He drove it straight through the soldier's heart.
The man's eyes shot open instantly.
His body jerked violently as he tried to scream.
But before any sound could escape, shadows burst across his body.
They wrapped around his mouth.His mouth was force shut by a mass of shadows.
The soldier struggled, his limbs shaking wildly trying his best to do what a man struggling against death would do.
But the shadows held him down.
Within seconds, the struggle weakened slowly turning into whimpering of a dying man.Blood started coming out of the wound on his heart and then His heartbeat finally stopped.
The moment Shade felt life leaving the soldier's body, he moved quickly.He plunged into the man's shadow and pulled with everything he had.
For a moment, nothing happened but then the shadow started detaching from the soldier's body.
Then the notification appeared in his mind just like it came when he took the rabbit's shadow.
[You have acquired an Elf Shadow stage 1 ]
[You have acquired Umbra (Shadow Energy) – 10]
[Your accumulation increases]
Umbra flooded into Shade like a dark river.
The soldier's body lay motionless on the bed, his chest no longer rising.
Inside the dead man's shadow, Shade felt something he had never experienced before.
Power, absolute utter manifestation of power.
Not the kind that came from his speed.
Not the kind he used when pulling shadows across the ground.
This was different.
This was absolute power that was waiting to be used in countless ways he can't even think of to begin with.
The Umbra he had absorbed flowed through him like a dark current, far stronger than the faint traces he had gathered earlier.
But that was not all.He could also feel something else.The soldier's shadow itself had merged into his being, becoming part of him.
It was his shadow now as for its uses he didn't knew fucking anything.
Then a thought struck him like a thunder on a tree.
If shadows could be shaped…Then he could use them to create a body.
A body that would allow him to see, hear, feel, and fight.
Shade focused.
He tried to remember what he looked like before everything happened.How he used to look like when he used to in the mirror.
Slowly, the Umbra he had gathered from the man was moving to the tip.
The shadows gathered and began to form a shape.
First came theLegs.
Then the Torso.
After that came the Arms.
Finally, it all ended with the head.
He stood like a rough silhouette that resembled his former human body.
This wasn't perfect but it was close enough.
Yet something was wrong.
Even though the body existed, Shade still couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He couldn't feel anything.
The only thing the body allowed him to do was fight.
It was nothing more than a mass of shadows given shape of his old body.
Shade paused.
He didn't want to waste the Umbra he had gathered so carefully.So he dissolved back into the shadow and began thinking.
Problems had been chasing him one after another ever since he arrived in this strange world.But this time, he forced himself to think calmly.
Then his attention shifted to something he had almost forgotten.
The shadow of the rabbit he had captured earlier in the forest.
He focused inside himself and he found the shadow connected without a shred of movement.
He began filling it with Umbra.
The feeling was strange.Like trying to fill a balloon with air.
Slowly, the shadow expanded and stabilized.
Then he moved his consciousness on it to control it properly to feel what it felt ,to hear what it heard and see what it saw.
Moments later, something incredible happened.0Shade suddenly experienced new but old sensations.
He could see like a rabbit in nearly 360 degree angles.He could hear like a rabbit in highly acute hearing.He could feel the world around him like a rabbit.
But there was still a problem.This body was fragile.He could sense it clearly.
It allowed him to perceive the world, but he could not fight with it.
One strong impact would likely destroy it.
Shade understood immediately.
The rabbit's shadow was simply too weak.
So his attention turned toward the soldier's shadow.
Without hesitation, Shade dissolved once again.
He entered the soldier's shadow and began filling it with Umbra.The shadow absorbed the energy easily, like a container designed for it.
Slowly he started to materialize in the shape of the soldier,the only difference being that he was fully made up of pitch black shadows.
But this time it felt different than his other experiments.
Stronger,sharper and better.
When Shade opened his eyes again, the world finally appeared clearly before him.
The dim lantern flickering with light.
The wooden walls clearly made up of strong wood.The corpse lying on the bed.
He could hear the faint sound of wind outside the window.
He could feel the cold wooden floor beneath his feet.
And most importantly…
He could move freely.
This body allowed him to see, hear, feel… and fight like a proper human if one could ignore the ears.
For the first time since becoming a shadow, Shade was standing again.
Shade stood silently in the small room, adjusting to the strange sensation of having a body again.
It felt… unfamiliar.
The way his chest moved when he breathed.
The weight of his feet pressing against the wooden floor.
Even the faint rustle of his muscles as he shifted slightly.
These sensations had once been so normal that he had never thought about them.
Now they felt like miracles.
Then he formed clothes that matched the current world he was in using the shadow of the clothes he had gotten from the soldier's clothes.
And slowly, he turned toward the dead body of the elf he had just killed.
The corpse lay still on the bed, long ears resting against the pillow, eyes half open in a lifeless stare.
Shade watched him for a moment.
Then he spoke for the first time since gaining a body.
"I… am sorry."
His voice sounded strange to his own ears. Hollow. Slightly distant. Like an echo trapped inside darkness.
He wasn't sure if the apology was for the elf… or for himself.
Just then, a message appeared inside his mind.
[Shadow Vessel Active]
[Vessel Type: Elf Shadow Shell]
Umbra Consumption: 0.02 / minute
Abilities Available:
• Physical Interaction
• Shadow Reinforcement
• Umbra Absorption
Shade stared at the message silently.
Then he remembered something.
He had seen something like this before.
Back when he had first awakened in the shadows.
'Maybe… this is the reason I'm here', he thought, trying to shift his focus away from the corpse.
"If that's true…" he muttered quietly.
"Then the key to going back should also be connected to this."
With that thought, Shade summoned the very first notification he had ever received after arriving in this strange world.
A familiar panel appeared before him.
________________________________________
Name = Shade
Age = ∞∞∞∞
Race = Dream Shadow
Title =
Affiliation = Unknown
Existence State = Semi-Manifested
Seals =
1. Ending (Broken)
→ Grants minor Authority over shadow and dreams
2. (Sealed)
→ ■■■■■■■■■■■
3. (Sealed)
→ ■■■■■■■■■■■■
4. (Sealed)
→ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■
5. (Sealed)
→ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
6. (Sealed)
→ ■■■■■■■■■■■■
Accumulation = 0.1%
Condition = Awakening
________________________________________
"Who the fu*k is shade, my name's ■■■■■"he said trying to scream.
Then a thought came to him.
'Is this the name of this body, was someone using this body before me' he thought.
It felt like bullshit but so did everything he had encountered so far.
Not thinking much about it he moved forward.
His eyes slowly moved from line to line.
Then they stopped at one word.
Race = Dream Shadow
A quiet breath escaped his lips.
"Guess… I'm not even human anymore," he whispered.
The thought felt heavy.
It hurt as much as he expected.
Being suddenly told you're not human was a strange thing.
As for his age he didn't have the energy to think about it.
His disbelief boundaries had rised so much that a infinite symbol didn't shock him.
He was a shadow after all.
Then a strange message popped in his mind.
It came out of nowhere.
He hadn't done anything for this to appear.