Chapter 711 – Dreamweaver World 49

Chapter 711 – Dreamweaver World 49

“Teacher! You’re awake!” Mo Lan turned back with a radiant smile. Her pure black eyes shimmered with fine golden sparks under the firelight. “I made something delicious—it’ll be ready any moment!”

Matina’s hurried footsteps suddenly slowed. She cleared her throat with a light cough, feigning composure with a casual “Mm,” and strolled over to sit in her usual spot by the fireplace.

Her stone cane leaned against the side of the chair as her gaunt fingers unconsciously rubbed the armrest.

The flames in the fireplace burned quietly, tongues of orange-red fire gently licking the bottom of the iron pot.

Matina stared absently at the food tumbling in the pot: thinly sliced rock-spot mushrooms had turned golden-brown, shadow grass had curled into elegant spirals, and a warm aroma similar to cinnamon wafted through the air.

In the corner, several shadow bugs sneaked their heads out from the gaps in the cupboard, their antennae swaying gently in rhythm with the stir-frying.

Matina’s shadow swayed slightly on the wall, settling into a relaxed posture.

“Teacher, try this.” Mo Lan suddenly offered a small plate containing several golden-fried pieces. “I made these fried sunlight potatoes following a recipe fromerta《 Shadow Tribe Home Cooking Encyclopedia 》. Does it taste right to you?”

Matina took the plate and bit into one. Beneath the crispy shell was a soft, sweet filling carrying the distinctive warmth of sunlight.

“…Not bad.” That was her final verdict—yet she ate every last piece on the plate.

Then she asked, as if in passing, “Finished all the books on the shelf?”

After all, she’d even read the cookbook that Matina had casually stuffed into a corner of the cupboard.

“Yes!” Mo Lan nodded with shining eyes, brimming with anticipation. “Teacher, according to Chapter Three, Section Seven oferta《 Shadow Tribe Hereditary Training Manual 》, ‘Once the child has mastered Shadow Walk and basic shadow-pattern theory, they may attempt to raise their first shadow pet.’ Can we learn that next?”

The corner of Matina’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. This little monster had actually worked through the training manual on her own!

She took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that having a prodigiously talented apprentice was a good thing. Still, as her teacher, she had to be prudent and responsible. “Your level is still too low, and your Power of Shadow is too weak…”

Before she could finish, Mo Lan had already deftly pulled the Shadow Hunter Job Invitation from her pack and used it in the blink of an eye.

Immediately after, she spent all the experience points she had accumulated from attending classes and learning skills back in Greenwood Village.

Originally, she had planned to save that experience for the Exploration Zone later. Once used for leveling up, it would be wasted after a job change.

But now she had no choice but to spend it, to give her teacher more confidence in her strength and prevent the Power of Shadow issue from delaying the course.

A strange resonance hummed through the air. Mo Lan’s aura surged upward in waves as black shadow veins beneath her ashen skin lit up.

Level 1, level 10, level 20… finally stopping firmly at the threshold of level 35.

Matina’s stone cane clattered to the ground—pulled down by its own shadow.

Matina opened her mouth, but in the end only wearily rubbed her temples.

Forget it. Even if this little monster plucked the moon from the sky and kicked it around like a ball, she wouldn’t be any more surprised. This was just leveling up a few times in a row—adventurers leveled quickly to begin with.

She spoke in a flat tone:

“Your Power of Shadow is sufficient now… but raising a shadow pet should still be done step by step, from simple to difficult.

After all, cultivating a shadow from nothing is far too draining. Most of the time, you’ll need to borrow from other shadows, and that also trains your ability to hunt shadows. Shadows of inanimate objects are the most docile—let’s start with taming those.”

Mo Lan had no objections whatsoever. She nodded obediently, looking every bit the attentive student.

Matina sighed. “Everything in my house already has my mark in its shadow.”

She looked around the room, brow furrowed. “Do you have any small, expendable items on you? Take a few out to use as practice material.”

This was supposed to be course content for a month from now—she hadn’t even had time to prepare teaching materials. If this little monster didn’t have anything suitable on her, they’d have to make an impromptu trip to the village general store.

“I do, I do!” Mo Lan had read enough books to understand the consequences of a failed taming—it would damage the shadow’s original body.

She nimbly produced a white porcelain tea set and arranged it neatly on the table. “Let’s use this!”

The tea set gleamed with a lustrous sheen in the firelight—twelve teacups along with a teapot and tea tray, more than enough for repeated practice.

Even if a few got ruined, it wouldn’t matter. A little Mana and she could produce another {Tea Set Card}.

Matina picked up one of the teacups. “Watch carefully. The first step in taming a shadow pet is learning to ‘borrow shadow.'”

Her gaunt fingers wound with Power of Shadow as she grasped the teacup’s shadow. “An inanimate object’s shadow is like dough—it won’t resist, but it won’t cooperate either. What you need to do is gradually imprint your own mark onto its shadow, bit by bit.”

As she spoke, Matina pulled away a thumb-sized piece from the teacup’s shadow.

The dark little clump sat motionless in her hand, even showing signs of gradually dissipating.

Power of Shadow flowed from her palm like water, washing over the small fragment of shadow.

“This process needs to be fast, or the original body will be damaged—unless you only want the teacup’s shadow and don’t care about the teacup anymore.”

Matina held the teacup up to the light. Its shadow was now missing a corner, and a fine crack had appeared on the corresponding spot of the cup itself.

“Generally, for inanimate shadows like a teacup’s, it’s better to preserve the original body. After all, a teacup’s shadow can’t hold real tea.

When you’re starting out and lack confidence, you can extract shadow fragments in small amounts over multiple attempts. The less shadow you remove, the less damage to the original body.”

As she spoke, the previously inert shadow fragment in Matina’s hand gradually came alive, sometimes forming a sphere, sometimes stretching into a long strip.

“Once it can be shaped according to your will like this, you can ‘return it to its owner.'”

The moment Matina finished speaking, the shadow fragment in her hand reformed into the exact shape of the teacup shadow’s missing corner, and she pressed it back into the original shadow.

But the returned fragment was no longer accepted. Matina spun her Power of Shadow into fine threads and forcibly stitched it back seamlessly. The crack on the teacup vanished along with it.

“At this point, you can already use that small piece to control the teacup’s shadow, and through it, influence the teacup itself.”

As she said this, Matina crooked her finger. The tampered fragment within the teacup’s shadow stirred, dragging the teacup’s physical form into an eerie little shudder.

“If you want it to be more responsive, just repeat what I did until the entire shadow is under our control.”