Location: Hona Village, Ninsha
---
Shin sat down on the grassy plains while Bael and the chief talked with each other. Shin looked around, boredom written on his face.
He glanced over at Bael and the chief as the two slowly approached him. He got up and dusted himself off.
"So, what are we doing here?" Shin asked, continuing to dust himself off.
Bael answered, "You can't use dark magic yet. So we are going to teach you."
Shin nodded his head. The chief turned around, patted Bael on the shoulder, and sat a bit far away from them.
"Before you learn any spells, you still have to learn how to use dark magic," the chief yelled.
Bael let out a large breath of air. Shadow tendrils squirmed around him as they extended away from him.
Bael spoke out.
"Dark magic focuses on everything that contains darkness. In order to be able to use dark magic, you must be one with darkness.
That means you must treat your shadow as an extension of yourself, as you can see me doing right now.
Now, using dark magic is the same as using any other type of magic: you must envision it, then use your mana to bring it to life."
Shin nodded after every sentence. Bael retracted the tendrils and moved back.
"Your turn," he said cheerfully.
Shin closed his eyes. He stood in a void with a shadow-like figure in front of him. Shin raised his robotic left arm, and the figure mirrored him.
Shin put down his arm and moved forward; the shadow figure followed suit. When they got close enough, Shin extended his hand for a handshake and shook hands with the shadow figure.
When Shin opened his eyes, he felt something holding onto his left hand. He looked down and saw it was covered with streaks of black.
Shin looked up at Bael. He was surprised by the look of shock on Bael's face.
"Well, that was quick. You can already coat your body with shadows?" Bael asked, still in shock.
Shin continued examining his hand. Then, an idea hit him. He pointed his hand at Bael, and the shadow shot out at him.
Bael reacted quickly and summoned a thin black bubble that blocked the attack. Shin was surprised.
"Wait. Is that like the mana bubble?" Shin asked cheerfully.
Bael nodded his head.
"It is much more effective to deflect attacks with these dense constructs of mana. They are mostly useful against attacks that have a small hit area," Bael explained.
He dispelled the bubble. The chief stood up and went over to them. He grabbed Bael by the back of his neck and hoisted him up.
Bael squirmed, screamed, and thrashed around.
"Now, we don't need to teach you any spells or how to make any. Just make spells that focus on shadow and dark matter," the chief said as he turned to leave with Bael.
Shin sat down and started meditating. He fell into a deep black abyss where a smiling figure was waiting for him.