When Tenebris woke up, he had a mild headache from the hangover he was experiencing as a result of him attempting to drown his depression. However, he recalled how the events of last night(?) unfolded and sighed. Once again, he let the sisters down, but he knew this time that moping about it is no use. If he truly wished to protect them, he can't let things like that get him down. "Why was I being so stupid?" He whispered to himself. Now he kept wondering why he let his mood take a foul turn when he should of been more appreciative about the rescue.
As he got off the couch, a little unstable, he found Selendis approaching from upstairs. She gave him a worried look and he shook his head. "Selendis, I... hell... thanks, for everything."
She smiles cutely. "As long as you remember and understand. Don't worry us like that again, okay?" She went into the kitchen, not noticing a new blush on Tenebris' face from her smile and soft words.
"you feeling alright, bud?" Sans walked over, looking like he just woke up himself. "you gave us all quite a fright last night."
"Sorry about that, Sans. And sorry about losing it on you. It's... not my best mind-set, I'll say that much."
Sans shook his head. "it's fine. you were having a pretty rough time of it, so i'll let it slide. outside of your bad times, you have a certain... 'integrity' to you, as weird as it sounds. it does show you're dedicated to what you set your mind to it, even if you punished yourself too harshly over it."
Tenebris chuckled. "I suppose that's true. Though I'm wondering how willing you are to give me my intermediate training after that performance."
Sans snorted as Frisk slowly came downstairs as well, rubbing sleep away from her eyes. "you kidding? in that regard, your dedication reminds me too much of papyrus for me to say no. besides, i'm genuinely curious about how much you can do with your magic."
"And here I thought I was mostly like you." Tenebris waved to Frisk, who rushed into a hug with him. "Hey, kid. Sorry to worry you so much last night."
She looks up at him. "A-are you alright now?"
"I'm... not sure, to be truthful. However, I think I'll be alright; I do have you, Selendis, Sans, and Papyrus after all." Sans smiled a little wider at this.
Frisk looks at him with worry in her eyes. "Just... promise me you won't let things like this torture you like last night. If you're concerned or conflicted over something, anything, let us know."
Tenebris kisses her on the top of her head. "I promise. Perhaps I just need a bit more determination and kindness to help me get through it." That got a light-hearted giggle from Frisk, who knew what he was talking about. "Now go help your sister; I think she's making breakfast." She nodded and rushed after Selendis. Tenebris shook his head. "Though somehow I doubt I'll feel any fuller than I do now after breakfast."
Sans flinched. "oh... yeah i completely forgot about that. monster food is primarily made of magic, meaning that none of it is wasted when consumed, yet... leaves little room for actual physical matter."
"That explains why it heals us. But why don't I feel any fuller after consuming it, despite feeling like I got an energy boost?"
"i'm willing to be that it has to do with... nutrition? your food seems to be composed of physical matter like you humans and that your food contains the stuff you actually need to survive."
Tenebris gasped. "That explains the rest of it! Monster food may have energy we can use, but it doesn't have anything to stick to us or to support our more physical-based bodies. Because of that, we can eat as much monster food as we want and never feel full." He thought for a moment then laughed. "Talk about getting your money's worth at an all-you-can-eat buffet, though."
Sans burst into laughter as Selendis rounded the corner. "That sounds about right. Sadly, I doubt there's much edible physical matter down here." She shook her head. "Still, despite not getting any true nutritional value out of it, we probably should still eat something. Breakfast is ready."
Frisk peaked out of the kitchen. "Where's Papyrus?"
Sans chuckled a bit. "he went to undyne's house for 'cooking lessons'. he wanted me to let you guys know that undyne won't be chasing you ever again; she said so last night. i'm also supposed to warn you that when you three do reach hotland, there will still be royal guards and monsters that might still attack you as she will be unable to call them off."
Selendis nodded. "I guess by us saving her life, we gained enough respect from her to manage that." Tenebris simply nodded as well.
Breakfast was simply pancakes with syrup. Selendis admitted that she didn't really find anything else to make for the meal and went with it, but it was enough for everyone involved.
Tenebris nodded to Sans. "Think we should get my intermediate training out of the way?"
"eh... why not? will you girls be joining us again?"
Selendis was about to nod when Frisk shook her head. "I was going to look for a book in the library called Elements: The Magic Of Spirit. We were told it would have information about shadow magic... or as the monsters of old called it, the magic of darkness."
Sans deadpanned. "i never thought of looking in there... then again, i wouldn't because their selection is pretty small. since a book like that is here, think we can hold off our training until we go through it, tenebris?"
Tenebris shrugged. "If it helps, then I don't see a problem with it. Besides, it would be reassuring to know just what I'm using and if it's potentially dangerous... as much as I keep my stance that darkness isn't always evil."
Selendis poked him with a small giggle. "It's the person who uses power that's evil, not the power itself, right? I have full confidence that you are not a bad person, Tenebris." He recoiled a bit before sighing and nodding. The fact that she still trusts him after last night's fiasco still astonished him to a degree.
It didn't take long for the group to find the book, with the librarian commenting that while it was a popular read a while back, it has fallen off the radar in the public eye for a while. Despite the age, it was still in good condition. Bringing it back to the house, everyone gathered around as Tenebris opened the book.
"Alright, let's see here... 'The magic of spirit is composed of two different halves: light and darkness. In function, the two are similar save for visual differences and some differences to how they are strengthened. The majority of the users of the magic of light show or 'vent' their power through a magic brand on their hand that constantly emits light. Users of the magic of darkness commonly have their left eye emitting a dark mist with either a magic fire or straight light emitting from the iris.'"
Frisk frowned. "You said that the scientists kept infusing your soul with magic through your eye. Did they somehow..."
Sans lessened his smile. "i wouldn't doubt that records like this book were preserved on the surface. if i had to wager a guess, it's the very reason why they tried the infusions to begin with."
Tenebris and Selendis frowned. "The real question is how they managed to get their hands on such magic."
"for some reason, i don't even want to know." Tenebris shrugged and kept reading.
"'Combined, the two magics make up two halves of spirit, something the soul of every living creature, human and monster, contains. This is the base behind both positive and negative emotions, though scholars have concluded that light doesn't solely give positive emotions and darkness negative. Because of this similarity, however, there have been cases of users of both magics of spirit succumbing to powerful negative emotions. When this happens, light users' normally yellow magic becomes a dark blue and darkness' purple/dark purple becomes dark red. The process of the magics succumbing to these strong negative emotions... this has been dubbed: Magic Corruption.'"
Selendis shivered. "Does that mean that Tenebris can be corrupted? What about last night?"
Frisk shook her head. "Ironically, I don't think depression is a strong enough emotion for it to happen. I'm willing to bet that it's hatred that does it."
Sans nodded grimly. "hatred is a very strong emotion. so strong, it actually makes us monsters weaker if we're confronted by someone filled with hatred, as the magic that composes us is based on love and compassion. both are utterly destroyed by hatred, whereas something like depression isn't strong or lasting enough."
Tenebris winced. "That's... not a pleasant thought. Still, I might as well keep reading. 'when users of either light or darkness succumb to Magic Corruption, they become shadows of their former selves, no longer able to comprehend anything positive or good and dedicated to destroying those who do. Magic Corruption is a gradual process: those beginning to be affected by it will show signs of such corruption. I.E: a user of the magic of darkness having their dark purple iris slowly turn dark red. It is possible to prevent total corruption in this state, but once the corruption process is complete, there is no current methods of reversing such corruption; death becomes the only mercy to offer.'" He winced again as he read that last line. "Well that's freaking wonderful..."
"C-can we move on to the magic of darkness itself, now? I-I don't like that topic anymore." Frisk whimpered. The very thought of Tenebris becoming corrupted like that was draining her determination.
"Frisk, have a little more faith in me. Besides, I got you guys to keep me in like if something like that happens, as slim as the chances may be." Tenebris ruffled her hair, which refilled her determination again.
"still... disquieting that there is no known cure for magic corruption." Sans shuddered from the shadow of a memory he couldn't remember. "i... don't like it when death is the only mercy."
Selendis nodded somberly. "I agree... but like this book implies, sometimes death is the only mercy we have left..."
Tenebris started flipping pages awkwardly. "Well that took a somber turn, let's move on!" After finding the section on the magic of darkness he blanched. "Well... crap, the trauma doesn't... end there- ignoring that!" He had read one thing from that section that greatly disturbed him: 'While users of the corrupted magic of light become dangerously cold and calculating, users of corrupted magic of darkness aren't as lucky. They become berserkers full of blood-lust and attacking anyone and anything with horrifying, corrupted variants of the normal magic of darkness. Because of the overwhelming power that starts coursing through them, they become hell-spawn-like creatures known as 'Beasts'. The longer a Beast is kept alive, the more dangerous it becomes.'
He found the section they had been looking for to begin with. As they went through it, Sans was surprised that his basic training, and indeed all segments of the training, were very similar to what was detailed in the book, with some additional things he didn't know. Sans decided to take the book with him as he and Tenebris went out to the fields of Snowdin for training, with Selendis and Frisk tagging along as usual, though Snowdrake, Icecapp, Monster Kid, and the Dogi decided to watch as well.
Sans sighed as he observed the small crowd they had gathered. "guess we're putting on a show for these folks. alright, let's see if you remember what you learned last time first as a warm-up."
The warm-up went without a hitch, but Tenebris caught Sans with an awkward statement. "I've... actually done a couple of things that you never taught me, one of which isn't covered in that book."
"oh? let's see the one the book covers first." Tenebris nodded and summoned his scythe, much to the awe of most of the crowd except for the sisters, who wondered why he used such a weapon. Sans on the other hand was suddenly glad he never has to fight Tenebris seriously; he's one of the few monsters who dodge, but he always side-steps when he dodges. Against a sweeping weapon like a scythe, he stands little to no chance.
What brought back some of his jolly mood was when Tenebris started swinging the weapon around awkwardly, clearly showing he's had no weapons training in anything. "nice blade-on-a-stick, but... shouldn't you, y'know, learn how to properly use it? besides, how did you fight undyne with it?"
Dissipating the scythe, Tenebris scratches his head. "I... guess it was a heat-of-the-moment, temporarily acquired ability. Now that I'm thinking about it, I've never swung a melee weapon before, not counting that fight." He deadpanned when he saw Sans get off the phone so suddenly. "Uh, who are you talking to?"
"oh, just somebody who can help now. while we're waiting, care to show me what you've managed that's not in the manual?" Tenebris nodded and focused for a little bit by closing his eyes. Recalling how he did it, he opened his left eye, which flared up with mist and fire, lifted both his hands upwards and summoned two black dragon skulls with glowing purple eyes.
Sans stood there stunned and the crowd 'oohed' at them. Selendis was a bit unnerved, but was trying to contain herself; she loved dragons of all varieties. Frisk, on the other hand, felt very disturbed at the mere sight of them. She, for some reason, felt her 'sins' crawling down her back, even though she's clean as far as she's aware.
Sans recovered and the lights in his eye-sockets suddenly disappeared as he gave Tenebris a dead-serious stare that made the shadow-eyed human break out into a cold sweat. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"I-I-I seriously don't know! During the fight, I felt a sudden surge of murderous intent and... it felt so natural summoning my first one, which was far bigger than the two I've got here."
Sans' eye-sockets were still dark, but now it was with worry. He wondered about his own ability to summon Gaster Blasters and if he managed to gain them through similar conditions. "so... you say the only reason why you now know how to... summon those was through a surge of murderous intent?"
Tenebris nodded nervously, still sweating coldly. "Y-yeah. After I fired it, not only did all of said intent disappear, but my rage and a fair chunk of my magic as well. I guess because it's because it was so big, but when I started going down-right spam-happy with these smaller ones, it quickly depleted what magic I had left." He thought for a moment before cringing. "D-don't tell me these things are some sort of forbidden magic or something like that!"
Sans' eyes reappeared as he shot a glance at the book. It did mention that users of the magic of darkness can use negative emotions like rage and sadness to fuel magic attacks and make them far stronger by burning said negative emotions. "nah, they aren't forbidden, just that nobody can use 'em outside of a very select few. care to shoot them? i want to see if they really are what i think they are." Tenebris frowned, but then pointed his hand into the sky and the skulls fired upwards. Sans recognized the sound, but realized that it sounded 'heavier' than his own, like Tenebris' blasters packed more of a punch. "ah, i see. thing is, i said only a select few can use 'em? well..." He summons his own blasters, which Frisk outright and subconsciously cringed at, much to Selendis' confusion. "me and my bro can use 'em as well. before you ask, he doesn't like using 'em because he finds them too powerful and scary."
Tenebris looked at Sans' skull. "Outside of the white color and blue eyes, they look exactly the same. I wonder if your energy rubbed off on me to the point where I could manifest my own?"
"possible. i call these things gaster blasters. since yours will probably be different in more ways than just a color swap, why don't you name them?"
"Hmm... how about Umbra Blasters... and yes I know, I'm not creative with names."
Sans chuckled. "nah, it's fine. both are blasters, so some consistency helps. anyways, let's see just how different they are."
After firing a few from both sides, Sans realized pinned the differences down. In terms of actual damage in HP, his Gaster Blaster ignores INV by dealing 1 hp of damage per millisecond and deals Karmic Retribution. Tenebris' Umbra Blaster still deals more overall damage at once while ignoring DEF and deals a small amount of 'burn' damage even if dodged. Sans can tell, however, that it consumes far more magic than his blaster, though this is somewhat mitigated by his unexpectedly and rather deep magic reserves; now he knows how Tenebris lasted so long against Undyne.
Another set of key differences are the blasters themselves. Sans' don't cost any to summon, but he can't do anything with them other than fire or move them around. Tenebris' has a small magic cost to summon, but can do more than just fire and move; it can actually tackle anything he sics it on for admittedly fast and 'unavoidable' damage; perfect for forcing anyone back. On top of everything, Tenebris' largest blaster is twice as big as Sans' biggest blaster, but the magic cost of the blast increases exponentially as he increases the size, whereas Sans doesn't have that problem.
The skeleton lets out a huff. "well... quite a few differences, actually. suppose it's a good thing; don't want folks thinking you ripped me off." Looking to the side, he smiles wider. "ah, looks like the help i called for earlier has arrived."
"Who did you call any-"
"So you're the one Sans called about for weapons training?!" All three humans froze at the voice. Before Tenebris could even turn to the direction, he felt himself get caught in a head-lock by Undyne. "I can't see how you need any training in that regard, but if that's the case, I will comply for the benefit of bringing up another potent warrior!"
Tenebris started turning blue from the lock and Sans deadpanned. "uh, undyne, you might wanna let him go."
She released him with a grunt. "Oh come on, Papyrus wasn't that wimpy when I first started training him! Guess I'll just have to toughen you up! Fuhuhuhu!"
Tenebris struggled to stand as Selendis and Frisk rushed to help him up. Papyrus joined them shortly after. "GIVE TENEBRIS A BREAK, UNDYNE. HE'S GREAT, BUT YOU CAN'T EXPECT HIM TO BE AS GREAT AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Now prepare yourself, punk! I take training seriously and I'll train you like I train Papyrus and other royal guard wannabes! YOU WANNA BE TOUGH? THEN PREPARE FOR A VERY HARSH TRAINING REGIMENT!"
Tenebris rubbed his throat before nodding at the sisters. "I'll be fine. Undyne made it clear she doesn't want to kill us, so don't be too worried. I do have food in case I need to heal if the case arises."
Selendis gave him a flat look. "If this is a similar situation like last-"
"I'm not telling you to go on without me again!"
"Certainly sounds like it!"
"Ex-CUSE me for trying to toughen myself up as best as I can!" Undyne and Sans were trying their best not to burst out laughing at the scene. Tenebris and Selendis started squabbling like lovers typically do, with Frisk and Papyrus trying to prevent it from escalating further.
Undyne leaned over to Sans and whispered, "Well, as Alphys would put it, I'd totally ship it." Sans let out a loud snort at that as she raised her voice. "Alright, you two! Nothings going to get done at this rate if you keep arguing like that!"
Tenebris sighed. "Selendis, just... trust me on this, okay?"
She frowned. "Fine... but if you come back in a similar condition to before, I'm going to kill you!"
He simply chuckles. "Yes m'lady." She huffs and wanders back to her original spot with Frisk and Papyrus, who are now trying to get her to calm down.
Undyne laughs. "You ready? Then prepare yourself!"
"Ow... my everything..." Tenebris muttered. Like she said beforehand, Undyne was crazy serious about her training. Even with monster food to keep him going, it was still a very rough road, especially since he couldn't absorb physical training like he could magic training. He was able to get down a basic fighting style with his scythe, but was unable to grasp more advanced techniques.
It lead to a very bad time for him, especially when he was handed off to Sans for intermediate magic training. Thanks to that, however, he was able to perfect some of the things he already knew as well as some new tricks. He can summon shadow spikes anywhere now and move them around at will, create shadowy clones, create shadow fire and ice, transform objects into more powerful shadow variants of themselves, and even gained the ability to heal damage to both physical bodies and souls. In addition, he streamlined his teleport and made a new aura that grants faster walking and running speed.
Tenebris commented that he didn't learn as much compared to the basic training. Sans merely responded, "because basic training is groundwork and you already learned both an intermediate and an advanced technique beforehand."
Because of how sore he was, the trio decided to stay in Snowdin for a little bit longer while he recovers. Undyne forbade him for cheaping out of the recovery by eating food for a little while, saying that it wouldn't help him develop if he did that.
Selendis gave him a flat look. "Looks like you barely fell short of being as banged up as before."
"Glad to know I'm not dying to you for now." That got a sputter out of her and a laugh out of everyone else. Tenebris remembered something and looked at Sans. "By the way, could you show me how to do that 'look' you gave me earlier?"
"you mean this one?" Sans' eyes disappeared again and Tenebris instantly broke out into a cold sweat again.
"Yeah, that one."
"welp... you may only be able to do it with your one eye, but i guess i'll try."
