The Shade and the Sun

“Um… yes.”

“Oh, why? I mean, I recommended it, but it is somewhat dangerous.”

“Well, for personal reasons, I have a main job—my actual Awakener activities—so it’ll be hard for me to build up a contribution record. If that’s the case, I’ll just remain a Grade 9 civil servant, right? That would be even harder.”

“What kind of reasons?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“You have a lot of secrets.”

“So do you. You won’t tell me what you do or what guild you’re in. And don’t think you can tell me your secrets to get me to spill mine. I won’t tell you either way.”

“So firm. Alright. Everyone has a secret or two.”

Mine’s a pretty big one, though…

Yoo Yi-jun rummaged through his bag and pulled something out.

“Then this is a gift. A commemorative gift for becoming an unregistered Awakener.”

A phone? It was an older model, but it used the same type of charger as current phones.

“Why a phone?”

“It’s a burner. We can use this to stay in touch.”

Ah, a burner phone.

He really is a criminal…

He then typed a number into the phone. When he called it, his own phone began to ring.

“Here, this is this phone’s number. And this is my number. Let’s use these to communicate. I’ll help you with your life as an Awakener, so you’ll need it.”

“Alright.”

“What should I save your name as… Are you really not going to tell me your name?”

“I’ll tell you when we get closer.”

“Okay.”

Yoo Yi-jun saved my burner phone’s contact name as ‘Pervert.’ Seriously.

…I’ll just go to the guild tomorrow.

“Well, I should get going.”

“Because of your main job?”

“Yes. See you later.”

If I go home now, I can get a few hours of sleep before heading to the guild.

*

Before going to sleep at home, I opened my status window.

Things had been pinging open nonstop, but I hadn’t had a chance to check them. I needed to see what was going on.

[Lee Han-gyeol (Succubus)

Trait: Succubus
-Skill (P): Essense Absorption (Lv.2)
-Skill (P): Mana Absorption (Lv.1)

Sub-trait: Optimal Physique
-Skill (A): Body Recovery (Lv.1)
-Skill (A): Body Enhancement (Lv.1)

Sub-trait: Demonic Seduction
-Skill (P): Flowing Desire (Lv.1)
-Skill (A): Devil’s Whisper (Lv.1)

Trait: Transformation – Lee Han-gyeol
-Skill (A): Revert Transformation (Lv.1)

Strength: 78
Magic Power: 129
Essense: 748/1290
Mana: 132/1290]

First, a new sub-trait had opened up. It had the blatant name of ‘Demonic Seduction’…

And below it were two new skills.

[Flowing Desire: Adds an aphrodisiac effect to bodily fluids (applies to: sweat, saliva, vaginal fluid) and scent, and lowers the target’s mental defense. The stronger the aphrodisiac effect, the greater the amount of Essense and Mana absorbed.]

Uh… so it’s a skill that makes my body produce a natural aphrodisiac. And it’s a passive, no less.

What’s mental defense? A power that protects the mind?

‘The stronger the aphrodisiac effect, the greater the amount of Essense and Mana absorbed,’ huh…

[Devil’s Whisper: Hypnotizes others. The strength of the hypnosis is determined by the amount of Essense consumed, the target’s mental defense, and the target’s willingness to perform the hypnotized action.]

This one was a hypnosis skill. It also mentioned mental defense, which confirmed my guess that it was a power that protected the mind.

Looking at this, ‘Demonic Seduction’ must be—

[Demonic Seduction: Seduce and control others as a demon. You seduce others with ‘Skill (P): Flowing Desire’ and control them with ‘Skill (A): Devil’s Whisper.’]

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

If Yoo Yi-jun was revealing his criminal side, I was revealing my demonic side.

Another change was that ‘Essense Absorption’ had leveled up to Level 2.

My Essense had increased by 648, which was more than I expected. It might be because ‘Essense Absorption’ leveled up mid-session, or it could be because Yoo Yi-jun was stronger than Choi Shin-woo.

Converting 648 Essense to Mana would give me at least 9,720 Mana, enough to last for two days. Of course, if ‘Essense Conversion’ leveled up in the meantime, I could probably last even longer.

My Magic Power had also increased by 4. I’d spent less time with Yoo Yi-jun than with Choi Shin-woo, yet the increase was the same.

That confirmed it. Yoo Yi-jun was stronger than Choi Shin-woo.

With all the changes checked, it was time to sleep.

*

Finally, my second day at the guild.

When I thought about what I had to do just to show up today, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

“Hello. You’re here again today. Most people use up too much mana on the first day and can’t make it back the next.”

Ah.

“You don’t need to look so disappointed. If you take it easy and rest, you’ll lose your touch. Well then, good luck today.”

“…Yes.”

*

Basic training, again.

I ignited a flame, let the flickering fire tickle my skin, then extinguished it.

I created a fireball and sent it flying through the air like an aerial pinwheel of fire before launching it at a target.

I erected a wall of fire, moving it forward and back, making it soar high and then sink low.

Was it thanks to the potion that maxed out my elemental sensitivity? My proficiency seemed to be shooting up.

Next, we covered shape manipulation.

“Rather than just throwing a simple flame, it’s better to stretch it out like this to give it a stronger sense of direction. Like an arrow.”

Following his lead, I tried to stretch out a flame.

“Like this?”

“Oh, yes, that’s it. You’re fast, aren’t you? To enhance it further, you can make the flame wrap around the arrow’s shaft, like a screw. That way, the flame won’t flicker as much while it flies, making it easier to hit your target. It also has the effect of protecting the mana shaft.”

…It wasn’t working. The flame would wrap about halfway around the shaft before shooting up into the sky again.

“This is quite fast for a beginner, so don’t worry. You’ll be able to do it all eventually. People give it grand names like ‘Fire Arrow’ or whatever, but its essence is just a shape for efficiently throwing a flame.”

Fire Arrow doesn’t sound half bad, though.

“You can’t get trapped in the mold of ‘Fire Arrow, Fire Arrow.’ What’s important is the essence of making it fly where you want in any situation. Once you can handle that essence, you can apply it to other things. Shall we practice?”

The instructor dragged over a giant fan.

WHIIIIIRRRRR—

*

“Efficiency is what’s important. Getting the maximum effect with the minimum amount of mana. If you run out of potions inside a gate, you’re in danger, so you have to save mana by using the most efficient attacks.”

The instructor’s voice came through a speaker, and a wall in front of me opened. A wolf-shaped monster covered in a carapace entered.

“That Armored Wolf has a carapace that doesn’t conduct mana well, so it’s resistant to fire. Its flesh and joints, however, burn easily. Of course, you could just douse it in fire, but that would be a huge waste of mana. Try to use only the flame shape manipulation you learned today to hit and burn the gaps in its carapace, or its joints.”

First, a noisy monkey, and now an armored wolf. Wasn’t this progress a little too fast?

The moment I had that thought, the Armored Wolf vanished from my sight.

“Aargh!”

*

After somehow managing to take down the Armored Wolf…

(This process included frantically lighting my hands on fire to drive the wolf back, countless missed Fire Arrows, and the regretful thought that it would have been more efficient to just douse the thing in flames.)

[‘Elemental Generation’ Leveled Up: Lv.3 > Lv.4]
[‘Elemental Control’ Leveled Up: Lv.3 > Lv.4]
[‘Flame Immunity’ Leveled Up: Lv.3 > Lv.4]

Yesss, this is it. I was growing fast. So fast.

All that hardship was being converted into numbers. Life as an Awakener was tough, but it was definitely rewarding.

“Good work. You’re keeping up well even though I pushed the schedule forward. We might be able to start your apprenticeship period a bit sooner.”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“Your learning speed is fast, so I tried advancing the curriculum. I think you’ll be able to start your apprenticeship tomorrow.”

“What’s the original schedule like?”

“Well, your performance in basic training was at the level of the final day of the training period, and the same goes for shape manipulation. As for monsters, if you can take down an Armored Wolf, you’re more than ready to start your apprenticeship—”

Did he not see me struggling to kill that Armored Wolf?

“There are a lot of variables when it comes to monsters, so it’s better to receive training inside a gate during the apprenticeship. Plus, the sooner you enter a gate, the more you’re exposed to mana, which makes it easier to grow. It’s just more dangerous.”

“Are we not doing any more shape manipulation? I see other elements doing a lot of different things.”

“Ah, the Flame element isn’t well-suited for shape manipulation, so it’s less of a focus compared to other elements. Instead, we concentrate more on control, and you seem to have that down.”

“Oh, really? Is it because of the potion?”

“Ah, you said you received the elemental sensitivity potion, right? I’m so jealous of your mana recovery skill. In the beginning, everyone struggles with mana shortages because their proficiency is low. Even considering the potion… hmm, even with it, your learning speed is fast.”

“Is that so? Then is my apprenticeship starting tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow will be difficult… we have to decide where to assign you. You can just rest tomorrow, or if you have nothing else to do, you can come here and train.”

“So, the day after tomorrow?”

“Yes, you’ll start your apprenticeship the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, I understand.”

*

I had definitely used a lot of Essense.

After ‘Essense Conversion’ had leveled up, I converted about 400 Essense into Mana, and the skill leveled up again to Level 4.

1 Essense for 20 Mana. Insane efficiency.

That meant reverting my transformation would cost 2,000 Mana. Insane efficiency.

Anyway, it had taken 200 Essense to level up last time, so it would probably take 800 to level up next. It seemed to double each time: 100, 200, 400, 800.

[Mana: 318/1290]
[Essense: 250/1290]

I was converting Essense to Mana in chunks of 50 to make the math easier. With my remaining Essense, I could generate 5,000 Mana.

I had used about 6,500 Mana during today’s training, so this wasn’t enough. Then again, today’s training was particularly intense, so I had used a lot of mana.

I’d practically just sprayed it everywhere trying to catch that damn wolf.

They said the apprenticeship would actually use less mana, so maybe 5,000 would be enough to get by?

Still, it was better to have my Essense topped off.

Fortunately, Choi Shin-woo was available.

Choi Shin-woo: How’s life as an Awakener? You doing okay?

…I don’t think we even contacted each other this much when we were just childhood best friends.

Was this the concern of a senior Awakener?

Or did he have other intentions?

Hmm, should I get Essense from Choi Shin-woo?

Or Yoo Yi-jun?

He was a criminal (probably), which made me uneasy, but he did offer to help me grow as an unregistered Awakener.

Operating as an unregistered succubus was Plan B, but it was always good to have more options.

However, after showing such a perverted side of myself yesterday, asking to do it again today felt… genuinely perverted.

Right, let’s build a foundation in the sun before heading into the shade. I shouldn’t become dependent on the dark side when I’m still straddling the line.

Me: Yeah, I’m doing fine.

Choi Shin-woo: That’s a relief. You don’t need any Essense?

I knew it.

Me: I thought you were worried about me as a senior Awakener, but I guess you’re still the same old you.

Choi Shin-woo: I mean, I am worried? So, you don’t need any?

Look at how shameless he is.

Me: I do need some.

Choi Shin-woo: So, u free now?

…

Me: Yeah.