Three weeks passed without a word from Umbra. Nyx practiced her shadow magic daily, developing it further. But something was missing.
"You're frustrated these days." Raziel said one evening as she dismissed her shadow constructs with more force than necessary.
"I've plateaued. I can't develop new techniques, can't refine advanced skills without help." She sat on the training ground. "I'm not improving."
"Isn't that enough? You still have defensive skills to counter earth extraction."
"I have just basic defensive skills. Umbra mentioned advanced techniques I never learned like shadow manipulation of living targets, dimensional anchor creation, consciousness projection across realms." She pulled her knees to her chest. "There's so much more I could learn."
"You want to contact him again."
"No. I just want to continue learning shadow magic."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"I won't contact him." She said. "I promised no more lessons after the final week. I'll keep that promise."
