---
The field changed.
The sun rose higher.
The light grew harsher, brighter almost oppressive. The air warmed, not uncomfortably, but just enough to be noticeable. And I felt it: the subtle shift inside me.
A new scroll appeared, floating just above the grass. No sound. No fanfare.
> Spell Core: Lightless Crash.
A physical enhancement-type.
I already knew what it was. It reinforced strength, speed, and durability—but only under one condition.
Darkness.
Not just night. Not just shadow.
Darkness.
Caves. Moonless skies. Covered alleyways. Even your own shadow at high noon.
That was the point.
This wasn't a spell for every moment. It was specific. Environmental. Situational. The more darkness around you, the stronger you became. And in the dark?
You became a blunt weapon. Fast. Tough. Relentless.
Personally it was the spell I'm most looking forward too becoming like a late Game boss that could crush someone with one swing
But right now?
Right now I was standing in a field.
Open.
Exposed.
Bright.
No trees. No shade. No clouds. Just the sun, hanging heavy overhead like it was daring me to try.
So I did.
I activated the spell.
Nothing happened.
No surge of power. No speed. No reinforcement. The spell flickered, then failed.
Too much light.
Too open.
Again.
I stepped forward. Tried to move low, to shrink my profile. I focused mana into my core. Tried to compress it and redirect it to my limbs. The idea was simple: ignite the enhancement but only when shadow wrapped around me.
Still nothing.
The sun didn't care.
It stared me down.
My body stayed the same.
No faster. No stronger. Just normal.
I paused.
Took a breath.
Then I closed my eyes and shifted my approach.
The scroll had said "while in or surrounded by darkness."
But what if I didn't wait for darkness?
What if I brought it with me?
What if I became it?
I sat down.
Folded my legs.
Let my mana slow.
And this time, instead of pushing it outward, I compressed it inward. Not neatly. Not evenly. I crushed it down into my bones, my skin, my spine like packing smoke into a jar.
And then I pushed it down.
I imagined my shadow not the shape, but the weight of it. The way it clings to your feet. Follows your motion. Responds to nothing but light and position.
And then I imagined it turning inward.
Becoming not something behind me… but something I was.
I became a shadow.
Hot.
Confined.
Fighting to exist in the blaze of daylight.
The spell sparked.
Not gently. Not slowly.
Violently.
I gasped as my limbs tightened, like something had wrapped around them and pulled. My fingers flexed on their own. My breath shortened, then steadied.
The heat didn't vanish. It intensified but not from the sun.
From me.
From the mana thrumming under my skin.
I stood.
The spell held.
I wasn't just faster. I wasn't just denser. I wasn't just stronger.
I was harder to stop.
My legs felt like coiled springs. My arms like loaded steel bars.
My vision sharpened. Every step I took sent small vibrations up my spine not because I was heavy, but because the force behind each step felt too much. Like I could crack the field if I stopped trying to hold back.
The sun still bore down. But it didn't stop the magic now.
Because I wasn't waiting for the night anymore.
I was the shadow.
And I was burning in the light.
Phew. Next one learned.
---
The sky dimmed again.
No scroll this time.
Just the air changing heavier, sharper, colder.
I didn't move.
Then I felt it.
Something underneath my skin.
Mana didn't flare. It didn't twist into circuits or spell shapes. It pressed down. Slow. Heavy. Like it was trying to overwrite me.
Then it did.
My legs buckled.
My arms went numb.
My body compressed inward muscles tightening, bones snapping into new forms.
I didn't scream.
I wasn't Kai anymore.
Wings tore out from my back not summoned. Grown. Real. Covered in black feathers.
My arms were gone. My legs shortened, clawed. My neck stretched. My eyes
My eyes sharpened. Everything was much, much too different.
And I felt it.
I had become a crow.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
I was flying before I realized I'd jumped.
Wings flapping once, twice smooth, powerful strokes. Wind under me, the world a slow blur below.
I climbed.
The sky opened wide. Gray-blue. Quiet. Still.
Then I saw it.
Above me. Higher.
An eagle.
Bigger. Faster. Stronger.
Flying with casual, dominant ease like it owned the entire sky.
I felt and urge and I
I didn't hesitate.
I tucked my wings and dove.
Hard.
Fast.
It didn't see me coming.
I slammed into its back, claws gripping tight.
It flailed—twisted—screamed.
Too late.
I pecked at its eyes. Bit down on the back of its neck.
We spun through the air. It tried to recover.
I beat my wings once. Shifted my weight.
We dropped.
I drove it toward the ground like a missile. It screamed again, weaker now.
At the last second, I kicked free.
The eagle crashed into the dirt, wings bent under its own weight, chest crushed.
Dead.
I landed next to it. My feet touched down on the earth—claws gripping the cold soil.
I looked at the body.
Then at my own feathers.
Then I changed.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Back.
My hands returned. Legs reformed. Wings vanished into skin.
I stood as Kai.
Breathing slow.
Mana simmering under my skin like it had been stirred.
Then it activated.
> Black Wing.
Just instinct.
Just like the ability to fly
Knowledge that had imprinted itself into my nerves, bones, and muscles.
I had flown.
I had hunted.
I had killed.
Now I could use it.
Without issue it was amazing
Everything you could learn he felt it his time was running out kai didn't really know how much time had passed it all felt like a blur even though they just happened
So he decided to practice some basic swordsmanship
And them his Time came to an end.