Chapter 210: The Unfinished Shadow
Now that the clinic finally had a nurse...
Was the dream of recruiting a few reliable doctors really that far away?
At the moment, Rayne Clinic's gender ratio was terribly unbalanced.
Besides Ethan and John, every member of the staff was a woman.
And John...
He spent most of his time out on assignments and was rarely at the clinic.
In other words, the clinic's entire male presence was being carried by Ethan alone.
Three women make a drama...
And now we've officially got the full cast.
Ethan silently made up his mind.
I have to recruit another male doctor.
He remembered a younger classmate from medical school.
The kid had been brilliant and had originally planned to become a physician as well.
Maybe I should ask around...
See if I can persuade him to come work here.
Doctors...
...were strategic resources.
---
Beneath New York's seemingly peaceful surface, dangerous currents continued to flow.
Yet none of that affected the clinic's daily operations.
At least...
It didn't affect Ethan.
After Winston had arranged for Ethan's vehicle to be upgraded, John had gone over it himself, making another series of comprehensive modifications.
When everything was finished, Ethan had to admit...
The car drove noticeably better than before.
John had also become even more dedicated to their training sessions.
Helen had grown increasingly cautious in her daily routine.
Even Natasha—who had always been more than a little inconsistent with her schedule—had started arriving at work precisely at nine every morning and leaving at six every evening.
Ethan found it rather strange.
Why does everyone suddenly seem so motivated?
Did the pressure from the High Table actually make everyone more hardworking?
He shook his head.
Whatever the reason, he didn't dwell on it.
He hadn't been idle either.
Recently, he and John had devoted most of their training to one thing:
Mastering the Shadow.
Ethan's control over Shadow had advanced rapidly in the beginning.
But now...
His progress had completely stalled.
It was as though he had run headfirst into an invisible ceiling.
Ironically, the deeper his understanding became...
...the more clearly he realized what Shadow truly was.
To him, Shadow wasn't a single power.
It was an entire hierarchy of mental manipulation, layered one level upon another.
The First Layer — Perception
The most fundamental...
...and the easiest to master.
It revolved around acquiring and interfering with another person's senses.
Mind Vision could effortlessly establish shared vision with almost anyone, brushing against the edges of another's consciousness.
Fade was somewhat more complicated.
It didn't make him literally invisible.
Instead, it reduced the likelihood that others would notice his presence.
Against Helen, the effect was extraordinary.
She couldn't detect him at all.
Against John, however...
It only worked if Ethan also made proper use of terrain and concealment.
Only then could he truly "disappear."
Otherwise...
John's instincts always picked up that something was wrong.
That, more than anything else, irritated Ethan.
---
The Second Layer — Fear
This was the true domain of warlocks and Shadow Priests.
The signature ability:
Psychic Scream.
Against ordinary people, it was overwhelmingly effective.
Against John...
It became a matter of probability.
At first, it only succeeded once out of every four attempts.
Even then, the fear lasted only for a brief moment.
Now...
The success rate had improved to roughly one in every two attempts.
Not only was it working more often...
The duration of its effects on John was also gradually increasing.
Yet something strange was happening.
As Ethan's mastery over Shadow deepened...
John's resistance seemed to be growing alongside it.
The slightest lapse in Ethan's concentration immediately weakened the spell's effects.
At first, Ethan assumed it was simply a matter of practice.
If you stopped training, your skills declined.
But eventually...
He realized the truth.
John wasn't just resisting.
He was adapting.
He was evolving.
Ethan could only sigh.
Seriously...
Who's training whom here?
Why does it feel like John's improving even faster than I am?
---
The Third Layer — Control
The highest tier of Shadow.
True...
Complete...
Mental domination.
At present, the most Ethan could do was make John lose focus for a brief instant.
True, complete mind control...
...was still completely beyond his reach.
Although even that was enough to astonish John, Ethan knew better than anyone that it wasn't nearly enough.
Beyond those abilities lay the ultimate expression of Shadow—
Shadowform.
It wasn't merely a transformation.
It was a state in which the soul drew close to the Void itself, while the physical body became nothing more than its projection into reality.
In that moment...
The boundary between reality and illusion blurred.
It certainly sounded dangerous.
But in the game, players could enter and leave the form at will.
Ethan saw no reason he shouldn't eventually be able to do the same.
Its appearance in the game had always been spectacular.
Dark violet energy coursed across the body.
Light bent and twisted unnaturally.
The figure became half-corporeal, flickering between existence and nonexistence.
It amplified every Shadow ability while reducing physical damage taken.
The problem was...
Ethan couldn't use it at all.
A faint realization had begun to form in his mind.
Perhaps...
He had misunderstood Shadow from the very beginning.
Shadow was not evil.
Nor were Shadow Priests heretics.
They were simply those who understood that light and shadow sprang from the same source.
He had once believed that Shadow's core resource was madness.
But it was never as simple as losing one's sanity.
Perhaps it meant listening to the whispers of the Void.
Perhaps it meant accepting the weight of countless possibilities.
Or perhaps...
It meant pushing reason to its absolute limit...
...without allowing it to break.
Theoretically...
The stronger one's Shadow became...
...the closer one came to losing control.
At first, Ethan had trained according to that understanding.
His progress had been astonishingly fast.
But the deeper he ventured...
...the more his growth slowed to a halt.
He couldn't break through the barrier to true control.
He couldn't awaken Shadowform.
Sitting alone in his consultation room, Ethan closed his eyes.
Shadow flowed quietly along the edge of his consciousness.
Like a vast...
Silent...
Bottomless sea.
Then a thought struck him.
Perhaps the problem wasn't his proficiency.
Nor was it the balance between Light and Shadow.
Perhaps the real issue was that he had only understood the concept of Shadow...
...without ever grasping its essence.
Shadow was not chaos.
Nor was it madness.
Perhaps...
It was the ability to stand before the abyss...
...with absolute clarity of mind.
And he...
...hadn't reached that point yet.
Maybe what he needed was more time.
More experience.
Or perhaps...
A greater price to pay.
---
On the drive home, streetlights slid past outside the car windows.
Helen chatted about the clinic.
John responded every so often with a simple,
"Yeah."
Eventually, the conversation turned to Sophie, who would soon be joining the clinic.
Helen genuinely liked her.
There was an immediate sense of familiarity between them.
Besides...
It was obvious that there was some history between her and the man who had accompanied her.
"Ethan really has a talent for choosing people."
"I don't know what made him pick her..."
"But I already like her."
She glanced at John.
He remained focused on the road, saying nothing.
Helen continued,
"Maybe it's because they have similar personalities."
"In some ways..."
"They're quite alike."
John nodded.
Helen frowned.
"Are you even listening?"
"Yeah."
"Then what are you thinking about?"
She gently rested a hand on his arm.
John was silent for a long moment.
Finally, he spoke.
"Maybe you should take some time off."
Helen narrowed her eyes.
"You mean for a while..."
"...or permanently?"
John didn't answer.
"So..."
"You want someone else to replace me?"
"That way I'll be safe?"
"Yeah."
"What about Ethan?"
"I'm still here."
Helen looked at him.
"Can you guarantee Ethan won't end up trusting the wrong person?"
"The new nurse?"
"Or that government agent?"
"It's too dangerous for you."
"I know."
Helen's voice remained calm.
"But you'll protect me."
"Right?"
"Of course."
"And Ethan will too."
Helen smiled softly.
"Just like we're protecting him now."
The car fell silent.
After a while, Helen spoke again.
"How is his other ability progressing?"
"No breakthrough."
John answered honestly.
"But it's already dangerous enough."
Helen asked quietly,
"What if he ever masters it completely?"
John's gaze never left the road.
"It may..."
"...shake the world even more than his ability to heal the sick."
Helen froze.
"Really?"
John nodded.
Then, for the first time, he briefly explained Ethan's Shadow abilities to her.
Helen remained silent for a long time.
Finally, she murmured,
"Why does he possess two such opposing powers?"
John slowly shook his head.
Helen lowered her voice.
"He brings death..."
"...and He gives life."
"He wounds..."
"...and He also heals."
The car disappeared into the night.
New York remained shrouded in darkness.
On the surface...
Nothing had changed at all.
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