Depths of the Forgotten Shadows
The lecture was over. As expected, Bown took first place in this exam too. He'd claimed victory by ripping through hordes of other students' shadows. No magic from any other shadow could pierce his. In the end, the owner of the shadow that died last in his hands became the passer.
He wasn't all that strong. In previous exams, he'd been around the middle of the pack. He'd probably survived this one by hiding somewhere smart. Not that it had anything to do with me, anyway.
While they took the exam, I'd just slept like a rock. Only toward the end of the lecture did I snap out of it. When I woke, the disconnect between my body and mind had mostly vanished—they'd blended naturally again. It was a sense of unity I hadn't felt in ages. In this state, I could probably hold out for another month.
By the time I got back, work would be piled up again. It took two days to return to the tower from here, so all told, three days' worth of tasks awaited me. If I didn't hustle, it'd only grow.
But I hadn't headed back to the tower yet. Instead, I'd entered the black sphere. It had been six hours since I'd started wandering inside.
In that time, I'd found quite a few puddles. I examined the one I'd just discovered. Someone's mana lingered in it. Did this one have an owner too?
I turned slowly and retraced my steps. This world held all sorts of puddles like that. They connected to real rooms in the tower. Students hopped through them to reach the tower's depths, claiming those spots as their own for training.
The easy-access ones or the mana-rich spots were all taken by top students. Even the tucked-away rooms below had been snatched by those beneath them. Lower-ranked kids shared puddles for practice.
I backtracked along the path to the original spot, right in front of the black sphere. Nearby, a few shadows had set up camp along one passage, absorbing mana. They were the ones who hadn't claimed rooms. Instead, they fed this world's mana to their shadows.
This world's mana was unique. Only shadows could wield it, only shadows could absorb it. Since they couldn't boost their own power easily, they were maxing out their shadows instead.
I slipped past them carefully. I'd done the same a few times before. But once my shadow took on a proper form, I stopped. What was the point of feeding it more? It was doomed to drop out first anyway.
That's why wandering here felt like old times. I'd mostly just used the passages to and from the lecture hall. No time to poke around with my workload.
But Maira had told me to delve deep into this world. There had to be a reason. Thinking that, I'd roamed a ton of areas over the past six hours.
But I'd found nothing. Just shadows skittering along the walls to greet me.
So maybe that way? Below the sphere yawned a massive hole—the only place I hadn't gone.
Nothing left but that. I approached slowly.
Up close, it brimmed with dim shadows. But there was a path down. I stepped onto it.
The descent was steep. And the deeper I went, the murkier the mana grew. That was why I'd never bothered before. The upper levels had the purest mana.
The lower you went down this hole, the worse the efficiency plummeted. I rode that path endlessly downward.
How far had I gone when I realized how pitch-black it had become? The darkness stemmed from the mana—murky to the point of sticky sludge, staining everything around me.
And amid it, shadows rippled. They wandered half-out of the walls. This foul mana seemed to fuel their movement.
I drew close to inspect them. But they weren't normal. These drifters had lost direction, floating aimlessly like dust in the wind. Their faint forms looked ready to vanish any second.
Heisen's explanation came back to me. He'd said this was where shadows of the dead gathered. The ones I'd seen up top moved vigorously. I'd assumed all shadows in this world were like that.
But watching these, I realized I was wrong. These were the true shadows of the dead. Ownerless shadows, bound here for ages, forgetting their purpose and fading into this end.
They didn't even register me brushing past. I dodged them carefully and pressed deeper.
More shadows appeared, and the mana clung to my shadow like thick syrup. Down, down I went.
Now even the path vanished. Sense of direction gone—I had no clue where I was. No shadows in sight anymore.
The deeper I pushed, the more it felt like I was melting into the profound dark. How long had I walked when a massive current suddenly surged in the silence?
It pulled me with immense pressure. I got swept along, deeper still. No resisting it.
After an unknowable time in that flow, I reached its end. A man stood there. He fished me out of the dark current.
"Hey, first time seeing you out here!"
He laughed, holding me in his hand. Familiar voice—Bown. He was blocking the massive flow with his whole body.
Hanging from his hand, I bowed my head. "Thank you for the help."
"Nah, I should be the one apologizing. Didn't realize anyone was around and sucked up mana like crazy—dragged you all the way here."
I glanced around cautiously. With him plugging the flow, the surrounding dark had cleared too. Looking closer, I saw why the current had formed. He'd left his living body exposed out there. Mana drawn to it had swelled into this torrent, all funneling into his shadow.
It was devouring the whole massive flow. Possible? I swallowed hard. Now I got why his shadow was so monstrous.
He set me down gently. Stroking his short goatee, he eyed me. "How'd you end up here? All the tower facilities are up top—this just has the filthy mana."
"On Maira's advice, I came down to check the world's depths."
"Oh ho, Maira, huh? Interesting. So, what do you think now that you've seen it?"
I subtly raised my body and looked around. Through shadow eyes, things invisible before appeared—bizarre scenes. What I'd thought was a mana flow was one enormous shadow. Dead shadows, minds lost and mixed with mana, woven into this giant by others.
"I... never imagined it'd look like this."
Was this what Maira wanted me to see? I couldn't tear my eyes away. Staring sparked inspirations.
"I only got here recently myself. Upper mana wasn't enough to temper my shadow anymore. Chasing stronger stuff led me down."
He puffed out his chest. His shadow gulped mana endlessly, limitless.
"Makes sense. Thanks to you, I reached this far too. Alone, I'd never have seen it."
"Please. After all you've done for me? This is nothing."
I gave a wry smile. Memories of my shadow getting shredded by him in past exams flashed. Mindless as ever, mine sneaked a taste of mana trailing his shadow.
It smacked its lips, then spat it out. Bown roared with laughter.
"Doesn't suit its taste, huh? Fair enough. It's basically dead-shadow mush. Even mine took time to get used to—tough to absorb right away."
"I see."
My shadow kept retching. It eyed me, sending intent through our mana link: mana to rinse its mouth. I passed some over; it gargled and spat.
Trembling, it stared at Bown's shadow. Raw fear roiled in its gut. No wonder—watching kin's corpse get devoured.
Bown and I watched the shadow's feast in silence. Why could shadows merge like that? Pondering pulled time along. The sight tickled my chest with ideas, but I wasn't sure I'd grasped anything solid. Just a direction for research. Stack experiences like this, and results would come eventually.
Finally, Bown's shadow finished absorbing. It draped his living body over him like a cloak. The aimless flow subsided.
The giant shadow swept around but missed the body hidden beneath. Darkness filled the space again.
From it came Bown's voice. "Well, I'm off. Coming with?"
"No, I want to stick around a bit longer."
I shook my head. More to check. Needed to study this shadow's nature further.
His laughter echoed in the dark. "Don't go deeper. Nasty things writhe below."
He vanished like a breeze. In the thickening silence, eyes closed, I sank into thought.
That scene lingered—let me sense living shadows in the dark. Formless, melted, yet holding themselves in the vast sum. Not chaotic mana mix, but a harmonious space of mingled shadows.
This insight lingered like fragile glass shards, incomplete. To perfect it, I immersed endlessly in the dark.