Elvira stood still for a moment, her breath slowing as she let the silence settle. Her mind replayed the entire battle.
"At first," she said quietly, "the Krell Alpha's abilities were centered around transformation and mana absorption. Or in simpler terms—a perfect mana circuit. Something that shouldn't even be possible."
Ben, still lying on the ground, raised an eyebrow. "Right. The thing was adapting like crazy."
She nodded. "Exactly. But when it shifted into that smaller form—something changed. Its abilities became focused on shadow manipulation. At first, it could even alter the texture of its shadows. Make them act like rubber, absorb force. But…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Once it dragged us into that shadow domain, something was different. It could still shape shadows—but not like before. It lost complexity. No more shifting forms or unpredictable changes. Just raw, solid shadow."
