《Shadow.》


 Shrouded.

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    <u>Chapter 1 ¨C Shrouded</u>


    It was a bright day, warm sunshine burst through the windows, enveloping the room as the curtains were opened, the same way as shadow did at the time the moon blocked the sun, as it did every day.


    Kurt slowly opened his eyes as the light enveloped those too, flinching slightly and blinking, he then grew used to the rays, signalling the dawn of a new day.


    ¡°We need to revaluate our finances, perhaps we could ¨C¡°


    ¡°No ¨C¡°


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s for the best.¡±


    ¡°Yes ¨C I¡¯ll tell him.¡±


    It was a morning like any other, Kurt thought. Now was the time his parents would tell him they¡¯d be sending back some recently purchased contract, selling some items or taking on more work.


    Kurt pondered this again as he heard his father¡¯s footsteps echoing from the stair well, he quickly stood up, throwing his duvet to the floor on top of his mattress, the duvet landed as his door creaked open.


    [Kurt, I knocked.]


    ¡°Oh, hey Dad, sorry I just woke up.¡±


    [Is that so?] ¨C He saw his Dad quickly scanning the bare room, noticing the crumpled duvet.


    [You need some new bedding huh?]


    ¡°Never mind that Dad, I¡¯ll manage, you wanted to discuss something?¡±


    His Dad suddenly locked eyes with Kurt and adopted a more serious expression.


    [Ah, you heard that huh¡­.sorry, it seems I¡¯ll have to take an evening job again, you¡¯ll be able to manage alone right?]


    ¡°Of course, Dad, I was thinking of picking up my own job, I¡¯m plenty old enough and school work isn¡¯t too hard to finish on time.¡±


    At that his Dad seemed to stop, his expression looked slightly concerned and then he wore a warm smile, warm like the sun.


    [No Kurt, we¡¯ve discussed this, you need to look after your sister, thank you for suggesting though.]


    Kurt began to protest more but the expression that flashed across his Dads face caused him to hold back, after all, he remembered his Dad showing a similar expression the day his sister fell ill.


    [Anyway Kurt, I won¡¯t be back in the evenings starting tomorrow, my previous boss said he¡¯d always welcome me back if we ever needed the funds, I¡¯ll go back to construction.]


    With that the door closed.


    <u>Chapter 2 ¨C Light is warm</u>


    17 Years old isn¡¯t young, I was pondering that and responsibilities that might be worthier of my age. Currently I attend school in the mornings and my sister and myself in the evenings.


    I was once again in deep thought, after having breakfast, locking the door and heading to school I¡¯m now here. Although my teachers have brought up my tendency to not focus on class, I still manage to do around average ¨C perhaps slightly above, in their classes so they don¡¯t mind me too much after my behaviour remained this way since I first entered the school. I used to be told how much I could excel if I really focused, since my sister fell ill though, I never really took school as seriously.


    Suddenly a finger rested on my shoulder, Rex.


    ¡°Hey, hey Kurt, we get magic attribute classes tomorrow.¡±


    A few seconds went by.


    ¡°Kurt, don¡¯t tell me you haven¡¯t realised class finished again.¡±


    With that I slowly became more alert and noticed the class was empty, albeit for a couple of hardworking students remaining at the desk to finish the assigned homework before heading home.


    ¡°Sorry Rex, I have to get home, I¡¯ve got to prepare meals for my sister before I head to the hospital.¡±


    With that I stood up.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t be like that, I¡¯ll head out with you. Besides, I feel your sister has been getting more appreciative of my good looks lately.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­.the same way I¡¯ve started to appreciate your sense of humour.¡±


    With that Rex let out a small chuckle and playfully hit me on the back, with that we both proceeded to exit the classroom.


    ¡°One second Kurt¡­¡±


    The teacher handed me some reading material about magic formation circles.


    ¡°Hand those to your sister, she enjoys these rights? ¨C Also¡­.maybe you could try giving them a read yourself.¡±


    With that, I exited the classroom.


    While walking back Rex continued discussing¡­rather, talking to me about the upcoming magic attribute classes. These were held at the end of every students 3<sup>rd</sup> year, to roughly coincide with their magical awakening age, 18. Generally, one would show hints as to their primary attribute before then, in small magical feats, I¡¯ve had no such luck.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be that way Kurt, you¡¯ll have some sort of revelation, remember how I told you I got mine while taking a bath and suddenly the water got almost as hot as your sister.¡±


    Naturally, I lightly hit Rex to discipline his light boasting, mainly because such boasting involved my sister, lightly, also meaning Rex ended up falling over my extended leg.


    Although Rex did tend to grasp people¡¯s emotions and hit the nail on the head when discussing my apprehension to the upcoming magic attribute classes, I knew I wasn¡¯t a ¡®prodigy¡¯ by any means, I at least wanted some magical ability however.


    We then proceeded to my house to cook the meal for my sister, nothing particularly interesting happened here. I had to remove Rex from a couple of areas he shouldn¡¯t have been in regarding my sister and we played for a while on the console before heading to the hospital.


    We left the house in the evening, my Dad would probably be at his job, discussing various things before properly staring tomorrow. Me and Rex continued down the road when we noticed a small figure in some sort of disagreement with two other middle-aged men.


    ¡°Hey Kurt, isn¡¯t that Amy?¡±


    Rex pointed at the small figure, it did indeed look like the girl from our class, Amy.


    ¡°Yeah, looks that way, she¡¯s probably having some issues with a study group, we used to train in the same class in the past, she can handle herself. We really need to get to the hospital; my sister will be starving.¡±


    As I said that, Amy had managed to grab the drifting hand of one of the men and twist his wrist until he was on his knees, upon seeing that the larger of the two men seemed to be getting more frustrated and raised his hand, in it, I could see a small ball of energy rolling about, unrefined but dangerous, it seemed like he was going to use magic on Amy.


    ¡°Hey Kurt, this seems a bit off.¡±


    Before I could respond, Rex had run off to help, Amy was certainly capable, but as we weren¡¯t fully capable of magic yet, the situation didn¡¯t seem favourable. As the man directed the ball of energy at Amy, Rex ran in front and blocked his target.


    That didn¡¯t stop the situation, the ball of energy, seemingly a simple water ball, now that Kurt was closer, was now twice the size and was now hurtling at the two standing there.


    ¡°Move!¡±


    Amy quickly grabbed Rex and threw him aside while using her agility to quickly roll out of the way, using her arms to maintain her balance during the manoeuvre and landing squarely back on her feet, just like Amy. Seeing this, the man had grown noticeably more agitated to his attack that had just dampened and damaged the stone floor where the two just were. Rex seemed to have been caught off guard, after having gathered himself, he seemed to generate a small flicker of fire in his hand, which quickly dissipated, he cursed at this.


    (To be more descriptive, someone may learn of their magical attribute before 18, typically they can only harness mana upon their 18<sup>th</sup> birthday. Some researches believe this to be due to an adaptation within the body that occurs around that age, because of the recent appearance of mana. Due to this, Rex was having issues.)


    While this was happening, Amy had already grasped Rex and lifted him up.


    ¡°In situations like these, you run!¡±


    After hearing that Rex noticed the other man was now his hand in a claw shape and clenching his teeth, probably preparing a form of wind magic ¨C Kurt thought. Kurt, during this had managed to carefully place the food he prepared and thought it would be better to help if it seemed necessary but getting involved would put him in a similar position to Rex, which didn¡¯t seem good.


    Amy and Rex made it to a corner, recent onlooker at this stage had all either fled, pulled out their phones or were simply watching, a few onlookers seemed to be calling the authorities, as naturally magic use like this was prohibited. While turning the corner and entering an empty park nearby, the previously prepared ball of wind magic had made its way to the two and collided with Rex¡¯s ankle. After this he lost his footing and fell to the floor, either sprained or broken.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Rex, quickly, my house is just past the park, if we get there the authorities will capture them or my parents will do something about them.¡±


    While saying this Amy had grabbed Rex and they were going through the park.


    However, another ball of fire collided with Amy, who was more focused on Rex and set her jacket ablaze. She quickly threw it off, but it didn¡¯t help that the force blew the wind out of her, she flew to the floor, dropping Rex.


    ¡°That¡¯s right bitch, we tried to be nice but now you made us use magic, it¡¯s exhausting you know? Still ¨C we have enough energy to continue, thanks for bringing us to this empty park.¡±


    Rex had now charged at the two but was quickly knocked in the stomach, as he fell to his knees, the larger man was about to place a knee straight into his face. As Amy struggled to get her footing there was a large bang on a nearby pole that lightly resonated.


    ¡°Hey guys, this doesn¡¯t look like a friendly gathering to me, mind leaving my friend there alone?¡±


    After seeing me there, the two men started to produce magic in their hands and throw them, I easily managed to avoid the balls of magic and was already in front of the larger man who knocked down Rex, hitting him square in the nose with a well placed right hook. The second man, noticing this had already reacted, just as his fist hit my face and caused me to stagger, Alice had regained her footing and was between the two. Quickly she turned to gather momentum and placed the heel of her shoe into the mans cheek, knocking him to the floor. While this was happening, I had already landed myn left fist onto the man¡¯s chin, knocking him out.


    With this, I brushed myself off and sent a small smile to Alice, to show my appreciation for her stepping in. Afterwards I walked over to Rex to help him regain his footing and supported him to a nearby bench as his leg was still injured.


    Seeing this, Alice came to his other side and assisted, upon sitting him on the bench, she looked at me with a smile.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten better Kurt, I could hardly recognise your movements just then, especially the speed at which you closed the distance before striking!¡±


    This seemed only natural to me, my parents noticed my lack of magical aptitude at a young age, so we decided to focus on physical aspects, it¡¯s hard to survive in such a world and people with low magical ability was rare, my case with no magical aptitude whatsoever was simply pitiful. After standing up and making sure Rex was recovering, I started to leave.


    ¡°Apologies, my sister will be incredibly hungry, I left her food around the corner which I expect has been trampled on or taken, so I¡¯m going to go buy something, regrettably.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Kurt, maybe next time.¡± ¨C Rex gave a grimace but smiled through the pain.


    After checking finally on Alice and Rex, I stood up to gather the food I placed earlier, when I rounded the corner I saw a flicker on a nearby lamp. It seemed particularly unnatural, I mean, can lights appear to flicker when the light itself doesn¡¯t seem too dim? After confirming the food was missing, I moved to a nearby store and purchased a few ready meals containing prawns, sis¡¯ favourite.


    I made it to the hospital in relatively quick time after that, a light jog was good, I underestimated my opponent earlier and he managed to get a small hit on my face, albeit weak, it did damage my pride.


    Since I learnt to walk, Dad used to train me in martial arts and street fights, typically as I had a non-existent magical presence, jobs were impossible to procure. Cleaning was performed by magic, cooking, even businesses required a small aptitude of magic to use the equipment, I really was considered a useless entity by society. Naturally my time was focused into combat, after all even without magic a skilled fighter could easily overcome a novice mage, one benefit of my condition was generally people underestimated me which allowed for a quick victory. Dad was quite adept at fighting, but I quickly overtook him in that area, I eventually was placed into physical activity classes for most of the time. I wasn¡¯t particularly interested in fighting, no one can really beat me in combat unless they know my capabilities and use magic, everyone uses magic.


    Just as I was entering the hospital I saw a silhouette of a cat on a nearby fence, which seemed to shift into a form of a dog and finally receded into a small speck before dissipating. While I focused on that the remaining light seemed to coalesce and suddenly become shrouded in shadow, it didn¡¯t make sense, before I could react I had already fallen, landing on a that bed of shadow.


    The feeling only lasted momentarily, or so it seemed, I found myself outside the hospital door. Almost as if I¡¯d fallen to the same position, I didn¡¯t understand it, I put it down to a misinterpretation of the senses after confirming that the shadow I saw earlier wasn¡¯t present. Putting those thoughts aside I proceeded to my sister¡¯s room, there she was, my beautiful sister, her brown unkempt hair flowing down her shoulders slightly resting upon the bed. Noticing my presence, she focused her green eyes on me and smiled before continuing to greet me.


    ¡°Brother!! ¨C It¡¯s good to see y-¡°


    She instantly stopped and focused on the graze on my cheek, her expression seemed to become more perturbed. Noticing that I waved it off and told her what happened with Alice and Rex earlier.


    ¡°That so? ¨C I wish you would stop worrying me like that.¡±


    After that, I saw something I hadn¡¯t seen before, she smiled, although the smile seemed to be filled with something, something dark, it was an ugly smile. As if reading my thoughts, my sisters ¡®smile¡¯ faded as quickly as it came.


    My sister has an illness, only seen in a society like ours, whereas I had no magical capacity she had an overwhelming talent. This caused distortions in her vicinity, anything functioning on magic failed to operate. This meant any devices were useless and as the magic itself was causing the sickness, most modern means of medicine were rendered redundant. It¡¯s a cruel twist of fate, such as having too much of a good thing, although I feel the phrase wasn¡¯t intended to be used in situations such as this.


    The purpose of the hard work was down to research into administration methods that could help my sister, magical extraction devices worked on the principle of magic and became distorted before use, simple needles of materials holding magic absorption properties were dissolved at the sheer pressure of the magic residing in my sister. This also caused problems for doctors, as people absorbed magic and used it as a mage, which was a fundamental principle of this world, coming near her caused headaches and loss of motor skills and general consciousness which only got worse as you got closer. Naturally this meant Rex and Dad couldn¡¯t see her up close and doctors couldn¡¯t administer medicine very easily.


    Naturally that didn¡¯t apply to me, I had no magical aptitude and always knew it because of my sister, I always saw it as a benefit and never resented my shortcomings due to that simple fact, I was able to treat her as anyone else did.


    My sister is older than me at 22, therefore I always treated her as a role model when I was younger, she received her unnatural magical prowess at 18 like anybody else and has been bedridden ever since.


    Today was different though, she always used to take the food and silently eat it while I discussed my day and any advancements regarding her condition, today however, she was simply holding the food.


    ¡°Hey, Kurt.¡±


    Suddenly my thought process was broken in that way, she gave me a look then, thinking back I should¡¯ve known she wasn¡¯t quite my sister, I didn¡¯t want to admit it though at that time.


    Suddenly her voice became distorted, like an overlap, imagine two people speaking identically but with a slight delay between the two, like two identical waves slightly out of phase.


    ¡°I never wanted to do this Kurt, but the constant studying of my body, the looks you gave as you lived, the happiness you a Dad shared while I sat in this bed. I appreciate you never forgot me, however I cannot sit here any longer.


    She smirked a smile pasted with evil intent, once again my world went dark.


    Chapter 3 ¨C Light is Dark


    TIME PASSES ----------------------------------------------------------------


    It¡¯s been a while since I ventured through the forestry this close to civilization, food has been rather scarce as of late, therefore I have been killing monsters further from my designated camp, I crouched down to survey the surrounding for any animal tracks close by, suddenly I saw somebody emerge from the forestry close by.


    I instantly stood, taking an offensive stance I gave the girl a stern look, upon closer inspection the girl seemed to be carrying an older woman who had a few arrows protruding from areas that wouldn¡¯t be considered ideal. To be perfectly honest she seemed dead already. The girl finally seemed to notice my presence and immediately leapt at me, I knocked her aside with ease, but she immediately regained composure and charged again, she seemed desperate. As she approached my face I knocked her to the ground with my fist and rested my knee on hers while restricting her arms behind her back.


    ¡°Mfu nf hr!¡±


    I don¡¯t understand what she¡¯s saying at all¡­


    Suddenly the woman nearby began coughing up blood.


    ¡°OPUIFS!¡±


    I slowly released my grip to try and show my non-aggressive intent but the girl simply pushed me aside and ran to the woman and continued to scream.


    The nearby thistle started to rustle again and this time two men holding swords emerged and instantly noticed the two on the floor, one of them, a tall brown human-like man donning blackened Armor shrouded with an equally ominous cloak approached the woman and lifted her up by her shirt while kicking the girl and knocking her aside.


    The second man wearing the same armour but of smaller stature with an equally humanoid appearance approached the girl and gagged her, they either hadn¡¯t noticed me, or simply didn¡¯t care. As the girl was being forcefully detained she seemed to be weeping heavily while trying to grasp at the lady who had just been thrown to the floor and the solider, who I just realised was wearing a red scarf, we¡¯ll call him red, was raising his sword and pointing the tip at the lady¡¯s throat.


    As he began to lower it with the intention of impaling the woman I decided which party I was going to side with for now there and then, I took a low stance and kicked off the floor with my strongest leg and dashed, before they noticed what had happened I grabbed Reds wrist and using both hands I gave it a strong forceful push to snap the bone.


    ¡°Errg!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that b-¡°


    I snapped his neck.


    Seeing this the other man, we¡¯ll call him Black, dropped the girl and ran at me with an axe raised, as he approached I already closed ground and planted my hand into his solar plexus, causing him to throw up and fall to him knees and collapse, unconscious.


    After this the girl initially gazed awestruck at the scene but quickly placed her vision upon the wounded woman on the floor, after a few seconds mostly consisting of me stripping the men of any useful equipment, it may be worth mentioning here, I typically find the brutish weapons on display here useless, they¡¯re heavy, strangely weighted and simply slow down my strikes, needless to say these were hastily tossed aside. A few more seconds passed as I took some money from the assailant¡¯s pockets, picked up a sack I owned nearby that I had thrown to ground previously and began to depart.


    As I began leaving I heard the older woman whisper something in my direction¡­


    ¡°P¡­Please wait¡±


    She struggled to speak with the blood gathering in her mouth and lungs, poor woman, perhaps I should finish her off, thinking this I had already started to approach the woman with my dagger equipped, I did have a few of my own weapons that had much better craftsmanship on my person, typically I used it to skin animals and end their suffering, as I was doing in this instance. The girl seemed to notice my intent and stood between me and the woman.


    Oi¡­. it¡¯s none of my business if she likes to see people suffer, what a strange little girl. Upon closer inspection she seemed to have rags as clothes, multiple cuts decorating her frail figure, brown rough hair that seemed to brighten in shade towards the tips and for what it¡¯s worth a blossoming bust. I couldn¡¯t be bothered to deal with conflict on things I wasn¡¯t particularly interested in, so I placed my dagger back into my new pair of boots and once again went on my way.


    The girl, seemingly seeing my intent once again got in my way. What¡¯s with this girl? She¡¯s getting on my nerves. She didn¡¯t seem too much younger than me, I had been calling her a girl and little and using such terms, in this instance though, it was more referential to her weak build, the weak never survive.


    ¡°M..Mum xbout up talk¡±


    There is it again, she speaks a weird language, I guess that woman is her mother huh, sometimes I wonder why I bother with these situations, probably to honour Rex.


    ¡°What do you want lady? Be quick, it¡¯s almost dark and I¡¯d prefer not to be caught up when those ugly bastards show up.¡±


    ¡°Take Nfmmz¡­.my daug-¡° *ack!*


    As she says that she pulls out a red gem from her clothing, is that what those ¡®men¡¯ wanted? She is offering me this in exchange for taking her useless daughter, I didn¡¯t live this long being stupid.


    It appears to be one of those magic stones, useless to me it seems, I still have zero aptitude for magic. I began to turn to leave but I was suddenly frozen in place, I quickly turned around and saw that little shit again.


    My shadow began to creep towards the gem and approached the lady, seeing this she withdrew the gem slightly, then as if she knew what is was, placed the gem onto the floor as it slowly got enveloped by my shadow before receding into the ground and resuming its normal form, allowing me to move once again.


    Doing this stuff on his own prerogative again, I¡¯m not taking responsibility for this guy¡¯s movements, suddenly something I hadn¡¯t felt came over me and tears started streaming from my eyes.


    ¡°Mum!!!¡± ¨C It was the girl.


    She was crouching by the dying woman and crying, wait, I¡¯m crying? Me? I don¡¯t get it. What the hell was that damn gem anyway. I approached the lady again with the full intent of ending her misery this time.


    ¡°She¡¯s a na?ve girl, especially for her age, I beg you though, I know it¡¯s selfish to force her upon you, she will be useful to you though, man of shadow.¡±


    The girl was grasping her hands and frantically trying to pull the lady up on her feet and trying to help her walk, this lady was done for though, they knew it. I hadn¡¯t been called that ¡®Man of Shadow¡¯ since my days with Rex, it left a sour taste in my mouth.


    ¡°What do you know of me!! Better yet you old crone, why do I have to look after this useless girl!¡±


    The girl was glaring at me at this stage and I felt intense anger, there it was again, I¡¯ve never been this emotionally affected since Rex was killed.


    ¡°You¡¯re connected, that gem was our family heirloom containing our legacy, Nfmmz here has now been entrusted by me, to finish off our mission.¡±


    I have no interest in missions, is the connection referring to this sudden influx of emotions, that¡¯s a pain, I guess this girl must die here too, as I felt such things however, an ominous feeling came over me, suddenly my heart felt strained slightly.


    ¡°Not just emotionally, man of shadow, you cannot approach each other with the intent to harm. Else any damage inflicted will rebound and kill you. ¡°


    I just noticed, but this woman seems to be stringing together coherent sentences without coughing lately, seems she¡¯s sustaining herself with the fleeting magic I sensed around her, yeah, she¡¯s dead soon.


    The girl seemed to notice this and began sobbing heavily, the woman seemed to talk to her, something about following me as necessary to complete her mission, about coinciding goals and the like, I didn¡¯t really care, I wont kill the girl if I can¡¯t, seemingly I had to protect her somewhat too if need be as her death wouldn¡¯t kill me if it was indirectly caused, it would however incapacitate me in some form permanently, which in this world is the same thing.


    As the conversation neared its end and the girl¡¯s tears had all but stopped due to exhaustion and the bodies inability to produce anymore fluids, the woman looked at me and left a smile, it wasn¡¯t much but it reminded me of my mum somewhat back in the day, the woman died. I hadn¡¯t noticed till now, but tears had been streaming down my face the entire time, it probably looked a little unnerving as my outward appearance looked the same as always.


    After a few minutes of trying to separate the girl from the woman due to the encroaching darkness and what came with it, she eventually went limp and collapsed, probably exhausted, I seized the opportunity, placed her upon my shoulder and set off deeper into the forest.


    Looks like my problems increased.

 Light is fading.

    Chapter 4 ¨C Light is fading.


    A few days have passed since I found the girl, troubles never cease, she appears to have lived in a village stationed next to the forest I discovered her in, it appears bandits had raided to steal the family heirloom, as far as I can tell.


    She hasn¡¯t said much since, the first couple of days she obediently followed while looking solemn, she used to cry through the day, now she appears to only shed tears at night, it¡¯s bothersome really, the sound draws those monsters nearer and I already have my own problems dealing with my own shadow.


    Nora seemed to maintain a solid animosity towards me, I called her that after her original name began with the same letter and due to its utterly ridiculous pronunciation I decided to give her my own name, I don¡¯t have time to learn the language, I need to return home, wherever that is, although the language barrier has been troublesome.


    This evening we were camping in the trunk of an overgrown hollowed oak tree in the north of the forest, Nora¡¯s village was situated further south east from our current location. I¡¯d been out killing the standard game, which mainly included strange bipedal bird like creatures with beaks flooded with pearly sharp fangs across its diameter, strangely they have a slightly elongated neck and clawed feet, making it a cinch to snap the necks and prepare them for cooking.


    As I finished cooking I handed one of the wings to Nora, who simply picked it from my hand while maintaining her gaze on the floor below and raised it to her mouth to take a bite. Lately she ad been eating, I¡¯m not too interested in her mental state if she doesn¡¯t die or pass out then she can do whatever she pleases. The past few days I had been trying to pry information of the gem from the girl, she didn¡¯t show any response and so I gave up on the notion, that damn shadow does as he pleases anyway.


    Today however, I figured simply easting when asked wasn¡¯t going to cut it, not here.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Nora, I¡¯m not bringing you anything tomorrow, you¡¯ve cried long enough, it¡¯s a pain in the arse feeling sad throughout the day, even I¡¯m getting exhausted. Tomorrow, you either come along to catch your food¡­ or you starve and die, I¡¯ll manage the aftereffects of the gem.¡±


    When I mentioned the name, I graced her with she seemed to twitch slightly, she then finished her meal and slid into the hides of some of the larger bird species I hunted earlier for makeshift beds.


    That night was worse than most, I hate the nights, darkness always dulls the senses and allows you to dwell on needless things, when you close your eyes you give yourself to the mercy of your dreams, mine were never pleasant, today I remembered my sister, that smile on her face before my world went dark, the day everything was grasped beneath me and tugged to create chaos, like some old rug. My vision drifted to the time where I awoke in some strange land, Rex was with me then, apparently, he had caught up and saw me being enveloped by a strange shadow in my sisters room, which ended up transporting us both to this land.


    At first, we got freaked out, naturally, we went to some villages and couldn¡¯t understand a word anybody said, nobody seemed to welcome us and shunned us, we were thrown to the mercy of nature.


    In this world, darkness lives, it isn¡¯t a concept of a lack of light that can be relinquished with a torch or a fire, it moves, absorbs and gives birth to horrors. We trudged through and I used my combat training to hunt wildlife, whereas Rex was mostly useless until his 18<sup>th</sup> birthday, his flame was born then, I remember. Rex was ecstatic, grandeur about extinguishing the darkness with his flames, it was such a simple thing¡­ a few weeks after his awakening, I was returning from a hunting trip, we were heading towards the sun to maintain some direction while searching for the means to return.


    Most nights then I would think back to the shadow of that night, of that cat I saw that melded, it couldn¡¯t be a coincidence that darkness is so unique in this world. After I returned from hunting, I had seen some creatures, faces shrouded in shadow, or rather the shadows face itself, Rex was sprawled out, dismembered, his lower torso missing, and a leg was being tossed between the two faces, slowly being consumed. His hand was charred from fire magic and she expression showed utter despair. That was the first time I met my shadow, I wanted to run at those faces and reclaim my friend, I wanted to grab the remnants of his fire and destroy those that destroyed me, however I couldn¡¯t move at that time, just watch as he was slowly consumed, I couldn¡¯t even scream, eventually they left and nothing of my friend remained, only my image of his expression.

 Light is gone.

    After experiencing that dream again, I woke up flustered, knife drawn pointed at the figure in front of me, except the space that figure occupied immediately appeared empty, a vision perhaps. Studying my surroundings, I noticed Nora had retreated to the boundary of the hollowed tree and was facing me with a worried expression, she must¡¯ve seen me stir. When I caught eye contact she seemed to have adopted an expression bred from fear, upon closer inspection the reason was clear, my shadow had expanded while I slept and had now increased a metre or so from its normal position, nearby light seemed to be diverted into the shadow which due to photons now flowing into the shadow due to the bending trajectory caused previously illuminated areas to now be darkening, causing an increase in shadow. Upon fully regaining my consciousness the shadow receding again, ignoring the girl I threw some leftovers into my mouth, consisting of an eye ball and some flesh and gripped onto my sword in preparation for todays hunt. The blade I had was akin to a standard longsword, the iron had been chemically altered in some way due to the absorption of shadow causing it to somehow affect those creatures that dwell at night, hence why a replacement weapon is unnecessary. The blade doesn¡¯t have particularly sharp edges but doesn¡¯t seem to affect its effectiveness, presumably once again to the presence of shadow, no matter how hard I slice, cut, bludgeon or stab, the blade never cracks or breaks, I¡¯ve never questioned it, as up until now it¡¯s saved me countless times, this blade. Villagers and onlookers had started to dub it the reaper, I¡¯m not one for names though.


    Nora had never removed her gaze from me even while I ate and continued to remain cautious of the seemingly living shadow by my side. In the end it¡¯s her fault for following somebody she knows nothing about. As promised, today she would have to accompany me for the hunt, else she would starve and that would be the end of Nora. Eventually she equipped her weapon, for now it was a simple wooden bow and a set of arrows. Nora had chosen this weapon as she apparently is adept at magic and is more adept at ranged combat.


    Magic in this world is similar to the previous, however it is different to the fantasy novels one might read in some respects. Mana doesn¡¯t exist, as far as I can tell, instead upon casting a spell, it requires some amount of mental concentration and imagination, a caster must consider multiple things upon casting a spell.


    In the world exists particles, much as you would expect, qualities inherent to these particles dictate the size, structure, density, transparency and everything else about every manner of matter within the world. For instance, a set of closely packed particles will create various elements which could have a solid, liquid or gaseous state as one might learn in science. The fundamental difference is each particle has a magi-particle ¡®attached¡¯ to it, magicians of the world can see and interact with a selection of these particles, the selection is dictated by a magicians specific elemental magic affinity. Such as a wind magician might see air magi-particles existent in the atmosphere. A magician then has the ability to interact with these particles, energy is expended from the body to generate these particles in a selected space and a ¡®spell¡¯ is formed, once casted the spell would expel energy, this could be through sound on collision, fire or through interaction with particles in the atmosphere. This energy is converted into more magi particles instantaneously to replace the ones used, naturally this means objects can also absorb magi particles momentarily, some weapons have properties that allow them to contain these particles and expend them when commanded. Naturally this also means it¡¯s hard for a magician to interfere with another magician¡¯s spell as they wont be aware of the same magi particles. As described this also means that the usage of more magi particles, meaning perhaps bigger spells, expels more energy. In regards to mana, it¡¯s essentially the same as stamina, a large spell would give you the same outcome as running a marathon if you cast above your limit, which is dictated by your personal fitness, to add to that, casting is also a form of exercise, your stamina can increase as your body adapts and hence the level of magic you cast.


    Regarding imagination, if a wind caster wants to fly, they must maintain concentration and would have to ¡®picture¡¯ the flow of magi particles to cause flight, an inefficient method would be to continuously summon particles below you to glide, a slightly more efficient method would be to summon the required magi particles, then manipulate them.


    Nora in this case has had little to eat and has had little sleep, therefore her capacity for casting is severely diminished, hence the bow. We left the hollow tree and emerged into a beautiful forest, there was a dense selection of trees and the peaceful calling of nearby wildlife, naturally the initial signs of where to hunt. Walking first, Nora followed behind unenthusiastically.  Eventually we came across a pig-like creature, a large snout and a plump body with short legs, however the feet where equipped with sharp, vulture like claws and its gums were neatly aligned with razor sharp teeth. Fortunately, it was feasting upon one of its kin, who appeared to be missing parts of its body, likely caught by last night¡¯s shadows. Most creatures practice cannibalism as ¡®survival of the fittest¡¯ mentality is extremely prevalent.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Upon my signal, a simple raising of my right hand, Nora placed an arrow onto the string, aimed, caught her breath and released, after manipulating the air in the arrows path, (Nora is most adept at wind magics), the arrow followed a parabola but otherwise flew straight at a fast speed due to no air resistance and planted itself into the pig-like creatures soft skin behind the ear on its head, killing it instantly. Nora had apparently had previous experience hunting with her previous village and so shouldn¡¯t be a dead weight. She proceeded to skin the creature and slice of pieces of meat, avoiding the bones and poison sacks situated below the stomach, the sacs work by seeping poison into the stomach acids and lining the oesophagus which can then be expelled with haste to poison foes.


    Upon acquiring the meat, Nora knelt and placed her hands above the creature clamped together and began to speak under her breath in prayer, she then continued to cut off the remaining edible meat and looked at me.


    ¡°Look, I get you honouring the dead and showing appreciation for the meal, however in the end you killed it, I doubt it¡¯ll accept any prayers happily considering that fact. Don¡¯t expect mean to participate in your rituals, it died by your hand, so it gets eaten by you, it¡¯s only natural.¡±


    Hearing this Nora pulled an expression to show her dissatisfaction and then stood to signal her readiness to continue.


    We left promptly to move west towards the nearest village, Nora had mentioned a nearby village that would have the facilities for a good night¡¯s rest and some stores for more suitable clothing, normally I wasn¡¯t allowed to enter such places as discovered by me and Rex in the past but apparently they won¡¯t particularly mind if accompanied by a member of their own race, an Erze.


    I don¡¯t know much about the Erze race, only that they typically inhabit areas close to dense forestry and mainly keep to themselves.


    After walking for a few hours we decided to prepare camp in a small clearing surrounded by large trees, this was particularly useful due to visibility in all directions in the case of an ambush, however this also meant enemies would have many vantage points available to them.


    First, I placed a pile of wood in the centre-most point and rolled out my make shift duvet (animal hide). Finally, after Nora had done the same we prepared the meat we caught earlier (I had hunted my own previously). Tonight, was different however, normally Nora would silently take the food I prepared for her, consume it and sleep, today however she was silently watching me and seemed like she had a sentence or two resting on her lips awaiting my acknowledgement. Conveniently, after absorption of the gem upon meeting Nora, language was understood between both parties which would allow us (if we conversed) to understand one another. Noticing her gaze, I ushered her to speak.


    ¡°Mr. Shado-¡°


    ¡°Call me Kurt.¡±


    ¡°Well then, call me Nfmmz¡±


    ¡°Nora is fine, your real name is a bother to pronounce.¡±


    After this Nora looked somewhat angry, she continued to speak however;


    ¡°Well Kurt, may I ask what you were doing in this forest to begin with?¡±


    Hearing that, my mind instantly brought up my memories of Rex, first it was us laughing at a fire, then slowly I remembered his twisted despaired expression and felt a sudden but strong sense of rage that I tempered.


    ¡°For now, I¡¯m looking for a place to rest properly, away from the shadows.¡±


    Noticing my expression, Nora looked a little inquisitively but seemed to decide the topic was something she wasn¡¯t qualified to hear yet, without dwelling she moved the topic to the shadows I had mentioned.


    ¡°On that topic, sometimes you stir at night, what is up with your shadow, I¡¯ve never seen a person¡¯s shadow act in such a way.¡±


    Straight to the point huh? This girl really doesn¡¯t understand boundaries; however, I don¡¯t want to make a habit of revealing my secrets to strangers, especially ones I don¡¯t understand myself.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to rest.¡±


    With that, I rested upon my unrolled hide, closing my eyes.


    I was woken abruptly, due to past experiences I tend to rest while guarded and can be woken up and ready for combat in moments. I surveyed the area and quickly found the source of my disruptor. There was a dark entity feasting on the leftovers of yesterdays meal, fortunately the torch nearby was still lit, illuminating both me and Nora and fending off the creature somewhat. As they consisted of shadow they were unable to enter lit areas unless they first ¡®consumed¡¯ the light, which took mere moments, however that moment was long enough to escape with another light source if well trained. This shadow was small, it was bipedal and was hunched over the meat, throwing it into an aligned set of razor sharp teeth, if one was to investigate the mouth they would see the rows of teeth stretched on almost endlessly into an apparent abyss. There were two rings above its maw, which were a darker shade of black, seemingly the eyes, they looked like what one would expect if looking into a pitch-black tunnel, although somehow darker.


    After studying the creature, I had lightly shaken the sleeping Nora and was lightly holding a hand to her mouth to catch any screams that might try to escape her lips. She quickly awoke and caught sight of the creature and after a slight loss of composure and panic, noticed my calm expression with a finger placed to my lips and calmed herself down.


    Normally in this situation you would either try to illuminate the area further to keep the creatures at a distance until daybreak or you would try running to a nearby village or outpost which were suitably equipped to drive out the darkness with magic or light emitting tools.


    In this instance, burning wood was preferable because the village in question was still a day or so away. Considering this, I gave Nora a light tab on the shoulder and directed my gaze to the nearby firewood which we used to light a camp fire previously, noticing my gaze she nodded and instantly ran for it. I followed alongside, as we approached the shadow in front absorbed the light and slowly approached us, suddenly it quickly enveloped the remaining light, a pair of dark eyes was now looking up at us, slowly it raised its position until it was eyelevel. It appeared the creature had finished its meal and was now intent on consuming the next course, us.

 Light into Dark

    The creature, now positioned a couple of feet from our position now had its gaze fixated on my own, a stalemate of sorts was produced with each camp visually determining the best course of action, typically in scenarios such as this, a ¡®shade¡¯ as I¡¯ll refer to them for now, would act on impulse and move to consume a target as there was no fear of resistance. This could be attributed to the fact that any physical trauma or magical for that matter would only cause the shade to dissipate temporarily before reassuming its previous form. ¡®Darkness¡¯ in the case of these shades was almost a physical element, it wasn¡¯t simply the absence of light. A shade however can manipulate itself to interact with others, it¡¯s body acted as a sort of poison for other biological creatures but almost at will. A strong miasma would be present alongside the presence of a shade and in most instances, the absence of light when facing a shade would entail certain death. Lacerations caused by shades would cause an infection of sorts to spread, medicine and other means of remedy would typically offer no respite and you would succumb to the spreading infection and die, the only noticeable cure was strong exposure to light. Typical signs are easy to detect, almost as if a living shade was moving through the flesh that eventually penetrated the veins and then ceased function of the heart. Most documented cases from infected patients described an excruciating pain which spreads and depending on the initial site of infection, can cause hysteria or hallucinations.


    However, in my case my sword was able to interact with ¨C and harm, these shades. Almost as if sensing that fact this shade, was maintaining a reasonable distance. Nora in turn had an expression of pure fear, upon realising our source of light was placed behind the shade and the encroaching darkness, she had almost looked resigned to her fate, almost as if noticing her weakness, the shade immediately diverted its attention to her and contorted its humanoid form as it glided towards her. It¡¯s body by this stage was a large mass of shadow with no noticeable appendages apart from a long-clawed arm that was slowly making its way to Nora. During this Nora had slowly backed away before losing her footing and landing on her rear. While falling the shade then moved faster with the clear intent to kill as it¡¯s arm slowly extended and got thinner and you could almost see a smirk appear on the shades face as it approached.


    Before it could strike however I had drawn my sword and sliced at the arm, severing it, after the arm immediately dissipated into the surroundings the shade let of an ear-piercing screech, inhuman and evil. After seeing my unnatural ability to incur damage, the shade devoted all attention to me and contorted its whole body and brought its face to mine. Normally I would¡¯ve retaliated in kind at the opportunity and struck to end it there, however something I couldn¡¯t predict had occurred during this. The shade had adopted an expression, not a smirk or a smile or anything remotely similar to an expression of joy, instead it had an expression of pure horror, the same pure horror I was forced to look at every night. Slowly the shades face contorted again and began to form a likeness to my deceased friend Rex. It had continued to stare straight at me and upon finishing its transformation it let out a voice that was appropriate to its dark and deformed image, a strong but ominous whisper that spoke to the soul.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Kurt, it¡¯s dark down here, it¡¯s too dark to see, to feel, to hear. I¡¯m losing myself Kurt, it¡¯s too dark, the darkness is moving and it¡¯s too dark.¡±


    The shade had moved itself around me, it was attempting to envelop me while I was faced with my worst fear, slowly I lifted my blade and before the shade could react, I thrust it straight between the eyes as the last words that left its lips rose into the air and departed with the wind.


    As the rest of the shade dissipated I continued onto the firewood and placed it onto the remnants of the previous campfire to maintain the fire and sat down again and contemplated what had just transpired. It seems the darkness has the capability to either read your mind and react accordingly or use previous victims (in this case Rex) for its own personal agenda, either way it felt unpleasant, it must have a reasonably strong level of intelligence to deduce my attachment to Rex and use him against me. Furthermore, it must all be connected in some way as the shade we saw tonight wasn¡¯t either of the shades that consumed Rex, although it seemed obvious that the darkness itself was either a single entity or a ¡®nest¡¯ of sorts to all the shades. While pondering such things Nora decided to detract my inner monologue, she was looking at me with both a sense of bewilderment and confusion while she spoke.


    ¡°It knew you, it also seemed to know what scared you.¡±


    That was true, as I postulated, although it wasn¡¯t too shocking, what was more unnerving was how much was left unknown regarding the shades, how or why they operate, whether it¡¯s on instinct or for a purpose and why I seem to be the only person having continuous encounters with them.


    ¡°Kurt, was that person in the shadow, was that somebody you knew?¡±


    Before she could finish I had given her a quick fierce look, a look intended to convince her to not pry any further on that topic.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Those two simple words were filled with sincerity as Nora looked at her feet and remained silent for a few minutes after realising she had gone a little too far in her enquiry, either way I decided the information wasn¡¯t important enough to keep secret.


    ¡°He was an old friend from before, we travelled together for a while. I knew him while I was at school and we helped each other through a lot.¡±


    As I continued to divulge how I came from somewhere that wasn¡¯t quite here, how Rex and I had come here due to some strange circumstance and finally, while leaving out certain grotesque details, how Rex met his demise and how I couldn¡¯t do anything to help. While I did this Nora had raised her head and kept a stern gaze and listened intently, only nodding at certain details while remaining silent.


    ¡°From a different place¡­ I thought that might be the case, you spoke a weird language and carried that strange blade, not to mention your weird shadow.¡±


    ¡°Ah, well that I don¡¯t know about, that happened a little before I came here, I saw something I cant quite explain, anyway that¡¯s unrelated to my origin and is somewhat of a passenger for now.¡±


    Nora looked a little shocked at this, she seemed like she was preparing another question on the subject before she decided not to dwell at this stage and continued.


    ¡°Well, in any case, you don¡¯t seem like a bad guy. Perhaps we just met in unsavoury circumstances.¡±


    Nora then stood and brushed off her trousers and shirt before approaching me and doing a small curtsey of sorts.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, I¡¯m Nora.¡±


    Noticing her intent, I replied, while giving a small nod.


    ¡°Kurt.¡±


    After the exchange we agreed to each keep watch of the surronding area in turns, in case other shades decided to show, Nora then returned to bed after we decided I would go first and drifted to sleep.

 Shadow within Shadow.

    The night was rather uneventful if you negate the previous encounter with a shade, Nora and I rotated shifts with no activity except perhaps some harmless creatures that were left to their own devices due to no immediate shortage of food. My shift ran through to the moment the sun rose above the horizon to signal our departure once again towards the nearest town. Seeing this I lightly shook Nora to rouse her from sleep.


    Nora had slept in the same clothes from yesterday and her brown hair that typically reaches below her shoulders was rather unkempt and needed some maintenance other than that her features seemed rather undisturbed.


    After partaking in a few remaining scraps, we set off, I led the charge while Nora followed close behind, the general strategy following this set up was for me to survey the surroundings in our upcoming vicinity while Nora maintained vision on the rear. Minutes had passed with silence between us until is was broken by Nora after deciding there was no immediate threat or perhaps she had decided there wasn¡¯t an issue even if we did spot opposition. She spoke in a relaxed tone with a calm expression as she spoke.


    ¡°¡­So¡­ is there any particular reason you are capable of harming the shades as you call them? Are you some sort of light emitting holy man?¡±


    I decided after spending time with Nora and the foreseeable future seemingly including her it was reasonable to give a response, although I didn¡¯t fully intend my tone to become monotone and devoid of emotion.


    ¡°I¡¯m unsure, although the blade seems much more robust than it originally was when I first received it, I had found it on the corpse of some bandit while hunting so I doubt it¡¯s particularly special, however after some time encountering the shades it became capable of inflicting damage.¡±


    Ignoring what I can only assume was a joke on the end of her question I answered to the best of my ability, while doing so I noticed a suspecting gaze from Nora as she focused on the sheath fastened to my waist on the left side and I relinquished it from its home and drew the sword to give Nora a closer look. Seeing the blade, she noticeably shivered before continuing.


    ¡°It has a similar feeling to the shades, it¡¯s got some sort of awkward sheen, I wonder what caused it.¡±


    Unbeknownst to both Kurt and Nora, the blade had undergone a sort of enchantment, after Kurt had used it multiple times on shades it had developed a shade layer of sorts, similar to how shades can infect flesh, it seemed as if the blade itself was riddled with remnants of shades, which caused a reinforcement to the metal of the blade and similar to how shades can interact with one another, this blade could do the same.


    Taking advantage of the momentary silence I asked a question in return.


    ¡°Why were you running when I found you? Those pursuers didn¡¯t seem like typical bandits.¡±


    Nora adopted a solemn expression and averted her gaze downwards as she replied to the direct question.


    ¡°It was because of that gem you received.¡±


    Remembering the gem that the shadow had absorbed into itself, I queried on the subject, for particulars, about why the gem was so important, up until now it had been on my mind, but I had taken some consideration to not dwell on the topic while the wound was fresh. Nora then looked at me with pure shock, awe or perhaps amazement.


    ¡°I forget sometimes that you know absolutely nothing about where you are¡­¡±


    Noticing my disinterested expression at the light tease she continued.


    ¡°Gems are materialisations of a persons ¡®self¡¯ so to speak, when a person dies the emotions, memories and everything that makes up your ¡®self¡¯ would typically¡­how could I describe it, it would typically fade into the surrounding atmosphere and enhance life around it, plants might bear more fruit, trees might grow larger and air more pure.¡±


    Noticing my interest as I had become silent to capture every word, Nora continued.


    ¡°When someone passes away they would typically be buried at a spot where there may be crops, or a water source or if you are say, a village elder, in some cases they may be buried with a weapon to bring forth some elemental enchantment similar to that person¡¯s affinity while they were alive.¡±


    I had looked a little confused here and before I could ask for more detail, Nora seemed to notice and provided a deeper description.


    ¡°For instance, a magician may use most magics but typically have a primary element that they are more capable in, whether the magic associated with that element cost less stamina to cast, or if learning ore magic in that element comes more naturally, they have a more particular affinity. When say a primary fire attribute magician gets buried alongside a staff or sword, a small chance arises where magi-particles stored within the body are absorbed by the weapon and give it fire magical properties, it¡¯s like a store-bought enchantment however it is typically much more potent.¡±


    ¡°I see, then how do these gems come into the equation?¡±


    Nora looked slightly perplexed before answering.


    ¡°Sometimes the ¡®essence¡¯ of a person turns into matter, forming these gems, they can be sold for a fairly high price in some black markets due to their almost portable ability to do what a buried corpse might. You can also use them as a sort of focusing prism to improve magics cast through them depending on affinity.¡±


    Nora then once again averted her gaze. I noticed a somewhat sad expression flow over her and I began to slow down the pace as she finished her explanation.


    ¡°My gem is particularly special, it contains my magical essence but is particularly pure, mine however is present even though I haven¡¯t passed, I don¡¯t know why, my mum thought it was because I had an affinity to a rare type of magic, it essentially works as a part of my ¡®self¡¯ although doesn¡¯t affect my personality, it¡¯s more of a catalyst to induce a connection between me and the user.¡±


    After hearing this, I thought there was one question in particular that seemed rather paramount.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be best then if I wasn¡¯t the holder, why would your mum trust me with such a valuable object, why would you trust me?¡±


    ¡°I personally don¡¯t, not really, but my mum seemed to have faith in you for some reason and so I would honour that, besides, you haven¡¯t misused it yet.¡±


    ¡°Is that also why I sometimes share emotions with you?¡±


    ¡°No, that seems unusual, people can normally only use it as a tool of sorts, a gem have never influenced another person¡¯s ¡®self¡¯ before. ¡°


    ¡°Sounds like a pain, these gems are more trouble than they¡¯re worth.¡±


    Nora let off a chuckle at this.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard anyone describe them as a pain, normally people are ecstatic to find a new source of wealth or power.¡±


    I looked at Nora before responding.


    ¡°Only if you can use magic right, I have no such ability.¡±


    Nora looked shocked at first but then quickly composed herself while giving a small nod as if she understood something.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s why you¡¯re able to interact with gems more intimately, normally different magical elements clash causing restrictions and as everybody in this world has some level of affinity, there is always some level of incapability with gems, although with you there is no such thing.¡±


    I brought the topic to a close, there was enough revelations there for the day to ponder and so we continued the remainder of journey in silence, except perhaps a command to maintain a full survey of the area or coordination as we killed a small creature or two that decided we were easy prey.


    After a few more hours, the sun had reached its apex in its trajectory and had once again began to sink for some time, although not long enough to become dangerous, then upon exiting some brush, I spotted a small lit village in the distance, picking up my pace I approached, Nora noticed the village and followed suit, as we got closer Nora approached me and lightly whispered.


    ¡°Let me do the talking, keep your weapon in its sheath no matter what¡¯s said.¡±


    Two large men stationed at the entrance grew more tense as they noticed us, one of them was wearing a long green robe and some leather shoes, his rippling muscles could be spotted through the cloth as he brandished a thin blade and held it up to create distance between him and us before locking gazes with the other man next to him, he was wearing similar attire however his weapon was a spear of sorts, where the head was shaped like a trident and the pole had a thin but very sharp spike attached at the other end. He then gave a small nod and began to speak to us with a deep, husky yet authoritative voice.


    ¡°What business have you here, and why does your slave hold a weapon?¡±


    It appears slavery is a thing here, strangely enough his gaze was upon Nora as he spoke, obviously insinuating I was the slave.


    As I slowly moved my hand towards the hilt of the blade, Nora quickly responded to the guard to dispel the tense air like a knife through butter.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t just a slave, he¡¯s my companion, as you can see he doesn¡¯t have the crest, so he¡¯s a higher slave, we merely seek entry through the village for rest and food.¡±


    The guard gave a sneer as he continued to avoid eye contact with me, facing Nora he continued.


    ¡°An Erze travelling with a K¡¯Jin, disrespectful to our race.¡±


    Nora handed the lankier guard on the right some papers as he sifted through them he gave a nod, he had remained mostly silent throughout this whole encounter, albeit for a few sighs and grunts.


    ¡°Very well, you may pass, keep your slave in check, if we see him wondering without a pass we may incur an ¡®accident¡¯ or two as punishment. Weapons are to be in possession of the master. Any slaves or especially K¡¯Jins in possession will be killed without trial.¡±


    While still maintaining a displeased expression, I followed Nora through the gate and into the village, the first village since I arrived, since Rex died¡­


    As we approached we saw an inn with a few stools set outside, there was a large rowdy crowd outside dancing on the stools to some rather obscure melodies being played by a slim pale skinned woman, she was wearing a silky blue dress that outlined her curves and draped across the floor, it truly was a beautiful sight. She had long silvery hair and maintained a calm composure with closed eyes as she drew across the instrument and produced these melodies, almost as if in a separate dimension compared to the crowd surrounding her.


    I was taken slightly aback; however, I was brought back by a strong judgemental gaze to my left.


    ¡°I was sure you would react vastly differently, you¡¯re normally fairly reserved and angry, didn¡¯t expect you to become infatuated with the first Erze you saw.¡±


    Erze was what one might mistake as an elf of sorts, they share similar traits, abnormally long lives, typically slender builds with a strong reliance on magical skills, however although they were proud, a lot of their action weren¡¯t particularly intelligent. Although, closing yourself off to the world as depicted in stories and somehow maintaining an it¡¯s-not-our-problem attitude, wasn¡¯t always a good strategical position.


    I gave Nora a quick gaze before explaining¡­to some degree, after all, I hadn¡¯t been with too many women and I initially viewed Nora as a child so sexually, those thoughts never entered my mind.


    ¡°It may be true that I don¡¯t give off the best first impressions.¡±


    Nora chuckled.


    ¡°However, that¡¯s due in part to my recent lifestyle, everything I saw wanted me dead, people I interacted with wanted me gone, I mainly kept to myself, I¡¯m still on guard but I still appreciate events such as these, although they seem somewhat distasteful.¡±


    As I said that I saw one of the other slender gentlemen who were dancing lose his footing on the stool and fall over, spilling his drink all over himself. Nora didn¡¯t comment on that, she simply took a serious look at grabbed onto my wrist, any onlookers gave a disgusted look as they saw me, I didn¡¯t mind though, if I needed I could defend myself.


    Needless to say my weapons were in Nora¡¯s possession as she led me to a similar looking inn, although this one wasn¡¯t blessed with customers, in fact only a few could be spotted inside keeping to themselves.


    As we entered another Erze women emerged from the bar wearing an outfit that involved black silk trousers that held no crease, alongside an equally straightest white blazer with black waistcoat and as she saw us, her pace quickened, and a smile lined her face.


    ¡°Nfmmz!¡±


    Her voice was calm and soft, even when raised and speaking that terrible name, she could put you to sleep with it if you let her. Although now was not the time to appreciate the voluptuous breasts of this lady, I took a stance. Seeing this Nora smiled at me and returned her gaze to the lady.


    ¡°Hello Unmy, where¡¯s Lerz? He keeping you working the shop alone again?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No he¡¯s currently gathering more boar meat stock as we¡¯re running low if you¡¯d believe it.¡±


    While talking Unmy nods and smiles at me before returning her gaze to Nff-Nora.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this? A boyfriend? Good to see you putting yourself out there, was such a shame seeing such a beautiful girl wilt.¡±


    Nora looks around 19 so in fact has an actual age of around 54, so it¡¯s certainly true. Of course, Kurt doesn¡¯t know this though.


    Nora instantly went a slight but distinctive red, due to her pale skin it was very prevalent, I still didn¡¯t notice however, my eyes were too focused on the men and women placed around the bar, I wasn¡¯t too interested in friendly chats.


    ¡°N¡­No! We aren¡¯t like that, besides he isn¡¯t the sort of guy to pursue those things¡­I think¡­we met rather suddenly.¡±


    As Nora finished that sentence her voice became more distant as she became quieter.


    ¡°It¡¯s mother, she¡¯s dead.¡±


    After hearing that Unmy had shown a rather regretful, yet apologetic expression and she led Nora behind the bar, gathered her a drink, passed me a similar brew and they had discussed the recent events.


    ¡°Shades¡­¡±


    Unmy looked rather sorrowful at that word I had used to describe the shadows and then gathered herself, reapplied a smile and continued.


    ¡°Well then I guess drinks are on me! Was it Kurt? Thanks for helping Nora.¡±


    I took another sip as I responded. It seems I could trust this women for now.


    ¡°It was simply coincidence we crossed paths, those men weren¡¯t particularly difficult, we also managed to avoid the Shades for the most part. My point is, there really is no need to thank me. Nora has provided plenty of assistance in return, I would consider us even.¡±


    As I said this Nora¡¯s tears had subsided as she looked at me with a slight, but very prominent smile before drinking.


    ¡°That may be so, I¡¯ve never seen somebody encounter these Shades as you call them and leave unharmed.¡±


    I considered discussing my blade and its ability to inflict damage and then stopped that train of thought almost immediately, instead choosing to lie, or rather, bend the truth.


    ¡°We managed to get past after avoiding it¡¯s advances and gather some light sources, once again with the help of Nora.¡±


    Unmy seemed to be slightly suspicious, however she didn¡¯t pursue it any further for now as she handed me another drink accompanied with some reserve meat, the meat tasted fantastic, while the drink was mostly tasteless, however incredibly bitter. I enjoyed both however, anything beats dirty water and bloodstained meat.


    Nora perks up and changes topic.


    ¡°We were hoping to get some accommodation for the night? I have some money from mother.¡±


    Unmy turned from me to Nora.


    ¡°Right, we have a double bed available for 2 copper.¡±


    Nora went red again, this time I noticed and still was disinterested, it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t want to have sexual relations with a partner, I just didn¡¯t see it as anywhere close to a priority at this stage.


    ¡°Unmy stop it!! Two SEPARATE beds is fine!¡±


    Unmy laughed while handing over two keys, she also provided Nora and I with a change of clothes, I had rejected them but Unmy insisted I at least took the green shirt and beige shorts to sleep in and so I accepted. She handed Nora a silk green blouse with similar beige shorts which Nora happily took with no conflict, we then proceeded to our rooms to sleep after drinking a few more and having light conversation with Unmy, mostly about recent happenings in the village and business success, general topics.


    We both closed the doors to our separate rooms and I instantly fell onto the hard, but welcome bed in front of me, the room was relatively bare, with a simple oaken bedside unit and a dressed bed, I easily began to sleep.


    Almost as soon as closing my eyes I woke in a pitch-black area, or rather a world considering its vastness. I could tell I was ¡®awake¡¯ as I could see myself, I could also pick out the vastness due to a lady off in the distance. I instantly reached for my blade to my side, which Nora had handed me as I cannot sleep without my blade. Suddenly I became frozen in place as the women approached.


    Upon closer inspection she was an incredibly beautiful woman with well-defined features, a large bust, suitably covered, long flowing black hair, she was wearing a purple dress dark in shade which matched her eyes and pale white skin, like death.


    Slowly her lips moved, however the deathly deep sound they made didn¡¯t seem to originate from any particular place and filled the room, resonating with my very soul as she spoke.


    ¡°Greetings Mortal, I¡­am Erebus.¡±


    With that she gave me a sharp gaze and slowly began to smile.

 Erebus.

    Seeing the woman standing in front of me I raised my blade and took a stance, I could feel a strange sense of nervousness and dread, this woman was no joke. Looking closely the dress she wore had strange shadowy tendrils reaching down into the ground, although it was as if the ground itself was supporting her. She seemed to be one of those shades, however for some reason I couldn¡¯t regain my composure, it was similar to when you¡¯re caught in a scenario where your adrenaline spikes, you feel trapped, like no matter what you do you won¡¯t survive¡­it was that sort of feeling. Reacting almost instinctively I leapt at the woman and thrust my blade downwards with the intention of splitting her in two. This didn¡¯t happen however, instead I was the one spinning, I flew a few metres before crashing into the ground and sliding a few feet.


    I stood up and the woman hadn¡¯t moved, her dress slightly scuffed after kicking me but otherwise she remained as if nothing happened. I approached again, this time I did a feint instinctively again as I saw what I could only assume was her leg and used the momentum to land a kick myself, as I did so before hitting her my leg passed through as if she was made of smoke, in fact it looked like she was a shade. Her form slowly regained its original appearance as the shade reattached and she quickly, so quickly I couldn¡¯t see, threw out her fist towards my face. I quickly evaded somehow and brought my sword upwards towards her throat. She saw this and without breaking her calm expression simply palmed the sword and grasped it, noticing the resistance I instantly released the blade, I wouldn¡¯t normally relinquish my weapon but if I didn¡¯t do something I was going to die. Even though this should be a dream it felt as such, as I let go my arm glided across hers and I planted my fist into her left cheek with full force, her head was thrown back slightly but she didn¡¯t appear to have a scratch and my fist had somehow not only contacted her face, but had gone ¡®into¡¯ it. The ¡®skin¡¯ around my fist was swirling as if alive and as I slowly removed my fist and leapt back, I noticed the space had once again become filled.


    At this she once again smiled and spoke, this time her voice seemed more human, it also did in fact seem to emanate from the expected location.


    ¡°As expected from the one I chose, truly splendid, you may have a greater chance than I anticipated.¡±


    Suddenly her form moved and ¡®flew¡¯ into the ground, I saw a shape moving through the floor before it emerged in front of me.


    ¡°Once again, I am Erebus, I managed to call you here after your recent intoxication, you seemed to have a rather strong mental fortitude Kurt.¡±


    I looked a her confused, I didn¡¯t trust her at all, but I couldn¡¯t beat her, so my options were limited and thus I played along. First though, one minor detail struck me.


    ¡°Should I first question how you know my name?¡±


    She looked a little confused herself after I asked, I didn¡¯t understand why, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable question. She then continued to smile as she placed her finger on my forehead and gave it a playful push.


    ¡°Of course, I know you Kurt, I¡¯ve been with you since the beginning, living in your shadow, perhaps you¡¯ll remember me if I look like this.¡±


    Her form began to change again, she slowly sunk to the ground until she resembled a cat, black fur, sitting there, her skin began to move again as she reassumed her previous form. Suddenly I remembered the cat I saw before visiting my sister, the same cat that consumed that gem and forced Nora upon me, the same cat¡­the same cat that stopped me helping Rex while he was consumed. Remembering this I must¡¯ve taken on a disgusting expression as I glared at Erebus, as she continued to speak, in a slightly softer tone, almost as if reading my thoughts.


    ¡°There was no saving the boy, by the time you arrived his ¡®self¡¯ had already been consumed by the Laar¡¯ren. That¡¯s their true name, unknown to humans of now. I believe you refer to them as Shades?¡±


    I knew it, I knew what she was saying was true, it still didn¡¯t make the situation any more bearable, even so I grit my teeth, it astounded me that I was so emotionally affected after all this time, it seemed I was safe (for now) so I relaxed my stance.


    ¡°You say you called me here, there¡¯s a lot I want to ask, like why you were there before I met my sister, where exactly ¡®this¡¯ is, why the Laar¡¯ren as you call them are particularly fond of me, I¡¯ll keep in simple and ask what I consider to be most important at this moment, who are you?¡±


    As I said that some shades began to protrude from the floor nearby, resembling a platform of sorts, Erebus took a seat and gestured me to do the same, I did.


    ¡°That¡¯s a hard question.¡±


    She looked as if she was pondering something.


    ¡°I guess some might refer to me as Shadow, or rather, a daughter of shadow. I myself am a living entity of sorts, my life is drawn from shadow here and it is my domain, we cannot exist without one another, while I may not age, I certainly am not truly immortal, I can die if requirements are met.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you won¡¯t tell me what those requirements are exactly?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, the simplest is via other members of shadow, some of which you call shades. If they were to consume my hosts essence, namely¡­yours, I would be transferred to their domain where I would be vulnerable. The other, is a lot more abstract. I can only exist in shadow, if shadow doesn¡¯t exist, then neither do I. That Is to say, if my host dies by means not related to shadow, if I do not transfer myself to another uninhabited shadow, I die.¡±


    ¡°So, you can simply detach yourself to me and move on to another¡­¡±


    ¡°Not quite, I haven¡¯t been able to awaken like this in a while, due to the way I interact with my host, magic interference is expected, therefore anyone with an affinity for magic cannot be my host, your lack of magical ability allows me to inhabit you.¡±


    My lack of magic again¡­I¡¯ve never wanted to have an affinity for magic more than now, I¡¯d rather I didn¡¯t have such a nuisance being a part of my ¡®self¡¯, Nora was plenty, I couldn¡¯t handle another noisy companion.


    ¡°You can choose anyone who has a lack of magical ability then?¡±


    Erebus pulled a large questioning smirk at this as if to ask if I was jealous, this certainly wasn¡¯t the case, it was the opposite, my goal is to find my sister and return to my previous world, I have no need for shadows.


    ¡°Kurt, not only can you not use magic, you¡¯re physically capable and have a strong sense of self, a lot of hosts would go mad (mentally) if I was to inhabit them, you really are more special than you lead yourself to believe.¡±


    If being special means I must deal with misfortune, then I don¡¯t want it.


    ¡°I¡¯m here for a personal goal which I believe coincides with yours, while I chose to inhabit you my sister chose to inhabit the other human, she has a strong connection with mana and the other human seemed particularly capable.¡±


    Hold on. She was referring to my sister right¡­what¡¯s this?


    ¡°We really are quite the opposite, she wishes to shroud the world in shadow, she travels dimensions and consumes worlds, I wish to stop her at any cost. I don¡¯t want anything as grand as saving people, I just can¡¯t abide my family killing for sport.¡±


    I stopped her, the matter was quite important.


    ¡°The girl you are referring to is my sister, right?¡±


    I looked at Erebus with a serious expression, gritting my teeth to supress my rage.


    ¡°Yes, the pretty girl with magic, she seems to have become the host for my sister.¡±


    As she finished that sentence I flung a fist at her face with as much force as I could muster, naturally Erebus caught it, even Erebus seemed to wince slightly as considerable force had gone into the punch, she regained her composure.


    ¡°You mean to tell me my sisters strange attitude and near psychopathic actions, leading to this whole predicament, was due to the two of you.¡±


    Erebus, still holding my fist, lowered her gaze.


    ¡°Certainly, I don¡¯t want to make excuses for my sister or myself, however I fully intend to find your sister and help her. However, as I am weakened in another shadows domain I need your help to challenge my sister.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    I released my fist while leaking with anger, high and mighty beings interfering with my family, my friend Rex. Even Nora, everything linked back to them.


    ¡°I would rather you left and allowed me to let my sister see sense alone, I think you¡¯ve done enough.¡±


    I tried supressing my anger as I spoke however some words were fierce and sharp.


    ¡°I must apologise Kurt, but you simply can¡¯t hurt my sister without entering her domain and my help, you¡¯ve seen how your sword doesn¡¯t affect me, challenging my sister without my help won¡¯t end favourably. Make no mistake, if you want to help your sister, you will have to challenge mine.¡±


    I still didn¡¯t believe her; however, it would be stupid to refuse until I could confirm it myself, with that I set the rules if we were to travel together.


    ¡°I expect you to explain my other questions soon, where are we, why are we here and what is this shadow. I¡¯ve never seen living shadow before.¡±


    Erebus faced me once again as a smirk like the first, although much warmer, grew across her face as she gave her approval to travel together.


    ¡°Well then it¡¯s decided, from now on I should be able to converse with you while you¡¯re awake and you should be able to access my domain while you sleep.¡±


    Erebus then walks up to me, embraces me and before I can push her away says a simple word that makes me well up with emotions I hadn¡¯t felt in a while, guilt, anger and sorrow.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry this happened to you Kurt, lets fix this!¡±


    I woke up.


    It was a strange feeling, due to the constant moving I hadn¡¯t had a decent sleep in months, maybe since I got here a few years ago. I had been moving from place to place within that forest avoiding the shades, although that was the case I still felt somewhat tired. As I got out of bed, I equipped my sword and wore my original clothing, just some simple loose shirt and baggy linen trousers, held up by a simple red piece of cloth to my waist. I left the room to the sound of chatter coming from downstairs, it sounded like a young woman, probably Nora was discussing her night to the owner and another young man?


    As I went down the stairs I spotted the three of them on some nearby stools eating some bread. The man looked up at me as I approached.


    ¡°You must be Kurt, I¡¯m Lerz.¡±


    He approached and as he did a small bow in my direction, with his hand placed on his chest, I had learnt this was a sign of respect from the Erze, thus I responded, although I maintained my simple standing position and showed no such respect.


    ¡°Hi.¡±


    Lerz gave a small smile and returned to his seat, joining back in on the conversation, after taking bread handed to me by a smiling Unmy, I took my own seat, as Lerz directed his attention to me.


    ¡°Nora here.¡±


    He laughs as Nora puffs up, it must be due to him using the name I gave her.


    ¡°Nora here says this is the first time you¡¯ve visited a village, at your age that astounds me, if you want I can show you around. Nora and Unmy seem to be catching up and I¡¯m sure, like me, you¡¯d rather be doing anything else than listen to those two go on.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t wrong, although random acts of kindness don¡¯t sit well with me, noticing my discontent, Lerz continued.


    ¡°I simply have a duty to deliver a batch of our seasoned meat to the nearby blacksmith who insists he¡¯s too busy to eat food in the store, I may as well give you some sort of tour on the way.¡±


    Knowing he has no ulterior motive, I accept, giving Unmy a simple nod as thanks for her hospitality I begin to depart.


    ¡°W¡­Wait Kurt! Your blade, leave it with me if you don¡¯t want trouble with the guards.¡±


    ¡°Nora, I may have given you my blade upon entrance, but I don¡¯t feel comfortable walking without it.¡±


    Suddenly a soft voice spoke, it seemed to come from nowhere.


    ¡°Just hand her the blade you worrywart. I swear, people like you can be so uselessly difficult.¡±


    I looked around as nobody reacted, it seems they couldn¡¯t hear the voice, as I stood there confused for a second I realised it was in my head, it seemed to be some sort of telepathy, my suspicious were confirmed.


    ¡°It¡¯s me! Erebus! So not only are you difficult, you also have a terrible memory, I¡¯ll quickly jot down to repeat everything I say twice so you don¡¯t forget again.¡±


    As Erebus started to repeat the line again in a mocking tone.


    ¡°Stop, there¡¯s no need for that, it was just rather sudden. I had forgotten last night, I assumed it was a dream.¡±


    Suddenly I noticed everybody in the inn, namely three people, were all staring at me confused, I realised I had spoken out loud, they probably thought I was mad.


    Erebus laughed.


    ¡°You have to sort of ¡®think¡¯ what you want to say, I would¡¯ve told you earlier but I couldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity to see this scenario.¡±


    I quickly coughed to try and dispel the awkward air, I quickly handed over my blade and looked at Lertz to try and usher him to depart the inn.


    ¡°Damn you Erebus, are you sure I can¡¯t throw you out of there?¡±


    She continued to laugh.


    ¡°Well, you can certainly try, although I think I¡¯ll stay for at least a while longer, this is rather fun.¡±


    With that I left the inn after giving a small, inaudible grunt.


    As me and Lerz stepped onto the street, I was instantly met with judgemental gazes, which I ignored and followed Lerz north towards a small collection of houses, seemingly in a town square area, centred with a small collection of bushes and a small fountain. As we neared, there were some Erze residents washing their face in the fountain, wishing each other a good morning, Lerz approached and did the same, He then gathered some water and as I noticed his intention, as to not draw attention I allowed him to lightly wipe my face before he explained.


    ¡°It¡¯s a gesture, we believe in the old gods, cleansing yourself of bad thoughts and intentions for the start of the day, slaves cant touch the water but masters can wash them if they wish, not doing so is considered extremely insulting so I¡¯m going to have to ask you to forgive me for that.¡±


    I lightly wiped off the moisture.


    ¡°Seems slightly primitive, they sit in their village and waste valuable water to ¡®cleanse¡¯ themselves while committing atrocious acts such as slavery.¡±


    Lerz looked somewhat surprised.


    ¡°Oh? I didn¡¯t consider you to be a particularly righteous man, I¡¯m surprised.¡±


    I ignored the comment and proceeded to follow.


    ¡°I just have an uncomfortable past, I always hating others being treated like tools, subjects to help your own standing.¡±


    I thought back to my sister and how she was subject to the whims of doctors, prodding her, holding a level of contempt and blame for her outburst towards them. Lerz took on a solemn look.


    ¡°I agree to some degree, although it¡¯s the way the Erze have always operated, not to make an excuse but it¡¯s just how things are, some slaves are treated respectfully by their owners, you can¡¯t save everyone, thinking overwise is both na?ve and selfish.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t disagree with that, I wasn¡¯t going to purchase every slave here after all, I have my own tasks to complete, it just didn¡¯t sit well in my stomach.


    As we approached the blacksmith, Lerz gestured me to remain by the door as he entered, apparently slaves weren¡¯t allowed indoors unless called by the owner, during which time I was subject to a few curses and unpleasant gazes, however I still remained disinterested, as far as I was concerned these people were all pampered and useless, if they were attacked I could imagine them all getting wiped out. I didn¡¯t care for them.


    As I was wiping off some food thrown at me by a pedestrian passing by and almost breaking my vow to not bring attention to myself, I was accompanied first by the voice of Erebus.


    ¡°What a backwards people, it¡¯s funny how they don¡¯t realise you could snap their neck if you wished, although it is wise to lay low for now.¡±


    As I nodded in agreement I heard a light cry coming from a nearby alley, it looked as if nobody else was paying any mind to the outburst. I quickly moved to investigate the source.


    Upon arrival I saw a girl, who had scaly skin, two horns above her head wearing tattered clothing, surrounded by three Erze men in robes. They were talking in my tongue it appeared, during this Erze had told me language comprehension was shared between us, it seemed there were some benefits in our ¡®contract¡¯.


    ¡®Fucking Drake! You got my robes dirty with your presence! Kneel and clean them now!¡±


    It seemed the girl was standing with a sign to advertise a nearby slave seller, she gazed upon the Erze man with a pair of dead eyes, she was expressionless as she muttered with cracked lips.


    ¡°Clean them yourself.¡±


    ¡°What!¡±


    The Erze man planted a foot into the girls chest causing her to keel over. He didn¡¯t stop there, him and his two friends proceeded to stamp on the girl while screaming insults.


    The girl simply received the blows without uttering a word. She slowly raised her head at the first opportunity.


    ¡°You guys are way weaker than my brother, he could beat you up easy peasy!¡±


    The first Erze man, appeared to have reached his limit, he pulled out a staff and a ball of compressed water began to form as he aimed it at the girl.


    ¡°Die bitch, I¡¯ll make sure to tell this brother of yours you died pissing yourself.¡±


    The girl seemed to react slightly to this but didn¡¯t protest, Erebus had informed me that the slave seal restricts any sort of aggressive activity via a magic pulse that strains the body, causing sudden and sharp pain, this was soon demonstrated as the girl lashed out but instantly fell to the floor silently while holding herself.


    As the ball of energy was pointed at this girl about to be released, I quickly lept forward and before the magic could be released I tried to subdue the attackers silently to avoid an uproar. I pushed his arm upwards behind him and restricted his arm movement while holding my other arm across his throat to cause him to lose consciousness.


    Finally realising what was happening, the two others ran at me to help their friend, I quickly placed the Erze I was choking between us and as he lost consciousness, I pushed him into the younger robed assailant. As he caught his friend I wrapped my arm around is neck and slammed his head into the pavement. The last Erze had once again lost sight until that moment.


    ¡°Y¡­You bastard!¡±


    He began to retreat while casting a spell, I lept off a nearby wall to propel myself and landed in front of him, as he began to run while shouting, I quickly silenced him by striking with my palm against the back of his throat, he slowly fell to his knees then planted himself to the floor after losing consciousness. As I assumed they wouldn¡¯t want to publicise their defeat from a slave, I expected the girl was safe from punishment and threw her some bread I had from this morning I was feeding on.


    I could harm them as I wasn¡¯t a slave, of course.


    The girl had been watching the entire time, she seemed young, around 11 years old but still looked physically capable of holding her own in a fight.


    ¡°You¡¯re strong, I want to fight you.¡±


    I was slightly taken aback, wouldn¡¯t the first words typically be thanks, I didn¡¯t do it to be thanked, I simply hated stereotypical novel scenarios such as that and wanted to teach them a lesson, I didn¡¯t expect to be challenged though, it was interesting.


    I approached the girl who was holding the bread without taking a bite and knelt in front on her.


    ¡°I like your spirit girl, finish that bread, if we meet again before I leave, I¡¯ll happily take you up on the offer.¡±


    She began to chew on the bread after nodding as I left to return to the store, Lerz had been patiently waiting outside, I had no evidence on me suggesting I had been fighting, so he simply gave a nod as I arrived after mentioning I don¡¯t go too far as to draw attention from the guards and we continued our tour of the village.

 Len.

    After passing through the village, a few scornful gazes but nothing that caused me any discomfort, there was the previously mentioned fountain which seemed to be the centre, this was surrounding by a few up-and-start shops and stools consisting of blacksmiths, bakers, tanners, bathhouse and an assortment of inns. As you ventured to the outskirts the military presence increased exponentially, although there weren¡¯t too many guards, there were a couple of guard houses stationed at each side of the wall, North, south and east with the west side housing the entrance. Before reaching the wall was the more run-down housing zone. Slave homes mostly, the richer residents were closer to the centre. I had seen a few slaves here all discernible due to the visible slave crests and visible austerity. Most costs went to maintaining defences and fuel sources. Wood and other fuels were normally collected from search parties sent out in the mornings, according to Lerz, conditions were deteriorating due to the need to travel deeper into forests to gather more wood. Apparently, he took part in these searches occasionally.


    We returned to the inn, Unmy and Nora were busy serving customers present who only looked at me and Lerz for an instant until returning to their activities. Seeing us, Nora left her station and approached.


    ¡°How do you like the village?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing like my old home, this feels less developed by somehow, more advanced in its own way. It¡¯s nothing like what I expected, Rex used to talk about how we would be welcomed as heroes from another land, seems to be the opposite though.¡±


    Speaking honestly, it¡¯s troubling, I don¡¯t know if my sister came to the same place, I don¡¯t even know where to start looking, Erebus spoke up as if reading my thoughts.


    ¡°Kurt, your sister is surely with my own, it probably feels like I¡¯m trying to fill my own agenda, I am. However, my sister will be here somewhere, I suggest we travel to various towns and ask for any strange shadow behaviour and investigate.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by strange, how can you be so certain?¡±


    I could feel Erebus¡¯ hesitation before she spoke.


    ¡°My sister is your typical antagonist Rex, from a young age she believed she was destined to rule. We share strong similarities and in some sort of conquest to prove herself better than me, she wanted to obtain as much as possible, not to rule, not to oversee, not to terrorise, simply to own more than anyone.¡±


    ¡°Considering the age of both of you, assuming you were born with the concept of shadow, you seem fairly childish.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, this isn¡¯t a sudden occurrence, she¡¯s travelled through various worlds consuming them all, as far as she¡¯s concerned this is just another item to own.¡±


    ¡°Yet¡­somehow, I am the first person you inhabited to try and destroy her, after all these years.¡±


    Erebus went quiet, people in the inn had started to grow suspicious of my apparent inactivity so I decided to continue the topic in a more suitable location. Nora, looking at me confused, also filled with apparent sadness, continued.


    ¡°Although I don¡¯t know he circumstances behind your arrival, I am sorry of the way you¡¯re treated, I don¡¯t agree with the slavery myself, when I was a girl I always used to dream of abolishing it, I had tried in my own village, although people just ignore you and the lack of support makes it an impossible task.¡±


    She smiled as she put her hands to her chest as she looked at me.


    ¡°Even though that¡¯s the case, this might be selfish of me but I¡¯m glad you came here Kurt, I know when we first met I wasn¡¯t the nicest person, but without you I wouldn¡¯t be here. I truly am grateful.¡±


    In the corner of my vision I could see Unmy pulling a suggestive smirk as she looked at the scene and hit Nora on the back to dispel the tense air.


    ¡°Good on you girl!¡±


    Nora went red before protesting and to then began teasing each other again while I found Lerz sitting on a nearby chair with a brew, I was on my way upstairs to retrieve my things and map out a route, I had intended to leave Nora here where she seemed happy and continue with my journey. The gem was still held by Erebus; however, she had confirmed that it can be returned, Lerz looked up at me as I approached.


    ¡°Avoiding the girls again? Seems like we had the same idea. I can¡¯t keep up with that energy.¡±


    Lerz noticed my serious expression and placed his beer to the side, gesturing to the seat opposite, which I sat in as I spoke.


    ¡°Nora was here with me after I had found her as you know, I had received a gem which was an heirloom of sorts, I figured as you know her, perhaps I could give it to you to look after and she can remain with you. I have some material from hunts that I plan to sell at nearby stools for money that I can give to you as a form of support.¡±


    Lerz maintained eye contact while I spoke, as a young-looking man he apparently was around 54 years old, it always felt a little jaunting when a man who looks younger apparently holds much more wisdom, his tone remained light and fast.


    ¡°You might see it that way Kurt, I believe she¡¯s following you now for more personal reasons, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as simple as needing that gem you hold.¡±


    ¡°Which gives me more reason to leave her here regardless of personal feelings, it¡¯s unsafe around me. For some reason Shades are drawn to me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unsafe anywhere right now, I won¡¯t say anymore on the matter as you seem to have made up your mind. I¡¯m sure me and Mum can store the gem somewhere safe, will you be saying goodbye?¡±


    Looking at Nora laughing with Unmy, I replied without turning back to face Lerz.


    ¡°No, I plan to leave sometime tomorrow while those two go around town.¡±


    ¡­there was a moment of silence.


    ¡°In that case, can I ask you to accompany me on my hunt? ¨C I will be leaving soon, I¡¯m planning on catching a few rabbits for a soup tonight to officially welcome you both.¡±


    I nod in agreement and return to my room to gather my equipment for the hunt.


    After notifying Nora and Unmy of our departure and quickly rejecting Nora¡¯s offer to join us we left the village, of course Lerz was carrying my weaponry through the gate to not alert the guards, we walked into the nearby forestry to begin our hunt. During exiting the village and moving towards the forest, I could feel a presence following us, it didn¡¯t seem to want to attack so I left it for now.


    The sun was high in the sky around mid-day and therefore Shades shouldn¡¯t be an issue, we brought my sword along with a small bow and hunting knife with an assortment of arrows, a couple were laced with a knockout agent procured from various herbs typically used for oil. They have a potent scent which can overwhelm the senses and cause minor paralysis and extreme drossiness, the dosage wasn¡¯t particularly high due to hunting small game and therefore effects on humanoids would be minor. We approached a semi-prepared camp which had remnants of living, Lerz informed me that this was where he normally set up prior to a hunt although it had minimalist bedding in case a quick departure was needed in the case of Shades.


    As we gathered more arrows from the camp and prepared a few small knives for hunting we then moved further west. We soon came across a small rabbit hole, this was the best approach as chasing rabbits wasn¡¯t recommended due to their agility and they seemed to have extraordinarily keen hearing in this world, therefore a trap was best.


    We firstplaced some wooden cages, set up with a string attached to the door, lifting it up, the counter weight was morsels of food rabbits were particularly fond of, upon lifting or consuming the food, the door would drop shot, ready for retrieval. Afterwards we found a tree which was slightly tilted as the roots below had started to rot. This was for larger animals such a boar, Lerz didn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity if there was one. He handed me a large counterweight branch after I climbed into the tree and threw up some rope. I wrapped it around the branch Lerz had thrown and positioned it below the other branch that was part of the tree lightly knotted them together, I held it there as Lerz set up the bait inside another loop. It worked so that as an animal touched the rope upon entering the loop, the small force would dislodge the counter balance and cause the animal to be lifted and hung by the leg. Of course, only animals weighing less than the counter balance would get captured.


    Afterwards we returned to a spot reasonably far away to converse quietly, but still hear any captured animals.


    ¡°You know Kurt, Nora¡­she told me that when you first met you weren¡¯t very good with people at all.¡±


    I gave Lerz a small look at I sat on a nearby trunk and began minor maintenance on my blade.


    ¡°You¡¯re still quite hard to deal with, I don¡¯t expect you to care about everybody you meet, but you seem to act differently with Nora.¡±


    I stopped maintenance for a bit, then continued.


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s the gem, it¡¯s true that I don¡¯t trust people easily, no offense meant, in the world I¡¯ve seen, people who can¡¯t fight die. People who make friends die. People who rely on others too much die. I¡¯d rather live.¡±


    Lerz smiled, although this smile seemed like it wasn¡¯t filled with joy but anguish.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°That¡¯s a rather crude way of looking at it, maybe you¡¯re right. I personally think that regardless of past experiences, a person who keeps to themselves will eventually self-destruct.¡±


    I started to lose my patience a little, what does this kid know?


    ¡°What¡¯s your point Lerz?¡±


    He straightened up as he began playing with a pendant placed around his neck, I hadn¡¯t noticed it before, it was probably always covered under his clothing.


    ¡°A few years ago, 30 or so ago, the inn wasn¡¯t just me and mum, there was also Lart, my dad. One day he decided to go alone again on a hunt, occasionally he took me with his for practice, although he refused others as he thought they would hold him back. Funny enough, the animals didn¡¯t kill him, one day he came home rather ill but insisted to my mother as she protested that it wasn¡¯t serious. The next day he went out for a hunt and never came back. We had found this pendant in his camp, nothing else except various pieces of viscera, there was a rather long blood trail leading to the side where my dad seemed to have struggled to come home, it looked like the illness was much worse than he let on.¡±


    I remained quiet as Lerz opened the pendant, there was an image of a small boy inside.


    ¡°He had always said that I was withhim for every hunt even when I wasn¡¯t, I never really understood until I found the pendant, first I felt sad, then I felt angry that he didn¡¯t rely on us more, I blamed myself. Now I¡¯m somewhat happy, it taught me that no one is stronger alone, even if it¡¯s a picture you carry, others bring you strength.¡±


    I had stopped maintaining my blade as I listened, I still wasn¡¯t convinced, but it seemed like Lerz hadn¡¯t had a pampered life after all.


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t believe me right now, but I hope when you do realise Nora can be a valuable friend and ally, it won¡¯t be after your death.¡±


    The rest of the waiting consisted of maintenance but otherwise silence except for a few comments and laughs from Erebus about the state of my sword and my scruffy look when compared to Lerz, after a few hours we heard a small crash, it seemed our rabbit trap was successful. I holstered my sword, Lerz his bow, and we returned to the site. There were two rabbits inside one of the traps, followed by a couple more rabbits in other cages. It totalled seven. We instantly began removing the rabbits and killing them in the most humane way we could with our knives, a quick and precise stab and twist motion, we then began to hang them up to bleed them.


    During this the presence I felt earlier had remained at a similar distance, I quickly brought it up with Erebus.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling somebody tailing us for a while, have you spotted anything?¡±


    ¡°Why, Yes. It would seem there is a small child following you, they seem rather capable, they managed to slip past the guard while he was chatting and was even tailing you before that.¡±


    Before I could reply, as the sun had started to set, Lerz suggesting heading back, until we heard a large crash and a whimper.


    ¡°Oh? Perhaps it wont just be rabbit tonight!¡±


    Lerz began running to the location of the other trap, we decided to quickly kill it and return to the village before sundown. It was only a deer of sorts, it had a horn in the centre as opposed to antlers but otherwise looked similar. It looked relatively young as it was small, which is why we decided to take it as it shouldn¡¯t slow us down much. Bringing goods into the village was taxed by the guards at the entrance, but animals this size weren¡¯t too much, perhaps a tin or two. For reference, 8 tins (coins below copper) equalled a copper and 10 coppers equalled a silver, 8 silvers a gold. As Lerz approached the tree there was a small creak, he didn¡¯t seem to notice as the ¡®deer¡¯ was writhing and being rather loud.


    The sounds coming from the tree slowly got louder until it was all we could hear as it began to fall. As I noticed what was happening I shouted out to Lerz, he had already noticed and had begun retreating. During the fast retreat he had dropped his pendant he was holding and stopped for a split second to retrieve it. Due to that, the small tree collapsed and captured his right leg, causing him to fall and get trapped beneath the tree, fortunately it had only clipped him, and he had become trapped underneath, no bones appeared broken.


    ¡°Fuck, that was my stupidest Idea yet. Help me up, would you?¡±


    I knelt to try and lift the tree, as I heard Erebus call out.


    ¡°Kurt, in front!¡±


    A shade had started to materialise on the other side of the tree as I was lifting it, noticing this I quickly drew my blade as it struck and met its long, elongated shadowy claw. The shade looked as if surprised, its form started to envelop the blade as I sliced through, quickly changed course and unattached what would be its head, from its body as it screeched. I quickly lifted the tree and released Lerz who equipped his bow.


    ¡°You can hurt those things!?¡±


    ¡°Never mind that, forget the rabbits, we have to return now!¡±


    We quickly started running towards the village, after a few minutes I realised Lerz wasn¡¯t behind me, I could see him in the distance standing still, there was a shade slowly approaching that had assumed the form of an older looking Erze, who began to speak.


    ¡°My son¡­I finally found you.¡±


    Erebus reacted before I could.


    ¡°Kurt! That isn¡¯t his father, you have to stop that shade, it probably consumed his fathers ¡®self¡¯¡±


    ¡°I know that!¡±


    I quickly grabbed my dagger as I ran at them both and threw it at the shade, it didn¡¯t react as the space is occupied moulded around it and flew straight through the shade, as if not noticing, Lerz simply focused on the shade. I quickly approached as Lerz ¡®father¡¯ raised his arm as it slowly formed a blade and brought it upon Lerz, before it hit I charged into him, knocking us both to the floor, I rolled and regained my stance, I had my sheathed blade in my hand to not restrict my movement as I drew it. Noticing the aura, the shade drew back somewhat.


    As I charged at ¡®Lart¡¯ Lerz had started to grab his bow to release an arrow into his dad. Before I brought my blade down I myself began tumbling into some nearby bushes. Suddenly my leg looked tainted as a miasma appeared nearby and a dark affliction began to spread slowly. My own shadow then enveloped my leg.


    ¡°He¡¯s mine you abomination, don¡¯t touch him!¡±


    Erebus began consuming the dark curse, healing my wound, I was incapacitated momentarily as I saw Lerz ready some magic, it looked like he had imbued his arrow with some lightning of sorts and released it at the Shade, who stumbled slightly and continued his approach as the arrow flew through with little resistance.


    I turned back to see the shade that had grabbed me, it was a much larger shade than most, with a much greater strength, Erebus told me to run as I looked at it. It began to adopt the face of my dead friend Rex.


    ¡°Why do you keep running from me Kurt, help¡­me.¡±


    The last word seemed to be filled with a tone of pure evil as it whispered across the wind, I freed my blade and sliced through the arm attached to me. As it flew off and dissipated, I spun round to meet its neck.


    I couldn¡¯t¡­the face I saw wasn¡¯t Rex anymore, it was my sister.


    ¡°Save me brother.¡±


    It¡¯s voice appeared to be filled with immense sorrow and mystery, the emotion piercing my heart, my soul as some shadowy tears fell and dissolved, it reached out a clawed hand accompanied by shadowy tendrils, I hadn¡¯t seen the claw as tears started to flow down my cheeks, I could hear some faint shouting from Erebus but wasn¡¯t focusing on it, I could feel the poison on my leg fade and my own shadow reach out to block the oncoming claw, but it was no use, I couldn¡¯t move. Was she dead? Did they consume her too? No. She¡¯s the other sisters host. She¡¯s alive. As I focused on it I saw Lerz screaming in the background as his father was attached to him, slowly enveloping him.


    As the claw was about to enter my chest and pierce my heart, a solid slab of metal flew through the shade and a gust of wind blew it away, it wasn¡¯t harmed, but It would need to reform.


    Standing where the shade used to be was a small girl, a slave crest upon her shoulder, her fiery flowing hair could now be seen, it was the girl I saved earlier. She spoke as she hit the shade.


    ¡°You could beat it,then couldn¡¯t beat it when it looked like a girl?¡±


    As she quickly landed I could see the shade slowly reforming, I nodded at the girl without wasting time to reort and I quickly ran towards Lerz, his blackened arm crumbled as it fell apart, the previous shade then appeared in front of me, this time looking like an image from a nightmare, perhaps that what they chose, it had black flowing tendrils coming from its back and a blackened hole seemed to form with the same sharp maw. In the distance I could see Lerz slowly adopt the same face as Rex that day, the face of utter despair. The girl faced me and started charging up some magic while pointing to Lerz, I nodded, noticing her intention as she used wind magic to propel me to his position, through the larger shade in front of me, I placed my sword in front to piercethe larger shadeand as I landed I brought it up to decapitate the shade who looked like Lart, grabbing Lerz as it writhed in pain before falling silent. Lerz was unconscious, missing an arm and a shadowy infection had spread to his waist and was moving further upwards, both his legs were useless. I looked to the girl who had avoided the heavy hammer-like ¡®fist¡¯ of the larger shade as it crashed into the floor. She jumped towards me and then enchanted both of us with wind magic as we lifted Lerz and sped off towards the village. We ran incredibly fast using wind propulsion, the girl was looking exhausted, so we ran naturally as we neared the village.


    Upon seeing us the guard we met earlier with the large spear noticed and raised his weapon. Seeing Lerz he had an accusatory expression upon seeing me and the girl, but I ignored it.


    ¡°You need to prepare, shadows are coming!¡±


    Hearing that he seemed to ignore us as he looked over my shoulder, I quickly turned and saw a large shadow consuming the surrounding light, the guard¡¯s expression dropped, and he became serious, he ignored us and ran into the village shouting to prepare all fuel sources to fend off the shades.


    I entered the village and saw Unmy and Nora standing there, it appeared Nora was attempting to leave the village.


    ¡°Kurt is still out there! Release me before I use force!¡±


    She then noticed my approach and smiled,upon seeing the figure in my arms her expression went dark, she simply turned and hugged Unmy.


    Unmy had seem the figure slightly earlier as she was calmer before we arrived, she then began bawling with tears, she sprinted to our position alongside Nora and grabbed Lerz from my arms, he began coughing up blood.


    Unmy turned to some nearby guards.


    ¡°He¡¯s still alive! Save him! Somebody save my son!¡±


    Onlookers had noticed his condition and realised what the rest of us did, what Unmy knew, deep down. She began begging to nearby medics and guards, crying, her voice trembling as she forced out the words.


    ¡°Please¡­I lost my husband, without him I have nothing. Please¡­you need to save him.¡±


    Nora simply stood next to her with an arm on her shoulder, suddenly Lerz spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s OK mother. I didn¡¯t go alone like dad, I had a friend with me.¡±


    He smiled as his voice grew weaker, looking at his mum crying.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, be happy, because I had someone with me it wasn¡¯t lonely. After all, because he was there I was able to see you one last time to say goodbye.¡±


    He had gripped her hand tight, his grip slowly loosened until the only reason it remained in the air, was due to Unmy, she opened it slightly to see a shining pendant, Lerz was dead.


    I had left to talk to the girl that saved me, I didn¡¯t feel right comforting a woman I only met that day, by all accounts I fully expected her to hate and blame me, I only felt guilt. Mostly because I felt some satisfaction as I pulled away Lerz from the shade and stopped his despaired expression, which I couldn¡¯t do for Rex. I simply approached Nora and handed over Lerz''s bow to her to be buried alongside him and conversed with the girl while Unmy was escorted away with the corpse of her son.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name? You seem to be good with magic, I¡¯m Kurt by the way, I want to thank you for saving me back there.¡±


    She simply looked a little confused as she replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dar¡¯Len. My Brother calls me Len. We all know magic silly, you can thank me by fighting me later!¡±


    Haha, that¡¯s right, I promised her a fight if we met again, this girl really is interesting.


    ¡°OK, although it¡¯s going to be changed a bit. Once we get out of this situation, I¡¯ll happily go a few rounds.¡±


    The girl smiled and jumped for joy a little, swinging the large hammer around like a toy, she must really be quite strong.


    I could hear the guards around screaming for more torches and lamps to fend off the shades and were launching lit arrows into them, sending them back slightly. It seemed like they were drawn by me. During all this Erebus had remained silent, maybe to honour the passed Lerz or simply because she had nothing to say. While I talked to Len she simply said that when we finally slept, she wanted me to enter her domain again as she would try to fill me in on all the holes, probably to explain why I had seen my sister tonight, I agreed. We had a lot to discuss.

 Shadows cant envelop emotion.

    The Shades assault was successfully held back, throughout the defence I was originally ordered away from the guards but as they slowly became overwhelmed citizens began to assist by grabbing any flammable materials nearby and handing it to the guards stationed around the walls to maintain light sources, a few guards had been lighting torches lining the village walls, the shades absorption worked by weakening the light sources and dimming flames until extinguished, providing fuel for the flames counteracted this, however fire can only burn so fast so more people were needed to create larger flames, it started to look like multiple bonfires. Unfortunately a few guards stationed outside from the onset had become victims to the shades and were slowly consumed, it began by a shadowy infection spreading through their bodies causing irregular decay, their corpses would almost liquify and flow into the surrounding shadow, this slowed advances as shades would group up to quickly consume the ¡®self¡¯ of each victim, it seemed the received some satisfaction from consuming such things. I would¡¯ve perhaps been able to save a few of these victims; however, I couldn¡¯t reveal my blade to a crowd this large, unfortunately the larger guard who questioned us when we first arrived was one of those victims. After the assault was over, most people involved had collapsed from exhaustion and a swell of emotions could be seen, crying from those who had lost and cheers from those noticed the shades retreat. I wasn¡¯t in either camp, Len was with me helping break some furniture for wood throughout and passing it to the guards, who had all but ignored the previous hierarchy within the village, although the homes targeted were those closer to the walls, the slave houses.


    After it had finished, when the only noises upon the wind were those of the inhabitants, I took the opportunity to question Len.


    We made our way to a nearby medic who was charged with handing out food resources for anybody assisting, these included a simple bucket full of water from the centre well, for washing and drinking, this was now surrounded by people washing themselves in quick succession, albeit for a slaves who were shoved aside who then decided to return to their homes to avoid tempting an already tense atmosphere. A second area was full of pieces of bread and some stale fruit, I picked up two half loaves after weaving through the crowd and had handed a piece to Len before finding a seat away from the crowd, it was a small bench that hadn¡¯t been used for fuel outside a slave residence.


    I chewed on the bread as I spoke, my voice was slightly hoarse from the shouting, I had been coughing due to inhalation of smoke and hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to gather water.


    ¡°Len, how did you manage to get away from your master?¡±


    Len quickly looked at me while quickly gulping down the bread in her throat, she seemed to struggle a little before coughing and answering.


    ¡°All slaves are to stay in the residencies on the village outskirts, I snuck out while they slept, it¡¯s easy. The guards here don¡¯t really pay attention to people if you climb the wall instead of through the gate.¡±


    The wall here was rather high but I could imagine Len was fairly capable, to anybody outside the village, it would seem kind to provide slaves with housing, however the particular reason here was to keep them away from the centre village to pretend they don¡¯t exist, as such they weren¡¯t allowed in the centre if they didn¡¯t want severe punishment and were expected to eat scraps. If a slave was seen consuming anything considered fresh or somewhat valuable they would also receive severe punishment, due to this, slaves in the village often fell ill and were abandoned by their owners. A few slaves accepted night work with residents to get some bedding in richer housing, although most ¡®customers¡¯ weren¡¯t particularly gentle, the slaves would either die during the sexual activity or would gather some serious injuries, they couldn¡¯t refuse as payment was normally accepted by their owner first, refusal meant death.


    We continued talking until the sun had fully risen into the sky and then went our separate ways, we had agreed to meet again after we had both rested in the evening to begin our duel, however I first had to check on Nora and Unmy after the events regarding Lerz.


    As I entered the inn there was nobody inside the main lobby, this was expected as it had been closed to the public, the most striking aspect was the silence, there was no crying or comforting from anywhere. I slowly proceeded behind the bar to a slightly ajar door, upon opening it with a small creak I peered inside. Inside was a small stool stationed next to wooden bed, upon the bed was Lerz, his eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful, a broad smile could be seen over his shadowy face, it seemed he was satisfied as he died. Next to him on the stool was Unmy, asleep with her head resting on Nora¡¯s shoulder. Nora was also asleep in a similar position, Unmy had reddened eyes and exhaustion could be seen on every inch of her face, she had surely been crying through the night, Nora had similar red eyes. I quickly grabbed a nearby blanket upon them both before starting to leave, Erebus spoke up as I began to leave.


    ¡°Kurt, could you place your hand upon Lerz for me? Although I couldn¡¯t stop his death, there is something I can do for the mother.¡±


    I would¡¯ve questioned it hadn¡¯t it been for Erebus speaking in a very serious and sincere tone, she was normally rather playful but there was no sense of that here. I quietly approached Lerz and placed my left hand upon his last remaining arm, it was coloured black and was extremely brittle, like applying too much force would cause it to crumble. Slowly a shadow crawled through my skin and onto Lerz¡¯s figure, it surrounded his entire body and was moving, it seemed Erebus was consuming the remnants of the shadowy infection. Seeing this I remained silent until she had finished, once she had finished his flesh had returned to its normal colour although paler and upon her signal, I retreated from the room and went straight to my own bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


    I woke up in a blackened world, feeling neither warm nor cold, I quickly glanced around and saw Erebus perched upon a stool while looking at me expectantly, I instantly took my place upon the stool opposite and ushered Erebus to speak after giving her a small nod to acknowledge her presence.


    ¡°We meet again Kurt, sooner than I expected, however given the circumstances it seems most appropriate.¡±


    I maintained eye contact as she spoke, she truly was beautiful, her skin pale, her flowing purple dress, flapping although I couldn¡¯t feel any wind. As I sat and positioned myself, she continued speaking in a serious yet calm tone, it was much warmer than usual.


    ¡°Erebus, first point of discussion will need to be the restrictions laid upon you in regard to ¡®healing¡¯ the shadowy inflictions and why the shades are particularly interested in me.¡±


    Erebus smiled as she manipulated the stool she sat on to mould its form into more of a conventional chair, she sat back as she answered.


    ¡°Indeed, I suppose you are referring to the young man and yourself, certainly, I can ¡®heal¡¯ the curse, in your case I simply removed the hand of the abomination holding your ankle, the two we¡¯re somewhat different, although remnants can be left behind that spread, much like the Erze who died today. Although yours would¡¯ve eventually seeped into you and affected you, due to my presence you have somewhat of an immunity towards it. The young man, Lerz, as he was infected I cannot cure him, simply calm his passing, however due to circumstances I couldn¡¯t perform such a service.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I thought back to my hesitations upon facing my sister and how I essentially abandoned Lerz, at least that¡¯s how I had felt. Now it seems like he could¡¯ve been helped somewhat if Erebus could treat him. Erebus, noticing my regretful expression spoke slightly quicker with a sense of comfort.


    ¡°Kurt, I certainly don¡¯t think you were to blame, you were dealing with a much stronger foe, furthermore you managed to rescue Lerz before he truly died, allowing him to speak to his mother, although I don¡¯t fully understand the values of the races living here, the expressions shown were surely that of appreciation. He was lost either way, you performed a most respectable feat.¡±


    It didn¡¯t feel that way, I was somewhat responsible, withholding information meant Lerz wasn¡¯t aware of the Shades interest in me, although I don¡¯t fully understand it, there was probably another way to handle the events that transpired.


    ¡°Surely, you couldn¡¯t possible have saved the young man, although I couldn¡¯t heal him, I removed the remaining infliction to return his previous complexion. Regarding the Shades interest to you I am unsure, however I suspect it may be in part to my connection with you, my sister surely wants me found as I am intending to stall her plans. I also expect it¡¯s due to the same reason I can inhabit you and your strength of self, ¡®self¡¯ feeds the shades, gives them strength, it is for that very same reason we met the larger shade today. Although they are intrinsically connected, they have their own ¡®selves¡¯ to some degree, a shade that consumes others gains benefits for himself. Feasting upon you would bring them much strength.¡±


    Hearing that I became a little suspicious of Erebus and her own goal in inhabiting my shadow, although I struck the idea from my head almost instantly as she had saved me, I owed her some credit. Noticing my expression, Erebus sat back in her chair while giving a serious gaze.


    ¡°Your sister, that was a shock even to me, it does confirm her connection with my sister, shades can take on memories and forms of those consumed, however that was somewhat different, it felt incomplete. I suspect the shades have met your sister and so can imitate her to some degree.¡±


    I quickly responded.


    ¡°Then we can simply interrogate the shades!¡±


    Erebus promptly shook her head to instantly dispel my idea.


    ¡°The forms they take only know as much as those consumed, your friend (Rex) didn¡¯t know the location and so neither will they, furthermore shades operate on simple commands from my sister, they wouldn¡¯t reply if questioned and are more like programs than people, simply seeking more strength to complete the goal of complete corruption.¡±


    I sat back in my chair that Erebus had created alongside her own and pondered for a bit, then my expression filled with determination.


    ¡°Then, last question alongside a request of sorts, what are your combat abilities, I recall you blocking the attack of the larger shade, do you have any other tricks?¡±


    Erebus perked up to the question and grinned, it was much wider than her previous smile and had a faint sense of mischief as she raised her had to her soft red lips.


    ¡°I do. Although I am not quite sure of them myself as I haven¡¯t inhabited such a strong host before, I believe my capabilities are connected to you in some way.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡±


    Erebus nods.


    ¡°I believe given some practice you would have some control of the shades yourself.¡±


    The answer was somewhat to my expectations, it was strange that I could inflict wounds on the shades and fight them, although my sort had been infused somewhat, surely if it was just that, others would¡¯ve had a similar effect in time.


    ¡°In that case, you will have to teach me, about aspects related to the shades and the dominions they inhabit.¡±


    Erebus released an incredible grin, as if she had expected such a development and rose from her seat, I had followed her upwards, as she rested a pale hand upon my shoulder she spoke with determination.


    ¡°Certainly, we shall start with dominions is it? Afterwards we shall train in manipulating those domains and the shades within, yes. This shall be most interesting. Regrettably we must continue this another night, it seems you are most exhausted, you need rest for your duel tomorrow. May you show me a wonderful spectacle.¡±


    Her spirits seem to have risen as she used the hand upon my shoulder to thrust me deep into darkness, as her form faded into the distance my own vision faded to black as I fell into deep sleep.


    I woke up, my body was aching somewhat but nothing too extreme, I rose from my bed and instantly got dressed in high spirits. Suddenly I remembered what transpired the previous night and descended the stairs with a hint of apprehension. As I reached the bottom and opened the door to the bar of the inn. I saw Unmy discussing something with Nora, they were both awake and chatting, Unmy had a solemn look but had more vigour. Nora was equally dejected, but their spirits seemed to be improved.


    Upon noticing me, Nora gave an incredibly warm, appreciative smile as Unmy rose from her seat and slowly approached. I felt like she had earned an outburst, as I relaxed myself to not cheapen the strike I was to receive allowing Unmy to hit me without injury, I maintained eye contact as her arm rose¡­and was through around me, Unmy had hugged me as a few tears fell onto my shoulder.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you did it, but I must thank you for returning my son to that form, I hardly recognised his body shrouded in black. Thank you so much!¡±


    I stood there shocked, I had expected Unmy to hate me with every part of herself and reject me, I had already retrieved my things for departure, standing completely dumbstruck, Unmy noticed my expression and smiled.


    ¡°I can¡¯t blame you Kurt, Lerz went out there on his own volition, he surely knew the dangers before he left.¡±


    She clutched her hand as she looked down, her gaze then went to the room where her son lay, her sorrowful smile continued.


    ¡°Besides, my son died with such a smile, how could a mother be angry at such a thing.¡±


    I felt my expression tighten slightly as I looked at her in awe, since when was she such a strong woman.


    ¡°Nora told me about your friend Rex and how you blame yourself, truly I believe you weren¡¯t to blame, surely if your friend had seen what you achieved yesterday with my son, he would be as proud as me.¡±


    Listening to this I couldn¡¯t help but shudder as a couple of tears fell from my eyes, something I had wanted to hear for years, it wasn¡¯t my fault, that he would be proud, I steeled myself as Unmy had given me a hug, a similar, warm and welcoming hug to that my mother gave me when my sister was first hospitalised, the type of hug one would receive from a mother, a lover or a very close friend, the type of hug I had forgotten.


    We remained like that for a few minutes before separating, regaining myself I spoke to the two in the most serious tone I could muster, first to Nora.


    ¡°Nora, the girl who I was with yesterday was a slave I had helped, in return she wishes for a duel. After the duel is complete and I have paid my respects to Lerz, I plan to leave. I had planned to do so in secret, however know I believe that you have earned the right to know. I plan to leave your gem with Unmy in the hopes that you two can remain here together. If that is so then I would like to give my thanks for accompanying me until now, although I had written you off as a brat, you have surprised me, it was fun.¡±


    Nora instantly stood, she had a devilish grin on her face like she was planning something.


    ¡°I had a feeling it would be something like this, I fully planned to knock you out if you tried leaving without a word, however I have also made up my mind after discussing it with Unmy.¡±


    I quickly glanced at Unmy who had clearly told Nora of my plans who had a slightly guilty expression as she turned away slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to continue travelling with you if possible. Although I want to help Unmy at this time, I cannot simply stand idle while you follow a quest that may even help everybody around you, after the shadows have taken Lerz I am even more certain, I will do my best to not be a hindrance, I ask you to please let me remain by your side until the task is done.¡±


    Nora had a slightly more elegant air to her as she spoke and lowered her head slightly, I approached and lightly rubbed her hair as I spoke.


    ¡°It would be my pleasure. Although I¡¯ll be cooking for myself from now on.¡±


    Nora¡¯s cooking tasted like a rotten stew after all, to this she simply raised her head with a slightly angry expression and landed a solid hit onto my chest, causing my to chose slightly as the three of us began to laugh. Nora had promised to make me regret my words, I doubt it¡¯d be anytime soon, afterwards I had discussed my plans to stay for any ceremonies for Lerz before I left, Unmy said her thanks as I departed the inn for my duel.

 There are no shadows here...

    Nora had decided to follow me on my trip to the appointed place, the are decided was an open space inside the forest on the outskirts, I had decided to meet Len half an hour after her own arrival to avoid unnecessary suspicion. Approaching the village gates I caught sight of Len wincing while in the grasp of a rather old looking Erze, the man seemed rather high class due to some silken clothing, a cart being pulled by a horse which seemed filled of others, all maintaining a dead expression, they were simply looking down with their head lowered as if they were asleep, however their eyes were clearly open, however no signs of life could be seen. Marked upon each of the prisoners was a red crest which looked like a winged serpent which was coiled into a ring with the forked tongue entering the centre, these people were slaves.


    Nora and I quickly approached the man that had seem to have caught Len and was guiding her to the back of the cart.


    ¡°Excuse me, may I ask what it is you¡¯re doing to this girl?¡±


    Nora had gestured for me to remain quiet while she questioned the man, he initially gave a ¡®tsk¡¯ sound as he clicked his tongue and squinted at the girl in front of him who didn¡¯t seem particularly special.


    ¡°What do you want girl? I fail to see how my business is any concern of yours.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t wrong, we hadn¡¯t discussed the terms of our duel and Len was his slave, however I wasn¡¯t going to let it end this way, as I slowly reached for the blade on Nora¡¯s back that I had handed her earlier, Nora slapped away my hand and continued.


    ¡°That would be the case had your slave not challenged my own to a duel, I came hoping to discuss the terms with you.¡±


    The man looked at Nora quizzically and then diverted his gaze to me, a sly expression as if he was planning something.


    ¡°Ah, is that so? My little Dar¡¯Len does like to fight with others.¡±


    As he said this he had gripped Len¡¯s arm as if to inflict harm and smiled at Nora, this man was a disgrace, Nora equally gave an angry expression which she quickly supressed before continuing.


    ¡°Surely as a fellow trader we can come to some sort of agreement.¡±


    The man continued to smile wider, it was an undignified look, seeing this alone wanted me to release his head from his shoulders.


    ¡°Certainly, how about this, slave it to fight without the use of magic, weapons are allowed as well as harm. My Dar¡¯Len is only small after all, whoever wins the duel gets possession of the others slave, all authority included.¡±


    Nora looked at the man closer, before nodding.


    ¡°The Rules of the bout? How about whoever lays the first solid strike is the winner?¡±


    ¡°Simple¡­yes, that seems appropriate, although I wouldn¡¯t mind watching the fight continue until one was unable to defend themselves, blood adds excitement after all.¡±


    This man was the very image of a slave trader one would expect, shameless and uneducated in lessons of war and battle.


    ¡°I suppose you have a place in mind?¡±


    Nora nodded before addressing the guards, after being allowed to leave we approached the clearing, a few minutes passed after entering the forest until we made it.


    The trader had left his cart at the village exit, fully expecting to depart with new goods(me). He had held Len¡¯s unusually large hammer on the front of the cart as he couldn¡¯t carry it and before departure had addressed Len to carry it. As slaves weren¡¯t allowed to harm their masters he wasn¡¯t worried of Len causing any trouble. When we made it to our destination, completely in silence, Len started doing stretches on one side of the clearing.


    I approached Nora who handed me my blade, the ban on magic obviously had no effect for me, the trader obviously didn¡¯t know his rules weren¡¯t as advantageous as he had thought. Upon drawing my sword and handing the scabbard to Nora, I stood on a point opposite Len and took a stance. My feet were both planted with my legs spread shoulder length apart while I lightly grasped my longsword on my hip.


    I stayed that way for a couple of minutes, I collected my breathing with my eyes closed and made efforts to focus my attention entirely on my opponent. It would be expected that even though Len couldn¡¯t intentionally throw the match due to slave restrictions and her own warrior code, therefore I had no time to mess around.


    Opposite me I saw Len swing her huge metal slab onto her shoulder as she took a relaxed stance, however her leg looked cocked, against the ground, I got a vague idea of her initial plan.


    Signalling to Nora that we were ready, she flicked a Tin coin, the fight was to begin upon its landing. As it spun in the air I focused on the faint whistle produced from its rotation as it cut the air, focusing on when the noise ceased. Len seemed to be doing the same, however due to her affinity to air she seemed to achieve this with ease, neither of us had broke our eye contact to check the coin. As soon as the noise ended the fight began.


    Len instantly drew wind towards her foot and launched at full speed towards me, she had an inhuman speed, as she flew at me she swung her mallet towards my head, anticipating the move I quickly side stepped as her weapon was slammed into the ground, causing it to shake as a small crater appeared underneath the hammer, as I side stepped I swung my blade upwards towards her stomach, however she nimbly used the handle of her hammer to rotate her body around it to gather momentum as she launched a leg towards me face. Seeing this I quickly guarded myself by putting my left arm up and braced it with my right as her leg collided with it, sending me through the air as I quickly positioned myself and used my arm to flip myself upright while in the air.


    During this Len had already pulled her hammer from the ground as if it weighed nothing at all and had used magic to once again advance towards me at an inhuman rate, she caught up before I landed and was about to swing her hammer down upon my exposed chest, however while rotating through the air I had deceptively swung my blade around and was already bringing the back of my blade towards her neck. She quickly released her weapon and threw it towards to ground to use the reactive force to allow herself to back flip and avoid the blade.


    As we both landed, Len had an ecstatic grin across her face as she wiped some blood from it after my blade had left a small scratch, from the side we could hear Len¡¯s merchant screaming commands after noticing I wasn¡¯t an amateur, however he was ignored.


    Without any words being said Len charged as I took a low stance, as she came closer I swung my blade towards her arm at a speed which couldn¡¯t possibly have been seen, as if hearing the blade slice the wind however Len quickly reacted and glided over the blade planted both her legs into the handle of her hammer causing it to flip from the floor into the air as she landed and grabbed it, without wasting time she instantly swung her hammer down towards me with her wind magic supporting her, I quickly brought up my blade to protect myself as she hammer collided directly with it, launching me into the air, I hadn¡¯t expected her to recover so fast so I was taken somewhat by surprise, instantly reacting she launched herself into the air after me, she had been looking somewhat exhausted from the constant use of magic as she approached me.


    No one however, could contest me in swordsmanship, anticipating her approach she swung her hammer alongside a pulse of magical energy, although it could be seen it was easy to predict its location. Reacting, I nimbly used my hand with superhuman speed due to years of training and combat to push against her hammer and ¡®climb¡¯ it, as I grabbed onto the to the edge of the metal slab, before Len could even react to what I had been doing, I spun myself around and planted my foot into her jaw, continuing the motion I stood upon her hammer and leapt from it, swinging my sword down in my complete motion, as Len had fully summersaulted in the air and exposed her neck, I planted the back of my blade into it and sent her hurtling towards the ground, she crashed into it, a large impact caused the rock to fly in all directions, narrowly avoiding Nora and the trader, as I landed I quickly regained my footing and ran towards the collapsed Len, perhaps I had gone too far.


    When I arrived, Len was sprawled across the ground next to where her oversized weapon had fallen, shortly after she began to stir as she rose and quickly gathered that the duel was over, I had won. Instantly she smirked and took a deep bow.


    ¡°I knew it, you¡¯re strong.¡±


    The honesty in the girl could be felt through the chilling winds as she retrieved her weapon.


    ¡°I must admit I was surprised too at your skill. You seem to be well trained.¡±


    She nodded and looked a little disappointed.


    ¡°I can tell you were still holding back Mr. you also used the back of your blade and didn¡¯t go on the offensive much until the end, but yeah! Big bro taught me how to fight! I think he would be happy to duel with you, although I think you would lose.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t wrong, a lot of the duel was me evading her attacks before the end where I decided to end it, fighting with shades and my previous training had always taught me to never underestimate your opponent and always try to gauge their level of skill while possible, if a strike was to occur, you should always try to make it your last. However, it seemed interesting that a girl with her finesse and combat aptitude would hold her brother in such high regard, he must be some sort of monster.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Perhaps one day I will get to meet him, if so I would be happy to duel him, I still feel I haven¡¯t fully repaid you for your help.¡±


    Len quickly brushed off her red shorts as sweat penetrated her red locks and shirt, exposing nothing however due to the linen wraps underneath, although I wasn¡¯t particularly interested, she grinned an incredibly innocent smile but seemed somewhat thankful.


    ¡°Good! Big bro Kinth will be happy!¡±


    Before I could respond, the lady who had decided to remain silent suddenly spoke.


    ¡°Kinth, surely she cannot me Dar¡¯Kinth!¡±


    A little shocked at the sudden outburst, I questioned Erebus promptly.


    ¡°Why? If he someone of significance.¡±


    Erebus suddenly let out a gasp of air as if shocked.


    ¡°Dar¡¯Kinth is the leader of the Draconi of Dracon Peak, they are a race of fierce fighters who rate respect and values solely on a person¡¯s skill in combat, most official dealings are resolved through combat. Normally the winner takes the spoils, being the leader, he is the Peaks best fighter! Somehow I didn¡¯t connect the two.¡±


    Huh, he seemed quite the celebrity, although the story made sense with Dar¡¯Len¡¯s personality. She seemed to be a muscle head of sorts.


    ¡°Kurt, I must advise we travel with this girl to her brother and ask him to join our cause.¡±


    I was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Surely if he is the leader, he couldn¡¯t simply leave his post to assist us.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, although I would consider this to be quite important, he will be an asset, honestly, I don¡¯t believe you could beat him in a duel like this one, his skills really are said to be amongst one of the most skilled.¡±


    Hearing this I returned to current affairs and addressed Len who had regained her breath and was wiping the sweat with her tattered shirt.


    ¡°Len, do you think I could meet your brother if we took you home.¡±


    Len first looked a little confused before smiling and nodding enthusiastically.


    That was settled then, Dracon Peak would be the next destination.


    During this exchange, Nora had entered a heated discussion with the slave trader.


    <hr>


    NORA


    <hr>


    This red-haired girl Kurt was going to fight was clearly a Draconi, aren¡¯t these meant to be born fighters¡­is Kurt capable of fighting this girl?


    We had just agreed with the slave trader who owned Dar¡¯Len to a duel if Kurt didn¡¯t use magic, this wasn¡¯t an issue as he was incapable of doing so already.


    As we left the gates to the village, I quickly noticed my surroundings, the air felt much fresher and the lush green foliage was beautiful, sceneries are meant to be appreciated this way, doing so is only possible because this time I¡¯m not fearing for my life, the sun is up after all. We quickly made it to the clearing where the duel was going to take place, Kurt seemed as composed as he usually was, although he was fighting this girl who had an incredibly large weapon, it was larger than her, almost reaching two meters with the slab of metal on the end probably weighing more than the girl alone, not to mention she was a Draconi.


    After we had made it Kurt suddenly approached me and gestured to his sword of my back, I wanted to warn him that she was much stronger than she looked, however Kurt¡¯s expression made me feel such a warning wasn¡¯t necessary. I simply handed over the sword as Kurt drew it and handed back the sheath, giving some small thanks.


    The other trader was already sat on the ground after covering it with a straw roll. He was happily eating some dried meat he had picked up from his carriage and didn¡¯t seem to expect any negative outcome. I hated these sorts of people, I remember a similar man who used to visit my village with an assortment of meats and pelts, often my father would be seen heaving a heated discussion on price. They all seemed like swindlers, mum always told me that although to be cautious of men, those types of men should just be avoided entirely. Of course, in this instance it was unavoidable.


    I procured a tin coin and watched on, after both had taken stances I flipped it, neither looked at the coin, I assumed they hadn¡¯t realised I flipped it, however as son as it landed they began the duel.


    Throughout the fight I couldn¡¯t believe how Kurt was fighting toe-to-toe¡­no¡­he didn¡¯t seem exhausted or to be struggling in the slightest, almost as if testing his opponent at first. I couldn¡¯t help but look on in awe, I¡¯d seen him fight before, but not like this. I noticed the Draconi girl was smirking throughout the fight, she seemed to be really enjoying it, Kurt was doing the same, it was a little scary, they were going at each other seriously at this stage, how could they be having so much fun.


    Suddenly the girl had effortlessly flipped over her hammer that was embedded in the floor, it almost appeared weightless as she handled it. Kurt was suddenly thrown into the air but he still looked composed, I was focusing on him at this stage and his expression suddenly changed, it looked like he became serious¡­just what has he been through to become so skilled in combat, I couldn¡¯t compare.


    As the Draconi girl quickly followed him up I followed intensely with my eyes, suddenly I felt a strange sense of determination. I wanted to follow Kurt and assist him, I couldn¡¯t fall behind, I had a strange fiery sensation in my belly that made me involuntarily clench my fists and grit my teeth, I wanted Kurt to win, the person I looked up to couldn¡¯t lose here. As the girl approached and swung her hammer I couldn¡¯t believe what happened next, I lost sight of Kurt for a fraction of a second and suddenly he had disarmed the girl and was above her with the back of his sword planted into her neck, sending her flying into the ground before her weapon with a huge crash. I couldn¡¯t see what happened? Kurt can¡¯t use magic, how did he move so fast?


    Looking over, the merchant was equally awestruck, his expression slowly changed to anger as he looked to me.


    ¡°Y..Y¡­You cheated!¡±


    What¡­what was this man saying, how shameless.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way he could beat Dar¡¯Len without magic, he surely used magic just then, no human I know moves that fast!¡±


    Looking at the man I couldn¡¯t contain my own anger, how could he soil their duel, cheating? Kurt would never cheat!


    ¡°You saw it right? There was no chant, no magi-particle manipulation.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­then explain what just happened!!!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t explain, after all, I didn¡¯t know. I couldn¡¯t see how Kurt moved, all I know is that was his own physical skill, no magic had been used.


    ¡°You filthy cheat! You should teach your shitty slaves some honour, to cheat in a duel, I would have him hung! I expect some compensation.¡±


    This man was beyond me, although throughout the conversation I could feel the earlier fire in my stomach change from awe to anger in a moment, I began to cast a ball of compressed magic at the man, I raised my hand, as he saw this motion he drew back quickly and began to shout. Suddenly Kurt was beside me with his hand upon my own.


    ¡°No magic, I simply used my own skill.¡±


    Dar¡¯Len could be seen in the background with an expression of pure shame, she was looking at her master, he had clearly ruined the atmosphere the duel had produced and was now accusing her opponent of cheating, of course she seemed to know better.


    ¡°Skill?!! What would a slave human know, much less owned by this frail little girl, clearly someone so weak couldn¡¯t teach you to figh-¡°


    Suddenly Kurt had moved to the man with his sword placed to his throat, his expression was fierce, similar to when he saw his friend imitated by the shade on the first night I met him.


    ¡°It was rather similar to this¡­correct? Perhaps you stop embarrassing yourself and pay what you owe.¡±


    The man seemed to look on in anger before conceding as he grabbed Dar¡¯Len and threw her over.


    ¡°Fine, take her! I acknowledge your ownership.¡±


    He began to recite the words.


    ¡°As my sword is brandished, as my word speak as law, may the magic inside me granted by the lord, the creators, bear witness to the transfer of contract, I give this slave to another, may all responsibility fall upon them, may the slave follow the bidding as if law, if there is failure to comply, may it be struck down where it stands. Nyx, Erebus, Surya, as my witness, may this thing become theirs.¡±


    Suddenly I could see a faint glow on the crest on Dar¡¯Len, she seemed to wince in pain slightly as her previous master quickly fled. It seemed the duel was over.


    Kurt was looking at me with his sword out, we stood like that for a few minutes.


    ¡°Uh¡­Nora, don¡¯t you need to hold onto this.¡±


    I could feel my face going red, I¡¯d seen Kurt in a lot of ways, however the moment he stood between me and that wretched man and resolved the scenario. He looked strong. I couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat happy, he seemed to react after the man had insulted me, maybe it was just my imagination, I couldn¡¯t help but giggle as I took the sword, he really was a unique person.


    Forgetting the events of the duel and the questions I had surrounding his past, I followed him and our new companion Dar¡¯Len, back towards the town for Lerz ceremony.


    <hr>


    KURT


    <hr>


    As we returned to the village, there wasn¡¯t much of note, after the duel Erebus had some expressed her surprise at my skill, to me it only felt natural though, I had trained for years before coming here and after arriving I was faced with countless fights to survive, I needed at least this much, while walking here Nora had remained strangely quiet. It may have been my imagination, but I feel like her gaze was upon me the entire way back¡­she was probably hungry, or angry.


    As night fell the town became rather lively, fortunately no Shades had come that night, it remained rather quiet, the ceremony went without problems. Slaves could watch from the back as a huge bonfire was lit in the centre, it seemed like most traditions did this, in this world it was used as a symbol to separate the souls of the dead from the shades, to ensure upon their departure they had a light to follow.


    I tried asking Dar¡¯Len, however she said there wasn¡¯t any such tradition for the Draconi, apparently, they just burn their dead purely to stop disease, and to remove any possibility of gem stones that would cause further issue.


    While talking I discussed my plan of going to her town at Draconi Peak and meeting her brother, to which she hastily agreed, apparently, she was pleased to be returning. Unmy had been with Nora with tears streaming down her face, she had a strong air of maturity about her, she never stopped smiling and had no more outbursts since the night I brought Lerz back, she simply lit the torch and threw it upon the bonfire. Only us 4 remained until the fires had completely gone out. Me, Nora and Len returned first and decided to go straight to sleep, respectfully giving Unmy as much time as she needed.


    Len was given a bed in Nora¡¯s room, she protested at first, asking for either her own room or she would steal mine, a few words involving ¡®I¡¯ and ¡®won¡¯ typically convinced her fast, she conceded. It became easily apparent that the girl only saw me as a punching bag, I¡¯m not even convinced she understood the separation of genders.


    Everybody slept soundly that night, Erebus had said a few words in respect to Lerz but otherwise remained silent, I was to start my training as soon as we began our travels to Draconi Peak.


    Upon waking up, Nora had already been saying her goodbyes to Unmy, Unmy simply handed me a huge pack full of clothes and dry rations that would last us some time, although phones weren¡¯t available in this world, we had promised to contact her at some stage in the future, I fully intended to keep the promise. We departed that same morning to catch as much daylight as possible, leaving the village was no problem, although the lack of carriage meant that Nora had to lay Len¡¯s ridiculous weapon on a cart and spend a couple of hours pulling it out the gate. As soon as we made it through Nora collapsed on the floor and insisted on being carried, Len picked her up after putting her weapon across her back, horizontally, vertically would¡¯ve been taller than her and impossible, it was held but some rather heavy-duty straps that seemed to be made of sound weird elastic material, obviously it was very strong.


    Seeing this was quite funny, Nora looked a little disappointed as she was picked up by then, I wasn¡¯t carrying her though, she probably weighs more than she cares to admit, and I wasn¡¯t her carer.


    As we left the village none of us looked back, I finally had a clear goal, to find companions that could help me take on Erebus¡¯ sister. Strangely, during the chant made by the merchant after the duel, Erebus had informed me that Nyx, was her sister, hence being used in the chant and she was unsure who Surya was.


    After gathering ourselves for the long road ahead to Draconi peak, we set off.