He, then, finally said:
"Yes."
Nothing happened at first; there was total silence in the enigmatic Crimson Forest.
Breaking the silence, the Song whispered:
[Your assimilation with shadows grow stronger.]
[42% assimilated.]
'Huh?! 42?! It really gave me that much?!'
Sheldon was wrong. He was only given 5% by the Shadow's Elixir. Turns out, he's been accumulating his affinity with shadows his entire life. He would be fed the elixir since his birth. His parents really wanted him to become a Shadowcaster. However, his parents died even before achieving half their goal.
"Uh... Elder Ones, what is my potential?"
Potential:[Grade 1]
Potential Melody:[Flamecharm][Shadowcast]
Potential Melody Enhancement:[Azure Flames][Shadow's Revolt]
'At least I can still be a Flamecharm Manipulator!'
"Elder Ones, return me to the gates."
Shadows covered him. Sheldon noticed a minor difference. The shadows were not doing this by their own will, rather they were forced to. So naturally, they had a heavy desire to revolt. It took quite a large amount of time for Sheldon to arrive at his destination.
'Here I am again... I wonder if the guards have something on them.'
Sheldon decided to inspect the bodies of the two dead guards.
Just as Sheldon suspected, the guards were empty-handed.
However, as he was about to enter the city, he noticed a dimming light inside one of the guards' body. Sheldon shifter hid gaze. The light was extremely bright, yet it was slowly dimming.
'Huh?'
Sheldon approached the boy and got to one knee. The ball of light started to levitate to his direction, leaving its previous spot near the man's heart.
Then, the Song whispered:
[Would you like to absorb this Core?]
"Uh... sure," Sheldon answered.
[You grow stronger.]
Core Essence:[25/10,000]
'10,000?!'
Perplexed, Sheldon decided to absorb the other guards Core.
[You grow stronger.]
Core Essence:[50/10,000]
He let out a sigh of relief.
'At least one of these Grade 3 Cores gives me 25 Essence.'
Shifting his attention, Sheldon walked into the city. He had one goal in his mind -- to get some clothes. Luckily, there was an abundance of buildings in the city, each one with their own unique features. Another addition to his luck is how quiet the city was; not even a single person could be spotted in the city's cobblestone streets.
He entered the house at the right of the entrance. Upon entry, Sheldon let out a faint grin.
'Jackpot!'
The house was well-decorated with expensive furniture. Its walls appeared as if they were painted only a few minutes prior. Its design, too, was utterly immaculate.
He immediately entered the nearest bedroom and looked through the closet. He then brought out the finest outfit he could create, and immediately checked himself out in the mirror.
He wore an old French-themed outfit. The owner of the lavish house wasn't as wealthy as he expected, in terms of clothes, but he was still able to get a good outfit.
He decided to sit down on the edge of the bed that lay before him.
He summoned the Nightmare Blade, his new weapon. The weapon weaved itself to life on his hand.
After a few seconds, a silver odachi lay on his hand. Its wooden handle was in the hue of dark violet. The pomnel of the Nightmare Blade was made of shiny silver. Its blade was sharp -- sharper than any knife or sword that Sheldon ever laid his gaze on. Its ivory blade, steel pomnel, purple handle and its texture were perfect, making it very pleasing to the eye.
'Now it's time to see if I can gain the Song's respect.'
"Elder Ones, how do I... uh... check my luck?"
[No need to worry, Sheldon. The process has already started.]
"Wait... what?"
An especially large beam of a shadow fell upon Sheldon. It was as if a lightning strike that never returned to the sky had struck him.
'Not again...'
He was expecting his eyes to be gouged out, cuts all over his body or even decapitation; but to Sheldon's surprise, nothing happened.
'Looks like I already earned its respect.'
Contradicting to his statement, a large, dark spear of shadow protruded from his chest, blood dipping from the tip of its blade. His body hung on the spear due to the speed at which he was impaled. To Sheldon's surprise, he did not feel anything.
Soon enough, the spear quickly retracted itself from the ground. Sheldon's body fell down as a result. The large shadow, too, retracted.
'It's over?'
Sheldon got a chance to move. He decided to stand up.
Before he was able to complete this motion, his body began to be cut all over, leaving blood where the damage was inflicted. The flurry of consecutive cuts went on, expanding the pool of blood beneath. Once again, he couldn't feel anything.
'Can't wait to feel something again!'
His accidental wish was unexpectedly granted by the Song. Sheldon felt a sharp pain pierce his body. His internal organs felt as if they were being burnt by a flaming inferno. Over and over again, his burnt organs would painfully heal themselves, just to be cooked under a high temperature again. It was the most unpleasant feeling that he had ever experienced.
After a short while, the pain subsided. He was flabbergasted. Could he, a weak, aspiring teenager, really earn the Song's respect? After all, he was one of the weakest inhabitants of the Plagued Stone -- a very unlikely candidate for such an honor. Such questions filled his mind. If he really earned the Song's respect, it would be an astonishing feat, considering Sheldon's stature.
With some delay, as if the Song was hesitating, the Elder Ones spoke:
[Wonderful! You make us proud to be your beholder!]
"Yes!"
Sheldon was very happy, for he was the lucky one to earn the Song's respect.
However, his happiness was quickly replaced with curiosity as he heard some footsteps in the lower part of the lavish building...
...and paused at the sight of three ominous beings. Before them lay a birthday cake.
'What the...'
The three ominous beings appeared as tall human shadows, ascending in altitude. They radiated a dim light, bringing an insufficient amount of light to the dark room. Their eyes, being the only visible facial feature they had, stared directly into Sheldon's eyes.
Abruptly, a distorted voice resounded from one of the shadows, singing:
"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!"
Sheldon's mind was in complete turmoil. How? How did they know? Aren't they mindless illusions? They're Conjured Illusions, aren't they? And their Conjurer would have... no... should have no knowledge of such information!
'So why the hell do they know?!'
The other shadows joined in, singing in different pitches. Their low-quality choir sounded beautiful, despite their horrendous singing.
Suddenly, Sheldon lost his touch with reality, completely. he lost control of his physical body.
"Happy... dear... Sheldon!"
He could barely hear anything, see anything, feel anything, nor could he even perceive scent.
Then, he felt a long, sharp object thrust into his chest.
And soon enough, he fell to the ground, a mere corpse.