My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

The world of Aetherus was vast—thus, a world of perpetual war. And where there was war, there would always be death.

Many things were ruined by war. Yet, war did not always bring ruin. Damon—and anyone born in Aetherus—had come to learn that war was also a driver of innovation, technological advancement, and more.

That said, the horrors of war were far more numerous. So hideous were they, that even the luster of the so-called innovations born from war could not conceal them.

Among these horrors… was undeath.

As corpses piled high in a magical world, some refused to stay dead. In their mortal hearts they carried resentment and unfulfilled longing.

They would rise again—undead. Some among them chose this path, performing secret black rituals to attain undeath.

Others were forced. Many forms of undeath existed.

These were called the undead.

Among them were Shades.

Their bodies were like ghosts… but they were not ghosts. Their souls lingered in the world in the form of shadows—black, cold, and wrong.

At times, they resembled nothing more than ordinary shadows, visible only in bright light. What made them visible… also made them vulnerable. Light was their bane.

It weakened their form. Weakened their power.

Damon had recalled everything he could find about Shades.

These creatures were of low intelligence. They were intangible, capable of inducing fear, unleashing mental attacks, and inflicting paralysis. They were immune to several spells—sleep, poison, and others.

They could drain life force as well. Among other abilities.

More than that, they were like fog in the wind—hard to strike, and surprisingly fast.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem.

Except…

Damon and the others were hanging, trying to climb through a claustrophobic, geometrically disordered wreckage of buildings—walls, pillars, ceilings, all collapsed in chaotic ruin.

Getting attacked by Shades here could paralyze them or debuff their minds. It wouldn’t have been a fatal problem.

Except…

Damon looked down.

The calm water beneath them rippled unnaturally.

He could see the monster beneath the surface. Watching them. Waiting for one of them to fall—paralyzed—so it could feast.

Damon gritted his teeth.

‘So that’s why it didn’t bother chasing us… Not that it could, in such narrow confines.’

But it knew the Shades would try to stop them.

He sighed.

The Shades felt strange in Damon’s perception—which was saying something, considering how unusual his perception already was. He saw them as floating mirrors in his mind. Like distorted glass, each one reflecting not light… but presence.

Shadows.

He didn’t get to finish that thought.

The Shades let out a soundless shriek.

Damon’s head reeled—something hammered his mind like a war mace.

The pale crown resting on his head resisted the blow, alongside the shaky defense of his Lv2 mastery: Mental Contamination Resistance.

His party members gritted their teeth, holding tightly to the jagged walls under the shriek of tens of Shades…

The effect was mind-numbing.

But they resisted.

As if on cue, the monster in the water opened its maw and sucked in a massive volume of the surrounding liquid.

Damon’s danger sense buzzed.

The creature slammed its grotesque jaws shut and unleashed a pressurized stream of water straight upward—

Damon didn’t even need to speak.

Xander dropped down, floating with the aid of gravity.

His armor shifted, taking its Sovereign Mantle form, fully encasing him—becoming a living shield.

The water stream tore through rocks, shredded the remnants of buildings—

Xander’s barriers shattered under the force of the blast.

He reinforced his body with gravity, bracing for impact, but the supercharged stream met him with a deafening bang.

His body was blasted upward, blood streaming from the seams of his helm—

But he roared, fighting against the current, enduring it because of his First Class Skill:

The Vow.

Your will is as unyielding as your word—once committed, neither you nor your body will break.

He wasn’t going to break. Not here. Not now.

Floating upward, blood staining his teeth beneath the helm, Xander smiled.

“You won’t get past me…”

Damon clenched his fists. Xander had survived an attack from a monster of Third Class. Damon couldn’t help but reevaluate just how durable Xander Ravenscroft truly was.

He wanted to help.

But the Shades had made their move.

Evangeline’s hand glowed, charged with light magic, illuminating the entire area.

Honestly, that was all she could do…

If she and the others went all-out offensively, they risked bringing the entire structure down—burying themselves alive.

Damon raised his hand, ignoring the searing pain in his skull, and unleashed Ashborn.

Black flames rose like living shadows—consuming the Shades ahead of him in waves of soundless screams.

Matia lifted her hand and sent out a wave of ice, but the sheets passed harmlessly through the intangible creatures.

The surviving Shades vanished into the walls…

And then, the system chimes rang out.

[You have slain Shade of the Forbidden Library.]

[You have gained 5 Attribute Points.]

[You have slain Shade of the Forbidden Library.]

[You have gained 5 Attribute Points.]

[You have slain Shade of the Forbidden Library.]

[You have gained 5 Attribute Points.]

[You have slain Shades of the Forbidden Library.]

But more were coming.

From the walls around them, the Shades returned—pulling at their legs, their arms—trying to toss them into the deep below.

These vile phantoms… hated the living.

And beneath them, the monster in the water grew more relentless—blasting stream after stream of water upward in fury.

Damon couldn’t unleash Ashborn again—not because of the pain, but because the flames devoured the little oxygen in the air.

He gritted his teeth.

“What do I do, dammit…?”

They were running low on time. On air. And now, more Shades were closing in…

Then it hit him.

He’d forgotten.

He hadn’t tried it since the last time, since that failure when he used it on the rift creatures.

Spreading his Shadow Perception, Damon searched for the nearest Shade lurking inside the walls.

He raised his hand, uncertain.

And gave a command.

“…Stop.”

He whispered it.

A low breath.

And then—all at once—the Shades that had been hidden inside the walls… froze.

And turned their heads to look at him.