Chapter 288: Chapter 279: Priam's Shadow

Jasmine froze like a deer caught in the headlights. A fear so overwhelming it became almost tangible seized her, and Priam grimaced as he felt her slender hands grip his with the force of desperation.

“No!”

“Jasmine—”

“I don’t want to!”

She sprang to her feet, her shadow swimsuit shifting into a long cloak, the hood covering her head. Her Concept wrapped around her like a protective shield, warding off the world.

Priam stepped closer but hesitated, stopping just short of pulling her into his arms. He didn’t want to force her.

“Jasmine,” he said gently, his voice soft but firm. “I’m not abandoning you.”

“... That’s what they said too,” she whispered.

Priam stood silently for a moment, searching for the right words. Seeing his friend so sad was breaking his hearts.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he finally said. Priam had always respected Jasmine's desire to keep her past hidden. “But you're not in Arcana anymore. You’re no longer a slave. Today, you're a strong woman, powerful enough to fight against what you hate and chase what you love.” Jasmine flinched but said nothing. Priam pressed on. “When I first found you, I had to chain you up because you were my enemy. Now, I want to free a friend.”

“And what if I don’t want to leave?” Jasmine pushed back her hood, and her gray eyes locked onto his. “What if I don’t want to be free? What if I want to keep protecting you because I love you? Because for the first time in my life, I feel like I belong somewhere?”

“Then you stay. And no one—not even me—will take that away from you. You won’t stay because you have to, but because you choose to.” His words calmed her, and Priam moved closer. He reached out and gently cupped her cheek. “Do you know what I see when I look at you?”

Jasmine shook her head, her dark hair brushing against Priam’s hand.

“I see a panther that life tried to break.” He felt her shudder under his touch. “When I was a kid, I went to a circus and was disgusted to see lions caged. A feline is most majestic when it’s wild. I want to see that panther in you break free.”

Since he could remember, the concept of freedom had always been sacred to Priam. Experiences like those had fueled his burning desire to live unshackled.

“... Let me stay with you,” Jasmine whispered, a plea in her eyes that felt out of place on someone as fierce as her.

“I want you to stay too,” Priam replied honestly. “But I want it to be your choice.”

“I choose to stay,” Jasmine declared, her voice growing stronger. “I will stay.”

Priam smiled. “Welcome home.”

It would take time for her to rebuild her confidence, but he knew she was on the right path.

"As for the subsystem—"

“I want to keep it. It’s a bond between us.”

“It can be useful,” he admitted. Without it, Eve could have messed with his memory far too easily. “We can limit the connection—”

“No.” Jasmine stepped closer, so near that her breath disturbed the mist that cloaked Priam. “You said I was feline… and it’s true. I love to lounge, tease those I care about, and hunt the rest… but an assassin is more than that. It’s also a shadow. While cultivating that Concept, I’ve realized shadows can’t exist alone.” Ŕ

Priam met her gray eyes. The fear was gone, replaced by a lingering unease.

“You can tell me anything,” he encouraged.

“To reach Unity, I had to—” Jasmine swallowed. “I chose you. I am your Shadow.”

Her words were barely above a whisper, but to Priam, they sounded like thunder.

The two stared at each other. They were only at the beginning of their journey, but choices had already been made. Now, they had to live with them.

Priam’s throat tightened as he grasped the weight of Jasmine’s declaration. “You’ll never be free.”

He had no idea what else to say. Jasmine’s decision was so far removed from his own desires, it left him reeling. How could anyone willingly give up their freedom?

“I knew that long before my training began.” Jasmine smiled, as if trying to reassure him. “It never bothered me; few people are truly free anyway. Besides, it’s easier to follow than to lead. This way, the bodies I leave in my wake aren’t really my responsibility. I think that helps me sleep at night.” She paused, gathering her courage. When she continued, her gray eyes were clear. “What I’ve always feared isn’t losing my freedom—it’s being alone.”

Priam swallowed hard. Jasmine was baring her soul to him, explaining the meaning behind her sacrifice. Ironically, the one giving up her life for him was trying to comfort him. Yet her statement was unmistakable: she didn’t share his philosophy. If he accepted her as his Shadow, she would never be free.

But it’s her will.

Who was he to impose his values on her? To judge or belittle her decisions? She was an adult, with far more life experience than he had.

“I’d be honored to have you as my Shadow… and if you ever change your mind, I’ll still be your friend.”

Jasmine threw herself into his arms, and Priam held her close, gazing at the sun of his world, his mind troubled by the joy that flowed through their bond.

According to the phoenix, the method of bloodline absorption varied by species. For the phantom panther, it was as simple as diluting a drop of charged blood into one’s shadow. When Priam had asked what “charged” meant, the bird had only said that gathering the blood of a powerful creature wasn’t enough to gain the bloodline. Something had to be given.

Yet somehow, his rival’s blood had been enough to upgrade his race. Priam still didn’t quite grasp the difference between a race and a bloodline. I’ll figure it out eventually.

Jasmine’s shadow trembled as it merged with the blood, and then she collapsed.

“Jasmine!”

Priam knelt beside her, supporting her head as spasms wracked her body. Before he could question the phoenix, the tremors stopped, and she opened her eyes.

Two slitted pupils stared back at him, and she stood up with a grace that was almost supernatural.

“Whoa…”

“Are you okay?” Priam asked, still in shock.

“Yeah!” A huge grin spread across her face as she read her notifications. “I got a Talent and a Title, both Bronze!”

“As expected from a mid-rank bloodline.” The phoenix’s comment sounded casual, but Priam knew it was a roundabout way of giving him more insight into bloodline capabilities.

“[Young Phantom Panther - Bronze] is a Talent that helps me erase my presence. You're gonna have a hard time getting away from me now.”

Priam smirked back at her. The young assassin was already skilled at slipping into his Domain undetected, thanks to her abilities and mastery of her Shadow Concept. [Young Phantom Panther] was adding wings to a tiger. Well, to a panther.

“[Unseen Hunter - Bronze] boosts my agility, and the first Merit… lets me upgrade Agility!”

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Priam let out a low whistle of appreciation. “That’s strong. In the wiped timeline, you used [Ace] to upgrade your agility. It cut down the time it took for a signal to travel from your brain to your muscles. But maybe [Unseen Hunter]'s upgrade will be even better?”

Sensing an opportunity to show off, the phoenix puffed up its chest.

“[Ace] reduces reaction time to zero. I’m not familiar with [Unseen Hunter], but it might be more interesting.”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain?”

The bird sighed dramatically. “At high levels, Micro does the same thing. It’s not a useless Merit as it helps you understand your body and advance Supremacy. For someone as slow as Priam, it could help break through a mental block.”

“Hey!”

“For you, it’s less essential,” the phoenix continued, ignoring Priam’s protest. “You have got an innate mastery of your body, so you don’t need it to understand Micro.”

“I guess I’m just that talented,” Jasmine said, a hint of pride coloring her voice.

Priam smiled, happy to see his friend feeling confident again. The phoenix wasn’t wrong—Jasmine was deliberately pacing herself to avoid rushing into Micro II too quickly. While Kazuki was a prodigy with the spear, the assassin’s brilliance lay in her unparalleled control over her body.

“You know the nature of [Unseen Hunter]'s agility upgrade?”

The phoenix shook its head. “Adult Phantom Panthers usually reach Tier 6. As assassins, they’re monsters capable of wounding a Tier 7, and even my Mother would think twice before entering one’s territory. There aren’t any around Sector Hope, and that’s for the best.”

Lots of words just to say you don’t know.

That was enough to convince Jasmine. A pulse of magic rippled from her body, and in an instant, all the shadows within the inner world gathered around her. Like a cocoon, the darkness enveloped her.

Priam and the phoenix waited in silence. Through the bond that now connected them consensually, he could feel that his friend was safe.

When the chrysalis split open, it revealed a naked young woman. A second later, shadows clothed her, and she shot Priam a playful wink.

Before he could respond, Jasmine’s shadow morphed into her twin and positioned itself beside her. The flesh-and-blood Jasmine and her shadowy double exchanged brief smiles, then the clone launched itself forward. Moving at an impossible speed, it tapped Priam on the forehead. In the blink of an eye, it was Jasmine who was touching him. She had swapped places with her shadow.

“Oh,” she exhaled softly as her legs gave out. For the second time in mere seconds, her shadows dissipated. Priam caught her just in time, shielding her modesty with a robe of mist. He didn’t need to ask if she was okay; the grin on her face said it all.

“My nerves are now made of liquid shadows,” she revealed after catching her breath. “I can react almost instantly, but more importantly, I can swap places with my shadow.”

“You could already do that,” Priam noted.

Jasmine’s smile widened. “Not while keeping momentum.”

After several rounds of experimentation, Priam had to admit he was a little jealous of Jasmine’s new ability. If light was one side of the coin, then shadow was the other. As such, she could move at the same speed.

In theory, the assassin could order her clone to throw a punch, then swap places at the last moment, allowing her arm to move at the speed of light. One didn’t need to be a genius to realize that the kinetic energy unleashed would be insane.

[About 200 000 times the energy released by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.]

Pulling off an attack like that would kill Jasmine outright. Of course, the chances of that happening were nonexistent, as the cost in aether and stamina was infinitely greater than those reserves. After a few tests, she capped her top speed at three times the speed of sound—about a kilometer per second. Pushing past that would put her life at serious risk, and not everyone had the luxury of resurrection.

Once the tests were done, they sparred. Jasmine manifested two extra arms made of shadow, turning herself into a four-armed warrior. Two of the arms were insubstantial but could accelerate and become flesh at any moment.

During their first exchange, Priam blocked a dagger strike but widened his eyes when Jasmine’s palm slammed into his chest. One of her shadow arms had moved too fast for him to register, and the moment of contact had been so brief that he couldn’t fully absorb the kinetic energy. Shadows, having no mass, made it impossible.

“Are you even human anymore?” Jasmine grumbled, cradling her wrist. The angle between her hand and forearm looked unnatural. “Feels like I just tried to punch a block of steel.”

“Don’t insult me,” Priam shot back, smirking as he walked over to an oak tree to grab some branches for a splint. “I’m tougher than steel.” With her vitality, Jasmine would be healed by the end of the day, but the lesson would stick. “That said, the question’s kinda rich coming from someone who’s practically becoming one with shadows.”

“As long as I’m getting stronger,” Jasmine shrugged, letting Priam splint her wrist as she thought aloud. “With this new ability, I can strike and dodge faster than most Tier 5s, but I need a weapon I can teleport into my hand right before impact. Maybe a shadow dagger…”

“The bigger the gap in Tier, the less you’ll be able to rely on your Concepts,” the phoenix warned. “Micro or Domain will crush them without mercy.”

“Bastard’s Domain overwhelmed my mist so badly it was dangerous to use,” Priam nodded in agreement. “Better to buy a legendary or mythic dagger from the Sun Shop and bind it to yourself.”

Jasmine nodded. “I’ll do that. Birdie, any advice on increasing the number of times I can swap places with my shadow while keeping my speed? I burned through almost a fifth of my aether just switching my arm.”

“Ever think of boosting your aether reserves with meta-endurance?” the bird sneered. They all knew it was just a sticking-plaster solution. “Don’t be greedy. It’s not a low-Tier ability. For now, just be happy you have got a new trump card.”

Jasmine growled but didn’t argue further. She began manipulating her shadow, training with it. If there was more to the ability than just speeding up her movements and catching opponents off guard, she would figure it out.

“Now it’s our turn,” Priam said, sitting cross-legged in the grass.

The phoenix settled in front of him. “At least. Which reward are we starting with?”

Status:

PHYSICAL:

Strength 807

Constitution 1 187

Agility 948

Vitality 1 130

Perception 828

MENTAL:

Vivacity (D) 599

Dexterity 690

Memory 859

Willpower 1 172

Charisma 767

META:

Meta-affinity 923

Meta-focus 444

Meta-endurance 804

Meta-perception 443

Meta-chance 379

Meta-authority 258

Potential: 12 327

Tier 0

Sun point: 523 (+83)

[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED

Concepts:

Breath (T0): 100% / Dormant

Fire (T0): 100% / Unity

Pyro (T1): 95% / Symphony

Mist (T1): 100% / Symphony

Bloodlines:

Phoenix: 1%

Dragon: <>

Rewards standing:

Fusion Token - Epic skill

Evolution Token - Legendary skill

Affinity Token - Tier 1 (30%)

Alien Concept fragment (7th Terror)

Bloodline Purification (+1%)

Talent Token - Seraph Rarity (Upgrade)

[Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.

Future Tribulations delayed until:

Time: 152 days 1 hour 7 minutes 59 seconds.

Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 600 / 6 attributes > 900 / 1 attribute > 1 200