The Walker Of Voids

*Ding*

[Shadow Enhancement (Lvl 2 ----> 3)]

[Shadow Movement (Lvl 1 ----> 2)]

[Shadow Claw (Lvl 1 ----> 2)]

[You have 2 gained new abilities]

[Shadow Wings]

[Shadow Expansion]

Despite being exhausted, Lloyd looked down at his watch, and when he saw what he wanted to see, a smile appeared on his face, extending from ear to ear as a powerful surge of energy entered his body.

A smile plastered itself along Lloyd's face, yet before he could celebrate, he closed his eyes and entered his shadow once again.

'Just like he said..." Lloyd thought as he moved the energy within him to his legs, his torso, and the smallest amount to his arms.

Instantly, cracks began to appear all over his skin before pieces of it began to fall off. The pain was so excruciating that he wanted to tear out his eyes.

Yet despite all of this, Lloyd continued until a new layer of skin was revealed, and the moment it did, Lloyd opened his eyes and smiled. It might have taken several more minutes than he had expected, but he was happy with the results.

He felt more invigorated than ever before, while his body felt straight yet light simultaneously. He felt like he could crush a lump of coal into a diamond with his bare hands, but that was probably just a trick of the mind, created from an enormous increase in strength.

'I assume I must do that until my skin no longer cracks. But that also means that my body's strength is purely based on the strongest creatures I can kill. What happens if I just choose not to go above the first commandment?

Does my body continue to get stronger and stronger, or does it continue to get stronger until it is just as strong as my elemental and mana-based abilities?' Lloyd asked himself, yet since he knew he wouldn't be getting any answers any time soon, causing him to throw the thought to the back of his mind.

Leaving his shadow stronger and more healed than when he entered it, he was quickly forced to move to the side as a white owl perched toward him with its talons aimed toward his head.

'Peak first commandment? I shouldn't have too much trouble. Most of my mana is back and I'm completely healed. I should be able to kill it pretty easily.' Lloyd thought while activating [Shadow Enhancement], covering himself in shadows.

[Shadow Claw]

He moved forward, his movements increasing in speed and power with each step. His claws cut through the air like lightning; before the owl could even reach its head out, Lloyd had already slammed his foot into its chest.

The owl screeched in pain before crashing against a tree, yet before it could fly away, Lloyd shot a barrage of shadow arrows at it, knocking it down to the ground. He then leaped forward with great speed while covering himself in flames, and before the owl could swing one of its talons, Lloyd had already reached it.

Grabbing the owl's wings and legs, Lloyd grabbed onto its body with all his strength, causing the owl to screech loudly. Without giving it time to react, Lloyd began to spin as fast as he could while expanding his flames to their maximum output.

Within seconds, he had turned the owl into nothing more than ashes.

Leaving with a smile of satisfaction, Lloyd quickly looked over at his teammates just to be surprised at their shocked expressions as they watched the owl's ashes drop to the ground.

No more owls were attacking them anymore, and by the number of carcasses on the ground, Lloyd would have most likely been correct to assume that they had already killed a vast majority of the owls while the rest must have run away.

"What?" Lloyd asked with a tilt of the head when seeing his teammate's shocked expressions.

"We're just surpised..." Roderick spoke with an agape mouth, yet all he received with a raise of Lloyd's brow.

"That owl was at the peak of the first commandment, but you killed it so easily..." Tina said, her voice filled with disbelief.

Hearing Tina say it herself, everything clicked in Lloyd's mind, making him smile brightly before puffing out his chest and saying-

"I know right!"

"How did you do it? One minute you were struggling with mutating owl. Hell, you were beaten till cracks appeared on your skin, but now you're completely fine and somehow killed a peak first commandment without breaking a sweat?" Hime asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

Lloyd knew that many of them most likely thought there was a chance of him being a void walker, but unlike the first day he had met them, they didn't allow their suspicion to change their view of Lloyd.

The chances were extremely low. Void walkers were a race. They couldn't be birthed out of thin air. Its impossible. Humans can't become void walkers, and the same thing could be said the other way around.

The only way such a thing could occur is only if-

'Wait... I became a void walker because of my class, but that could only happen if I already had dormant void walker genes in me...' Lloyd inwardly thought while keeping his outward smile.

However, before he could go down the rabbit hole that is his family tree, he answered the question everyone was clearly thinking.

"I had an epiphany." Lloyd announced, this time even making some of them gasp while the rest widened their eyes in complete shock.

"You had an epiphany?! Really?" Veronica's voice caught Lloyd's attention, making him turn around just to see Veronica in all her beauty.

Her voice was filled with excitement, but even Lloyd wasn't sure if she was excited for him or if she was excited because she could meet someone who had an epiphany.

'I could have sworn that she was never this attractive... Maybe I'm going crazy.' Lloyd nodded to himself since it was the most plausible conclusion he could think of for his sudden attraction toward the vampire.

Of course, she could have used an ability on him that would make him more attractive, but he doubted that she would do that. What could she gain from making someone like him attracted to her?

"Yeah, I did." Lloyd gave her a thumbs up with a cheery voice.

"Wait, is that why you disappeared?" Felix asked with a slight frown.

"Yep." Lloyd nodded

An epiphany. While it can be used in many contexts, for most awakened individuals, it was the rare occurrence of reaching a new level of understanding, usually followed by adding new abilities, elements passives, or even the increase of talent.

It is a moment in time when someone's understanding of everything accelerates dramatically, allowing them to increase the comprehension of their element and possibly even break through to the next stage or commandment.

While Lloyd hadn't actually had an epiphany, it was the most plausible answer to explain his new abilities, his increase in strength, and his newfound ability to kill a mutated half-step second commandment all on his own.

"Don't epiphanies last for half an hour or more?" Rex tilted his head in curiosity.

"Yeah, and what's a better way to use my epiphany than to fight a mutated monster with the same abilities as me?" Lloyd asked, making some of them nod while the others simply shrugged.

On the other hand, Tina couldn't hold in any longer and dashed forward with all the speed she could muster before tackling Lloyd into a hug.

"You could have told us! I thought you were going to die!" She shouted as she buried her face into Lloyd's chest. However, before Lloyd could even try to comfort her, Hime's voice cut in, making him frown.

"Prove it."

"Prove what?" Lloyd raised a brow.

"Prove to me that you had an epiphany." She demanded as she stared at Lloyd with narrowed eyes.

"Isn't this a little too far. You yourself said that the chances are-" Roderick tried to argue, but Hime stopped him from speaking further by saying-

"Shut up."

Her words were laced with undeniable anger that no one truly understood, but instead of complaining or even arguing, Lloyd complied with her demands.

[Shadow Expansion]

Everyone watched as Lloyd's shadow expanded out from where he stood.

His shadow looked alive as it flickered and moved like a living being, yet instead of stopping there, Lloyd went further.

'I feel slower...' Everyone thought when the shadows touched them, yet their vision was encased in darkness before they could test how slow they truly became.

[Swallow]

The entire team sunk into Lloyd's shadow, yet despite it seeming amazing, only Lachlan truly understood the accomplishment of Lloyd's 'epiphany.'

In reality, it was just a move that Lloyd thought of when he saw the shadow owl enter his shadow.

"This is what I call my shadow realm. Like it?" Lloyd asked with a chuckle.

"Well, actually, what we're accessing right now is called the shadow dimension.

I'll tell you more about it in our next lesson." Lachlan explained, making Lloyd blink a few times before shrugging and snapping his fingers again to force everyone out of his shadow.

"I have a few other abilities, like those arrows I created out of shadows that I basically stole from the shadow owl thing." Lloyd explained while everyone simply nodded.

After talking for a few more minutes, they all decided to move again.

The rest of the trip was not as eventful as the start, but it wasn't a secret that the monsters were beginning to increase in strength and amount the more they traveled.

Several hours went by in the blink of an eye, and before they knew it, the sun was beginning to set, forcing them to set camp for the night in the nearest clearing.

Hime had decided to give Lloyd a day off the next day since he had been working really hard all week, yet Lloyd had other plans.

As they all entered their tents to finally have a good night's sleep, Lloyd left his and began walking in a certain direction.

*Ring* *Ring*

Pressing the button in front of one of the tents, Lloyd heard the low chime of a bell go off inside before the sound of footsteps got closer to the door, making him tighten his fist while watching the curtain of the tent slowly open.

A pair of deep crimson eyes stared into his violet ones, before the prettiest smile Lloyd had seen in a while blossomed on the woman's face.

"Lloyd? What are you doing at my tent at such a late time?" Veronica asked with a sweet and almost seductive voice.

"..."

"..."

"What?" She asked.

"I need your help..."