For the past five years, Julius and his father travelled to one of the cursed lands in the continent, otherwise known as 'Land of the Shadows'. In there, they resume their training, at the same time, Julius started to train his body to possess one of the elements in the world. From the name itself, one could already imagine what the place looks like. Large oddly place rocks were scattered around the place, creating ominous looking shadows.
There was also a thin layer of mist that could only be found in certain areas of the place. Furthermore, there were man-made depressions that were scattered all over the place. Julius imagined the cause of these man-made craters as a result of an epic battle that happened eons ago.
This was the training grounds for Julius and his old man during the day. At night, he will be tortured by the all mighty bathtub-sama. Although he didn't like it, its effectiveness in training his body made him continue doing it.
At the same time, the old man gave him a battle art, namely the 'Arts of Swiftness'. To summarize, this battle art will boosts the user's agility significantly.
While Julius was deeply absorbed in meditating, a voice rung in his ears.
"Hey kid!"
Julius instantly opened his eyes and turned to look at where he heard the voice. There he saw his old man leisurely sipping some sort of drink while he laid in a bed shaped rock.
Just as he was about to asked what the old man needed, the old man quickly answered his questions, "Tomorrow you will head deeper in the Land of the Shadows. Don't ever let your guard down because there are Shadowfiends lingering in that area."
Contrary to his worried voice, his face didn't seem to show signs of worry at all. Perhaps it was the trust he has for his son, or perhaps it was the strength his son gained while the two trained.
Julius merely nodded before he continued meditating.
Looking at his son's back, his heart couldn't help but ache when he remembered the accident that happened when Julius was born, "Dear, your son is just like you, someone good looking. However, his indifferent and emotionless personality is just..."
While he was talking, he tilted his head up and looked at the sky. He felt a gaze so familiar to him but he can't seem to find it. When he couldn't handle the heart-wrenching pain in his heart, he turned his head and closed his eyes.
...
The following day, Julius headed in the deeper parts of the Land of the Shadow. It was day time, but it wasn't apparent with all the oddly shaped rocks blocking the sun.
"It's so difficult to sense the shadow element," Julius murmured under his breath. He has been at it for over a week, yet he hasn't even caught a glimpse of the shadow element. Still determined, he was about to continue his training when he saw something moving in the corner of his eyes. Instinctively, he turned his head.
While the place he was in was basically pitch black darkness, his eyes were already used to the darkness and he could vaguely see things in the dark. When he turned his head, he saw something crawling slowly on the rocky ground.
What's more strange is that the 'thing' kept passing pebbles and rocks as if they were not their as all. "Is it... a pet of a Forbidden Arts practitioner?"
He heard rumours about Forbidden Arts practitioners from the old man, and the sight before him was exactly like what his old man described their pets to be.
However, that doesn't seem to be the case since the 'thing' was using one of the elements, precisely the shadow element. As he stared at it for a couple more moments, something bizarre happened to him. Numerous dark runes started slowly materialized in the air.
"Hmm," Julius frowned, "It took me over a week just to sense it..." he then closed his eyes and started to merge the wisp of the shadow element to his body.
It took him quite a long time to fully merge it, but he merged it nonetheless. It was now daybreak, and a ray of sunlight could be seen passing through the oddly shaped rocks a few meters away.
Julius exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and opened his eyes. Even when hidden under a mask, one could feel an overbearing presence when one stared at his eyes.
When he was just about to get up, he once again saw something from the corner of his eyes. It was the 'thing' he saw the other day and it was sleeping on his shoulder.
For some odd reason, he felt an affinity with this 'thing', so he decided to let it be and made his way towards the shelter his old man set up.
...
When he got back, he was greeted by his father who was full of smiles, "It seems like you have succeeded in breaking through the second stage of the shadow element. It took over a week, but you brokethrough nonetheless."
Julius turned to his side and saw his old man, his face gleaming in delight. Clearly, his old man must have used some sort of skill from the shadow element given how he was exuding a black mist from his body.
In response to his old man, Julius merely nodded.
Subsequently, he turned his gaze sidewards and saw his benefactor leisurely sleeping on his shoulder. It turns out that the 'thing' was a lizard. A new-born to be precise. As for how he knew that this little guy was his benefactor, it was simple really. When one gains help from an animal or artifact, one would instantly gain familiarity with them.
Julius ignored the old man and turned his full attention towards the lizard laying on his shoulder, "Hey little guy,"
The lizard was immediately woken up from the noise. It turned its head from left to right, seemingly infuriated and was trying to find the culprit. Its gaze then landed on Julius' mask covered face. It froze for a second before its gaze once again moved and landed on Julius' eyes.
Bump
Bump
Bump
For some reason, the lizard became frozen as it stared st Julius' eyes. Its mouth also started to open and close, seemingly trying to say something but couldn't.
"From now on, I'll call you Zard," Julius' smooth and crisp voice broke the lizard out of its daze. Subconsciously, a smile appeared in Julius' face as he rubbed the little guy's small head with his finger, "Don't worry, I will treat you well."
Meanwhile, the old man who was carefully listening to the conversation of the two froze in place, "D-did he just... smile?"