I take a step back and turn around, ignoring her as I seemingly teleport to the bright orange container, the heat radiating from it as the top panel warps in shape. I grab it with my bare hand as a sizzling noise escapes my grip. I lift it up as it bends like dough in my hands. I quickly slam the cover onto the table, a bang escaping as I look inside the container, the only seeable color being an inky black smoke.
But the heat exploding from the box causes me to squint as I quickly hold up my hands, 'I might as well be frying myself.'
I think as I reach in, the scales on my hands feeling as if they're melting. I swiftly yank out the paint tray and place it onto the table, a small purple flame underneath extinguishing itself from the sudden force. I reach out my hand as the cracks in my scales slowly begin to repair.
'Absolute Shadow.'
Not even a second passes before a black liquid drops into the container, a massive wave of steam following after with an evil hiss. All the hair stands upright in my body as I leap back.
I watch as the metal suddenly screeches with life, bending in agonizing ways as pieces fly off. I quickly react and bolt over to Emily, using my large frame as a shield against the makeshift shrapnel. Clanks and tings can be heard as they hit against my scales, barely able to even scratch the surfaces.
Emily whips out her dagger and shakily holds it at my neck, the cold metal resting on the purple scales. But she does nothing as she stares at me with shock, fear, and...confusion. The being before her claimed to annihilate an entire castle's force, and yet this being has spared her and even saved her multiple times now. And even now, he appeared to save her again.
She has attacked him multiple times...but he deals with it all. Even after all the times she saved him, her guard wasn't lowered, she was always ready to stab him if he tried anything. Yet, he tried nothing, not even when she was unconscious, which she asked Amelia about. He never drew a weapon towards her, even if she is weaker by a seemingly whole realm.
'I am going to try and trust you Kurayami. Don't pull anything.' She tells herself as she slowly pulls the dagger away from my neck, a bit of hesitation sensible in her demeanor. But as she slowly sheathes the blade into her holder, a new demeanor washes over her, one that seems more childish.
I smile underneath my mask as the last bit of metal bounces off of my head, a ting ringing out from the rough impact with my skull.
'I guess she decided to finally trust me.'
"Yup, her entire aura changed when she put her blade away. Now she kinda just looks like an anxious child."
"..."
I stay silent as I refuse to add any comment, afraid to say anything in my head as Sky is listening. There are advantages to having someone in your cranium, this is one of the disadvantages.
I shake my head before turning around, seeing the pieces of metal laying all across the floor. None had penetrated my scales even with their heat. The Alpha Pillar couldn't even burn my scales, having to resort to pure strength to break them. And even then, the strength was that which surpassed S rank. So simple metal scraps couldn't injure me if they tried.
I hold out my hand as I do a sweeping motion, the darkness gathering into a small blob before scuttling around the room, like a roomba. Whenever it crawls over a metal piece, the piece is silently removed.
I learned how to do this by partially letting my mind elsewhere, it's very simple and a good way to keep my refined motor skills in check. It helps me to make sure I supply it with a steady amount of mana while also controlling its movements. It would be taxing on a D rank mage who was just starting out, an E rank could barely manage to get the shadows close to eachother.
I could probably do this with hundreds of them, create an army of cleaning roombas. I shrug as I toss the broken parts into the warped and scorched black container, 'I decided to put the fire out, but that had happened. Guess I forgot to account for the sudden steam.'
I wave away the smoke as I hear a voice in my head again, "Well, when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, a massive force is created, the same happened here, but with an indestructible flame and an indestructible liquid. At least that is what I am assuming."
I nod, 'Close enough.' Before tossing the last piece of metal I had in my hand into the broken container.
I walk over to the tray as I see a fine, blue powder inside. I smile as I sprinkle some black powder in from my hand, having created it using 'Absolute Shadow.'
The use for Absolute Shadow is seemingly limitless, which scares even me when I think about becoming a god. I could create planets of shadows, maybe raise a race, finally figure out humanity's evolutions and whether they happened due to godly intervention or natural selection.
I shake my head as I wave my hand again, my wrist slowly beginning to grow sore from the constant hand waving.
I create a bowl, a simple brush, and a spoon. I slowly stir in the black dust as the bright blue slowly becomes a midnight shade. I take my paint brush and dip it into the dust, pulling out a large chunk before calmly beginning to paint away.
'I decided this color since the finish will be matte midnight blue and it will help Dreag stay hidden in dark areas while also changing up the colors a bit. Plus, I am quite excited to paint using it seeing how it isn't a shade of black or purple for once.'
"I agree! It is a very pretty color! I want to help!" Says Sky as I feel my skin in my hand part, her little body poking out in excitement.