The Broken Halo

Simon stared at the trembling black star.

Nothing about the star itself had changed. It had not grown larger, nor had its light become brighter. The movement came entirely from the rune floating inside it.

The rune of ShadowSense twisted and stretched as though something trapped within it was trying to break free. Faint strands of shadow leaked from its edges, struck the inner surface of the star, and flowed back into the rune.

Each movement sent a pulse through Simon’s Sea of Consciousness.

The calm black sea below him rippled.

Simon watched everything with a focused expression.

When it came to his Seven Stars Blessing, a skill reaching the edge of evolution did not mean it would automatically evolve in the best direction. The skill was affected by how he used it, what he understood about it, and what he desired from it at the moment of transformation.

If Simon did nothing, ShadowSense would still evolve.

Its range might become wider.

Its perception might grow sharper.

It might become more sensitive to hidden movement, killing intent, or disturbances within shadows.

Those changes would not be useless, but they were not what Simon needed or not wanted.

At least, not now.

Simon raised one hand and placed his palm against the black star.

Hum!

The moment he touched it, countless scenes rushed into his mind.

He saw the walls and corridors of the Shadowgrave Clan. He remembered how he used to spread ShadowSense through the shadows beneath doors, following movements on the other side of walls, and detecting demons who believed they were hidden.

The scenes changed.

Vashar City.

Velmora City.

Pipeline Inn.

He saw himself following Korran and the Black Horn officials through the building with ShadowSense.

He felt their movements through the floor, the walls, and the shadows stretching across the street outside.

Every memory contained the same limitation.

ShadowSense always began from him.

No matter how far his perception spread, Simon remained at the centre. The moment a target moved beyond his range, the connection ended.

Increasing the range would only delay when the connection would end.

It would not remove the limitation.

’I need to leave my perception behind.’

The thought appeared clearly in Simon’s mind.

Operation Crownless Dawn involved too many unknown pieces.

The White Crown.

The Seven Seats.

The Seven Nails.

The command seal.

Black Banner’s eastern faction.

The Chrysalis.

There would eventually be places Simon needed to watch without remaining close to them. He could not personally follow every demon he found suspicious that was connected to the operation.

Even if Shadow Sense covered an entire city, Simon would still need to remain close enough to observe the city himself.

He needed to watch places while remaining somewhere else.

He needed to monitor possible Nails, rebel cells, and demons connected to the command seal.

He needed a part of his perception to remain inside a shadow after he left.

Simon closed his eyes.

’Shadow Sense spreads my perception through shadows.’

’Then the next step is not merely to spread it farther.’

’The next step is to separate a portion of it.’

The rune inside the star reacted.

Several dark lines grew from it, each one twisting in a different direction.

One expanded outward like a web, carrying the feeling of distance and range.

If Simon allowed the evolution to follow that direction, the range of Shadow Sense would increase greatly.

This was very tempting for Simon, but Simon wanted something more.

Another curled around itself like a shell wrapped around an indistinct figure. It gave off a sense of concealment, warning, and protection.

If Simon allowed Shadow Sense to follow this path of evolution, it would be more sensitive to danger and there was even the possibility of his shadow concealing his presence.

But Simon did not want this too.

His wind affinity was already very high and could perceive changes to his surroundings much quicker than ShadowSense, and he was also sure that the concealment the evolved ShadowSense would give him would not be strong enough.

The third line became narrow and sharp. It did not stretch far, but Simon felt perception gathering at its tip.

Then it transformed and became a closed eye.

Three possible directions.

Shadow Sense could spread farther.

It could be more perceptive.

Or it could condense its perception into a single point and become an eye.

Simon focused on the third path.

The other two dark lines immediately began pulling at the rune. They were not separate skills. Each path came from a part of ShadowSense that Simon had developed through constant use.

Destroying them would damage the foundation of the evolution.

He had to take what he needed without allowing them to control the final result.

Simon released his mental energy.

Whoosh!

The black sea beneath him rose.

It did not rise like normal water. Large streams of darkness separated from its surface, travelled through the air, and gathered around the trembling star.

Simon guided the streams toward the three paths.

From the first, he took the principle of connection.

From the second, concealment.

From the third, perception.

He forced the three principles back into the original rune.

The rune shook violently.

Crack!

A thin fracture appeared across its centre.

Sharp pain entered Simon’s mind, but his expression remained unchanged.

He had experienced skill evolutions multiple times in his past life. He knew that the pain was not the true danger.

Pain only meant that the old structure could no longer contain what it was becoming.

The true danger was allowing the evolution to lose its direction.

If Simon forced too many ideas into the rune, the skill might become unstable. If his understanding was incomplete, the evolution could fail or move toward an ability he did not want.

He slowed the flow of his mental energy.

Instead of forcing the rune to obey, Simon formed a clear image inside his mind.

A shadow remained beneath a table.

Simon walked away, but a piece of his perception remained inside that darkness.

It did not think.

It did not move.

It only watched.

And it listened.

Anything it saw would return to Simon through the connection between them.

Anything it heard would become his own hearing.

The image grew clearer.

’An eye does not need flesh.’

’It only needs a place to observe from.’

The rune responded.

Crack!

Crack!

More fractures spread across it.

Dark mist filled the inside of the star, and the original shape of Shadow Sense began falling apart.

Simon remained calm until he noticed something wrong.

However...

BOOM!

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