The air in the cell was cold, but the sweat of tension covered Kaito. He had revealed Ren's existence, submitted his body to Lysandra's examination, and accepted the terrifying truth: the brother who saved him was now a commander in the army of his enemies.
At dawn, the Watcher offered him no food or comfort. She stood before him, her ebony staff floating beside her.
"Time's up. Commander Ren has already moved his pieces. We must begin. What you have is a curse and a gift. Today I teach you not to die because of it."
"How do I start? I don't know any incantations," Kaito asked, feeling the sting of hunger and pain.
Lysandra, without losing her methodical tone, explained:
"Your magic isn't of runes. It's of the chaotic essence that brought you to Eterea. You have the potential of an Essence Devourer. You can absorb the power of Light and Shadow, but the instability of your soul will kill you if you don't channel it."
She moved a step closer to him.
"Forget words. Focus your mind on the pain. On the hatred Darius instilled in you. On the desperation of your brother, Ren, before you lost him."
Lysandra didn't use a whip; she touched the thread of the inhibitor scar on Kaito's neck. The cold, sudden touch wasn't aggressive, but a deliberate intensification of his own internal suffering.
Kaito felt the cold, the hunger, and the image of the car hitting Ren with painful clarity.
"Focus! Don't be a child! Turn that tragedy into strength. Use the hatred of this lie they call Light!"
Kaito surrendered to the disorder. He pushed the chaos outward. The energy emerged from his skin like a dense, shiny black fog that detached from his body.
The veil of blackness swirled around them, silent and hungry.
Lysandra smiled for the first time, a cold but genuine expression.
"That's the Forged Shadow! Now, absorb it back! If you let it escape uncontrolled, you'll alert all the Paladins in the dungeon."
Directing the energy inward required willpower. Kaito struggled, feeling the dark energy resist.
"Use me as an anchor!" Lysandra ordered. She released a bit of her own controlled Shadow aura.
Kaito clung to it. In doing so, he felt Lysandra's immense loneliness, the burden of her watchfulness.
With a shudder, the dark fog retracted, entering Kaito's body again.
Kaito fell to his knees, exhausted.
Lysandra withdrew.
"Good. Now you're invisible to the Light's low-level sensors," she said. "Commander Ren formally requested the files of newly arrived 'Specters'. He'll find you if the connection remains so open."
"You must use this Shadow to wrap that bond... to poison it. Make him feel danger, not comfort."
Kaito focused on the tie he felt with Ren, and wrapped it with his newly forged Shadow.
Instantly, the echo of his brother felt distant, cold, and somehow toxic.
"You've done it. Now, your first test. You must maintain that Shadow mantle without fainting."