Blue River Continent, Terragrave Megacity, Wailing Maw Pass. Iron Lung Caravan.
The morning sun over the Wailing Maw did not bring any warmth. It brought yellow light that made the stone of the crater look like a fresh grave. David sat on the tailboard of the rear wagon.
His fingers were curled tightly around the Void Heart. The crystal was cold. It was colder than the mountain air, but as he held it, he felt a faint and rhythmic throb against his palm.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
It was not just a mana-stone anymore. It was a heartbeat. David could feel the life inside the crystal. It was a very strange sensation.
"You did a real number on the road, kid," Gerrard said.
His voice was unusually quiet. The caravan leader was standing ten feet away. He was refusing to come any closer. He was staring at the ten-foot-deep depression in the stone where the Void-Stalker had been crushed into powder.
The mercenaries stood behind him. Their hands were hovering near their weapons. They were looking at David with a mixture of awe and the kind of fear usually reserved for natural disasters like earthquakes or floods.
"I told you," David rasped. His voice was still dry from the previous night’s exertion. "Localized rift collapse. The gravity just folded. I was lucky I was near the wagon. It was a freak accident of the mountains."
"Lucky," Gerrard repeated. His eyes were narrowing. "Right. And I suppose that purple gem in your hand is just a souvenir the rift left behind? It looks very valuable for a piece of luck."
David shoved the Void Heart into his pocket. He did not want Gerrard to see it anymore. "Finders keepers, Gerrard . Are we moving or what? I thought we were in a hurry to get to the Iron Lung. I do not want to stay in this canyon any longer than I have to."
Gerrard hesitated. He looked at the crater and then at the sky. He spat into the dust. "Check the Groks! If the beasts can still pull, we move! I do not care if a god descended and ate that cat. I want out of this canyon before the sun sets. Move your asses!"
As the mercenaries scrambled to check the wagons and calm the terrified Groks, the tension in the air was thick. Even if one were to ignore the terrifying sight of the crater, every man in the caravan was paying attention to Mercenary Rose.
Rose was helping Gerrard check the harnesses on the lead Grok. David watched as her heavy chest moved along with her breathing. She was shouting at one of the younger mercs, but nobody was listening to her voice.
David turned his eyes away. He felt the pulsing in his pocket grow stronger. It was not just a beat anymore. It was a voice. It was not a voice with words, but a series of jagged and predatory images. He saw the smell of cold iron. He tasted starlight. He felt a crushing and eternal hunger that made his own stomach growl.
[Ding! Living Essence Detected.]
[Subject: Void-Stalker (Core State).]
[Detection: The entity has survived the ’Compression’ by retreating its consciousness into the Void Heart.]
"Wait, it is alive?" David whispered.
He moved toward the shadows between the wagons. He did not want anyone to see him talking to a rock.
[Correct. It is currently in a state of ’Spiritual Submission’. It has witnessed your power and recognizes you as a superior predator. Suggestion: Initialize ’Beast Communication’ (Tier 1).]
"Beast Communication?" David snorted. A bit of relatable humor bubbled up despite the stress of the morning. "That is a farmer’s skill, System. My cousin used to use that to tell his cows which way the barn was so they would not get lost in the rain. I am pretty sure this Tier 5 nightmare does not want to know about hay or the barn."
[The Multiplier does not care about the skill’s humble origins, David. It only cares about the intent. It will work.]
"Fine. Let us talk to the cat," David muttered.
He pulled the crystal out. He focused his will on it. He reached for that Tier 1 skill. It was the most basic and bottom-tier ability in the Imperial manual. It was the kind of skill that nobles laughed at.
Beast Communication.
[Passive Multiplier Activated: 100,000x!]
[Skill Evolution: Beast Communication ➔ Sovereign’s Soul-Link]
The world did not just fade. It vanished. David was not standing in the mud of the Maw anymore. He was standing in a vast and infinite ocean of violet smoke. The air felt thick and smelled like ozone.
Before him, the Void-Stalker loomed like a skyscraper. It was not a smoke-body now. It was a mountain of obsidian muscle and glowing violet veins. Its eyes were twin slits of burning mana. They were fixed on him with a terrifying intensity.
In a normal Tier 1 communication, David would have felt a vague sense of the animal’s hunger. He might have felt if it was thirsty. With the 100,000x multiplier, he was hit with the entire ancestral history of the creature.
He felt the birth of the Maw. He felt the ripping of the first dimensional rift. He felt the ancient and primal directive that had been burned into the Stalker’s soul.
Guard. Watch. Kill the intruders.
David did not just hear the thoughts. He felt them in his soul. He realized the Stalker was not a mindless killer. It was a soldier. It was a sentry. It was part of a much larger system.
More importantly, it was terrified of him. In its mind, David was not a boy in a grey cloak. He was a towering pillar of golden and crushing gravity. He was the one who had rewritten the laws of its home.
Master, the creature’s consciousness rumbled. The sound vibrated in David’s very marrow. It was like a thousand drums beating at once. The Engine-Bearer has returned.
"I am not a Master," David thought back. His mental voice echoed in the violet void. "And I do not know anything about an Engine. I just want to survive and get out of these mountains without being executed."
The Engine is the Gate, the beast projected. David saw a vision of a massive and celestial archway hidden deep within the Maw. It was a structure made of the same golden gears and starlight as his system interface. We guard the Gate. We keep the world-eaters out. But the Engine-Bearer holds the key. You are the key. You are the one we have been waiting for.
David’s mind reeled. The beasts of the Maw were not monsters. They were the security system. And his Aeon Catalyst system was the master override code. He was the one who controlled the mountains.
"If I link with you," David asked, "what happens? Do I get a pet or a curse?"
I become your shadow. I become your iron-hide. I become your hunger. We are one. I will guard you until the Engine stops.
[Warning: Soul-Link will permanently bind a portion of your mana to the entity. Do you accept?]
"Accept," David whispered. He did not see any other choice. He needed the protection.
The violet ocean exploded.
David gasped. His eyes snapped open. He was back in the mountain pass and leaning against the wagon. The Void Heart in his hand was no longer a cold crystal. It was glowing with a fierce and liquid light. The light flowed out of the stone.
It coiled around David’s arm like a serpent made of shadow. It was warm and felt like a second skin. Then it hit the ground with a soft thud.
From the dirt and the glass-dust, the Void-Stalker reformed. But it was different now. It was not the size of a carriage anymore. It had condensed itself down to the size of a large wolf.
Its body was made of solid and polished obsidian. It looked like it had been forged in a furnace. Its violet eyes were now flecked with the same shimmering gold as David’s own eyes.
It sat back on its haunches. It looked up at David. It did not growl. It did not hiss. It let out a low and vibrating purr that made the ground beneath it hum. It looked like the most expensive statue in the world had come to life.
"What in the name of the High Emperor is that thing?" Gerrard shouted.
The mercenaries had stopped working. Their faces were pale with terror. Several of them had drawn their bows. Their hands were shaking so hard that the arrows were rattling against the wood of the bows. It was a pathetic sight.
"It is a dog," David said. His voice was flat. He looked at the Tier 5 apex predator which was currently sniffing his boot like it was looking for a treat. "It is a very, very ugly dog. Do not mind him."
"That is a Void-Stalker, Silver!" Gerrard yelled. His voice was climbing an octave higher. "It is a Tier 5 nightmare! Kill it! Kill it now before it eats us all!"
"No," David said.
He did not raise his voice, but the Sovereign aura from the soul-link leaked out. The air around him grew heavy. It was not the crushing weight of the previous night, but a cold and absolute authority.
The mercenaries took an instinctive step back. They felt the pressure in their chests. "He is with me. He is the reason the rift did not swallow us all. He is an Iron-Hide. He is a guardian."
The Void-Stalker turned its head toward Gerrard . David decided to name him Grim in his head. Grim let out a huff of air.
"If he wanted you dead, Gerrard , you would be a pile of soot by now," David said.
He stepped toward the wagon. "He is our new rear guard. Consider it a free upgrade for the caravan. We are safer now than we were yesterday."
Barnaby was watching from the driver’s bench. His bleary eyes were crinkled in a way that looked suspiciously like a grin. He took a slow swig from his flask. He wiped his mouth and nodded at the beast.
"A Void-Stalker for a pet. Right. Why not? It will certainly keep the mountain lions away. Or the Imperial tax collectors. They hate dogs."
The caravan moved out shortly after that. The atmosphere was thick with a tension that was almost physical. The mercenaries kept a twenty-foot buffer zone around the rear wagon.
They did not want to be anywhere near Grim. Even the Groks seemed to be moving faster. They were trying to outrun the predator walking calmly at David’s side.
David sat on the bench. His hand was resting on Grim’s obsidian head. The connection was seamless. Through Grim’s senses, the Maw was no longer a maze of rocks. It was a map of energy.
He could feel the Gate pulsing somewhere deep in the peaks. It was a massive and golden heartbeat. It was perfectly in sync with the Aeon Catalyst in his chest.
"The beasts guard the Gate," David murmured to himself. "And the Gate is keyed to me. This is getting very complicated."
[New Feature Unlocked: Beast Mastery Menu.]
[Grim (Void-Stalker) - Level: Tier 5 (Suppressed).]
[Current Bond: Iron-Hide Pact.]
[Note: Grim can now act as a mana-battery for your system, or a physical shield for your body.]
"Relatable humor, David," he whispered. A tired smile touched his lips. "You wanted to stay low-profile. Now you are walking a Tier 5 shadow-beast through a mountain pass. You are really bad at this secret thing. You might as well have a parade."
[Correction: You are very good at ’Recruiting’. Perhaps you should consider a career in human resources once we have finished rewriting reality. You have a talent for it.]
"Let us focus on finishing the Maw first," David thought.
As they rounded a sharp bend in the pass, the horizon opened up. In the distance, the Iron Lung Docks were visible. It was a city built of black iron and steam. It was huddled at the base of the mountains like a frightened animal.
But between them and the city lay the Dead-Zone. This was an area where the rifts were so thick the sky was a permanent web of silver light. It looked like the end of the world.
David looked at Grim. The beast let out a low and rumbling growl. Its violet eyes were fixed on a specific point in the Dead-Zone. Through the soul-link, David felt a spike of recognition.
"Someone else is at the Gate," David whispered.
He could feel another presence. It was cold and sharp. The Iron-Hide Pact was not just a survival tool. It was a warning. The Gate was the reason David had been given the system.
It was the reason he had been born with a Static Core. As they descended toward the Dead-Zone, David knew that the Wraith was about to meet someone who knew exactly what a Vessel was.
He gripped the wooden bench. His knuckles were white. "Whatever happens, Grim, do not let them close the door. We have come too far to be stopped now."
The Void-Stalker let out a sound like a grindstone. Its tail thumped against the wagon floor. The hunt was far from over. It was just beginning. The mountains were watching them and David Silver was finally ready to face the music. He was no longer a boy. He was the Engine-Bearer.