Ayla sat in a private combat training room with her eyes closed and both legs folded, similar to a meditation pose.

She was so perfectly still that one would doubt if she was even breathing....well, that was because she wasn't.

Why?

Well, as much as clearing rifts were training, this was the actual training. And no, she wasn't training to hold her breath for long.

If someone had eyes similar to the headmistress, they'd see a dark energy wrap around her, expanding and contracting, as if breathing for her.

That energy was umbra energy.

But that wasn't the training either, just an after effect of it.

Her actual training was happening within her soul... Or at least that's what the old man called it.

Ayla opened her eyes to a star filled sky, one so beautiful that even the artificial night couldn't simulate. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

She was standing in a plain that stretched endlessly with no trees or anything obstructing a clear view of the night sky.

Although this wasn't the first time she had seen it, the scene never failed to amaze her....not that one would be able to tell, since her expression always remained the same.

Ayla had discovered this place a few days after meeting Nox.

She had first come here when she was trying to suppress he Umbra energy enough to not terrify him anymore.

She had never known that this place existed her whole life because she didn't have reason to suppress her energy.

After all, she had enough control over it that it was impossible for just any solar Knight to sense it.

Not that she interacted much with them, but with Nox, it was different, she was curious about his warm energy.

Yet, although it seems like he could also sense her energy just as she had sensed hers but unlike her, all he felt from her energy was fear.

So she tried suppressing it even more, and she soon found herself here. The thing was, although this was her 'soul', she wasn't alone here.

"Told you it'd work," a calm voice spoke up from the side.

"Hmm," Ayla nodded, "you were right old man, it's a lot easier to let my pets deal with them."

She turned to the side, where the old man who seemed to have always been here, stood by the side.

"Hey," The man said, "I already told you, I'm not old."

Contrary to Ayla calling him an old man, the man standing there seemed to be in his early twenties, with pale skin and silver hair.

He had on what seemed like a formal suit, ones worn by only nobles, only lacking the bright colors they usually had.

He was laying on what seemed like a swing, held up by what seemed to be bones.

The man had been here since she discovered this place and although she was a bit cautious at first, he had become something like a mentor to her.

After all, he seemed to know a lot about what her abilities were capable of, he was also the one that taught her how to turn Eclipsed to her pets.

"Nevermind, you're just like her anyway," the man said as he got off the swing and stood in front of her, "so, what should we do today?"

Before Ayla could respond, the man spoke up again, "I know."

The man lifted his hand and the ground started reforming itself, taking the shape of what seemed to be human, before becoming whiter and what he was creating was revealed.

A skeleton.

The creature stood up and with a wave of its bony hand, a black robe covered it, and in its hand, a scythe appeared.

"This is Thanny," the man said with a grin, "and he should be able to give you more challenge than those undead."

Ayla looked at the creature introduced as Thanny, before turning back to the man.

Yes she knew that he was capable of summoning the undead, but most of them seemed like puppets on a string, this one seemed sentient.

"This one's different," She said.

"Yup," The man nodded, "that's because Thanny is a being like I am, I can only summon him because he's bonded to me."

Ayla nodded as she continued looking at the skeleton, now, she didn't exactly know what this man was, all she knew was that he was strong.

Maybe even more so than the headmistress, the only problem was....

"Though, as I stated before, this is all done by borrowing your energy," the man continued, "so this is not the Thanny, just a copy created with your energy....not that he'd be any weaker."

This man, rather than being part of her 'soul' seemed to have been trapped here, then again, he didn't seem to have any intention of leaving.

When asked why, this was his reply: "My previous job was too boring anyway, besides, I've got nothing to return to anymore, so might as well spend the rest of my days training you to...."

"I see," Ayla nodded as the man stepped back, creating space for the two to battle.

"Alright then," he said, lifting a hand, "you'll start on my command."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Begin!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Thanny disappeared, leaving behind a crater.

Ayla created a wall of shadows behind her just in time to block the incoming scythe, but unlike what she expected, it went through pretty easily.

Fortunately for her, just before it could reach her neck, she disappeared, reappearing a few steps back.

She felt her heart heavily pounding against her chest and this was the first time since something like that had happened.

Ayla could've sword she felt the scythe going right through her, trying to rip apart her soul, just before she teleported.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention," he said with a shrug, "Thanatos only shows up when it's your time to die. And trust me, it won't stop until you're gone. Good luck, kid."

Thanatos?

She didn't know why, but that name was extremely familiar, almost as if it had a deeper meaning to her particularly.

But now wasn't the time to think about it as her opponent was soon upon her again, with the scythe swinging again.

She disappeared again and lifted another shield just in time to block a punch that was suddenly launched towards her.

Ayla successfully created space between them and finally had a chance to properly look at what threw the punch.

What stood by Thanatos' side was a massive skeletal figure that seemed like some type of tank.

Soon enough, skeletal hands started clawing their way out of the soil, pulling themselves out of the ground.

Ayla's eyes narrowed as she looked at Thanatos and his army of skeletons before turning back to the man who simply shook his head.

This told her that the ability belonged to Thanatos himself, but that didn't make her panic, after all, she had something similar.

Her shadow suddenly started stretching beneath her, and from within large masses of black shadows of the Eclipsed that she had defeated started stepping out.

....

Or at least that was what should've happened, instead she just stood there a bit confused that nothing happened.

Well, until the man spoke up again.

"I can't allow you to use that now, can I?" He said, "for this training, you'll have access to all your abilities except that one, since it'd just make this too easy."

She wasn't really surprised that he could deactivate her ability, after all, this wasn't the first time he had done it.

Though she could reactivate it whenever she wished.

With a nod, Ayla teleported, avoiding a massive spear made of bone that was aimed directly at her.

The bony undead that was responsible for the attack was suddenly impaled by a large shadow spike which extended to all the others by its side, causing them to crumble into a pile of bones.

Ayla then reappeared before what seemed to be a ball of umbra energy gathered in her hand, and she immediately tossed it towards the gathering of undead.

The ball harmlessly passed by them, landing on the ground in the center of them all, but the moment their attention returned to their attacker,

BANG!

The ball exploded, expanding in all directions and enveloping all the closest undeads with shadows.

"How clever," the man said with a smile on his face.

Unlike 'her' who had never been forced to adapt before, this child definitely was good at that.

Soon enough, the skeletons enveloped by shadows turned back around with stiff movements and suddenly lifted their weapons against the other undeads.

This normally wasn't an ability she would use against Eclipsed, well, mostly because she wasn't sure it'd work until now.

What she did was simple, since she was restricted from using her pets, why not turn the undead in her pets.

But unlike the defeated Eclipsed, she was controlling the shadows clinging to the skeletons.

And surprisingly, everything was going well.

Well, until...

"Huh?" She let out in surprise as she watched the blade of a scythe pass cleanly through her chest.

She lifted her head just for her eyes to lock with Thanatos' empty ones before her and that's when everything faded.

She....was dead?