Chapter 58: Our Son Is A Genius, Different Types Of Stats.
"This world has special eyes like these?" she said, sounding surprised.
She leaned closer, almost touching my cheek.
"Yes... it’s really a kind of Force Eyes."
I blinked again, trying to adjust to what I was seeing.
Dad couldn’t see Yuna, but he was staring right at my eyes like he’d seen a ghost.
Then, before I knew it, he picked me up and held me out at arm’s length.
"You have grey eyes now," he said, his voice filled with disbelief. "You awakened Hollow Eyes! My son awakened Hollow Eyes the moment he took the pill. That’s... that’s unbelievable."
His voice broke into laughter, echoing through the room.
"You’re a genius. My son is a genius! We need to tell your mom!"
He spun around with me still in his arms, laughing like he’d just won the lottery.
When we reached the hallway, he was practically bouncing with excitement.
At Mom’s room, he gave the door a light kick.
"Lyra! You need to hear this!" he called out.
There was a faint rustling from inside.
The door opened a moment later. Mom stood there, her hair a little messy, blinking in confusion.
"What is it?" she asked, sounding concerned.
She already knew about the Awakening Pill, so she must’ve been worried something went wrong.
Dad quickly pushed me forward.
"Look at our son’s eyes."
Mom looked at me. Then she froze.
"Wait..." She stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. "His eyes. They’re... grey?"
Dad nodded quickly.
"He awakened Hollow Eyes just now. He took the Awakening Pill and did it instantly. I didn’t even think it was possible, but it happened."
He started laughing again.
"Our son is a genius! A genius never seen before! Only the first House Head was said to have done the same, but it was never confirmed! That means our son is the first one to actually do it!"
Mom’s face softened, but I could still see worry behind her smile.
"Will he be alright? Hollow Eyes are hard to control."
"It’s fine," Dad said, waving a hand. "He’s only awakened the first stage. It’ll just improve his perception and eyesight. The other stages will unlock as his body grows stronger. That’ll take time."
"But..."
Mom brushed her fingers gently across my cheek.
"He awakened the first stage so fast. What if the same happens for the second one?"
"You’re right. I’ll prepare some gloves for him just in case he awakens the second stage earlier than expected," Dad said, thoughtful now.
He turned serious for a moment before looking at her with a smile.
"You shouldn’t worry too much. Have you forgotten who I am? With my guidance and our son’s talent, he’ll be fine even when he reaches the second stage."
That seemed to calm her a little.
Her shoulders relaxed, and she exhaled softly.
Then she turned to me, cupping my face in both hands.
Her palms were cool, and they smelled faintly of lavender, like always.
She stared into my eyes for a moment, thumb brushing my cheek.
"You awakened your Trait so suddenly... you’re just like your father. You always do things no one expects."
She smiled faintly.
"I guess you really take after him."
"That’s what I’ve been saying since day one," Dad said proudly.
Mom sat beside me on the bed, still looking at my eyes.
"You should sleep with us tonight," she said after a pause. "There might be some irregularities since you awakened so quickly. Just for tonight, okay?"
I shook my head right away.
"Dad snores too much."
Dad chuckled.
Mom gave a small smile, half amused, half resigned.
They both knew I didn’t like sharing rooms.
"He’ll be fine," Dad said, more serious now. "The first stage isn’t dangerous. There won’t be any complications.
He’ll probably fall asleep as soon as he lies down. Awakening drains a lot of energy. He’ll sleep straight till morning."
I nodded and followed him to my room.
He stood near the door while I got into bed.
When I was settled, he gave me a small nod, turned off the light, and stepped out quietly.
The moment he was gone, I opened my eyes again.
The clock on the wall showed exactly 10:00 p.m.
"I should leave now. I need to help Marianne with the summoning issue."
"What?" Yuna’s voice came from the side.
"Marianne is going to be summoned to Wageah in a few months. I’m going to stop that."
She tilted her head.
"You’re saying... you know the future?"
"Yes," I said. "I had a flash of vision a few hours ago. I don’t know if it’s the real future or not, but I’m not taking chances. I’ll use a rune to stop her summoning for now. Once I’m stronger, I’ll make a permanent rune."
"...Did you gain information about that girl Carlotta we met in the Cursed Spirit’s domain the same way?" she asked.
"Yes."
Yuna looked confused, but I didn’t explain further.
Instead, I focused on what I had to do.
’I should prepare to leave.’
I didn’t rush out of the house.
There was always the chance that the guards or my parents might check my room in the middle of the night.
If they walked in and didn’t find me, things could get complicated fast.
I raised my hand and chanted a Spell.
"—Silent Bind: Veil Layer."
A soft shimmer passed through the air, invisible to the eye.
The spell wrapped a thin layer of spatial sensory magic over the door and windows.
If anyone entered or even got too close, I would be alerted instantly.
Once triggered, I could teleport straight into the bathroom, and pretend I had been here all along.
"The Spell is working perfectly. The only problem is the mana leaking from the Spell. It won’t do me good if someone enters the room and senses the mana."
Mana traces always remained near the Spell.
Most wouldn’t notice it, but Nisha was quite exceptional.
"I’ll set up a Rune to deal with the residual mana from the Spell."
Biting the tip of my finger, I drew a quick symbol onto the wooden side of the bedpost.
My blood formed a thin pattern, glowing faintly for a moment before fading into the surface.
[Absorption Rune: Null Drift]
The rune activated immediately, pulling in the leftover mana from the Spell I had used.
It would store everything inside itself. Nothing would be traceable.
Once I was satisfied, I stood up, and created a portal.
I entered it.
The next moment, I appeared deep in the jungle.
Tall trees loomed above, their branches swaying faintly in the wind.
Crickets chirped in the background, and the distant sound of a bird’s call echoed through the air.
The night was peaceful here, far from the noise of the city.
I checked the time again.
10:30 p.m.
There were still several hours before the alchemy materials I ordered from the Underworld would be delivered.
Without them, I couldn’t begin preparations to stop Marianne’s summoning, so I had some time to kill.
"The delivery should come at around 2 a.m. I should collect stats with Shadow Eater until then."
I stepped into a nearby shadow and activated one of my signature abilities.
"Shadow Assimilation."
The moment I activated the skill, cold tendrils wrapped around my body like a second skin.
I sank deeper, until only the top half of my body remained visible above the ground.
Then, I let the darkness take me completely and emerged near the edge of the city, where the streets were still alive.
Even at this hour, the city didn’t sleep.
I moved into the shadow of a lamp post and paused.
From there, I could sense dozens of people walking nearby—couples, delivery bikers, drunks leaving bars.
Each of them cast shadows that flickered under the streetlights.
In every one of those shadows, a small black fire burned.
It was their Shadow Essence.
I focused on a nearby couple walking past a convenience store and slipped into their shadows.
The moment I entered, I felt the flicker of Shadow Essence writhing. It tried to resist me, but it was no match.
I devoured it.
+0.1 Strength
+0.2 Strength
As soon as I absorbed their Shadow Essence, I moved to the next.
A man exiting a 24-hour pharmacy. +0.1 Strength
A woman checking her reflection in a boutique window. +0.1 Strength
A food delivery driver waiting by his scooter. +0.1 Endurance
I weaved between them all, consuming their Shadow Essence piece by piece.
My shadow flared with every new trace I added, slowly growing thicker, darker, and more solid.
Thanks to the stats, my Shadow Summon’s shape was changing.
Earlier it mirrored me, a three-year-old.
But by the end of the four hours, it looked like a seven-year-old.
I opened my palm and summoned the interface.
...
Shadow Summon
Stats:
Strength: 13 → 16
Dexterity: 7
Endurance: 5 → 7
Spirit: 0
...
"It gained two stats in Endurance and three stats in Strength. Nice."
Endurance was harder to increase than strength.
With two Endurance stat, my shadow summon would no longer evaporate from taking just one attack.
I brought up my own status window next.
...
Name: !@%!@$1
Rank 1
...
Species: Draconic-Blooded Human [Rank 1]
...
Stats:
Strength: 13 (+2.6) → 13 (+3.2)
Dexterity: 23 (+1.4)
Endurance: 13 (+1.0) → 13 (+1.4)
Intelligence: 127
Spirit: 33
...
The numbers in brackets showed the stats gained from my Shadow Summon.
While the Shadow was a Class, it was technically classified as an external equipment. Thus, stats gained from Shadow Summon skill were in brackets.
There were three types of stats.
Personal Stats: This included your own stats, and what you gained from your classes.
Equipment Stats: This included stats from weapons, artifacts, relics, and potions.
Blessed Stats: These included stats given to you by a third party. It could be a buff type mage, a God, a Cursed Spirit, or anything else.
Personal stats were shown without brackets, and Equipment Stats and Blessed Stats were both shown in individual brackets.