Only I Am A Reader
chapter-503

'It's starting to become a habit.'

After following the Shadow Nightmare, Leo was able to clear the maze challenge without any trouble. No matter how one looked at it, one specific ability branch was becoming too useful at this point.

Thankfully, the challenges that followed weren't anything exaggerated like a maze, but whenever he could, Leo relied on Shadow Nightmares to make things easier.

Up until he entered this Gate, it was one of the abilities that Leo was trying to avoid. However, as more and more control specifics were added with each use, it turned out that even the most unstable ability could still be mastered.

'Shadow Mastery is truly an apt name.'

Prior to Leo's arrival, Cassian had tried many different ways to make the wild beasts a bit more malleable, but he always failed.

Considering that he wasn't exactly in need of extra strength, Cassian eventually gave up on developing this ability beyond basic use. Nonetheless, now that Shadow Mastery had bloomed, what was once impossible had now become possible.

One challenge after the other, Leo no longer hoped for something specific. Even if they took a bit of extra time, all stages were clearable for him. A maze duplicate didn't appear, but Leo felt like he wouldn't mind another rest.

[ Challenge 35: Kill 23 monsters. ]

Having gone over 70 challenges, Leo could confidently say that hunting challenges were the most common. At one point, he abandoned the basic killing concept that he settled on and left the job to Shadow Nightmares.

The more he used them, the more things that he could use them for. So even if it took a little bit more time to clear some stages, Leo believed that everything automatically fell into balance.

As he went further and further, Leo decided to simply consume 90% of the Enigma Stones that he obtained in this Gate.

Although he could sell the rest if his cash reserves ran out, he could never sell the whole amount without falling under someone's radar, so using them made more sense.

'I could always accumulate more later.'

Though he didn't expect much, Leo checked the Personal Book every now and then for changes. In the end, he did perceive one change, but it was completely unrelated to his Personal Statistics.

Personal Abilities:

- 'Shadow Mastery' - Law - 5/5

= 'Shadow Domination' - Peak

= 'Shadow Nightmare' - Peak

= 'Shadow Movement' - Advanced

= 'Shadow Copy' - Advanced

= 'Shadow Armament' - Advanced

= 'Shadow Pocket' - Advanced

= 'Shadow…'

= …

__________________

'As expected.'

Just like Shadow Domination itself had become a Peak branch ability, it seemed like with enough time and training, the rest of the abilities could break their limits as well.

It was just that Leo didn't expect Shadow Nightmare to be the first ability to advance. If anything, its ability rating felt more relative to its maximum strength rather than the degree of control.

'I guess both aspects contribute to the ratings.'

With a little bit of training, the ability's main disadvantage had become a minor inconvenience. Leo still couldn't unleash a Shadow Nightmare's full strength without losing control of it, but it looked like he was close.

The rest of the abilities likely had their own advancement potential. However, aside from the obvious growth candidates such as Shadow Movement and Shadow Armament, Leo wasn't sure if the rest could take the same step forward.

In the end, it all came down to how deep he could explore an ability's roots. After all, something like Shadow Pocket was close to the definition of a stagnant ability, changing it further required looking in a completely different direction.

'This would have to wait though.'

As much as Leo enjoyed the experiments that he had done so far, this specific advancement was almost handed to him on a silver plate.

It was worth spending time on because it made clearing the rest of the Gate easier. On the other hand, Leo didn't have the time to dig a whole other tunnel. Once again, his main focus was still clearing the Gate!

'Am I really going to miss the rest?'

As he cleared a couple more challenges, Leo felt like his plans might deviate once more. Considering that he countered the second pair so early, he took it for granted that he would meet the others before finishing the challenge quota.

However, Leo was starting to have some doubts now. With duplicate ones appearing, the challenge pool was likely to surpass 100. If things continued like this, he might have to make his move in front of Aurora.

'Well, it's not like it's that bad of an option.'

If all he wanted was maximum impact, then doing it that way might actually be more effective. That being said, Leo still hoped to clear all of the obstacles early on.

After all, the arc's finale was still more important than disciplining some scammers. Moreover, just like a direct show had its own advantages, showing results without explaining the process left everything up to the imagination.

The effectiveness of the show was simply relative. In the end, regardless of what Leo preferred, he still had to follow what the Gate gave him.

'Let's worry about it then.'

Surrendering the choice to fate, Leo stepped into the 77th challenge. Just from the fact that the Gate had yet to be cleared, Leo confirmed that Aurora had indeed been slowed down.

Even if she used the basic clearing methods, the protagonist should have been able to clear a measly twenty-something challenge.

'Unless she got one maze challenge after the other.'

[ Challenge 6: Kill 13 monsters. ]

This was yet another hunting challenge. Leo was about to release his Shadow Nightmares when he smelled something familiar.

'...Blood?'

The faint smell that lingered around in this stage was blood. There was more than one scenario that could have led to this smell, but Leo didn't have to guess.

'Finally.'

This signature blood smell was definitely monster blood. Unless the monsters went crazy and started killing each other, it was obvious that some 'Heroes' had already stepped into this challenge!