episode_0105

In the Prophecy RPG, there was only one character who could learn Shadow Arts.

Just one—the assassin companion character.

Giving the to anyone else was meaningless.

They couldn’t learn it anyway.

But.

This time, I handed over a fully deciphered .

A book capable of unlocking a “different truth” from what Merlin had studied.

It held meaning even for the others.

Thanks to it, they grew stronger.

Lia’s instant-death cheat made any magic she used a one-hit kill, so it didn’t matter much for her,

but Elice and Sophia definitely became more powerful.

Their magic proficiency rose,

and their mana efficiency improved.

You could say all their magic skills leveled up by 1 or 2.

‘As for Kkamangie… I’m not sure, but…’

Since Kkamangie said she got stronger too,

it must be true.

Anyway.

Showing them the manga had its rewards.

‘The problem is…’

“Master! Recommend another manga!”

“I want battle manga! Ones with lots of fights!”

“I’d like to read more romance manga… May I ask for that?”

“I want comedy!”

“Ah… um… that is… I found the manga about a succubus and a human falling in love really fun… Are there any others like that?…”

They kept insisting on new releases.

That was the issue.

Huh?

Why is that a problem?

Can’t I just give them new manga?

No.

‘Because all of these were summoned via the Chalice of Sacrifice… They were summoned using the energy meant for randomized draws…’

I’m supposed to do a random draw once a day!

But now, I’ve been using all that energy exclusively to summon manga!

I have no energy left for random draws!

And worse—that energy isn’t free to recharge.

Every night, I have to extract that thick, white liquid as an offering to refill it.

So.

It’s time to set limits.

“No more manga after this.”

“N-no more?!”

“Why not?!”

“Why’s it over?!”

“Because I have no energy left to summon more.”

“Ah…”

“So the manga… came from the Chalice of Sacrifice, huh?…”

“Then…”

Their gazes all shifted.

“If we help recharge the Chalice’s energy, wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“Master? Need help?”

“Cain! Just say the word! I’ll help too!”

“If you squeeze any more out of me here, I’ll be too exhausted to even walk!”

“Then don’t walk.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll carry you. Problem solved.”

“Like hell that’s a solution!”

“Hmm…”

“What about having your clones draw manga for us?”

“Too hard.”

While it’s easy to copy if I have the original manga in front of me,

without it, I can’t reproduce a proper manga.

‘I don’t remember every single detail of manga, after all.’

I recall the rough outlines,

but not enough to perfectly replicate it.

‘Besides, it’s been ages since I last read manga.’

I used to read a lot back in the day,

but recently, I’ve only been watching anime.

Why?

Because I preferred multitasking—

having the Prophecy RPG open on one side of my computer screen while anime played on the other.

‘Though part of it’s just because anime’s more fun.’

Anyway.

For those reasons, manga production is impossible for me.

…Or so I thought.

“Anime? What’s that now?”

This time, their interest shifted to anime.

So I explained.

An evolved form of manga.

A type of cultural media where comic characters come to life in animated video format.

“By the way, all the manga you’ve read so far are famous enough to have fully produced anime adaptations.”

“Seriously?! There’s moving footage of NaXto?! I can see IchiXo using BankX?! For real?!”

“Yep.”

“Then show us!”

“Impossible.”

“?”

“To watch that, I’d need to summon a laptop, TV, or something similar…”

It hasn’t dropped.

I’ve been rolling random draws specifically for that, but—

I want a laptop too!

It’s frustrating that it hasn’t appeared.

…Or so I said.

“So… Cain, you’ve been doing random draws all this time because you wanna watch anime too… But it just won’t drop?”

“Pretty much.”

Sure, there’s also the desire to watch R-18 videos,

but my main motivation was anime and gaming.

Not entirely wrong.

“They’re really that fun?”

“Um… yeah?”

It’s not like I’m targeting a laptop just for anime,

but anime alone is entertaining enough to be worth it.

Hell yeah, it’s fun.

Besides.

With just a computer, manga becomes way more accessible.

Instead of summoning 50 volumes individually,

summoning a single USB loaded with 500 volumes is way more cost-effective.

…The moment I said that, Serene moved.

“Cain.”

“?”

“Get the summoning ready. Right now.”

“?”

“I’ll pray for you. Prepare the summon.”

“Pray?”

Serene’s eyes gleamed at the prospect of even cooler media.

“Can’t right now.”

“Why nooot?!”

“No stamina left. No motivation, either.”

Initially, I was going wild recharging the Chalice,

but now I’m pacing myself.

It’ll drop eventually.

Just taking it slow.

‘Better for mental health.’

No need to force it—

just enough to feel good.

That’s the way.

So no rush for now.

“Tch…”

“Anyway, we leave tomorrow. Get ready.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

Earlier, while walking, I checked the Elf Forest.

The mist was thinning.

Meaning the protective fog magic was lifting.

We should be able to enter by tomorrow noon.

So.

We depart after breakfast.

After announcing our departure, I resumed training in the empty lot behind the inn.

“Shadow Blade.”

I wrapped my sword in shadows, making it sharper and sturdier.

A kind of reinforcement magic.

But.

It’s entirely different from mana enhancement.

“Coil.”

The shadows around my blade lashed out like a whip, grabbing a scarecrow.

“Hup!”

A mere tug was enough to yank it.

Whoosh!

The scarecrow, once lodged in the ground, flew straight toward me.

‘Shadow Swordsmanship – Dragging Slash’

Schlick!

The scarecrow split clean in half.

Pull it with the whip,

slash with the blade.

“You can also use it like this.”

I dashed toward another scarecrow holding a shield and coiled my shadow-whip around it.

‘Pull.’

Yank the shield away, breaking its defense.

‘Slash.’

Bisected it in one swing.

“Sweet.”

Other Shadow Arts are nice too,

but ‘Shadow Blade’ is my favorite.

‘Raw power-wise, freezing the blade to make it harder and sharper, plus adding ice properties, is stronger…’

But Shadow Blade’s advantage lies in its fluid shape-shifting.

You can alter its form in an instant for unexpected attacks.

…With that in mind, I practiced more.

Faster transformations.

Stronger formations.

The more I trained, the stronger the shadows became.

‘The Shadow Magic Skill Crystal helped speed things up, but…’

At this point, I probably had innate talent.

My aptitude for other magic was D-rank,

but shadows…

Hmm…

B-rank, maybe?

Not as overpowered as the Hero’s party,

but decent.

‘Wait, no. A-rank is basically a special-case tier anyway. B-rank’s already genius-level.’

A-ranks are ultra-rare.

Aside from the Hero’s party, practically nonexistent.

Not zero,

but only a handful of humanity’s strongest reach it.

So.

B-rank is plenty strong.

It’s basically the peak if you exclude those freaks.

‘Well… Not all B-ranks are equal.’

Some are borderline C-rank.

Others verge on A-rank.

Think B-minus, B-plus.

‘Where do I stand?’

Shadow Arts-wise, maybe B-plus,

but my stats are D-rank.

Still.

Absorbing all the Skill Crystals from the Shadow Clan descendants will push my stats to C-rank.

Then?

How high could I go?

‘Maybe scrape B-minus…’

Probably weaker than the average B-ranker,

but just strong enough to barely qualify.

‘Granted, that’s with gear factored in…’

Still, going from D-rank Cain to B-minus is impressive.

Not just defense—

total combat power at B-rank is a massive leap.

So.

I’ll keep training.

Other magic felt stagnant,

but Shadow Arts are different.

Every session boosts me.

Every drill refines it.

Each swing brings an indescribable satisfaction.

Same timeframe.

Serene spoke seriously.

“I want to watch this ‘anime.’”

“Me too, but… Cain said it’s impossible right now. We can’t summon it yet.”

“Still want it.”

“Is there a way?”

“Yes.”

“There is?!”

“Yeah.”

Serene pulled out the borrowed(?) Succubus Queen’s essence—the Blood Stone crafted from Succubus Queen Bestia.

“Marianne.”

“Y-yes?! Me?!”

“With this, you can use succubus magic, right?”

“Probably, but… What do you plan to do with succubus magic?”

“Enter Cain’s dream.”

“Huh?”

“Ask him to show us anime there. Then we can watch.”

“Technically true, but… invading dreams is kind of a privacy violation…”

“Marianne.”

“Y-yes…”

“Help me, and I’ll let you play with Cain in the dream.”

“Eh?…”

“We’ll watch anime. You can do… naughty stuff with him.”

“Gulp…”

Marianne swallowed hard.

“If… if that’s the case… Well… I suppose I have no choice… Since Lady Serene of the Light Goddess requests it… I’ll oblige…”