White. Everything was wrapped in that silent, motionless whiteness.
Milky fog pulsed softly through the space, drifting without direction.
There were no edges. No sky. No ground. Just emptiness... and whiteness.
Kai walked. His footsteps made no sound—in fact, his breathing was the only thing that could be heard.
In front of him… stood him. Or at least something that had his shape.
Same face, same height, same gaze. But… cloaked in darkness.
This other Kai was coated in absolute black. His aura wasn't mere shadow—it was alive.
Thick, black mist swirled around him, following his every move like an obedient spirit.
On his head— a hat. Elegant, yet ominous, like something worn by illusionists from long-forgotten times.
In his hand—a cane. Long, but slender. And on his hands—gloves, pristine white, almost glowing, in sharp contrast to his being.
And then… the eyes.
Red.
Deep, cold, and piercing, they shimmered in the fog. He looked with them straight into your soul—as if he knew every sin you had ever committed.
He looked like a noble of darkness. A master of midnight thoughts.
A reflection from a mirror that does not exist.
"Shadow..." Kai whispered, barely audible.
"Isn't that... who I am?" said his Shadow with a deep bow, removing the hat from his head.
Kai hesitated, then finally spoke:
"I came to see the Whispering Owl… Can you… you know..." Kai began, expecting the Shadow to let him pass.
"Why would one who steps into the hall of dreams seek an exit before hearing what I have to say?" the Shadow asked, without a shift in tone or manner.
"I need to speak with her," Kai said, more firmly now, a trace of impatience in his voice.
"Should you not, before calling yourself a brother..." The Shadow pointed its cane at Kai,
"...have shielded your sister with your own hand? As you are now, you're but the shadow of a brother—useless, worth nothing," the Shadow said, lowering the cane back to its side.
"What did you say?" asked Kai, though he had clearly heard the Shadow. He simply wanted to see if it would repeat its words.
"Exactly what your ears pretend to doubt—your hands can't even protect your sister," the Shadow replied, without a shred of pity.
"That's not true!" Kai snapped back, defending himself. His voice now raised.
"Is that so? Then name the moment—when your noble self saved your sister," the Shadow said, and Kai brought a hand to his chin, thinking.
After a few moments of silence...
The brother had no answer.
The truth was—his sister had always been the one saving him.
He had never truly done anything on his own.
His expression shifted—from confident to quietly sorrowful.
The Shadow smiled—coldly, silently.
"He took the bait..." he thought.
"You… are worthless." The Shadow began circling him slowly.
"All you do is waste your sister's time. Just imagine... if she had a brother who was actually useful."
Then came a low, broken laugh—dark and cruel.
"My eyes have never seen someone more pathetic than you. HAHAHA!"
Suddenly, he placed a hand over his mouth.
"My apologies for the laughter."
Kai stood speechless, eyes locked on the floor.
"I'm... useless?" Kai whispered to himself.
"Exactly! Useless you are!" the Shadow confirmed with a nod.
"I wouldn't even call you a human being... You'd be better off dead!"
"No..." Kai tried to speak, but his voice was weak and trembling.
"Your blood—your sister—must do everything alone...
She cares for you and herself, because your uselessness outweighs even the Devil's own!"
The Shadow sneered, then continued:
"You're selfish! Manipulative! You crave power—yet you know you'll hurt your own blood to get it!
You are nothing… just a hollow shell of a person...
You understand human psychology, and yet you can't even see—your sister is suffering!"
"No... Shut up!"
"Why… Oh, why would you end this conversation?" the Shadow asked, placing a finger on his lower lip as if pondering.
"Could it be… that I speak the truth?"
"Please..." Kai began, but the words caught in his throat.
The Shadow smiled.
"'DIE! JUST DIE ALREADY!' That's what your sister surely thinks every time her eyes fall upon you."
He took a step closer.
"'WHY WERE YOU EVEN BORN? WHY ARE YOU MY BROTHER?' Oh, oh, oh… must be such a burden to her, aren't you?"
Kai crouched down, covering his head with both arms, his body trembling.
"SHUT UP!"
The Shadow stopped right in front of him.
"Maybe… you should kill yourself when you wake up. Or...?"
Kai looked up, his eyes wet and shaking.
"Or...?"
He slowly lowered his hands from his head.
"There may still be hope for you..." the Shadow said, snapping his fingers.
In that instant—next to Kai's crouching form—he appeared, holding a scroll in one hand and a quill in the other.
The scroll was ancient, yellowed with age, covered in unreadable, arcane symbols.
The quill was already soaked in ink—not black, but dark crimson, almost like dried blood.
"Sign here… and I shall grant you power," the Shadow said, offering the scroll and the quill.
Kai looked down at the parchment, then up at him.
"Power...?" he asked curiously, his hands now sliding off his knees, slowly recovering from the earlier shock.
"Active Magic!" the Shadow began, then paused for effect—
and continued in a lower, more ominous voice:
"With that magic… you'll finally be able to protect your blood... with your own hand."
Active Magic—a type of sorcery only Elves and Demons could wield.
Incredibly powerful.
Kai's eyes flickered.
The words were heavy… but tempting.
"Active Magic... but I don't know anything about it..." Kai murmured, his gaze shifting between the scroll and the Shadow.
"Then a manual, I shall give you!" the Shadow snapped his fingers.
In Kai's hands appeared a book—old, thick, leather-bound, with glowing symbols carved into its cover.
It was cold to the touch.
The title shimmered in shifting ink:
"Introduction to Active Magic"
Kai looked at the book, then the scroll, then back at the Shadow.
"This... sounds perfect. Finally... I'll finally be useful. I'll be able to protect Mei. To... be something more," Kai thought.
But then—he paused.
"And what do you get out of all this?" he asked cautiously, voice guarded.
"Nothing. I ask for no reward," the Shadow said calmly.
"It is... my pleasure to witness a mortal rise."
Kai fell silent.
The pact... was strange. But it was everything he ever wanted.
Silence lingered as his heart wrestled with his mind.
Then—
"I ACCEPT!" he shouted with resolve.
The Shadow smiled.
He handed him the quill—and it immediately began to tremble in Kai's hand.
The ink was warm.
Kai shivered.
"Is this... some kind of scam?" he whispered to himself.
But it was already too late.
His hand moved on its own.
He signed.
The Shadow bowed deeply, smiling.
"Thank you," he said—then vanished.
Everything around Kai darkened.
The fog withdrew.
Kai collapsed backward, his body giving in...
And he fell asleep.