Rin's dormitory room was smaller than the supply closet back home.
A narrow bed pressed against one wall, a desk barely large enough for a single book sat beneath a window overlooking the training grounds, and a wooden chest for his belongings completed the sparse furnishings. The scholarship dorms weren't meant to be comfortable. They were meant to remind students like him of their place.
Right now, Rin didn't care about the size. He cared about the fact that his shadow was moving independently of his body.
"Stop staring at it," Malachar's voice rumbled from the darkness pooling beneath Rin's feet. "You're making this awkward."
Rin jumped back, pressing himself against the door. "You can talk? Even when you're not... manifested?"
"Obviously." The shadow rippled like disturbed water. "The Soul Resonance Bond connects us on every level. I can see through your eyes, feel your pathetic emotions, and yes, communicate whenever I please. Delightful, isn't it?"
"No. No, it's really not." Rin slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor, burying his face in his hands. "This is a nightmare. I'm going to be expelled. Or executed. Or both somehow."
"Stop whining." Malachar's tone carried the edge of someone who had commanded armies and had little patience for weakness. "You're alive. You're enrolled. The old man with the beard could have had you killed on the spot, but he didn't. That means something."
"It means he's watching me. Waiting for me to mess up."
"Good. Let him watch." There was a pause. "Now, since we're stuck together, we should establish some ground rules."
Rin looked up. "Ground rules?"
"Rule one: Don't summon me for trivial matters. I refuse to be your party trick or your emotional support demon. Rule two: When you do summon me for actual combat, don't get in my way. I've been killing since before your great grandfather was born. Rule three..." The shadow seemed to lean closer, though it had no discernible form. "Never, ever try to command me like some trained pet. I am bound to you by cosmic accident, not by choice. I will fight for you because our lives are linked. But respect is earned, boy."
"I'm not trying to command anyone," Rin said quietly. "I don't even understand what happened. The ritual was supposed to summon a familiar, a partner. Not... whatever you are."
"Whatever I am?" Malachar's laugh was bitter. "I am Malachar, Scourge of the Eastern Realms. I conquered seventeen kingdoms before I turned thirty. I commanded legions of demons, wyverns, and humans who pledged their souls to my cause. I was three days away from absolute victory when..."
The shadow went still.
"When what?" Rin asked, his curiosity overcoming his fear.
"When I was betrayed." The words came out like venom. "My most trusted general opened the gates to the hero's army. My lieutenants abandoned me one by one. And the hero, blessed by the gods, struck me down in my own throne room." There was a long silence. "I woke up in the Nexus. A dimension of gray fog and eternal twilight, filled with others like me. Legends who fell. Villains who lost. Monsters who were slain."
Rin processed this. "So the Nexus is like... a prison?"
"More like purgatory. We exist there, aware but powerless, reliving our defeats over and over until we fade into nothing." Malachar's tone shifted, became almost curious. "Then your ritual tore through the barrier. I felt the pull and I... chose to answer."
"You chose?" Rin frowned. "I thought summonings were random, based on compatibility."
"Most are. But you didn't perform a normal summoning, boy. Your ritual ripped a hole between dimensions. For a moment, the Nexus was exposed, and every fallen legend felt the call. Most ignored it. Some couldn't reach it in time. But I..." Another pause. "I was curious. It had been centuries since I felt anything but regret. So I dove through before the rift closed."
Rin stared at his shadow, seeing it in a new light. "You chose to be here."
"Don't misunderstand. I didn't choose you. I chose escape. The fact that you're my summoner is merely the price of freedom." The shadow rippled. "But now that I'm here, I intend to make the most of it. This world has summoning academies, ranking battles, tournaments. It's been far too long since I had a proper fight."
A knock at the door made Rin jump.
"Rin Eldraven?" A woman's voice, crisp and professional. "I'm Professor Lyssa Corvin, Contract Theory instructor. Headmaster Silvanus sent me to assess your bond."
Rin scrambled to his feet, glancing at his shadow. "What do I..."
"Act natural, you fool," Malachar hissed. "And whatever you do, don't let her examine the seal too closely."
Rin opened the door to find a tall woman with sharp features and gray streaked black hair pulled into a severe bun. She wore the deep blue robes of the academy faculty, and her eyes were the calculating gray of someone who missed nothing.
"Professor Corvin," Rin said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Please, come in."
She entered, her gaze sweeping the small room before settling on Rin. More specifically, on his left hand where the black and red seal was still faintly visible.
"Show me your contract mark."
Rin hesitated, then held out his hand.
Professor Corvin pulled out a small crystal that began to glow as she held it near the seal. Her eyes widened slightly, the first crack in her professional demeanor.
"A complete Soul Resonance Bond," she murmured. "The signatures are perfectly intertwined. Headmaster Silvanus was right. This cannot be broken without killing both of you."
"Is that... bad?" Rin asked.
"It's unprecedented." She lowered the crystal. "Soul Resonance Bonds are the rarest form of summoning contract. They only form when summoner and summon are fundamentally compatible on a spiritual level. Yet you've bonded with a demon lord from another dimension." She studied his face. "Tell me, Rin Eldraven. Do you have any demonic ancestry? Any dark rituals in your family history?"
"No, ma'am. My family are farmers. We've never even had a mage before me."
"Curious." She pulled out a notebook, scribbling something. "Your summon, this Malachar, claims to be from a place called the Nexus. A dimension of defeated legends. I've never heard of such a place in any summoning texts."
"Neither have I," Rin admitted.
"Which means either he's lying, or your summoning accessed something beyond our current understanding of dimensional theory." She tapped her pen against the notebook. "The headmaster has asked me to train you in contract management. You need to learn how to control your summon's manifestation, how to communicate clearly through your bond, and most importantly, how to ensure he doesn't violate academy regulations."
From his shadow, Rin felt a pulse of indignation.
"I understand," Rin said. "When do we start?"
"Tomorrow morning, six sharp. Training Ground Seven. Don't be late." She moved toward the door, then paused. "One more thing. The other students will fear you. Some will hate you. A few might even challenge you to ranking battles to prove you don't belong here."
"I know."
"Good." Her expression softened slightly. "For what it's worth, I've been teaching summoning theory for twenty years. I've seen bonds of all types. And I've never felt power like what's radiating from your seal." She met his eyes. "You're either going to become something extraordinary, or you're going to burn out spectacularly. I'm curious to see which."
She left, closing the door softly behind her.
Rin exhaled, releasing tension he didn't know he'd been holding.
"She's sharp," Malachar commented. "She suspects there's more to the story."
"Because there is." Rin sat on his bed. "You said other legends felt the call. Does that mean I could potentially summon more... villains from the Nexus?"
The shadow went very still.
"Theoretically," Malachar said slowly. "If you performed the same flawed ritual again. But I wouldn't recommend it, boy. Opening rifts to the Nexus is dangerous. And the beings there..." He paused. "Not all of them are as reasonable as I am."
Rin couldn't help it. He laughed. It was a slightly hysterical sound, born of stress and exhaustion.
"You. Reasonable. Right."
"Mock me all you want," Malachar said. "But you'll learn soon enough. This academy, these ranking battles, they're going to test everything you are. And when they do, you'll be grateful to have a demon lord in your corner."
Rin lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow would bring Professor Corvin's training. And probably more stares, more whispers, more people deciding he was dangerous before they even knew his name.
But tonight, in this small room, he allowed himself one moment of honesty.
"Are you really okay with this?" he asked the shadow. "Being bound to someone like me?"
Silence stretched between them.
Then, finally: "Ask me again in a month, boy. If we're both still alive."
It wasn't reassuring. But somehow, it was enough.