And just like that, Elysian moved on to try out the new abilities he got from BloodShade and Xipilcoatl. Aside from the legendaries, which he couldn’t use, he tried all the active abilities, from ShadowStep to Crimson Sacrifice. It was more than he expected, and he was very satisfied with his initial impression of these abilities. In the case of ShadowStep, it did just as advertised, as he slipped into a shadow before teleporting to a nearby shadow. The only problem was that the duration was short, around six seconds. This might be enough if he wanted to escape, but using it in a fight would be problematic.

Elysian tested ShadowStep again, trying to determine the distance he could travel and whether he could pass through obstacles with it. At the end of the test and after another activation, he discovered that the ability could travel about fifteen meters, which was very good for a level one. Sadly, he learned that ShadowStep couldn’t pass through obstacles. It seemed he needed to see where he wanted to go before he could teleport there. Luckily, the ability doesn’t restrict him to the ground. He could use it on a table or wall as long as a shadow was cast on it.

Though the ability had obvious limitations, it couldn’t be denied that he could use it both in offense and defense. If he was able to truly utilize it to its fullest potential, this would become one of the deadliest abilities in his growing repertoire.

Satisfied with his testing, Elysian moved on to the lowest rated ability he got, Ravenous Whisper. Though this was clearly a non-combat ability, he wanted to see if he could still come up with ways to put it to good use in certain situations. Sadly, he was alone in the hall and couldn’t test it. However, he still activated it to see if there were some nuances that he would discover; sadly, there were none.

The next ability he looked at was Nightmare Weave. He was very excited to try this, because it fit perfectly with his fighting style. Being a psionic cultivator, he didn’t find any difficulty as he wove threads of shadow from the ground, creating a shadow creature he had seen before.

Elysian walked around as he inspected and prodded it carefully. Even though its color was only black as ink all around, its appearance seemed so realistic that he thought he was facing the same damned beast he had met long ago.

“Is this alive?” Elysian asked himself as the creature looked at him. As they considered each other, the beast suddenly moved, going closer to him. Stepping back in surprise, the boy stopped himself before finding the courage to touch the creature. His hands easily passed through it, touching nothing but air. Then, the ability ended as the beast returned to the shadows.

“It has already ended. Tsk, that was too fast,” Elysian muttered, dissatisfied with all the durations of the abilities he had tested. “What was it, a minute? Yeah, it was around a minute if I’m not wrong. Isn’t that too brief?” he said before sighing when he realized he had made some mistakes. “No, it isn’t short but typical at this level. It seems I’ve been comparing it to the abilities I’ve had when I died. That’s a terrible comparison since I’ve already leveled up those abilities to their maximum.”

‘This just means I need to be cognizant when I use my abilities.’

With the durations out of the way, Elysian focused on testing the abilities again. This time, Nightmare Weave made a different creature, a giant spider as tall as him. He remembered this creature vividly, as it was found on one of the most secluded islands on the eastern continent.

Like before, the creature didn’t seem to be aggressive as it studied him before looking around the room. “This is indeed an epic ability. Its actions and movements are so real that it can be mistaken for being alive. Hmm…. Maybe it is? A denizen of the shadow realm? Well, whatever it is, it’s fascinating to look at,” he muttered before frowning. “It is indeed impressive, but why does it seem lacking?”

Elysian pondered for a moment before reading Nightmare Weave’s effects again. “Here it is. The ability says that it creates terrifying visions tailored to each opponent's deepest fears, causing confusion and fear among enemies,” he muttered as he considered the two creatures created by the ability again. “These are indeed terrifying monsters to some, but I’m not afraid of them. I’ve killed many of these monsters; they should be the ones that are afraid of me. Is this why the ability doesn’t cause any confusion or fear toward me?”

After the time ran out and the creature returned to the shadow, Elysian cast Nightmare Weave again as he tried to figure out why the ability was not working out as intended. This time, the creature that came out from the shadow was a desert fox. “What the hell!” he exclaimed, surprised by the created creature. “I’m now sure that something is wrong with Nightmare Weave. Desert foxes are creatures that are often made into pets by the wealthy. I’m quite sure I’m not afraid of these creatures,” he muttered as he tried to pet the head of the fox. It meekly looked at his hand before smelling it.

As Elysian tried to rack his brain for an answer, his eyes suddenly widened. “I’m such an idiot,” he muttered, reading the effects again. “Tsk, it clearly points out here about the opponent’s deepest fears. Damn it, of course, it wouldn’t work because I’m casting it on myself.”

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Elysian wanted to scream in frustration. “It seems this isn’t my day. I just got embarrassed by Hugo, and now I can’t even properly evaluate an ability. Tsk!” he exclaimed before sighing in resignation. “Now that I’ve found the problem. Well, I can’t test it for now. I’m the only one here.”

Without any choice, Elysian moved on to the next ability, Crimson Sacrifice. Among the abilities he had obtained, this was the only attack ability he had. “Aside from the high cost of mana, I also need to sacrifice a portion of my health. Well, this is better than the others that needed me to kill, though it doesn’t make it any easier,” he muttered, reading the description of the ability. “Hmm… How much would I need to sacrifice? It wouldn’t leave me at death’s door, right? Likely not, that would be stupid,” he remarked before sighing in resignation.

‘Well, among my abilities, this is one of those that I need to test out before using it in a real fight. It’s better to test this now than later.’

With a determined look, Elysian used Crimson Sacrifice. Immediately, he felt his vision blur for a few moments before returning to normal. “I can feel that I lost a portion of my health, but not by much. Hmm… about five percent? Yeah, that’s about right,” he stated, nodding his head as he looked at the knife in his hand. Just like the description said, BloodShade’s blade was now coated with a thin layer of crimson energy.

“That looks dangerous,” Elysian said as he inspected the blade closely. “Damn, anyone who’s unlucky enough to be stabbed by this thing will likely die in no time. I’m the owner, and I'm even afraid of it. Hmm…. What will I do with it now?” he muttered as he read the description again. “It says here that this is good for one single attack, which means this crimson energy won’t disappear until I use this.”

‘Damn , do I need to stab someone with this?

Hmm… Why not stab myself to see the damage it can cause. F*ck, not a chance. I’m not crazy, and I don’t have a death wish.

Sigh. What do I do now?’

Elysian looked around, and in the far corner of the hall, he saw a reinforced practice dummy. “I think that should do it,” he muttered, moving closer to it. Slowly, he lifted his hand as he brought BloodShade closer to the chest of his target. Closely observing the area where he was about to strike, he slammed it forward, effortlessly stabbing without any resistance.

“Hmm… Well, that was anticlimactic,” Elysian said as he pulled BloodShade out. Indeed, it was disappointing. Even when he inspected the area where he struck the dummy, it looked like a normal stab. Though smooth and impeccable, it was still just a stab. At first, he thought that the ability didn’t work, but when he looked at the blade, the crimson energy was gone, which just showed the ability was triggered.

Elysian sighed in disappointment.

‘Why am I disappointed? What do I even expect? That Crimson Sacrifice would make the attack explode? Tsk, I’m such an idiot. Well, it seems I won’t be able to test this out until I’m in a real fight.

Sigh. Disappointing, but at least I know now that the health sacrifice is manageable.’

“Now, it seems I have to test the last one, Shroud of Tenebris,” Elysian said, walking back to the center of the hall. “I already unknowingly used the Veil of Tenebris earlier. Well, that’s incorrect. It's a passive after all, so it’s always in effect. Now, let’s see what the active ability looks like.”

Elysian activated the Shroud of Tenebris. Unlike the other abilities, this was conspicuous as a black cloak suddenly surrounded his body. “Let’s see,” he muttered as he walked to the side to see what he looked like in front of the mirror. There he saw himself wearing a dark cloak as if death himself had ascended into Creation. It looked like he was wearing it, but in truth, it was floating over him. Sure, some parts touched his arms and body, but the other parts were weirdly floating just enough to fully cover him. Weirdly enough, he could easily see right through the shroud, but in the mirror, it seemed to act as a real cloth, covering his identity completely.

As Elysian moved around, he noticed that the shroud seemed to move on its own. Well, not entirely. When he moved to the left, the whole shroud moved in that direction, but just enough to fully cover him like it did before. However, the edges of the cloth, more visibly on his arms and legs, were moving randomly.

“Interesting. Hmm… This is rather cool. I look nice in this, and mysterious,” Elysian said, chuckling, satisfied with what he saw. “With my lower face the only part visible, this will be perfect if I want to do some covert operations.”

Elysian tried to move around for a couple of minutes, from jumping to executing some attacking maneuvers. No matter what he did, the shroud stayed in place, protecting his identity.

‘Also, this has a sustained duration, which means it can stay active as long as I can withstand Dark Influence. The question now is how long I could stand it before it gets really unbearable.

Well, I have the whole morning to find out.’

As soon as Elysian tried all the abilities, he decided that it was important to know how many abilities he could use before reaching the limit of BloodShade. So, he wasted no time as he used the abilities again.

In the end, Elysian used ShadowStep eight times in total. That was more than he initially planned; however, he got so giddy as he ran around, teleporting everywhere while wearing the shroud. Who could blame him, though? He looked so damn cool wearing it like some avenger in the night. After all the running, he used Nightmare Weave four times in total, while Shroud of Tenebris and Ravenous Whisper weren’t used again. Even though he couldn’t extract useful information from it, Elysian used Crimson Sacrifice again before BloodShade ran out of energy. He just couldn’t resist. He had to use it with ShadowStep and Shroud of Tenebris or he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night. Indeed, it was worth it. He looked even cooler with the addition of Crimson Sacrifice.

“Master?” Bran asked, surprised to see a hooded figure inside.