A boy with black hair like the darkness of night and black eyes Without a trace of light in them, his eyes were like drops of ink on a white paper. Beside him was a girl with white hair shining like the bright sun; her silver eyes full of life took your breath away. They resembled light and darkness, but what spoiled their scene was the absurd amount of food in front of them.
"Seriously, the greedy ones have gathered together." thought the lunchman as he looked at them.
"Who would have expected a little girl like her to eat all that food? Seems the fat goes to those places, ahem," Nox thought as he looked at Elena devouring the food with overwhelming joy.
I reached for the food and tasted the delicious chicken broth — this academy really has very tasty food.
"Nox, can I ask you something?" Elena spoke after she finished eating a large piece of chicken.
"What do you want to know?" I replied boredly as I continued eating.
"It's about your shard. It's the Darkness shard, right?" Elena tilted her head and looked at Nox with great curiosity.
"Why do you think it's darkness and not shadow?" I turned my face toward her and looked into her eyes.
"Well, I was with my grandfather when a report came about a boy using darkness, and your shard is blacker than Professor Silas's shard."
"Wait! What do you mean by 'my grandfather'?" I exclaimed in surprise — who the hell is her grandfather that she would hear a report with him casually?
"Huh? Don't you know my grandfather? You even met him personally." Elena stared at Nox in astonishment.
'Wait, don't tell me the reason she reminds me of someone is actually...' Before I finished my thoughts, Elena actually answered my questions.
"My grandfather is Nikolai, the Academy Director " Elena answered simply, as if she were revealing something obvious like the color of the sky.
"Hold on — that old man is your grandfather!! Does that mean you're from the Whitehaven family?!" Because of the surprise, I spoke rudely about the Director, but I didn't care; what I wanted was for her to confirm my suspicions.
"It's rude from you to call my grandfather 'that old man.' As for your question, yes, I'm the daughter of the Whitehaven family. Everyone knows that — it's obvious. I mean, white hair, silver eyes, and I told you I'm Russian. On top of that, you've seen me use the element of light, right? What more do you need?" Elena scolded me for my impoliteness, then listed all the hints about her origin.
'Ugh, she's right. Why didn't I notice earlier? I almost found out if that Son of a b*tch Silas hadn't appeared suddenly.' I sighed inwardly and lamented my bad luck. What's with these nobles who appear suddenly in my life?
"So why didn't you tell me you were from the Whitehaven family when you told me your name?" I looked at her annoyed — everything would have been solved if she had said she was Elena Whitehaven from the start.
"Why would I tell you my family name? That's boasting, and one should not boast over others. My family is great, yes, but so what? It's not like I'm the reason for their greatness, even if I were. Pride is a sin — that's what grandfather told me," Elena said as she returned to eating happily.
'That old man taught her that? The same old man who acts like he's above everyone — unbelievable.' I went back to my food and tried to clear my mind.
What should I do now? Should I cut ties with her? But I'm already stuck with her . If she gets upset because of me, I'll be crushed by her fans. No! That's the least of it. What would happen if Nikolai found out I made his beloved granddaughter sad? He'd turn me into a lab rat. A cold shiver ran through my body.
'Ugh, okay I'll keep things as they are, but I must be careful. When the academy ends, we'll naturally separate. I mean, what's the chance a boy from the dark alleys stays in contact with a Russian princess? No chance. Right?'
I reassured myself and returned to my food. Truly, food makes you forget your worries.
---
After we ate all the food, I stood and headed for the exit.
"What are you going to do now?" Elena asked me as she walked beside me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"I'm heading to the library, then I'll go back to my room and rest."
"Oh, that's great. I was going to come with you, but I need to go see my grandfather, so see you later." Elena walked away, waving at me with a smile capable of sparking a world war.
"Okay, see you later." I replied only so she wouldn't complain.
A war over a smile, huh? I mean, it's logical — if you read history well you'll know men built and destroyed civilizations for just one reason: women. Yes, women, especially beautiful ones. I mean, even in religious didn't Adam leave paradise because of his woman? Even in the myths of the gods you'll find stories of suffering between gods and humans because of their love for girls. Take Hades and Persephone as an example: Hades fell in love with her and kidnapped her, but the result was her mother's wrath — the goddess of agriculture — causing famine that would have killed humans.
'I must be careful of the abyss called love,' I thought as I headed to the library. I had memorized the way already; after all, I had been there all last week gathering as much information as I could about the Abyss world, especially its environment and corrupted creatures.
Knowledge is power itself.
---
Now I was in the library, which consisted of two large floors and many shelves.
'What should I read today?' I was puzzled. I had read books about harsh environments and corrupted creatures. Should I read books that help control shards?
I thought as I walked between the books hoping something would catch my attention.
"Oh, what's this?" I reached for a large red book.
"Information about the shards."
'It seems to explain what would happen if shards met each other and something else — interesting. I've decided I'll read it.'
I headed to the reading table and sat alone.
'These fools don't appreciate knowledge; they'll regret it for sure,' I said as I looked around, but I noticed another person sitting in the far corner.
'Isn't that the space boy?'
The heir Starwalkers was sitting and reading his book with intense concentration. I couldn't see the title from here, but it seemed like an important book.
'Well, at least someone has a brain,' I thought and glanced at the book in my hands.
[Shard Collapse]
[It is a phenomenon that occurs seven months after merging with a shard without rising to the Bearer stage, where the shard decides the Awakened is unfit and destroys his body, searching for another person instead. However, please clarify that if the shard recognizes a rightful master, the risk of shard collapse disappears and the Bearer can spend the rest of his life away from the horrors of the Abyss. The Shard will not explode if the awakened person is in the Corrupted Realm, giving them time to evolve. ]
[Shard Madness]
[Shard madness is the condition an Awakened enters when he merges with another shard and the shards fight together for dominance, destroying each other. The Awakened may remain alive depending on his level of power and the shard types. The more incompatible the shards, the worse the symptoms. In all ways The Awakened turns into a mad person who kills those around him indiscriminately; his sole purpose becomes devouring other shards, which leads to his rapid death.]
[Note: The Awakened dies and his body explodes in a massive explosion due to the shards destroying each other, so caution is required when dealing with someone in this condition.]
[Causes of affliction: attempting to merge with another shard out of greed for more power.]
[Shard Interactions]
[There are three types of interactions: opposing, homogeneous, and balanced.]
[An example of opposing shards is Water and Fire, as these shards naturally antagonize each other.]
[An example of homogeneous shards is Light and Shadow. Some may think light is the enemy of shadow — that's wrong. The stronger the light, the deeper and more powerful the shadow becomes.]
[An example of balanced shards is Light and Darkness. Texts from other worlds mention that balance is built on shards needing each other. Light has no meaning without darkness, and darkness has no meaning without light t. If one of them is one, another will exist to complete it and give it meaning. ]
'This is amazing information. Who would expect such things?' I thought as I looked at the long list of shard interactions; there were hundreds of them.
[The interaction of Darkness and Shadow considers Darkness the natural enemy of Shadow, because a shadow is formed by casting light on an object, thus the object makes a shadow of its own by blocking the passage of light. Each shadow has clear boundaries that distinguish it, but if you place a shadow inside darkness its specific boundaries disappear, losing its identity and being consumed by the darkness.]
'Wow, that means I have an advantage over that annoying shadows user,' I smiled mischievously as I read the book.
It's good the library is almost empty or everyone would think I'm crazy.
I continued reading until I reached a new topic.
[Shard Destruction]
[A shard is considered a solid material requiring a lot of force to break, and its durability differs by shard type, but even the least durable of them is much stronger than steel.]
[If the shard is already merged with a person, it can be destroyed through several means, such as the Awakened ordering the shard to destroy itself when he feels he will die in battle and doesn't want anyone to benefit from his shard. Shards also destroy themselves due to the shard madness phenomenon mentioned earlier.]
[If a strike is directed at the Awakened's chest to destroy the shard, this does not work because the shard, when merged, becomes a healable and regenerable organ. If the Awakened is healed from near death, the shard will regenerate again But it will take a long time to heal with normal means. ]
[Shard Consciousness]
[Shards have their own consciousness. This has been proven upon contacting a shard, where one can know the shard's feelings and senses as well. The shards' consciousness was empowered because of the shard collapse phenomenon.]
[The higher the individual's level, the greater the ability to interact with shards and use their power fully.]
'My God, so much information — why didn't that bastard explain this in class? I take back what I said; he's a terrible teacher.' I thought, amazed and angry that this information wasn't covered in class.
I closed the book after finishing and rested in the chair while I tried to absorb all the mentioned information.
"The Abyss is truly mysterious. Why do shards exist and why did they appear with the Abyss world?" I said in a low voice, pondering my questions.
"Hehe, this is exciting. I want to know the truth — what happened, what's happening now, and what will happen. I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm eager to enter the Abyss and learn the world's secrets. No — the secrets of worlds. Wait, father, if you studied the earth history, I'll study the history of existence itself." I raised my hand and thought about the unknown future that awaited me.
....