[You have defeated a Tier 4 Ascended Night Stalker.]
Ash let out a ragged sigh of relief. But his small smile vanished entirely when he looked past the clearing. The main force of the monster horde had finally arrived, their glowing eyes piercing the dense fog.
’Dammit...’
He tried to force his body up, but his muscles completely failed him. He was entirely spent, his soul energy reserve completely drained. As darkness threatened to swallow his vision, a pair of arms hooked under his shoulders, dragging him upward. Max was pulling him along.
"Hey... Good job," Max muttered, straining under the weight.
Ash glared weakly at his brother.
"I... told... you... to run."
"And leave my baby brother out here to get eaten? Seriously, Ash, do you really think I’m that kind of guy?"
Ash’s voice was barely a whisper.
"You idiot... you’re just going to die with me."
Max didn’t say anything and just kept moving. The rumbling of the approaching horde from behind grew louder and louder. Then, Max noticed something in the distance. It was a large, broken-down gate along the treeline.
Max decided to head for it. When he reached the perimeter, he immediately dropped Ash to the ground.
"Ouch!"
Ash expected Max to dash forward, but his brother fell to his knees next to him, squeezing his eyes shut in intense pain. Ash slowly tried to push himself up, speaking in a tired tone.
"What are you doing? You’re just wasting time. Go rest over—"
"Domi...nion aura..." Max wheezed.
Ash’s eyes widened.
"What?"
Ash couldn’t fight off the exhaustion anymore. As his eyes finally closed, his last thought drifted into the dark.
’Yeah... we’re dead.’
*
*
*
The first thing Ash heard upon regaining consciousness was the steady drip of water. When his eyes finally opened, he was surprised to find himself standing on the surface of a vast, terrifying black ocean.
He was freezing, which was hardly surprising considering he was completely naked. He looked down at his reflection in the water. The reflection stared back at him in absolute silence.
Frustrated, Ash snapped.
"So?"
The reflection didn’t reply for a short while, but then its lips moved as the voice echoed throughout the space:
[Ashley, behold and witness the birth of your third core.]
Ash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He gritted his teeth angrily and looked up.
Above him, two orbs glowed dimly in the sky.
One was a ball of fire.
The other was a blue sphere of lightning.
But there was something else, something Ash hadn’t seen before, taking shape. The third orb looked like a dark sphere, almost invisible against the backdrop of darkness.
Then, the voice spoke again:
[The fire core says you should stop looking at it.]
[The lightning core remains silent.]
[The dark core says hi and apologizes for being late.]
Ash didn’t know what to say. He was too worried about Max to think about anything else right now. He closed his eyes and tried to force himself to leave the soul space, but it was impossible. He looked back down at the water.
"Hey, quickly send me out! We’ll be in danger if I stay here too long!"
The reflection said nothing, but the voice returned:
[The dark core smiles and is happy to be added to the family.]
’Who cares?’ Ash thought.
[The dark core says that he can read your thoughts.]
Ash gritted his teeth.
"Of course I know that... I wanted you all to hear it. Dammit, I promised myself I’d never visit this place again, but you all somehow find a way to force me here."
The voice sounded again:
[The dark core is reading your fate.]
Hearing those words, Ash’s heart skipped a beat. His first two Roots had been terrible; he didn’t want to know how bad this one would be.
The voice continued:
[The dark core bursts into laughter, saying it’s sorry, but it’s only doing its job...]
Ash narrowed his eyes in confusion. This was very different from the first two. In fact, this core seemed to have a much brighter personality than the others. Was his fate really that funny to it? Just as he was about to demand an explanation, the voice spoke again.
[The dark core has extracted a couple of things from the defeated enemy, and would like to gift them to you...]
[Ashley, you have been given a choice.]
The reflection disappeared, replaced by words floating on the surface of the black water as the voice recited what was written:
[Choice:]
Soul Ability: Night Stalker’s Sight
Soul Bound: Shard of a Darklord
Ash’s eyes widened. He was about to receive a Soul Bound. He didn’t know enough about Soul Bounds to understand how they truly worked, but he knew they were incredibly rare. Only a handful of people in the world wielded them. At least, that was what Ash had believed before he heard that the third leader of Apex had one.
Even though he had been with Apex for almost a year, he still knew next to nothing about them. If someone he had never even heard of could wield a Soul Bound, then there had to be countless others keeping theirs hidden.
The voice interrupted his thoughts:
[The dark core says you should choose wisely.]
Ash stared at the options. Even though getting a Soul Bound was a mind-blowing event that would make anyone instantly famous... Ash didn’t want it. What was the use of getting it if he wasn’t going to use it? Besides, the thought of acquiring yet another ability felt like wrapping more chains around his neck.
"I don’t want either of them."
[The dark core says that the ability will aid you in your future. You should pick that...]
"No," Ash replied flatly.
The voice went silent for a moment before speaking again:
[The dark core pleads for you to choose.]
"No."
[The dark core is surprised by your rejection.]
[The cores are discussing...]
Ash narrowed his eyes, glancing up at the black sky. This was his first time witnessing the cores discuss among themselves.
[The dark core bursts into laughter after hearing the story of your tragic past.]
Ash gritted his teeth.
’What’s so funny about that...?’
He glared at the fire core.
’I bet that fool was the one talking.’
[The fire core says you should stop looking at it.]
Ash’s frown deepened.
[The dark core would like to play a game... Do you accept?]
Ash’s confusion grew. He didn’t know cores could talk this much, let alone want to play games. But he wasn’t interested.
"No."
After his refusal, a long, heavy silence fell over the space. Ash almost thought it was over, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the voice returned.
[The dark core is not happy.]
[The dark core would like to speak to the soul.]
Ash immediately glared downward. The floating text faded away, and his reflection returned to the surface of the water. The reflection stared at him for a moment, then glared upward, as if staring directly at the cores in the sky. After a few minutes, it turned its gaze back to Ash and spoke calmly.
[The soul has accepted the gift...]
Ash’s eyes snapped wide open.
"What...?"
The soul continued:
[Congratulations, Ashley. You have been granted the ability: Night Stalker’s Sight.]
Ash gritted his teeth and shouted at his reflection.
"What the hell is this?! I didn’t want that! Since when does the soul make its own decisions?!"
The Soul didn’t reply, simply staring back at him with a calm, unblinking expression.
Frustrated, Ash slammed his foot against the water, but it did nothing except send ripples across the still ocean. Then, the soul delivered a new notification:
[Due to the possession of abilities of entirely different types, you have met the requirements to move on to the next stage...]
Ash paused, looking down.
"Huh...?"
The Soul continued:
[The dark core is ready to ascend.]
[The lightning core is ready to ascend.]
There was a brief, tense silence. Then—
[The fire core has refused to comply.]
[Ashley, you have failed to ascend.]