The cave was a graveyard of silence.
Only the faint drip of water echoed between stone ribs, and Aaryan sat at its heart like a god exiled from his throne.
His shadow twisted against the walls, longer and darker than it should have been. The Sha within him pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat — a devouring rhythm, patient and hungry.
In front of him lay the remains of a beast that once terrorized these mountains — bones carved like blades, flesh blackened by decay.
> "Even the mighty rot," he said softly. "That is the only law Heaven never broke."
He pressed his palm against the carcass. The air trembled.
From his body, black essence spilled — not flowing like Qi, but spreading like ink across dying paper.
The corpse screamed without a voice as every trace of existence was consumed.
Flesh turned to dust. Bones to shadow.
And when nothing remained, a fragment of pure darkness floated before Aaryan — a shard that pulsed with the faint heartbeat of something living.
---
⚔️ Forging Through Devouring
Aaryan extended his hand. The shard pierced his palm, drinking his blood greedily.
The taste of iron filled his mouth, yet his gaze did not waver.
> "Creation is merely destruction given shape," he whispered.
The shadow twisted and hardened, birthing a weapon that defied reflection — a dagger of void, edges sharp enough to cut light itself.
Its name came to him instinctively, not from memory, but from destiny:
Umbraclaw.
When he grasped it, a pulse ran through his veins — his blood and shadow becoming one.
The weapon fed on his essence and, in return, whispered to him:
> "Feed me, and I shall make you eternal."
He smiled faintly, expression colder than stone.
---
🌑 First Sha Technique
The darkness around him stirred as Aaryan moved. The air bent, and light itself grew heavy.
[Sha Technique — Binding Hunger]
> A forbidden art that devours the vitality of all things within reach — storing it as shadow energy within the wielder's weapon.
He tested it. The dagger sliced through the stone beside him, and the rock bled light before fading into ash.
The cave shook. His breath deepened.
> "Power without mercy is weakness," Aaryan muttered. "I will not be weak again."
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⚖️ The World Trembles
Far beyond those black hills, Monk Eshan's candle flickered once — its flame bending toward the north.
> "The second echo…" he murmured. "Another devourer rises. The heavens prepare their own funeral."
At that same hour, Iriya's quill paused mid-word. A drop of ink fell, rippling across her parchment.
> "He forges his first blade," she whispered. "The record begins."
And in the western ruins, Mira of the Lattice lifted her blood-stained hand to the wind.
> "So the world births another shadow," she sighed. "May his hunger never end."
---
💀 Aaryan's Thought
Outside the cave, the night stretched endlessly.
Aaryan stepped into it, his figure merging with the darkness. Umbraclaw hung loosely at his side, pulsing faintly like a second heart.
> "The heavens call us cursed," he said quietly. "But only the cursed have the right to challenge them."
Lightning cracked across the barren sky — but no thunder followed. Only silence, as if the world itself held its breath.