Chapter 12: First shadow

First Shadow, Commoner, Zed, Shadow

Imperial Calendar: Year 1596, Month 3, Day 17

Deceased, Sea of Zed's Soul

This place is very peaceful… I don't know how or why, but upon dying, I opened my eyes and found myself here… it was dark, but I could see. It was eternally silent when I arrived; the dark tide that is the floor of this place was intact… an enormous black sun rose at the highest point, shining. It was black but had a unique glow… it was beautiful… I am dead… that much is clear… so what am I supposed to be now… I have no answer… I can think for myself… I can feel that there are many, perhaps thousands of shadows hidden in the darkness, watching silently, undetectable… they all simply stay motionless, staring at me with dark eyes from everywhere… I don't know how they got to this place.

I don't know why I am in this place… what am I supposed to be… I feel like I am one of them, another shadow… but at the same time, I am not. I can move, walk, and think for myself… so what am I? As I said, I don't know… but still, as strange as it seems, I am somehow alive… I am the shadow of Zed from another world, a shadow of my own body… it is very strange… all of this is too strange.

Looking at the black sun from the top of Zed's soul, I can feel a much larger shadow hidden deep within the black sun… it is more vast, larger than all the other shadows around me. I can see them, they or they can see me, some as tall as 15-meter trees, others smaller like small dogs… others very large like houses, but they all have something in common… shadows, motionless in one place, watching me… I can see them too… but no more than that.

I tried to touch them… but the moment I did, I found myself taking over their body… the same happens with all the others… if I touch them, I become them, I don't know how it works or why I can do this… but the moment I do, I feel strong… I feel powerful, invincible… they are all immensely strong… much stronger than me, but the shadow inside the black sun is something else, I cannot imagine how strong it is… it's simply impossible.

They are all strong… all of them… they can kill them… right? Yes… they must be able to… of course, just by crushing them, if only… No, that doesn't matter now… My sister is the most important thing right now…

-Damn…

-....

-Sigh… it's the only way…

-Yes.

-It's very dangerous…

-I know, but as far as I know, the inside of the mountains is completely dark, it's a good opportunity.

-You are very confident.

-I am, after all, I won't be alone.

-You're right… But still, you're not strong at all.

-I keep that in mind, the mission's objective is not to kill the monster that rules the inside of the mountains… it's to get the silver. While the creature kills the others, I will steal the plant… it's a simple plan.

-A lot of things can happen…

-I know… but the best quality of a human being is adaptability.

-Aren't you afraid?

-I am afraid… but fear is what will keep me alive… after all, I don't want to die….

It's strange, this other Zed is very odd… he was always very calm and serene, never wavering in his words, reliable one might say… very different from me… looking at the calm waters… I sigh, I can feel, I can see the world through his shadow, now his body… I am not angry, for some reason, I feel grateful to him… it's a feeling that keeps appearing in me every time he enters the sea of height… in fact, it's not just me, all the shadows around look at him with respect… Is it like having chains around my neck? Somehow, I see him with devotion and longing… it doesn't bother me… after all, thanks to him, I can kill them… I can have my revenge… I can protect my sister….

Shadow, shadows, all linked to one person, it's fine with me… it doesn't bother me… shadows… all of them under one person's shadow…

God of shadows… God of mysteries… God of darkness… God of deception… God….

-You have four days to enlist.

-But I still can't find where the noble's house is. This city is very big… I thought it was smaller.

-....

-Someone is coming…

-I can feel it, the shadows whisper in my ear… I can hear and see them. He wants to kill me… I've done nothing to him.

-He's coming with a knife…

I am his shadow… I have eyes, I can see and feel, in Zed's body I was lying against a dirty, greasy wall… it's the wall of a restaurant… it's the only place we could find to spend the night…

In a corner, there's a man… middle-aged… he's ugly… his eyes are bloodshot, his hands shaking violently, foam coming out of his mouth… is he drugged? That seems to be the case… his clothes are in tatters, damaged, and he is in worse shape than Zed, the knife in his hands is rusty… is he hungry? That also seems to be the case… he's malnourished… does he want to eat him?

I saw Zed continue to pretend to be asleep… he never moved… the man advanced stealthily… I kept watching… I was curious about what Zed would do, not that I could do much right now….

-Now….

It was a small murmur, somehow I knew what he wanted to do… expanding my size, the alley shadows deepened… Zed's body merged with his shadow.

Bang!

The man's body fell to the ground… he had spasms… desperately trying to grasp his throat… blood was coming out of it.

-Carotid artery, an artery that pumps blood directly from the heart to the head, a decent cut can lead a person to certain death….

I stayed silent… it's incredible… he's very strong… it was quick… one cut with the dagger was enough to kill him…

-How annoying it is to get unnecessarily bloodied…

That's what he said, always calm, his eyes in perfect harmony… I too, somehow, was calm… in fact, it was amazing…

-It doesn't bother me at all…