Master Of None

Walker stepped toward the shadowy mass hesitantly. He wasn't sure what had happened, this was not the usual skill Onyx would use to become a shadow tattoo or melt in to a shadow. "Onyx?" His voice was soft but easily heard through the silent training area.

The shadows appeared to be shifting in response to his words. "Is that Onyx?" Alma came up and sounded her voice of worry. Midnight was right beside Walker equally curious. Her muscles were tense and she had a slight fire in her belly. 

There was a slight shift and Walker made out something that was not part of the shadows on the ground. "Look, there is a piece of his skin. I think Onyx shed his skin!" This was more exciting than he had imagined. Onyx had been ravenously consuming the light elemental mana for the past day and this must be the result. He had finally had his growth spurt. 

The shadows vibrated and Midnight stepped forward. Walker wanted to pull her back but instead decided to follow her lead. Alma was not as brave and didn't know Onyx well enough, therefore, deciding to hold back.

"Onyx, are you feeling alright?" Walker and Midnight were both worried at this point since Onyx had not replied at all. Walker checked the party status and still saw that Onyx was in the party meaning he had definitely not been harmed by the mastery skill.

Walker did notice that there was a slight change in the species of Onyx, it read Young adult Abyssal serpent now. This was a good sign that Onyx had grown and might just need a little time to adjust. Midnight was sure to have the same issue while she grew. 

"Brother. Sister." The voice that filled their minds was much heavier than it had been but was undoubtedly Onyx. Walker and Midnight both had excitement flow through them as the shadows started to break. 

Onyx was not a smaller serpent any longer. His size had tripled, his head was easily the size of Midnights', it was even a little larger. The thickness of his body as it slithered out of the shadows was similar to a tree of some years. But what shocked everyone witnessing this the most was his length. Onyx could easily have wound himself around an elephant now if he so desired. 

"Hahhaha, I don't think you can sit on my or even Midnights' shoulders now." Midnight huffed and flapped her wings a little laughing with Walker. The two had teased Onyx as soon as he had shed his skin and shown his growth. 

"Brother, do not worry I have a skill that will let me do so with ease." This made them both stop suddenly. Their laughter had been the only sound in the room. 

"Before that, why didn't you mention that you were about to shed your skin and grow?" Walker had been a little worried the entire day since Onyx had acted strangely.

"I was not sure I was going to. I knew I would need to shed my skin soon, but I was too hungry to tell if I would be full. I just continued to eat and store the nutrients on my shadow." This was a new fact that Walker had not known about Onyx. Surprising abyssal serpents would store their light elemental mana that they used as nutrients in their shadow.

Midnight was growling slightly while adding some small huffs here and there. "No sister, you can not ride my back instead. I said before that-"

Walker cut Onyx off, "Yes, Midnight it right. We can right on your back now so be prepared." He smiled a little mischievously at Onyx who was slithering away from them. 

"No, I will shrink myself and ride on your shoulder like usual…" Onyx tried one last time to argue against Midnight and Walker but saw that he had no chance of winning. "Just for the trip back to the tree house…" Onyx sounded a little pitiful, however, this did not affect Walker and Midnight at all. They had carried him around many times and it was only fair now that he was a young adult abyssal serpent with a massive size.

Alma just stood in place wondering what was wrong with these three. Not only had they just assisted on and witnessed a mastery skill with extreme potential, but now they were casually chatting about something silly like riding on each other's backs. She had no words that could merge the radical change in topic.

"Brother, I only gained one skill from my growth. But it lets me change my size. It is called shadow shrink. I can shrink my putting my body mass in to my shadow." Onyx started to demonstrate. There shadows he produces spread out around the room reaching the size he was. But his actual body seemed to melt in to the shadows leaving behind a hatchling sized Onyx. 

"Now I see why you said you can ride on my shoulders again." Walker just laughed more to himself as the cute little hatchling Onyx slithered over. 

"Wait, and now he's just a little noodle again? What is this? I have never seen such a skill." Shocking everyone the queen let out her own exasperated shout. Walker wasn't sure if the queen had actually spoken of if the shock from so many good things had finally broken his mind.

"My queen, please rephrase your question." Alma bowed slightly trying to remind the queen of her standing. With a slight cough, the queen hid away her curiosity and shock. Walker was happy to see that the queen was much like here people; interested in the curiosities of the world and the systems within it.

"Ehm, please explain to me what you know of that little serpents' species. I find him to be very interesting compared to the giant boas and wind gliding serpents we have in the forest." Walker smiled and started his explanations.

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