Shadow Dragon: The Fallen Angel Is My Teacher-Chapter 192: Shadow Assimilation Level Up, New Clas

I didn’t ask what she meant by "for now."

After that, instead of going straight home, I went to see the inn girl.

[Fifty million divided by four gives me ten million.]

The thought surfaced again, uninvited, and for some reason, it made me want to talk to her. I couldn’t explain why. It just felt like the right thing to do.

She was behind the counter when I arrived, flipping through a worn ledger. She looked up when she heard my footsteps.

A smile blossomed on her face.

Or did it?

It was hard to tell due to her eldritch head.

We spoke for a while.

I received the information that the ship officers were looking for me, since they had found out I had impersonated an officer.

The single advised me to stay low.

After a quick chat, I promised to meet her again tomorrow, and left for home.

Home was peaceful, or so would I have liked to say.

The whole house was filled with hustle and bustle by the time I was woken up in the morning.

It felt like I had walked into the middle of a small storm.

Since the new maids had come to help my mom, they had apparently decided that "helping" also included taking care of me.

I had barely escaped the clutches of my parents after years of protest.

But now, the maids would change my clothes, bathe me and do everything.

At this point, I had given up on saving my dignity. I just let them do whatever they wanted with me.

Aunt Liora came by later in the afternoon.

This time, she brought one of my cousins with her.

Lucas.

He stood a little behind her, hands clasped in front of him, and stiff posture. His eyes moved around the house, taking everything in, but he didn’t say much at first.

Over tea, I learned what he was here for.

Lucas was under Uncle Elias’s direct mentorship, but he wanted to change masters. He wanted my father to take him in instead.

Dad refused, obviously. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Even though he worked as an instructor, taking a direct disciple was already a sensitive thing.

And taking the disciple of his older brother would be considered poaching. It was just rude, and could be taken in as an insult.

Later in the evening, Uncle Elias came himself.

That was when I used Shadow Assimilation.

I slipped into the edge of the room, my body blending into the shadows near the hallway, as I eavesdropped.

"—You should take Lucas as your disciple. He has big ambitions, but I can’t help him reach those. Only someone like you can," Uncle Elias said.

Dad seemed troubled about the fact that Uncle Elias also wanted Dad to take mentorship of Lucas.

From what I heard, Lucas was beginning to hit the limits of his talent.

That’s why he had come to train under dad.

Eventually, I slipped away before they finished.

Back in my room, I canceled Shadow Assimilation.

A familiar notification popped up.

[Shadow Assimilation: Level 4 → Level 5]

"Another level up," I smiled faintly.

The difference was immediate. I could feel it in the way the shadows around me seemed closer, and more connected.

At Level 5, I could stay in Shadow Assimilation state longer, and more importantly, I could instantly move between shadows that were farther apart.

Fifty meters.

It was a large distance, and would help me tremendously in battles.

That night, I went back to the L Corp.

Saint Dexter met me at the entrance. We talked briefly. It was nothing deep, just a check-in. He had the look of someone who was always half-thinking about something else.

After he left, Lyra came to find me.

The L Corp Director didn’t waste time with small talk.

"It’s time we began your operation to make you a Saint—"

"Here," I said, cutting in and handing her another stack of documents. "Read this today."

Her eyes lit up the moment she saw the papers. Whatever she had been about to say vanished. She took them from me like I might change my mind if she didn’t grab them fast enough.

"I’ll get back to you," she said, already walking away.

Had I not stopped her, I would’ve become Instructor Jasmine today.

I watched her go, then turned and flagged down a Worker Jasmine.

"Can you bring me to a lab?" I asked.

The Worker nodded and led the way.

"Time to get the Mechanic Class," I muttered, cracking my knuckles.

The lab was quiet, filled with the soft hum of machines and the faint smell of metal and oil.

The Worker Jasmines brought me everything I asked for. Parts. Tools. Materials.

I started working.

Days blurred together after that.

At home, Lucas started coming by every day.

He would kneel at the doorsteps, saying he wouldn’t leave until Dad took him in as a disciple.

Dad ignored him.

After a week, Mom’s heart melted and she told Dad to stop being stubborn.

Dad sighed, rubbed his temples, and finally agreed.

From that day on, Lucas moved in with us.

At night, I would meet the inn girl daily.

Since I was supposed to be staying low, I didn’t show up in the main part of the inn. Instead, I helped her in the kitchen. She laughed when she saw me the first time.

"Of all the things I expected, this wasn’t one of them," she said.

"I’m full of surprises," I replied.

I couldn’t touch the dishes they served. Even looking at some of them made my mind nauseous.

So I washed dishes.

We would talk while working in the inn.

At L Corp, I kept feeding Lyra more documents. She kept disappearing into her office and coming out with that same focused look in her eyes.

In between, I worked in the lab, building, adjusting, tearing things apart, and putting them back together in better ways.

Finally, after two weeks, the message came.

Class [Mechanic] gained.

+3 Dexterity, +3 Intelligence