The shadows continued to gather, morphing and condensing until they took the shape of several monstrous hounds. Their outlines were jagged and menacing, like a nightmare given life. Smoke-like tendrils trailed behind them as they moved, their bodies dark as midnight, their eyes like rubies aflame with malevolence. They came up just below Emilio’s belly in height.

“Shadow Hounds,” Emilio whispered, his voice a clear mixture of awe and fright.

He’d heard about them. Who had not? They were a signature of the Sullivan family. There were legends of the Ancient Sullivans riding them into battle.

“Shadow Hounds,” the man confirmed.

These shadow hounds moved with fluid grace, their forms rippling as they prowled the forest ground. The air grew colder with their presence, and a palpable sense of dread filled the area. Every step they took left a trail of darkness in their wake, like ink spilled on a canvas.

Emilio's hand instinctively went for the hilt of his sword, but he knew he was outnumbered, and these were no ordinary hounds. They were creatures born of shadow and malevolence, a manifestation of the forest's darkest secrets.

With a low growl, the leader of the shadow hounds approached, its eyes locked onto Emilio's. It was an eerie, sentient gaze as if it could see into his very soul. Emilio swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest. His hand was wrapped around the hilt of the sword tightly and he could feel the chills run down his spine as he heard the growl clearly directed at him.

A whistle cut through the tense atmosphere and the hounds immediately stopped their approach before pulling back. They ran to the Duke and started circling him, low whines emanating from their throats. Their demeanors changed in an instant, They were almost like… puppies.

Professor Sullivan chuckled and patted the head of one of them. “They are very dangerous. But they are created from my shadows. You could say that they are a part of me. They won’t harm you. I have only summoned them to help with your training.”

“Help with my training?” Emilio asked, a confused frown marring his face as he looked at the man.

“Yes.” The Professor nodded in reply. “I said I would help you learn how to use your powers, did I not?”

Emilio nodded slowly, still not seeing how the hounds were supposed to help.

“Well, they will be some of your opponents.”

“... I have to fight them.”

“No.” The man shook his head. “No. Not yet, at least. You need to first learn how to bring out your powers safely before you can use them in combat. That’s why I brought you here,” he gestured around. “There are plenty of roots and vines here for you to play around with… without ripping the ground.”

Emilio flushed slightly. “It was not my fault,” he mumbled.

The Dule smiled at him. “Yes, I know. But, next time this kind of thing happens, make sure it is deliberate. You need to use these roots,” he gestured around, “to trip them up.” He pointed at the hounds.

Emilio looked down at the hounds that were still pressing up against the Duke. Some of them looked at him, red eyes unblinking. It was unsettling, but the man’s presence reassured him to an extent.

He took a deep breath and then nodded at the man. “Alright. What do I need to do?”

“Okay. First, I need to know the details of your powers. While I cannot develop them for you, maybe I can give you some advice.”

Emilio thought for a moment, before speaking softly. “Well… you probably know that I can speak to plants and animals, right? That … is not the whole of it. I can communicate with them, yes. But I can also…. Feel them, I suppose. Especially, the trees and the … how do I put this? … the nature? Where it is most condensed? Like, when I walked down the path of herbology, I felt this … buzz when I walked down the path surrounded by trees. Same with that wall of roots. And… there is this Banyan tree … back home. When I touched it, I saw images. But it was only that tree. The others did not show me images… though I could follow their roots, branches, and leaves if I really concentrated. I could feel their … life, I suppose. And of course, animals. I can talk to them. They usually listen to me. But … I have not really tried to do anything with that. I can close off my mind from them, however. I … tend to keep it closed. It gets too much.”

It was a messy explanation. More of a rant than anything else. He could not really get into words what he felt and what he did. He himself did not understand. The man, however, seemed to be deep in thought. He then looked at Emilio before saying, “Can you tell me what you felt when you pulled those roots out to protect yourself?”

Emilio frowned again in thought. “It was … not a conscious process. I was … scared. Part of me thought I was going to die. I was just… praying desperately for help.”

“And the roots responded.”

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“No.” Emilio shook his head. “It was more like… nature did.”

Emilio did not how he knew that. He just did. Nature listened to him.

“Alright.” The man nodded to himself, as if coming to a decision.. “First of all, I need you to open up your mind, however you do it.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you need to get used to it.” The man said. “You will have to communicate with nature, as you put it if you are to use your powers to their fullest extent. You cannot do that if you are overwhelmed everytime you open up your mind to natue.”

The man … had a point. But Emilio did not want to do it. It was not like he had not opened his mind to communicate with animals and plants before. But after the first one or two times of getting headaches, he never did so without an aim. Be it to communicate with the snakes back home or to feel the Bidhipa tree or to talk with the Leviathan. Having an aim helped filter everything out. But … if he did so aimlessly, he would definitely be overwhelmed. He might even faint after prolonged exposure like the first time.

“I know you are hesitant,” the man’s voice reached his ears, far closer than he had expected it to be. Emilio blinked, coming out of his reverie, only to find the man standing a few inches away from him. The man had closed the distance while Emilio had been in his own mind. “But … you have to face the problems your powers bring sooner or later.”

Emilio tilted his head curiously. “Did you have to as well?”

The man paused for a moment before nodding. “Yes.”

He did not elaborate and Emilio did not think it appropriate to pry. The man quickly spoke again, changing the subject. “I will be here to help you through it. So open your mind, Emilio.”

Emilio nodded and took a deep breath before closing his eyes. He had to take a moment to brace himself before he let up the barrier he had formed firmly around his mind. He could not explain how he had done it if someone asked. It just felt… natural. As did opening it up. It was like … opening and closing his eyes, something no human ever needed to be taught.

And immediately, there was a discordant mixture of sounds entering his ears. Animals and birds speaking, all over each other, even the smallest chirp of the smallest bird reaching him. Their speech were simplistic, and so were their desires. Some were looking for prey, some for mates, while others were starting to return to their nests or looking for a place to rest for the night. He could make out some of them. Others jumbled into a jarring mixture of sounds that seemed to pound against his mind. He gritted his teeth against it and tried to endure, prolonging as much as he could. But that did not last long.

“Ah!” Emilio yelled and clutched his head, shutting his mind again. His sword had long dropped to the ground. Emilio squatted onto the ground, burrowing his head between his knees, battling the rising nausea in his throat.

He felt a large hand, awkwardly rubbing his back. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You did well.”

Emilio heaved a few times before he lifted his head to look at the man. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice. Gods, he was a failure even at the one power he was given. Figured. Such a gift was wasted on him.

“Don’t be.” The man replied immediately. “You made a better effort than I thought you would. Was that the longest you opened your mind?”

Emilio shook his head. “No. Not really. But whenever I opened my mind longer than this, I was focused on something. Like… a tree, or the Leviathan from the Magical Beasts class.”

“Does that help? Concentrating on something.”

“I … think so. It makes it easier to filter.”

“How do you communicate with your Leviathan, then?”

“Sal?” He frowned. “I do … I open up my mind a bit? And I think… not being at the centre of nature like this helps.”

“I… see.” The man sighed softly. “Is the Leviathan with you?”

He shook his head. “No. I left him with Balsea. I thought … it would be distracting to have him here.”

“On the contrary.” The Professor was quick to oppose Emilio’s words. “I think having it here will help you focus. Bring it next class and we will see what we can do.”

“Him.”

The man blinked. “What?”

“Him. Sal, the Leviathan. He’s a male.”

“I … see.” The man looked at him strangely but complied nonetheless. “Alright. Bring him next.”

Emilio nodded.

“Alright. It seems we will not be able to trip any hounds today. We will try this a few more times today.”

----------------------------------------

Emilio tried it three more times before he gave up, feeling dizzy and bile rising up his throat. The Professor immediately put a stop to it when he stumbled onto the ground after the last time and sent him back, despite Emilio insisting that he could do it at least one more time.

It was not all in vain, however. Emilio thought he made a bit of progress. He managed to keep his mind open a few moments longer than the previous time. And every time, he managed to filter out just a bit more. He knew because every time, the cacophony would get a bit less jarring. It would still slam into him, but he thought the noises were a little less loud every time.

The Professor’s advice for that helped a lot.

“Imagine you are in a crowded festival. Like… a harvest festival. The crowd is closing in and the sounds are so loud you can barely hear your own voice. On top of that, some musicians are playing music loudly. You have to tune most of those sounds out. It’s something we humans learn to do once we start going to loud, crowded places. Can you do that?”

He could. It was something he had experience with, considering that he had sneaked out not a few times with little Jeremiah to see the festival and the fireworks.

He learned something else too. He could not communicate with those shadow hounds. He could feel their presence, feel their prominent … emotions - like wariness or curiosity - but he could not communicate with them. But the Duke could easily do so, which … was a given. The Duke probably did not even need words with them.

He was lost in thought as he entered the dormitory building, which was mostly empty. It was as he was going up the stairs when he saw an unexpected, but familiar face.

“Hey.” Evan stood above him, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly. “Can we talk?”