(Opening Scene: Zane stands before a training dummy, the lingering energy of his Shadow Strike still palpable within him. Astrid watches with keen interest, eager to see what he will try next.)
Zane considered his newfound abilities. The Shadow Storm offered incredible versatility and striking power, while Shadow Strike was a potent, albeit limited, way to bypass defenses. He wondered if he could combine them, using the speed and surprise of Voidwalk with the lethality of the Shadow Storm.
He focused, willing three sharp fragments to detach from the Null Blade. They hovered in the air before him, dark and menacing. Then, channeling his void energy, he initiated Voidwalk. The familiar sensation of his body dissolving into shadow and reforming elsewhere washed over him. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind the training dummy, completely silent and undetected.
Before the dummy could react, Zane willed the three shadow fragments to reconnect with the main form of the Null Blade, which he now held aloft. But instead of simply reforming, he focused his intent, channeling the speed of his Voidwalk and the focused energy of his Shadow Strike into the fragments' movement.
The three shards of shadow shot forward with an unmatched velocity, blurring into streaks of darkness. They didn't simply fly; they seemed to teleport short distances, propelled by Zane's will and the residual energy of his Shadow Strike. In a fraction of a second, they sliced through the training dummy at multiple critical points.
The dummy remained standing for a heartbeat, then abruptly collapsed into several cleanly severed pieces. The speed of the attack had been so immense that the dummy hadn't even registered the impact until it was too late.
Astrid gasped, her eyes wide with astonishment. "Zane! What was that? They moved faster than lightning!"
Zane himself was slightly breathless, a thrill of both excitement and a hint of unease coursing through him. The combination of Voidwalk and the Shadow Storm, amplified by the intent of Shadow Strike, had been devastating.
"I… I'm not sure," he admitted, still processing the speed of the attack. "I used Voidwalk to get behind it, then willed the fragments to reconnect to the blade, but I focused on making them move… instantly. Like a shadow striking."
He looked at the destroyed dummy, the clean cuts a testament to the power of the technique. It was a risky maneuver, requiring precise control and a significant expenditure of energy, but the potential was undeniable.
"It's… terrifyingly effective," Astrid observed, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You could take down almost anything with that kind of speed and precision."
Zane nodded, a sense of the formidable power he now wielded settling upon him. The loss of Eclipse had been a significant blow, but it had also seemingly unlocked new and terrifying aspects of his own abilities. The tests at Lumina Academy were over for them, but their true training, it seemed, was just beginning.