📖 Chapter 3 – Forging Bonds in Shadow
Years: X775–X777 (Ryo ages 8–10)
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Part I – The Weight of Training (X775, Age 8)
The clang of wood against stone echoed in the empty training hall. A sharp breath hissed between Ryo's teeth as he forced his trembling arms to raise again. The wooden staff Makarov had given him felt heavier than any sword. His muscles burned, sweat stung his eyes, and his heartbeat rattled like a drum in his chest.
"Again," Makarov ordered, voice firm, steady, and maddeningly calm.
Ryo grit his teeth and swung. His form wavered, sloppy, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. He didn't dare.
When Makarov found him two years ago, Ryo thought the guild master would throw him away after seeing the monster inside. He still half-expected it every day. He remembered the blood, the wreckage, the screams that followed him like shadows. He knew what he was—what lurked beneath his skin.
But Makarov hadn't abandoned him. Instead, he had shackled him with rules. Training. Discipline. Endless drills that seemed to stretch on until Ryo's body broke.
"You think strength is only about destruction?" Makarov asked as Ryo collapsed to his knees. The boy's small frame trembled as if the floor itself tried to reject him. "Strength without control is nothing but fear. Is that all you want to be? Fear?"
The voice inside him purred. Yes. Fear is power. Fear bends the world to your will. Fear is what you are.
Ryo squeezed his eyes shut. "No." His voice cracked.
Makarov crouched, resting a tiny hand on Ryo's sweat-soaked hair. "Good. Then get up. We'll keep at it until your answer doesn't break."
The old man's words were soft, but the weight behind them was merciless.
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Days blurred into weeks. Training never stopped. Sometimes it was staff drills, sometimes meditation, sometimes exercises that felt like punishment—sitting still until his body shook, trying to push his magic into focus without letting the shadows crawl free.
The hardest part wasn't the drills. It was the silence. The silence that gave room for the voice.
Cleave, it whispered when he swung the staff.
Dismantle, it chuckled when he lost his footing.
Kill, it urged when exhaustion made his vision blur.
Ryo would bite his lip until it bled, forcing the voice down. Forcing himself to stay.
Makarov watched all of it. He was harsher on Ryo than any child should bear, but when the boy collapsed, the old master always carried him to bed. Always checked his breathing. Always whispered, "You'll learn."
It wasn't kindness that kept Ryo going. It was that merciless, stubborn belief.
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Part II – Rivalry with Laxus (X775–X776, Ages 8–9)
The guild hall was never quiet when Laxus was around.
"Oi, old man!" the blonde boy barked, lightning sparking at his fingertips as he stomped across the floor. "Why are you wasting time on him? He's dangerous! He doesn't belong here!"
Ryo, sitting alone near the wall, clenched his fists. He didn't rise. Not yet.
Makarov sighed, sipping his drink. "Laxus. He belongs as much as you do."
"He's a freak!" Laxus snapped, pointing at Ryo. "Everyone knows it! Look at him—he's got that creepy look, that creepy magic—"
"Say it again." Ryo's voice was low, quiet, but it cut across the guild louder than any shout.
The room hushed. Macao exchanged a nervous glance with Wakaba. Cana, perched at a nearby table, tensed but didn't move.
Laxus sneered. "What? Gonna prove me right, shadow boy?"
The insult wasn't clever, but it stung anyway. Before Ryo realized it, his shadows rippled across the floor, curling like black fire. The curse inside him laughed, thrilled at the provocation.
Makarov slammed his mug down. "Outside. Both of you."
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The spar that followed wasn't training. It was war in miniature.
Laxus moved first, lightning arcing across the ground. Ryo's shadow-beast snapped up from the earth, intercepting the blast.
"Ha!" Laxus grinned. "You think that'll stop me?"
"Try me."
Ryo's voice was sharp, his stance feral. Shadows coiled at his feet, a writhing storm barely held back. He slashed his hand through the air—Cleave—and the shadow lunged, cutting through the earth itself. Laxus barely dodged, the strike slicing a trench in the training ground.
Gasps rippled through the guild. Even Macao blanched.
"Enough!" Makarov roared. His magic pressed down like a storm, freezing both boys mid-step. "Laxus, stop goading him. Ryo—control yourself!"
Ryo's chest heaved. The shadows hissed, eager for more blood. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from wanting to finish the fight.
Makarov's magic pressed harder. Slowly, the shadows withdrew.
The match ended with no winner, but everyone knew the truth: Ryo was dangerous. Too dangerous.
And Laxus? He hated him more than ever.
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Part III – Cana's Light (X776, Age 9)
If Laxus brought storms, Cana brought laughter.
"Come oooon," she whined, tugging on Ryo's sleeve. "Just one game. You'll like it, I promise!"
"I don't play games."
"You don't do anything but mope in the corner!" Cana puffed her cheeks and plopped a deck of cards on the table. "Here. I'll teach you."
Ryo sat stiffly as Cana dealt cards with practiced hands. She grinned, mischievous, explaining rules with energy that drowned out his reluctance.
When he lost the first round, she laughed so hard she fell backward. When he won the second, she pouted dramatically.
"See? You can smile!" she said, pointing at him.
Ryo blinked. He hadn't realized he was.
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Weeks turned into months. Cana became a constant at his side. She teased him, dragged him into mischief, stole drinks from Macao's stash and roped him into covering for her.
Sometimes, late at night, when the guild hall was quieter, she'd talk about her father. About the space he left behind.
Ryo never knew what to say, but he listened. And when she cried, he sat beside her, shadows curling protectively without his command.
It was the first time his curse didn't feel like a monster.
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Part IV – Shadows Stirring (X776–X777, Age 10)
The shadows grew restless as Ryo grew stronger.
During one training session, a shikigami—an enormous wolf-like beast—rose from the floor. Its form was perfect, sharp, terrifying. Ryo felt pride swell—until the beast snarled and turned on Cana.
"Ryo!" she screamed as the monster lunged.
His body moved faster than thought. Shadows whipped, Cleave tearing his own creation apart before it reached her. The beast howled as it dissipated into smoke.
Cana trembled, eyes wide. "You—you almost—"
The voice inside laughed. See? You'll devour them all, one by one.
"No." Ryo shook his head violently, clutching his skull. "No, no, no—"
Makarov arrived in a flash, smothering the remnants of shadow with his magic. He grabbed Ryo by the shoulders, forcing the boy's panicked eyes to meet his.
"Control! You must control it!" Makarov's voice thundered, then softened. "Or it will control you."
That night, Ryo sat alone, knees hugged to his chest. Cana sat beside him, quiet, no teasing this time.
"You didn't hurt me," she whispered. "You protected me."
Ryo didn't answer. But her words stayed.
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Part V – Hints of the Future (X777, Age 10)
By now, the guild had shifted.
Laxus still spat insults, but his eyes no longer held only contempt—sometimes, grudging respect slipped through. Cana had become Ryo's anchor, dragging him into the guild's warmth whether he wanted it or not.
Even Macao and Wakaba started inviting him for simple errands, "to get him out of the damn hall."
Still, many kept their distance. Still, whispers followed him.
Late one night, Ryo stood outside the guild, staring at the stars. The shadows curled lazily at his feet, for once not hungry, just… present.
"Someday," he murmured. "Someday there'll be more like me. Kids who know what it's like."
The curse chuckled. And you'll destroy them too.
Ryo clenched his fists. "No. Not this time."
Inside, laughter echoed—Cana's laugh, Laxus' arrogant bark, Makarov's chuckle. For the first time, Ryo let himself believe he might belong.
Foreshadowing hung in the air: Gray's sorrow, Erza's fire, Mira's fury, Natsu's chaos, Levy's spark. They were coming. He didn't know it yet, but the family he longed for was on the way.
For now, he had shadows. For now, he had a beginning.