Nightfall blanketed the sky in silence as Leon stood alone in the clearing, surrounded by the pitch-black forms of his summoned shadows. Three figures emerged from the dark: the Eternal Empire assassin, the monstrous beast he had consumed in the early days of his return, and Kel, the newest, and most human-like of the trio.
Each of them kneeled before him.
Leon's eyes swept over them like ice, devoid of emotion. "You're fragments of what you used to be," he said coldly. "But under me… you'll become something more."
The assassin, cloaked in sleek black, didn't move, but the air around it buzzed with latent killing intent. It was fast, deadly. The beast, a grotesque fusion of muscle and bone, snarled quietly, its strength unmatched. Then there was Kel, once a commander of the Eternal Empire, now reborn in shadow, standing silently with a bowed head.
"Kel," Leon spoke. The figure raised its head.
"Yes… Master," Kel's voice was faint, hollow, as if struggling to hold onto pieces of his former self.
Leon stepped forward, placing a hand over Kel's chest. "You still remember how to fight. You better. I don't train corpses, I build weapons."
The shadow around Leon's feet rippled outward like a pool. "All of you. Stand."
The three shadows rose in unison, still and attentive. Without warning, Leon struck.
He moved like lightning, swinging his blade at the assassin with brutal speed. The shadow blocked, barely, and Leon twisted to deliver a backhand slash at the beast. It roared, lunging at him with massive claws, but he sidestepped and drove his knee into its ribs. Then, in a flash, he turned his attention to Kel.
Kel parried the first blow with a sword of his own shadow energy, frost forming around his guard. "I… won't fail again," he muttered.
Leon's expression didn't change. "Then prove it."
What followed was chaos in motion, three shadows attacking in perfect sync, testing Leon's strength and pushing his limits. But he didn't falter. He didn't hold back. Every swing of his sword cut through the dark like judgment, his strikes clean, efficient, merciless.
The assassin vanished and reappeared behind him, Leon countered with a spin and a burst of ice, freezing the ground beneath it. The beast tried to grapple him, he shattered its grip with a wave of shadow shards. Kel met him blade to blade, Leon unleashed a storm of shadow spikes from beneath, forcing Kel to retreat.
When it was over, all three shadows knelt again, panting, cracked, and exhausted from the relentless assault.
Leon stood in the center, barely winded, his eyes glowing faintly with violet shadow light.
"You're still slow," he said. "Still dull. But you're improving."
Kel looked up. "I… remember techniques. From before. Would you… allow me to teach the others?"
Leon paused. A flicker of thought passed through his mind. Then he nodded.
"Do it. Shape them. I'll forge you all into soldiers that even the Eternal Empire will fear."
Suddenly, a mechanical whisper echoed in Leon's mind:
System: Shadow Synchronization Progress – 8%. Command Efficiency Increasing.
He ignored it. That voice, the "System" still lingered as a mystery, but it hadn't failed him yet.
As the shadows returned to their training positions, Leon sheathed his blade and turned to the edge of the field where Kaelis leaned against a tree, arms crossed, watching everything unfold.
"You train them like weapons," Kaelis said. "Even the living ones."
Leon looked over, voice empty. "They are weapons."
Kaelis stepped forward. "You're not afraid of becoming like them?"
Leon's gaze narrowed. "I already did. In the Shadow Realm. There's nothing left to fear."
The wind shifted. Leaves scattered around the field as Leon turned back to his shadows, already preparing for another round.
In the darkness, the shadows did not rest.
Neither did Leon.