Three minutes of silence passed before I made my move, in an instant I dashed through the section labeled Movement Arts, if I could increase my speed I would be able to travel much faster in the Shadow Realm - if I could move distances in an instant so fast it was if I was teleporting, fast enough that even the light itself couldn't touch me would I ever be forced out of the Shadow Realm?

Excitement grew in my heart as I thought of such a situation in the future, I would be able to move for long periods of time without ever having to come out of the Shadow Realm in those five minutes, if I could increase my speed I would even be able to match the reaction speed of those Core Gathering Experts reactions and shift my body in line with their movements.

The excitement in my heart grew larger; this was the perfect opportunity to increase my speed beyond using my physical strength - 'How fast will I be in the future?' I couldn't help but ask myself...

Lines of bookshelves towered over me, despite their overbearing height they provided the valuable shadows I was currently hiding myself in - if not for them I would've already been forced to quickly grab a manual and run, now I could be much more leisurely in the time I spent choosing, of course, I only had about two minutes left so I had to be extremely fast with this.

'Azure Dragon Art, Zephyr's Legs of Wind, Speed of Light, Faster Than Death.' All the names were overbearing and arrogant but I was certain that despite their names they were nothing but fronts of the most basic of basics - if I was going to choose something even if they were basic I had to choose something that was suitable for me and since I didn't have the time to go through them I had to determine by name which one I would "borrow."

'260, 261, 262,' I counted mentally I had about 38 seconds before I was forced out of the Shadow Realm; I had to move fast to get out of here before then.

I had quickly managed to come down to two techniques which could prove useful to me in the future based on their names alone, I could only hope that they were worth the effort.

With twenty seconds left I gathered the energy in my legs; '285, 286, 287,' I grabbed both manuals in an instant as I sprinted towards the stairs; I felt the Aura on the floor change as the majority of it began to gather towards the shelf I had just taken the two manuals, most likely someone had noticed the disappearance of the books from a fluctuation in their Aura.

'Faster!' I screamed internally, I had just reached the stairs; I had five seconds left before I was forced out of the Shadow Realm - if I wasn't quick I'd be chased down, I had to leave no trace of myself in the building. 

I was in luck however; a group of people were coming up the stairs to the pavilion, lead by the man I had seen outside earlier promoting the store - the shadows were abundant enough that I didn't have to leap through the light and back into the Shadows and could rush down the stairs and out of the door, just as I turned the corner on the street I was forced out of the Shadows by the light of a torch with a second of time to spare.

"Thump, Thump, Thump," My heart was beating wildly in my chest, adrenaline raced through my body giving me an extra boost to carry me a few steps further - I struggled for breath, the first time I had done so since reaching this level; the situation inside was just too tense for me not to feel anxious, I couldn't afford to be hunted down by a Core Gathering Expert with so many more around, if I was surrounded and tried to use the Shadow Realm I might encounter someone like James, I had to find a way to stay hid even in the Shadow Realm - or be fast enough to outrun them. 

Either way would be a blessing, but both would require me to get stronger first; I had a hunch that when Shadow Diving reached the 2nd Level hiding in the Shadow Realm wouldn't be a problem any longer, but it was best to be cautious and not leave my life down to fate.

...

I ran through the streets diving between the alleyways between the homes and shops, finally a brief five minutes later I was in front of a locked cellar door that belonged to a derelict house in the slums of the city, I had briefly passed by here when I was exploring the place and had memorized the route in case I needed a place to stay in the future.

"Kccch." The rusted iron lock was broke in an instant when I applied a bit of force, although it may have looked simple enough to do I had a hunch the iron lock wasn't made simply of iron and was a mixture of metals instead; I'd actually felt some resistance from a rusted lock - 'Maybe even a peak bodybuilder wouldn't have been able to destroy that lock?' I thought in passing, it didn't matter though. 

At least now I have a place to stay until I can reap the benefits of the chaos in this city, I sighed quietly whilst thinking, 'But not knowing when that chaos is going to break out is infuriating, how long will I be waiting for my chance I wonder?'

...

In the Cellar there was a wooden bed frame, a wooden table, and a simple wooden stool - you could tell this was no simple room from the long dried blood on the stone floor, I felt a chill down my spine thinking what could've happened down here in the past; but whatever had happened had happened, in a place were those below Royalty are treated like slaves it's not surprising to find scenes like this.

Kidnapping must be a thriving business, after all even Royalty need loyal slaves to do their bidding every now and then; I couldn't help but have my thoughts drift back to the Death Soldiers I had read about in novels, an opponent not afraid of death would be a different challenge to those I had faced so far, no matter who they were as long as they had power they would fear death after working so hard to achieve their goals.

To cultivate a group that lacks the fear of death living beings have? Intense torture and training would have to have been done; but of course, these are just my wild fantasies, who knows if there really are soldiers like that under the royal family?

But despite thinking that I was still slightly expectant towards whatever surprised I would find in this Kingdom, who knew such a world could exist beneath the modern Earth? It was truly a dream come true, like finding out Magic and all your favorite fantasy races were real, it was the jackpot for someone that hated reality - but it wasn't a utopia.

Brushing those thoughts aside I sat at the table, the wooden stall wobbled slightly as I sat down but quickly stopped; I had however picked up two technique manuals which I thought might suit me, laying them out onto the table with the names of them plastered on the front proudly for all to see.

One of the manuals had a pitch-black cover, the words a pleasant silver as they shined on the surface, "Shadow." The other had a drawing of mountains and clouds on display; the words "Like Cloud Like Mountain." had been painted into the scenery, the name of the manual hadn't been the thing that had drawn me too it, however, the beauty of the drawing had captivated me the instant I had glanced at it.

These two were outliers from the rest, I had no way to be sure that they weren't trash techniques that had been too proudly embellished but compared to the more generic blue cover and white text titles of the other manuals these two had stood out proudly in the middle like a beacon in the fog calling out to me.