Ultrasmash Taiga 7

Deeper. Deeper into the caves. Taiga marches as far back as his torch might guide him into the costal caves of Crafthold. Deep underneath the city now, he lay in a pit of absolute and unforgiving darkness. The usable ore here had long since been dried up, and it was likely not a single miner or member of staff had been this far back in years. But here Taiga was, in the belly of the beast.

With a puff, he blows out his torch -- and loses and all sense of space.
(Taiga Voss)

Here, in this pitch black darkness, Taiga couldn't do so much as make out the shape of his own toes. Light was far, far away down here. Just how he needed it. Slowly he lowers himself onto the cold cave floor, getting as comfortable as he could given the circumstances. This was his training - and as with any training, he had a clear goal in mind before he even started.

To gain greater control of his shadows. The best way he could think to do that... was to submerge himself in them. So here he was, in the absolute darkest place he knew existed.
(Taiga Voss)


Taiga reaches outwards the same as before, trying the same passive sort of manipulation of his shadow as he had used every other time. Only to find, surprise surprise… he couldn't even tell if he was doing this right. His pea brain had thought that this would be just like how samurai do their thing - meditating under waterfalls and such. But shadows were a bit more than that.

He was consumed. It wasn't... his shadow. It was the caves shadow. Something far, far stronger and more oppressive. His magic, his manipulation - even if he tried - couldn't pick itself apart from the crowd.
(Taiga Voss)


So Taiga searches himself. As far as he could figure it, there was absolutely no way to pick himself apart from the crowd. No way that he could manipulate his shadow so precisely that it somehow stood out from other shadows. It was, after all, just the absence of light... right? But no. Surely, something as magical and ethereal as a Ghoul or Vampires shadow had to be usable even in dark conditions. How were they to operate at night otherwise?

If that were the case... then Taiga simply wasn't strong enough yet.

Good. A good goal to work towards. Distinguishing his shadow - somehow - from normal shadow. For now, he meditates in this darkness, trying his best to extend some kind of presence outwards.
(Taiga Voss)

Hours pass. More so than Taiga could possibly be aware of. His internal track of time completely failing him as he focuses more and more on trying to form his shadow. He was shaping his mana and focusing it as he had every other time, but the usual... 'sense' he had for it was no where to be found. But without anything like common sense to stop him, Taiga was willing to slam his face into this brick wall as long as it took.

Seven. Hours.

Seven hours cold, alone and in the dark. Depriving himself of every sense, remaining almost completely motionless in the deepest reaches of the cave. Persistent was an understatement, the patience Taiga had forged for his training being far beyond simply commendable.

It's seven hours until he finally feels a change.
(Taiga Voss)

Taiga feels it, finally. Some... wiggle or writhe, he can't be too sure. A vague sense of motion right in front of his face, like someone waving a hand just inches away -- only it's completely and utterly dark. There was absolutely no way to confirm if this was working other than some instinctual gut feeling of his. Even as he tried to tame and command the wiggles, they don't exactly respond to his motions.

hnnngh.

So he'd condense it. Mold it. Try and compress his shadow to one, singular finite point right in front of him. It'd be the hardest thing he had tried so far, as usually spreading things thin tended to be easier than cramming it together.

That's when he sees it. An outline. Somehow. It doesn't even make sense to behold with ones eyes, but as Taiga begins to pull all the parts of his shadow together, using the most masterful manipulation he could muster? Something almost darker than black itself would appear before him. There was all that he could not see -- and that which could not be comprehended. Like a writhing mass perfectly overlaid on top of his eyes, cutting out a portion of existence itself from his perception.

The shock of it all breaks his concentration almost immediately. Damn it.

...But that surely was a success, right?
(Taiga Voss)