Chapter 4

A week had passed since then.

To be precise, it was now January 14th, a week and two days later.

There was still a fair amount of time left until the school opening ceremony on March 4th, but it wasn’t a situation where I could afford to be leisurely.

So, what had I been doing during that time?

Unfortunately, there was no particular progress.

‘I just rested.’

It couldn’t be helped. I finished testing the basic arts in just a few days, and the next level, the intermediate-rank art formulas, were almost impossible for my meager specs to operate.

All I could do was organize what was to come and re-examine my plans and direction.

‘Still, thanks to that, I was able to get a sense of how the world works.’

The articles updated daily and the various issues mentioned in all sorts of communities.

For me, lacking experience in this world, they served as important nourishment.

‘It’s worse than I thought.’

In the original work, the narrative simply progressed following the protagonist, so many parts were somewhat omitted, but the actual world situation I felt was hard to see as good.

‘I had no idea the damage from the first Night Parade of One Hundred Specters was this severe.’

A major incident that occurred 20 years ago by this world’s standards, commonly called the ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Specters’ incident.

The aftereffects of that disaster were far more serious than even what was described in the original work.

For me, knowing that a second Night Parade of One Hundred Specters would occur someday, it was a chilling point.

‘Moreover, the second one is on a scale far surpassing the first.’

Specters that were even stronger and more fearsome, hard to find in the first Night Parade, were scheduled to pour out all at once.

‘Well, it’s still a distant story.’

As it was an event that ran through the main story of the work, there were still many big and small events left before that.

There was probably no need to worry about it already.

What I needed to focus on first was this.

“Alright.”

Thud.

The items I had requested from Seo Jian, which had finally arrived today after a full nine days.

Various subsidiary materials with cursed meanings and a fist-sized colorless stone.

It might seem abrupt, but I planned to use these to deduce the nature of my unidentified trait.

‘At this point, the utility of the colorless stone probably hasn’t even been half revealed yet.’

The colorless stone is an ore that changes its original color under the influence of its surroundings.

Therefore, thanks to its beauty and mystery, it is often traded at high prices among the wealthy.

‘But the true value of the colorless stone isn’t that.’

The colorless stone has a very large energy capacity in terms of cursed techniques.

Therefore, when used as a medium for various art formulas like barrier techniques or as material for cursed tools, it exhibits value beyond mere luxury goods.

“And although it’s not a common method, it can also be used to identify the traits of something, like now.”

The effect of changing color due to the influence of the surrounding environment, that was the key point.

Tszzz.

I recalled one art formula in my mind and immediately deployed it.

One of the methods used in the latest virtual reality game to analyze something that couldn’t be clearly identified through the appraisal function. It was the preparation process for that.

“Done.”

The colorless stone, which had partially mottled colors perhaps due to influences from passing through various places during the acquisition process, changed its appearance to its original transparent white color as I used a cursed technique along with several other materials I had obtained.

“And here…”

Tszzzzz.

A basic cursed technique, but a staple art formula widely utilized in many areas depending on its usage and technique. Having deployed it, I formed a hand seal and uttered the incantation trigger.

“Resonance.”

Whoosh.

The targets of activation were, of course, my physical body and the colorless stone.

Following the nature of the resonance art formula, the colorless stone began to react to the spiritual power of my body. A faint light seeped out as the colors of the colorless stone rapidly shifted.

A red light surging out as if rippling from the center, a blue light slowly beginning to mix in while encircling the edges, and even a yellow light penetrating between them.

As the art formula concluded and the light faded, the mixed colors of the colorless stone also gradually stabilized.

The color that was completed was…

“Black?”

It was darkness itself, without even a hint of subtle color.

“Unpleasantly, it came out black.”

At least, it wasn’t the general result I had imagined.

A color with a texture that felt a bit more grimy and sticky than the night sky.

Unless it was an object imbued with a curse, such a color doesn’t usually come from an ordinary person.

‘It’s definitely related to the unidentified trait, and furthermore, the lock on my stats…’

I frowned and pondered. What did black usually symbolize?

As trivial things like hair and pupils crossed my mind, one thought pierced through.

It was closer than I thought.

Something fundamentally related to the physical body, symbolizing black, and holding numerous meanings in terms of cursed techniques.

The place my head turned to was the dormitory wall where a shadow was cast.

“…Resonance.”

Crack—!

At that moment, the colorless stone in my hand shattered violently.

And.

【New trait recognized.】

I was finally able to learn the identity of my unidentified trait.

‘…This is bewildering.’

How did things come to this?

With a serious face, I stared at the notification window that appeared before my eyes for several minutes and thought.

【Phantom Body (S)】

▶The physical body belongs to the shadow, and the shadow becomes a vast vessel.

In a word, it meant my true body was not my flesh but my shadow.

‘The reason my stats aren’t increasing is probably because the vessel for my soul isn’t my physical body.’

And in fact, there was something else more important. I remembered seeing this trait before.

“This is the named character trait from the 4th installment.”

To be precise, it was the unique trait of one of the bosses on the antagonist side appearing in the fourth work of the Exorcism Academy Series: Severed Shadow.

A literally phantom trait that players couldn’t even obtain within the game system.

But my expression upon obtaining it wasn’t that great.

“No, Severed Shadow clearly had high stats too?”

Of course, I had a sense of what the difference was. Probably, considering the story, Severed Shadow didn’t have the Phantom Body trait from the beginning.

‘That is, he obtained the trait after raising his stats to some degree, and his stats were fixed in that state.’

On the other hand, Han Kangyoon probably had the trait since a very young age, or perhaps from birth.

“This is troublesome.”

I thought that if I just knew the cause, a way to lift the stat restriction would appear. But in this case, there was no immediately usable method.

‘What good is an S-Rank trait? In this state, I can’t even properly use intermediate-rank art formulas.’

Of course, the Phantom Body trait itself is a trait holding immense potential. In fact, Severed Shadow was considered almost a top-tier boss among all characters in the 4th installment.

‘But Severed Shadow had higher stats than me, and his trait was much more luxurious.’

I think I could probably research and use some of the cursed techniques Severed Shadow used, but perfectly replicating the same combat style was obviously impossible. Our basic physical abilities were different from the start.

“I need to find a different fighting method utilizing the trait, is that it?”

Stats frozen for the time being.

And practically, the only trait I could directly use in combat was Phantom Body.

Whether it killed me or saved me, I had to find some answer with this.

‘Phantom Body…’

As anyone could tell from the description, to properly benefit from the Phantom Body trait, one naturally had to utilize their own shadow.

‘Of course, there are many cursed techniques that use shadows as a medium.’

But given my specs, the only thing I could use stably right now were basic arts.

And properly utilizing a medium like a shadow with only basic arts was practically close to impossible.

“This is hard.”

From my mind, which had been pondering repeatedly, a thought flashed for a moment.

‘Come to think of it, surely…’

In the virtual reality game that was the latest work of Exorcism Academy, my main playstyle was precisely that of a Shikigami Sorcerer.

A style that engaged in combat primarily utilizing various Shikigami, that is, familiar demons.

I had achieved up to 7th place in the PVP world rankings with it, so that said it all.

And Severed Shadow, who appeared in the 4th installment, also had a scene where he summoned Shikigami through shadows using the Phantom Body trait.

‘Depending on the grade, summoning Shikigami consumes quite a lot of spiritual power. Also, preparing the medium used to contain the Shikigami is tricky.’

However, Severed Shadow solved both of those by utilizing the Phantom Body trait.

‘The shadow of a person possessing the Phantom Body trait becomes a vast vessel in terms of cursed techniques.’

The reason my stats aren’t growing is due to the influence of the Phantom Body trait. The vessel for my soul belongs not to my physical body but to my shadow.

Then, where do all the experience and effort I’ve accumulated for growth go?

That’s right. They go to the shadow.

In other words, I can contract with Shikigami using my shadow, which has become a vast vessel, as the medium, and supply the spiritual power contained within it as energy to the Shikigami.

“This is it.”

It couldn’t be anything but a fantastic coincidence.

And that coincidence was guiding me once again towards one path.

An area I was most confident in, and simultaneously, an excellent style that could compensate for my lacking stats.

‘There’s no other way.’

I resolved to become a Shikigami Sorcerer once again, here as well.