Lily was sprawled on the sofa, watching Eivass tidy up after a ritual. She couldn’t help but get up and join him.
“What Path Trait did you choose?” Eivass asked casually.
Generally, he didn’t like to pry into such matters. He was merely curious.
Path Traits were usually chosen instinctively.
They were terms given by the Nine Pillar Gods, and they wouldn’t be wrong. Instinctive choices were usually correct… or rather, all three traits were suitable for oneself, and any choice would work.
It was the same principle for Path Traits that match actions based on one’s behavior during a ritual. Even without knowing this, if one’s potential was unleashed by the ritual and they acted according to their true feelings, the traits given would be the most suitable.
Unless, like Miss Iris Flower assassin and Eivass himself, there were special Professional Heritage requirements, where certain Path Traits had to be obtained to complete the job… then there would be a need to control the traits.
But Lily had embarked on the Extraordinary Path solely through a Grimoire. This meant she had no Professional System heritage or restrictions. She was essentially a brand new profession that Eivass didn’t understand… so if Eivass interfered, he might actually cause Lily to choose unsuitable Path Traits.
This was Eivass’s hard-earned experience: If you haven’t played a profession before, when someone asks for your advice, don’t just rely on intuition. Honestly explain, “I really don’t know.”
“Both times it was Shadow Affinity,” Lily replied softly.
“Huh?” Eivass was stunned. “Are you learning Shadow Stealth?”
Upon hearing this, a chuckle, audible even to Lily, came from Eivass’s shadow.
Lily glanced at Eivass’s shadow and replied seriously, “Yes. Didn’t you say that the assassin was able to merge into shadows only after obtaining Shadow Affinity three times? I want to gain that kind of ability too.”
“You want to steal the power of shadows too… Miss Spider?” the Shadow Demon asked in a deep voice like a lion’s roar.
“It’s not stealing, but teaching,” Lily said politely and earnestly. “I remember Young Master saying that those assassins never really came into contact with Shadow Demons. Their skills weren’t imitation but more from imagination… So if I were personally taught the ability to infiltrate shadows by a Shadow Demon, would I be stronger than them?”
“Of course,” the Shadow Demon replied without hesitation. “They haven’t even grasped the outer layer of shadows; they’re so clumsy it makes me laugh. The problem is… why should I teach you, a follower of the God of Stealing Scales and Feathers?”
For some reason, Lily vaguely sensed a hint of hostility in the Shadow Demon’s voice.
Eivass crouched down and gently petted his shadow, murmuring, “So, there’s no problem, is there, Shadow Demon?”
Lily’s words had struck a chord with him.
Eivass had also pondered this matter before—if the Shadow Demon was sealed into a blank card and became his Great Beast, it would be like being trapped in a Poké Ball. It would need to be actively released by Eivass to remain in the outside world.
This meant he didn’t need Shadow Affinity to perfectly control the Shadow Demon. But at the same time, it also meant Eivass would lose the vigilance capability of a permanently present Shadow Demon.
He wouldn’t need to be in a wheelchair anymore, so Lily wouldn’t have a reason to keep pushing his wheelchair and staying by his side. Her ability to divert others’ attention and constantly watch the opponent’s equipment would also be difficult to trigger. And if Lily were attacked, it would be difficult for Eivass to react in time.
If Lily could learn Shadow Stealth, when Eivass entered dangerous areas, Lily could replace the Shadow Demon, merge into his shadow, and stand guard for Eivass in a completely safe place!
This way, Eivass could even bring Lily along when he went for archaeology or abroad. It would be a waste to only let Lily play in low-level matches, considering the excellent equipment he had prepared for her.
“It’s not that I don’t want to teach, my Respected Master,” the Shadow Demon rumbled. Its voice toward Eivass became visibly softer and more obedient, even a little aggrieved. “This Miss Spider doesn’t have the seed of shadows within her. It’s like a human without gills; even if they can imitate fish swimming in water, they can’t breathe for long.”
“The seed of shadows…” Eivass mused.
Speaking of which, he had never used the other half of his Shepherd’s Method.
That was the skill [Shepherd’s (Essence)] belonging to the Transcendent Path, which allowed the Shepherded Phantom Demon to grant power to others.
After thinking for a while, Eivass said to the Shadow Demon, “How about… we make a deal? I’ll give you my flesh and blood, and you’ll give her your power. Of course, don’t refuse just yet—it’s not for today anyway. Although I promised you before that I’d give you flesh and blood to taste after coming out… you’ll have to wait half a day, as I still have a place where I need to use a large amount of Mana.”
“Are you going to fight someone, my Master?” the Shadow Demon’s spirit perked up. “In that case, perhaps you won’t need your Mana. I can now exert some of my power through your body.”
“Of course not. I’m going to make an Extraordinary item—an item that requires fifty units of fire-attribute Mana to create.”
“…Are you going to make a bomb?” the Shadow Demon hesitated.
“Heh heh,” Eivass flashed a proud smile. “Let me show you the strength of your Master.”
Seeing that the ritual site was almost tidied up, Eivass said to Lily, “Go get Yulia. Be quiet, don’t wake anyone else up.”
“Now?” Lily glanced at the time. It was just past 4 AM, and the sun hadn’t risen yet.
“Yes, we need to be ready before the morning sun rises. Today is the New Moon, the darkest night. It’s also the day when the power of the Sun is at its weakest,” Eivass explained simply.
“All right, we’ll be back soon.” Lily nodded and merged into the shadows.
After Lily left, the Shadow Demon asked uneasily, “What exactly are you going to make… that requires so much Mana?”
“Have you heard of Phantom Demon Cards?” Eivass retorted.
“What is that?” The Shadow Demon had never heard of it.
“Oh, or rather,” Eivass chuckled, “do you know about ‘Great Sin Skills’?”
“…You mean the ritual used to extract my power before?” The Shadow Demon had a deep impression of the [Ritual of Great Sins]. To this day, it had never seen anyone extract the power of an Upper Demon so easily.
“Yulia is a Phantom Demon Egg, you know that, right?”
“That’s obvious,” the Shadow Demon replied. “I was reborn from a Phantom Demon Egg tens of thousands of years ago, so I’m quite familiar with it.”
All Phantom Demons hatched from Phantom Demon Eggs were not new Phantom Demons but reborn after death.
“I know the secret to your Phantom Demons’ eternal life,” Eivass nodded. “After your Phantom Demons die, as long as their remains return to the Dream Realm, they can absorb Path Power and slowly regenerate, recovering directly. But if the death is too thorough, or if they are destroyed again during regeneration, their concept will descend to the Material Realm. Those infants who haven’t learned to speak after birth and don’t know their own names, if they resonate with a certain Path, can sense an infant-stage Phantom Demon.”
“Phantom Demon Eggs” were basically child prodigies. Yulia, at only fifteen, was already familiar with university-level knowledge. But rather than becoming a Phantom Demon Egg increasing talent, it was more that only true geniuses could possibly become Phantom Demon Eggs.
“What I’m going to do is extract the Phantom Demon from Yulia’s body,” Eivass replied. “This way, Yulia won’t have to worry about losing control.”
“…Let me remind you, Master. Extracting a Phantom Demon from a Phantom Demon Egg will cause the Phantom Demon Egg to die immediately.”
“That’s a human technique,” Eivass affirmed. “But what I’m using is a Heavenly Envoy skill.”
Just then, Lily gently pushed the door open. She explained softly, “We ran into Mr. Oswald on the way out, which delayed us a bit.”
Lily’s coat was draped over Yulia, who was wearing pajamas. Yulia was clearly still drowsy and stood there in a daze. But she was very well-behaved, not crying or making a fuss. Yulia rubbed her eyes and sleepily looked at the ritual remnants in the room.
Eivass smiled. “Oswald must have heard the commotion and came to check the situation.”
“Mr. Oswald is really amazing,” Lily exclaimed. “I was still in stealth, and he saw me directly.”
This was normal, Eivass nodded. His elf butler might have reached the Fifth Tier. He said “might” because Oswald hadn’t completed his dungeon, so Eivass didn’t have much information about him.
These guardian spirits serving and protecting the founding families were likely a result of a deal between the Church, the Candlemaster, and the Silver Crown Dragon. After all, the ancestors of these founding families were related to the Silver Crown Dragon’s ascension to the position of Pillar God. Many of them should have sublimated into apostles of the Silver Crown Dragon—just like Gawain, whom he had just met. It was quite normal for the Church to send someone to take care of the bloodlines of these apostles remaining in the Material Realm, at least to prevent them from dying out. Even if the apostles no longer had ties to the Material Realm and no lingering attachments, it was at least a fitting and reasonable respect for those in the Material Realm. And this was most likely the Candlemaster’s intention.
Although no one knew the name of the Silver Crown Dragon when he was human, Eivass guessed he was most likely called “Arthur.” After all, the founding monarch of Avalon was Lancelot, and the founding families were the original Knights of the Round Table. With the existence of Merlin, Viviane, Mordred, and others, the legend of King Arthur was complete, only lacking the protagonist, King Arthur. And before, the human warrior Eivass had played, who possessed Transcendent Path adaptability, was called “Arthur” by the Giant Chieftain—the giant clearly didn’t recognize the knight played by Barton, but he recognized “Arthur.”
So Eivass wondered… could this be the story before Arthur killed the White Dragon and became a Heavenly Envoy of the Path of Power? At that time, Arthur already had adaptability for the Path of Power and the Transcendent Path. The elves’ faith was in the Candlemaster. They were the only clear allies the people of Avalon had at the time and participated in the subjugation of the giants. Could this explain that this was actually a divine war between the Candlemaster and the Supreme Heaven? Or rather, this was at least the Candlemaster’s revenge for his “Eternal Vanguard” being murdered by despicable means by an apostle of the Supreme Heaven. From this perspective, it was highly likely that the Silver Crown Dragon rose to power with the Candlemaster’s support, which was also why the Church and the elves held such high positions in Avalon, and why the Church and Avalon became “Eternal Allies.”
Eivass suppressed his curiosity about Oswald.
“Come here, Yuli,” he said, patting Yulia. He smiled, spread his arms, and signaled for a hug. At this moment, Yulia, who had slowly woken up, suddenly realized Eivass was not in his wheelchair. She was stunned, then rushed over. “Brother, your legs are completely healed?”
Eivass laughed happily, scooped her up, and lifted her above his head before hugging her tightly. “Do I look like I have a problem?” He kissed Yulia’s cheek and said gently, “Are you still wearing the amulet, Yuli?”
“Except when I take a bath, I always keep it with me,” Yulia whispered in Eivass’s ear. The girl laughed happily, nuzzling his cheek intimately, her eyes curved like the moon. “For this whole week, I haven’t had a headache or heart pain… This amulet is effective!”
—That was actually the effect of the seal, and both of them knew it clearly. But Yulia preferred to believe it was the amulet’s efficacy. Because if that were the case, she wouldn’t hurt anymore from now on.
“Very good. It won’t bother you anymore soon,” Eivass smiled, his forehead touching Yulia’s feverish forehead. “Do you trust your brother?”
“I will always trust my brother,” the white-haired girl, who exuded a sense of transparency, said seriously, wrapping her arms around Eivass’s neck.
Seven thousand words updated! Vote for me at the end of the month!
