Chapter 10: Shadow I
The world of the [Voidstar Chronicles] was vast, enigmatic, and dangerous. The novel followed a medieval fantasy and Sci-Fi setting where part of the story took place beyond the planetary territories.
The planet in this world was unlike Earth, they had supernatural powers, magic, powerful interstellar species, gods, devils, and much more…
The home planet, Solara was massive, ten times the size of Jupiter, with countless kingdoms, empires, and forbidden zones. The world's history was quite complicated, to say the least.
In short, the world was divided and ruled by multiple races including dark race and light race. The dark race consisted of dark elves, vampires, werewolves, etc while the light race consisted of nature elves, dwarves, humans, orcs, sea folks, etc
The political tensions between multiple races were equally complicated and unsettling.
Thankfully, they weren't desperate enough to wage war against each other due to a common enemy.
Voidarkhs, an interstellar predatory species that had been fighting against the whole planet for dominance. They were a cruel violent race, whose main objective was to extract the planet's core to strengthen themselves. They roamed around the universe, absorbing the stars and the planet's core for power.
Voidarkhs were extremely powerful species, countless times more powerful than other races. The clashes between them always led to humanity's defeat, helplessness, and utter destruction. They almost succeeded in taking over the whole planet.
Thankfully, Heroes emerge during war and chaos.
Great Heroes emerged from multiple races, sacrificing themselves to form an extremely powerful barrier around their planet, providing them with much-needed time.
Time to analyze their opponent as well as strengthen themselves. The multiple races banded together and created the Solhaven Academy, a perfect institute to arm their future leaders with sufficient knowledge and strength.
Yep, that's where the story begins…
Anyway, I have a few weeks before the story officially starts so, my main priority is to acquire the Orb of Elementus and some other stuff along the way.
swish
Storing the envelope in the spatial ring, he stood up and exited his room. He was planning on leaving the empire tomorrow so, he started his preparation early.
'The Orb of Elementus is lying in a dangerous area. I should take some life-saving artifacts, healing potions, mana-recovery potions, weapons, and lastly, food. I should inquire about the shadow too while I'm at it.' Cassian muttered, remembering the information about them.
Shadows were a variant dark race, extremely elusive and difficult to capture. As their names suggest, they lived in the shadows. To acquire a shadow for oneself, you'd have to share a contract with them, a shadowbound contract. The Royal Family had shadows assigned to their every member once they awaken their mana.
Cassian too was assigned a shadow but, he left for the Mournshade Forest before signing the Shadowbound contract causing the contract matter to be delayed.
'I could choose the shadow of my choice for now.' He was thankful for not signing the contract too early. Once you've signed the contract with a shadow, you can't undo it or sign another contract with other shadows. You get a single chance.
After signing the contract, They become utmost loyal and followed their master's every order without any hesitation. Their chances of betrayal are extremely low as the contract clearly states that betrayal leads to their death.
"Summon Butler Armes." He ordered, standing beside the hallway.
A few seconds later, a middle-aged man with fine gray hair and hazel brown eyes, wearing a typical butler outfit with a white shirt and black suit approached Cassian.
"Greetings, your Highness." Ames bowed, his voice respectful and endearing.
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: Armes Alfredo
Title: Royal Butler, Emperor's right hand
Race: Human (Awakened)
Age: 46
Energy Source: Mana
Elements: wind
Main Stage: Sublimation
Sub Stage: Divine Roots
Rank: Saint
---
'Hmm…just below the Emperor.' He thought, staring at the translucent screen before him. The novel had mentioned Armes briefly, a powerful man extremely loyal to the Royal Family. His existence was one of the reasons Amelia survived the chaos after the Emperor went missing.
Nodding lightly, a kind smile graced his lips.
"How have you been, Uncle Armes?" Cassian softly inquired. During Seraphina's absence, Cassian and Amelia were mainly cared for by the head butler Armes, creating a close bond between them.
"Your absence caused this old man quite the worry, my lord." Armes lightly replied with a concerned gaze.
"Sorry to make you worry, Uncle. I will surely inform you the next time I leave the capital." Cassain replied with an apologetic look on his face. He knew Armes wasn't lying when he said that he was worried. His heart warmed up hearing those kind words.
After exchanging a short conversation, Cassian informed Armes of the main reason behind his summons.
"Uncle, I would like to enter the Shadow Lands."
"Very well." Armes nodded, taking out a pitch-black token from his spatial ring. The token shimmered lightly with a malevolent dark aura, signifying its unusual connections with the darkness.
He held Cassian's hand lightly and circulated his mana inside the token, causing it to absorb the light around them instantly.
Swish
Both teleported, arriving before a barren land filled with dark energy. The soil beneath them was black, the sky was black and so was everything else.
[Ding! New quest added!...]
Quests:
[Active] Awaken the Starseed: Progress to the next stage of power. Reward: Unlock Advanced Elemental Skills.
[Active] Cure Seraphina's Curse: Lift the soulbound curse and free Seraphina's soul. Reward: Unlock Advanced Sword Techniques.
[Active] Cosmic energy awakening: Acquire Orb of Elementus, Orb of Ressurection, and Orb of indestructibility. Reward: Tear of Dawn
[Active] Shadowbound Contract: Acquire a powerful shadow. Reward: Pet feature
[Locked]
---
They had arrived at the Shadow Lands, the home of the Shadow race.
"You may choose from them." He suggested, pointing at nowhere.
Scrolling past the quest section, he nodded his head and closed the tab. He could guess the pet feature just from its name.
Ignoring the new quest, Cassian slowly circulated his mana around his eyes, causing the invisible shadows to be visible before him.
They were formless creatures, dancing wildly around the area like a flickering flame.
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: ??
Title: ??
Race: Shadow (Unawakened)
Age: ??
Energy Source: Mana
Elements: Darkness [Affinity: 50%]
Main Stage: ??
Sub Stage: ??
Rank: ??
---
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: ??
Title: ??
Race: Shadow (Unawakened)
Age: ??
Energy Source: Mana
Elements: Darkness [Affinity: 66%]
Main Stage: ??
Sub Stage: ??
Rank: ??
---
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: ??
Title: ??
Race: Shadow (Uawakened)
Age: ??
Energy Source: Mana
Elements: Darkness [Affinity: 78%]
Main Stage: ??
Sub Stage: ??
Rank: ??
---
The shadow race doesn't have an identity and rank amongst themselves. They share their contractor's status after signing the Shadowbound contract with them.
The Shadow race's strength is mainly determined by the affinity to the Darkness element. Every shadow race member was blessed with the Darkness element but their affinity differs.
The higher the affinity, the greater the assimilation which means the percentage indicates their power sharing with their contractor.
A shadow race member with 50% affinity acquires fifty percent of their contractor's strength through the contract.
'I need a shadow with at least ninety percent affinity.' Cassian thought, prepared to utilize the system's status to his advantage.
Nobody could sense the shadow's affinity rate before signing the contract..nobody except Cassian.
He freely roamed around the barren lands with his trusted butler alongside him.