TBATE: The Rook

As the last rays of sunlight filtered through the leaves above, casting a warm golden hue on the forest floor, I slowly opened my eyes. 

I had been lying under the sprawling branches of a tree,The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the soft rustle of leaves whispered secrets of the day. But as the shadows lengthened and the vibrant colors of dusk began to settle in, i knew it was time to return home.

With a gentle sigh, I pushed himself up, brushing the fallen leaves from my clothes. The forest was serene, a tranquil sanctuary that had always offered me solace. I took a moment to breathe in the crisp evening air, letting the peace of the woods wash over me. The chirping of crickets and the distant call of an owl created a symphony of nature that accompanied him as he began his walk back.

But as i ventured deeper into the thicket, a sudden wave of pain crashed over me, sharp and unrelenting. It felt as if a vice had clamped down on my skull, squeezing tighter with each passing second. 

I staggered, clutching my head, the world around me blurring into a haze of shadows and light. The intensity of the headache was unlike anything i had ever experienced, making me feel as my head might split open.

Just as abruptly as it had begun, the pain receded, leaving me breathless and disoriented. I leaned against a tree for support, my heart racing. As the throbbing subsided, a strange clarity washed over me and memories sealed began to surface—Images flickered in my mind .

 Each memory was like a puzzle piece, sharp and vivid, i realized with a jolt that these were not just memories; they were my memories about the meting of that unknown person. 

I laughed , i laughed so hard that my heart began to hurt " so that what you meant when you said the more delaying you cause the more I'll delay your power " I said in between my laughs "aahhhh how pity can you be "

( *Flash back *)

In the depths of an endless void, where time and space seemed to dissolve into an infinite expanse of darkness, a man found himself adrift. He had no memory of how he arrived here. 

All he knew was the weight of silence pressing against him, a stillness that felt both foreign and familiar.

As he floated in this abyss, he opened his eyes—though he wasn't sure how he could see in such profound darkness. Yet, there it was: a flicker of awareness, a spark of consciousness that defied the emptiness surrounding him. He drifted, unanchored, for what felt like an eternity, the sensation of time slipping through his fingers like grains of sand.

Then, amidst the silence, a voice emerged. It was a sound so majestic and calm that it resonated through the void, wrapping around him like a warm embrace. "How do you feel in this place?" the voice asked, echoing softly, as if it were both near and far.

The man paused, contemplating the question. He felt an odd sense of tranquility, a peace that belied the strangeness of his situation. 

"Surprisingly calm," he replied, his voice steady despite the surreal circumstances. "But… who are you?"

The voice lingered for a moment, as if considering the weight of the question. "I am one of what you humans call gods , a guide " it said, each word flowing like a gentle stream. 

"I am the essence of understanding, the keeper of lost souls."

The man felt a flicker of curiosity ignite within him. "A god ? What do you mean , you can't be god do you not listen to your self there can't be multiple gods , have you ever heard of a kingdom that was ruled by multiple kings , What is this place?"the man angrily said .

" I never said I was god if you listened and this is a space between worlds," the voice explained . 

 " now listen to what I have to say and no i didn't bring you here "

"I can't speak is it his doing " ,a hint of panic creeping into the man thoughts.

" now I'll give you a chance to be reborn in a knew world and if you except , i will randomly give you an ability to help you with your journey and don't worry i will show you the abilities i will be choosing from". said the mysterious voice 

"What if I don't..." I couldn't continue .

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What happened next is history .

(*end of flashback*)

As the darkness shimmered and began to reveal the fragments of my sealed memory , i felt a rush of sensations wash over me —memories flooding back like a tide reclaiming the shore. 

Interlocutor danced before my mind's eye, a thread woven into the tapestry of my existence.

 After slowly going through the information , I found what is the ability that i got , it's the Ten Shadows Technique , it's an inherited technique passed down in the Zenin clan , Using shadows as an intermediary, this technique allows the user to summon ten different shikigami . 

Shikigami can be summoned with an exorcism ritual where the user must defeat the shikigami in order to make them submit , Once dominated, the shikigami are under full control of their master and can be summoned using shadowegraphin hand signs that create a shadow puppet of the respective familiar.

 The shadows act as the intermediary for the shikigami conjuration, reflecting the shape of the user's hand-weaved shadow puppet and manifesting the shikigami from tangible liquid shadows. The ten shikigami is : divine dogs / nue / toad / great serpent / max elephant /Rabbit escape / Round deer / piercing ox / tiger funeral , and lastly Divine General Mahoraga .

So i got the ability of potential man himself oh i also got Sukuan Dismantle and Cleave( not shrine just this two ) , and the ring that i said I don't want . 

The changes that happened to the technique so i can use it is the following obviously i don't need cursed energy to activate the technique instead it changed to mana , the higher my mana core the stronger my shikigami gets , my shikigami should not be destroyed for me to be able to use totality and I can still use domain expansion I also gained an affinity for shadows .

After the digest of the information , i looked around to find a suitable target for my experiment I'm very advocating to try out my ability 

" found it " i said in a loud voice , I put two fingers together raiseing my hand and drew a line aiming at the poor tree , " dismantle" in a blink of an eye the tree was cut in half , before the activation of the technique i felt a decrease in my mana pool I understood , that the more mana i supply the stronger it gets. 

" what a dangerous move , it fits him , Sukuan". I said in a shocked and pleased tone.

I saw the shadow of a tree forming thanks to the setting sun it had a long shadow very close to me , I slowly moved towards it and crouched down to touch it , at first I didn't feel anything but then it happened the one aspect of ten shadows which I wanted to check , I started to sink in the shadow of the tree, it feels weird like swimming but all the place blocked out and their is no limit to this place , I'm floating it's strange but i was able to masterfully do this, maybe thanks to my affinity for shadows with a push of mana I jumped out of the shadow.

" okay let's start with the first one " l muttered as i look around and after making sure that I'm alone , I made a hand sign that looks like a dog , i felt a tug at my mana pool " divine dogs " i muttered in a low voice, I saw the shadow beneath my legs started to shift slowly from it normal 2D shape turned into 3D shape , like coming out of the ground, it was a astonishing experience .

Soon the shadow turned into the shape of two dogs , one white and one black both had some sort of marking on their heads.

I was on my guard , even after knowing that l didn't have to fight this first shikigami , After a second i ordered "sit" and they executed .

Hmm….

Maybe this techniques is not that bad 

Looking at the sun almost disappearing I knew that if don't hurry back my mother will scold me for hours to no end .

——————————————-

( the moment i started the roulette i knew which ability I wanted to my Mc but unfortunately it wasn't chosen , I'll keep my word so the winner is the ten shadows Sukuan version and I choose to not have shrine just ten shadows )

( by the way the ability that i wanted was great sage and gluttony from Rimuru but a very down version of the former two )