Hideaki sat alone in the main room, while Amaya slept in his. He pulled out the book about refining soul shadows and flipped to the first page. This page was filled with the ancient letters, it showed the different topics that were going to be in the book. After reading through the different topics, Hideaki flipped to chapter one. This chapter was an introduction to the soul and the shadows. It seemed like a very basic outline of what a soul was and the function of a shadow.
Hideaki quickly read the first few paragraphs and found that the shadows that were being discussed were actually related to the different emotions of a person. However, there was a catch that one cannot have the same shadow as another person. This causes there to be very limited shadows in the world. As Hideaki read more and more, he found that a person can have one shadow, but in some rare cases, some can have two.
After learning the basics of what the shadow signified, Hideaki flipped to the next page. Each page was filled to the brim with the different types of shadows and the description behind them. Hideaki started to wonder why he had this book. Did he also have a shadow? The way the old man described it, it seemed like he did. Suddenly, a black light started to leak out the book, then when the light disappeared, the pages were back to page number one.
The different topics were still there, but now when Hideaki flipped to the next page, there was another table that had similar topics. This time the topics had an insignia beside them. It was the same three horned figure. Hideaki looked at the page number and flipped to the first page of the new topics. When he got to the new page, he noticed that this time the introduction was more specific. Instead of talking about the different types of shadows, it talked only about one.The same insignia was present, but one of the horns seemed alive and was a different shade than the other two; it was black. Looking at this changed horn, Hideaki started to read what happened and what it meant.
Reading through the content slowly, Hideaki learned that this new horn represented the state of mind, rather than emotion. This state of mind was called insanity. It forced all the negative thoughts out the user, strengthening their power significantly and reducing the victims moral.
"Wait, why are these things important? Is this my shadow? Do these dull horns represent my other shadows?" Hideaki blankly stared at the book. He felt bewildered, he didn't think he would have a soul shadow, let alone have a total of three? He slowly read more trying to figure out if this was his or not. He also wanted to know what the other two horns represented.
What really confused him was that in the introduction he read before, it stated that soul shadows were made through the emotions, however, insanity was not an emotion. It was a state of mind. When Hideaki read through this, another black light started to shine out the book. Since he experienced this before, Hideaki quickly flipped to the first page. He read through the different topics again, but it seemed like nothing changed. When Hideaki got tired of reading, he closed the book and decided to rest. His mind was in turmoil, this turn of events caused him to be very confused, yet he also felt somewhat excited. He wasn't one to chase after power, but it wasn't like he would give up a chance that would increase his combat capabilities.
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As the morning dew covered the outer house and the golden light trickled into the house, Hideaki slowly opened his eyes. After going through a night of confusion and enlightenment, Hideaki's eyes seemed more profound as if there was a locked door that opened up many secrets. His gaze slowly swept into the main room, and when he noticed that the sun was slowly climbing the sky he got up and got himself ready for the day. He quickly put on his robe and washed his face with the faucet outside his home. Although Isamu was in a different town and was possibly injured, Hideaki couldn't go there yet. He needed to prepare some things before he headed out.
YOU ARE READING
The Lost Shadow
AksiyonBeing chased out of the samurai army for a crime that he did not commit forces, Hideaki to find a new way to live. However, there is a shadowy figure on his tail that enjoys tormenting him from behind the scenes. Being a lone man in the continent of...
