities and find enough monsters, I might have a chance.
Then Noxveil spoke again.
My Lord, I recommend strengthening your basic abilities first.
“How basic?”
Every Star Awakening grants certain fundamental abilities.
You should understand yours before attempting anything more complicated.
I immediately became interested.
“What abilities do I have?”
My Lord, you possess three basic skills.
A System panel appeared before my eyes.
### Basic Shadow Skills
1. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Shadow Blink
Teleport to any location within 50 meters.
Cooldown: 5 seconds
The skill’s range and power will increase as its user grows stronger.
2.
Shadow Travel
Move through the shadows of your subordinates.
By marking someone with your shadow, you can teleport to their location whenever you wish.
The marked person can also be transported if you choose.
Requirement: High mana consumption.
3.
Shadow Control
Control shadows and shape them into different forms.
You can even make them speak.
You can also transform any part of your body into shadow whenever you wish.
I stared at the descriptions.
Teleportation.
Long-distance movement through the shadows of my subordinates.
The ability to manipulate shadows and transform parts of my body into them.
I had known that my Shadow Blade was powerful, but I hadn’t realized that my basic abilities were this extraordinary.
If I mastered all three skills, I could become incredibly difficult to defeat.
I could dodge attacks, reposition myself instantly, escape dangerous situations, and potentially attack from unexpected angles.
However, there was one obvious weakness.
My mana reserves.
No matter how powerful a skill was, it would be useless if I couldn’t sustain it.
If I wasted all my mana during the beginning of a battle, I would become vulnerable when I needed my abilities most.
And I couldn’t afford that.
I needed to learn how to use my skills efficiently instead of relying on them blindly.
After thinking it over, I made a decision.
For the first five days, I would focus primarily on mastering my basic abilities.
Once I had gained sufficient control, I would spend the remaining time hunting as many beasts as possible.
It wasn’t a perfect plan.
But it was better than wandering around the forest without knowing what I was doing.
I searched for a suitable training location and eventually found a relatively open area surrounded by trees.
There were no beasts in sight, and the ground was mostly flat.
It seemed perfect.
I stood in the center of the clearing and examined the area.
“Let’s start with Shadow Blink.”
I selected a spot a few meters away.
Then I activated the skill.
The next instant—
BANG!
My body shot forward.
Unfortunately, I had misjudged the distance.
My forehead slammed directly into a tree.
For several seconds, I stood there with my face pressed against the trunk.
“…Damn it.”
I stumbled backward, rubbing my forehead.
I had imagined teleportation would be simple.
Choose a destination, activate the skill, and appear there.
How difficult could it be?
Apparently, difficult enough to make me injure myself before fighting a single monster.
I looked around.
Fortunately, nobody had witnessed that pathetic display.
If Noctis had been here, he would probably have laughed until he passed out.
I took a deep breath.
“Again.”
This time, I chose a destination only one meter away.
I focused on the spot and activated Shadow Blink.
My body shifted forward instantly.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t control my landing properly.
I appeared slightly farther than I had intended and lost my balance.
I fell flat on my back.
I stared at the sky.
“…Wonderful.”
At least I hadn’t hit another tree.
I stood up and tried again.
The same thing happened.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Sometimes I appeared too far from my destination.
Sometimes I appeared at an awkward angle.
Sometimes I managed to reach the right spot but couldn’t maintain my balance.
Every attempt revealed a new problem.
And after hours of practice, I still hadn’t achieved the kind of control I wanted.
Eventually, I lost my patience.
“Noxveil!”
My Lord?
“Is this really a skill, or is it some kind of ability designed specifically to help me kill myself?”
My Lord, nothing truly valuable is easy to obtain.
And things that are too easy to obtain are often worthless.
I stared at my left hand.
“I didn’t ask for a philosophy lesson.
I asked you to tell me how to master this quickly.”
I can guide you, My Lord, but learning is your responsibility.
Even if you injure yourself through improper training, I cannot master the skill on your behalf.
I clenched my fists.
“So you can’t help me?”
I can offer guidance.
I can explain what I know and help you understand your abilities.
But I cannot replace your own experience.
If you continue making mistakes, you must learn from them.
I looked toward the tree I had collided with earlier.
A small dent in the bark marked my first attempt.
I sighed.
“But I don’t have much time.”
Then use your other abilities as well.
Train efficiently and strengthen yourself as quickly as possible.
Perhaps that will shorten the time you need.
I remained silent.
Then I nodded.
“Fine.
Let’s continue.”
And so, my training began.
It felt more like repeatedly stabbing myself in the foot.
I knew it would hurt.
I knew I would fail.
But I still had to keep going.
In school or college, a mistake could usually be corrected.
Even if something went wrong, there was often another opportunity to try again.
On a battlefield, however, a mistake could cost you your life.
There might not be another opportunity.
I had no intention of discovering that lesson firsthand.
So I kept practicing.
By the time the sun disappeared behind the trees, I had made very little progress.
My body ached, my forehead hurt, and my patience had nearly run out.
I ate the food I had brought with me, drank some water, and returned to training.
Normally, Noctis would have knocked me unconscious by now so I could get some sleep.
But he wasn’t here.
There was nobody to stop me.
And I couldn’t afford to waste time.
I continued practicing Shadow Blink throughout the night.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The forest gradually grew darker, and the distant sounds of monsters echoed through the trees.
Occasionally, I heard something moving in the undergrowth, but nothing approached my training area.
I continued until the night slowly turned into morning.
When the first rays of sunlight filtered through the branches, I finally stopped.
I examined my progress.
Then I felt like smashing my head against the nearest tree.
I had spent an entire night practicing, yet my control had barely improved.
I could activate the skill.
I could teleport.
But I couldn’t consistently control where I appeared or how I landed.
At this rate, I would spend all five days learning nothing.
I sat down on the ground.
“Calm down.”
I closed my eyes and began meditating.
Instead of repeatedly activating the skill, I tried to understand what was happening when I used it.
Why did I overshoot my destination?
Why did I sometimes lose my balance?
Was the problem my reaction time?
My mana control?
Or was I approaching the skill incorrectly from the beginning?
I thought about every possibility.
Thirty minutes passed.
I still had no answer.
Eventually, I stopped trying to force one.
There has to be a better way.
That was the only thought I allowed myself to focus on.
I didn’t need to master the skill immediately.
I needed to understand it.
After a while, an idea came to mind.
Perhaps my mistake was deciding where I wanted to go only after activating the skill.
I had been thinking about the destination and the activation almost simultaneously, leaving no time to prepare my body for the movement.
What if I chose my destination first?
What if I visualized the exact spot, fixed my attention on it, and only then activated Shadow Blink?
It was a simple idea.
But it was worth trying.
I opened my eyes and stood up.
A few meters ahead, a small patch of grass lay between two exposed roots.
I fixed my gaze on that spot.
I studied its position, the distance between us, and the space around it.
Then I activated Shadow Blink.
Nothing happened.
I remained exactly where I was.
I frowned.
“Again.”
I focused on the destination more carefully.
I imagined standing on that patch of grass.
I imagined the ground beneath my feet.
I imagined the distance between my current position and the place where I wanted to appear.
Then I activated the skill again.
Nothing.
I exhaled slowly.
So that wasn’t enough.
I could have blamed the skill.
I could have blamed my lack of experience.
But neither would help me improve.
I selected another destination and tried again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Still nothing.
Then, on my next attempt, I felt something shift inside my body.
It was subtle—like a thread being pulled taut.
For a fraction of a second, the shadows beneath my feet seemed to move.
I immediately focused harder.
But the sensation vanished before I could understand it.
I stood completely still.
A slow smile appeared on my face.
There it is.
I didn’t know exactly what I had felt.
I didn’t know whether I was close to mastering Shadow Blink or whether I had simply imagined the sensation.
But for the first time since my training began, I had noticed something new.
Something that might lead me toward the answer.
I selected the same destination again.
Then I took a deep breath.
“Let’s try one more time.”
The forest remained silent.
I focused on the spot between the roots.
I imagined myself standing there.
And then—
I activated Shadow Blink.
The shadows beneath my feet stirred.