Chapter 413 Upside Down In More Ways Than One



Listening to Noel's words of praise for him, Valyr let out an awkward chuckle in response as he became a bit fidgety. Nevertheless, he felt his heart warm up from the words as he knew that the old man's words were genuine, and not said solely due to his identity as a Herald.

'Did I really only take that much time to form [Shadow Eye]?' Smiling at Noel before proceeding to return his gaze back to their surroundings, Valyr recalled the words Noel had said to him about the amount of time he had taken to form the skill necessary for him to travel the world of the Shadow Plane. 'He said I only took less than an hour to form it… that's like five to six hours perhaps?'

As the thought came to his mind, Valyr thought about how he pushed the entrance to the connection open again and again through the use of his mental power, feeling that the amount of time he had taken in that place definitely did not feel like a few hours. 'If anything, I felt I took at least half a day or a day to open that entrance.'

'But then again, he's already been to this place many times, so…' Inwardly shrugging his shoulders as he eventually considered the thought as useless, Valyr went ahead and commanded the system to bring up the description of [Shadow Eye], wanting to see what was so unique about it that it was a necessary skill in the Shadow Plane.

Ding!

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[Shadow Eye] (Lv. MAX)

Rarity: ?

Tier: 1

To all visitors of the Shadow Plane, their sense of sight and hearing are robbed from them, with the only way of getting it back is to utilize their connection with Shadow Energy and to convene with the Shadow Plane to grant said senses back to them. 

To those who have no connection with Shadow Energy, their attempts in contacting with the Shadow Plane are simply useless, lest they have an affinity with Shadow Energy itself. However, for those who have Shadow Energy, and have successfully made contact with the Shadow Plane, they are granted a proof of identity, a proof that they have what it takes to survive within the Shadow Plane.

The Shadow Eye.

There are five tiers that one's Shadow Eye would fall upon, all of which is reliant on the quality of energy the user has control over, which has its roots in the Shadow Plane.

This skill allows the user to regain one's sense of sight and hearing within the Shadow Plane, as well as passively boosts the user's PER stat by 10%. This skill also allows the user to see their connection with Shadow Energy, as well as see the ambient Shadow Energy within their surroundings.

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'I see.' Closing the screen he had brought up in front of him, Valyr went ahead and tried making use of the skill's ability to view his connection with Shadow Energy, swiftly noticing a thin dark ray of energy extending from the tip of his forehead towards the seemingly infinite skies of the Shadow Plane within seconds.

After that, he shifted the skill's focus to seeing the Shadow Energy within their surroundings, prompting his vision of the landscape to become a tad darker than it was previously. Satisfied with his small test of [Shadow Eye]'s abilities, he then briefly thought about the five tiers the skill had mentioned.

'Since the skill said that there are five tiers to [Shadow Eye] that correspond to one's quality of energy, it would be safe to assume that Noel's [Shadow Eye] is at Tier 3? I wonder what kind of abilities he has access to with a [Shadow Eye] like that?' Lightly scratching the back of his head as his curiosity towards the matter gradually increased, Valyr decided to ask the old man about it some other time.

After all, they only had about 15 more hours before he and Noel would have to leave the Shadow Plane.

"So, I formed the [Shadow Eye]. What's next, Elder Noel?" Feeling that he had already wasted enough time looking at the landscape before them, Valyr took the initiative to ask the man beside him the question that would get them going.

"We would need to improve your Shadow Energy to the point it gets recognized by the system as a stat." Letting out a faint sigh, Noel stood up as he responded to the young man's question. "To do that, we would have to slay a few creatures of the Shadow Plane."

"Hmm?" Tilting his head in slight confusion as he also stood up, Valyr soon asked the old man another question. "But didn't you say back then I could only improve my Shadow Energy by killing a Shadow Serpent?"

"That's only in the context of improving it for your subclass," said Noel in response as he looked around their surroundings for a bit. "Compared to the Shadow Energy of other creatures, the Shadow Energy of a Shadow Serpent is incredibly ferocious, which is why using it in conjunction with the Shadow Serpent skills yields such destructive power."

"On the other hand, most creatures' Shadow Energy are quite mild in nature, making them the best way to purify the impure Shadow Energy you've obtained from the orb of Shadow Serpent Essence you absorbed since they would meld with it quite easily."

"With that in mind, we'll be slaying some non-hostile creatures for now until your Shadow Energy has improved to the point it gets recognized by the system." Feeling like he had gotten a good grasp of where they were in the Shadow Plane, Noel began to move after he was finished saying these words, leaving the young man no choice but to follow him from behind.

"So, are we going to be killing a few rabbits or something until my Shadow Energy improves?" In response to Noel's words, Valyr asked the former a question while they traversed the landscape, to which the old man responded by looking back at him for a bit before returning his gaze to what was before them.

"First, you'll be the one doing the killing. I'm only here to accompany you and protect you from attacks that would undoubtedly end your life," said Noel sometime later. "And second…"

"…on second thought, I'll just show you instead."

"Hmm? Show me what?"

"Show you how 'brave' you are to brush off killing rabbits in the Shadow Plane so easily."

"Eh? But aren't rabbits one of the simplest creatures to kill?"

…

…

…

"…that's a rabbit?"

"Now do you see what I mean?"

"…is that seriously a rabbit?"

Ding!

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[Shadow Rabbit Emperor (Lesser Boss)] (Level 99 | Boss)

Class: Sovereign of the Shadow Rabbits (Epic)

HP: 565,500/565,500

MP: 351,600/351,600

Stats: 1,508 VIT, 2,056 STR, 3,248 AGI, 2,060 DEX, 1,172 INT, 2,148 WIS, 1,828 PER, 396 LUK

Skills: ? (skills unknown due to great disparity in level)

Remarks: …that's a rabbit?

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