World Keeper

Chapter 617: Exploring the Shadow

“Dale, wait!” I heard Ryone calling out to me as I was browsing through the market, looking for the second tier information about World’s Shadow. Which was a bit surprising, given that I knew that I was alone in the living room. However, when I glanced over, I saw Ryone bent over the back of the couch, breathing heavily as if she had just run over from her room.

“Uhm… okay?” I blinked, unsure of why Ryone was suddenly stopping me. I knew that James wouldn’t have detailed information on the World’s Shadow, given that it wasn’t in the list of Saint-level energies that he told me about previously. “Did you find a better alternative?”

I knew that Dana had started working on creating a spell model to make World’s Shadow, but that would ultimately be only the first step of the solution. As such, I was prepared to spend nearly fifty thousand points in order to buy the second tier information for her.

“Well, the situation… seems to have resolved itself.” Ryone said with a faint groan, shaking her head. “It would be easier for you to just take a look yourself. Point being, no need to spend most of our points on this anymore.”

I gave a small nod, reaching up to grab Ryone and pulling her into the couch. She offered a small smile before leaning against me. I knew that her being ‘out of breath’ was simply her acting dramatic, but it was still amusing.

When I looked down at the world as she said, and found Dana, I did not initially understand why Ryone had said that the problem was resolved. Her hair had turned black, so I knew that she had at least succeeded in creating the energy, but again… that was only the first step. It was when I took a closer look that I saw just how thorough the changes were.

Dana had not simply created the World’s Shadow as I had, but rather she had embraced it with her entire being. As I watched, more and more of her original spirit was converted into the World’s Shadow. To my surprise, this didn’t seem to alter her personality from what I could see. Maybe it was because the energy itself had a level of sentience, and did not wish to replace her, or because the energy was more gentle in its nature.

Regardless, I could see that Dana was still regarded as a ‘person’ under the system’s settings as opposed to a monster, meaning that she would still be able to earn levels as she had been. “That’s good.” I said with a small smile, nodding my head as I understood what Ryone had meant.

“Tsubaki, I’m back!” Dana shouted out as she returned to the citadel, carrying the used spell papers in her arms. There was no real reason for her to leave them behind, and at least bringing them back would let her store them for later. Though, she’d need to reapply the adhesive coating first.

As soon as she appeared, a flash of light surrounded Dana. Tsubaki rushed over, wrapping the girl in a tight embrace. Dana could even feel Tsubaki’s shoulders shaking. “I’m fine, Tsuba.” Her voice turned more gentle as she said that, able to understand Tsubaki’s worries. With their connection suddenly cutting like that, it would not have been unreasonable for Tsubaki to fear that Dana might have failed to create the energy, leading to an explosive ending.

Tsubaki nodded her head, keeping her face as stoic as possible. But, the relief she felt could still be easily read. “You did it, then?”

“Oh, did I ever!” Dana let out a light laugh, squirming out of Tsubaki’s embrace. “Watch this! Adult mode!” As Dana called out, Tsubaki would see a ripple forming in the elf’s shadow, after which she seemed to rapidly age into a mature, full-bodied woman. One that would have made any elf happy. “And back down again!” And then immediately reverted to her normal appearance.

Tsubaki’s lips twitched slightly, trying to fight back the urge to laugh at what she was seeing. “I doubt that the Keeper suggested this power to you for that reason…”

“Hmm? Oh! Right, he said that it could create a whole world, right?” Dana looked down at her shadow with pleading eyes. “Can you do that yet?”

Her shadow rippled again, transmitting a thought to Dana. After receiving and understanding the message, Dana quickly shook her head. “Oh! No, that’s fine. There’s no need for that, then. We’ll get somewhere else later.”

Lifting her head to look at Tsubaki again, Dana explained with a wide smile. “It says that there is already someone ruling over the shadows of this world. We can enter it to take a look, but to have our own shadow world here, we’d need to fight him for control of it. Given the context… I think the current owner might be the boss.”

Tsubaki blinked, before nodding her head. “I see… then, do you know what world you’d like to use?”

Dana thought about that for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. “Deckan would probably be a really good fit, I think. I want to see if my shadow world would produce dimensium. And if it does, would I get special cards made out of shadow energy?”

After thinking about it, Tsubaki was happy to find that Dana’s personality appeared to be the same as ever. Even when given such a wondrous power, her first instinct was still a desire to experiment. “Well, I’ll let you get to that, then.” She smiled, patting Dana’s head. “Once you’re back, don’t forget to take care of your duties.”

Dana gave a quick nod of her head, turning and dashing down the hall towards her room. “So, what else can you do, little guy?” She asked, listening for the faint ripples of her soul to answer her.

I… do not know. The shadow seemed to be saying. While sentient on some levels, it was not exactly intelligent. Make. Copy. Transform. Transport. These things.

Dana blinked as she heard that, her steps slowing so that she could enjoy the ‘conversation’ with her shadow energy. “Well, what kinds of things can you make?”

World. Items. People. Dana wasn’t surprised by the first answer, as she had already been told about the world creation aspect. Similarly, she had been informed that the world could have countless lifeforms, so ‘people’ wasn’t as unexpected.

“Items, huh? What kind of items?”

Any known. You, think, focus. When she heard that, Dana did as suggested by her shadow, focusing. She could feel a ripple within her shadow as the item she tried to make was stored within it. Although it did not appear for her, she simply knew that she could call it to her with a thought.

“Neat! So, I even have a storage area in my shadow… That must be like the baby stage of having my own world. Can you just transport me to this ‘shadow world’, or other places, too?”

Need energy, but… any shadow connected to world shadow. All shadows as one.

When Dana heard that, she smiled. “Take me to my room!” She shouted out into the empty hall, before her shadow stretched and turned, forming a black arch along the wall next to her. Seeing this, Dana turned and walked into the arch.

There was a brief, chilling sensation before she found herself in the familiar bedroom. When she investigated, she realized that the strange sensation was a portion of her new energy being drained for the transfer. “Guess I should avoid using that too much… Don’t want to put a strain on you. Me. Us. Whatever I am now.”

Thankfully, she had other methods of reaching Deckan, and did not require the shadow for transportation. Once she had set her papers down, she cast a familiar portal spell, taking herself to the Fairy Ring.

Now that she had changed her appearance, there did not seem to be anyone that had recognized her. Although only her hair had truly changed, it was enough of a difference that nobody linked her to the servant of the Keeper that had not appeared for quite some time. There were simply too many people that looked similar to one another, after all.

When she saw that people were looking at her as if she was a simple child, Dana pouted her lips and ran down the street, looking for a convenient dark alley to hide in. According to the schedule she saw, it would still be over an hour left before the ring next connected to Deckan. Once she had found a suitable, empty alley, she ran in and hid behind a large trash bin.

“Will magic buildings work the same in the shadow world as they do here?” She asked, the darkness surrounding her rippling in an affirmative. That gave Dana an idea, but it was something that she’d have to try later. For now… “Okay, make me an adult again.”

Moments later, an elven woman in a flowing black dress walked out of the alley, a confident sway in her step as she made her way back towards the transit building. Payment to use the ring was no problem for her, as the Sky Citadel had a vast reserve of funds, most of them earned by Dana herself.

For the first time in a long, long time, Dana lined up to join the queue of travelers, not bothering with her own status. At this point, it would only cause more of a commotion, and she wanted to enjoy being ‘normal’ for at least a little while longer.

Of course, she wasn’t above breaking the wrists of people who had become a bit too handsy, leaving a rather strong fighter screaming out as he fell to the ground. To her surprise, she was not detained for this action, as numerous other women stepped forward to speak for her. Apparently, the man was a bit of a problem for them, and these women approved of how Dana handled the situation.

This led to Dana speaking with these women, learning more about them as they waited in line. Although the details she could share about herself were rather scarce, she was long-since used to coming up with stories. She told them how she was a widow from a nearby city, wanting to move to Deckan for a fresh start.

Like this, Dana spent her time waiting with these women, until finally the call was given for the ring to be activated. Since the other women were waiting for a different destination, they simply waved farewell to Dana as she walked into the shimmering portal.

After entering the portal and appearing on the other side, Dana rolled her shoulders with a grin, muttering under her breath. “Do it.”

Her shadow flashed, spreading out across the floor with the shimmering lights of the portal behind her. She could feel the space within her shadow dramatically expanding, being replaced by the very facility she was now walking through. With every step she took, her shadow world expanded further and further.

While she waited, Dana exited the building, looking around at the busy streets. A smile played at her lips, seeing the more normal side of society. Nothing exaggerated like saving a colony from a band of giants, fighting off rogue gods, or needing to invent a spell that could detect and suppress divinity itself.

“I’ll need to bring Tsuba along next time I come out. She’d probably enjoy this, too.” She muttered to herself, shaking her head. The two of them were able to enjoy their downtime in one of the many virtual reality games that had been released, but they had not seen this peaceful side of a city for quite a while.

After a few minutes of walking down the street, Dana could feel her shadows converging, a clear sign that they had fully encompassed the planet. Now, it was time for her to see what she could really do as the owner of a World’s Shadow.

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