Zane flexed his fingers as the cold, star-speckled floor of the Void Training Grounds shimmered beneath his boots. The air here was strange — lightless, yet clear, as if the void itself was watching.
From the darkness, Nyx emerged. Not as a whisper in his head, but in a full humanoid form — tall, shrouded in a cloak of rippling black mist, with glowing violet eyes that pierced through the gloom.
"I will be your opponent," she said, her voice both ancient and sharp. "And your guide."
Zane raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna teach me how to fight?"
Nyx gave a wry grin. "I'm going to make sure you survive. The enemies you'll face in this world — and beyond — won't wait for you to figure things out. So show me what you've got. All of it."
She snapped her fingers, and a pulse of void energy surged around her, forming a staff from the shadows.
Zane summoned the Endblade with a flicker of thought — it hummed with unstable power, but this time he felt more control.
Then Nyx said something that caught him off guard.
"Shadow... is a sub-element of Void. It is malleable — a canvas for your will. Shape it. Bend it. Make it obey."
Zane tightened his grip on his blade. "So I can create... anything?"
"If your mind can picture it — the Void can make it real."
With that, she charged.
Zane barely had time to parry before her staff cracked against his sword. He stumbled back, rolling to the side. He didn't hesitate — focusing hard, he visualized twin daggers forming in his hands from his own shadow.
Twin curved blades emerged from the floor, drawn upward like silk, solidifying in his grip.
He hurled one at Nyx, but she deflected it effortlessly, then countered with a sweep of her staff that forced Zane back again.
"Better," she said. "But your control is sloppy."
Zane growled and tried again — this time summoning shadowy chains to anchor her feet. They snapped up from the ground like serpents, wrapping her legs.
Nyx merely smirked and shattered them with a flick of her staff.
"You need focus and intent. Don't just imagine — command."
Zane closed his eyes, breathing deeply. The shadows around him pulsed, alive and waiting. He reached inward, visualizing a massive gauntlet forming over his hand — one built from solidified void energy, jagged and powerful.
When he opened his eyes, it was there.
He punched toward Nyx — the gauntlet extended mid-strike, launching a shockwave of pure Void.
Nyx was finally pushed back.
"Well done," she said, dusting herself off. "You're learning."
Zane grinned, panting. "Just getting started."