Shadow Dragon: The Fallen Angel Is My Teacher-Chapter 190: Maxing Out A State, Title Shop, Buying A Title

Chapter 190: Maxing Out A State, Title Shop, Buying A Title

Yuna POV

"Yuna, if you dragged me here for a reason, you should probably tell me."

Yuna stared at Caelum.

She knew her words would be useless, but she still answered.

"You have been infected by a Soul Parasite. I don’t know what its function is, but it definitely has a location tracker. If you return home, you will be exposed."

Caelum didn’t reply.

He just stared at her motionlessly.

After a while, he could move again, and he sighed. "Alright, if you don’t want to answer it, then I won’t force you."

Yuna bit her lips, knowing he was under a mind attack by the soul parasite.

He must’ve heard something like, "I don’t want to tell you now. But I promise I will do so later."

In fact, Yuna had told him about the parasite as soon as she noticed it, but he couldn’t perceive the words related to the parasite.

Even asking or warning in a roundabout way did not work. The Soul Parasite was quite thoroughly made.

She looked at the result of Inspect, through which she had found he was infected.

[@!$!$!@$!@]

[Details: A soul chosen by [Shadow] as its successor. Currently infected by a Rank 3 Soul Parasite.]

"When did he get infected by the parasite? I didn’t notice at all."

The parasite was Rank 3. If it had been more powerful, reaching Rank 4, the Director of L Corp might’ve been able to notice it and help him.

But being Rank 3, it had weak energy signatures, and it was able to hide rather easily.

Of course, there was a chance that the Director of L Corp was the one who used the parasite.

"What is this parasite supposed to do? No, first I need to find a way to warn him about the parasite."

Even using [Beautify] was useless.

Although he noticed Yuna had become more beautiful, he couldn’t "connect" that thought to the previous incident where he told her to use Beautify in case something dangerous was happening.

The Soul Parasite had burrowed into him too deep already, and it was altering his perception at high speed.

Thankfully, he had warned her about this situation too.

If Beautify didn’t work, she was supposed to bring him to the inn and have him devour Shadow Essences.

These were Caelum’s orders, though he seemed to have forgotten them too.

...

MC’s POV

[+1 Spirit]

[+1 Spirit]

[+2 Spirit]

I watched the numbers climb as I sat on my bed.

Spirit was a special stat. It could be earned from Shadow Essences of Gods and Cursed Spirits only.

Until now, I couldn’t devour any Shadow Essence with the Spirit stat because of simple reasons.

Gods had powerful senses and would detect and destroy my Shadow.

The same was true for Cursed Spirits.

Even now, the Cursed Spirits in the inn had combat strength of Rank 4.

Of course, there was a world of difference between being a Rank 4 Cursed Spirit and having combat strength of Rank 4, which meant your combat strength was equivalent to a Rank 4 Exorcist.

Still, having Rank 4 combat strength was enough.

These Cursed Spirits could detect my Shadow and destroy it.

That’s why my Shadow had to purposefully find Shadows with low combat strength (even the ’weak’ ones were still quite strong).

Thankfully, I was on Nautilus, the ship filled with countless Cursed Spirits, so it was an easy task.

Notifications continued coming.

[Shadow Eater Level 5 → Level 6]

"The level of the skill increased. Nice."

It allowed me to gain more stats from the same amount of Shadow Essence.

I looked at Yuna, who prompted me to continue gaining stats, and I did.

Hours passed.

Since I already had high Spirit stats, it didn’t take long before...

[Spirit stat: 153 (+0) → 153 (+200)]

[Spirit stat has reached 200!]

[Spirit stat has reached the stat limit.]

[Title Shop has been unlocked.]

[Reach next Rank to continue increasing the stat.]

I grinned. Finally, one of my stats had reached the stat limit. This was only possible because Nautilus was filled with countless powerful Cursed Spirits, allowing me to farm Spirit stats easily.

Even though I started raising it today only, it reached 200 in one go.

I opened the System shop and checked the titles.

[Title Shop (Limited)]

[Spirit Titles available]

[1. Thought Stability: Allows you to stay calm even in dangerous and desperate situations. Cost: 100 Spirit]

[2. Mental Fortitude: Your mind is trained to endure pressure. Minor mental interference, fear effects, and emotional instability are resisted more easily, and recovery from mental strain is slightly faster. Cost: 150 Spirit.]

[3. Inner Stability: Your emotional and mental state stabilizes naturally. Mental debuffs that rely on rage, despair, or panic lose part of their impact. Cost: 100 Spirit.]

[4. Spirit Tempering: Your consciousness has been refined through repeated strain. Resistance to sustained mental pressure and long-term corruption effects is increased. Cost: 120 Spirit]

[5. Ego Stability: Your sense of self cannot be easily broken. Effects that rely on fear, despair, or identity erosion are significantly weakened. Cost: 180 Spirit]

[6. Thought Refinement: Your mind operates with heightened precision. Mental noise, illusions, and false sensory input are easier to detect. Cost: 180 Spirit.]

There were dozens of Titles.

I kept scrolling, and before long, I reached the truly expensive titles.

[34. Mental Sovereignty: Your mind is your own [domain]. External mental authority struggles to establish control, and hostile psychic influence is forcefully resisted. Cost: 380 Spirit]

[35. Willbound Spirit: Your will and spirit reinforce each other. The stronger your resolve, the higher your resistance to mental domination, corruption, and psychological collapse. Cost: 350 Spirit]

[36. Consciousness Shell: Your mind is surrounded by a protective mental layer. Heavy mental attacks are partially absorbed before reaching your core awareness. Cost: 400 Stats.]

Titles could show power higher than your rank was supposed to. They were the true advantage of the System.

Even without the System, one could gain stats by training, and if they had a lot of knowledge, they could use techniques that had the same effect as perks given by Class.

In other words, a hardworking person could be as strong as someone with a System.

However, only those with a System could have Titles.

This was why it was often said that Titles could be the difference between victory and defeat.

"Hmm, which Title should I buy? Currently, I could buy all Titles except the last two. However, if I buy the expensive Titles, my stats would suffer."

My current Spirit stat was 153 (+200).

In other words, it was a total of 353.

The stats in brackets were gained through Shadow Essence. They were equipment stats and could be re-gained easily, even if I were to use them now to buy a Title.

However, the stats outside the brackets, Spirit 153, were personal stats. They could only be gained by long and bitter training.

If I used them now to purchase a Title, even if the Title would help me increase my mental defense in some aspects, my other aspects of mental defense would fall sharply, and my overall situation would become dangerous.

Rather, it was better to not touch my personal stats and buy a Title under 200 stats, and then use Shadow Eater to refill 200 stats quickly.

"Well, I can buy all of them later. For now, I should purchase something that would be immediately useful. Since only one Title can be used at one time, it needs to be something good."

Just as I was wondering which one to buy, Yuna spoke up.

"Lord of Shadows, buy the Thought Pulse title."

I looked at the Title she had told me to purchase.

[8. Thought Pulse: Your mind continuously releases a pulse to detect dangers. Mental noise, mental interference, interferences, illusions, and false sensory input are more easily detected. Cost: 200 Spirit.]

"Hmm, this title would make it easier for me to detect mental attacks even if I’m already under them. Is there a special reason I need to buy this?" I asked.

"Just buy it," Yuna insisted.

I did as she said.

[Thought Pulse purchased]

[Spirit: 153 (+200) → 153 (+0)]

"Equip Thought Pulse title."

[Title: Thought Pulse (Equipped)]

My mind felt sharper and lethargic at the same time.

Overall, it had become more lethargic, since my stats just fell by more than half, but I felt I would now have an easier time detecting mental interference.

...

Yuna POV

She watched with bated breath as he purchased a Title.

She quickly asked, "Do you feel anything?"

’Please say you can now tell your mind is being tampered with,’ she prayed.

"No?" he tilted his head.

Yuna bit her lips.

It was predictable.

The Soul Parasite was Rank 3. There was no way a Title purchased from Rank 1 Title shop would be able to do much.

’At this rate...’

Yuna shook her head and said,

"Now, Lord of Shadows, let’s refill your Spirit stat again. Send out your Shadow to use Shadow Eater."

He gave her a questioning look. The time to return home was quickly approaching, so it made sense he was confused as to why she was keeping him here.

But...

’I hope the plan you told me works.’

"Hurry, Lord of Shadows. Send out your Shadow," she insisted.

He gave her a questioning look but nodded in the end.

’Please let this be enough,’ she thought.