Chapter 316 - Days MLXVII - MLXXIX

It took me 12 days to earn 90 081 400 and put myself in a place to finally unlock the second tome of the manual. The day before I ended up lacking just a few points to do this, which was very frustrating.

I remember clearly, standing tired in front of the device, with a sufficient number on my account. I took a deep breath, having experienced this once before I wanted to prepare myself, and bought it.

My head was painfully flooded by the data. It was like forcefully watching a movie with subtitles, except there were only subtitles. Pure information. I couldn't possibly remember it all, but I also didn't have to, as it was forcibly written down in my brain.

I stumbled but didn't fall. A bit of blood came out of my nose though. I healed quickly whatever got damaged.

Now I knew everything about my unlocked classes, sadly still nothing about those which I didn't unlock. This would be revealed to me after unlocking them. I also had a clear map of combinations of those classes, which was nice.

The best perk, though, was the knowledge about the hunting grounds around us. I knew them all, and also knew the layouts of the dungeons inside those hunting grounds. I finally could go and truly hunt the ogres.

I also found out something rather terrifying. I learned what The Void really was. Just like there is good and evil, light, and darkness, there also exists something and nothing. The Void was this nothing. Completely empty space to the point even light couldn't penetrate it. That's why I felt so bad during my first shadow walks. That's why I almost killed my friends when I took them all to the vicinity of the ogre cave using my skill.

Yes, I almost killed them, as they would cease to exist if they would remain there for just a bit longer. Now I could go there without worrying because I possessed the 'Shadow fusion', which allowed me to fuze with my shadow. My opposite. As shadows, just like humans and animals on earth or other planets, were the inhabitants of The Void.

Without bodies, without the ability to communicate, tormented by never-ending hunger, and desire to destroy. Those were the things I was summoned, thanks to my shadow, who was getting stronger with every void skill bought or upgraded.

They were given temporary bodies made out of empty space, temporarily present in this world - the void essence. Stronger desires could control more essence, and maintain bigger bodies here, in the material world. That's why mine were so weak and could be easily destroyed because the desires were weak, which also was making them easy to control.

That was also the reason why all of what was made of the void essence was turning into smoke, well that's how it looked like. It was just the empty spot falling apart, being pushed by the pressure of the air, and slowly filled up by it.

Those shapes made by me, my blades, and everything else, was relying only on my ability to concentrate the essence. My creations could be harder than anything, or so fragile, that even touching would destroy them.

I also learned an interesting fact about the 'Shadow fusion' skill. It was, as the name suggests, allowing me to fuze with my shadow, who was getting stronger, in the way I mentioned above. Currently, I was at 20%, but the next tier of this class would allow me to go as far as 40%. Fully upgraded, obviously.

It was all useful information, but also terrifying.

I needed to upgrade my 'Shadow permit' skill, as it was representing the influence of my shadow over the void, allowing others to remain there safely. I did it immediately, investing 1 110 000 points, and getting it to the fourth level.

Now I could safely work as a taxi. I just needed the right hat for that.

The best thing was that now I could make a clear plan of getting stronger, as I finally knew what I'm buying. I even decided right then and there what to aim for. It was a long shot, as I needed not only a lot of points but also a lot of class points.

Skill, in the third tier of 'Shadow walker', would allow me to clime a space in The Void, that I would be in absolute control, which meant I could store some stuff there, which meant I wouldn't have to bother with all the backpacks anymore and could hunt faster. Not to mention the advantages of faster traveling, more anchors, longer distances of shadow walks, and more.

On top of that, I would still be getting stronger indirectly, thanks to the shadow fusion.

I sneaked into my room. I was tired and really needed to get some sleep since the next day would be a very busy one because I could finally go deeper into that damned ogre cave. I was unsure If I should try fighting the boss, but the crystals waiting there for me were impossible to ignore.

I closed my eyes and tried to drift away, but couldn't. The excitement was just too big. Eventually, I gave up and started planning how to get the necessary class points the fastest way. I for sure needed to go to the bear cave, as there was one boss waiting there for me, but even before that, I needed to pick up the anchors dropped in the useless places.

I had no use for the one in the alley, the one on the edge of the swamps, and also the one next to the elevator leading to Xuvi base.

Those meant a possibility to cover three more spots. Which I was theoretically able to do, since clearing the graveyard was taking me around for hours, just like clearing the lizardfolk settlement. If the difficulty would be approximately the same, I should be able to do it.

I finally fell asleep after figuring this out.

The day came to an end with 5 504 189 points remaining on my account, and fifteen class points.