Chapter 396

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Chapter 396: A New Approach

On Monday, Jesse returned to Goldshire, rested a bit in the inn, and in the evening, brought two demons back to Stormwind.

In the following days, busy with classes, finally had time to help Malin clean the room, organize the articles and books of the apprentice mages, and could continue to focus on writing the Death Knight report.

However, he also remembered the emotions he unleashed while using The Hand of Gul’dan in Duskwood.

Since those feelings he brewed up were affecting the smooth release of Shadow Magic, he began to have some thoughts about his previous Shadow Shield.

Maybe he just didn’t find the right emotions to harmonize with the power of shadows, which led to the final outcome of the shield resembling some kind of spell reflection.

Although he tried hard to restrain the influence of shadows on his emotions, and noticed that he was more likely to release powerful Shadow Magic under extreme emotions, he hadn’t actively tried new spells relying on emotions.

If a particular emotion… can really prolong the duration of this Shadow Shield.

Anyway, he found it increasingly difficult to continue developing this spell from the casting gestures or the standard chant.

Returning home after dinner that evening, he stared at Molofeel, thinking he should try this magic tonight. There were no classes tomorrow, so sleeping in a little wouldn’t hurt.

"You can feel the emotions in Shadow Magic, right, Molofeel."

Molofeel replied, "That’s not difficult for any Sayaad, master. Absorbing the souls of others is my strength."

"Do you remember the Shadow Shield you mentioned last time? Come feel the emotional influence in this magic."

"Do you want to try to adjust your mindset like last time in the forest to enhance the power of Shadow Magic?" asked the succubus.

"If that spell worked, why not try others?" Jesse said.

The succubus nodded and said, "I’m not sure how to help a mortal learn and master Shadow Magic."

"Let’s start from here," Jesse said, looking around. The small room was too cramped. If the shield accidentally triggered an explosion, even the windows might shatter. They needed to go to The Slaughtered Lamb basement, and they had to go now, not tomorrow.

Jesse might not be able to sleep if they didn’t try this.

In the middle of the night, Jesse and the succubus left, heading to the Mage Quarter. Surprisingly, there were still quite a few people around, but no one could detect the succubus’s presence.

Arriving at The Slaughtered Lamb tavern, things were quite lively. Jarel, who was leaning on the counter, didn’t react much when Jesse arrived, only saying, "You should control that damn dog of yours."

"He’s not interested in you," Jesse replied.

"Just standing there is scary enough," Jarel sighed.

Jesse couldn’t help but laugh, as he opened the door to the basement. Sure enough, the demon lurked in the shadows at the end, staring this way. If he didn’t have the ability to Detect Demon, he would probably only see a blurry figure writhing in the darkness, because that creature didn’t even have eyes, nor any reflection.

Molofeel stepped out from behind Jesse. The hellhound seemed a bit less confident upon seeing her, taking a few steps back and warily eyeing the two of them.

Speaking in Demonic, Jesse said, "Basadre, I am a friend of your master. Don’t you remember me?"

The succubus gazed at the Felhound and spoke in Demonic, "Master, shall we converse in Eredun from now on? After all, your Eredun…"

She muttered a word that Jesse couldn’t understand. Jesse asked, "What did you say?"

"Alright," Molofeel switched back to the common language and said, "In the common language, what you said can be translated as ‘melodic.’ Looking at it this way, it’s still better to use your language for now."

The basement was now very quiet. Jesse glanced at the Alchemy Room and saw Ursula sleeping on the bench.

Leading the succubus to the practice room, Jesse closed the door behind them and said, "I will cast the spell, and you try to feel the emotions embedded in this incantation… I don’t know how to accurately describe it, but you understand what I mean, Molofeel."

"Understood," Molofeel nodded.

Jesse chanted a spell, skillfully summoning a protective shield. The dark wave of light lasted for a few seconds before disappearing instantly. The succubus blinked, then looked at Jesse blankly, hesitantly asking, "Is it over?"

"So, what’s wrong?" Jesse asked.

"That was too quick, don’t you think?" Molofeel chuckled.

Jesse glanced at her and said, "I don’t need your judgment, I just need to feel the emotions hidden in this spell. Help me improve it."

Molofeel put away her smile and said, "This is a protective magic. I don’t sense much power being released outward, and its manipulation of shadow energy is far less than the one you cast in the forest. I need to delve deeper into it."

"How deep?"

"I need to try to provoke its reflection, meaning, to attack your magic."

"Are you sure? Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?"

Molofeel said, "I’ve trained for a long time to be resistant to the strange creatures in the Twisting Nether. I don’t think my owner’s half-learned protective magic will harm me much. Plus, if I get really hurt, you can help me recover, master. I’ll be fine."

"Okay." Jesse stepped aside and said, "Just be quick, okay?"

"Of course," the succubus said. "I’m always quick to react."

Jesse recited the spell again, and as the shield popped up, the succubus suddenly struck the shield hard. Her hand was pulled back by some force after the hit, followed by a wave of shadowy impact dispersing.

The shield shattered, and the succubus tried to block with her other arm but still got knocked back two steps.

She murmured softly, sitting down in the corner, holding her arm weakly and said, "Master… your shadow power is stronger than I thought, I need immediate healing… quickly…"

Jesse looked at her sideways and said, "Okay, you can stop pretending now."

Molofeel sighed and stood up, saying, "It’s pointless, there’s no one else here."

"Don’t waste time… tell me, what did you feel this time?" Jesse asked.

"Nathrezim’s dark magic is always icy cold," Molofeel reminded, "I think you should try to stay calm, master, by being indifferent and looking down on your enemies."

Jesse agreed, "Matching the nature of those demons."

Thinking back to facing a group of Rockjaw Troggs in front of the stone hall in Uldaman, did Jesse feel a similar emotion?

Maybe, after pushing back several waves of attacks and causing the front Rockjaw Troggs to tangle with the ones rushing from behind, rolling down the steps one after another, he did start to feel a bit of contempt from his initial tension.

So, how can Jesse capture this emotion now? Although he’s gotten good at suppressing the negative feelings and corruption brought by Shadow Power, he’s not very skilled at summoning emotions that weren’t originally there.

Replicating the attitude of disdain may be hard, but following Molofeel’s advice to stay cool and as indifferent as possible, he could probably manage.

That means emptying out all the feelings that matter at this moment, pushing out all emotions.

After enduring the torment of Shadow corruption over and over again, he had become quite good at doing this.

Once completely calm, Jesse chanted the spell for the Shadow Shield again, and the black magic shield expanded once more…

One second…

Two seconds…

Three seconds…

Four seconds…

Five seconds…

This is already longer than every time he used the shield magic before!

Suddenly, a surge of excitement popped into Jesse’s mind, the shield disappeared, and Molofeel squinted and said, "It seems like this magic needs the owner to figure out a way to sustain it."

"It does seem that way," he said. "But I think this is a very rare progress, I almost thought this magic was always like this before, Molofeel."