Becoming a Shadow in the New World

The mysterious teacher who only taught the protagonist for seven months is suspected to have an extraordinary identity in this world and knows the world-famous wanted criminal Shadow. This is very much in line with the image of a Shadow-level powerhouse.

"Fine, I'm not going to bother with the fact that you brought a bunch of people here today to try to kill your master. Just pay your tuition first."

Of course, he didn't accept students for free; he had to pay tuition. Otherwise, he probably would have quit long ago because he found it too troublesome.

After all, this world offers him the opportunity to become a powerful being, so why should he waste more than half a year struggling with this? Although he has developed some feelings for Cao Cao over the past six months, he wouldn't mind teaching him even if Cao Cao didn't pay tuition now.

"Teacher, I'm sorry, I don't plan to pay the tuition today!"

?

Sid's magic tempering technique, which had maintained at one-times even during the battle, had now dropped to 0.7 times. Pure white slime liquid seeped from his body and flowed under his clothes. He stopped swallowing red wine, and the lazy look hidden under his mask instantly turned sharp.

You'd better give me an explanation!

Although he didn't say it aloud, Sid's look conveyed the same meaning.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao had his head down and didn't see that look. Fortunately, Cao Cao's next words successfully dispelled Sid's idea of ​​beating him up and throwing him out.

"What I want to give today is a gift for becoming an apprentice."

"Apprenticeship gift?"

Sid was a little confused. He had been Cao Cao's teacher for more than half a year, and he had been paying tuition for each day he taught. What was Cao Cao thinking?

He's been teaching him for half a year, and now he's only talking about giving him a formal apprenticeship gift? So Cao Cao didn't treat him like a teacher for the past six months?

“Teacher, I know you’ve been trying to define our relationship over the past six months as a monetary transaction by talking about tuition fees, but I don’t want it to stay like that. I want to prove to you that I’m qualified to be your student.”

Cao Cao raised his head and said those words.

He was speaking from the bottom of his heart. In his view, Sid never intended to formally accept him as a disciple, otherwise he wouldn't have used the method of charging tuition to sever their relationship.

The pressure he felt from his teacher was greater than the pressure he felt when he met Indra in his childhood. Would such an being waste a day teaching him for a mere few million Zeni?

If someone actually thought that way, they'd be laughed at by everyone. If such a good thing really existed, they wouldn't mind setting the timeline for the next hundred years.

"Is that what I think?" Sid was dumbfounded.

He simply wanted to earn some extra money and satisfy his desire to become a Shadow-level expert because his funding for his Shadow-level abilities had dried up. He hadn't thought that far ahead, but...

Seeing Cao Cao's expression that he would definitely not let him down, Sid thought for a moment...

"Hahaha, hahaha..."

Sid burst into laughter, making sounds while secretly using magic to stimulate his tear ducts, pretending that he was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face.

"I originally just wanted to kill some time, but I didn't expect it to be so interesting. It's really hilarious."

That's a lie. Sid is only in his thirties this year, including his previous life. How could he possibly understand the mentality of this extraordinary life that deliberately seeks amusement because of its long lifespan?

Moreover, he doesn't think he would understand. He cherishes every day of his life because what kind of person would find life boring if he could blow up the universe or the multiverse?

"Very well, I'll give you a chance, Cao Cao. Do you remember why I took you as my student when we first met?"

Cao Cao was right about one thing: he didn't teach him because of the millions of Zenis he earned every day. The tuition was just a side benefit. The reason he chose Cao Cao as his tutor was because of Cao Cao's dream, which he saw as having a very protagonist-like quality.

"Of course I remember, teacher. You said you wanted to see how far we could go in maintaining our human identity under the heavens, and whether that dream could be realized."

This is it, a dream that has the feel of a super protagonist. If it weren't for this level of dream, he wouldn't bother to become the mysterious master.

A decline in skill can be improved through training, but a decline in dreams is a permanent loss. If a disciple's value is diminished, the prestige of the disciple's mysterious master will also drop along with it.

"Then let me see how far you can go, how much trouble you can cause in this world. If you can really defeat the gods as a human, then I'll accept you as my disciple."

Thanks to Gamma, and thanks to their occasional changes to the Diavolo Order's settings, he developed the ability to readily accept new settings proposed by the other side.

"You can rest assured about this, teacher. In fact, I would have done it even if you hadn't asked me to. For the past six months, my partner and I have been suppressing our fighting spirit."

Following the atmosphere, Sid walked to the window, drew back the curtains to let the moonlight stream into the room, and raised his glass of red wine to drink it all in one gulp.

"Hold this light that illuminates the darkness and keep going, son of man. You have a group of good friends who are willing to give you their light. Cherish them!"

"I will, teacher."

Cao Cao nodded emphatically, turned around, summoned his spear, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out the door.

"and many more!"

"Um?!"

The sudden sound from Xide made Cao Cao turn around instinctively, but what he saw shocked him.

Sid opened his right hand, and a ball the size of a bowling ball floated above his palm, surrounded by four smaller balls that emitted a faint white light and rotated around it.

"If I remember correctly, you've only completed five of your seven treasures so far. I'll help you with the sixth one."

The largest sphere flew up and merged into the spear in Cao Cao's hand, while the remaining four flew to Cao Cao and lined up one by one.

The white light controlling them disappeared, and the four spheres, now devoid of magic, immediately fell from the sky due to gravity, startling Cao Cao who quickly caught them.

"Teacher, this?"

Looking at the four spheres in his hand, Cao Cao uttered a questioning sound.

He understood that the largest one was meant to complete the sixth of his seven treasures.

The spear in his hand, "The Lance of Twilight," is a divine weapon he was born with. It is the legendary holy spear that pierced through the gods, and in mythology, it is also known as the Spear of Longinus.

Through his development, he created seven abilities, which he named "Seven Treasures".

Although it is said to have seven abilities, there are a few duplicates. Under the tutelage of Sid "Roland Augusta", he merged the duplicates together to make room for new abilities. He has not yet developed any new abilities to fill these two spots.

But he had no idea what the four spheres were for, and the Holy Lance of Twilight showed no sign of being able to absorb them.

"This is for your companion; it is my reward for the brave."

Only after hearing Sid's explanation did Cao Cao put away the four spheres.

"Thank you, teacher. I will show you my dream and my determination."

As he reached the door, Cao Cao suddenly stopped and spoke.

"Although this is very presumptuous, teacher, is there anything we can do to help you? You know, my partner and I will be terrorists from now on, and there are quite a few things we can do."

After saying that, Cao Cao couldn't help but shake his head, finding his own words laughable.

"Hmm... there is indeed something."

To Cao Cao's surprise, Xide actually answered yes.

Do you know about Shadow?

"Of course I know. He was that world-class fugitive who threatened three worlds at the World Federation Conference, saying it was either death or unity."

Cao Cao replied in this way.

"If you encounter Shadow, if you can, no matter what he's doing, cause trouble for him, or annoy him if you can."

Cao Cao's face stiffened, and for the first time, he looked at Xide with a questioning gaze.

"Teacher, do you... have a grudge against the Shadows?"

Sid shook his head with his back to Cao Cao.

"No, I've only interacted with him once or twice, and I found him to be quite interesting."

After thinking for a few seconds, Cao Cao nodded.

"I understand, teacher."

After saying this, Cao Cao opened the door, and waiting for him outside were his companions, some leaning against trees, and some sitting.

"Cao Cao, how are you? Are you ready?"

The first to speak was the black youth wearing glasses and a robe—George.

"Of course, I'm ready. What about you?"

"Based on the information we provided, the witches of Netheril have minimized the damage to the human body caused by the Swift Forbidden Technique, and have also expressed their willingness to provide Netheril identification to those who might betray them. As for the source of the Swift Forbidden Technique's resources..."

Siegfried, the vice-captain of the Heroic Faction, responded to Cao Cao's question. As he spoke, he looked at the woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, Joan of Arc, who was wearing orange armor.

"The president of the Mikoshi Trading Company is unwilling to cooperate with us, but the other core members are willing to provide sufficient restricted resources. However, the price is that we must act as lobbyists and not just let Netheril accept those humans who are dissatisfied with their treatment and have defected."

Joan of Arc, with a faint smile on her face, uttered what seemed like an extraordinary statement, and at least everyone else who heard the news showed expressions of astonishment.

"Even the seemingly monolithic Mitsukoshi Trading Company has internal discord. Geork, write this down. Hercules, how's Hades doing? Is the Dragon Eater usable yet?"

Cao Cao's eyes lit up when he heard this news. He instructed Geork to write down the information and then asked the tall man about other matters.

The tall man nodded, indicating to Cao Cao that the matter was settled.

"Good, great, everyone, are you ready? You know, what we're about to do could be fatal."

Having confirmed that everything was ready, Cao Cao laughed and asked everyone present one last question, his voice becoming slightly heavier at the end.

Upon hearing Cao Cao's question, everyone stood up, their eyes meeting, and they revealed excited smiles.

"Now that things have come to this, isn't it redundant to ask such a question? When I chose to follow you, I was prepared to die, and I believe others thought the same way. Anyway, for someone like me, dying in battle is the norm."