A silver-haired boy could be seen sitting, holding his knees, and looking out the window. He saw the trees passing by. The scenery was very beautiful; flying magic beasts could be seen moving in their group, racing with the vehicle. Despite being in such a good environment, there was not a trace of joy on his face. It's been quite a while since he smiled.
The woman sitting in front of him, reading a book, peeked between them to check on him. A trace of concern could be seen in her eyes. 'How much time has passed since he is behaving like this?' she sighed. 'Sometimes you have to deal with longing; It looks like he was very close with his contract beast.'
When she looked at him, she could not stop herself, "Rishab, eat something. Four days have passed since you parted with your contract beast, but you should eat something. Will your contract beast be happy knowing you are like this?"
She comforted him for some time before he agreed to eat; despite being mentally prepared for the partition, he was devastated after he said goodbye to Sheru. The memory of their last meeting was still fresh.
He used grand summoning, and a giant golden gate appeared. The door opened, and Sheru emerged from it. This was a summoning spell that could only be used by elite-level beast tamers. This would allow a beast to remain without its master for many years.
Rishi hugged his companion and rubbed its head. He could see a sad expression in its intelligent eyes. They hugged for some time before he decided to part ways; His eyes were moist, but he didn't let a tear appear on them. He said goodbye and smiled before leaving.
He could sense Sheru looking at him from behind in hope that he would come back, but he didn't; despite being impatient, he knew what was right. His eyes welled up as salty water came out of them; He wiped his tears and kept mooing; this was not the time to get emotional.
At that time, he thought he could recover, but it looked like it was not easy. He knew this feeling very well. The feeling of losing someone close to you, the hope that they will return someday and everything will change, but only disappointment comes with time,
In the last four days, he had moved around Raj (Rajasthan) state. He saw many local fairs, beautiful historical forts, and palaces but didn't enjoy them. The memories of him and Sheru surfaced in his mind and kept him distracted. Unknown to him, the impact of losing his loved ones back-to-back has had a significant impact on his mind, and his body was defying his orders. He constantly had dreams of losing Sheru.
This feeling was not foreign to him; in my busy life as an Awakener, I have forgotten my past. Since when have I been enjoying life? These good days with Sheru have made me believe I can also have fun, but at last I have been born to be sad and alone; it was all just an illusion.
He slapped his cheeks and said, Wake up! There is no need to feel so sad; it is not like he will never come back.
It is better for both of us to go our separate ways for some time; he comforted himself and took a deep breath before his eyes regained their usual calmness.
The van stopped before his apartment as he moved out. He said goodbye to his teachers before leaving. Prof. Anya looked at him and sighed. She was relieved he had overcome the pain of being separated from someone closer. She was concerned for him, but she could not do anything in this situation when she saw him finally opening up and moving on from his sorrow. The battlefield of the mind can only be conquered by oneself.
...
A shadow escaped from Rishi's apartment at next morning. He changed his appearance and left the city with a merchant group. Instead of returning to his hometown, he was leaving for a new place. He traveled with the caravan before separating from them. He summoned his contract beast.
A big, five-meter bird appeared in front of him with blue fire at the place of its eyes. It moved its head with a gem on its forehead and moved closer to Rishi before rubbing its beak. Rishi rubbed its head and mounted on it before signaling it to move in the direction he pointed.
The contract beast cried and started moving towards the location. The trees moved below, and many magic beasts could be seen flying with him. His contract beast asserted its presence and shoed them away; it started moving in the direction its master had told him.
It kept flying for a long time; it didn't stop beating its wings, nor did Rishi ask it to stop.
It kept flying Minutes passed, hours passed, The surroundings changed, and it kept moving. After some time, the environment was totally different. They entered a different type of forest that had long, dark trees that were withered and very few creatures. The sand and plants were also creepy and dark, but they kept moving before they appeared on a mountain range, with one side covered in greenery and the other covered in dark forest. The sun was about to set; Rishi looked around and decided to stay there. He asked his contracted beast to land.
He summoned it back and moved around to look for a good location. After moving for some time, he found a suitable place atop the mountain. He took out his tent and decided to camp there; unlike before, he had come prepared this time. He set up the defensive devices while using his shadow technique to conceal himself.
He laid on the sleeping bag and thought about what to do next. He had thought for some time that he was here to train and that there was a place nearby with the shadow element suitable to learn about it and increase his affinity. He had his phone so he could access training manuals that he had downloaded; they contained everything he needed to know about a weapon. He had also downloaded a guide that explained how to conjure objects in detail; he believed it could help him learn how to create weapons using shadow energy faster.