Chapter 56: 53. Peace Before Ruin

"You think you can bring us down?" The ultra-enhanced death lancer says back. "We have you outnumbered and outpowered."

"Give us the dungeon core, and we will let you live. "The water page says. The lancer is covered in frozen armor and holds a shield and spear of clear ice. 

"We don't have to fight, you know. You all can turn around and leave. There is no need for you to die here."

"It is you who will taste the sting of the final end. Death has no power over us." Death giant says as he throws a bone spear at me. His squad follows his action as more projectiles are thrown at me. 

None of their throws can hit me when I step back into my realm. Interesting word choice. Was the death lancer being poetic, or did they, in fact, have a way to avoid death? Maybe they are also part of a dungeon. That would explain why they want my dungeon core. 

Whatever. I don't feel like killing right now. There will be plenty of that to come. Remaining in my shadow, I walk away from the squad on the mountain's peak. 

Three miles later, I exit my shadow realm, allowing my soul to get some rest. My guess is the squad is still waiting for me to attack them. By my estimates, I've only been running for five or six minutes. Most likely, they will begin their search for me soon. That or head back to the cave. 

According to Annette's spiders, the horde is establishing their main base around the northeast of the mountain range. The north face of the mountains is as pleasant as the other sides. Each cliff I come to, I summon a cord and climb down. Besides the occasional cliff, I'm getting down the mountain at a reasonable speed. 

Stepping back into the tree line is a welcome sight. Green trees and vegetation do much to improve the scenery. The most significant improvement is the softer ground that I am walking upon. My fur moccasins are in tatters now, offering no utility other than visual appeal. I give them a brief inspection. Oof, even the visual appeal is lacking. 

I spend my descent in and out of my shadow realm. The wispy domain has a peacefulness that is difficult to describe. Maybe it is the safety or the quietness it offers. Whatever it is, it makes complaining while I'm hiking much more difficult. The lack of complaints somehow makes the miles and time pass seemingly slower. I know that is just my dreary disposition skewing my perspective, though.

A couple of hours later and I am out of the mountain backcountry. The small scattered trees are replaced with a more immense dense forest. Still not as thick as the deep woods. I continue trekking for another three miles before I come upon a nice secluded spot in the forest. Rocks and trees are scattered in a naturally defensible perimeter close to a stream. This place will be wasted if I don't rest here. 

Using some thick trees, I create a makeshift bed out of webbing. The limited interaction with Annette's memories has actually improved my webbing skills. The hammock-type bed is the most comfortable thing I've slept on. No rocks jabbing in my back or uneven ground led to me quickly falling asleep. Another summon later, and I have a thick blanket to combat the chilly night air. Before I fall asleep, I place myself in my shadow realm giving myself another degree of security.

Sunlight and warmth welcome me in the morning. I'm no longer in my shadow when I wake up, which has me panicked. Shadow sleeping isn't as secure as I was hoping it would be. It may be an experience issue. The more I stay in shadow, the more second nature it becomes to hold myself in the realm. I don't think it is impossible to passively keep myself in the domain. After all, Gene mentioned she spent years in her shadow hiding. 

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One of the cons of a comfortable bed is the difficulty that arises when trying to leave. My will to get up proves to be weak. To be slightly more productive, I focus on cultivating. My personal shadow realm could be a massive benefit to me. If I can figure out how to keep myself in the realm passively, that would make sleeping less of a liability.

As long as I keep the shroud active by cycling shadow around me, I can stay in the realm. The problem is when I sleep, the cycling stops, and I exit my shadow realm. This is the exact reason why I wasn't able to animate the bugbear previously. Unlike a simple summoning, like a chair, a reanimated corpse requires me to be cycling death mana.

Shrouding myself in shadow is more like covering myself with bone armor. It isn't a simple summon that is a one-time deal. It is a summon that requires a small amount of mana to keep it active. However, becoming bronze ranked my death core allows me the ability for passive minor summons. Gene helped me discover this while we were training in the Shadow Lair. I no longer need to cycle death mana to keep my bone armor active. 

"Huh, that might be the trick. Suppose I can get the shadow core to bronze rank. In that case, I may be able to cycle the shadow shroud passively, allowing me to stay in the shadow realm subconsciously. Or it could possibly allow me to cycle other mana at the same time." I give my thoughts a voice to further clarify them.

"It makes sense. It just doesn't help me with my current situation. How else could I keep the cycling going? Maybe it isn't so much of a cycling technique as it is a mental technique." 

The shift in focus from cycling mana to my mind ignites more thoughts, and I am not fast enough to speak them out loud. One persistent thought is the possibility of splitting my focus. Can I concentrate on several tasks at once, and if so, how?

If possible, my best resource on hand is Annette's memories. I will need to study her mind techniques in-depth, and hopefully, I will pick up some additional skills. That settles it. I need to investigate Annette's memories.

Reaching a conclusion to my shadow dilemma, I quickly map out the future with a plan. My goal is to stay alive to allow the dungeon core and Gene to develop and save Annette's spiders. It is simple and straightforward.

To accomplish this goal, I will play it safe by going on a horde crusade to remove the threat from this land before the danger becomes overwhelming. For the crusade to work, I need to study Annette's memories so I can sleep safely in my shadow. I'm going to call it Plan Sleep and Slay.

Feeling good about my poor plan with a great title, I get out of bed.

After a quick stretch, I un-summon my webbing and step out of the shade of the trees. I am ready for the warmth of the sun. Now surrounded by the sunny morning, I stare directly into its bright rays and accept the inevitable. The slow nasal itch, watery eyes, then relief as the sneezes come two by two. 

There's a metaphor in there somewhere. There has just got to be. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing? Don't look where you shouldn't? Those can't be right. I try to ignore the itch and return to my sun basking.

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