Chapter 11

Keith weaved between several indistinct humanoid clones assaulting him with various weapons. Reminiscent of a shadow cast by a flickering candle, his figure distorted and shifted, dodging the attacks by several inches. The way his body blurred was jarring, and if his opponents weren’t shadow clones, they’d grow dizzy over time.

Now and then, the techniques the shadow clones displayed suddenly jumped a level, releasing an attack Keith couldn’t avoid. During these critical moments, Keith’s body phased into another plane as the numerous swords, daggers, and spears passed through him. In the next moment, he’d reappear with a pale face from the excessive consumption of mana.

The way his body distorted and his ability to phase through physical attacks both stemmed from a single skill: Void Shadowstep. Unlike skills from equipment or skill gems, Void Shadowstep was a legacy skill. Legacy skills were self-created skills that the creator could pass on to another.

The System was exceptionally harsh, and only when a person passed several rigorous evaluations would a new skill come into existence. Creating a skill was a daunting task, with the difficulty increasing depending on its power.

An epic fireball skill granted from equipment didn’t require its user to understand its mechanisms. They simply needed to activate the skill, and the System would do the rest. However, a legacy fireball skill required a deep understanding of many things, like what fire was, how it formed, how to manipulate mana to get the best result, and so on. Most importantly, the System required intent, something many found elusive.

Keith’s Aunt created Void Shadowstep, and she passed it onto Keith. To activate it, he had to observe candles and shadows for hours on end. It was a dull and tiresome task, and he only persisted because his Aunt threatened punishment. Finally, after half a year, he encapsulated a shadow in his mind, thus forming intent and finishing the last step to inherit the skill.

Keith recalled those grueling days as he trained with the shadow clones and couldn’t help but think his family was strange. Not only was Uncle Doven over level 400, but his Mom and Aunt probably were too. The only reference to their strength was that his Aunt created a top-tier legacy skill. Everything else was shrouded in a veil of mystery.

As Keith fought, the System continuously evaluated his technique, and only when he improved would it level up. When Keith first acquired the legacy skill many years ago, he gained one level after another. Nowadays, each level took a tremendous amount of effort.

At level 100, Void Shadowstep passively enhanced Keith’s movements, giving him the attribute of a shadow. After reaching level 200, it gave him the ability to phase through physical attacks at the cost of mana. According to his Aunt, at level 300, it allowed the user to phase through both physical and magic attacks.

As for level 400, when Keith first heard its effects, he understood why his Aunt boasted her self-created skill was one of the best legacy skills in the world. Currently, when Keith phased through an attack, he temporarily existed in another plane and couldn’t hit his opponent. At level 400, that restriction disappeared, meaning he could assault his enemy while avoiding all attacks levied against him.

Unbelievable.

To this day, Keith couldn’t wrap his head around how something so rule-breaking was possible, but that only showed he lacked understanding of the skill. His Aunt had proven to him long ago such a ridiculous concept existed by demonstrating it personally many times.

Keith tried to deepen his understanding of Void Shadowstep as he fought, but after several hours fighting the shadow clones, he started to feign exhaustion. Till now, he hadn’t informed his Aunt about his increased stats, so she kept the difficulty level the same as before. Keith could keep going, but that would mean getting punched, kicked, and stabbed for several hours longer. Now was when his Aunt usually gave him a break, so he kept his act going until he ‘accidentally’ tripped and fell.

Serilla was sitting crosslegged nearby in meditation. No longer did a veil of shadow cover her body. Like Keith and Mariane, her hair was cyan, and she almost looked like a carbon copy of Keith’s mom, except her expression was several levels colder, and her hair cut short.

When Keith fell, her cyan eyes snapped open as the shadow clones under her control paused and stood at attention. As Keith ‘struggled’ to his feet, Serilla’s brows furrowed. Then, suddenly, she vanished from her spot and appeared before Keith, her first barreling towards his nose. Keith yelped as his pupils shrunk. Thankfully, Serilla’s fist stopped just before making contact.

Before Keith could understand what was going on, Serilla grabbed his hand and pierced one of her fingernails into the skin on his forearm.

“Ouch!” Keith screamed exaggeratingly, utterly baffled, and almost expecting his Aunt to drink his blood next.

“Cut the crap,” Serilla sneered as she flicked Keith’s hand away. “Based on how quickly your pupils shrunk, your Agility should now be around 80, and from the resistance of your skin, your Vitality should be the same. What are your other stats?”

“Huh?” Keith blinked his eyes innocently and prepared to deny her accusations, but when he saw her expression drop, he quickly changed his tune. “Sure enough, nothing can escape your eyes, Auntie! It's my luck to have you take care of me. You’re a genius among geniuses!”

“You don’t need to tell me. I know that already,” Serilla replied seriously without a hint of shame. “Stats, now.”

Keith gulped and quickly shared his stats.

While Keith was utterly amazed when he saw his current stats, Serilla didn’t even bat an eye, as if it was nothing special. Instead, she gave a sinister smile. “When were you planning on telling me?”

Oops. Keith immediately knew he had made a mistake. He didn’t answer as he avoided her gaze and looked around the empty white pocket dimension for anything interesting. Seeing this, Serilla’s tone grew cold. “Do you even know how valuable my time is? The responsibility I hold? No, of course you don’t. You’re just a spoiled brat who gets everything handed to you. What would you know of responsibility?”

Serilla’s response shocked Keith. She was usually cold and unfriendly, but she never verbally abused him. Of course, Keith wanted to defend himself, but he knew better than anyone how spoiled he was.

Serilla’s frustration didn’t end as she spat. “I bet you think my training is cruel, huh? Pure ignorance. If you knew what awaited you, you wouldn’t waste your time playing childish games. Why the hell did Mariane raise you like this?”

“What do you mean?” Keith’s mind focused on ‘if you knew what awaited you,’ as it seemed to contain a secret he had been wondering about regarding his family and how Ridger and his Mom acted towards him recently.

Serilla’s mouth opened, but no words came out, a hesitant expression coming over her. Keith wasn’t willing to let this chance go and pressed for an answer. “What aren’t you guys telling me? Why are Uncle Doven, you, and Mom so strong?”

A few moments passed in silence before Serilla finally spoke. “You aren’t my child. It isn’t my place to say.”

Keith’s shoulders dropped as Serilla rubbed her forehead, realizing she spoke too much. Sighing, she said, “Stress has been getting to me. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. My damn sister is to blame. She caused this mess.”

Serilla froze, finding she repeated her mistake.

“Heh.” Keith discovered his Aunt had loose lips, so he tried probing her by asking several questions. But, alas, no matter what he said, his Aunt remained as silent as a rock, afraid of spilling more information.

When Keith realized he wouldn’t get any answers, Serilla finally spoke, although the topic returned to training. “I’m going to raise the difficulty to match your stats.” Keith groaned as she continued. “You’ll thank me later.”

True to her words, the shadow clone's speed and power rose several times, leaving Keith with no time to think about anything else. The only time he left the pocket dimension was to eat food. As soon as he ate his fill, he returned to the pocket dimension for further training. Serilla didn’t even let him sleep in his room.

Like this, three days went by.