Jack didn't move.
He just stood there in the endless dark, staring at the shadow on one knee. His heart was hammering against his ribs like it was trying to break out.
A guardian? ...His...guardian?
The last thing he remembered was pushing his consciousness into the wild, purple mana core. Now he was here. No wind. No sound. Just him, and a being that radiated more pressure than Stanter did on his worst day.
"Huh... who are you?" The words came out rough. It was the only thing his brain could form.
The entity rose slowly. No footsteps. No scrape of armor. Just the faint shimmer of glowing eyes cutting through the shadow that made up its form. The long sword at its side didn't look like steel. It looked like night given an edge.
"My name is Gordlock," it said, voice low, like stone grinding in a deep cave. "Your guardian. And you are my master."
Jack flinched.
_Master?...That didn't make sense. He was a yard rat from the outskirts. First-stage Knight, barely. An anomaly with two dantians that he couldn't even control yet.
He took a step back, eyes narrowing. If this was some trick of the mana core, he wasn't going to fall for it.
"Alright," Jack said, forcing his voice to stay steady. "If you're my guardian… then start talking. What is this place? Why are you here? And why do you keep calling me 'My Lord' like I'm some high noble?"
The questions came fast, one after the other. Shock was wearing off, and curiosity was taking over.
Because if there was one thing Jack hated more than meditation… it was not knowing what was happening to him.
Gordlock didn't answer right away.
The shadow around him shifted, like smoke caught in a still room. The glowing eyes didn't blink. They just watched Jack, like they were weighing him.
Finally, the guardian spoke.
"Three hundred years ago, I served a different master," Gordlock said. His voice was low, heavy, like it carried the weight of those years. "The Old Shadow King."
Jack's breath caught. A king?
"He is dead now," Gordlock continued. "Killed in a war that the world has since forgotten. But before he fell, he did what every Shadow King before him has done. He left his knowledge. His power. Behind."
"How?" Jack asked, though his mouth was dry.
"Through a sacred artifact," Gordlock said. "Each Shadow King chooses one. A blade. A ring. A crown. The Old King chose... a necklace."
Jack's hand instinctively went to his chest. But the necklace wasn't there. He'd taken it off weeks ago after the breakthrough, because the purple light wouldn't stop leaking out when he wore it.
Gordlock's glowing gaze followed the motion.
"That necklace has bonded with you," he said. "It chose you. It found you… worthy of it."
Jack stared. "Worthy? I'm nobody. I'm an anomaly. I've got two dantians tearing each other apart inside me. I can't even control my own aura."
"Well that's just the power of the necklace trying to merge with your body" Gordlock replied, without hesitation. "It does not choose based on rank. Or strength alone. It chooses based on something older."
"I can sense your body also possess a foreign energy which is very different from the power of the shadow, but don't worry as long as you are in control with your dark energy it will move by your will and so you can stop it from trying to destroy your other energy source." Gordlock explained.
Jack opened his mouth to argue, but Gordlock raised a hand made of shadow.
"That is as far as I can say," the guardian said. The weight in his voice returned. "There are things you are not ready to know. Things that would break you if you heard them now."
Jack frowned. "So you just show up, call me 'My Lord,' dump a dead king's problem on me, and then go silent?"
A faint sound, almost like a breath, came from Gordlock. It might have been amusement.
"At the right time, I will tell you what you need to know," he said. "Until then, my purpose is simple. Protect you. Guide you. And make sure the power inside you does not consume you before you are ready to wield it."
Jack's gaze dropped to his own hands. The same hands that had cracked open a Qi pool. The same body that housed a destructive mana core trying to devour it.
He looked back up at Gordlock.
"Fine," he said. "So how do you plan on guiding me then." Jack asked a little confused.
"Don't worry whenever you need me tap into your dark core and reach out to me" Gordlock said.
"Huh, dark core...so you mean is not a mana core." Jack asked with a confusion plastered across his face.
Gordlock then with a gesture of his hand started explaining to Jack. "Every Shadow Knight possess a dark core and they are similar to a mana core in anyway on might think of, but the only difference is that a dark cores only affinity it has is with darkness. So in a way it is more related to dark magic.
"Wait...you mentioned Shadow knights, what are those?. Jack asked.
"Hmm...that you are not supposed to know yet." Gordlock said whith his hand on his chin as if trying to think of something.
__ __ _
At the other end grandma Neyney opened he eyes to get off and go start her preparation for her potions but then..."Huh, he is still in that position...is everything with him. Its been two hours since he sat there like that."
"Hey grandma what are you up to."
A voice suddenly called from her side, it was that of Jack's mother. She then turned to look at Jack sitting at the corner peacefully.
"I don't think Jack's ok" Neyney said with concern. "Why" she asked.
"He has been like that for almost two hours now and he is still there, I tried calling out to him but there was no reply." Neyney said.
His mother then looked at his direction with wary face, just as she was about to move there...
"Huuuuhhhmmm"
Jack worked up struggling to breath and had trail of sweats running down his face. He panted for air as if his breath was cut off during the meditation. But in reality it was because of how much time he spent in the other dimension he was in. His mom instantly rushed to his side with a worried expression asking him all sort of questions.
"What happened dear" she asked trying to help him cool his breath with healing magic. Yes she was a mage and not just any mage. She was at the peak of the four star mage.
Jack gained his breathing back to normal and took a look at her mom and replied. "Alot, and I think you should know about it."