The Shadow forest was covered in a thick fog. In a clearing in the middle of the forest stood two figures facing each other.
While others stood around them in a large circle, waiting with bated breath. Nyra watched the two figures, "Here are the rules for this test. Weapons are allowed, if you leave the circle, you will lose. And finally, the one who draws first blood wins."
Nyra's voice echoed through the clearing. "Fighters ready?!" She got two nods. "Fight!"
Zen faced the wolf king, who was letting out a lot of killer intent. Many of the other wolves passed out. Zen struggled under the pressure but refused to give in to that feeling.
"Impressive boy, so far I am pleased you are not a weakling." The wolf king taunted.
"I've faced far worse as a child, your majesty." Zen bit back.
The wolf king stopped letting out his KI. He merged in with the ground. Becoming one with his shadow, Zen merely closed his eyes letting his senses take over.
He dodged the wolf king's attack that came from behind him, there were mummers from the wolves who were still awake. "Don't think I'm done yet, boy."
"I'm glad, otherwise this would be a boring fight." Zen's eyes were still closed. Nyra watched him closely.
A shadow blurred on the ground, heading straight for him, Zen jumped into the air avoiding another attack from the wolf king.
"So far boy, you have shown great skill." The wolf king's voice echoed around the clearing.
"Thank you for the high praise. You are not half bad yourself, but I think it's time to end this little game of shadow tag." Zen retorted.
"Don't get cocky boy, it will land you into trouble." The wolf king countered.
Zen pulled his twin daggers from their sites, his eyes were closed, but he tracked the wolf king through his senses. The wolf king came from behind Zen, his maw wide and ready to land a killing blow.
Zen smirked, he jumped high in the air twisting his body out of the wolf king's maw. Using his twin blades, he made two shallow cuts on the wolf king's back.
"I win." Zen landed behind the wolf king, and Zen's blades dripped with a bit of blood from the wolf king. Sounds of shock entered the clearing.
The wolf king was too surprised at the boy's quick reflexes. "The winner, Zen!" Nyra declared.
"That was superb my boy, I the king of the shadow wolves declare this young man to become my partner, and henceforth my first son become the new king of the shadow wolves." Howls erupted through the clearing, celebrating their new king.
"Now Zen, for us to become fighting partners you must give me a name." The wolf king stated.
Zen looked at his new partner, he felt happy but most of all grateful to be getting some aid from the monsters he sought to destroy. "I shall name you Tsuyo."
Two bright lights wrapped around Zen and Tsuyo, blinding them. "What's happening Tsuyo?" Zen was confused as to what was happening.
"These are magic circles, they are here to bind our souls together," Tsuyo explained in a calm voice.
The magic circles got brighter, "Although I've never seen them this bright before. When my father went through this, his circle was a dim one."
Nyra looked on in pure joy, she knew Zen was special, the day she met him. An invisible chain shot from Zen's chest and burrowed itself into Tsuyo's chest.
Zen could feel something warm spread through his chest and body, Tsuyo felt the same, both of the closing their eyes.
The light that surrounded the two began to fade, making Zen and Tsuyo slowly fall to the ground again. Zen's head felt dizzy as he squinted through his eyes at Tsuyo. He was concerned for his new partner.
"Tsuyo, Tsuyo are you alright?" His vision was blurry. He could faintly make out his partner's body, and the other wolves began to move toward them. Nyra was the closest and rushed toward Zen.
"Zen, Zen are you alright?" Her voice was laced with worry. Zen nodded his head, he shook it to clear his blurry vision.
Once it was clear, he looked over to his partner who still lay there unresponsive. Tsuyo's fur was blacker, his body was bigger, Zen moved to him at a snail's pace, falling to his knees beside Tsuyo.
Zen ran his hand through Tsuyo's soft fur. "Tsuyo, are you alright there buddy?" Zen's voice was just above a whisper.
Tsuyo began to stir, he groaned a little. "Yeah, I'm good. Although my body feels a lot younger now." He lifted his head to look at Zen.
"I can explain why." Nyra chirped. "You see since Zen is sixteen still when your souls were bound together, your age reverted to an adolescent wolf."
Tsuyo looked at Nyra, "So I assume you saw my father do this to Nyra?"
"Yeah pretty much, although your father's light was way dimmer than yours. I just knew Zen was a special guy." Nyra beamed.
"So what happens now?" Zen asked.
"Now we train your new magic abilities Zen" Tsuyo stated. Zen looked at him like he grew a second head. "Wait, what do you mean by my magic abilities? I was born without that magic whatever."
Nyra felt sorry for Zen, "It must have been tough, your life."
"It was for the most part, but then I trained myself to become stronger and defend those who can't," Zen added.
"Remember that warm feeling in your chest Zen?" Tsuyo put his large paw on Zen's chest. "Some of my magic was transferred to your body."
Zen's eyes were like saucers. "You mean I can use magic now?" Tsuyo nodded. "I'm a shadow wolf and our abilities can control anything that has to do with shadows. Namely, shadow possession, shadow walk, and shadow puppetry to name a few. We are going to teach you how to use your magic, Since shadow, magic is the third strongest after light magic and dark magic." Tsuyo explained.
Zen nodded, he never really found interest in learning about magic, since he never had the talent to do so. "So let the training begin." Zen was enthusiastic.
Tsuyo and Nyra gained shit-eating grins on their faces, Zen gulped he had a bad feeling about this...