“Could you show me that again?” I asked Rai, trying to figure out what I had just seen.

“Sure.” he nodded and, just like he had a moment earlier, cloaked his figure in dark, impenetrable shadow before it split into two, both moving away from the spot he had been in. Even with Lenore’s sight, it was almost impossible to discern which figure was the real one, the coat of darkness-magic hiding what was beneath.

It was our day off and I had asked Rai to show me the different skills he had gained from crossing the first divide, hoping to get some inspiration from them, things that I might replicate for myself. I had seen the skills in action during the last week but never in a situation where I had been able to actually look, with time to understand what I was seeing. It was fascinating, for him, the new skills were as easy as breathing but when I asked him just how he did what he did, in magical terms, he was unable to explain. I would have to work it out for myself, just like the other class-skills he had gained. But, in contrast to the skills used by Adra and Sigmir, I was reasonably sure that I had a chance to understand what he was doing and possibly work out a way for myself.

The “Shadow Clone”-skill, as he called it, was deceptively simple in form, the concealing shadow made it hard to see him while a second shadow moved on a different trajectory, mostly mirroring his movement, but not quite. He seemed to be subconsciously controlling the second shadow, allowing him to use it as a feint, in addition to it being a distraction and tool to escape.

I could copy the first part easy enough, it was simply an overpowered shadow-cloak, which pushed the shadow-part to the limit which, coincidentally, made it worse when it came to stealthily concealing someone. It was too focused on hiding what was beneath to allow you to blend into the surrounding shadows.

But the second part, the figure made from pure shadow, I had no idea where to even begin with it. Maybe I needed to understand another rune, maybe I needed to understand how shadows caused you to misjudge distances and such or how optical illusions worked. Or maybe it was simply a class-skill that I had no way to replicate without additional skills in different types of magic, I just didn't know.

However, the “Shadow Clone” wasn’t the skill I was most interested in, no, that was reserved for the “Shadow Step” skill, something I knew I could do, simply because I had done it once, without understanding what I had done. Back when we had raided Sigmir’s old Clan, I had somehow turned myself into shadow to squeeze beneath a door, something I thought now was an application of the Shadow-Realm Rai used so often and later, I had somehow managed to move from one shadow, in the Shaman’s hut, to another Shadow, Sigmir’s, some distance away. To this day and despite numerous attempts to replicate or understand what I had done, it still eluded me.

But Rai was able to do it, thanks to his new class. I had to console myself that I was able to make my own skills and that I certainly would be able to come up with skills that left his tricks in the dust.

“Thanks for showing me that. Now, let’s see how well you are coming along in the forms I have taught you.” I ordered, mentally switching gears from the things I was trying to learn to the forms Mrs. Wu had taught me. Maybe Rai would be able to do the most complicated ones now, his new class and the additional levels should have massively pushed his agility.

An hour later, I was exhausted and sore, wondering if I would be able to boost my regeneration with Blood Magic. Nearby, Rai looked as if he was in serious pain, even with his higher agility, the forms had pushed him in ways he wasn’t accustomed to. However, I was able to see that his higher attributes would soon wipe out any advantage I had gained with hard work, making me grumble a little. The only reason I could still call myself his teacher was that he stuck to using the style I had shown him, even if he was slowly developing his own take on it. And that was a good thing.

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During the evening, I found myself sitting in the trees, watching the world below with Lenore. Part of me wondered if I was being influenced by my Spirit-companion, with her affinity for heights and precarious perches, I had found myself drawn to rest in places where I could watch the world from above. It gave me a strange sense of peace, letting it float by beneath me. On the other hand, maybe I had that affinity from the start, my own appartement was on the top-floor of the high-rise building and the home-space I had created in my capsule wasn’t made for someone afraid of heights. Whatever it was, the view from the top of the tree Lenore had found was spectacular, a sea of green with the mountains in the distance, set aflame by the rays of the setting sun.

Earlier, when the light would have hit me, I wouldn’t have liked it as much but with the twilight, a strange sense of serenity came over me.

“I wish I’d be able to take to the skies with you.” I admitted, gently resting my head against Lenore, who was sitting on my shoulder.

“I wish I could take you with me. I feel your joy whenever I share a memory with you but at the same time, I know that it’s just a pale reflection. It is my memory, dulled and jaded by a life-time of flying and I would love to let you experience it with your own body.” Lenore admitted, her voice filled with friendship.

“Maybe we’ll find a way, at least for a time. Who knows what is possible with magic.” I smiled, before looking up into the slowly darkening sky. There was no moon tonight, but I could feel it overhead nonetheless.

After taking a moment to make sure I wasn’t in danger of falling off my perch, I closed my eyes and let my mind join with the Astral River, revelling in the feeling of it. I hadn’t been here since visiting the Grandmother, at least not truly delving into it and the River never failed to awe me. There was a sense of connection, one that I couldn’t even begin to describe. The Grandmother had told me that the Astral River connected the whole world and slowly, I was able to understand just how literal she had been. With Lenore so close to me, I could feel her, even in the Astral River but I had a feeling that there was more to it, if I only had the senses to see it.

Before I could lose myself in the elation, I tuned into one of the streams, the one that was slowly swelling as the light of the sun left the world and the darkness of the night took over. I hadn’t used a lot of Darkness-Runes during the week of grinding, but what little I had used had been enough to push me to gain another point, bringing me to seventy. With thoughts of Rai’s new abilities in my mind, I was trying to use my connection to understand them, at least a little more.

The darkness around me was soothing, like a comfortable cloak but at the same time, I felt the light, the burning light of the sun slowly retreating. A part of me shrunk back from its searing heat, my mind knowing that nothing good would come of the contact but another part of me knowing that, without light, there would be no shadow. Only the deep tunnels, the lightless depths of the earth, there could I find the true, perfect darkness. But those were thoughts for the future.

As I witnessed the light slowly fading from the Astral River, I felt a sense of understanding settle around me, a new knowledge about the border between Light and Dark. It wouldn’t allow me what Rai was doing, of that I was certain but I had a feeling that it was a step into the right direction. Twilight, or Penumbra, those were the best words to describe the name of the rune, even if it was so much more.

My eyes popped back open and the light had fully faded, leaving me sitting in the blackest night, with only the stars shedding some sparse light.

“Let’s get back to the others.” I softly told Lenore, after taking another look around.

“Yes. Let me join you for a moment.” she replied and I felt her slip into her Hallow. In my mind, I felt her ask me to join her in full, initiating the cooperative process that was our Avatar-State. For a moment, I didn’t understand until the illusionary wings caught a little wind, reminding me that they weren’t just illusions, they were more.

With a smile, I let myself drop from our high perch, using the wings to glide back to the ground. It wasn’t real flight, but it had to be the next best thing.