NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41
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The lecture ended.
This time, Boun claimed the top spot again. He charged ahead, tearing through the shadows of other students in a whirlwind, achieving victory. No magic from any other shadow could penetrate his shadow’s form.
In the end, the owner of the last shadow to die in his hands became the successful candidate. He wasn’t that strong, though. In previous exams, he had ranked around the middle. It was likely he survived this test because he’d been hiding well somewhere.
Of course, this was pretty much irrelevant to me. I just took a nice long break while they took the exam. It wasn’t until the class was nearly finished that I came back to my senses.
When I woke up, the disconnect between my body and mind had almost vanished, blending them together smoothly. It was a rare feeling of unity. In this state, I could probably last another month.
Once I returned, I’d have a mountain of work waiting for me. It took two days to get back to the tower, so altogether I had three days’ worth of tasks looming over me. If I didn’t hurry back, it’d only get worse.
But I hadn’t gone back to the tower yet.
Instead, I found myself inside a black sphere. I had been wandering around in there for six hours already. In the process, I’d managed to uncover quite a number of puddles.
I took a closer look at one of the puddles I just discovered. Someone’s magic was buried within. Was there a master for this one too? Slowly, I turned back down the path I had come from.
This world had a variety of puddles like these. They connected to the tower that existed in reality. Students would enter these puddles to move into the heart of the tower and continue their training, claiming the place as their domain.
Easy-access locations and places with strong magic were all claimed by the upper-tier students. Even the corners were taken by those below them. The lower-tier students often shared puddles to train together.
Thus, I traced my way back to the original spot, the front of the black sphere. Nearby, several shadows were positioned along one side of the passage, absorbing magic. They were the ones who hadn’t secured a room. Instead, they were feeding the magic of this world into their shadows.
The magic of this world was very unique. Only shadows could manipulate it, and only shadows could absorb it. Since they struggled to increase their own abilities, they aimed to strengthen their shadows as much as possible.
I carefully passed by them. I had done the same a few times before.
But ever since my shadow had taken on a proper form, I had stopped that practice. What was the point of feeding it more? It was clear I’d be the first to be eliminated anyway.
This was the first time in a while that I wandered around here. For the most part, I had only used it as a corridor between classrooms. My own tasks were busy enough that I didn’t have the luxury to explore here.
But then Maira had told me to delve deeper into this world.
There must have been a clear reason for her to say that. Thinking that, I had roamed many areas in the past six hours. Yet I hadn’t discovered anything. Only the shadows moving around the walls welcomed me.
So, should I go over there? Below the sphere, a massive hole loomed. It was the only place I hadn’t gone. There was nothing left but there.
Slowly, I approached the hole. As I got closer, I found it filled with dim shadows. However, a path down did exist.
I placed my foot on that path. The path going downward was incredibly steep. And the deeper I went, the murkier the magic became.
The reason I hadn’t come down here before was precisely this. The magic in the upper levels was the purest. As I descended this hole, the efficiency of the magic rapidly declined.
So, I traveled down this path, endlessly down. I didn’t know how long I had been going, but I suddenly realized the surroundings had grown very dark.
This darkness was caused by the magic. The magic had turned so murky it began to stick, darkening the area around me.
And within that darkness, shadows flickered.
The shadows were half-extended outside, wandering. It was as if this unpleasant magic provided them with the strength to move.
I approached them to take a closer look. However, they weren’t in a normal state. The ones moving like this had lost direction, wandering aimlessly like dust scattered by the wind. Their faint forms seemed as if they would disappear at any moment.
Professor Heisen’s explanation came to mind.
He said this place was where the shadows of the dead gathered. What I had seen on the upper levels were shadows that moved vigorously. Until now, I had thought all shadows in this world looked like that.
But as I observed their forms, I realized that I was wrong. They were the true shadows of the dead.
Shadows that had lost their masters, bound to this world for a long time, had forgotten the meaning of their existence and gradually faded away, reaching this end.
They didn’t even recognize when my shadow brushed past them. Cautiously, I started to move inward and deeper.
More shadows appeared, and the magic began to wrap around my shadow as though it had a viscous stickiness.
So, I continued deeper, lower. There wasn’t even a clear path visible now.
My sense of direction vanished, and I couldn’t even tell where I was. Shadows were no longer visible. The further I ventured, the more I felt as if I was dissolving into that deep darkness.
How long had I walked like this? Suddenly, a massive flow began to form within this still darkness. It created an immense pressure, pulling me along.
I was swept away by that flow, pushing me deeper inside. It was a pressure that I couldn’t dare to resist.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I reached the endpoint of that flow.
There stood a man. He pulled me from within the current of darkness.
“Hey there, it’s my first time seeing you out here!”
He said with a smile, holding me in his hand. That familiar voice—Boun. He was blocking the massive flow with his entire body, like a wall. I hung my head, still in his grip.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Nah, I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t even know there was a person here, and I ended up pulling you along with the magic I absorbed.”
I cautiously surveyed the surroundings. Thanks to him blocking the flow completely, the surrounding darkness had also cleared. Carefully looking around, I realized why this flow had formed.
It was because he had brought a living body outside. The magic drawn to it had surged into this place like a massive current. And all that magic was being drawn into his shadow. He was literally swallowing that enormous flow.
I swallowed hard. How could this be possible? I finally understood why his shadow was so powerful. He set me down on solid ground. Then he looked at me, stroking his short beard.
“What brings you down here? All the facilities of the tower are up above, and all that’s down here is this murky magic.”
“I came down on Maira’s advice to see the depths of the world.”
“Oh, Maira, you say? That sounds interesting. So, what do you think now that you see it for yourself?”
I subtly raised my body and glanced around. There were peculiar sights that could not be seen through the eyes of a shadow.
What I thought was a flow of magic was actually a gigantic shadow. The shadows of the dead had lost their identity and mixed with magic, forming this massive shadow with other shadows.
“I…I could never have imagined it would look like this.”
Was this what Maira wanted me to observe? I couldn’t take my eyes off that bizarre sight. It felt like various inspirations were flooding in.
“I haven’t been down here long myself. I guess I couldn’t temper my shadow with just the magic from the upper levels anymore. I came down here searching for stronger magic.”
He said, puffing out his chest. His shadow was endlessly absorbing magic, as if it had no limits.
“I see. Thanks to you, I was able to come this far. If I had come down here alone, I wouldn’t have seen this spectacle.”
“What are you saying? You’ve done plenty for me so far. This is nothing.”
I forced a smile. I recalled my shadow getting shredded by him during the recent exam. The little guy seemed to have no thoughts of its own as it took a tiny taste of magic from Boun’s shadow.
It paused for a moment, seemingly tasting it, then spat it out. Boun burst into laughter at that.
“Looks like it doesn’t suit his taste. Can’t blame him, really. It is, after all, a mass of dead shadows. It took a while for my shadow to get used to it, so directly absorbing it might be a bit tough.”
“That makes sense.”
My shadow continued to retch. It stared at me. Along with that, it sent its will through the connection of magic.
It was signaling to me to give it magic to cleanse itself. When I handed over some magic, it rinsed its mouth with that.
It gazed nervously at Boun’s shadow. A strong sense of fear emanated from within it. And I could understand why. It was, in a way, witnessing the scene of devouring a kin’s corpse.
Boun and I silently watched the shadows feast upon each other. Why could shadows mix like that? As I pondered this, time naturally flowed on.
Watching this scene stirred something in my chest, but I wasn’t sure if I could grasp anything from it.
I figured I should treat this spectacle as one direction for further research. If I keep stacking these experiences and experiments, I’m sure I’ll yield results someday.
Eventually, Boun’s shadow finished absorbing magic. It enveloped Boun with its own flesh filled with magic.
Then, the magic flow that had lost its target began to subside. I could feel that the massive shadow was sweeping the area but could not find the hidden flesh beneath the shadow.
With that, the surroundings fell into darkness once more. Boun’s voice broke through the silence.
“Well then, I think I’ll be taking my leave. Are you coming with me?”
“No, I’d like to stay here for a bit longer.”
I shook my head. It seemed like there were still things I needed to confirm. I needed to study the qualities of this shadow a bit more. Laughter echoed from Boun within the dark.
“Don’t think about going deeper from here. There are worse things wriggling down below.”
With that, he vanished, leaving a gust of wind behind. As the darkness thickened and everything around fell into quietude, I closed my eyes and continued my thoughts.
Was it because I had seen the previous scene? I could sense shadows alive and moving in this darkness. They had lost their forms and melted away, yet they sustained themselves within that vast collective.
This darkness wasn’t just a chaotic mixture of magic; it was more like a space where each shadow convened to create harmony. This realization, much like fragile glass shards, remained within me in an incomplete and fragmented state.
To make that realization a bit more perfect, I plunged endlessly into the darkness.
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