I turned to look at Shadara. My heart raced as we stepped out of the store.

Girlfriend? He thinks Shadara and I are a couple. What did Shadara think about it? Did she notice the mix-up? Was she offended? Does she think we’re a couple? Are we? I’ve never done this before. What do I do, Orange?

You could ask. We are not who you should ask on matters of courtship.

I groaned internally as my face burned with embarrassment. As we walked, I kept stealing glances at Shadara. I could feel the heat radiating from my cheeks.

What is she thinking? Did she hear him? What if I say the wrong thing?

I wished the ground would open up and swallow me. An acceptable alternative would have been something trying to kill me. At least that I can handle now.

Shadara walked beside me, seemingly unfazed.

Is she also embarrassed, or does she find the whole thing amusing? Does she want to be my girlfriend? I never got a chance to learn how to handle these feelings before. I couldn’t bring myself to voice my concerns.

What answers do I want to hear?

That last question stumped me more than anything else.

The weight of the silence between us felt heavy, and my mind raced with a million questions. All of which I couldn’t decide on an answer I would’ve wanted to hear. I wracked my brain for the right words, but each potential sentence felt like a minefield of potential awkwardness.

The bustling sounds of the surrounding market blurred as I continued to fumble through my thoughts. Shadara glanced at me, her green eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

Does she know?

“What’s bothering you?” she asked.

My heart raced even faster. “Chad really got the wrong idea back there, huh? I mean, us... girlfriends?” I cringed at my own words.

Shadara laughed as she threw her head back. “Oh, that? Yeah, that was unexpected. But hey, no harm done. Unless that’s something you want.” She then turned to me. “Is it?”

I lowered my head. “I don’t know. Before I died, I never had any boyfriends or girlfriends. Sure, I tried several times, but I just kept getting forgotten. Something that was a regular occurrence with me on Earth.”

Shadara wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close. “Think it over and tell me what you want. I’ll be fine with whatever you decide. If you want to try to see what us being an item is like, that’s fine. If you aren’t ready for that, that’s fine too. I won’t force you into anything you don’t want.”

“But what do you want?” I looked up at her.

She looked straight ahead, but I could tell her eyes weren’t focused on what was in front of us. “That’s a good question. But I’ve already answered it.” The panther woman’s eyes locked with mine as she stopped us. “If you want a more definitive answer, then yes, I would like to be your girlfriend. But only if you want it. I don’t need a relationship like that. What you need to answer is: do you need it?”

I bit my lip. “Back on Earth, I tried to go on dates and stuff. But after failing so many times, I just started believing that it wasn’t going to happen for me. And now you’re telling me I can have a relationship—a girlfriend. I don’t know what my feelings are trying to tell me. So, can I think about it?”

Shadara caressed my cheek. “Please do. Think about it as long as you need to.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

To ruin the moment, Shadara’s stomach growled. We both looked down at her belly and broke out into a fit of giggles.

The panther woman sighed. “Somebody hasn’t eaten an army’s worth of rations today. You mind if we grab a bite to eat?”

I motioned for her to lead the way. “Absolutely not. You know, I always have room for food. I’ll try to keep the cost down.”

Shadara smirked. “I’d appreciate it.”

We went and found a stand and picked up a handful of skewers each for the two of us. We found a shaded spot to sit down and enjoyed them. After finishing them, we saw many people running towards the south.

I pointed toward the people with my thumb. “Are you curious about what’s going on?”

Shadara shook her head. “Nah. I say we head in the other direction. Do you want to check out a dungeon, or do you want to call it a day? You’ve been through a lot today.”

I tapped my finger on my chin. “Yeah, let’s just take it easy today.”

Shadara looked up at the sky. “Fair. How about you head to bed early?”

I sighed. “Might as well. I’ve got some training to do.”

Shadara shook her head. “Don’t. Just rest. You can train tomorrow. Take time to rest completely; you need it. Your body can repair itself in the most miraculous ways, but your mind is still very vulnerable. Rest your mind. Get some actual, real sleep. Have a happy dream if you can.”

I pushed off our bench. “I’ll try. But a happy dream? We’ll see.”

Shadara patted my back as she led me towards the tents. “Come on, let’s at least try to get some sleep.”

It wasn’t long before Shadara, and I settled in a tent. Even though we headed to bed early, the sun was still going down, so I didn’t feel too bad. Thankfully, after a little push against Orange’s desire to train me in unarmed combat, she instead was on board with Shadara’s suggestion to rest.

I couldn’t help myself, so I played with my magic some more. I did ask Orange to teach me more about my new shadow magic system.

Orange sat me in a park in the middle of a city. “Your new subsystem is different from the regular system.”

I created a cute little rabbit with my magic. “Why does it have to be different?”

Orange pointed to the figurine that I created. “It works through a mixture of your base system with shards and a more milestone system. Using the skills will slowly improve them.”

I looked at the figurine, which was the size of my thumb. “So the more I do this, the higher the levels will go?”

“Partially,” Orange answered. “To gain new powers to use for your magic, you can experiment and try to learn them the organic way or pay a substantial amount of shards per power.”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

She waved her hand, and a blue box appeared before me.

New powers available for purchase: Distance: 175,000 shards. Hardness: 225,000 shards. Weight: 250,000 shards. Velocity: 325,000 shards. Conductivity: 415,000 shards. …

The list kept going, with all kinds of bizarre powers I could alter my magic with. Some of them I didn’t understand, but for the most part, I couldn’t afford any of them. They kept getting more expensive as the list kept going.

Why on earth would I be adding radiation to my magic?

I changed the shadow rabbit into a carrot. “Well, I can’t afford any of those, and they are almost prohibitively expensive. But how do I improve the powers that I have already?”

Orange waved her hand, dismissing the blue box, and pointed to my hand with the magic construct. “Your estimation was correct. Practice is the only way to improve them. There is no purchasing the increase in levels.”

I looked at the carrot and turned it into a quarter. “So if I wanted to learn, say, velocity, how would I do that?”

Orange pinched the quarter and moved it around on my hand. “You have to move whatever magic you’re concentrating on fast enough for the system to recognize it as an achievement. You’ll just have to figure it out on your own. All the information I have on magic states that it is extremely personal and that no two people feel magic the same.” She released the coin and folded her hands in her lap. “Even if they use the same magic.”

“Killa said the same thing. That’s why her magic always looked like tentacles.” I flipped the coin. As soon as it was separated by more than five inches from my hand, it dissolved into nothing. “Well, magic is still cool. This also seems like a great time to practice it. And I really wouldn’t call it training.”

I created another coin between my pointer finger and thumb. Then I held it up to the sky. “This is relaxing. Shadara said I needed to relax. And is there ever a chance I could have a normal dream again?”

Orange frowned. “We could not activate over the night. But we don’t recommend it. So much can happen in one day that neglecting even the time you sleep is counterproductive.”

I sighed and lowered my head. “Am I going to become a robot? Is my fate reduced to efficiency and productivity?” I dismissed the shadow coin and stared at my metal hands. “I’m already starting to look the part.”

Orange stood up and lifted my chin to look her in the face. “What do you want?”

I turned my head and stared at the grass. “That’s the one question I can’t answer. Sure, I want to spend time with Shadara, and I want to live. Part of me thinks that’s not enough. Is living just to live enough?”

I pressed a hand to my heart. “Gary said my soul is starting to complete itself. But something still feels missing.”

Orange kneeled into my view and grabbed my hands. “You have magic now. It’s exciting, isn’t it? That was genuinely the happiest I had seen you do anything of your own.”

A corner of my mouth curled up. “It is really cool.”

Orange stood up and pulled me to my feet. “Magic is limitless. What do you want your magic to do? What would be the coolest thing for your magic to do?”

My eyes darted around before landing on Orange’s glowing green eyes again. “It’d be cool if it could stop bullets, or cars, or trains, or anything that could hurt me.”

Orange smiled. “That’s good.”

She pulled me into a street where dozens of cars were now zipping past us. She released my hands. Her entire body oozed my shadow magic until it outlined her in a black silhouette. A sports car flying down the road at a breakneck pace threatened to slam into her.

By reflex, I raised my hand and took a step towards her. “Look out!”

The car slammed into her, dead center. It collapsed in on itself as the metal flowed around my doppelgänger’s body like a liquid. Orange didn’t flinch as she stood where the engine should’ve been as the car ceased all movement.

With a wide grin, she climbed out of the donut hole of a car. “Is this what you want?” There wasn’t a scratch on her maid’s outfit.

My bottom jaw quivered as it hung open. “That’s so cool.” I shook my head. “And yes. Absolutely yes.”

Orange’s hand caressed my cheek as her thumb kept stroking it. “Then dream that you can do it. You have to want it. More importantly, you have to believe you can do it.”

Everything around me started blurring except for her. Then her body started dissolving from the legs up. “Sweet dreams, Rina.”

I found myself back on Earth, but everything was different. I stood in the heart of the bustling city I had seen my entire life, its skyline adorned with towering skyscrapers and neon lights. But it felt different; I felt different.

With a grin, I summoned my shadow magic, feeling its power surge around me and through my veins like it was my own blood. I looked down at my hands. They were still the black metal I had in the Nexus, but now they glowed with a subtle, wispy aura.

It’s a dream.

I strode out of the alley where I had died and into the city streets. I turned to see a group of men in masks and hoodies headed towards me. They held baseball bats, and a couple of them had pistols. They pushed me back into the alley and against the wall.

The largest one of the guys held a bat up to my chest. “Your money, now!”

Another of the guys leaned up against the big man. “Hey, boss, I’ve got a thing for green eyes, ya know?”

My eyes went wide. Are they seriously trying to rob and rape me?

I grabbed the bat. “You’re disgusting.”

One of them raised a bat above his head and tried to bring it down on my head. I raised my hand to catch it, but it shattered as it touched me. Everyone just stared at the shards of broken wood as they clattered to the ground. The big guy let his bat go.

I let it drop to the ground as I rolled my shoulders. With a flick of my wrist, a torrent of shadow energy exploded from my hand. The inky tendrils lashed out and coiled around the would-be rapists.

I couldn’t help but smile and stare at my magic. In my mind, I had envisioned them tied up. It looks like my magic made that happen.

“Believe in it.”

It was a whisper, and it was impossible to determine the source. But I knew the words’ meaning.

So I let the wonder fill me and discarded the doubt I held onto for so long. My dream continued with me taking the guys to a cop. Afterwards, I wandered around town, helping everyone who needed it with my magic. I manifested whatever I needed and could shape it into whatever it had to be. I even saved a cat stuck in a tree.

Each time was an exhilarating rush that always left me proud of what I did. As the sun poked above the horizon, casting the world in hues of gold and orange, I could see people looking at me, their smiles warm and genuine.

People can see me. I exist.

I woke up and felt more refreshed than I had since first arriving in the Soul Nexus. Two blue boxes greeted me.

Shadow magic manifestation increased to level 2.

Shadow magic manifestation increased to level 3.

Shadow magic shaping increased to level 2.

Orange’s message followed. I knew you could do it.

I smiled at my AI’s compliment. She's right; I can do this.

Shadow Magic Power—Manifestation Level 3: This power allows the caster to create a physical representation of their magic. This magic has no physical properties beyond being visible. It requires the caster’s concentration to hold its presence. Increased levels will allow the caster to manifest larger amounts of mana in the future. Level 3: A maximum of 4 cubic feet can be manifested at one time.

Shadow Magic Power—Shaping Level 2: This power allows the caster to manipulate physical representations of their magic into various shapes. It requires the caster’s concentration to hold its shape. Increased levels will allow the caster to create more intricate and involved shapes. Level 2: A maximum of 2 cubic feet can be manipulated at one time.