Then, after ensuring his surroundings were clear with his spiritual sense, Corven wave his hand, as a swirling violet, blue and black vortex appeared before him. And, without further adieu, Corven stepped into his Shadow Space.
----
This was Corven's first time entering his Shadow Space since he received it as a reward for beating the first Trial of Key the day prior, during his time in the vault under Mythos Banks. And what he saw, he could confidently say he was not disappointed.
Upon entering the Shadow Space, Corven saw a vast terrain, at least 200 square miles across in all directions. The land itself was wooded forest, with a grand mount range on one side and a river flowing through the forest and down a waterfall to a small lake that covered almost a quarter of the entire space. At the base of all four mountains , in the interconnected valley of said mountain range, Corven saw a magnificent castle, built into all four mountains and the valley itself — With 6 towering towers, the main castle was connected to these towers —- and a singular castle was built into the centerspace of this majestic outercastle. This castle itself was built of blackstone bricking, with a drawgate over a flowing river that also led towards the main river stated earlier, its water deep, dark and fast-flowingly cold, clear even to the point of a flawlessly reflecting surface that reflected the three moons in the sky and the unfamiliar constellations of the starry night sky above.
Corven was stunned. He took a step forward, just as a whole flood of information entered his mind. "This is… Shadow Palace…," Corven realized, eyes wide as saucers as an understanding dawned on him. "This realm… was meant to find me, as a gift from my father and aunt…."
Corven couldn't help but wonder how Erebos and Nyx managed to pluck an entire section of the Shadow Realm and put it into a crystal for me to earn… No, for me to find. Corven could sense that they did this as an act of warm fondness under the guise of a trial.
'They must have plucked this piece of the Shadow Realm before the Sealing,' Corven realized, as he then began to contemplate just how powerful primordials were that they could foresee something would be needed such as this so far into the future. It was an alarming incentive for Corven. 'I need to get stronger. They foresaw that I'll end up needing this millennia before I was even born. I need to become just as powerful one day.'
Corven realized that they were gods, and not just any gods — Primordials. He reckons they work in literally mysterious ways. He wondered if he could become this strong, and then began wondering if perhaps there was a plot they were planning, a scheme he could not see…
A certain screech from a certain shadow sphinx knocked Corven from his musings, and he turned to see Eclipse soaring in the ever night sky, landing before Corven, as it shrunk in size, to the size of cat, before rubbing its head on Corven's leg, as it followed Corven. Corven picked it up, and put her on his shoulder, where she began rubbing her head on Corven's neck.
Shaking his head at Eclipse's antics, Corven arrived before the draw bridge that had yet to be let down. Suddenly, Corven sensed a scan scanning his and Eclipse's body before a familiar robotic voice sounded from all around him. "Welcome, young master Corven Nexus Nox Umbrovante. Welcome home!"
The drawbridge then let itself down.
"You know, you can just call me 'young master' or, like, 'Corven,' Corven found his long name annoying. He didn't even know he had such a long name before his dream visit with Nyx the night prior. He figured it stood for something — had a special meaning or purpose —- No one with a long name had a long name for no reason, but Corven still found it annoyed him all the same.
"Command acknowledge," the robotic voice said. "Welcome home, young master!"
As Corven entered the castle through the great oak double doors, he realized it was night time in this realm, and he wondered if it was always night time in the actual Shadow Realm.
"That would be a blissful paradise," Corven muttered out loud his thoughts, causing Eclipse to tilt her head in slight confusion.
As Corven took a step inside, a sudden flap of wings caught his attention. It was followed by a crow's "Kaww! Kawww!"
Corven turned just in time to see a handsome, four-eyed crow, with neatly trimmed feathers, dangerously sharp talons like that of a bird of prey's and two eyes where they would typically be, while the third and fourth were located diagonally-vertical from the upper end of the beak, in-between the regular two eyes, closer to the forehead. The aura this crow was giving out, Corven instinctively knew was at the peak Chaotic rank of the Ascendant Stages! But it was not with malicious intent towards Corven. Rather, it was the opposite. As it landed, it bowed to Corven, submissively.
"KAWW! Master's Son is my Master!" KAWWW!" he said, in his crow voice.
Corven was confused before he asked "Who's your master? I mean, who am I the son of — What's your master's name?"
"Kaww! The Primordial Lord of The Great Darkness and Father of Shadow & Darkness, GreatLord Erebos! KAW!" the crow stated. "KAW! CORN!! KAW!! I am but a miniscule sliver of his power made corporal, made to guide you and aid you, should the need arrive. KAW!"
Corven was so shell-shocked, he couldn't speak. He had already knew who his father was — Nyx had basically given him the answer and, if she hadn't, then he had already deduced it to be true, honestly. I mean, there weren't a lot of myths about a primordial god of darkness and shadow — and then, there was only one of these said myths that had any relation to the Night Mother, Nyx, herself, so that was certainly a dead give away.
Still, hearing it verbalized by someone — or, rather, somebody — else? Well, it certainly had a shocking effect, Corven supposed. Thankfully, he had not gasped aloud, though, and eventually, he gathered his wits about himself and was able to talk.
"So… Father gifted you to become my familiar?" Corven eyed the bird up and down. He was not intimidated by the bird's four eyes nor its obviously evident peak-chaotic rank, as the bird was not putting its pressure on Corven, nor was it trying to. He studied the bird, becoming more and more curious. "I assume you are the overseer of this dimension… Or perhaps its guardian?"
"KAWW! I am a crow! KAW! Crow! KAW!" the crow seemed confused, but still answered respectively, his voice causing Corven to want to hit his face with his own hand at the simplicity.
"Well, I know that," Corven muttered lowly to himself. "I was asking…," Corven began, but, seeing the crow tilt his head in confusion, Corven could only sigh. "You know what? Nevermind. Can you give me a tour of this place? I want to know what my father had built for me."
"KAW! As you wish! KAW!" the four-eyed crow said, before taking off with the flap of his wings, leading Corven deeper into the castle. "KAW! Follow me! KAW!"
Corven followed the crow, but, as he began to, he found a mysterious scroll lying on a table surrounded by various books and tablets, only this scroll caught his attention: It was black with a indigo-violet, purple-blue bowtied, finished with a matching blue-violet colored seal, showcasing the Seal of House Umbrovante. Corven was not sure why nor how, but he could sense that this parchment was supposed to be for his eyes, and, likely, his eyes only.
Tentatively, Corven walked up to the table and picked it up, curious of its content, as he unsealed it and, in the fine, indigo-violet-colored inked, elegant handwriting that seemed to glow, he read:
Dear Corven, my little crow,
If you're reading this, I am likely not there to welcome you into the world of Legacies and cultivation, and for that, I am sorry. As a mother, my first and primary duty is to my child, you, but, as a queen and family head, my primary duty is my House. I am likely still sealed in the Shadow Realm, at the reading of this letter, or, quite possibly, dead, likely at the hands of a Chaos Lord from the Chaos Realm. It could be either or. I have instructed my sister, your aunt, to evacuate as many women and children and a few capable noble house soldiers from various minor-great houses within our SHadow Realm to the Mortal Plane. Hopefully, they'll establish a foothold to help support their heir upon your birth. Your aunt should protect you whenever you're born… Listen to her.
Your father is a primordial. He sleeps as he prepares for a war to come, accumulating power, so I would not expect him to be there for you all the time, but there will be instances where you shall meet him and even the great ancestor of our House, the Night Mother, Nyx, herself, but, as primordials have their own troubles, please do not expect too much. Please understand that it is not that they do not care, but that they are protecting you by ignoring you. If they provide you with special attention, their enemies will notice and you will be targeted even more than you likely are, as a Primordial Spawn.
My advice to you is to get strong. Claim the power that is inside you. Become a monarch of darkness and shadow. Only then, can you protect those you care about. You will make friends and enemies along the way in this journey to power, but never lose focus. If — no, when — you make these enemies, crush them to pieces. When I see you again — and make no mistake, I will do my damndest to do so — I want to see you strong and alive.
Take care, my son. And know that your dad and I love you.
- Nyattelia Umbrovas Umbrovante,
Your mother.
Corven never considered himself an emotional person. For most of his life, he's had to consciously avoid his emotions using logic and stress techniques. And recently, his emotions were beginning to feel strangely non-existent. That said, the letter had Corven holding back tears.
His mother had wrote this, Corven realized. She wrote this, likely before the Sealing, before his birth and before everything that had happened. Corven couldn't help but feel a growing pang in his chest after reading the letter.
He had always thought whoever his mother was had abandoned him at birth. This was before he had awakened his bloodline, and the events with Cimon and Achlys and the chaos sphinx, and before learning his father was a god and everything. It still had him wanting to hug someone.
His mom was out there, hopefully alive. Corven had to get strong. He had to save her. No, he WILL get strong. He WILL save his mother. He will unseal the SHadow Realm. He will become so strong, that he can beat that idiot chaos serpent creature he'd seen from his dreams. He will become so strong, no one will ever take from him again without facing extreme pain and devastation first.
Squeezing the parchment tight, Corven swore this upon his soul! He felt it deep within his being. It was going to happen. That was his promise to himself, to his mother, to his friends, to Nyx, to Erebos, to existence itself. And he would not fail, of that, Corven was sure.
Eventually, Corven placed the letter down, reminding himself to put it somewhere more secure letter, as he ran to chase his crow familiar into a tour of the castle…
The crow led Corven to a few bedrooms, each already lined and linen, with closets full of clothes that smelled new and fresh. When Corven had gotten to a room that must've have been the master's, he saw that al the clothes he had bought — and some ones that were already there — lined the closets in clothes that were entirely his style, somehow, as if handpicked from his own interests of clothes. The bedroom itself was the size of a whole three-story house somehow, with three stories, each connected by both via stairs and elevator. The lighting was lit by torches whose fire was dim enough to for Corven to see, but not overly bright and, just like throughout the castle, Corven saw that these torches glowed an ominous indigo-violet and Corven would eventually learn that this his earlier guess was true — It was always night time in this place.
There was a vault at the subterranean area of the castle, fit with the coins that he shoved into his shadow space, alongside what he earned from the Trials —- the stone that rested in a display case inside the middle of three display cases in the vault, the other two display cases were empty, and Corven guess they were for the other key items needed for unsealing the Shadow Realm. Corven made a mental note to head back to the Mythos Bank to pick up his remaining wealth. He figured it would be safe with him than with a bank, no matter how secure.
In the center of the vault, a neatly piled mound of coins rested. It was much more than Corven had initially stored, leading Corven to realize that there must have been some already present before he stored the bit of wealth he had gotten from his vault in Mythos Banks.
Corven also found a pool in the lower regions of the castle. He sensed the dark energies inside, though he could also somehow comprehend that said dark energy would only strengthen him or heal any injuries he would have going inside said pool. He also seemed that only those connected to the Darkness in some way like nobles originally from the Shadow Realm, would be healed by this pool, though not to the level that it would heal Corven, of course.
Corven explored a little more of the castle, and forests around it before deciding to exit the Shadow space, just as he saw Eclipse soaring the skies of his Shadow Space.
And, upon returning, Corven summoned Night Viper, and noticed that the sun was peaking just over the horizon of trees, just in time for Cimon to wake up, yawning as he stretched from a night full of sleep.