Chapter 357 - Shadow Control

Aside from Weizemay Manor’s intervention, there was another reason for this situation.Under the erosion of negative energy, the original consciousness of the five willow trees was clearly incomplete.

Not to mention enlightening them into treants, even turning them into enlightened trees was problematic.

However, merging the five initial consciousnesses together to enlighten them into treants was more than sufficient.

Therefore, Gaven now appeared to be enlightening five trees simultaneously.

In reality, the whole process was no different from enlightening a single tree.

He was now very curious about what form the five willow trees would take once enlightenment was complete?

Could it be like the War God Vajra, with two forming the legs, two forming the arms, and one forming the torso and head?

Once the enlightenment of the five willow trees was complete, the remaining task of absorbing and channeling negative energy became brainless work, not requiring Gaven’s involvement at all, yet he was unable to extricate himself from it.

With no other option, he could only find something to occupy himself with.

He had been planning to contact Zalanda at some opportunity, and he couldn’t show up empty-handed.

Since his first approach involved military books, he decided to continue with them as a gift for their next contact.

Last time, time was tight and he only had enough time to recall and write one book, but that didn’t mean he had only read one. With careful digging, he could unearth many valuable things.

The chosen Martial Arts Seven Books involved various strategies and were mostly theoretical, seldom touching on the training of troops.

The idea then was simple: coming from a family of knights and having trained with the Nort Militia since childhood, Zalanda had ample practical experience in combat and training troops and didn’t much need these. What she needed was a sense of the bigger picture, a strategic perspective to help her avoid taking the long way around.

Another reason was the presence of magic.

Magic was seldomly applied in daily life, but its application in war was much more frequent, especially within the Regular Army. A regular army unit of a hundred without a mage or magician who could perform the Fireball Technique wasn’t worthy of the name.

Not to mention Transcendent Combat Profession Practitioners, even those with Special Abilities could decisively influence a localized conflict, and so many tactics were designed around these powerful fighters.

As a result, the military training books he knew might not necessarily be practical.

After going through so much, Gaven’s thoughts had shifted.

Military books are meant to be used as reference material. How much of them can be applied in practice ultimately depends on personal capability.

If one’s ability is lacking, no amount of reading military books will help. One would merely be like Zhao Kuo, who talked a big game but utterly failed on the battlefield.

If one’s ability is sufficient, even military books from another world can inspire extrapolation and open new avenues of thought.

For this reason, this time Gaven chose to focus on military training, specifically the famous General Qi Jiguang’s Practical Records of Military Training.

He didn’t even bother to change the background information in the book; he just copied it outright.

His recent half-year of fantastical experiences had led Gaven to realize something: there was no need to hide the fact that he knew about another world. He just needed a somewhat reasonable explanation.

After all, in Felen, there were plenty of magics that could achieve this.

For example, the old mage Irminster was said to frequently visit other worlds to catch up with old friends and chat over tea, including Earth.

This time, he was still planning to write the original in Chinese; he wasn’t bothering with notes and translated versions.

Last time, when he first returned, his mind hadn’t switched gears, and he forgot about the magic aspect.

Comprehend Languages was merely a type of spell that any spellcaster knew.

This spell granted the caster the temporary ability to read or listen to a previously unknown language, with the limitation that they couldn’t write or speak it.

The process of delving into the Practical Records of Military Training was also one of review and contemplation, to see if there was anything that he could reference or learn.

After all, he would soon have troops to train, cities to build, land to cultivate, and lieges to protect.

So in the end, he decided to go all out.

He began meticulously going through his memories from the past three lives, sifting through them from beginning to end to filter out everything that could be useful in the future, storing them as a priority for easy access when needed.

But such a task significantly increased the workload.

By the time the purification was complete, he had not even finished one percent of this work.

It was a long-term project that he would continue to chip away at when he had the time. In just a few days, he felt immensely rewarded as some things he had once forgotten came back to him.

"Gaven, my young friend, you’re finally awake. Hungry, thirsty? Come on, have some food first," Gaven heard as he opened his eyes, seeing August’s concerned face.

With this reminder, Gaven suddenly felt ravenous. Seeing a pile of food laid out before him, he didn’t hesitate to start stuffing his mouth while asking, "How many days has it been?" The most update n0vels are published on Novᴇ(l)Fɪre .ɴᴇt

"Three days and two nights."

"What about General Kopofiel and the others?"

"After dealing with the refugee bodies, he was planning to guard you personally, but I sent him away. Since he’s preparing for the village relocation, there are a ton of things for him to get ready for, and he wouldn’t have been any help here."

"Thank you, sir, you’ve been a great help," Gaven quickly thanked him. He had been worried that Kopofiel, with his stubborn mindset, would foolishly keep vigil by his side.

Fortunately, Kopofiel was only overly fixated on certain matters; at other times, he could prioritize effectively.

A commander who had survived for so many years surrounded by wolves in dangerous territories was certainly extraordinary.

"Are you alright?" August couldn’t help but ask.

"I’m fine, just a bit hungry, but everything else is good," Gaven replied, standing up and stretching. Sitting still for so long could be taxing even for a Combat Profession Practitioner.

"Take a look at your shadow," August suggested kindly.

"My shadow? What’s wrong with my shadow..." Looking for his shadow, Gaven started hesitating as he saw it because it was glaringly obvious to anyone that his shadow was not normal.

The shadows of ordinary people, their darkness and angle, are related to the light.

Gaven’s shadow, however, was clearly not this case now.

It was pitch black, dense like ink, and it split into four thick tubes that connected to four other willow trees.

It looked like a monstrous figure with incredibly long limbs.

Anyone who suddenly saw their shadow transform into this appearance would feel their skin crawl and a wave of discomfort.

When Gaven focused his attention on the shadow, a mysterious sensation surged through his heart; he could sense an intimate connection between himself and the shadow, as if he could control it just like he could his own arms.

Return to normal.

Gaven commanded his shadow.

The twisted, sprawling shadow retracted like a tide, and within a few seconds, it returned to its normal appearance.

At least most of it was normal.

Looking closely, differences could still be observed.

Gaven’s shadow was too dark, emitting a cold and chilling aura.

This change, seen by others, would feel even more creepy.

Luckily, those present were not ordinary people, or else, even if not everyone fainted, many would jump in horror.

August asked with a tinge of disbelief, "Control over shadows?"

"It’s manipulating shadows. Previously, when I guided negative energy into Weizemay Manor, the energy enlivened my shadow, allowing me to control it to a certain extent," Gaven had already connected to his Consciousness Sea and discovered the root of the matter.

Shadow Control (Special Ability) — Under the infusion of a large amount of negative energy, your shadow has been enlivened. You can control it with your own will, allowing it to move according to your desires.

This incident happened in full view of everyone, so there was no way to hide it, nor was there anything worth hiding.

"You can gain a special ability like that?" August’s eyes widened; it was the first time he heard that aside from divine gifts, transcendent rewards, and Professional Level promotions, one could gain a special ability.

And it sounded so simple.

It seemed that just the infusion of a lot of negative energy could awaken such ability in anyone.

But upon further thought, it was not that simple.

Many could guide negative energy, but how to inject it into a shadow and to the extent of awakening a special ability was hard to grasp.

And Gaven’s previous condition was likely impossible to replicate.

After all, it involved a Ghost Manor, the Enlightenment spell, and a group of uniquely state-altered trees.

Aside from extremely good luck, August could think of no second term to describe it.

If August knew that most of Gaven’s Special Abilities had not been gained through Professional Level promotions, his jaw would surely drop in shock.

"I didn’t expect this to happen either," Gaven spread his hands innocently, with an expression of being at a loss.

This situation was unexpected yet reasonable.

Shadows themselves are the existence that is closest to darkness, having the closest relationship with negative energy.

So much negative energy, being channeled through one’s own shadow, is sure to result in some amazing changes.

Many experts in negative energy usages are masters at shadow control. Moreover, the Shadow Plane holds numerous shadow-related creatures.

Controlling shadows is just the basic ability of this kind of power.

As far as Gaven knew, there was a special assassin profession that excelled in using shadows for assassinations.

August’s curiosity was fully piqued, and he asked, "To what extent can you control your shadow? Can you make it materialize and bind someone, for example?"

If it could do that, it would be an excellent auxiliary ability in close combat.

Giving the enemy a sudden chill, it would definitely be quite the ordeal for them to deal with.

No sooner had he spoken than August felt he had overstepped, and quickly apologized, "Sorry, sorry, sorry, this matter involves personal privacy; you don’t have to answer."

"Sir is being too formal. If I don’t trust anyone else, shouldn’t I trust you?" Gaven laughed it off, "It’s just that, as you’ve seen, I’ve only just acquired this ability and haven’t had the chance to test it. I don’t have any concept of it. Why doesn’t sir experience it firsthand and help me with an experiment?"

In truth, Gaven was also very curious about what this ability could actually do.

With an appropriate target, one could see the experimental results, especially with a powerful target like August.

"Sure," August said enthusiastically as he stretched his limbs, causing a series of cracking sounds from his joints, "Just in time, I haven’t had a chance to exercise these past few days. How about we take this opportunity to have a little sparring?"

"Let’s agree beforehand, it’s just up to the point of contact," Gaven also wanted to know to what level his fighting ability had recovered to.

As he spoke, he summoned his combat armor, and also drew out the Crown Shield and Death Roar.

"Hey... didn’t we agree it’s just until the point of contact? Why did you draw that thing out?" Seeing the Death Roar, August momentarily balked.

That was something that once blew a vampire’s head to bits and shattered a vampire’s bony chest plate.

Even aiming it at his own war shield would cause him enough distress to claw at his guts in anguish.

"Sorry, force of habit," Gaven said with an awkward smile, quickly putting the Death Roar away and drawing his seldom-used Magic Longsword.

"Your Death Roar is a bit of a trump card. When did the gnome-made gear become so strong and reliable? When I have time, I’ll get a couple for myself too." August’s enthusiasm plummeted after being intimidated by Gaven.

Banning someone’s most powerful weapon does make such sparring unfair and feels like bullying.

Their Professional Levels made the difference clear, with August being a full ten levels below his counterpart.