After getting home, Ethan finally had a chance to calm down and start exploring his new abilities.
First, he discovered that the status bars of most ordinary creatures could only be displayed within his line of sight, roughly within a 100-foot range.
Interestingly, he could also see his own status bar through a mirror.
This gave him a bit of relief—at least he still had some control over this information.
Even better, if he didn't want to see the status bars, all he had to do was blink, and the information would disappear.
As for creatures that died, their status bars would instantly drop to zero—he had confirmed that as well.
Still, Ethan hadn't fully figured out all the details of his abilities.
For now, his own status bar looked pretty decent, which gave him some peace of mind.
After turning off the shower, he stood in the tub, feeling like he'd forgotten something important.
"Oh right, Dr. Harris mentioned something about light refraction in my eyes during the checkup," he muttered to himself. Lately, he'd been noticing strange "light refractions" in his vision, especially when looking at dark objects. His sight would distort, particularly around shadows.
Thinking about this, Ethan looked down, trying to see his own shadow.
"Huh? Where's my shadow?" He frowned. The bathroom light was shining down from above, but he couldn't see his shadow anywhere.
He shifted his position, turning slightly, and finally caught the outline of his shadow on the wall.
"Phew, thought my shadow had gone off for a coffee break," he sighed in relief. After everything that had happened today, he wouldn't have been too surprised if his shadow had actually disappeared.
He grabbed a towel, wiped his face, and was about to leave the bathroom. But as he stepped toward the living room, a dark figure stood silently in the doorway.
The figure was pitch black, with varying shades of darkness, as if it were made of different layers of shadow. Its eye sockets were hollow and deep, staring straight at Ethan.
Their eyes met, and Ethan's heart skipped a beat.
"I knew it… things weren't going to be that simple," he muttered.
This was the second time today he felt like his heart had stopped for a moment. The first time was at the hospital, and now, his shadow hadn't disappeared—it had come to life.
Ethan cautiously raised his hand, and the shadow mirrored his movement.
He lifted his leg, and the shadow did the same.
Ethan couldn't help but chuckle. "How about a little Michael Jackson moonwalk?" To his surprise, the shadow actually started moonwalking, its movements so smooth that Ethan was left momentarily stunned.
"This thing can really dance," Ethan thought, his mind spinning.
He reached up and touched the chip embedded in his forehead. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from the chip, projecting a virtual screen in front of him like a scanner.
Displayed on the screen was his personal information:
Name: Ethan
Type: Shadow
Soul Essence: 1
Special Abilities: (Unlock with 10 Soul Essence)
Skills: Soul Consume, Nightseer's Eye
Ethan stared at the information, and with a thought, some of the words expanded into more detailed descriptions.
Shadow Clone: Your shadow exists because of you. It possesses all your memories and can carry out any simple commands you give it. However, be aware that it lacks independent thought and has no physical form.
(Let it engage in some learning or physical activity, and you might be surprised by the results.)
Soul Consume: You can absorb Soul Essence from any darkness to strengthen yourself, or break down dead things to absorb their Soul Essence.
Nightseer's Eye: Your eyes have undergone an unknown transformation. When activated, this ability allows you to see into different worlds and choose whether to observe or enter them.
Ethan's head was starting to ache as he processed all this information.
He glanced again at the shadow standing beside him and reached out, trying to touch it. His fingers passed right through the shadow's body, as if it wasn't even there.
"Can you talk?" Ethan asked.
The shadow didn't respond, just stood there quietly.
"Do you know everything I know?" he asked again.
The shadow nodded.
"Alright then." Ethan sighed, turning to rummage through some papers on the table before pulling out a workbook.
"Figure out the pattern in these numbers and fill in the blank: 3, 8, 19, 34, ( ). This is one of my math competition problems. Give it a shot."
He handed the pen to the shadow, but then paused, suddenly realizing, "Wait, can you even hold a pen?"
The shadow silently reached out and successfully took the pen.
Ethan froze. He reached out again, passing his hand through the shadow's body, still feeling no physical substance.
"Does this thing have a body or not?" he muttered.
The shadow held the pen, staring at the worksheet for a moment, but didn't write anything. It looked up, giving Ethan an innocent, almost helpless look.
"What the heck? I thought you knew everything I know? I could solve this in two minutes!" Ethan rolled his eyes in frustration.
He tapped the chip on his forehead again, pulling up the system screen and carefully rereading the shadow's skill descriptions.
"Can follow simple commands? Is this problem too hard for you?" Ethan thought for a moment and changed the command: "Write out a passage from Hamlet."
Immediately, the shadow began writing, quickly jotting down the prince's soliloquy.
"With sword in hand, standing before his father's grave, Hamlet gazes into the night, cold flames flickering in his eyes, whispering to himself, as if questioning fate, or perhaps questioning himself..."
Ethan's eyes widened, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.
Let's up the difficulty, he thought. "Write a scene for a web novel based on this situation: 'In the darkness, young Ethan stared at the shadow with no physical form, asking it to solve a math competition problem, claiming he could solve it in two minutes! Does young Ethan's conscience not hurt when he says things like that?'"
The shadow immediately started writing again.
"This..." Ethan rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Alright, alright, you win."
"Why bother being some supernatural being? I could just have my shadow write web novels, sell books, and make a fortune!" He couldn't help but laugh.
But writing novels could wait. Right now, he needed to figure out his situation.
Ethan glanced at the remaining abilities on the screen.
Soul Consume—this one sounded a bit creepy. Ethan crouched in the corner, extending his hand, trying to sense something, but nothing happened.
"This stupid ability doesn't even come with a manual," he grumbled, feeling a bit annoyed.
The last ability, Nightseer's Eye, he had some experience with. On his way home, he had already activated it once, and the eerie world he saw still gave him chills.
"One step at a time," Ethan sighed.
He turned to the shadow. "Stop copying stuff for now. Do a few push-ups, let me see."
The shadow nodded, stood up, but as Ethan watched, its form gradually faded until it completely disappeared.
"Hey, I told you to do push-ups, where'd you go?" Ethan shouted.
He looked around, but the shadow was nowhere to be seen.
"Did my shadow just slack off?"