Forbidden Art: Art of Shepherding

Forbidden Art: Art of Shepherding

When Iver closed the Shepherd's Secret Covenant, the black book no longer transmitted that warm, delicate sensation, like human skin.

It fell silent, as though everything before had merely been an illusion.

Only then did Iver finally understand why he had never seen this book in the original history.

Because if anyone could open this secret tome correctly, they would most likely destroy it outright.

--The knowledge recorded within was far too dangerous.

It solved a core problem of the Path of Transcendence--the Path of Transcendence could not make anyone other than oneself stronger.

The essence of the Path of Transcendence was to defy those above oneself, pursue transcendence, and seek greater heights. It was an extremely selfish path.

The power of the Path of Transcendence alone could not benefit others. That was why, although the Demon Scholars often gathered together, their strength had never fused into a single rope.

The Art of Shepherding, however, incorporated the characteristics of the Dedication Path. It allowed others to benefit through sacrificing oneself.

Feeding one's flesh and blood to demons, then granting demonic power to mortals--this logic conformed to the principles of the Dedication Path. Within this chain of logic, the demon was merely a symbol. It was like earning money oneself and then sharing it with the poor.

By the same logic, using humans as sacrifices to nourish demons, granting these Phantom Demons the power they needed to grow without taking even a bit of commission or asking for any repayment, also conformed to the principles of the Dedication Path--the "benefiting others" of the Path of Dedication was not limited to humans. One's own kind and Phantom Demons naturally counted as "others" as well.

And when the demon returned that nourishment with power, the Shepherd still took nothing for himself and gave everything to others. Thus, no "transaction" was formed, which likewise conformed to the principles of the Dedication Path.

This entire act was filled with the traces of ambitious demonic nature. Its motive revealed an undisguised "desire to rise"--becoming stronger at any cost. Yet it truly possessed a divine compassion, always upholding the sole principle of "helping others gain the power to fulfill their wishes."

Nothing the Shepherd did was a transaction. It was all charity given freely.

Yet in the end, the Shepherd still obtained everything he wanted, achieving an almost perpetual cycle.

"--This book absolutely cannot be left behind."

A crystal-clear thought appeared in Iver's mind.

If anyone other than himself had read this book, they would probably regard the Great Beasts of the Great Beast Master as the Shepherd's flock.

Moreover, if this book were a pure Dedication Path scripture, it could never have become a "forbidden book" collected by the Bureau of Supervision.

Since the Inspectors had been able to confiscate it, that alone was enough to show that the book was not entirely clean.

Of course, since the Bureau of Supervision had given the book to Iver, it was legal for him to read it himself. As long as he did not pass on the knowledge within, the Bureau of Supervision would not trouble him. They would simply turn a blind eye.

That was not the issue.

The real question was... where had the Bureau of Supervision obtained this book?

This book was the Original Codex. As long as someone could open it correctly, they could obtain the knowledge within and inherit the Shepherd's legacy.

Did that mean someone had already become the Shepherd?

If someone knew of the existence of the Shepherd's Secret Covenant and discovered that it had ultimately been confiscated by the Bureau of Supervision on Glass Island, they might follow that trail and eventually find Iver.

This unknown enemy made Iver's heart tighten.

He did not know who the other party was--whether they were an inheritor of the Shepherd, or another group that had come to hunt the Shepherd. He did not know when they would arrive. He could not even be certain that this hypothetical enemy truly existed.

But just in case...

Iver needed to gain greater influence in Avalon, enough to make the Bureau of Supervision track down that possibly existing Shepherd in reverse.

At the same time, Iver truly had mastered the Shepherding technique...

After Iver finished reading the book, a new art had quietly appeared after both his Priest and Demon Scholar classes.

Now, Iver's complete status panel had become this:

Priest LV6: Basic Prayer - Level 2 (3%), Fire Offering - Level 1 (5%), Illumination - Level 1 (15%), Blessing - Level 1 (0%), Shepherding (Flesh and Blood) - Level 1 (0%)

Demon Scholar LV5: Demon Knowledge - Level 1 (16%), Basic Ritual - Level 1 (5%), Demon Contract - Level 2 (3%), Shepherding (Essence) - Level 1 (0%)

Illuminated Paths: Dedication - First Layer; Transcendence - First Layer

Mana Pool: 2/5 (Light), 4/5 (Dark), 11/15 (Fire)

Free Experience: 50

Path Traits--

Transcendence - Shadow Affinity LV1: You have formed a true-name contract with a Shadow Demon and can freely use First-Level Shadow Abilities.

Dedication - Flame Container LV1: You have consumed Candle Holder's Blood, expanding your soul. Your maximum Fire Mana capacity increases by 14.

Authority - Silver Scale: With this mark as your seal, the Silver Crowned Dragon watches over you. An oath you have made cannot be violated. When you attack anyone who has violated an oath, gain +1 Advantage (Divinity).

As the chosen inheritor and the perfectly compatible successor to the Shepherd's legacy, Iver had indeed inherited the complete Art of Shepherding.

And there was no denying that...

This forbidden art was genuinely very useful to Iver.

It was because, when the Shepherd's Secret Covenant mentioned "using flesh and blood to let Phantom Demons grow," Iver realized that he had made a major oversight before--

In the game, the method by which the Great Sin Scholars and Great Beast Masters increased the levels of their "Great Beasts" was to repeatedly take them to farm Phantom Demons of the same attribute. They only needed to queue for a dungeon whose BOSS was a Phantom Demon of the designated attribute, then immediately challenge and defeat it, allowing the Great Beast to grow by devouring its remains.

But this did not work very well in real life.

He did not have a Dungeon Finder to randomly queue for dungeons, and Phantom Demons could not respawn infinitely like dungeon BOSSes. Thus, he could only feed them rare materials of the corresponding attribute to raise their levels--which required an enormous cost, while gathering the materials also consumed time and energy.

But if he possessed the Shepherding (Flesh and Blood) art, he could use himself as food and sacrifice himself to the Phantom Demons.

Iver's oath was, "I will not use the lives or corpses of my own kind as ritual materials or sacrifices." He himself naturally did not fall within that category.

After all, Self-Sacrifice was a standard skill of the Demon Scholar. It would not prevent him from advancing to Great Sin Scholar, either.

Although the Shepherd had become emaciated and covered in scars because of this flesh-and-blood shepherding,

Iver possessed the most orthodox Priest legacy. Among the four Sacred Arts carefully selected and prepared by the Church over thousands of years, the Fire Offering technique could rapidly restore Iver's lost life and heal his bodily injuries.

--There was no need to use anyone else as a sacrifice.

He only needed to let the Great Beasts slowly eat his own flesh.

He simply could not complete that perpetual cycle of using all people as grass and circulating flesh and spirit forever.

He could grant Phantom Demons' power to others, and he could feed Phantom Demons with his own flesh and blood. But he could not feed the humans he had shepherded back to the Phantom Demons--because that involved sacrificing his own kind and would pollute his soul.

Iver finally understood why the black book had reacted when it approached Yulia.

It had sensed the malnourished Phantom Demon within Yulia, which had been suppressed for a long time.

The Original Codex itself also possessed a faint spirituality.

Hatching a Phantom Demon Egg was the simplest way to obtain a weak, juvenile Phantom Demon.

In the black book's illusion, Iver had personally seen that the mid-stage Shepherd had acquired a large number of juvenile Phantom Demons through this method:

The children who served as Phantom Demon Eggs were gathered from all over the world by his armies. After being fed for a long time with medicinal soup prepared using his blood, the Phantom Demons within their bodies rapidly grew. Eventually, the "eggs" cracked open, hatching the Phantom Demons.

"...In any case, I should destroy the book first."

Iver muttered to himself.

Regardless of whether his adoptive father would become the final BOSS, he could not let him see this book. It would be even more troublesome if his elder brother or Yulia saw it. In any case, the knowledge within had already burrowed into Iver's mind, and he could not forget it even if he wanted to.

From the moment he obtained this book, whether he used it or not, those in the know would suspect that he had.

There was no point in being reserved, then. Not only would he use it, he would use it thoroughly! As luck would have it, he had an opportunity right now to test the Art of Shepherding's soothing effect on Phantom Demons...

With that thought, Iver rose from his wheelchair.

The instant his feet touched solid ground, his spirituality formed a stable circuit with the earth, and the Shadow Demon sleeping within Iver's shadow immediately awakened.

The shadow beneath him spread out in an instant, like ink blooming across paper.

My master...

A viscous voice filled with echoes sounded in Iver's mind, brimming with danger.

Why have you summoned me...?

"Destroy this."

Iver spoke softly as he tossed the Shepherd's Secret Covenant into the bubbling shadow.

But it did not dissolve.

The Shadow Demon displayed obvious displeasure.

Hmph. You can't always treat me like a trash can, Master. Not everything can be thrown into me... I crave fresh flesh and blood, holy souls, and...

Just as the Shadow Demon began to voice its displeasure, Iver drew his own pure-silver dagger from the table.

It was a Ritual Knife used to carve Ritual Arrays. It was sharp enough, but lacked durability.

Iver smeared the Ritual Knife with Cinnamon Essential Oil and rosemary essential oil. He infused a little Light Attribute Mana into one oil and Dark Attribute Mana into the other.

Then he held it over the candle flame and lightly swept it across. A deep, dim light emerged from the Ritual Knife.

Iver extended his right hand and took a deep breath.

Then he clenched it forcefully until the blade cut through his muscles and lodged in his bone.

"Then take it. My blood, my bones, my flesh..."

He endured the excruciating pain and silently recited in his heart:

Feed in silence, my lamb...

I am the Eucharist. This is grace.

The mana pool within Iver suddenly loosened--his scant remaining three-colored mana randomly flowed into his blood. Like a bathhouse with its stopper pulled, it rapidly leaked away without end.

He imagined that what flowed from his wound was not red blood, but golden honey and white milk. He lowered his eyes, and his gaze toward the Shadow Demon became compassionate and pitiful.

Iver struggled to ensure that his heart contained not the slightest trace of fear, greed, pain, or hatred, only pure goodness and love.

It was as though what stood before him was not a cunning and deadly demon, but a begging child on the roadside who was about to starve to death.

It was a pure, equal, exalted gift.

--Voluntary sacrifice possessed a kind of holiness. Just as Iver had been able to summon a Greater Demon when he served as a sacrifice.

And now, the blood he voluntarily offered through the proper ritual had become an extremely delicious offering, enough to make a Phantom Demon addicted--

The Shadow Demon, which had still been complaining moments before, immediately fell silent.

It shot upward as if insane, like dozens of intertwined snakes, gently wrapping around Iver's right hand and greedily licking every drop of blood, including the spaces between his fingers and the back of his hand.

It continued until the mana pool within Iver was completely drained and could no longer release even a trace of mana. The Shepherding ritual ended at once.

Iver withdrew the Ritual Knife, and the wound sealed itself.

Even after that scalding, searing blood vanished without a trace, the Shadow Demon continued to focus on licking Iver's right hand. It was like a puppy that continued licking its master's palm after eating the food from it.

"...It seems you like it."

Iver's face was pale, but the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

His voice was somewhat weak--partly from blood loss and partly from the pain.

During the ritual, he could not frown because of the pain or show disgust and fear. Otherwise, the Shepherding ritual would fail.

But now he could.

The wound, deep enough to expose bone, had indeed caused him tremendous pain. Fortunately, he had forcibly endured it, preventing the ritual from failing.

...Yes, Master.

The Shadow Demon's attitude abruptly changed, and it immediately became docile.

I... like it very much.

Even its tone visibly became obsequious. It was no longer murky and dangerously bestial, but instead resembled the hoarse, low voice of a woman.

The Shadow Demon had an amorphous body, no material form, and no gender.

This was merely its way of showing its ingratiation and submission to Iver--an awkward method according to its own understanding.

"Then go back for now," Iver said calmly. "Do you remember what I asked you to do?"

Of course, my honored master...

The Shadow Demon answered without hesitation.

It transformed into a sleek black hound, leaped high into the air, and slammed headfirst into the Shepherd's Secret Covenant Iver had thrown onto the floor.

But it was bounced away--

When the black book was struck by the Shadow Demon, it suddenly erupted with scorching firelight, like a hammer striking an anvil.

The single impact merely tore the black book apart; it did not immediately corrode it.

The Shadow Demon, however, seemed to take this as a provocation, as though it had lost face. It immediately transformed into an even larger and more ferocious dire wolf and charged at the Shepherd's Secret Covenant again.

This time, the book could no longer resist--corrosive shadows continuously poured into its pages. At a visible speed, it withered, rotted, blackened, shrank, and twisted. In the end, it turned to dust and vanished without a trace.

The Shadow Demon sank back into Iver's shadow and disappeared.

Iver had no time to carefully wipe the blood remaining on the Ritual Knife. He could only first return the silver dagger to its sheath. This would undoubtedly ruin the Ritual Knife, but he could not worry about that now.

Once the ritual ended, he felt an increasingly intense fatigue and dizziness.

His fingers trembled wildly from the pain and blood loss, while his completely exhausted mana made his brain throb in waves. Everything before his eyes kept contracting and expanding, like he had drunk too much and was about to black out, or like he was in an advanced mathematics lecture, unable to keep his eyelids open and becoming drowsy...

--Next time, I at least need to save some mana for the Fire Offering technique. Completely exhausting my mana would actually leave me this weak...

Good. This was extremely important experience. Learning it in a safe place was better than understanding it only in a crisis...

The last fragmented thoughts surfaced in Iver's mind. He staggered toward the bed.

He did not even have time to remove his clothes or pull up the covers before he collapsed unconscious onto his bed.