The Undead Blacksmith's daily life (Solo leveling/Dark Souls SI) Chapter 21

“Jinwoo, tell me the truth. are you doing things like this on purpose?”

Jinwoo smiled wryly at my words as he stood beside me, watching as one of his so-called Shadows, the one called Igris, was being inspected by Jinah as it stood straight in the living room.

“I really don’t know what the hell is going on with this System. I really had no hand in what happened.”

“I am not talking about the System. I am talking about doing something so dangerous without telling me anything.”

At those words, his face gained a slightly guilty look before he looked away from me.

I understood where he was coming from. An opportunity to become stronger was something that not everyone could turn down. And I really cannot fault him for underestimating the ‘Job Change’ quest he got since he did not experience the kind of manipulations and cruelty that I did.

But I do blame him for not consulting me or Jinah about this quest and going off on his own.

From his recounting of the events, it was clear that despite him downplaying the events, he nearly died in that dungeon.

I am not angry that he pursued strength or that he did something dangerous because I knew that a Hunter cannot be coddled and kept from danger.

What I am angry about is that he did not stop to consider what his sister and I would feel if he ended up dead inside that dungeon.

Speaking of, the one who was truly angry about his actions, more than me in fact, was Jinah, who went off like a bomb on him.

Seriously, I have only ever seen that kind of anger once before. Back when I did something really stupid when these two were just children.

The rant that Kyung-Hye gave me that day still rings in my ears from time to time.

I guess the daughter inherited her mother’s temper, more so than Jinwoo.

Putting all of that aside, I can’t help but feel my worry for my nephew increase by several times as I watched Jinwoo dismiss his shadow, allowing me to feel the darkness within him from which these shadows originated.

I don’t know just what the System is, but I do know that whatever this Job Change thing is, it has connected Jinwoo’s soul with something Dark and ancient.

Something similar to the Abyss, but relatively tame compared to the nothingness of the Abyss.

The best way I can describe it is that this Darkness is a weaker and tamer version of the Abyss that engulfed the world of Lordran countless times throughout my loops, sometimes because of my failure, other times because I allowed the Age of Dark to commence.

I do not know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. All I know is that I need to start seriously focusing on Jinwoo and making sure that his power does not consume him fully.

Already, I can feel that the darkness within him has consumed a part of him. Based on what he told me about his past battles, where he always feels like he is losing some of his emotions as he grows stronger, my guess is that this darkness is aiming to consume his humanity fully, leaving behind a perfect warrior for the System to use for whatever motive it has.

Just like how the Darkness of the Abyss consumed my own humanity during my initial loops thanks to the manipulations of the Primordial Serpents.

Thankfully, damage like that is not permanent and is possible to recover from, provided you know how to do so.

I just need to start training Jinwoo in how to retain his humanity as his power grows, which should be relatively easy.

The process of being consumed by the Darkness, at least according to my own experience, is similar to the process of going Hollow. So, the best method to fight against such influence is to remember what exactly you are fighting for. Remember the reason for which you crave strength and what your end goal is.

That evening, I felt the silence between us stretch on for some time before Jinwoo finally admitted his mistake.

However, I have no doubt that despite feeling guilty and promising to be careful, he will not stop going to the extreme lengths for the sake of gaining strength, to become strong enough to fulfill what he views as his duty, which is to protect me and Jinah from anyone that would seek to harm us.

Seriously, this has been one hectic day.

First, the strange meeting with Jinah’s teacher where she asked me to counsel a young E-Rank hunter and make her leave the hunter business and return to her studies.

Something that I refused since it was none of my business and would not affect my family in the least.

Then, it was the impromptu celebration thrown my way by Gunhee when I returned to the Association, a very public celebration that made me feel a little annoyed, but I tolerated it since this was one of the rare times where Gunhee let himself go.

And then the bombshell that Jinwoo dropped on me when I got back home and felt the darkness radiating off of him the moment I stepped foot inside.

Seriously, fuck this day.

I sat on my bed and took out my equipment along with some cleaning supplies, getting into my usual routine before I went to sleep, when my thoughts wandered into a strange place and an idea stuck my mind.

If Jinwoo is now capable of ‘extracting shadows’ from his fallen enemies and monsters, he now has the power to gain powerful guardians that would keep him safe in even the most horrible of situations.

In that case, why not take advantage of that and give him an edge in that regard?

I know several powerful monsters and beings that could protect him from nearly any kind of nature, and all it would take is for me to risk exposing my location to those damned serpents of Lordran.

Is that price worth paying in exchange for Jinwoo’s safety?

Absolutely.

With a plan in mind, I took my phone and started browsing through available dungeons for tomorrow, searching for an appropriate one where we could test out our hypothesis.

And would you look at that? There is an open C-Rank gate available for booking tomorrow, which should serve as the perfect testing grounds.

Now, I just need the perfect catalyst to test my theory.

With the plan finalized, I started combing through my Bottomless Box, searching for a certain item that could potentially help me with my plan.

Even if it means risking the exposure of my location to Lordran, I must make sure this stupid nephew of mine is not placed in danger and end up doing something idiotic.

I will never be able to look Kyung-Hye and Il-Hwan in the eye if I let anything happen to these children.