Sitting on a cheap wooden chair on his house's balcony, Sheldon savored the view of the Plagued Stone. He hadn't seen the complex streets of City County in eight months. The walled city of Plagued Stone will always remain as his home -- his home in Maryland.
As he gazed at the evening sun, he briefly recalled his achievements from his first ever Time Rift.
One, he survived Alethea, the Poet's Valor's blade. Two, he gained access to his own Innate Domain. Three, he had slain two Conjured Illusions of the power level of Grade 3. Four, the most impressive feat, Sheldon gained the Song's respect with relative ease.
If you told any normal person these achievements achieved by Sheldon, considering that they were from his first ever Time Rift, they'd have thought that you lost your mind.
Deciding to check himself out, Sheldon chanted:
"Elder Ones, tell me who I am."
Instantly, the Song whispered:
Name:[Sheldon Akashova]
Bestowed Name:[--]
Age:[15]
Needing more details, he asked:
"What about my power?"
Sheldon braced himself, just in case something bad will happen as a result of him not mentioning the 'Elder Ones' in his chant. But instead, the Song continued:
Power Level:[Grade 3]
Power Rank:[--]
Core Essence:[9,050/10,000]
Potential:[Grade 1]
Melody:[Shadowcast]
Melody Aspect:[Enhancer]
Enhancements:[--]
Potential Enhancements:[Shadow's Revolt][Umbral Embrace]
Celestial Indifference:[Ellycit]
Description:[Neither vague nor clear, the shadows of Dusk reigned in the light of Dawn.]
Tempo:[47/175]
Tempo Abilities:[Speed Blitz: II]
'What?! Shadowcast?! 9050 Core Essence?! Ellycit?!'
After all the time Sheldon spent researching on Flamecharm, he would simply have his dreams crushed by seeing the words [Shadowcast].
"Uh... Elder Ones... tell me my achievements from my previous Time Rift."
Sheldon read the achievements that he recalled. Following the fourth achievement, the Song whispered:
...
[The Nightmare Blade claims its first victim by cleanly decapitating the treacherous Elite, Lei Impromptu.]
[The weak, timid Sheldon gained a Celestial Indifference from his battle with a daemon of the darkness.]
[The weak, timid Sheldon, yet again, gained the Tempo Ability: Speed Blitz.]
Turns out, he was able to see what Ophiuchus was doing from the perspective of his eyes. Yet, he never saw any remnant of the odachi of the Nightmare Blade's steel. Such a weapon is not easy to hide.
Is it really that Ophiuchus was so fast that the naked eye could not bear witness, or maybe it was a result of his high tempo. After all, tempo is speed.
Either way, there's no reason to deny how outstanding Sheldon's performance was in his first ever Time Rift. However, it came at a hefty price.
He had to become a Shadowcaster.
Shadowcast, the ability to emit, enhance, manipulate and conjure shadows, was not an easy melody to grasp -- unlike Flamecharm. Both melodies have great combat capabilities, best used in grounded and aerial battles. Despite these similarities, a great deal of differences could be noticed. The most prominent difference being the Affiliant's unnatural control over the melody.
Manipulating Flamecharm can be as easy as breathing. Each spark of inferno, depending on the Affiliant's proficiency, is usually pure and flawless, not to mention it's utilization in daily routines. One can cook a meal for their entire family with the snap of a finger. Combat can also be made easier with the help of this melody.
On the other hand, Shadowcast requires a lot of training to be properly utilized in battle. Controlling shadows isn't an easy task, after all. Plus, most Shadowcasters died before becoming an Elite.
This made Shadowcast quite the undesirable melody.
Sheldon sighed.
'Well, I guess I have some training to do.'
Calming his turmoil mind, Sheldon stood up, walked into his bedroom, covered himself under a blanket and forced himself to sleep.
In the next few days, he had a lot to do.