"That sounds extremely dumb..." Lloyd retorted


    "Who''s the darkness expert here? Me or you." L sneered.


    "Well, before hearing that weird-ass exnation of yours, I would have most definitely said you, but now I am kind of worried that your mind might have snapped long before this dungeon raid." Lloyd looked at L with a stare that was filled with nothing but pure pity.


    "Stop looking at me like that."


    "Kind of hard not to." Lloyd sighed before walking forward and cing his hand on L''s shoulder.


    "Don''t worry buddy, we''re going to get through this. I have hope." Lloyd smiled while giving L a thumbs up.


    L, on the other hand, could not help but imagine what would happen if he were to punch Lloyd with all his strength, but before he could lose his temper, he took in a deep breath before nudging Lloyd''s hand away.


    "Tell me, if all there was to shadows happened to be that they are simply the absence of light, wouldn''t you have better control over it?"


    "..."


    "While I myself am not a shadow user, I know many of those in my family who are shadow users, and therefore I know how to train you so I would like you to trust me on this."


    Despite Lloyd''s initial suspicions, L seemed mostly genuine. Of course, he wasn''t there out of his own free will, but he seemed sincere about teaching Lloyd the ways of the shadows.


    "Okay..." Lloyd replied before extending his hand that L quickly shook.


    Lloyd found himself spending the next two hours sitting on the floor, cross-legged in the lotus position as he breathed in and out while listening to L''s voice as it instructed him on how tomunicate with his own shadow.


    ording to L, the more Lloyd understands the shadow element, the stronger the connection with his shadows will be.


    "To understand the shadow element, you must first break down its properties. Anyone can understand words, but to trulyprehend an element, you have to have the ability to visualize the element and everything that makes it special."


    "Now, break down the shadow element and exin how it works." L asked while circling the sitting Lloyd.


    "The shadow element is slow. It''s also mostly defensive for some reason. It bes quite thick and murky when ites into its physical form, and it is also quite slow when its not moving through dark areas."


    "Why does it be faster when it enters dark areas?" L asked.


    "I don''t know?"


    "Think about it. Shadows are living extensions of darkness... What happens when you drop a droplet of dirty water into a ss full of clean water..."


    "..."


    "I''m not going to give you the answer since doing so will lower yourprehension of the element." L states, making Lloyd furrow his brows.


    ''Well, now that he says it like that, it kind of makes sense. I think? Void walkers are known for their affinity with the void, which is also why I felt so at home when I went through those portals. I canpare void walkers to turtles. They can live on the surface, but it is much morefortable in the water...


    But I feel like this whole shadow thing isn''t the same. From what I know, the Void Walker adapted to living and surviving in the void to the point where it changed their entire anatomy to where they could even manipte it.


    Of course, that is just the main scientific theory as to why Void Walkers had be who they are, but if it is true, the shadows having their own wills is theplete opposite of void walkers.'' Lloyd widened his eyes slightly as a light bulb went off in his head.


    ''Shadows are literally born out of darkness rather than being an effect of prolonged exposure and eventual evolutionary developments. Shadows are products of us, living creatures, and therefore when it enters darkness again, it bes one with it, as if it''s almost infesting it. Of course, it will be fast when it''s in itself.


    All itcks is the willpower and mana capacity to swallow entire chunks of darkness whole, bing one with it while infesting it simultaneously.'' Lloyd thought before opening his eyes, turning towards L, and exining everything without skipping a beat.


    ? L''s eyes widened at the fact that Lloyd not only understood it in less than 10 minutes but had also found a way to imagine it himself, therefore increasing hisprehension of the element.


    "Let''s stick to that part of the the shadow element rather than going into other parts. Or, at least for now." L instructed.


    Hours passed like this. Lloyd would meditate, both cultivating the shadow elemental particles around him while also trying to form a link with his own shadow, yet by thest hour of the training, he had felt like he had gotten nowhere.


    "Its fine. You would have to be aplete monster to grasp everything I taught you today in less than a day. It will take a few weeks for you to even get the smallest semnce of a connection with your shadow, so don''t sweat it too much." L waved off Lloyd''s disappointment, but he did not finish there.


    "Also, I need you to spar with me using your shadow abilities only. For the next hour, I''m going to give you a few tips and tricks wherever I can." L exined while Lloyd paled.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t be beating the crap out of you the same way Hime and Felix did." L sighed while rubbing the bridge of his nose.


    The next hour went exactly how L had exined. Lloyd activated his shadow abilities and attacked L with everything he had, yet the difference between both theirmandments was sorge that L didn''t even have to use a single one of his abilities.<novelnext></novelnext>


    However, rather than a one-sided beating, L would mostly only defend, and whenever he did attack, he wouldnd a soft blow onto Lloyd''s body, making sure that the attack wouldn''t hurt, but instead, it would tell Lloyd that there are ces in his body that he isn''t protecting properly.


    Not only that, but L would stop Lloyd every few minutes to give him tips on controlling his shadows more efficiently.


    "Try to move your shadow around rather than equally dispensing it around your body," L advised.


    "I''ve tried that before. It doesn''t work as well as you imagine." Lloyd retorted while cocking his fist back and shooting it towards L''s chest, yet right before it could make it, L blocked it by putting his arms in an x shape over his chest.


    "I''m assuming you gave up after trying only once." L sneered


    "Shut up." Lloyd spat while spinning and throwing a kick at L''s head, yet before it could reach him, L raised his arm and blocked it without moving an inch from where he stood.


    Or so he thought.


    The moment Lloyd''s foot could contact with L''s arm, Lloyd shifted his weight and kicked down.


    *Boom*


    Hitting the ground with a powerful kick, Lloyd kicked up a cloud of dust around L and him, making it much harder for L to see.


    Lloyd, on the other hand, had an easy time moving aroundpletely unnoticed.


    He didn''t need to breathe, nor did his footsteps make any noise.


    Using [Presence Concealment], it was nearly impossible for him to be sensed, yet somehow, when Lloyd had gotten within a certain radius, he could feel L''s eyes lock onto him.


    When Lloyd realized he was being watched, he had already been toote.


    *Whoosh*


    L had already kicked off the ground, shooting straight toward Lloyd, yet Lloyd had already managed to evade the attack.


    "Good reflexes." Lmented while ring at Lloyd.


    "Thanks." Lloyd replied while panting slightly.


    "Now, let''s try this again." L said while stepping back and readying himself.


    The next hour went by in the same way, but this time it was Lloyd dodging and evading every single one of L''s attacks rather than it being the other way around. Lloyd assumed that this was L''s way of teaching him how to use his shadows to evade attacks, and from the basic pattern that L was using, Lloyd was certain that it was just the start.


    L''s attacks increased in speed and power over time, making it harder and harder to avoid the attacks, yet at that point, Lloyd had gotten into the rhythm of dodging, allowing him to barely dodge by the skin of his teeth.


    However, unbeknownst to both of them, a deeper change urred. One that they were bothpletely blind to, yet it was already beginning to change the flow of that fight.


    Slowly, without any of them realizing it, the shape of the shadow that shrouded Lloyd''s body began to change.


    Suddenly, without any real reason for it, Lloyd''s punches had be more powerful and precise, while his dodges were bing cold and almost calcting, as if Lloyd''s body was purposefully waiting for thest second to dodge and put the enemy at a state of false security.


    Lloyd''s knuckles were harder, and his strength was multiplied.


    The shadows would flicker as if they could see the attacksing from a mile away, and they would vibrate in every time Lloyd wouldnd a hit, yet somehow, none of them could see it.


    "You''re getting better." L stated with a tinge of surprise in his voice.


    "You''re getting worse." Lloydughed before transforming his hand into a shadowy w and plunging it towards L with everything he had.


    Yet, no matter how much Lloyd improved in such a short period of time, there was still one key difference between Lloyd and L...


    Theirmandment.


    Lloyd''s eyes widened for a moment as his ws froze right in front of L''s chest, yet it all made sense when he took the chance to look at the object in L''s hand.


    A cross-like wooden object with strings attached to every wing. That''s what L was holding in his hand, and there was only one ss that Lloyd knew that used such a weapon...


    "Son of a b*tch... You were a puppeteer this entire time!?"