Chapter 1004 Successor

Stralit explained that among the high-ranking Etouldes with special abilities, they also have the ability to pass that on to a successor. Everything she could do with that ability, the successor will also be able to do it. Naturally, there are restrictions. First, the high-ranking Etoulde would only be able to choose a single successor. The successor also won't be able to pass this ability to others.

And while the successor could use the ability with great flexibility and the successor's own take, it could never become stronger than what the 'master' could do.

"Since you're capable of using a Spiritual Ability, learning this isn't a problem."

'...So that's how it is. She chose to use me because I can use Spiritual Power.' Kisuke thought to himself as what she was trying to do finally made sense to him, '...High-rank Etoulde, huh? I should learn more about how their society works.'

"Well then, shall we start?"

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It had been a week since Kisuke and Stralit reached an agreement. Kisuke was released after that and went on to continue his life as a freeloader while also receiving the Space Gate-related documents that he was promised, 'Hmmm... I didn't think it was this complicated. And there are indeed resources and metrics that are used and I'm not aware of. I'll probably need another week to understand this and another week or two... wait... maybe a month or two to develop my own Space Gate.'

But if anyone from the greatest engineers and scientists of Etoulde's side were to hear what he's thinking, they would be cursing at him nonstop.

A moment later, a knock came on his door as it swung open, "John, the preparations are done. Let's go."

'...John?' Kisuke looked at her with a puzzled expression, 'Oh right... That's me.'

"What? Could it be that you forgot?" Stralit then took a second look at his very messy room. Though it wasn't really full of trash but important documents tossed at random places, "When was the last time you went out of your room?"

Kisuke stood up and dusted himself, "Why would I go out?"

'He has the same weird temperament as those old geezers so it's probably true that he's a craftsman.' Stralit sighed, "Enough of that for now, and let's move. We're running out of time."

Kisuke cleaned his room up and set aside the documents in a safebox that Stralit provided to him. He wanted to study more, but these documents aren't really needed anymore since Kisuke had already memorized it down to a single letter. He only needed some time to digest everything and create a blueprint of his own.

Soon, they reached Stralit's room once again and this time, she revealed to Kisuke a hidden door leading to a small empty gray room. Along the walls, ceiling, and floor, there are various encryptions and to Kisuke, it looks like some kind of Magic Circle.

"Let's start. Stand in the middle of the room and don't resist anything that enters your body. This is the first time something like this would be performed on a non-Etoulde so I'm still determining how it's going to turn out. However, I spent this whole week keeping the procedure as safe as possible. If there's a problem, I'll immediately stop this."

"And if it fails?" Kisuke asked while walking towards the center of the room.

"Then you'll have to settle with Soul Equipment that covers your presence and tracks. But those aren't as reliable as an innate ability so it would be great if this were to succeed."

Kisuke didn't say anything else and waited for Stralit to do her thing while also confirming the defensive mechanisms that would 'trap' whatever she was going to send inside this body so that it wouldn't affect his original body, 'If it's useful or I can make it fully independent from Stralit, I'll take it to my original body.'

Stralit then went to each corner of the room to pour her Spiritual Power and the engravings on the walls, ceiling, and floor began lightning up with soft white light. A few seconds later, the white light reached Kisuke and it started entering his small body, 'Hmmm... It's going directly to my Soul fragment. Is it strengthening it?'

After that, Stralit approached Kisuke while raising both of her hands in front of her. The moment she reached Kisuke, a jet-black orb the size of a marble emerged from her hands before she grabbed it and placed it on Kisuke's forehead.

The black orb quickly melted on his forehead and entered his skin and skull without any trace.

On the inside, Kisuke could see the black orb directly entering his Soul and changing into some type of 'liquid'. The melted orb then entered the 'bloodstream' of his Soul fragment and stayed there to circulate along with everything else, 'Is that it?'

Kisuke heard Stralit's audible sigh and looked up at her, "Good... It went in without a hitch. It went better than I initially expected. How about you try using it now?"

"How?"

"Just recall how I use my shadows. You should be able to do it too."

Kisuke took his eyes off Stralit and transferred them to the lingering shadows in the surroundings while remembering the image of Stralit controlling the shadows. As soon as he did, the black liquid started circulating faster and weird knowledge of shadow control popped up in his head.

Kisuke put forward his right arm and the shadow under his sleeve became alive and coiled around it, 'This is?' Kisuke asked himself while genuinely surprised, 'It's as if I called Benihime's name for the first time. It's really an innate ability. And to be able to transfer it to another individual? I can now understand how these Etouldes managed to compete against the Evies.'

"Oh. You're doing pretty well. Keep practicing it until it can cover your presence and tracks inside this room. I'll provide you with your daily necessities."

"I can't practice outside?"

Stralit shook her head, "The fluctuation you're emitting is a dead giveaway that you became a 'successor'. Although only Etouldes would be able to notice and there's no one other than me here currently, it's still better to be on the safe side. My brother visits pretty often too and I don't want to rope him into this."

"How long do you think I'll need to be competent enough?"

"I'm not really sure, but with how you manipulated the shadow just now, I think it'll take you 3-6 months."

'I'll do it in three days then.'

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In an unknown world, a certain Evie received an encrypted message. Although the message couldn't be long, Evies was able to get the essential information, "John Smith, huh? To think we'd find another race that's capable of controlling Spiritual Power. What a nice coincidence."

The Evie then obliterated the encrypted message while muttering, "The first race we discovered... No. It's more like the first individuals... That reminds me. I hope my priestess is doing fine in Draconic Deus."