Shroud [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

“Again!”

Levi collapsed onto his side, his energy completely drained from his body. He barely lifted his head, and he hadn’t fed in days.

“Viseli!” he croaked. “I don’t have any energy left.”

Viseli stormed over, his large body acted as a huge pillar of shadow over Levi. “Huh? What you talk about? You made progress! You did right!”

“What?” Levi replied. “With the shadow thing?”

“Is very good!” Viseli roared. “Make sure it is no fluke!”

Hunger.

Viseli bent forward and slapped Levi over the head. “Hey!” Levi exclaimed.

“I can hear him in there,” warned Viseli. “I know what he wants. You can feed once you do it again. C’mon.”

With that promise, Levi’s palms pressed hard against the soil. He pulled his knees in slowly and slowly got up. He shook slightly he tried to find his balance but quickly overcame it.

In front of him stood a large tree. If Levi leaned back, he could just see the top branch. Around them, there were a variety of fallen trees, but this one was the last in the patch.

Viseli stepped to the side, and pointed to the tree. “Go.”

Levi slowly brought his palms together, the skin pressed tight. He closed his eyes, his focus in complete concentration. In his mind, he imagined the heavy feeling that swarmed from inside of him, the darkest part of his strength.

When his eyes opened, he could feel the ground around him shake slightly. The ground vibrated, rippling up his legs but he remained firm.

His hands parted and faced out towards the tree. A yowl escaped his lips as a tidal wave of shadow burst from his palms and towards the tree. His left foot stepped back as an attempt to control his balance.

In a matter of seconds, the tree collapsed over, the black flame danced wildly on the kindle. Levi panted heavily, his arms dropped to his sides.

Viseli ran forward, his hands clapped together excitedly. “GOOD! GOOD!” he exclaimed as he clapped louder. He grabbed Levi’s shoulders and gave them a good shake.

“You improve!” Viseli remarked. “Now we feed, ok?”

Levi half nodded, a half smile formed on his lips which pulled into a grin. “Okay.”

**************

“You pick a name?” Viseli asked as his stuffed another flask into his thick coat.

Levi laced up his boots, his eyebrows furrowed. “I think so. Not a Nekromant one, but a codename, like the one Anon uses.”

“Oh? What is it?” Viseliasked curiously.

“I read it in the Finnish book on names you gave me, but I was thinking you call me Henri? Just when we’re in town.”

Viseli nodded as he cracked his knuckles. “Okay name. You call me Isaac. No mention of Viseli, ok?”

Levi nodded and got to his feet. In the month and a bit that he trained under his Lehrkraft, Levi had only fed on animals. Tonight was his first time feeding on another human.

“I shall supervise entire time,” Viseli explained as they trudged through the wilderness. “Remember basics. If Mähdrescher comes out, I will stop it, ok?”