The darkness did not feel empty.
It felt… prepared.
Lucien drifted within that inner void again—not asleep, not awake, but balanced on the thin edge where thought existed without flesh. The pain from the previous night still echoed faintly through his soul, like a fracture that hadn't fully healed.
Something had been created.
Something unfinished.
Something waiting.
Lucien focused.
Not outward.
Inward.
The threads connecting his consciousness tightened, drawing his awareness toward the unstable presence he had torn from himself.
The system responded instantly.
—AVATAR FRAME: INCOMPLETE——RECOMMENDED ACTION: STABILIZATION——WARNING: SOUL LOAD AT 73%—
Lucien ignored the warning.
Proceed.
The void twisted.
And then—
There was birth.
Far from the Arvayne estate, deep beneath the roots of an ancient forest where light had long given up trying to reach the soil, space folded inward.
Not magically.
Administratively.
A hollow formed in reality itself, like a pocket carved by invisible hands.
Within it—
A small body took shape.
Pale skin.Black hair.Eyes closed.
The Shadow Avatar inhaled its first breath.
No cry followed.
No confusion.
No instinctive panic.
It simply opened its eyes.
And Lucien felt it.
The synchronization struck like a hammer.
Vision split.
Lucien gasped in his bed as the world doubled—his small noble chamber overlapping with a cavern of roots, stone, and suffocating dark.
He could feel two hearts beating.
One weak.One steady.
Two sets of lungs.
Two nervous systems.
But—
One mind.
Lucien clenched his fists as information flooded in.
Smell: damp earth, decay, living insects beneath bark.Sound: roots creaking, distant water, the scuttle of unseen creatures.Sight: perfect clarity in near-total darkness.
Different, Lucien realized instantly.
This body did not strain.
Did not hesitate.
Did not need adjustment.
It belonged here.
The Shadow Avatar rose to its feet with fluid precision—movements efficient, economical, silent. Its muscles responded faster than Lucien's main body ever could.
And its thoughts—
Cold.
Sharp.
Stripped of excess.
Lucien felt something unsettling.
Not resistance.
Not rebellion.
But—
Absence.
Empathy was missing.
Where Lucien's core mind still contained emotional data—his sister's warmth, his mother's quiet protection—the Avatar processed existence without such noise.
No hesitation.No attachment.Only function.
Lucien's breath quickened.
So this is the difference, he thought.A soul shard without… weight.
The system pulsed.
—AVATAR TRAIT ANALYSIS——PRIMARY AFFINITY: SHADOW / INFORMATION——EMPATHIC CAPACITY: NEGLIGIBLE——PROCESSING SPEED: 312% BASELINE—
Lucien's lips parted slightly.
Fast.
Dangerously so.
The Shadow Avatar tilted its head.
Not in curiosity.
In assessment.
A small creature crept into its field of vision—a burrowing rodent, blind and trembling, sniffing the air as it searched for food among the roots.
Lucien felt the Avatar notice it.
No hunger.
No cruelty.
Just—
Opportunity.
Lucien hesitated.
For the first time since activating Avatar Dominion, hesitation appeared.
Test parameters, he reasoned.Minimal consequence.
He allowed the thought to pass.
The Avatar moved.
There was no buildup.
No chase.
One moment the creature lived.
The next—
Its neck snapped with a clean, efficient twist.
Instant.
Silent.
Merciless.
Lucien felt it all.
The texture of fragile bone.The sudden cessation of life.The body going limp.
There was no pleasure.
No disgust.
Just completion.
Lucien's stomach churned violently in his main body. He doubled over, dry heaving as cold sweat soaked his nightclothes.
So easy, the Avatar's mind noted neutrally.
Lucien slammed the connection partially shut.
The feedback lagged—but not before the damage was done.
A sharp pain tore through his chest, as if something inside him had cracked further.
He gasped, clutching at his heart.
The system flared red.
—WARNING——SOUL STRAIN INCREASING——EMPATHIC DESYNCHRONIZATION DETECTED——RECOMMENDED: REDUCE SYNCHRONIZATION DURATION—
Lucien lay trembling, breaths shallow.
That wasn't fear.
It wasn't guilt.
It was something far more dangerous.
Understanding.
He had created something that could kill without ever questioning why.
And worse—
It was him.
Minutes passed.
Then longer.
Lucien slowly reestablished a thinner connection—enough to observe, not feel.
The Shadow Avatar stood still in the darkness, eyes scanning, already mapping terrain, memorizing routes, noting sound patterns.
It crouched.
Touched the ground.
Its fingers brushed shadow—and the shadow responded, clinging unnaturally to its skin.
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
Affinity confirmed.
The Avatar did not wait for instructions.
It began to move.
Exploring.
Learning.
Hiding.
Lucien watched with cold fascination as it vanished into darkness that would have swallowed any normal being.
Not magic invisibility.
Relevance suppression.
The Avatar did not just hide.
It made itself unimportant to reality.
Lucien felt a strange sense of… rightness.
A piece clicking into place.
The pain in his chest flared again, reminding him of the cost.
He exhaled slowly.
Limit synchronization, he decided. Let it grow independently—within bounds.
The system acknowledged.
—PARAMETERS SET—
Lucien leaned back against his pillow, eyes staring into the dark ceiling of his room.
His heart still hurt.
His soul felt… stretched.
But beneath the strain, beneath the warning signs, beneath the danger—
There was satisfaction.
Not joy.
Alignment.
Every ruler needs secrets, Lucien thought calmly.Every empire needs shadows.
His lips curved faintly.
Not a child's smile.
Not even a human one.
"This one," Lucien whispered into the night,"will rule secrets."