Wrath's Virtue

Vespera watched the unnatural darkness coiling around Aurelion's arm. A slow, amused smile spread across her own lips, and as he waited for her impressed acknowledgment, she gave a simple, one word answer.

"No."

Aurelion's head tilted slightly, his confident expression faltering for the first time. "Beg your pardon."

"No, little light," she repeated.

The smirk was completely gone now, replaced by a flat, impatient frown. "And why not?"

"Because," Vespera said, taking a graceful step closer to him

"My techniques are techniques of shadow manipulation. And what you are doing... is not shadow manipulation."

Aurelion looked at Vespera, his analytical gaze assessing her, and he saw that she was completely serious.

"I am aware that what I'm doing is different, Vespera," he said, his own voice losing its earlier arrogance, replaced by a cold, factual tone.

"My energy does not accept being covered or hidden by something else. So I created my own darkness. You hide in the dark and I create the darkness. Can I not use your techniques with that?"

A slow, thoughtful smile spread across Vespera's lips. "You hide in the dark and I create the darkness you say."

She studied the void coiling around his arm a moment longer. "I don't know how you are creating this darkness, little light, but you yourself just explained why you cannot learn my techniques with what you're doing."

She moved, a whisper of motion in the night, and stood beside him.

"I weave a cloak, Aurelion," she explained softly.

"I cover what is already there. I allow the natural flow of light to exist, and I become one with the places it does not touch. That is the art of hiding."

She placed her own hand next to his light devouring arm. Her shadow fell upon the branch softly, a natural patch of darkness that blended seamlessly with the night.

"Look," she said.

"Your technique screams, There is nothing here! But mine whispers, Pay no attention to me. Which one is the better spy, little light?"

Aurelion looked from the natural shadow cast by Vespera's hand to the unnatural void consuming his own, and he slowly nodded his head.

"You are right," he conceded.

"But what I am doing also allows me to hide."

"On that, I have no doubt, little light," Vespera replied, a note of sincere acknowledgment in her voice.

"If I couldn't feel your energy, even I would have trouble spotting you with the naked eye. But what you are doing, and what I am doing... they are totally different."

She looked at him, her eyes seeming to see something far deeper than just the boy in front of her. "You... are carving your own path Aurelion. I was not sure if you could apply my techniques, but now I am. They are not suited for you."

Aurelion nodded, conceding the point. "Yes, Vespera. But you're forgetting one thing."

Vespera turned her head slightly, her gaze questioning. "And what am I forgetting, little light?"

"Our deal requires you to teach me a technique," Aurelion stated, his voice flat and unwavering.

Vespera crossed her arms. "It is hardly my fault that you are incapable of learning my techniques, little light. My art requires a grace that your energy sorely lacks."

"I have no use for grace," Aurelion countered instantly.

"And I'm certain you have something in your repertoire that doesn't need it either."

,Vespera stared at him for a long, silent moment.

"You truly are a stubborn little thing, aren't you?" she mused, more to herself than to him.

"Always pushing, always demanding." She let out a soft sigh of feigned resignation.

"Very well. There is... one thing. A crude little trick, really. It has none of the beauty of a true Shadow Weave, but perhaps even your brutal energy can manage it."

She took a step back into the deeper shadows of the grove. "True stealth is about deceiving the senses, little light. Not just the eyes."

She moved, a blur of motion too fast to properly follow. She appeared several meters to his left, her form solidifying from the shadows. But at the same time, a shimmering, translucent silhouette of her remained at her original spot, a phantom that lingered for a single heartbeat before dissolving.

"Your movement technique is fast," Vespera's voice echoed from her new position.

"But they are loud. They shout, Here I am! An Echo Step... leaves a question. Was I really there? It's a simple technique of misdirection. As you move, you leave a small, detached piece of your energy behind, a false echo of your presence. Most will instinctively attack the echo, the afterimage. And that... is when you strike."

She looked at him, her eyes glinting. "It requires no grace. No subtlety. Just a sliver of control and a killer's instinct. Does that sound suitable for you, little light?"

Aurelion watched the spot where her echo had faded, his mind already dissecting the technique.

He broke it down into its core components. A burst of kinetic energy for propulsion, and a simultaneous release of residual energy to form the afterimage. Simple. Crude. And devastatingly effective.

"It will do," he said.

Vespera's smile widened. "I thought it might. The principle is elementary. You build up a charge of energy within your body much like your explosive little steps, but contained. Then, you release it in a single direction."

She made a quick, darting motion with her hand. "But at the exact same moment, you must consciously shed a layer of your aura, leaving it behind. It requires no grace, Aurelion. Quite the opposite. It's a technique designed entirely around drawing the eye."

Aurelion listened, absorbing her explanation and filtering it through his own understanding of energy mechanics.

He took his position, closing his eye for a moment to focus. He began to gather energy in his legs, a familiar process, but instead of releasing it with each step, he held it, letting the power build into a volatile, contained charge. Then, he tried to separate a thin, distinct layer of his light devouring aura, preparing to cast it off.

He launched himself forward.

The propulsion was powerful but clumsy, sending him stumbling forward in an uncontrolled burst of speed.

He caught his balance after a few meters, but when he looked back, he saw not a shimmering silhouette, but an amorphous, chaotic cloud of swirling black energy.

It held no shape, no form. It was just a messy blotch of darkness.

He tried again. And again. Slowly, he began to grasp the rhythm of the technique. His forward bursts became more controlled, his landings more stable. He could feel his acceleration improving with each attempt.

But the energy he left behind stubbornly refused to take on his silhouette. It remained a wild, untamed cloud of raw power.

Vespera watched his repeated attempts, her arms crossed, a critical but not entirely unimpressed look on her face.

"You will need practice before you can grasp it fully," she said as he came to a stop after another failed echo.

"Now, little light, it's time for you to uphold your end of the bargain."

Aurelion straightened up, a flicker of annoyance in his eye. "I have already given you the information, Vespera."

A wicked, knowing smile touched Vespera's lips. "You told me a story about a delicious, exotic fish, little light,"

Gliding closer to him. "Now, I want you to teach me how to cook it."

Her playful tone vanished, replaced by the sharp focus. "You spoke to me of ultraviolet light and invisible inks. A fascinating theory. I do not know how to create what you spoke of."

She leaned in, her voice a conspiratorial whisper. "Teach me how to create that invisible light using my shadow energy."

The roles had been instantly and completely reversed. Aurelion was no longer the student. He was being asked to become the master of a concept he only understood through the ghost of a forgotten life.

"Show me your energy," he commanded, his mind already racing.

"Not your shadow cloak. Just its raw form."

Vespera's eyebrow arched in amusement at his authoritative tone, but she complied. A small, silent sphere of what seemed to be pure darkness coalesced in her palm. It had no temperature, no sound, no texture. It was simply... an absence.

Aurelion stepped closer, extending his own hand, not to touch, but to feel the sphere with his senses. He didn't feel energy radiating from it. He felt a subtle, constant pull.

"Your shadow energy doesn't emit," he reasoned aloud, his thoughts taking form.

"It's a sink. It draws in ambient energy. A contradiction."

"And your point is?" Vespera asked, intrigued.

"It cannot be done. A shadow cannot create light. That is its fundamental nature."

Aurelion saw a flicker of disappointment in her eyes and quickly added, "But... that doesn't mean it can't reveal it."

He looked from her energy to the surrounding grove. "Your power doesn't have to be the source of the light. It just has to be the catalyst that makes the invisible... visible."

"The ink you mentioned reacts to a specific energy frequency. We don't need to create that frequency. The universe is already filled with countless forms of ambient energy, light unseen by the naked eye. What if your shadow isn't a weapon, but a lens? What if you don't use it to create light, but to filter it?"

He stopped and looked at her, his eye blazing with the fire of discovery.

"You don't force your shadow to become a torch. You use it to cloak the world in a specific kind of darkness, a darkness that swallows every form of light except the one you're looking for. You're not creating a new image. You're developing the one that's already there."

Vespera stared at him, her usual mocking smile was gone and replaced by an astonishment. The concept was so simple, yet so profoundly alien to her way of thinking, that she had never even considered it.

"Is that a sufficient payment for a crude little trick, Vespera?" Aurelion asked, his own smirk returning.

She continued to stare for a long moment, then a genuine smile spread across her face.

"Yes, little light," she whispered, her voice filled with a newfound respect.

"Yes. I believe it is."

She took a step back, the sphere of darkness in her hand dissipating. "It seems our lesson is over for tonight."

"Not quite," Aurelion said.

"We had a deal. An technique for a secret. My hypothesis isn't a secret until it's proven to work. The debt isn't paid. Not yet."

"Whether my hypothesis becomes a reality or not will depend on you, Vespera. I do not enjoy being in debt, and whether or not I remain indebted to you... depends on you. I hope you can help me pay what I owe."

She understood the game perfectly. He wasn't just giving her a theory. He was giving her a task, and tying the fulfillment of their deal to her own success.

"I expect the same from you too, little light,"