Shadow Walker

Just before the two monsters were about to battle it out, everything turned black once again.

Madd opened his eyes and he was back in the middle of the formation with three grey and red rings spinning around him. Madd could finally feel a change in his power. He feels like he is actually able to do something with the shadows around him but he can't figure it out just yet.

Madd was just about to try and start condensing his rings when he remembered what his grandpa told him. So he got up and went to the door. As he was approaching the door he had a weird feeling. He couldn't put his mind around it but something felt...off. He looked everywhere around the room and nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the shadow formation itself.

Madd couldn't find anything so he just put it to the back of his mind and went to open the door. When he tries to push the doors open he realizes that it just moved a little bit. That's when he forgot about how heavy the door was. Madd didn't want to try as hard again to open it up so he tried using the shadow power coming from his rings. He's never done this before so it takes him quite a while but eventually he is able to figure out how to inject shadow power into the door in order to make it lighter. 'So does that mean this is just a special door that becomes lighter with shadow power or does shadow power make things lighter if I inject shadows into with it. It's most likely the first one though.'

So he opened the door. When he looked beyond the door he didn't see the long hallway with a bunch of doors like he expected. He saw what looked like an abandoned building. He couldn't tell what kind of building it was so it could be anything. Madd didn't move a muscle after seeing this.

'Am I still in my inner world or did something happen when I was gone?'

He figured he couldn't find out if he just waited so he started to walk out of the room. He couldn't hear anything other than his footsteps. He kept walking down the hallway and nothing has changed expect the door to the tier 10 shadow formation is now further away. After walking for a little longer Madd starts to notice that the sound of his footsteps seem to be repeating a second after each other. But it wasn't an echo. It just sounded like another pair of feet walking a second off of how Madd was walking. When Madd thought of this he froze. And when he did so did the echo.

To test it out just to make sure he walked just a little more and he heard the footsteps once again. Madd came up with the idea to keep walking but at some point don't finish the whole step and see if there will still be noise. So after walking for another minute he made it seem like nothing was changing in the way he walked when he was just about to step on the ground he stopped his foot. He then heard then sound of something's feet hitting the floor. Since Madd has been through the first three trails he isn't as scared at what was about to happen but he was still extremely worried about what it about to happen. He made up his mind and turned around to look at what is following him.

But he sees nothing. He looks all around and nothing can be seen other than the walls around him. Madd noticed from this that he could see perfectly fine in the dark. 'This must be one of the abilities that come from shadow power.' Madd became excited to see what else his powers could do. But before he could think of anything else there was a flash. It was extremely bright because his eyes where completely adjusted to the darkness so he had to close his eyes for a little to get used to it. When he opened them back up he was standing in front of his mom and grandpa who were coming out of the elevator. Madd looked surprised but they looked even more.

"M-Madd how did you... get here?" Korn asked.

Madd looked over and stared for a little bit thinking about what to say. He assumed that he could trust his grandpa because his mother looks like she trusts him so he told them about everything that happened with his inner demon and the other strange creature that helped him. And the shadow world that he just came out of. Korn and Michelle were both listening very closely.

When Korn heard the last part of what Madd said he widened his eyes in surprise and smiled. "Madd what you just experienced was your subconscious mind transporting you to the shadow world. We call people like you shadow walkers and they are a very respected bunch of people. Shadow walkers are people who have an innate connection to the shadows around the world. If a shadow walker manages to perfect there abilities they can go to the shadow world anytime the please. They also have the ability to make connections to shadow creatures who have yet to be completely consumed by the shadows. You have a very rare ability that many people would kill to have. Literally. But good thing for you is that we specialize with shadow walkers in this household because of the deamon blood running through our veins. Because of the blood the shadows have an easier time interacting with us and same for us to them. Because of this shadow walkers are able to use the shadow creatures abilities for themselves. But keep in mind that until you graduate from the shadow academy you must never reveal them to the public. Or else you will be hunted down to the end of your days."

"Wow." That's all that Madd could think to say with all that thrown to him.

"Wait so does that mean that somehow I have already made a connection with the shadow creature in my shadow trial?"

Korn's eyes flashed with a hint of pride because Madd was his grandson. "Yes, that is exactly why. I'm glad you are able to figure that on your own. Sometimes it takes people, especially around your age quite a while to put those things together."

"Now that you have formed all three of your rings I think it about time for you to learn how to condense your rings. Now, of course, you will have to do a lot of things with your inner demon but you also have to do another thing. That is actually condensing all the rings yourself. After you pass the trial you will have enough shadow power in each ring to form them into one big one. But it's a lot harder to do than it sounds. You have to try and connect to your core and give it the command to condense them. That's all you have to do but it's also the hardest thing to do. Some people can never have a full connection with their core but I don't think it will be a problem for you. The only thing is that you might have to be patient and wait it out and keep trying to connect to it."

"Ok, grandpa I will try my best!" Madd was very excited to make his family proud.

"Good. Now let's go upstairs so that you can rest before you go through your final trail." They then all went into the elevator and went back to the second floor that Madd and Michelle are staying on.

"Goodbye Madd, I will see you tomorrow to bring you back down to the shadow room. I hope you will be ready."

"Okay grandpa, bye." Madd gave his grandpa a hug and got off with his mother. As soon as the doors closed Michelle ran to Madd and hugged him tight. It caught Madd off guard but he also hugged his mom back. He then started to feel his shoulder start to get wet

"Mom, are you ok?"

Michelle looked into Madd's eyes and she couldn't help but worry. "I'm so sorry Madd. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. You're father used to be a very nice man but one day we were hunting shadows and one of them attacked your father and he almost didn't survive. After that, he was never the same again. I knew that I should have done something back then but I was too scared to hurt him. I was fine when he would hurt and abuse me but I just couldn't handle myself whenever he would do things to you. Even with that it still took all of my courage to deal with him and get us out of there. I'm sorry that I put you through that. I don't ever think I can forgive myself for that."

When Madd heard these words he also started to tear up and he tightened the grip of his hug. His mom felt him crying and squeezing and she couldn't help but feel worse but then

"It's ok mom. I know it hard. I could tell by the way that you looked at dad that you really loved him. I would have probably done the same thing if it happened to you. So don't be upset mom because I will never be mad at you for that."

After Michelle heard this she had a big smile on her face. Even though she still had tear stains on her face Madd thought that this was the most beautiful his mom had looked since his father changed. He was happy that she is starting to become happy.

So after that heartwarming moment they both went to their rooms.

"M-mom."

Michelle looked over to Madd who was about to open his door.

"Yes."

"Can I stay with you tonight. It's been a long time since we have spent the night together."

"Of course Madd which room do you want to stay in?"

"Moms"

"Ok then let's go." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her room. They had the best sleep they have had in years in each other embrace.

Then morning came.