I quickly found good uses for my shadow magic the more I played with it. At first, it was just useful as a distraction. I could link my shadow with other shadows and move those around just as easily as my own. Most living beings were curiously attracted by a distant moving shadow. I used to think it was stupid for a single person in a movie to follow a shadow when it was obvious that they were going to get ambushed.

But now it made more sense. If it happened to be the wind or a random trick of the light, it was easier to check it out alone than be treated like a fool for jumping at shadows. It was very beneficial to me if I didn't want to move as part of a group. The ability to distract an enemy before they found me was amazing.

As I grew better at manipulating the shadows, I found it easier to imbue the darkness with the same intent of the earth. A solid block of shadow was a strange thing to feel. Smooth and squishy like jello, but with proper application, I could shove a spike of shadow through stone.

Unfortunately there were limitations to using a shadow. It was obviously more effective at night as I could freely manipulate the darkness around me. During the day, I was actually limited to the shadows that already existed. It was possible to go beyond their limitations but the farther I reached without touching another shadow, the more Ki it took to maintain the shadow's shape.

At night, it was an effective camouflage. It was...unusual. When the sun fell, I didn't have to control the shadows, they naturally clung to me like spider webs. I'd actually scared the others when I'd remained too still for too long and the shadows had crept over my body like a cloak. It was comfortable and that was disconcerting. Like a warm blanket on a winter morning, I didn't want to leave the shadows once they'd surrounded me. After that, I made it a point to keep the Void energy away from me at night. It wasn't aggressive like Blood Ki but it was still a consuming energy.

I found it easier to create small things out of shadows and began to incorporate that concept into my combat style. A quick tap of my staff into my shadow and I could form small blades of shadow on the tip of it. I could increase the range of my staff and even create whip like extensions. It required less focus to just create a stable form for the shadow than actually commanding it to do something.

Still, in an emergency, it would make a nice hidden weapon. It was quite versatile too, in my practices found that the blade didn't have to be just on the tip. It could come out of the side if I flattened the shadow. An unobservant eye would miss the thin covering of darkness until it was too late. A confident dodge would be met with a scythe like blade being formed. It was surprisingly vicious.

I shivered at that thought as I stood up from my meditation pose and stretched. Shadow magic was fun to practice but it led to some dark thoughts. I'd once caught myself wondering if I could use the natural darkness inside of someone to cause them to explode. It wasn't as if the Void was naturally evil, but everything seemed far more sinister without the revealing gaze of light.

I called for my staff and decided to focus on something more fun. I'd been having this thought a lot recently. My staff could hold more weight than I gave it credit for. It could pull me out of danger and even pulled Mary to me the first time we'd fought. I grinned as I stood outside and raised my staff above my head.

"Up!" with a strong yank I was sudden pulled straight up into the sky. I found that there was a barrier of sorts above Olympus as well, though it wasn't as strange as the cloud barrier around the area. I just couldn't keep going up.

I laughed as I quickly pulled myself up onto the staff and sat on it with my legs dangling off one side. I found sitting on it with it between my legs to be an uncomfortable idea.

I was flying! Well, floating at the moment, but I could order the staff in any direction. Moving was a bit risky. A staff didn't need to worry about being steady so the second I got it to move, it began to tip slightly one way or the other, requiring me to adjust my weight.

Once again, I missed my sight. It must have looked amazing from high in the sky. All I could see was a blue sea of mana as it stretched out before me.

It was nice flying out here, but unless I could figure out how to disrupt radar it was going to be hard to fly around at home. I could imagine being shot down by jets, though my maneuverability was probably far greater than a man made vehicle.

Pushing forwards, I began to gently soar through the air. I needed the practice and not just for having fun. It was guaranteed I'd be fighting enemies in the air at some point in the future, a bit of practice was necessary.

Unfortunately, I needed my hands on the staff when I was flying, it wouldn't stay steady otherwise. If I couldn't do it on the fly, I couldn't fight up close if an enemy got passed my long distance magic.

I quickly twisted and rolled, dodging a fireball I created in the air. At least my leg strength wasn't going to be giving out anytime soon. Hanging upside down, I spread my fingers out as several more fireballs appeared in the air around me.

Split second decisions in mid air. That was good training. A large smile appeared on my face as I quickly began avoiding the blazing balls of fire. To make it even more challenging, I began to cause some of them to explode while the others turned into piercing arrows.

I was actually underestimating my ability to adapt to new situations. A roll through the air and I released the staff, grabbing it with my hand and quickly striking down a few errant fireballs knocked aside by other explosions before reseating myself.

My increase in Ki hadn't only affected the wisps inside of me, it had even enhanced most of my abilities. When I was dodging fireballs, it kind of felt like I was actually having multiple thoughts at the same time. I was paying attention to my position on the staff as well as the projectiles coming towards me.

Then I felt the staff shudder slightly before I began to fall quickly. Looking down, I noticed that the Ki within the staff had thinned down to a shadow of its former vibrant self. Time seemed to slow down and I had a short moment to remember that the staff normally absorbed ambient mana and changed it into Ki, similar to myself. But it was like a battery, the more it was used the more Ki it used up. I'd been flying around practicing for some time now and hadn't given it more time to replenish itself.

Now I was falling out of the sky at a height that would kill me even with my enhanced defenses. If it didn't rupture my skin, my untempered bones and organs would certainly break and explode from the impact. I was still a long ways away from being able to shrug off hitting the ground at high speeds. The day that was possible I could tattoo '117' on my shoulder.

But I wasn't entirely without aid. I could feel below me. A source of water. Stretching my Ki forwards, I called on the water, manipulated it. The color of magic flooded the area below me as I pulled the water up. I pointed my legs downwards just as a large tentacle of water reached towards me.

I hit it with a surprising amount of force as the water exploded outwards quickly pulling back at my command and reducing my speed by a great amount. It was still enough to make my bones creak but nothing was seriously damaged.

The water slowly receded back into the small lake I'd called it from. I was left floating on the surface as I relaxed "Holy shit that was crazy" I mumbled as I took a moment to just soak in what had just happened. The second the danger was gone, I was able to appreciate just how useful my ability to push away distracting emotions was.

"You can say that again" I turned and saw the familiar Ki of my brother "I've been watching you fly through the air for about an hour now" he chuckled "We'd been wondering where you'd gone and suddenly we began to hear explosions going off above us"

With a push of my Ki, I used magic to have the water move me to the lakes bank before I grinned at him "Well, it was an experiment I'd been wanting to try for some time now" I climbed out of the water and looked at my staff as it began to slowly recover its Ki "I didn't expect my staff to run out of juice while I was still so high though" I said sitting in the grass.

"I'd call you crazy, but I think all of us are" Max sat next to me and hit my shoulder "Mary just got more obssessed after magic came into the picture and this new Ki revelation isn't any better for her. Good thing Alice is there for her"

I paused "You knew?"

He shook his head "Why wouldn't I? They're my best friends and honestly," he laughed softly "they aren't the best at hiding it"

"Well they hid it from me. I didn't even know they were interested in women." I shook my head. It wasn't like there had been any kind of identifier for that sort of thing.

"I don't think they knew until after we got sent to Alfis. I was trying to be the protector, get strong quickly. Little did I expect that each of the girls could easily handle themselves" he sighed as he laid back "Rein...she got a little weird for the longest time. I don't think she really accepted being in another world at first. She went total wild girl on us for a while"

"That meant Alice and Mary spent a lot of time alone together" he shrugged "I guess they learned more about themselves than they expected to. Naturally, they tried to hide it, like Rein and I would be upset or something. I was happy about it when I found out. My two best friends ending up together? Totally awesome"

I agreed with him but I also understood where they'd come from. It was a big change in not only their friendship, but in the way they saw each other. They'd probably been afraid of the reactions. Just because it was a happy occasion for them didn't mean that it would be one for everyone else.

Of course, they obviously underestimated how much we loved them "I wish we were back home so we could throw a party. I could do some crazy stuff with magic" I grinned at him.

"That'd be something to explain to the neighbors. 'No, I didn't have a flamethrower, it was me casting fireballs'" he laughed before sighing "What about home anyway? After fighting monsters and meeting gods, using magic, flying!" he waved his hands in the air "How do you just go back to a normal life?"

I cocked my head at him "Normal life? Who said anything about a normal life? The stuff we could do with our abilities..." I laughed "Besides, I'm not going to stop at just flinging fireballs or moving water around. I'm going to see how far my magic will take me. If a Deity can do it, then it is possible to go to other worlds even without their power. I could like...create a Justice League of worlds!" I was exaggerating, but not by much. I could theoretically handle all of the worlds problems to a certain degree.

I was a normal guy and my intelligence was already incredible after my Ki changed the way I thought. If a person who was already a genius did the same thing as me? They'd solve everything. Doctors with the ability to actually explore their patients body and cure any illness? Everyday people with increased immunity to everything that could make them sick?

There would always be problems, such as war and bigotry, but problems such as starvation and sickness could easily be handled with. If I understood how to do it, I could probably create food and other things from thin air. I could literally generate electricity from my finger tips.

Max looked at me, a little surprised "I hadn't imagined that you'd thought it through like this. I was imagining it like going to war and then living in peace. I thought I'd miss the fighting or something. I wasn't even thinking about using my abilities to help change the world"

"Well, people with great strength will always be needed and it isn't like fighting is just going to stop on Earth. Hell, after people begin learning about magic and stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if Deities started showing up and staking their claim" with magic came faith and with faith came Deities.

"That is why we need to be strong enough. Earth is our home. We have to make sure no one can just play around with it for their amusement"

Max nodded before standing up "Get up" he said and I obeyed, leaving my staff sitting there and recovering its Ki.

He slid into a fighting stance and I did the same "Just because the girls are strong enough to take care of themselves doesn't mean that we can't still be their protectors" I said softly as we began to spar. Since arriving here, they'd all improved, but my brother was surprisingly good despite not adjusting to Ki as much as the others.

He wasn't much of a magic user, his skill was in fighting, plain and simple. I could do a little bit of everything, but he was pure fighter. I'd probably never match up to him in pure physical skill or Mary in pure magical skill, just as I couldn't beat Rein in survivability or Alice in adaptability. They all had specialties.

A burst of wind pushed Max's next strike off balance allowing me to hit him in the now open space. He quickly adjusted and blocked my strike with his leg as he raised it

But I had my own style. I fought with magic and martial arts, with my mind and body. I was a bit of a Jack of All Trades in that regard. I liked it. Against someone like my brother, I could take it easy and use a few of my skills in a proper spar.

Against someone trying to kill me, I had multiple ways to save my life while doing as much damage to my opponent.

Of course, Max wasn't a push over. I watched as his Ki flared up and he stepped up the pace. Our bodies began to blur as we twisted and struck each other. He shifted into grappling techniques, trying to pin down my movements, restricting my ability to deal damage.

In battle, my brother had two roles. One was to act as the finisher. Alice would wear the opponent down with her raw strength and he'd finish them off. The other role was the Tank. He took damage using his armor in normal battles. Of course here, I'd been making them fight without their gear, focusing on their physical improvement instead of the enchantments they had.

Strangely enough, Max's skin was becoming stronger after repetitive beatings. With a sudden movement he twisted and placed his fist against my chest. A pulse of Ki sent me flying back, slamming me against the ground.

Ki Impact. Ki itself would do no damage, but by focusing a strong pulse of energy through his arm, he could send a close range shockwave to deal damage. I'd seen him practicing it and he'd even tried to use it against me in previous spars. This was a sign that his mind had improved. He'd waited until he'd locked me down before using it.

I rubbed my chest and coughed a bit as I stood back up. The shockwave passed through my body and into the parts of me I hadn't strengthened yet. I could probably figure out how to properly do it given time, I could add it to my growing repertoire.

He showed his reaction speed well enough as I flexed my wrist, moving my body to the side as a giant fist made of stone exploded out of the ground headed towards him. He quickly lifted his leg and with the aid of his arm, blocked most of the damage.

I was already moving as I reached the spot he was sent flying towards and raised my foot above my head. Just as he reached me, I brought my foot down onto his head.

A hand caught it as Max used his momentum to turn and through me into the air. I grinned as I looked down at him and brought my left hand back, placing the back of my right hand against it "Galick!" I shouted as I gathered my Ki into my hand.

I saw him start at the sudden shout as he moved into a familiar position, hands at his hip "Ka...Me..Ha..Me!" he shouted in return.

"Gun!" I thrust my hands forwards and fired off a compressed burst of air magic towards him just as he lifted his hands towards me.

"Ha!" compressed Ki pulsed through his arms and sent a shockwave towards my magic.

When the two met, the air popped as the compressed air from both of us exploded outwards. I used air magic to land safely a small distance from him, both of us still holding combat stances before we broke out laughing.

He walked to me and we bumped fists "If only huh?" he asked.

I nodded, as kids we'd often play out in the yard having mock battles as we reenacted our favorite scenes from that anime "Give me time, I'll figure out a magic to create those attacks. They are just condensed plasma after all" I already had electricity down and I knew that plasma was created from ionizing gas. I just needed more knowledge on the subject.

"Oh damn dude!" he chuckled "Gotta have some bad ass energy attacks to go with your style"

"It would be pretty cool" as we were talking, both our stomachs decided to growl at that exact moment. We had been sparing pretty hard though we had plenty of energy to spare. Still, it was hungry work.

"Come on, lets go eat" I said and we began to walk back to the place we were calling home "Hey, how did you extend the reach of your shockwave?"

"Well, normally I have it expand as quickly as possible to deal as much damage to a person's insides right?" I nodded, rubbing my chest a bit "I had this idea about focusing it even more, like a beam, it won't do much damage but it is useful for knocking away attacks like your magic. All of it is really close together so it is easy to smash apart"

I generally compressed my magic tightly under the intent of doing a lot of damage. Normally my fire attacks exploded on contact so using a long distance burst of energy was actually pretty smart. My air magic from before was a primarily piercing attack as well. I'd have to think up ways to counter act it. Maybe a dispersing magic. If it is struck head on, it blows apart and rains down on the enemy.

"You've got that look again" he said laughing.

"What look?" I asked.

"That look where you have an idea on how to improve yourself. Like you are already back fighting again. You always look at your stomach too, where your Ki is" he nudged my shoulder "Constantly ready to use it to fight"

He wasn't wrong. The first thing I'd ever seen after the accident was my Ki, afterwards I just kept observing it as it grew and changed. I guess it'd become a habit to keep observing it while I thought. I hadn't even realized it.

I shook my head "Just a lot to think about. Ever since I began learning about magic, I've constantly gotten ideas upon ideas on how to make myself better. Spinning stones, using Avatar techniques to manipulate elements, flying. It just keeps coming to me. It is fun. Like I'm learning more and more about myself and the universe around me at the same time."

"No, I totally get it. Learning how to fight has become even easier after you started teaching us how to use our Ki. I get ideas for new ways to counter attacks all the time. It is like you pulled the plug on a stopped up drain and all of it just flows right into us" he shook his head as we walked "Then I look back at the me before and I think..."

"That you were weak and stupid?" I finished for him. I struggled with things that were simpler than ever for me now. The simple act of stopping my Ki from leaving my body had stumped me for the longest time. Now, it wasn't even second nature. The Ki stopped itself from leaving me.

"Yeah. Like, I can see the skills I used before and I know how stupidly rigid they were. I want to go back and kick my ass for getting so compliant on the system"

I laughed "Well, it was useful for a few things. Using it, you don't have to gather Ki like I do. You just have to fight and it is given to you. Now that you know how to fix it, you can grow stronger in half the time it takes me"

He nodded and sighed "Still, it is weird knowing that some other being was messing around in my body"

"Well, that is how some Deities are. That one doesn't see you as people, just tools to be used until the job is done. Not all are like that, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them act that way" I shrugged as we entered the building.

Alice waved at us "Good to see you two are still alive. We heard the fighting all the way over here, we got dinner ready!"

"Nice to see the womenfolk doing something around here" I said grinning before dodging a lighting bolt that flew from Mary's fingers "Just joking. Thanks for getting this prepared"

She smiled at me and went back to examining her staff. Ever since she'd learned to manipulate her Ki she'd been studying the enchantments on their weapons, trying to understand how they worked exactly. I already understood it as the creator imbuing the magic's intent onto the tool and then all the user had to do was supply the energy. However, I didn't know how the creator separated their own intent from the tool when it was enchanted.

All understanding pointed to that being difficult to do. Magic was held together by the intent of a person, once the intent was stopped the magic usually fell apart.

Rein grinned "I hunted with Vivian today, seems she is already warming up to me" she said and I turned my head to the female wolf sitting in the corner with Adarna resting on her back.

"Thanks for trying to get along with them" I said to her.

She looked at me "They aren't all bad" she said softly, surprising me. The more I spoke with her, the more I became amazed at her intelligence. She'd completely shot through Sentience and into Sapience.

"I can see why you like them. The girl, Rein, is quite the huntress. She'd make a fine addition to the pack" she still thought of us as a pack though and I didn't see that changing anytime soon.

"Master! Welcome home!" whether it was due to the surrounding environment or even Vivian's advancement, Adarna had developed a bit more too. He flew over to me and landed on my shoulder "Fought many bats today! Grew stronger!" the bird was still always excited but it was good to know that he was getting stronger and smarter.

I gently patted his head before he flew off to land on Alice's shoulders as she continued to cook. I could see her slipping him meat every once in a while. I rolled my eyes as I gathered myself a helping and sat down.

Everyone else talked around me but I let myself sink into my thoughts. It was getting close for them to leave. Two weeks were left and I'd certainly gotten a bit stronger since before and my Aura defense shield was growing complete.

Max, Rein, Alice, Mary, Vivian, and Adarna. They were my companions and I'd already talked to them about the Monster to assure that the first four wouldn't go exploring around that area. But Max's strength today showed that they might be ready to help me defeat the thing. That way, they'd go back to Alfis and I'd go back home around the same time.

I didn't want to involve them in it but I had to. With all of us together it was possible to defeat it. Vivian and Adarna weren't enough to help me beat it alone. But the six of us together would have a decent chance, especially at our current strength.

They were up for helping me, I already knew that...

I'd give them a week..a week to make any final adjustments to their strength, a week for me to finish my shield.

Then we'd fight the Monster.

We'd either succeed...or die.