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Chapter 258 Still an Infant

The shadow writes very slowly.

However, his pen-holding posture was exactly the same as Richard's, which was Richard's usual three-finger grip with his wrist suspended in the air.

This shadow even copied Richard's habit of slightly raising his little finger when writing.

Richard made no further moves, nor did he have any new ideas.

He stood by the wall, quietly watching his shadow finish writing the words.

Shadow wrote for more than half a page before stopping.

It tried to put the pen back next to the ink bottle, but it was placed crookedly and almost knocked the ink bottle over.

After being put down, it straightened up and looked back at Richard.

A face, or perhaps this cannot be called a face.

It has no facial features, just a dark void.

Richard knew it had no eyes, but when it looked at him, he genuinely felt like he was being "seen."

It gave Richard the feeling of a child doing homework for the first time, handing it in, and waiting for the teacher's evaluation.

So Richard went over and started looking at the manuscript.

The paper was covered with "words".

Each line between the characters is evenly spaced.

Even the pressure and speed of the strokes are well-executed.

At first glance, it looks like the handwriting of someone who can read and write.

But if you get closer, you'll find that there isn't a single letter on it.

Each stroke is smooth, winding, looping, then pulled out, and then looping back.

The shadow understands the action of writing, imitating it perfectly.

However, it does not understand what the "character" itself is.

It learned how to move the pen and how to arrange the lines.

But it has no idea what it is writing.

Richard remembers that when he was little, his sister Evelyn would lie next to his desk.

She would imitate Richard doing his homework and then "write letters" in her own notebook.

Every stroke, every line, was done with great care.

After finishing writing, he would solemnly fold the letter and then hand it to his mother.

After reading it, my mother just kept laughing, laughing so hard she couldn't speak.

The writing in front of me is more neat than what Evelyn wrote back then.

But it's also more hollow.

They are all devoid of any substance.

Richard put down the paper and asked, "Did you trace this based on my appearance?"

Shadows cannot speak.

It simply put its own...

If this black ball can also be called a head.

Let's leave it at that then.

The shadow tilted its head to one side, then tilted it back.

Richard didn't understand its meaning, but he figured it out himself.

This shadow can "write".

For the past six months or so, it has been staying by Richard's side.

They're everywhere—crawling on walls, sprawled on the floor, huddled at your feet…

They had been spying on Richard for countless nights.

Richard deciphered Appendix C, copied rubbings of the boundary stones, and prepared supplementary materials...

It sees and remembers every single stroke.

It has completely learned Richard's movements.

But it can't learn the underlying movements.

Latin declensions, the origins of inscription symbols, meanings hidden in ink...

It doesn't understand any of these things.

Richard made a judgment.

This shadow can't do anything that requires thinking.

He tried to pass another thought of "come over" to the shadow.

You don't need to speak; just send the thought to it in your mind.

The shadow did indeed move.

It loosened its posture from lying on the table and walked towards Richard.

It moves very slowly and clumsily.

The first step was relatively stable, but the second step left its feet unable to support it, and it sank into the floor.

My entire leg was almost completely sunk in.

It could only forcefully pull its leg out, and its whole body swayed with the movement.

Shadows ultimately cannot stand firm in the material world.

For it, laying it on the ground is much less strenuous than moving it in three dimensions.

Finally, the shadow laboriously walked up to Richard.

It stopped about a fist's distance away.

Just then, Richard noticed changes in his body.

The leaves of the inverted tree of light in the Sun's Seat are dimming one by one.

His ether has been drained from underneath, and it is constantly flowing out.

The speed wasn't fast, but it was continuous.

Richard understood what was going on.

Shadows exist in the material world, and whether they are standing or sitting, they consume ether.

It has no ether of its own, so it can only obtain it from Richard.

For every second it stays in the material world, Richard has to provide it with an extra second of ether.

Clement once told an old story.

This matter is called, "The lamp oil is limited."

There is a vintage oil lamp in the Stuart auction house that is said to be "always burning".

The fire has burned continuously to this day and has never been extinguished.

The buyer bought it with great enthusiasm and kept it at home for three days.

As a result, the lamp went out on the morning of the fourth day because the oil had burned out.

There is no flame that burns forever, and the same is true of shadows.

Richard gestured for someone to "go back".

The shadow did as it was told, turning and walking towards the wall.

Once you get to the base of the wall, it sticks completely to the wall surface.

The three-dimensional outline returned to a two-dimensional plane, becoming a normal shadow.

The flow of ether within Richard's body had also ceased.

This entire process consumed approximately 10% of its ether reserves.

This rate of consumption is terrifying.

Richard only let it walk a few steps in the house and write half a page of scrap paper, yet it consumed so much.

He sat back down on the edge of the bed and rested for a while.

He already had a good idea of ​​the abilities this lamp had given him.

It's truly an amazing find.

Not only can its shadow switch, but it can also walk independently.

But this isn't some skill that, once acquired, will immediately grant you the ability to command the wind and rain.

First of all, Shadow is currently very vulnerable and clumsy.

You have to feed it continuously with your own ether.

Moreover, shadows cannot do fine work and cannot stay in the material world for long. Once Richard's ether dries up, it will turn back into an ordinary shadow.

Richard thought for a moment, then stood up again, summoned the shadow back from the wall, and asked it to walk back and forth in the room.

He needs to figure out the full extent of this thing's capabilities.

The first distance measured.

Richard stood still in the middle of the room, letting his shadow move towards the doorway.

Halfway there, the shadow started to weaken, and the steps became heavy.

Richard glanced at it and estimated it to be about eight or nine steps away.

He made the shadow take another step forward.

The moment it stepped out, the entire outline of the shadow began to fade, and its edges trembled violently, as if a thread was pulling it down from behind.

The ether in Richard's chest was also being lost at an alarming rate.

He quickly called for his shadow to return.

The safe distance is about ten steps; any further and it won't work.

The shadow will either dissipate and be reshaped, or it will have to be sustained by a massive amount of ether.

Richard silently memorized this point and then began testing the next item.

strength.

There was a glass ink bottle on the table, which wasn't light even when full of ink.

Richard sent Shadow to fetch it.

The shadow stretched out both hands, grabbed the bottle, and began to pull hard.

However, such an exaggerated movement only caused the ink bottle to move twice on the table.

Not to mention picking it up.

With more force, the outline of the shadow began to tremble.

With that kind of strength, I reckon it's not even as good as a five or six-year-old child.

Richard quickly told it to let go of his hand.

He summarized the characteristics of shadows.

Weak, stupid, burns ether, won't last long, won't go far.

It could be said that this pitch-black thing was no different from a newborn baby.

Walking is already difficult, let alone doing things.

Richard stared at his shadow, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

It is indeed a newborn baby.

But it doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with it.

Only babies grow, and only babies have the highest plasticity.

The next morning.

The maid took the hangover soup to the guest room, and after a while came out again and said to Richard:

"The two young ladies will probably need to sleep a little longer."

Richard nodded slightly, finished breakfast, and went back to his room, locking the door behind him.

Before going to bed last night, he conducted one last experiment on the shadow.

He used [Breath Healing] on the shadow.

Richard had already realized this back in Whitcomb.

The healing aura works better on the shadow than on the physical body.

The reason is also very simple.

Shadows are inherently something of the etheric plane.

It was Richard himself who cast the "Shute" from the other side of the curtain.

The physical body is the flesh and blood of the material world; to truly heal it, one must delve deep into its core.

But shadows are different; they are inherently related to healing.

As soon as the breath passes over, it feels soothing.

Last night, Richard tried releasing healing as the shadow's outline trembled.

The shadow stabilized as soon as the breath passed.

When I looked at it again this morning, the shadow's hue was even a bit darker.

Richard kept this in mind.

Today we'll proceed with the next experiment.

Richard sat on the edge of the bed, extending his inspiration to the shadow at his feet, and continued his experiment.

A shadow consumes ether when it moves in the material world because its "home" is not here.

What if it were in its hometown?

Richard sent the shadow to the other side of the curtain.

His inspiration went with the shadow.

The moment the shadow disappeared, the ether flowing from Richard's chest indeed stopped.

He followed the shadow with inspiration and arrived at the shallows of the curtain.

Then control the shadow to move.

Stand up, walk, sit down.

All actions were performed without consuming any ether.

Richard was overjoyed; his idea had indeed been correct.

Captain Field said it, and so did old Big.

Behind the veil, everything related to ether will be amplified.

The shadows fell on the curtain, just as fish enter water.

Richard no longer needs to nourish it with his own "water".

All its consumption can be obtained from the ether diffused within the veil.

Moreover, the movements are more stable than in the material world.

Richard tried to make the shadow jump up, grab a piece of ethereal sphere, and then carry it on his back.

Although it's still a bit slow and the movements are clumsy, it's much better than in the material world.

Most importantly, even with such complex and high-intensity movements, Richard did not consume a single bit of ether.

Richard had a brand new idea.

Since the shadow is like a newborn baby, it needs a constant supply of ether to grow.

So let's just let it stay in its "hometown" to train.

Anyway, no matter how much it wreaks havoc inside the curtain, even if it wreaks havoc from dusk till dawn, it won't consume even a single bit of Richard's ether.

As long as Richard replenishes it with [Breathing Healing] every now and then, the shadow will not disappear.

Richard gathered his thoughts and considered how to use this shadow at this stage.

He wanted to follow the path of a scholar, to study books, decipher, identify, and go on fieldwork.

He no longer had time to practice what hunters practiced.

But there is a shadow.

As long as there is no one else around, Richard can study by himself behind his desk.

Then cast the shadow behind the curtain and let it train without stopping.

Richard felt this was an absolutely brilliant idea.

This shadow has great potential.

His development of it is far from reaching the limits of the shadow.

There will be even more to come.

Richard had a sudden thought and urged his shadow to move deeper into the curtained area.

But after taking only a couple of steps, inspiration began to strike.

Richard acted decisively and immediately pulled the shadow back.

Behind the curtain, beyond the shallows, lies an ever-deepening "well".

Mrs. McNeil opened the door and pulled eight people across the threshold; Richard had seen the well with his own eyes.

The well continued to extend downwards, with no end in sight.

The shallows behind the curtain are relatively safe, and there is plenty of ether.

But it won't work if you go any further in.

Richard believed that the shadow was his Shute, and also a part of himself.

If the shadow was killed by something behind the curtain.

Then his physical body could not possibly be unharmed.

At best, it's a severe blow to one's mental well-being.

In severe cases...

Richard dared not think any further.

Even if it were just scattered, the amount of ether required to reassemble it would be unimaginable.

Most importantly, what if those things behind the curtain aren't trying to kill the shadow, but rather to "exchange" the shadow?

That would be terrible.

If what comes back isn't Richard's shadow, but some unknown thing, then we're in big trouble.

With this in mind, Richard immediately made a decision.

You can practice shadow techniques, but only in shallow waters.

We absolutely must not go any deeper.

This was the most crucial point, and Richard kept it in mind.

Richard used his inspiration to scan the shadows again, but stopped halfway through.

He noticed something on the shadow.

When the Sphinx Lamp signed its name and acknowledged its master, it granted Richard the ability to "ferry shadows between the two worlds".

But this ability seems to go beyond that.

It just hasn't fully revealed itself yet; it's hidden in the outline of the shadow.

Richard focused intently on observing the shadow.

A scholar's skill lies in "reading and analyzing".

Since a strange object recognizes a master, its abilities should logically gravitate towards that master.

So far, the abilities Shadow has given him are basically all physical strength, movement, and stealth.

These things have absolutely nothing to do with scholars.

However, Richard had a premonition that the scholar's abilities were not absent, but were still hidden deep in the shadows.

Richard tried to touch it, and he felt a vague outline.

If you let your shadow "read" something, it will be faster than if Richard reads it himself.

This is a double-edged sword.

If you read quickly, the danger hidden within the text will come even faster.

Richard snapped out of his reverie.

He got out of bed, walked to the window, and opened it.

The sun has already risen over the capital.

There was a noise downstairs; it was my aunt.

Richard could hear his aunt calling for the maid from a distance.

He smiled and let the shadow sink back into his feet.

From the outside, it was just an ordinary shadow, no different from anyone else's shadow.