I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 4.2

「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

How did things turn out like this?

I stared at the notification window that appeared before my eyes with a serious face for several minutes.

【Shadow Assimilation (S)】

▶The body belongs to the shadow, and the shadow becomes a giant vessel.

In short, it meant that my main body was not my body but my shadow.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮.」

And in fact, there was something else that was more important. I remember seeing this trait before.

“This is a trait from the fourth installment.”

To be exact, it was the unique trait of one of the enemy force’s bosses that appeared in the fourth installment of the exorcism series, Shadowless.

A trait that players literally couldn’t even obtain in the system.

However, my expression wasn’t so good even though I had obtained it.

“No, Shadowless clearly had high ability scores too?”

Of course, I can tell that there’s a difference. Probably, judging from the story, Shadowless didn’t have the Shadow Assimilation trait from the beginning.

「𝙄𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚.」

On the other hand, Han Kang-yoon probably had the trait since he was very young, or even since he was born.

“This is difficult.”

I thought that if I knew the cause, I would be able to find a way to unlock the ability score restriction. However, in this case, there was no immediate way.

「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙎-𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩? 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚-𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙮.」

Of course, the Shadow Assimilation trait itself is a trait with a lot of potential. In fact, Shadowless was known as the top boss among almost all the characters in the fourth installment.

「𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙪𝙭𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨.」

I think I’ll be able to study and use some of the spells that Shadowless used, but it’s obvious that it’ll be impossible to reproduce the exact same fighting style. My basic physical abilities were different from his in the first place.

“I need to find a different way to fight using my trait.”

My ability score is frozen for now.

And in fact, the only trait that I could actually use in combat was Shadow Assimilation.

It meant that I had to find some kind of answer with this, whether it was a blessing or a curse.

「𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. . . . . . .」

As anyone would know if they read the description, in order to properly benefit from the Shadow Assimilation trait, you naturally have to use your own shadow.

「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙪𝙢.」

However, in terms of specs, the only thing I can use stably at the moment are basic spells.

And it was practically impossible to properly utilize a medium like a shadow with just basic spells.

“This is hard.”

As I was pondering over and over, a sudden thought came to my mind.

「𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩. . . . . . .」

In the latest virtual reality game of exorcism, my main play style was a shikigami summoner.

A style that utilizes various shikigami, or familiars, as the main force in combat.

The fact that I achieved 7th place in the PVP world ranking with that was enough to say everything.

And Shadowless, who appeared in the 4th installment, also had a scene where he used Shadow Assimilation to summon shikigami through shadows.

「𝘿𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡, 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙪𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙞.」

However, Shadowless solved both of these problems by utilizing the Shadow Assimilation trait.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘.」

The reason why my ability score doesn’t grow is because of the influence of the Shadow Assimilation trait. The vessel of my soul belongs to the shadow, not the body.

Then, where does all the experience and effort I’ve accumulated for growth go?

That’s right. It goes to the shadow.

In other words, I can contract with shikigami using the shadow that has become a huge vessel as a medium, and supply the spiritual power contained in it to the shikigami as energy.

“That’s it.”

It can’t be a coincidence.

And that coincidence was leading me to one more path.

It’s a style that is both my most confident field and a perfect way to complement my lacking ability score.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮.」

I decided to become a shikigami summoner once again, even here.

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