"I need you to make the following arrangements," I said to her. "What kind of arrangements?" She asked anxiously.
…
"Elaine please, you need to stop and get some rest." Ace pleaded to Elaine. "I will stop when I'm dead!" she said to him not giving him even a glance. "I'm sorry, but I can't let that happen." he said to her then approached her.
"I won't let yo-...." she began to say before being cut off by a chop to the back of her neck. "Rest for now." Ace said as he caught her. He then took her to her room and placed her on her bed.
…
"Understood?" I said to the tailed Lilith handing her some sheets of paper. "Yes Grayson." The tailed Lilith replied with a smile. She then received the sheets of paper, then disappeared. I then went to the old farm in Sherwood and summoned Azrael and the 5 remaining low-grade shadows through telepathy.
"Time for an upgrade." I finally said. I watched Azrael and the 5 low-grade shadows land in front of me. In unison, they all bowed respectfully. With the increase of deaths due to Anoroc, my control of the dark cloud increased significantly and so did the limit to the number of shadows I could create.
'I lost to Armando because I am weaker than he is. I had the advatage in skill, but I did not expect to fight someone who was stronger than me and completely lost composure. I need more combat experience!
Despite my knowledge of numerous martial arts, I have never had to apply said knowledge in an actual fight. Even if I had been proficient in these skills, the gap in power and speed was too big. This time will be different!' I thought to myself.
I then began with merging the 5 low-grade shadows into 1. The low-grade shadows twisted and turned without form. After a few breaths, they became one. The appearance of the new shadow was the same as the once 5 low-grade shadows, but only slightly bigger.
All the strength and experiences of the old shadows had now merged into this one. "What is your name?" I asked the new shadow. It took a short pause then answered with a soft voice, "No name."
"Still not enough. This shadow will not do." I said out loud. I then proceeded to create 500 shadows and merged them within the new shadow. A big cloud now surrounded the faint looking shadow like a storm. The shadow then began taking the cloud within itself. A minute later, the new shadow approached me and slightly bowed in respect with its right hand on its chest.
"Master, please give me a name." It said in a feminine voice. 'A female shadow?' I thought to myself. It was hard to tell as it had no flesh. The shadow was slimmer than the others, however, and her head was covered by the dark cloud like a hood. The hood extended all the way down to her thighs and created an outline of a somewhat curvaceous body.
Her hands and feet were the only areas not covered by the cloud, leaving nothing but her slim dark bones to be seen. After a short while, considering the job she will be doing, I finally named her....
"Axelia." I said to her. "I will cherish this name even after death! What are your orders for me master?" she asked me.
"Go find the tailed Lilith. She will explain everything to you." I said to her. She immediately nodded then flew up to the sky. She twisted her head left and right as though looking for something, then finally took off towards a certain direction.
Over the years, I have realized when my strength grew, my shadows would grow with me. We are connected.
Shadows are the tiny fragments of the souls they take to the after life. The moment a human is born, a shadow is either assigned to it, or created from a tiny fragment of the human's soul.
The more souls the shadows take to the after life, the more complete the shadows themselves become. Originally they start off without a consciousness, useful only as a pawn.
In time, the shadows learn from the lives they monitor. Taking in a fragment of the souls they shadowed, they grow their consiousness.
Azrael is already consious of the actions he takes. He is aware of whether his actions will benefit me or harm me. Perhaps some day, he will go further beyond such a one sided mindset. Whether that would be good or bad, only time will tell.
Even with the recent increase in strength, Azrael cannot last in a fight with someone at Armando's level.
'I need to create a shadow whose power I can depend on.' I thought to myself. I then immediately created 15,000 shadows that then scattered around the field and air. This was the current limit of the number of shadows I could create.
The aura of death radiated off of them and spread out hundreds of miles. The life forces of every living thing, plants and animals alike, were now suppressed and slowly draining.
"This will do." I said out loud then began to merge all 15,000 of them. A massive dark cloud then shot up to the sky, past the mesosphere. It began to twist like a violent tornado as it slowly took in the life forces of every living thing that was close by.
A pair of blue flaming eyes could be slightly seen from within the raging tornado, accompanied by a loud unearthly growl. Azrael then instinctively conjured a dagger on each hand and took a defensive stance, ready for anything.
The pressure building from within the tornado was unearthly powerful and not something Azrael could resist. He was then forced to take a knee, no longer able to fully stand. However, he still managed to raise his arms, with daggers in hand.
Although I could feel the pressure, it did not affect me like it did Azrael, as it was directed everywhere except where I stood. 'Is this really something I can control?' I thought to myself. Then almost immediately, the entire tornado collapsed, the flaming turquoise eyes began to fade, and the 15,000 shadows started raining down from the sky.
"What's going on?" I asked myself out loud as I watched my shadows land back down. 'It looked like the other consciousness, the one enduring the pain. Was it trying to escape? It's probably best for me to create something weaker than myself.' I thought to myself.
The pressure on Azrael was lifted and he was now back up on both feet again. All 15,000 shadows, once again, gathered around me as I went deep into thought.
'It may also be possible that I do not have the power to create a shadow that powerful or something is restrict me from doind so.' I kept thinking. I then took back 10,000 shadows into my dark cloud and left 5,000 still out on the field.
"Azrael, you ready for an upgrade?" I asked him. He then nodded and I proceeded to merge the 5,000 shadows into him. A whirlpool made of the dark cloud, similar to when I first created Azrael, covered the sky. This whirlpool, however, was much bigger.
This process lasted for about 3 minutes and at the end of it, Azrael was born a new. A 7-foot shadow stood before me. It looked like the same Azrael but clad with a dark armor radiating a turquoise glow. The armor covered his body completely and left no gaps apart from his eyes.
"How do you feel?" I asked him. "Stronger…much stronger. This way, master, I can be of use to you." he confidently said to me in a powerful, but raspy voice. It was weird. His mouth moved along with the armor, and it sounded like he was speaking right next to my ear.
"Alright then, show me." I said to him then conjured a scythe onto my left hand.
He then conjured a giant sword almost as big as he is and raised it to his shoulder. "Master, don't hold back." He said then charged at me. He slashed his sword at me horizontally, aiming at my abdomen. One would think with such a heavy looking sword it would be hard to move around with it, but Azrael's attack came fast and powerful. There was definitely an increase to his speed now.
I blocked the greatsword with my scythe. A huge shockwave was made from the impact, causing me to skid back 2 meters. His strength had also inceased by leaps. 'If I don't watch out, I might actually end up getting hurt.' I thought to myself.
I then retaliated and swung my scythe upward attempting to slash at his chest. He then used his sword to quickly block the strike and was blown 20 meters away.
'He has good reaction speed!' I thought to myself.
He then twisted his body and landed on his feet. As soon as he stabled himself, he immediately rushed back at me pointing his sword forward as it pierced through the air. I quickly avoided the strike by jumping slightly up into the air and stepped on his back.
He then turned back and started slashing at me at a tremendous speed. I blocked each attack, but not without getting some slashes in between.
"You rely too much on your sword after only just receiving it. For now, your attacks are too predictable. With more experience your skills and battle awareness will catch up to your power and speed." I said then disappeared within a big dark cloud that covered the field. It hindered Azrael's vision.
I then reappeared by Azrael's side and kicked away his greatsword.
"What will you do when you lose your weapon in the middle of a fight? Conjuring takes concentration. You need to know all the elements that make up what you're conjuring then accurately materialize them through the dark cloud. It would take way too long to conjure another sword in those conditions. The enemy might not always wait for you." I said to him, reappearing infront of him.
I then got rid of my scythe and dissipated the dark cloud that covered the field. Azrael took a glance at the greatsword on the ground then proceeded to raise his hands, ready to fight.
I raced towards Azrael and punched his chest causing him to slide back a few meters. The punch could only make a dent on his armor.
'I would need to use more power to break through that armor…good!' I thought to myself whilst dodging and blocking multiple attacks from Azrael.
Each punch and kick I blocked created shockwaves, and by now, there were craters all around the field. I then grabbed a punch from the side and used the momentum to throw Azrael's body to the ground.
"Basic Krav Maga self defense technigue." I said out loud.
I began to gather up a portion of my dark cloud and focused it on my left hand. I clenched my fist then punched down at Azrael's chest. A load BOOM followed after. A hole was created on Azrael's armor.
"That's enough." I said to him.
"You have definitely grown much stronger. It took a little effort to break through your armor." I said as I walked towards him.
"I am humbled by your words master." Azrael said respectfully, but still felt like he wasn't sufficient.
"You're a mess." I said to him then proceeded to share my dark cloud with him. In a few seconds, the armor was back to its original state.
"Thank you master." he said to me.
"Everything seems to be going according to plan. Let's keep training for this remaining week. We have quite the fight ahead of us." I said to him.