Chapter 270: Now it’s Black Shadow’s Dinner. A Great Source of Experience Points.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 270: Now it’s Black Shadow’s Dinner. A Great Source of Experience Points.
After a rather awkward parting with Professor Park A-ram, I headed to the training grounds on the mountain behind the Academy alone.
…To be honest, I was mentally exhausted and considered doing this tomorrow, but if I procrastinated and some other disaster struck tomorrow, I’d just end up pushing it back again.
It was better to just get it over with.
I laid today’s spoils out on the ground and gave the signal. The black shadow residing in my arm revealed itself.
Emerging with a soft shururu sound, the Black Shadow rubbed against me, flicking its tongue as if checking to see if it was okay to eat.
“Yeah, I bought all of this for you, so eat up. Don’t leave anything behind.”
The moment I gave permission, the creature lunged at the prepared artifacts as if it hadn’t eaten in days.
Watching the black shadow swallow the artifacts whole was, frankly, a bit chilling. However, the creature didn’t seem to care about my feelings; it enjoyed its meal, occasionally trembling to express its delight.
After some time had passed and it had devoured all the artifacts I’d prepared, it had grown another level, becoming quite large.
— Shuru.
Yet, as if still unsatisfied, it turned its gaze toward the mana stones and gems I had set aside. When I nodded, it swallowed them without hesitation.
…The value of what that thing just ate in a single moment had to be nearly a billion won in cash.
“Well, at least it’s rewarding.”
I suppose you could say it was earning its keep.
Slithering across the ground toward me, the creature began to circle me as if protecting me, showing off its new form.
— Shururu…
Seeing it act so cute, it seemed it was still hungry for more, but unfortunately, I had nothing left to give.
“That’s it. Do you have any idea how much you just ate?”
— Shuru?
“Don’t pretend you don’t understand. You spoke when I was sparring with Cheon Yu-hak.”
— …Ah, caught. Caught.
Laughing like a child caught in a prank, the creature decided to be brazen since the cat was out of the bag, adopting a very defiant attitude.
— Still hungry. Give more. Give more.
“I want to give you more, but I really don’t have anything. Wait until I have some spare funds. Or I’ll raid a dungeon for you soon. Just hold out until then.”
— Give now. Give now. I will get stronger. Will beat the iron stick.
Iron stick? Is it talking about Ruyi?
“Are you talking about the Ruyi Jingu Bang?”
— Correct. Master is stingy. When not wearing the mask, you only love the iron stick, not me.
“…Uh, well. Sorry?”
Jealousy… would that be the right word? What should I call this? If I had to categorize it, it seemed to be a mix of competitiveness and a desire to win. Honestly, I didn’t know there was this kind of rivalry between artifacts.
— It is fine. Iron stick is hurting now. Now I will show that I am great.
“Does that mean you need more food to do that?”
— Correct! So give more! Or I will eat the thing Master told me not to eat!
…Hmm? Something I told it not to eat? What was that?
The creature watched my reaction for a moment, and after reading my thoughts from my expression, it began to chatter excitedly.
— Hmm? Master does not know. Seems not to know. Did you forget? Forgot! I can eat it!
Was there something I gave it but told it not to eat? I really couldn’t remember.
— It is fine not to know!
The Black Shadow shouted in an excited voice and gave a small wriggle.
— Kyaaaak…!
Simultaneously, a sharp scream I’d never heard before echoed in my ears—no, in my head.
…What was that? I made sure to choose artifacts without sentience to give to the Black Shadow.
— Do not resist…! If you stay still, it will be over soon!
— Stop…! Stop it! Can’t you hear me telling you to stop!?
— Hehe, eating! Last time it was too big and difficult, but now I can eat it!
As red sparks began to fly from within the wriggling Black Shadow as if in resistance, the forgotten artifact finally came to mind.
“Ah, right. It’s Astrape. I completely forgot.”
The artifact I had accidentally taken from our delusional lightning villain, and which the Black Shadow refused to spit out no matter how much I coaxed it.
One half of Zeus’s lightning, split into two: the red lightning, Astrape.
Originally, I was going to give it to Cheon Yu-hak since it was lightning-attributed.
— Save me…!
— Grrr…!
But it felt like a bit of a waste, didn’t it? It was a myth-grade artifact, after all.
It wasn’t that I was petty because that bastard Cheon Yu-hak teased me for being drunk, but wouldn’t giving a myth-grade item to a mere cadet be too much of a reward?
He might get lazy and stop training, right? And it wasn’t even certain if he could successfully form a contract with it.
— I’m dying…! I’m really going to die…!?
Above all, if I let things like that live, they might betray me later, saying, ‘Heh, actually, you can’t handle Astrape unless you perfectly recite the ancient incantation…!’
— I won’t! I promise I won’t! Please, just let me live! Just let me live…!
“Hey, Black Shadow, stop for a second.”
— …No.
“Ah, just for a moment. I want to ask a question. Be a good boy, okay?”
— I hate Master. It is mine… you are trying to take it away.
— Pant… pant… wheeze… Thank… thank you.
In truth, myth-grade artifacts are all incredibly prideful. They possess immense power but can only be used after undergoing a master-recognition process.
Even if the Black Shadow was a growth-type artifact that could swallow anything, wasn’t it strange that a myth-grade item was being overwhelmed like this, barely able to resist?
“Why can’t you even resist the Black Shadow? You’re a myth-grade.”
— Th-that’s…
“That’s what?”
— It’s because the artifacts in Zeus’s series are only quasi-myth-grade individually…!
“…I don’t think that’s it. Even quasi-myth-grade should be on par with Ruyi. You’re being eaten by the Black Shadow, which hasn’t even finished growing yet?”
— …Ugh!
“If you talk nonsense one more time, I’m really going to tell the Black Shadow to eat you.”
— Do it! Talk nonsense quickly!
I thought it would say something by this point, but surprisingly, it chose silence.
I thought it would lie just to stay alive.
Well, I suppose myth-grade artifacts do have high pride, and they rarely change masters once they’ve acknowledged one.
If that’s the case, there’s no helping it. It’s a bit of a waste, but…
“Black Shadow, just eat it.”
— Yay!
— …Excuse me???
“Well, you’re the one who didn’t answer when I gave you the chance. Why? Did you think I wouldn’t be able to give up a myth-grade artifact because it’s too valuable?”
What’s the point if I just end up doing all the work for someone else’s benefit?
If it pretends to be friendly by building rapport with me and then returns to its original master later, I’d be in big trouble.
“Make sure you chew it thoroughly and swallow it completely, okay?”
— W-wait! You’re not actually going to do it, are you? As a set, it’s myth-grade! Even alone, it’s quasi-myth-grade!
— Be quiet!
“No, what use is a quasi-myth-grade if I can’t use it and my friends can’t use it? It even seems like you can’t forget your previous master.”
Now that I think about it, it’s quite irritating. This thing probably tormented my friends when they fought its previous owner.
It seemed to think I wouldn’t actually turn it into a meal, but my mind was already made up.
— Really?
“Really.”
— H-how dare you! Do you think you’ll be fine after insulting a myth-grade artifact…!? My other half and my master will surely…!
“Ah, there’s your true nature. Hey, Black Shadow, chew more thoroughly. I don’t like types like this.”
— Yes! Understood, Master!
— Aaaak…! Wait! Wait! Stop! I said stop! Please… save…! Ugh… aaaaak…!?
How long did the screams of the artifact, which put up a clumsy resistance, echo in my head?
By the time my mind went quiet…
“Are you satisfied now?”
— Yes! I am full! No, I am full, Master.
The Black Shadow, now much larger than an old tree, was showing several changes beyond just its size.
“Why the sudden polite speech?”
— As I eat, various bits of knowledge flow in. Or rather, they are coming in?
It seemed the confusion came from absorbing the abilities of its prey, but that would likely settle down soon.
“For now, I want to run some tests.”
Fortunately, the Black Shadow understood me perfectly and began to show off its new abilities added to the shadows.
Red currents flowed through the black shadows, and dark red lightning began to swirl.
The shadow, clad in lightning, naturally changed its shape into a sword and settled into my hand. Through the hand gripping the sword, I could feel the massive lightning qi writhing inside the shadow.
“Okay. If I release this, the mountain will be in chaos, so let’s stop there.”
I grew the Black Shadow and permanently weakened a future enemy’s strength. I’d say I did pretty well.
…Dark red lightning. I feel like I’ve added another chuunibyou set that doesn’t quite fit a hero, but performance is what matters, right?
Anyway, for now, I should ignore the lightning and get used to the weapons made of shadow.
* * *
“Hmm.”
And there was one stalker who watched this entire scene without missing a thing.
The Plum Blossom Sword Empress, Lee Ha-ru.
His swordsmanship master from before his regression, and now a woman captivated by his sword, she was staring blankly at the sight.
At first, she thought he had just come to train as usual, but she had ended up seeing something far more incredible than expected.
If anyone else had seen that, they would have been overturned with shock, but Ha-ru didn’t feel a sense of crisis watching him.
His appearance, clad in black shadows and red lightning, was certainly threatening.
However, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t control the power, and although it looked a bit dark, it didn’t give off a particularly sinister energy.
If she had to pick another reason, well…
It was because she quite liked the sword dance he was performing right now.
It was a well-centered sword dance, no longer filled with the same impatience as before.
In fact, she had been worried before because he seemed to be running without a destination, as if being chased by something. This was a good change.
“I feel quite proud myself.”
As she watched for a while, a noble black flower began to bloom at the tip of his sword.
It was beautiful. It was still immature and couldn’t be called a completed sword, but she truly thought so.
The feeling of pride, as if a disciple had grown, was surely due to the word ‘Master’ that had come out of his mouth not long ago.
Watching his sword dance with such proud eyes, she slowly drew her sword.
Why so suddenly, you ask?
It was simple.
It wasn’t exactly a sudden decision.
She had always wanted to truly exchange blows with him.
His sword was so full of killing techniques and feints, yet whenever they had a spar where others were watching, he would fight without using either, as if trying to hide them. She never had the chance to properly experience his sword.
When they had clashed once before, his condition had been so poor that it was more like a guided lesson.
“That looks like a fairly decent sword. Do you happen to need a sparring partner to test it out?”
So now, with him having seemingly acquired new power, a duel was an opportunity she didn’t want to miss—one with the perfect excuse of testing that new power.
“Whoa, you startled me. How long have you been watching?”
“Not long. Since about the time you started feeding those artifacts to that shadow?”
“You saw everything.”
Still, it was strange.
If he had been caught in such a state, one would normally think she might tell someone else, but he didn’t even consider that possibility.
“Aren’t you worried that I might tell others?”
“I’m not. You’re not the type to be interested in that, and even if you were…”
He gripped the sword made of shadows and took a stance. Almost simultaneously, as if by reflex, I took a stance as well.
“You’re so focused on my sword right now that you don’t care about anything else.”
“Haha, you caught me. You’re right. Honestly, nothing else really catches my eye right now.”
As she slowly raised her energy, he began to infuse his sword with energy in response.
Honestly, she had wondered what she would do if he refused again this time.
“Senior.”
“Yes?”
“It’s no fun to just do it, so how about we make a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Yes, a bet. The loser has to grant the winner one wish. How about it?”
“Hmm, as long as it’s not too unreasonable, a simple wish should be fine.”
“No taking it back, okay?”
“Well, it seems you have something to ask of me, Junior. That’s a shame.”
“What is?”
“Because I’m going to win. I think you’ll be the one granting the wish…!”
“We’ll have to see about that.”
The swordsman, taking a stance identical to her own, leaped toward her.