The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 718 Dream World 56
Back in the cave, the fire in the fireplace continued to burn quietly under the watchful eye of the shadow worms, casting a warm glow throughout the room.

Martina went straight to the bookshelf and took down a thick, leather-bound book:

"Have you memorized everything in this 'Shadow Clan Family Training Manual'?"

Moran nodded: "I've memorized it all."

"That's good!" Martina slowly sat back down in the stone chair in front of the fireplace, placed the book flat on her lap, and gently stroked the cover with her calloused palms, as if she were caressing an old friend.

“Every family in our Shadow Village uses this book. Every child is trained step by step to become a qualified Shadow Hunter by following the methods in it.”

The firelight from the fireplace danced across Martina's wrinkles, casting shadows of varying depths.

“I originally planned to train you in this way, but I found that your self-learning ability far surpasses that of the children in the village, and your control over the power of shadow is even more incredible.”

If we continue to train you according to these steps, it will be a waste of your time.

So starting today, I'm going to teach you in a different way.

You should primarily learn on your own and manage your own pace.

I will be responsible for preparing more books and materials for your self-study, pointing out problems you may not have noticed, answering your questions, and ensuring your safety when you recklessly practice dangerous magic.

Is this okay?

“Of course!” Moran’s eyes lit up. This teaching method was practically tailor-made for her. “I’m already used to learning by myself from books!”

A soft creaking sound came from behind her. Moran turned around and saw the wooden door of the grotto being slowly pushed open.

Martina's shadow slid in, carrying a large stack of books.

The covers of those books varied; some were simply bound from yellowed parchment, some were obsidian slabs inlaid with crystals, and there were even a few thick booklets made of the leather of unknown creatures.

Martina's shadow gently placed the stack of books in front of them.

"Teacher, this is..." Moran asked in surprise.

"These were taken from the village's traditional bookstore. Although my collection is fairly comprehensive, it's far inferior to that of the traditional bookstore."

All the tomes collected by everyone in Shadow Village are kept in the Heritage Library; those kept at home are merely copies. From shadow magic to dream history, from floating island ecology to exploration zone records… everything can be found in the Heritage Library.

Martina took a book out of the pile of books; it was exactly the same as the "Shadow Village Family Training Manual" she had in her hand:
“You’re not a native of this village, so you can’t enter the Heritage Bookstore. But I can lend you some copies in my name. So after you’ve finished reading this batch, I’ll go borrow the next batch.”

Martina suddenly tapped Moran's knee lightly with her stone cane, just enough to draw his attention:
"Listen, little monster. Since you're so good at devouring books... then swallow all this knowledge."

Whether it's books about shadow magic or other seemingly useless books, there is no such thing as useless knowledge in this world, only knowledge that hasn't been used yet.

Of course, there are the most books on shadow magic, far more than an old woman like me can teach you!

"This knowledge will become your sharpest weapon in the future." Moran nodded solemnly, the flickering firelight from the fireplace reflected in his pure black eyes, a hint of shock flashing deep in his pupils.

She had never seen a single clue about the Shadow Village Heritage Bookstore on the Dream Forum!

This made her realize that the adventurers' understanding of this world was probably not even scratching the surface.

She couldn't wait to pick out a book called "The Origin of Shadows" and start reading.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but the words on the pages seemed to carry a faint shadowy power, and this wasn't limited to just one book.

The gentle glow of the fireplace enveloped her figure as she focused on reading.

The white-spotted earthworm shadows she had just tamed split into two teams. One team took over the task of adding fuel to the fire for Teacher Martina's shadow worms, while the other team tidied up the books on the ground.

Meanwhile, the shadow of the underground worm is undergoing its first split under the command of Moran's shadow.

Martina lightly tapped the ground with her stone cane, and a wisp of almost imperceptible shadow power quietly merged into the fireplace, instantly making the firelight warmer and more stable, providing perfect lighting for nighttime reading.

She turned and went upstairs. Her shadow lingered quietly at the top of the stairs for a moment, and the blurry outline on the wall silently gave a thumbs-up.

With the creaking sound of the door closing, the shadow barrier in the second-floor bedroom automatically activated, isolating all sounds from the outside.

But Moran knew that her teacher must have left a shadow pet to watch over her; this silent care was more reassuring than any words.

As the morning light spilled onto the land of Moonshadow Floating Island, Moran, standing before the fireplace, had already changed several books in his hands.

She was completely unaware of the passage of time until her shadow gently tugged at her clothes, gesturing for her to look at the wall clock. Only then did she realize that the hands of the clock had already pointed to morning, and it was almost time for the door to the dream to close.

Moran immediately put the book aside, climbed up to the attic, and quickly fed all the materials he had bought at the Shadow General Store to the Book of Cards.

The next moment, her consciousness was pulled back to the real world, the dream gate closed, and it turned back into the shape of a key.

Moran looked at the pristine white ceiling and slowly exhaled: "Thank goodness for the shadow to remind me, otherwise I would have been bored all day."

Teacher Martina asked her to stay in the common area on the first floor of the cave when she was reading and studying, so that she could send her shadow to watch over her.

While this was for her own good, it also restricted her movements.

She couldn't take out the Book of Cards, collect all those books as materials, and then remake a batch of identical books to replace them, so she couldn't bring those books back to the real world to read.

Fortunately, the attic was a private space left to her by her teacher, and the shadows of everything inside had not been tamed. She could feed the materials to the Book of Cards there, thus practicing shadow magic in the real world.

Thinking about preparing breakfast for Teacher Martina after returning to the dream world that night, an idea popped into her mind: cooking magic is inconvenient to use, but she could cultivate shadows to cook!
The shadow pets tamed from still life shadows mostly possess the functions of the original body. For example, the shadow of a teapot will lift the original body to pour water, and the shadow of a chair will lift the chair to make it easier for people to sit down.

The shadow pets tamed from kitchen utensils naturally have the ability to undertake certain cooking tasks. If the owner is proficient in cooking, the cooking results will be very good, since the tamed shadow will also carry the owner's usage habits.

Moran is also preparing to tame a batch of her own kitchen utensils, since she often stays in the dream world and it's inconvenient to always cook for herself.