Chapter 1242: The Free Divine Skill

To be honest, the moment Gawain saw the sand that Amber had conjured, he suddenly perked up, his spirits lifting considerably. He had thought, without a doubt, that this Shadow Assault Goose had silently achieved a breakthrough—from power level to rank. Just imagine: behind her stood a high-ranking entity of unknown nature, constantly shielded by ineffable forces, able to enter the Lady of Night’s divine realm, and now even summon sand from that realm—sand that didn’t belong to this world. It was like stacking buff after buff. If this goose kept quiet, she’d look like the protagonist of some epic tale.

But as Amber went on to describe the nature of the sand, Gawain’s excitement waned. The more he listened, the more it felt like these so-called shadow sands were nothing more than freebies—like the guaranteed starter gear for new players in an online game who don’t spend a dime. Flashy card art, but everyone’s got one.

It was the classic difference between the boss’s gear (×) and the actual loot you get after the boss is defeated (√).

Probably because Amber had just delivered a string of shocking revelations, Gawain’s mind started wandering uncontrollably once he relaxed a bit. Memories from his past life, long dormant, began to surface unbidden. Finally, Amber couldn’t hold back and poked his arm, saying, “Hey, your judgment’s a bit unfair. I did go through quite a bit of trouble to bring back this ‘ability’…”

Gawain glanced at her and instinctively replied, “Honestly, except for that one time you fell flat on the floor and woke up, I didn’t really see how tough it was for you…”

Amber immediately glared—but knowing she couldn’t win, she just glared briefly.

“Alright, no more jokes,” Gawain said, knowing when to stop. The teasing was just to ease the awkwardness. After a brief smirk, his expression turned serious again as he looked Amber in the eye. “Seriously, do you know how you summoned that sand? What exactly is it? Is it really… shadow sand?”

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” Amber scratched her head, momentarily forgetting Gawain’s teasing. “After coming back from ‘over there,’ I found this little pile of sand next to me. Somehow, I just connected with it—the way to summon and recall the sand suddenly popped into my mind… well, no, it’s not quite right to say it ‘popped’ in. How should I put it…”

Amber looked a bit conflicted, as if struggling to explain something that happened on the level of intuition and consciousness. After gesturing around, she finally managed to say, “It’s like your heartbeat or the blood flowing through your veins—you don’t know how they work, you can’t even feel them normally, but they just run naturally, part of your body. My feeling is similar. Suddenly, this sand became part of my power. I don’t even understand the principles behind its appearance or disappearance.”

“I get what you mean,” Gawain nodded thoughtfully. “Though it still sounds a bit unbelievable. Aside from looking like shadow sand, is there anything else special about it?”

“…Is it special that it’s a pain to sweep up when it falls on the floor?” Amber thought for a moment, then said seriously, “The sand is very light. If I don’t collect it, it easily gets blown everywhere…”

“Of course that doesn’t count!” Gawain slapped his forehead. “At least think of something useful!”

“…I really can’t think of anything else,” Amber pondered carefully, then shook her head. “Before coming to see you, I tested it several times. Apart from the sand’s strange shape and the faint, useless grayish ‘phantoms’ it emits, it has no special effects. I sprinkled it on all sorts of things—magical conduits, ordinary materials—but nothing changed.”

She paused, then added, “Oh, right, I also tried sprinkling it on living creatures—used the two big black dogs in the garden as test subjects…”

Gawain’s expression turned serious. “And the result?”

Amber patted her chest, looking proud. “I won!”

Gawain: “…”

After a few seconds of silence, Gawain finally concluded, “So, according to you, the main use of this new ability is to suddenly throw sand in someone’s face during a fight, right?”

“Pretty much,” Amber nodded, surprisingly satisfied. “I’m telling you, this is a divine skill! Tossing sand in the middle of a heated battle has taken down plenty of experts. And mine is absolutely unpredictable. Even a legend like you wouldn’t know where I pull the sand from, and I can throw as much as I want…”

Gawain couldn’t listen any further. How did something that would be a game-changer for anyone else turn into such a joke after Amber’s explanation?

But soon, his expression grew serious again as he began to think deeply. Although the outcome was underwhelming, the very existence of these “inferior shadow sands” was no small matter. No matter how degraded they became in Amber’s hands, the fact remained that after her trip to the Lady of Night’s divine realm, she gained the ability to summon shadow sand.

Modir had also been to the Lady of Night’s realm—more than once—but he hadn’t undergone any such change. At most, he brought back a few grains of sand.

Though his sand was the “authentic” kind.

“What are you thinking about?” Amber noticed Gawain’s sudden serious look and grew nervous. After holding back for a while, she finally spoke up, “I’m telling you, those two dogs started it… well, maybe I did first…”

“Put those poor dogs aside,” Gawain said, eyeing the half-elf. “Besides the ability to summon shadow sand, have you noticed any other changes in yourself?”

“No,” Amber looked down at herself, then back up, recalling carefully before answering firmly, “Not only no other changes, but I also found… I can’t enter that ‘displaced divine realm’ anymore.”

“You can’t get in anymore?” Gawain frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Remember how I first touched those grains of sand Modir brought into the real world and entered that displaced ‘shadow divine realm’?” Amber explained. “Later, when I was testing my new ability, I tried again boldly… but no matter how much I touched the sand, nothing happened.”

“You actually dared to try multiple times?!” Gawain’s first reaction was to glare at the reckless half-elf. When she shrank back, he sighed. “Well, since you already did it, good thing nothing bad happened. So you really can’t get in anymore?”

“Yeah,” Amber nodded, clearly disappointed. “It’s like the door’s been shut. I tried to recall the feeling of entering that displaced divine realm, used my experience navigating the Shadow Realm to find the door’s location, but I only ended up back in the Shadow Realm. Sigh, it’s such a pity. After I got back, I realized there were still so many things I hadn’t asked the book.”

“Since it happened so suddenly, no one expected you to run into the Lady of Night’s domain. But if you can’t go back, don’t risk it anymore. Even if you want to try, wait until the tech and archives teams find some clues and provide safety measures and theoretical guidance,” Gawain said seriously, looking at Amber. “Your ‘adventure’ has already yielded unexpected results. Whether it’s the existence of Wilde or the warnings about the Sentinels, these are extremely valuable leads. Don’t be too regretful.”

“Alright, you’re right,” Amber scratched her head helplessly and nodded. Then she yawned widely. “I need to get some rest. This afternoon was exhausting—running back and forth between the real world and the Shadow Realm really drains your energy…”

Gawain gave a grunt of acknowledgment. Just as Amber was about to slip into the shadow and leave the room, he suddenly said, “Wait, one more thing.”

Amber, with one leg already stepping into the shadow rift, turned her head. “Huh?”

Gawain’s eye twitched at her complicated maneuver. He thought to himself that probably only this so-called “Shadow Chosen One” could make such a show out of a shadow rift. If it were any ordinary shadow master, just looking at it would send their blood pressure through the roof. “Pull your leg back—it looks creepy. I just wanted to tell you that we’re going to Talrond together.”

Amber was surprised. “Huh? Didn’t you say before that I couldn’t come with you?”

“But now you’ve visited the Lady of Night’s divine realm and…” Gawain looked at her, “brought back that ‘sand.’ Clearly, you can sense the Lady of Night’s power and even control it to some extent. If Modir really carries some kind of ‘mark’ from the Lady of Night, your new ability might come in handy.”

Amber’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t cared much about how useful she’d be over there—just being able to go out and cause trouble was enough to excite her. She smiled brightly and nodded repeatedly. “Great! I’ll get ready when I get back, brief my subordinates tomorrow, and get more familiar with my new skill…”

“No need for that last part!” Gawain cut her off before she finished. “What can you really do with a bunch of fake, useless ‘shadow sand’ that’s only good for throwing in people’s faces? If you keep messing with the dogs in the garden, Betty will cry.”

“…Fine,” Amber pouted disappointedly. “I guess I’ll just put this skill on ice for now…”

“If you really want to use it, that’s fine too. Later, you can take some sand to the Divine Analysis Lab as samples,” Gawain said, seeing her disappointment. “As long as you don’t recall the sand, it stays in the real world. They can study it and see how your shadow sand differs from the ‘real’ shadow sand.”

“That works. I’m curious too—there’s been so many unexplainable things this time. I probably can’t figure it out on my own. Hopefully, the experts can find some clues…” Amber nodded, then yawned again. “I’m done for. I’m outta here…”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a shadow surged up, and in the next moment, the half-elf vanished from sight.

…

Deep within the neural network, in the Dream City, a tranquil plaza covered by golden oak trees and drifting leaves held a square table beneath the oaks. Four figures sat around it.

“…That’s the situation,” after finishing his account of what happened to Amber, Gawain looked up and fixed his gaze on the three “retired gods” before him. “Right now, there are three key clues—or rather, three pressing questions. First, the warning: ‘Beware the Sentinel.’ Second, who exactly is this high-ranking entity connected to Amber? And third… those grains of sand she has.”

“Something like this actually happened…” The former god of nature, logged into the network in the guise of an aged elf, stroked his beard thoughtfully, his expression grave. “This is definitely serious enough for you to call the three of us together.”

“You scared me again,” Enya said, her long, pale-golden hair cascading like a waterfall, her flawless and dignified face turning toward Gawain. “You always manage to stir up something that even gods find alarming.”

“This time, it wasn’t me,” Gawain spread his hands. “This time, Amber’s the one causing the trouble.”

“Does it really make a difference? You’re the one who summoned us,” the former goddess of magic, dressed in an elaborate and elegant court gown, glanced at him coolly and remarked casually.

“Alright, no arguments,” Gawain waved his hand. “Let’s get down to business—has anyone heard of, or can guess, what this ‘Sentinel’ mentioned in the warning might be?”

The three retired gods exchanged glances, a very human gesture. After a moment, Amon broke the silence first. “I can’t think of anything. There are countless people or things in this world that could be called ‘Sentinel,’ but none that I can imagine would appear in a book of ‘Adventurers’ within the Lady of Night’s divine realm.”

“‘Sentinel’ might just be a metaphor. It doesn’t have to be a literal sentinel,” Gawain reminded them. “The warning in the book might not even be meant solely for us mortals. Think about it—what else in this world fits the definition of a sentinel, or at least comes close conceptually…”

Before he could finish, Myrmina silently raised her hand and pointed toward the sky.

She clearly wasn’t referring to the simulated blue sky of this virtual world.

“The things the Voyagers left in space…” Gawain sighed softly. “I’ve actually considered that possibility. Those orbital facilities monitoring the planets… by definition, they’re very close to being sentinels. But I haven’t found any evidence or clues that they’re about to go out of control.”

“What if the problem isn’t with the ones hanging in the sky?” Enya suddenly broke the silence. “You probably can’t sense the Voyager constructs beyond those orbital facilities, can you, Mr. ‘Wanderer Beyond the Realms’?”

(End of chapter)