The mist did not part for Tharyx.
It recoiled.
As he rose to his feet, the pale fog rolled backward in slow waves, revealing a fractured plateau of broken stone and twisted metal suspended over an abyss that had no visible bottom. The air was colder here, sharper, charged with faint static that prickled against his skin. Gravity felt… selective. Lighter in some places, heavier in others.
Behind him, the rift had already sealed.
No way back.
Zalivra lay sprawled several meters away, coughing violently. "I just want it on record," he groaned, "that I did not consent to dimensional relocation."
"You weren't relocated," Tharyx replied, scanning the environment. "You were dragged."
Zalivra lifted his head weakly. "That's worse."
Tharyx stepped forward cautiously. Every movement here felt watched not by eyes, but by pressure, like walking through a place that remembered being alive and resented it. His shadow clung unnaturally close, not stretching with the light, but pooling around his feet like ink spilled deliberately.
Then he saw it.
Half-buried beneath shattered stone near the edge of the platform was a fragment jagged, crystalline, and glowing faintly from within. Not light, not darkness, but a pulsing twilight hue that shifted between deep violet and pitch black. Veins of energy crawled across its surface like slow-moving lightning.
It pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Each beat sent a faint tremor through the ground.
Tharyx felt it immediately as an echo inside his chest, resonating with his shadow threads. Not attraction. Recognition.
"Don't," Zalivra croaked from behind him. "Whatever that is, don't touch it. Things that glow in places like this are always traps."
Tharyx didn't answer.
He approached the fragment slowly, boots crunching against loose debris. The closer he came, the more his shadow stirred, threads tightening, coiling, subtly reaching forward without his conscious command.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Unidentified Object Detected.]
[Void Signature: High Density.]
[Designation Pending…]
The fragment pulsed harder.
The air warped.
Tharyx reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the surface.
The world detonated.
A shockwave of void energy erupted outward, silent but absolute. Stone vaporized. The platform cracked violently, fissures racing outward toward the abyss. Zalivra was flung backward, screaming incoherently as he tumbled into a pile of rubble.
Tharyx was lifted off his feet.
Void energy surged into him like a flood breaking through a dam. His vision fractured into overlapping layers of past, present, and unreal possibilities flashing simultaneously. His shadow exploded outward, unraveling into hundreds of writhing strands that stabbed into the ground, anchoring him as the shockwave passed.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[VOID OVERLOAD DETECTED.]
[Emergency Stabilization Initiated.]
[Shadow Threads forcibly engaged.]
The fragment rose into the air, hovering inches from his hand, now fully exposed. It pulsed rapidly, responding not just to his presence but to his shadow.
Tharyx gritted his teeth as pain ripped through his nerves. This wasn't damaged.
This was integration.
The fragment slammed into his chest.
Not physically.
Conceptually.
The void screamed.
Then
Silence.
Tharyx collapsed to one knee, breathing hard, sweat dripping from his brow. The fragment was gone. No crater. No remains.
Inside him, something had settled.
The ground around him darkened.
Shadows detached from their owners.
Not just his.
Every shadow cast by broken stone, jagged pillars, and floating debris began to move independently, sliding, stretching, lifting off surfaces like living creatures awakening from sleep.
Zalivra stared in horror. "Why… Why are the shadows walking?"
One shadow rose higher than the rest, coiling toward Tharyx, brushing against his arm, not hostile, not submissive.
Curious.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[CORE INTEGRATION COMPLETE.]
[Item Absorbed: Void Fragment Alpha.]
[Classification: Growth Catalyst.]
New text unfolded beneath it, sharper, heavier.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[PRIMARY SYSTEM FUNCTIONS PARTIALLY UNLOCKED.]
[Stat Interface Initializing…]
A translucent panel snapped into place before Tharyx's eyes. Larger than before. More stable.
Not flickering.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[User: Tharyx]
[Status: Void-Touched | Shadow-Bound]
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Endurance: 11
Void Control: 18
Shadow Threads: 1 (Active)
The final line pulsed ominously.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Shadow Threads unlocked.]
[Growth Potential: …]
[Assessment: Alarming.]
Tharyx let out a slow breath.
"So it's official now," he murmured. "I'm anxious."
Zalivra staggered to his feet, staring at the moving shadows as they slid over rubble, climbed walls, and coiled together like a gathering crowd. "Are… are your shadows eating things again?"
One shadow snapped up and swallowed a chunk of broken stone, dissolving it into nothing.
Tharyx didn't deny it.
The shadows weren't obeying commands.
They were acting.
Reacting.
Learning.
He felt them now not as tools, but as extensions of awareness. Dozens of faint inputs tugged at his senses, feeding him information about movement, pressure, and distance.
Power.
Too much power, too fast.
The system panel flickered once more.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Warning: Shadow autonomy increasing.]
[Recommendation: Establish dominance or risk loss of control.]
The shadows around him surged closer.
The abyss beneath the platform stirred.
Something far below shifted, responding to the void pulse.
Tharyx straightened slowly.
His shadow rose behind him, not flat anymore, but tall, vaguely humanoid, its edges fraying into countless threads that whispered against reality.
He smiled.
Not because he was confident.
But because retreat was no longer an option.
"Alright," he said softly. "Let's set some rules."
The shadows paused.
Then leaned in.
And somewhere deep in the abyss, something answered.