The Villain's Story - Chapter 779 - 779: The Shade King(3).

‘What is a shadow to you?’

The scholar asked his apprentice, a young elf in a vast library, one that reached as high as the skies, countless books lay in its old halls, millennia of research, poetry, fiction, all kinds of knowledge gathered by the brave and mighty lay in these halls.

‘… A shadow is something cast when a physical object obstructs the path of light, Sir.’

‘Oh for the love of the World Tree, We live in a universe full of magic, aura and all kinds of unique things and that’s what you come up with? You’re never going to get far in life, Aster!’

‘My apologies, Master.’

‘Let me ask you again, what is a shadow?’

The young elf stopped for a moment, thinking over his answer multiple times, taking knowledge from everything he had acquired.

‘It is one of the many elements of affinity among the cosmos, Although extremely rare and almost nothing is written down on it besides a few basic abilities. Even the dark elves rarely have someone with an affinity to shadows. It is usually associated with the abyss, due to its users using its elusive abilities to commit atrocities.’

‘No.’

But he was wrong, incredibly wrong.

‘You don’t blame the affinity for what the user does, Fire is capable of great destruction, yet our greatest healers are attuned to fire as well… Shadow is something entirely else.’

‘What is it, Master?’

‘It’s you.’

‘Pardon?’

‘In the myths of the Dragons and the God beasts, The eyes are said to be the gateway to the soul, revealing it to you, expressing its power through the medium of optics… But your shadow is a reflection of your soul.

It’s you, in the truest sense, and also in the most wrong way.’

‘…’

‘It’s the mask you wear when you interact with anyone, it’s the truest version of you when you cry alone in sorrow in your room, secluded. It’s been with you from the start, and it knows you better than you know yourself.

It wears the same mask you wear, the same truth you hide, the very lies you conceive and the very lies you tell yourself. It is you, in the truest form, and in the greatest flaw.’

The old elf looked down at his own shadow with a smirk, as his young apprentice looked at his own with caution.

‘But in the end, it is also the one who yearns and remembers you when no else does… Shadow remembers all, saving you from the fate of the forgotten.’

The old elf stood up, and ordered.

‘Fetch me a drink, would you? I think I should finally get out of this place.’\\

‘Yes… Master Stellaris.’

—-

[You have received a quest.]

A blue window appeared in front of all them, a semblance of light in this dark world.

[Embrace your Shadow.]

[All who enter Nocumbra have their shadow stripped from them, either the will of the Shadow, or the Shade king. Chase your own being across the dark sands of the land of death and accept yourself for who you are. You must face your shadow yourself, or face the direst consequences.]

[Description: Defeat the untamed shadow beasts.]

[0/1]

[Reward: True Shadow.]

They all read the contents of the quests, and could feel a sort of connection in the air, a path leading them far, far away from each other.

Kazikato trembled and fell to his knees, attracting everyone’s attention.

“… I lost the shadow crystal you gave me, boss. It just disappeared.”

The reward for defeating the shadow beast back in the tower of trials, the heart of shadows, which greatly boosted Kazikato’s abilities… But it was not what Alan focused on.

[Trial of Shadows.]

[Defeat 7 Shadow beasts: 2/7]

[Obtain the Acknowledgment of Shilam: -]

[Obtain the acceptance of Kulak:-]

‘… It increased by one even though we didn’t do anything.’

Alan thought for a moment, ignoring the connection growing stronger…

‘Did it count the one I killed in the tower of trials… Strange…’

To his knowledge, the tower of trials took remnants of fallen worlds and the reason for their fall as the basis for the first few floors. The Fallen Empire of the dead, and the Dead of Murim… that was the story, anyway.

Supposedly, the shadow beast invaded these worlds and after a deadly battle with Cheon Ma, it retreated to another one, leaving Murim to rot, and overtaking the empire. So how did something he beat in the tower be recognized here?

And why did the counter rise by two? Did anyone beat another being of shadows? There were five of them here, so by defeating or accepting their own runaway shadows, the counter would be full…

But why exactly did it increase by two? He didn’t understand it.

“Here.”

Reflexively, he caught a small device thrown towards him by Maxwell. Looking around, he saw everyone putting it into their ear.

“We should go, I’ll go back and tell the girls about this. Didn’t we need to beat seven? I’ll call Sabrina and Olivia to come.”

“No need.”

Alan stopped him from entering the portal behind them, and stated.

“The counter went up by two, somehow. Us five are just enough.”

Alan looked in the direction where the strange connection guided him. Focusing on the ground, he could see the sand split itself, forming a faint line.

Everybody saw their own line.

Alexander and Kazikato didn’t talk much, they glanced at the line and took off in the direction it leads, disappearing into the horizon.

Edward trembled in indecisiveness for a moment, but departed soon enough, albeit on a slower pace. His entire body was filled with sweat.

Alan worried about him, but he worried about Maxwell the most.

“… Will you be okay?”

He was the weakest in the group, a Mere C-class awakened. Though on the lower end of even those.

Maxwell didn’t look at him, merely grabbing a handful of sand and pocketing it in one of his spatial inventories, an action Alan found mysterious.

“It’s my shadow, isn’t it? Should be weak as fuck.”

… He pulled out a motorcycle from his spatial inventory and sped off in the distance, leaving Alan bewildered.

And kind of jealous of the ride.