Kael barely had time to lay down after the exhausting training session before Nathan's voice cut through the quiet.
"On your feet. We are not done yet."
With a groan, Kael blinked and found himself standing in the dark, endless shadow space. The air here was heavier, thicker, like it pressed against his skin. Nathan stood in front of him — not as the faint presence Kael sometimes felt, but as a solid figure of shadow, sharp-edged and unwavering.
"You've tasted real battle," Nathan said, his voice carrying the weight of command. "Now you must learn to move like a shadow. You survived the beast, but survival is not victory. Again."
Before Kael could ask what he meant, Nathan surged forward. His form blurred, vanishing in a rush of darkness before reappearing at Kael's side, striking low. Instinctively Kael brought his dagger up, blocking clumsily. Sparks of shadow clashed against shadow, and Kael was thrown back, stumbling.
"Shadow Step!" Nathan barked.
Kael tried — and for the first time, it worked. His body flickered, stepping sideways in the blink of an eye. One moment he was falling, the next he was crouched three paces away, breathing hard.
He looked down at his dagger — dripping with purple-blue shadow like molten glass — and tightened his grip.
"Good," Nathan said, advancing again, his eyes glowing faintly. "But you are too slow. Your mind hesitates, your body doubts. Remove hesitation. Shadows do not question — they strike."
Kael swallowed hard, then lunged. This time he didn't think, he just moved. The blade cut through the empty air where Nathan had been a heartbeat before, but Kael was already stepping again, blinking forward in a rush of speed. He appeared at Nathan's back and slashed.
Nathan caught the strike with a single hand, shadows wrapping around Kael's blade. His grin was sharp. "Better. Now again."
The training turned brutal. Nathan came at him from every angle — fast, precise, merciless. Each blow Kael barely deflected sent a shock up his arms, every dodge tested the limits of his stamina. His chest burned, his legs screamed for rest, but he forced himself on, slipping from step to step, shadow to shadow.
Hours passed — or what felt like hours in this place — until Kael collapsed to one knee, gasping, sweat dripping into the dark floor that wasn't floor at all.
Nathan stood over him, unmoved, his presence steady as the void itself. "You are learning, Kael. Slowly. But one day, you will not just step through shadows. You will become them."
Kael clenched his jaw, his body aching but his spirit refusing to bend. For the first time, he didn't feel like the powerless blank everyone called him. Not anymore.