NOVEL WEB Chapter 547: Heart Of Shadow
Damon was already in a bad mood… these people could have just left him to wallow in his melancholy and self-pity.
But no — fate, or rather someone, had made a choice to mess with him.
He would have come out to give them a piece of his mind, but these guys had some knights in the fourth class.
It wasn't that he didn't dare — he just wasn't in the mood for that kind of fight.
They weren't that powerful; they were only two ranks higher than him and could shatter mountains and level cities. It was nothing to him.
The lower-ranked knights in the third class searched the area, not finding anything… except a strange pair in a tree watching them with bored expressions.
Naturally, it was the raven and the squirrel.
Damon almost cursed his two wretched pets for how casual they were taking things.
The knights didn't find anything, so they mounted their steeds — dragon horses by the looks of them — and chased after the convoy.
After a few minutes, Damon emerged from the shadows.
He glanced at the corpse of the stag he had gotten from the elven assassins.
Its neck was sliced, blood pooled beneath it, its body covered in red, and its eyes now glassy.
It had died without even making a sound. The saddle didn't have anything on it, so the knights must have concluded there was no rider.
As for why there was nothing on it… that was because Damon had his shadow storage.
He placed his hand on the stag.
'I could have sold this for some money…'
Elven stags were expensive, especially one like this.
There was also the fact that it looked cool and helped farm aura.
'Now I have to walk like a… like a peasant…'
While Damon was grieving the loss, the raven and squirrel — who had no shame or sense of camaraderie — were already looting the corpse.
The raven ate the eye while the vile squirrel went for the less dignified parts.
Damon's eyes twitched.
"The both of you have no honor… he was on our side…"
The raven cawed with disdain.
"Look who's talking…"
The squirrel sneered with a squeal, adding a few more squeals.
"We barely knew him."
Maybe someone needed to remind the damn rodent she was a newcomer too.
Damon's eyes twitched. He really had to be careful who he called his friends, these two might just be waiting for him to die so they could feast on his corpse.
Come to think of it, each of them had a reason to hold a grudge against him. He had shot the raven and destroyed the squirrel's collection.
"You two better not be nursing a grudge from way back when…"
They didn't even care about him as they continued eating the remains of the stag.
Still, Damon was feeling petty. He didn't want to let this just go. He was Damon Grey — when had he not pissed off those more powerful than him?
He glanced in the direction they were headed.
"Hmmm… they're going deep into what could be potential danger…"
That was farther into where whatever was awakening was. Damon had intended to divert from the area after a few more kilometers.
He glanced at the two animals.
"Hey… we may not have known Stag for long… but don't you think it's unfair to let him die in vain…"
The raven and squirrel glanced at each other.
'Did this bastard forget those guys were more powerful than him? If he was going to commit suicide, we're out…'
The squirrel, who was a master at avoiding danger, gave him a disgusted sneer.
Damon shook his head.
"There are eyeballs and testicles if it goes well…"
There was a brief silence before they both jumped onto his shoulders, cursing the foul men who killed Brother Stag.
Damon smiled — having their usual company was soothing in a way.
He clenched his fist.
"I have no idea what horror is in that direction, but I'm going there… that knight guy killed my mount…"
A squeal came from the squirrel. "Yeah, let's kill his mount…"
Damon grabbed its tail.
"Don't interrupt, fool. We're stealing his mount. Goddess, we're thieves, not murderers…"
The raven took the opportunity to curry favor, cawing at the squirrel.
"What did that dragon horse ever do to you…"
Damon squeezed his fist. The feeling of unease in his chest grew… but he didn't want to let this go. He had two choices:
Divert and go to the border of the Holy Kingdom… or jump straight into danger and potentially certain death for a brief moment of pettiness that would not pay off.
Obviously, Damon was not smart enough to go for safety… pettiness was the way to go.
He walked casually forward, his shadow perception keeping track of them while avoiding detection.
Shadow energy was not a problem — not with his new skill.
He opened the system panel.
[Heart of Shadow]
[Description]
The shadow was her soul, inseparable, constant. One night, in a forgotten place, the darkness stole it away. She cried, but it was gone — leaving her hollow, lost in a world of empty light.
"To lose your shadow is to lose yourself in the dark."
Your shadow now becomes your heart; it can never be lost.
[Effect:]
Your shadow now becomes your heart and can never be lost.
Absorbs and stores shadows, slowly breaking them into shadow energy.
Passively generates shadow energy as long as you remain in the presence of deep shadows.
[Type:]
Passive
[Cooldown:]
0 sec
This skill was truly the best Damon had. It now provided a permanent solution to his need to feed his shadow with flesh.
As long as he was in the dark or in the embrace of shadows, he could passively regain lost shadow energy.
He could also absorb and store shadows in his heart.
With this, the parameters for the shadow reconstruction skill were also complete.
He could now recreate his body if it got destroyed.
Damon touched his chest — he could feel the shadow energy trickling inside and filling his heart.
He could also feel Matia inside his heart.
His heart was now vast — more so than a human's.
He placed his hand firmly on his chest.
"I've come far… from the person who didn't want to be a man-eating monster… to someone who accepted it…"
Damon looked at the deep shadows around him.
"What am I becoming…"
The answer to that was still unknown to him, like many things. But the one thing he did know was:
"I am still Damon Grey, and that should be all that matters…"