Chapter 43: Astonishing Transformation

As he absorbed the Holy Shadow Magic Stone.

"Gurgle..."

Gunie felt with utmost clarity a very奇妙 energy entering his body.

He could even perceive their flow in minute detail.

The energy within the Holy Shadow Magic Stone rapidly spread to every corner of Gunie's body.

Gunie's muscles, cells, bones, skin, and even internal organs—trillions of cells—frantically absorbed this peculiar energy.

As his body absorbed and integrated the energy of the Holy Shadow Magic Stone.

Gunie could clearly feel his body becoming noticeably lighter and more agile.

But he was certain that this lightness and agility were not due to a decrease in his weight.

It was as if, on some peculiar level, his speed and agility values had been directly increased.

Moreover, as he absorbed, Gunie increasingly felt his body's lightness, agility, and the nimbleness of his arms and legs rapidly improving.

This wonderful enhancement made Gunie's body involuntarily immerse itself in this comfortable sensation.

After about five or six minutes.

The Holy Shadow Magic Stone, like a wisp of gray mist in his hand, had vanished.

Slowly opening his eyes, Gunie's gaze was filled with joy.

At that moment, with a slight push of his hand, Gunie's right foot whipped out with incredible agility and angle, swift as thunder.

Though the move was not very standard, it was exceptionally fast.

Then, bending his arm and lowering his body slightly, he suddenly exploded with force, his body launching five or six meters into the air, spinning 720 degrees.

With a "thud," Gunie landed face-first.

His body weight of 1,100 jin drove his entire head into the sand.

During this period, after finishing absorbing the flesh of the Death Beast.

He had continued absorbing the wriggling flesh; the fist-sized piece from before was long gone. Now Gunie was absorbing a whole chunk of wriggling flesh.

This had caused his body weight to keep increasing.

Over a month ago, Gunie had reached the 1,000-jin level.

Though the growth had slowed, he was now at the 1,100-jin level.

Gunie's body had defense comparable to a superalloy black iron tank, and also density comparable to one.

This often forced Gunie to expend a little source energy just to walk, lest he damage the ground.

Pulling his head out of the sand, Gunie spat out the grit.

Though his show-off had failed, Gunie's joy did not diminish.

Walking toward the reef stone gate where he had stored his shadow in the seawater, Gunie tested the changes in his speed and agility.

When he saw the seawater.

Prepared, Gunie suddenly exerted force with his feet, his leg strength exploding, and his body shot forward.

"Acceleration is very fast; I can reach maximum speed in almost two or three steps."

"Before, it took about ten meters to reach maximum speed."

"And... the speed cap is astonishing."

Gunie's starting point was just where he saw the coastline, about 150 meters away.

He covered that 150 meters in just over two seconds.

"This speed is indeed about double what it was before."

Gunie felt a secret thrill.

"More importantly, it's the feeling of running."

"Before, running was all about explosive force; even with source energy support, it was strenuous. After all, I'm too heavy; running felt like an armored tank, and braking took twenty or thirty meters."

"Now, with every step, I feel a smooth and natural lightness in my heart. My body cells are cheering, as if I was born for this lightning-fast running."

"To stop, a light tap, and I come to a halt in two or three steps."

"It's a completely different feeling from before."

Speeding across the sea surface, Gunie lightly tapped his foot, releasing source energy.

He instantly made a 90-degree turn with almost no loss of speed.

Then Gunie's body flickered continuously, changing direction repeatedly.

Even while changing direction, he maintained a very high speed.

"This agile turning is something I couldn't do before. Can it really be achieved by just doubling agility?"

Gunie's excitement at feeling his body's current agility and speed was palpable.

"But my body's extraordinary talent has always been strong; it's not strange to have such explosive speed and high agility."

"Speed has more than doubled—about 1.2 times—which is slightly better than the rumored effect."

"And the agility increase is explosively astonishing, probably three or four times, or even more."

"Overall, the Holy Shadow Magic Stone's effect is terrifyingly powerful."

"Before, even against sneak attacks from shadow-wielders of the same rank, I had little room to dodge with my speed and agility, unless I used spells."

"Now, when facing top-tier third-rank shadow-wielders known for speed and agility, I'm probably not inferior, maybe even stronger."

"As for the specifics, I'll need to actually fight to know."

"But in any case, against close-quarters assassinations by third- or even fourth-rank shadow-wielders, I can now use speed to maneuver."

"When you exhaust all means to get close for a fatal strike, only to find your dagger barely scratches my defense—I imagine you'd be quite despairing then."

A smile curled at the corner of Gunie's mouth.

"My body's extraordinary talent, besides endurance, has never had a chance to shine."

"This Holy Shadow Magic Stone and the 'Holy Shadow Rune' I'm about to obtain will let me fully unleash my body's extraordinary talent."

As he pondered, Gunie stopped and began to sink into the sea.

He had reached the place where he stored his shadow.

After a moment, Gunie surfaced again.

Then he swiftly headed toward the position of the Sea Demon Ship.

"I wonder what would happen if I never retrieved my shadow after storing it here?"

"Just now, when I stored my 'shadow,' I should have lit a flame to see if I really had no shadow."

"Without a shadow, I'd be like an invisible man, similar to stealth, but clearly I wasn't in that state."

"And if the shadow still exists?"

"Then what is the 'shadow' that the shadow beast in the system devours?"

"Indeed, this supernatural Cthulhu-esque mysterious world always has bizarre things beyond ordinary understanding."

"I can only slowly dig, recognize, and understand."

In a cheerful mood, Gunie thought to himself.

At the same time, he pushed his speed to the limit, racing across the sea surface toward the Sea Demon Ship.

Gunie was very fast.

In five or six minutes, he felt the Sea Demon Ship was very close.

When he was about 500 or 600 meters from the ship.

Gunie's expression shifted slightly as he sped along.

He smelled blood in the air.

The blood was abundant, mixed, thick, and fresh.

Some was from the fishmen, some from the crew of the Demon Whale.

"Has the battle already started?"

Gunie narrowed his eyes.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a half-day or even a day window? Why has the fighting started so soon?"

Then, a killing intent flared deep in Gunie's eyes.

"Since you fishmen are looking for death, I won't be polite with you."

Having obtained the treasure, Gunie's overall combat and pursuit abilities had greatly improved; facing the Yasha fishmen who came to him, he naturally would not show mercy.