• Umbrage Manipulation

[Power - Umbrage Manipulation]

[Power Level - 30ip]

[Power Rank - Novice Bearer]

[Influences Unlocked - Zero]

[Power Potential - Undetermined]

Spheris scowled, his fingers curling tightly around the glyph before he stowed it away in his safe pocket. He didn't like the reminder that he was still very weak in terms of power.

But that was why he was here—a barren, rocky field of land. 

In front of him, Spheris could see jagged peaks of the mountains looming ominously on the horizon. And the sky was dead black. No moon, barely any stars. 

'Alright then,' he said in his thoughts. 'Let's do this.'

He rolled and stretched his neck, squared his shoulders and adopted the stance that Thorin had taught him. His feet were planted firmly on the ground, and his hands were crossed across his chest. 

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, inhaling the cool, musty air of the Abyss into his lungs, letting it fill him with renewed determination.

When he exhaled, he could feel it again just like before; the Essence coursing through him, a pulsing energy that thrummed beneath his skin, waiting to be unleashed. 

"Ugh!" With a steady hand, he pushed forward, willing the Essence to obey his command.

But as his hand extended, he lost a bit of focus, concentrating more on the result than the Essence. This caused the power to fall flat, just as it was about to explode out of his fist. 

Spheris gritted his teeth. 'Okay, I got a little bit ahead of myself.' He took another deep breath and reset his stance. Shoulders rolled back and arms crossed. 

Swiftly, he thrusted his hand forward and a surge of energy pulsated from his fist. This time, however, there was no hesitation. A dark energy immediately poured out of his hand and struck a rock some distance away.

"Woah." he whispered.

The whirring sound of his glyph startled him and he immediately pulled it out of his pocket. 

The red light poured out, displaying a projection of what Spheris assumed was his soul. 

[Influence Unlocked - Shaded Blasts]

[Influence Category - Offensive]

[Effectiveness - 4%]

[Power Level Growth Has Been Discerned]

[Power Level Increased]

[Power Level Is Now At 45ip]

The projection retracted into the glyph, leaving Spheris gazing at the object with an undecided emotion. 

45ip was good, it was progress. But the Influence he had unlocked only had an effectiveness of four percent? Seriously? 

Returning the glyph to his pocket, he approached the rock his [Shaded Blast] had hit to inspect it. 

Arriving, he knelt infront of the dark smear on the rock, examining it closely. To his dismay, he found that the rock had barely been affected by his [Shaded Blast]. The surface remained unscathed, the only evidence that he had struck the damn thing was the faint mark left behind by the dissipating energy.

With a frustrated sigh, he rose to his feet. 'Perhaps this Influence is only to stun an opponent, not to cause actual damage.' He turned to where he had been standing when he struck the [Blast]. 'Which is disappointing though. If it has this little damage on a rock, it would barely cause any to a Gorgolith. Talk more of a Gehennarac.'

He returned back to his earlier position, Talon who had been watching the whole thing, gave him a judgemental look.

"I know," he said to the bird. "It's progress, but I have to do better." He took a stance once again. "If I'm at 45ip now, I wonder what the Royals are at."

Talon cawed.

"Yes, you're right. This [Shaded Blast] stuff, it's like I can actually use shadows—the dark mist—and implement it like an energy blast." Spheris clenched his fist and the dark surge of energy pulsated around his arm. Surprised at how easy he could now conjure the Influence, he studied the misty energy. 

The realization he made after his study was that the mist was some kind of dark force. It was the same energy that created the shadow ball and of recent, the [Shaded Blasts]. 

If this dark force could be harnessed to create energy blasts and shadow balls, then surely it could be wielded to shape other things as well. 

He just had to be creative enough.

Spheris stood still for a moment, brainstorming. When he finally came up with something, he bit his lip with skepticism, unsure of whether it would work. 

"Okay, let's see." he took off his scarf, walked towards the rock that he had struck earlier and placed the clothing on top of it. Returning to the earlier position, he shook his fingers and—just like before—squared his shoulder.

Giving Talon a hopeful glance, he shrugged. "We'll see if this works."

Spheris poised himself, fixing his gaze on the scarf perched atop the rock. With his hands stretched forward, he summoned the dark force once more. 

But this time, he slowly conjured it to stretch out of his hands like elastic tendrils of shadow. They coiled and twisted out of his wide-open palm and with careful manipulation, Spheris directed the shadowy tendrils towards the scarf, watching with bated breath as they snaked their way towards their target.

"Come on," he muttered under his breath. "The power is already there, Spheris. Use it."

They successfully wrapped around the fabric, and Spheris felt a surge of exhilaration course through him. Okay, it was doing his bidding now. The darkness obeyed him. Now to return the scarf back to him.

With a deft flick of his wrist, he commanded the tendrils to retract, drawing the scarf back towards him with deliberate concentration. 

When the clothing lay nestled in the palm of his hands once more, an excited grin spread across his pale face. 

"That... was cool." he muttered, defeating the temptation to cry out a "Hell Yeah!" It would have been out of character for him, but the situation certainly deserved it. He could barely remember anything that would have made him cry out as loud as he wanted to. 

"Did you see that, Talon!?" he asked his best friend.

Talon fluttered it wings and cawed joyfully.

"Yes. I mean the things I could do with that. I could restrain anyone, binding them as easily as a rope. Plus, it can stretch out like hands, reaching for anything and everything. Nothing would be out of grasp."

The glyph whirred once more, and Spheris pulled it out. 

[Influence Unlocked - Embrace Of The Dark]

[Influence Category - Tactical]

[Effectiveness - 15%]

[Power Level Growth Has Been Discerned]

[Power Level Increased]

[Power Level Is Now At 70ip]

The projection of his soul disappeared once again before he remembered to inspect it. He was too focused at how effective the Influence was and what his Power Level was now. 

'70ip!?' his thoughts exclaimed. 'This [Embrace Of The Dark] must be quite the powerful Influence, huh?'

The sound of a pulverising rock from a distance behind him caught his attention. Gazing towards the noise, Spheris made out a petite figure just above the cliff. 

It was Akemi. 

It seemed she had the same idea as him, to use the long night to train. Spheris stared at her. 

There was an air of mystery surrounding Akemi, at least for Spheris. He looked down at Talon.

"What do you say? Should we go talk to her?"

Talon seemed to shrug.

"Come on," Spheris said as he made his way towards the low cliff where she trained, the crunch of barren stones beneath his boots echoing in the stillness of the night.