With 120 essence stones now to his name, Yinmo had managed to secure a vital tool—a cloaking robe purchased for 50 essence stones. Far from being a mere status symbol, this garment would serve as his shield. It was designed to hide his true identity from those seeking his healing, while also allowing him to move silently and anonymously near the dangerous confrontations of magical beasts—places where dark magic came alive.
Now, Yinmo's focus had shifted. He no longer aimed to merge his familiar wood magic with darkness; rather, he sought first to understand the raw, unfettered nature of dark magic. His goal for the coming sessions was to create a new spell—one born entirely of dark incantation. Before combining disparate elements, he needed to fully grasp the essence and structure of dark magic itself.
Under the cover of night, draped in his newly acquired cloak, Yinmo moved to a secluded clearing deep in the forest. This spot, chosen for its natural isolation and shrouded by ancient trees, provided the perfect environment to experiment without interference. Here, he planned to concentrate solely on channeling dark energies into a nascent spell—taking careful notes of every fluctuation in his Qi as he attempted to invoke these forbidden forces.
Clearing his mind from previous routines, Yinmo began by reciting a basic incantation specifically fashioned to draw forth dark energy:
"Tenebris Aperio."
The single-word invocation was experimental at best. Instead of the warm, slow surge typical of his wood magic, Yinmo sought to elicit a cold, shadowy ripple—an energy that felt alien and unpredictable. Under the veil of the cloaking robe, he allowed himself to feel the stirrings of darkness around him, noting how it seemed to seep from the very air and ground.
Over several sessions, Yinmo refined his routine. He varied the tone, pace, and intonation of his incantations, seeking the precise modulation that would summon a steady, self-sustaining current of dark magic. Unlike his earlier experiments with hybrid techniques, these sessions were dedicated solely to understanding darkness in its raw form. His notebook filled slowly with sketches, timings, and observations: the way the ambient temperature subtly dropped, the fleeting spark of energy that shimmered like oil on water, and the ephemeral echo of power that seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat.
Simultaneously, the cloaking robe proved invaluable in more than one regard. In his healing duties, it allowed him to tend to patients anonymously, ensuring that his identity as a servant—already a lowly status—remained untainted by any unexpected reputation as a practitioner dabbling in forbidden arts. Moreover, equipped with the cloak, Yinmo began to make brief, calculated trips toward areas where magical beasts dueled. He vanished into the shadows of those contests, observing the raw manifestations of dark magic in action. Each encounter provided him with critical data, further informing his own experiments.
One chilly night, as Yinmo repeated his revised incantation beneath a starless sky, he noticed a subtle yet distinct change in the flow of his Qi. For a few brief moments, the energy around him grew almost tangible—a dark current that swirled in mute complexity. It was not yet controlled, nor was it entirely stable, but it confirmed that darkness could indeed be summoned and observed in a controlled setting.
In that moment, Yinmo recorded every detail with care. Though the emerging dark energy was fragile and fleeting, the insight it provided was invaluable. He now had the first promising evidence that a fully dedicated dark spell could be formulated. More importantly, it confirmed that by studying these natural demonstrations of dark magic in the wild—whether in the aftermath of a beastly conflict or in isolation under his careful focus—he might one day engineer a spell powerful enough to stand on its own.