Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Guidance (Part 2) Miss Liane sat up straight, her bare feet touching the padded mat without a sound. Rhian glanced up as she stood. She dusted off her hands, eyes settling on him with that sharp, no-nonsense look she always wore when she was shifting gears. "Alright, stand up," she said flatly. "I hear what you’re saying, but it’s better if you show me what we’re working with." Rhian rose without argument. He towered over her now, especially since the changes brought on by his transformation. His shoulders were broader, and his frame had lengthened enough that he had to glance down to meet her eyes. He caught the way her expression briefly ticked upward—not surprise exactly, but an instinctive readjustment as she looked up. She didn’t comment on it. Instead, she took a step back and rolled her shoulders once, limber and calm. "We’ll go over your shadow ability first. I’ll give you a chance to use it how you normally would, and I’ll react naturally." Rhian nodded, muscles tensing slightly. But she didn’t move yet. Her arms crossed again, and she tilted her head. "Before that, though... what about illusions? How often can you use them?" Rhian hesitated. "I dont know, it doesn’t say theres a limit, but it only takes energy to create them, not maintain them" She stepped to the center of the mat and gave him a short nod. "Alright. When you’re ready." But neither of them moved. Not yet. Rhian paused and focused on her shadow. He hadn’t used his ability on someone like her before, but he wanted to try. He took a breath and reached out with his will. There was resistance at first, like something was pushing back—but he pushed through and made the connection. Her shadow shifted. It stretched and lifted slightly, wrapping around her leg. It didn’t look solid, more like a dark haze with form—faint and black, like smoke pressed into shape. Miss Liane looked down at it, then back at him. Before he could adjust his grip, the connection snapped. His control vanished. He tried again, focusing harder, but nothing responded. She was watching him, smiling. There was nothing warm about it. Just a quiet, knowing smile that made Rhian’s chest tighten. She hadn’t just resisted. She’d let him try, then ended it herself. And she wanted him to understand that. "Do it again. Try harder this time." Rhian nodded and focused on the shadow. He didn’t just want to use the ability—he wanted to understand it. How could he manipulate someone’s shadow without ever touching it? How did that even make sense? He tried again, pushing his will toward it, but this time the connection slipped away. It wasn’t like losing focus. It felt like someone was cutting the link before it could fully form. He stopped, his brows drawing together. That had to be Miss Liane’s doing. She gave a slight nod, as if confirming his suspicion. "How many shadows can you control at once? And for how long?" Rhian thought for a moment. He hadn’t ever lost control because of time. Then again, he’d never tried holding one for longer than maybe thirty minutes. The ability had never strained him or felt like it had a limit. It was like lifting a feather with his mind. He looked at her. "I don’t think there’s a time limit. Not like the illusion." She raised an eyebrow. "And the number?" Rhian hesitated. "I’ve never tried more than one." Miss Liane tapped her pen against her leg. "Then try now." Rhian blinked. "Here?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢 She gestured toward the open space behind her. "There’s enough light in this room. You have my shadow. Use mine and the chair’s." He nodded slowly. He had never tried this before, but there was no real fear—just curiosity. Rhian focused again. Her shadow was already familiar, though difficult. He reached for it, felt the resistance, and locked it down more carefully this time, adjusting his energy like a thread pulled tight. Then he shifted his attention to the chair beside her. It wasn’t alive. It had no will to push back. The moment he tried, the shadow lifted easily—like pulling fabric off the floor. He held both. His eyes narrowed slightly, testing the feel of it. One felt like holding rope against a current. The other was light, weightless. But both responded. Miss Liane watched closely. "You’re stable. Any pressure?" "No," Rhian said. "Feels natural. Like breathing." She nodded once. "That’s dangerous." He tilted his head. "Why?" "Because it’s easy. Power that feels easy is the kind people grow careless with. You need to know how far it stretches before it snaps." Rhian looked down at the two shadows, still hovering. "So test it?" "Exactly. Break it before it breaks you." Rhian smiled as he did it. He hadn’t expected to control the shadow of something that clearly wasn’t alive. But as he managed it, his mind started to drift into questions he hadn’t considered before. What exactly was a shadow? Not just the dark shape caused by light—but what was it in a deeper sense? Was it just absence of light, or was there something more to it? Could he create a full humanoid figure from someone’s shadow alone? He also wondered how someone could resist it. Miss Liane clearly could. Not only had she stopped him from using it earlier, but it also seemed like she allowed him to succeed once she wanted to. That level of control made him curious. Could others block him too? Could they turn the ability against him? He needed answers. Miss Liane began placing more objects down for him to test. He tried controlling the shadows of each one. At first, it felt easy—like flipping a switch. But as he added more and more, the weight in his mind started to build. His breathing stayed steady, and his energy didn’t feel like it was draining too fast, but the mental pressure was different. It wasn’t his body giving out. It was focus. Concentration. He didn’t know whether the strain came from the number of shadows or from holding them too long. Either way, it showed him something important—this power had depth. And he’d barely scratched the surface.