Chapter 1525: The Island For Umbramancy

After a Dungeon run like that, I decided to take the rest of the weekend off doing nothing but relaxing.

My girls were also relaxing in their own ways though at first their idea of relaxing was just to coop up in my room and have me bang them until the weekday... I managed to dissuade them from that since I did want to explore the rest of the Academy city.

In particular, the floating islands that surrounded the main island also housed special training areas that were designed for specific magic studies and I was curious to see how they might work.

The first one I was interested in was the island that was supposed to help with training Umbramancy, since I was curious if it might help me with my Shadow Guards.

I told the girls I would be fine on my own before heading to the teleportation array that would take me to that island itself.

Well... Even if they wanted to follow me, most of them couldn’t since it was only open to students that were enrolled in Umbramancy class to begin with.

I stepped onto the teleportation pad, ignoring the various students who were trying their best to stare at me discreetly before I teleported away.

When my gaze shifted, I found myself standing at the edge of an island with a path that led towards what I can only describe as a dark, forbidden looking forest.

It quite literally looked like some kind of forest that was straight out of a horror story with the arching branches and the dark, shadowy path despite the fact that it was day time.

The darkness also felt quite unnatural as the trees around it looked like it was absorbing the light literally just to plunge the rest of the forest into darkness.

I was a little curious so I stepped up to the edge of the forest and used my Lumenmancy to summon a ball of light using [Spotlight] to try and illuminate the path but... The light shone barely a few inches before it was swallowed up by the darkness.

Hmm... Interesting...

I didn’t need the light to see of course, my proficiency with Umbramancy meant that I could see through this darkness even without a light source.

In fact, this layer of darkness felt magical in nature to begin with and seemed to be designed so that Umbramancers are able to focus their spells and enhance their understanding of the magic while also keeping out distractions.

I’m not sure if this was also part of the purpose but anyone who isn’t proficient in Umbramancy would also find it impossible to navigate this forest since it would render them blind.

Since I’ve already come all the way here anyway... I extinguished the light ball and stepped inside.

The moment I stepped past the threshold that separated the forest from the area outside, it felt like I was wrapped up in a cloak of darkness that was gently embracing me.

Not only that... Despite the fact that my Shadow Guards would normally be stored in my shadow and their presence completely hidden because of that, I could somehow feel like all of them were standing right behind me and following me like how an army would follow a general.

I even looked back to make sure that they weren’t actually physically behind me and sure enough, it was just empty space behind me so I let out a sigh of relief.

Thinking about it... With the number of Shadow Guards I have... I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have been able to fit in the space behind me before they found themselves falling off the edge of the island anyway...

Turning back to look at the path, I decided to just follow it to see where it led first.

I’m pretty sure they don’t expect students to just stay at the edge of the forest to practice their magic so there must be some kind of facility here that will aid us, right? Just like the forest that Director Fetra led me to where she had that cabin in the clearing to practice Kalomancy.

I moved along the path, getting used to the feeling of the presence of my Shadow Guards following behind me pretty quickly since I would usually have my girls following behind as well anyway.

However... I didn’t really get very far before I felt another presence within the forest outside of the path.

It felt like there was someone in the undergrowth watching me...

No, not just watching me... But hunting me. And it was coming from somewhere to my right.

As soon as I looked in the direction of where I felt that gaze, however, the sensation suddenly disappeared.

It definitely was not my imagination because it felt like whoever was watching me just merged with the shadows and shifted away.

I waited to see if the feeling would come back but when everything remained quiet, I continued walking again.

But no sooner had I taken two steps, the feeling came again, this time from my left.

I snapped my attention in that direction, hoping to catch whatever was stalking me before it could fade away.

What I got was seeing something dark melt into the darkness before I could even get a good look at it, the presence disappearing the moment I had looked in that direction.

I frowned slightly, wondering if there was some kind of monster in the forest that was meant to keep students on their toes or something.

I continued walking again, keeping my senses tuned to my surroundings in case the presence appeared again.

Surprisingly, it does not, as though it figured that the second time I caught it was indicative that it was not hiding as well as it thought and gave up.

At least... That’s what I thought until the presence returned, this time coming from above me instead.

I looked up, just in time to see a pair of eyes within a shadow that seemed surprised that I was still able to sense its presence before it disappeared again, confirming that I was definitely not imagining things.

I made a face at that, since I was expecting that the presence might be some kind of monster or something, not a pair of eyes.

This time, I stretched out my senses, reaching towards the darkness to try and find that presence again and making use of the traces that were left behind when it disappeared to try and track whoever it was down.

I managed to catch the trail of the presence where it appeared to be slipping in between the darkness of the trees and shifting positions all around me constantly, almost like it was trying to throw me off just by moving around fast and using the trees to distract me.

But since I was already locked on to that presence, I could keep track of it and it eventually stopped right at the edge of the path beside her tree before it slowly stepped out onto the path itself.

"Impressive... I suppose that is expected of the student that has been getting all the attention recently," The person muttered, revealing themselves.

In front of me was a female Trasif who was wearing a dark violet robe that covered her body entirely from view aside from her face.

She had long silver hair that was currently tied up in a ponytail and the most striking thing about her was the fact that she had skin darker than Odeta’s.

She was a dark elf, basically... And I didn’t even know there was such a thing as dark elves in this World.

I was on guard as I watched her carefully, wondering who this person might be.

She gave me a slight smile, "There is no need to be on guard against me, student Aster. We have met before, when you had appeared before the Grand Chancellor to decide who you would be apprenticed to."

That told me all I needed to know to guess who this person might be.

"You are... The Chair for Umbramancy?" I asked.

She gave a curt nod, "Correct. You may call me Director Vesper... No... You may just call me Vesper if you wish. I have heard from your Umbramancy professor that you have developed an... Interesting spell. And that you would have a better time improving your skill in Umbramancy if you were to be my apprentice. Now I see what she’s talking about."

Her eyes drifted to the place behind me, almost like she could see my Shadow Guards or something.

I tilted my head at her, "Are you perhaps..."

I did not need to finish my sentence as she nodded at me, "Yes, student Aster. I am formally inviting you to be my apprentice. You are free to turn me down of course, but seeing your... Special circumstances... I think it would be better for you to accept it."

She then nodded her head at the place behind me again.

Well... I guess since she has already appeared in front of me like this... Might as well, right?