The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan quickly covered his eyes from the prickling cold and tried to peak in between his fingers.

There was a dim blue light on the horizon, the same direction he was facing and from where the wind was blowing. It appeared to be too far away and no matter how hard he tried to focus on the source of it there was always something in the way.

It felt just barely out of sight...hiding right around the next corner. But what WAS clearly visible were the countless shadows all around him.

Their shapes and sizes were stretched and all out of proportion similar to a child's drawing. They felt different but still not completely foreign, as if he had come across them in some shape or form.

And they were all looking at him. Well, that's what it felt like. They were mere shadows being cast on the ground so there weren't any facial features but that still didn't stop them from moving towards him inch by inch.

Hao Xuan could feel himself getting colder than ever before. All the heat was slowly leaving his body and no amount of spiritual energy could stop or even slow it down.

He pushed against the torrential wind wall and stood up with some effort while looking towards the nearest shadow.

"What are you?!"

The shadow raised its hand and pointed directly at him. All the other shadows, however many thousands of them there were, all followed suit.

Then as if their strings were suddenly cut off one by one they began to move erratically. Some clutching their heads in distress and others banging their heads against the ground or even each other.

They were in pain that much was obvious and it was enough to drive them mad. They were screaming or trying to scream but the only sound he could hear was of the billowing wind pouring in non-stop.

Hao Xuan felt something grab him and when he looked back one of the shadows had gotten a hold of his shadow. But the strange thing was that he could feel it as if a real person was touching him.

"DON'T GO! DON'T! GOOOO!!" the shadow suddenly screamed in a clear and distinct voice...one that he recognized in a heartbeat.

"Arthur?? Is that you?!" Hao Xuan yelled anxiously, not realizing that his voice could be heard by the others.

The other shadows all shook back and forth before leaping towards him.

Hao Xuan could feel an imminent threat closing in from all directions and without hesitation he reached out and slapped the top of the floodlight to turn it back on.

The moment the light came out everything disappeared. The wind, the cold, the blue light on the horizon, and all the shadows.

Hao Xuan's forehead was caked in beads of sweat.

"I remember now...that was the shadow world! This is Nidhora's doing!" he exclaimed in a mix of excitement and confusion.

Excited because this meant Nidhora might still be around and confused because of the other shadows.

"But what happened there? Are their shadows trapped in this place? Is that even possible?"

*Beep*

"The sensors have picked up several anomalous readings in the last 45 seconds."

"Yeah, I know. I'm guessing you couldn't see the shadows just now right?"

"Negative. No other life signatures have been detected since entering the plane."

"That's because they are not alive...not really. I will know more once I get to where Nidhora was."

He looked at the minimap again and noticed that the position and direction of Nidhora's last known location was exactly the same as where the blue light was coming from before.

"Maybe she is still sleeping and subconsciously expanding her domain. If she regained even a small portion of her old powers then it is definitely possible. She was born from the shadow of the World Tree so it would not be too far-fetched if she covered this entire world with her Law."

Hao Xuan embraced the floodlight like a lover while whispering under his breath, "Until then, the light keeps them away. It keeps me from falling into the shadow world and them from coming out. It's the last and only line of defense I have."

And Baracus spoke up right on queue with some disheartening but important information.

"Remaining charge time: 33 hours."

"Just 33?! Why? We've only been out here for maybe 5 hours!"

"Extra power is consumed the further the host ventures. There is no discharge within the internal battery but efficiency is dropping continuously. Suggestion: Move as quickly as possible. It could be related to the entity's law."

"You're not wrong, damnit. Should have brought more batteries. Why didn't you say anything before? Can you make more batteries?"

"Negative. The most important element is radioactive star steel which would take 12 days minimum to enrich. If the host-"

"Forget it. I'll just have to make do with this then..."

***

Author's Notes: The Last privilege tier (of 20 advance chapters) has finally been completed so the release schedule should be returning to normal by the 23rd or 24th of April.

There will be anywhere between 5-7 chapters a week after that. I appreciate everyone's support and apologies for the month-long interruption (my publisher keeps trying to find new ways of ruining my life).

Don't forget to vote for the novel!