"We will meet up in three days".
Nephis said.
Yet Isaac didn't miss the uncomfortable look she gave him.
Everyone was exhausted.
The journey was long and hard filled with arduous tasks.
But finally, they had made it back.
And with the ending of her words, the cohort split.
Everyone began to return to their abodes.
Isaac on the other hand, walked in a separate direction.
He began to walk towards the interior of the Bright Castle.
Many things had happened during the expedition.
Some of them were good while others weren't.
After getting far enough away Isaac checked his surroundings.
He matured no one was around him.
Then he took out a bone knife that was created from the bones of the Lord of the Dead.
With one swift motion, a small cut appeared on his arm.
And nothing else happened.
And that was the issue.
"It seems I did get it".
Isaac mumbled in disbelief.
He had obtained [Blood Weave].
*Tsk*
" if I knew this would happen I would've never allowed him to absorb Shadow lineage".
Not only that Isaac's spine began to wonder about a certain attribute he had.
[Fate].
—FlashBackStart—
Moving his gaze towards Sunny who was watching Nephis and Caster spar Isaac had an idea.
By Sunny's admission, he was close to unlocking the second step of Shadow Dance.
And Isaac was going to help him, unlock it within the forgotten shore, and help him obtain the second relic.
The blood of Shadow god.
Then when he was sure of his safety could he dive into the mysteries of his reincarnation.
Isaac arrived in front of Sunny.
Sunny turned his head toward his direction.
Raising a brow he spoke.
"Do you need something?".
"Come here for a moment".
Isaac pointed to a spot a bit further away from the campsite.
Sunny gave him a strange look but cooperated.
After a few seconds, they reached their destination.
"So what is it?".
Sunny questioned.
Isaac stayed silent for a few moments.
After a while, he finally spoke.
"How close are you to reaching your second breakthrough".
Sunny's expression grew slightly uncomfortable.
It seemed as if he wasn't quite fond of the line of questioning.
Yet even if he did not like the questioning his Flaw would still force him to answer truthfully to the best of his abilities.
"Close. Like really close. It feels as if I'm missing something, but I can't put my finger on it".
Isaac nodded.
Isaac already knew the description of the second step and what it signified.
It was the ability to peer into the very essence of a style based on his talent, mastery, and sensitivity to shadows.
So, Sunny had been working diligently to create a sizable library of simpler styles, which would in turn improve his capacity to discern the patterns of more complicated ones with sufficient speed.
After all, all styles were constructed out of the same basic elements.
He also had a theory on how Sunny would be able to unlock it faster.
More experience.
Not just with Nightmare Creatures but with humans as well.
Isaac knew Sunny had the basics down.
But he just needed that little push to fully blossom and break through to the second mastery of Shadow Dance.
And so he made a plan.
He made Sunny spar with every member of the cohort relentlessly.
He even told Sunny to secretly put his shadow within Casters when they fought.
Together with everybody's different and unique battle experiences,
Sunny slowly begins to realize the second mastery.
And when that happened, he came to Isaac.
And that's when it happened.
"Hey Isaac come here".
Isaac turned around.
They had made a unique camp next to the skeleton of one of the Bright Lords.
Due to the arriving two weeks ahead of schedule, they were planning to stay the night and slowly recuperate their energy.
Yes, Sunny called him over-excited.
"Yeah?".
Isaac responded already arriving near Sunny.
Sunny was smiling ear to ear.
"I did it. I finally achieved the second mastery".
Isaac was slightly taken aback.
Of course, he had pushed Sunny to unlock the second mastery.
But he never expected him to unlock it during their campaign to find the last Shard Memory.
This didn't mean he disapproved of it though.
Rather the opposite.
The stronger the cohort became the safer he would be in the future.
So their growth was no different than his own.
"Did you claim the relic yet?".
"No, not yet. But now that you're here I am".
And with that, Sunny claimed the second relic.
The lineage of Shadow.
Sunny had summoned it and after reading its description greedily answered yes to the Spell.
And with that, the drop of golden blood split into two.
One shot towards his chest, where his heart would be.
While the other charged towards his head landing in between his browse.
Isaac watched with interest.
He wanted to see which lineage would win.
And soon he got his answer.
Yet the answer was more than he bargained for.
"Ahh-ahh-aaaaahhhhh!!!".
Sunny let out a harrowing scream.
He began to claw his face.
His expression began to twist unnaturally.
Isaac could have sworn he saw Sonny's muscles spasm uncontrollably, his veins bulging, revealing their greenish colors under his pale skin.
The intricate serpent tattoo on his skin moved slightly as if sensing something deep and profound change within its master.
Yet what was most noticeable to Isaac wasn't the spasms or even the blood vessels that had gained a slightly golden hue.
Nor was it the serpent tattoo that moved.
It was the two drops of golden liquid that began to appear at the corners of Sunny's eyes.
This slid down his face and instead of falling to the ground and succumbing to gravity, they both hovered in the air both drops slow slowly merging into one.
The drop of blood slowly changed.
It still kept the golden color yet the drop looked different.
It no longer looks like a clear golden liquid instead, it looks like a golden eye.
Looking around the first one to meet its gaze was Sunny.
Yet, it could do nothing.
A more powerful lineage had already pushed it out and laid claim to its previous host's body and soul.
Seeing this a small pang of something indescribable echoed in Isaac's body.
As if sensing that same pang the golden eye spun around its gaze finally encompassing Isaac.
The moment Isaac's visage was laid bare in front of the golden eye.
A terrifying force pulled both together.
A terrifying world of convergence.
Due to the size difference between the two, the golden eye was violently pulled towards Isaac's eyes.
Unable to resist its instincts, it broke into two pieces both piercing Isaac's clear gray eyes.
And then....
"Ahhhh-aaaahh-aaaaaahhhhhhh".
A scream tour from Isaac's throat.
—FlashBackEnd—
Maybe it was a prophecy this entire time.
Thinking about this it was also around this time that Nephis had started acting weird around him.
With Sunny slowly following in her footsteps.
Isaac couldn't help but chuckle.
Shaking his head, Isaac pulled his mind back to more important matters.
He had already reached the throne hall, where his "subordinates" were currently waiting for him.
The final act of the Forgotten Shore was about to begin.
_________________________________________
Hi guys, sorry for the late update.
College is going crazy right now.
Anyway did you guys like the foreshadowing that I did with the [Fate] attribute?
Trust me, there is gonna be a lot more foreshadowing in the future just heads up.