10 Shadow Bol

"Wait wait wait. Can I be both a Warrior and Mage at the same time?" Austin thought. "That would be too overpowered... Able to use a spell for every situation, then transforming into a Warrior when I run out of mana." Imagining the possibilities, Austin broke out into an even brighter smile, a sparkle of joy radiating in his eyes.

"But how do I cultivate as a Warrior? The book only said to 'absorb' mana..."

"Whatever, I can worry about it later. For now, I'll use these Rank 0 spellbooks and see where the future takes me."

Austin straightaway went to the Dark spellbook, opening it and once again feeling a distinctive eerie sensation creep into his body as all the other elements made way.

'Rank 0 Dark spellbook: Shadow Bolt.'

An image sat in the middle of the page.

'Touch illustration and chant spell to use.'

Following the instruction, Austin took on a meditative position and placed a palm over the image. His countenance turned serious and an imposing might descended upon the entire room, one that used to make the World crawl beneath his feet and the Harbinger of Death quiver in intimidation.

Chasing away the intruding sensation in his body like it did not deserve to be there, Austin then calmly recited, "I come. I see. I conquer."

"Shadow bolt!"

A vacancy, a blank sheet of whiteness filed Austin's consciousness.

He felt his body being lifted into the sky and beyond it.

...

Looking around, the world he arrived in was completely void of color, life, and matter. Austin felt a sense of belonging in this space like he had returned to the place of his birth. "Is it because of the spellbook being a Dark Attribute? That would explain why this space is pitch black. As for the connection I feel... because of my All-Attribute body?

The Dark World... a suitable name for this place. I wonder how the others look... will the Light spellbook be filled with all white instead?"

A human body normally reacts to sudden changes in light by their pupils involuntarily widening due to the decrease in brightness. Even the most experienced of Mages and Warriors could not resist such a thing from occurring. Nonetheless, for Austin, this happened by pure tamed instinct before his reflexes could even kick in, demonstrating the pinnacle mastery he has achieved over his body.

His eyes quickly returned to normal. The magical dark world clearly did not contain the same laws as the real world.

With a clear vision, Austin saw an ethereal figure materializing in front of him slowly becoming flesh. It morphed into the size of a small, skinny child, with fine black hair, glistening purple eyes, and otherworldly facial features. The figure was an exact copy of Austin's current appearance.

"Wow." Seeing himself with his own eyes, Austin's eyes widened in surprise, which swiftly turned into anticipation at what would happen next. A second later, Austin's copy raised one arm to the air and pointed his palm forwards. The voice of a child shouted out.

"Shadow Bolt!"

A purplish-black ball formed in its palm before shooting forwards at an incredible speed with a buzzing sound.

'Bang!'

Exploding at the end of its path a short distance away, the bolt made a blast that was not too loud nor quiet. Analyzing the impact of the blast, Austin's uncannily deduced the power to leave a light burn on the average adult's body, not strong enough to cause any effective damage. He let out a despondent sigh as he saw this. But then a dummy materialized where the spell landed and another chant sounded out.

"Shadow Bolt!"

This time, the ball did not land on emptiness but rather dead center on the dummy's chest. Miraculously, It left a light burn in perfect replication as Austin visualized. However, after the bolt exploded, black strings formed where it landed, corroding into the dummy's body and penetrating through its skin. The wound severely worsened as a small chunk of flesh was gruesomely gouged out black in color.

In the previous cast, the spell landed on emptiness and the black strings did not appear. Clearly, the aftereffect was a feature of the spell touching one's body.

'Oh... corrosion must be one of Darkness Attribute's special characteristics. That blast indeed felt too weak even for a Rank 0 spell.' Austin discerned. He was not wrong.

"Good, magic did not disappoint me."

The power of the spell was above Austin's expectations. Just landing Shadow Bolt on an enemy's vital spot will cause such a brutal effect...

The dummy dissolved into particles and dissipated into the air. Following this, Austin's copy changed back to a neutral stance, lowering the arm he used to cast the spell back down to his side. Austin looked at it in expectation. A minute passed, nothing happened. Two minutes passed, nothing happened. Austin's elation dulled. Three minutes passed... still nothing happened.

"What am I supposed to do now... How do I learn this spell?" Austin said aloud with prickled ears. Scanning around, he hoped to receive an answer in response. Alas, the space remained motionless.

Walking up to his copy, Austin poked it in curiosity and felt nothing strange in his touch. The copy did not make the slightest movement. "Hey me, help me out here," Austin asked but still nothing happened. Closing his eyes for a bit, he thought of an instruction for the spell to be cast. Sure enough, the figure responded, recreating the same movements it did before. A Shadow Bolt flew out. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

"Am I supposed to just copy you?"

Testing his hypothesis, Austin raised his arm and pointed up his palm in the same manner, envisioning the scene he paid witness to thrice.

"Shadow Bolt!"

Austin felt something being dragged out from within his body towards his palm and a purplish-black ball appeared before him. It was lighter in color than the one his copy produced. Shooting out and exploding, Austin's Shadow Bolt was weaker in impact, shorter in range, and slower in speed. It was weaker in all aspects than the one before it.

'Damn that felt nice, so this is what magic is like... But why was my Shadow Bolt worse?' Austin wondered. "Oh right, I have to comprehend the spell more. The Shadow Bolt my copy cast was in its perfect form. Looking at mine, it seems to be only 80% completed. That's pretty bad..."

"Copying it for the first time won't be perfect I guess... Better get to work."

If anyone else had witnessed Austin's Shadow Bolt, they would first acknowledge him as an extraordinary talent for possessing the Darkness Attribute. Afterward, they would praise him as a genius for reaching such proficiency in his Shadow Bolt. Then, they would cough out blood hearing what he just said.

80% Comprehension!?

That's the limit for geniuses among geniuses, and that's after at least a few weeks of training!

HIS FIRST TRY!?!

Austin, oblivious to all this, attempted the spell again, discontent at himself for achieving such a low standard.