The test was a success. As long as Shade was still willing to expend his own spirit to sustain the boat's existence, it could remain even if he was far away. But if Shade was not aboard, others could not make the boat move through sheer thought as he could; they could only propel it by rowing.
Further testing confirmed that Shade's absence from the boat would not affect its properties: it was not easily damaged, was difficult to sink after being damaged, and could carry the undead.
The final and most important test was whether the small boat Shade summoned possessed the power to pass through space.
Shade himself had already guessed the answer. The last time he used the small boat to carry the old vessel from the lakebed, he had discovered that his boat could repel the dense fog shrouding Lake Heart Island. That in itself was a sign.
And that evening, both the spatial lockdown Miss Sylvia imposed with the aid of a relic and the effects of her own Space Movement Thaumaturgy on the small boat proved that Shade's boat was completely immune, at least to spatial lockdowns created by relics and thaumaturgy.
Unfortunately, the old wooden boat could only exist on water. The moment it left a similar environment, it would vanish automatically. Otherwise, if it could be carried, shouldered, or even fitted with wheels beneath its hull, it would be even more useful.
Seeing that it was getting late, Shade left the small boat with the two Witches and Luvia for further testing. He then followed the Duin River upstream back toward the city, preparing to meet the cultists of the Dragon Devouring Order.
Holding an umbrella, he entered the slums in the southeast of the city alone. The night rain quickly concealed