'I am cooked' he thought trying his best to find out what just happened.
Suddenly, both the male and the female were surrounded by eight armed soldiers.
They moved with discipline, their armor clinking softly as they formed a circle around the two strangers.
The man standing at the front stepped forward and said something.
Shade, unfortunately blessed with no ears, heard absolutely nothing.
He could only watch.
At that moment, he had three choices.
First, remain inside the female's shadow.
Second, use his speed and slip away into the surrounding shadows.
Third, hide within the shadow of the soldier standing closest to him.
Shade considered each option carefully.
Remaining with the woman felt risky.
He knew nothing about her, and she was already surrounded.
If things went wrong, her shadow would be the worst place to stay.
Running away was safer… but also pointless.
This was an unfamiliar world filled with unknown dangers.
Information would be far more valuable than safety.
Which left the third option.
The soldier.
From what Shade could observe, the man appeared to be of higher rank than the others.
His armor was cleaner, his posture straighter, and the rest of the soldiers seemed to wait for his command.
A person like that would rarely be suspected.
And if Shade stayed close to him, he might learn where he was, who these people were, and what kind of world this was.
Decision made, Shade slowly slipped away from the female's shadow.
Like liquid shadow, he flowed across the ground and merged into the soldier's shadow.
Once inside, he began observing him more closely.
As Shade focused his perception, he noticed something strange.
The soldier carried a different kind of energy within his body.
It wasn't like the shadows Shade had been sensing everywhere.
This energy felt… warm. Dense. Alive.
It pulsed faintly beneath the soldier's skin like a quiet flame.
Shade instinctively wondered if he could absorb it.
Just as the thought formed, the group began to move.
Lost in thought, Shade barely noticed that the two people he had arrived with were now bound in iron cuffs.
The soldiers escorted them through the streets.
As they walked, Shade extended his senses through the shadows around him.
There were shadows everywhere.
Shadows of houses, shops, lanterns, horses, and countless people moving through the streets.
The buildings were made of stone and wood. Narrow roads stretched between rows of market stalls.
People wore cloaks, leather tunics, and simple garments.
Everything about the place felt ancient.
From the architecture to the clothing, the entire city resembled something straight out of the medieval era.
Which meant one thing.
Wherever he had ended up…
It definitely wasn't the world he once knew.
And as Shade quietly followed the soldier through the maze of streets, one thought lingered in his mind.
What was that energy and what could he do with it.
After moving through the city for some time, the soldiers eventually arrived at a tall stone building.
The place was crowded with people dressed exactly like the soldiers escorting the prisoners.
Shade quickly understood.
This place was likely some kind of military headquarters.
The soldier who seemed to be their leader began giving orders to the others.
His voice carried authority, and the rest obeyed immediately.
After a brief exchange, the soldier Shade was hiding under turned and walked toward another building nearby.
He entered without hesitation.
Inside was a simple room with a wooden bed, a small table, and a lantern hanging from the wall.
The soldier shut the door behind him.
Then he removed his armor piece by piece, placing it beside the bed before letting out a long sigh.
Finally, he lay flat on the bed, clearly preparing to sleep.
Shade immediately realized something important.
This was the perfect opportunity.
No witnesses.
No movement.
No distractions.
He focused entirely on the soldier's shadow.
The energy inside it flowed slowly like a dark current.
Dense.
Heavy.
Shade tried to pull the energy the same way he manipulated shadows.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, attempting to command the energy leaking from deep within the shadow.
Again, nothing.
Shade paused, thinking.
Then he tried something different.
Instead of pulling the energy, he tried to breathe it in.
Not with lungs.
Not with a nose.
But with his entire shadow body.
A faint notification appeared in his mind.
[You have acquired Umbra (Shadow Energy) – 0.001]
[Your accumulation increases faintly]
Shade felt a small spark of excitement.
He succeeded.
But the amount was tiny.
He repeated the process again.
And again.
And again.
Each time the same message appeared.
The Umbra slowly accumulated, but the progress was painfully slow.
After many attempts, Shade reached an uncomfortable realization.
For him to gather a meaningful amount of Umbra, something drastic had to happen.
The same thing that had happened with the rabbit earlier.
The host needed to die.
Silence filled the room as that thought settled in his mind.
His first question was simple.
How could he kill a person?
His second question was harder.
How would he actually do it
Yes, he could slowly absorb that energy from the soldier's shadow over time.
But time was something he did not have.
Only four days.
Four days before his father would suffocate in that hospital bed.
Shade's mind trembled as he thought about his family.
His crying mother.
His younger brother trying to stay strong.
His father trusting his lie.
Slowly, the hesitation faded.
Shade made his decision.
He would kill the soldier.
But deciding and doing were completely different things.
Now he needed to find a way.
For several minutes, Shade remained still, thinking.
Then suddenly, an idea struck him.
It sounded impossible.
Ridiculous.
Like the air itself had slapped him with the thought.
But then again…
Becoming a shadow had once been impossible too.
Shade gathered every bit of Umbra he had collected.
Slowly, he pushed his shadow outward.
He tried to condense it.
To give it weight.
To give it form.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then suddenly—
It worked.
His shadow hardened for an instant.
A small spike of solid darkness formed.
Shade almost couldn't believe it.
He had actually succeeded.
But the spike disappeared almost immediately.
Every drop of Umbra he had gathered was gone.
Still, it was enough.
A plan had formed.
Shade began collecting Umbra again.
Slowly.
Patiently.
For hours.
The soldier slept peacefully, unaware of the predator growing within his own shadow.
Eventually Shade stopped.
'This should be enough', he thought.
He slowly climbed onto the soldier's body, spreading across his chest.
Then he began whispering softly in his mind.
"This is a dream…"
"Dream…"
"Dream…"
"Dream…"
The words were meaningless, but they helped him focus.
Then Shade condensed all the Umbra he had gathered.
A sharp spike of shadow formed.
And without hesitation—