It was a scary thing she had just said to him.
It terrified him that only one of the strongest from the void could wipe them all out.
And now, a being of such caliber spoke to me... Aren't I already fucked since it noticed me trying to mess with void magic?
Will it come for me?
He felt shivers just thinking that a being like that would come for him.
Umbra looked at his grim expression. She sighed and nudged his side. "Sorry for scaring you, but your grandpa, me, and the other guardians of all the other races are ready to protect everyone from such dangers. Though the void beings rarely ever appeared on Earth, the last time they appeared was during your ancestor's time."
"However, I'm not so sure of what exactly spoke to you, but I hope, I really hope it's not trouble," she finished.
I hope so too.
But why am I excited at the same time despite feeling fear?
I want to know more about them, the void. I'm really curious what kind of entities they are. Are they really just hostile, or can they be befriended? If possible, then—doesn't that mean I'll have an additional power?
But the issue is, how do I communicate with them? I can barely use the void, and now I want to speak to it?
He shook his head inwardly. Nah, I'm just going to die trying that. Maybe when I get stronger and familiar with it, I'll try.
After rearranging his thoughts, he looked at Umbra and asked, "What are you teaching me today since the void is out of question?"
"Well, the void isn't really out of question since you'll be using void magic for certain stuff. What you're not allowed to do for now until you get stronger is the void speech that you did yesterday. I don't want you to start attracting anything unwanted."
"Indeed, I don't want an unknown being to kidnap me while I'm still so young." Vladislav frowned.
Umbra just laughed at his statement. "You really make my life so much fun."
He raised a brow at her reaction and just shook his head, but then he thought of something.
"Wait, you included yourself when you said that the guardians can protect us from the void. Are you perhaps a guardian? Because I know that you have a really important role in the family since even my father bowed to you. So what are you?" He focused his gaze at her.
"Me? I'm nothing important," she smiled.
"You think I'll believe that? Only a kid would believe that."
"But you are a kid, though," she raised an eyebrow.
"Cough, you get what I mean, so stop avoiding the question." He coughed in embarrassment.
She giggled at his embarrassed expression. "I'm just an old friend of your grandfather and grandmother."
"Damn, you're that old. Looks can be deceiving indeed," he said out loud as he held his chin, contemplating.
"What?! Who are you calling old?!" she smacked the back of his head.
"Don't you know it's rude to call a gorgeous lady like me old?"
"Ow! I'm sorry, it's just that you look to be in your 20s, I didn't think you were that ol—"
SMACK!
"Ow! Stop slapping me!"
She smacked his head again.
"Call me old again and the last thing you'll see is my pretty face," she said with a serious face.
Oh well, I'll be damned.
"Fine, I'm sorry, I won't say it again." He massaged the back of his head with his hand.
"Is your hand made of stone? Why does it hurt so much?"
"You don't wanna know," she gave him a chilling smile.
"Yeah, nah, I'm good," he said.
She coughed.
"Anyways, this time your task is to wrap objects with your darkness. Try controlling it just like what I did to the candle yesterday, but this time not to snuff out a light but to make the whole candle disappear."
She looked at the candle on the table and then—
SNAP!
She snapped her fingers, the sound echoing in the library.
The moment she snapped her fingers, things like tendrils made of darkness came out from the shadows of the candle and wrapped around it.
The candle then disappeared in a second like it was never there.
"Amazing..." Vladislav was impressed at her powers.
"That's what I'll be teaching you today, covering things with darkness to make them invisible to the naked eye.
"It is really useful for hiding things like weapons, artifacts, etc. Especially if you want to catch your opponent off guard, it can change the tides of your battle."
That's very convenient. For example, I could wrap my katana with darkness and then draw without anyone noticing, making people think that I'm just grabbing on to nothing, he thought.
"That means I could also wrap myself with it, hiding my presence and striking from the unknown, isn't it? But that probably would consume my mana immensely at my current state," Vladislav said.
She nodded. "Yes, you're right. You can also hide your body, but it is mana-consuming. It's really good for stealth and surprise attacks. If used properly, your enemy won't even know what hit them, even in death.
"And not only that, but at higher ranks, you will be able to cover more ground with your darkness, trapping people in it and erasing presence. It has so many uses that you'll learn along the way," she said.
"By trapping people, I mean binding them in place. Darkness is shapeless, so you can shape it into anything—all you need is enough control."
She opened her palm and pointed towards the candle and then closed it.
And the shadows obeyed her command.
Numerous small darkness chains came from the shadows and wrapped around the candle in place.
"I call these the chains of darkness,it is not a technique but I will be teaching you a technique today"
Oh well, I'll be damned. That sounded so cool, and another technique? Say less.
"The technique that I am about to teach you is used for trapping your opponent with their own shadow by binding their own shadow in place. And yes, I mean freezing their shadows without any sort of chain holding them down.
"They won't be able to move—you command the shadows and they obey. However, a strong opponent can break free from it. Let me demonstrate."
"Shadowbind," she said quietly.
An invisible force moved towards Vladislav.
Vladislav's body then suddenly froze.
"Huh, I can't move?" He tried to move but his body refused to.
It felt like an invisible hand grabbed him in place, or like invisible chains wrapped around his entire body.
I—I can't move a single finger.
"No matter what you try, you won't be able to break free. I'm stronger than you, after all.
"I just froze your shadow. Until I release you, you won't be able to move. Try moving."
Vladislav tried as hard as he could, but his body wouldn't budge. It kind of felt like sleep paralysis, but the difference is that you are awake.
"I can't break free, it's too strong," Vladislav admitted.
"Of course. If you did break free, I wouldn't call you a monster anymore, I'd call you an abomination," Umbra said.
She then cancelled the technique with a wave of her hand, and Vladislav was able to move.
I can move again...
Vladislav was able to move his body now. It felt weird that just a second ago there was a force holding him in place.
"That technique is too broken, Lady Umbra. Controlling someone's shadow is just too crazy."
"Yes, it is—only if your opponent is weaker or at the same level as you. You can maybe trap Athelstan, but you won't be able to freeze your dad. The gap is just too wide."
Vladislav nodded in agreement. "But still, that means as I grow stronger, my techniques also grow stronger, and one day I'll be able to do just that.
"Were the darkness chains also a technique, Lady Umbra?" he asked.
"No. I told you before that darkness is shapeless. You can control it to do anything. What I did was shape the darkness into chains and wrap them around the candle like this."
She took a step forward towards him, and then the darkness around him twisted and different numbers of chains came at him from different directions.
The metallic sounds filled the air in the library.
"S-shit!" he cursed.
He first dodged one, but it was futile. There were too many. The chains wrapped around his arms, legs, and waist. The chains then lifted him up in the air.
Umbra looked up at him. "Do you see the difference now? You can obviously avoid or dodge the chains—if you're faster, that is." She smiled.
He tried pulling his chained arms, but they didn't even budge.
It was too tight, but not so tight that it hurt.
He thought about using these chains to trap Jian during their spars, but he realized that knowing him,he'd probably dodge.
As good as these abilities sound, they must cost a lot of mana, which I don't have the capacity for.
"This definitely consumes a lot of mana, right, Lady Umbra?" he asked.
"Yes, it does, but you won't faint like yesterday. Still, don't use it recklessly," Umbra said.
She turned away from him, and the chains broke, setting him free. He landed on his feet.
She sat down on her chair at the counter and said, "Now, try to do both. I gave you enough demonstrations, but don't fret if you don't master it now. You have time to learn—"
She suddenly remembered something and clicked her tongue. "I should've kept that rat alive so he could practice Shadow Bind on it. Because if it's me, he won't be able to do it since I'm stronger," she muttered in annoyance.
"But alas, it's fine if he just practices on me right now, and later on he can try on something else."
Vladislav closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them again.
He pointed his finger at Umbra and said, "Shadow Bind."
He was expecting something to happen, but nothing happened—and that made Umbra laugh.
"Pft—"
"Hey, I'm trying to concentrate," he glared at her.
"Okie, okie, you can continue."
He focused again and said, "Shadow Bind," but nothing happened again.
"Pft—" Umbra quickly covered her mouth and coughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, there was something in my throat." She looked away.
Phew, calm down Umbra, you can't laugh yet. But it's just that the faces he makes when he fails are so funny and cute. And the pose he makes too, as if he's some kind of hero—the cringe lord, she thought while trying to stop her giggling.
"Did you just call me cringe lord in your mind?"
"No, I did not," she replied with a blank face.
Vladislav clicked his tongue in annoyance.
After 3 more tries he was able to use the technique. It consumed a bunch of his mana, but Umbra did not budge.
With the rest of his mana he was able to create chains that wrapped around the candle. They were not as many as Umbra's, but they were enough.
He was also able to hide a candle from the naked eye with his darkness, although a bit lacking. But there was progress, and there was room for improvement.