Ash stared at his Soul. The reflection stared back with a cold, unblinking gaze. He looked up at the fire core and narrowed his eyes.
"Huh?"
The realization caught him off guard. He’d spent so much time wallowing in self-hatred that he’d completely forgotten he could still advance to the next Stage. The mere thought of advancing sent shivers down his spine. He might actually thank the fire core for rejecting him if it weren’t responsible for making his life miserable in the first place.
But then again...
’Can cores even do that?’
This was the first time Ash had ever heard of a core refusing to let someone advance. He didn’t know much about the process, but this shouldn’t be possible. Or... maybe it was.
Ash had never paid much attention in class, but he’d grown up hearing that the better a person’s relationship with their core, the faster they advanced. That was because cores decided everything: the abilities a person unlocked and the amount of soul energy they could use. The better your relationship with them, the stronger you became.
But Ash didn’t want to become stronger. In fact, he wanted the opposite. He wanted to be weak. So he had to keep his distance from the core. If this had happened before the Roots took hold, the younger Ash would’ve been begging to advance. But that version of Ash was long dead, replaced by a suicidal kid who would do anything to end his own life. Moving to the next stage was not an option.
The voice of the soul space abruptly cut through his thoughts.
[The fire core says you should stop looking at it.]
Ash scoffed and looked down. He wanted to thank it, but why would he thank the source of all his troubles? If only he hadn’t gotten these Core Roots...
’Speaking of Roots...’
Ash lowered his gaze.
"Let’s see the Roots."
He wanted to know why the dark core had burst into laughter earlier. Was it really that funny?
The reflection’s lips moved as the voice echoed through the soul space:
[Root]
The reflection dissolved, replaced by glowing text floating above the pitch-black water:
Core Roots: [Ashened One], [Eye of the Storm], [Adversary of Light]
[Ashened One] Description: A soul of cinders cannot be shared. Any soul who returns your love shall perish.
Souls aware: 10
[Eye of the Storm] Description: The epicenter of the tempest. Lightning and calamity obey your orbit, drawing fatal storms wherever you step.
Souls aware: 13
[Adversary of Light] Description: The cosmic antithesis to the Light. Bound by fate to mirror and collide with your sacred rival until one eclipses the other.
Souls aware: 1
[Ashley, You are fated.]
Ash glared at each Root, hoping against hope that one of them would change. But he had never heard of anyone changing their fate.
The first two Roots were the bane of his existence. He despised them. The [Ashened One] Root was the reason he had almost lost everyone he cared about. And then, as if to make things worse, the [Eye of the Storm] Root was the reason he had been forced to abandon his family in the first place. That Root constantly drew disasters toward him. He was always getting attacked, kidnapped, or caught in the middle of an unexpected monster wave.
Ash had once tried isolating himself in the wilderness, only to realize that catastrophes would simply spawn around him, dragging innocent bystanders into the crossfire. People kept getting hurt simply because he existed.
’Life can be so cruel.’
He turned his gaze to the last Root. Whatever the dark core had found so amusing, this Root was actually perfect.
"This must be it..."
Ash could almost laugh.
He vaguely remembered learning about this back in school. A Root was a fundamental law woven into the soul, something that shaped a person’s existence much like fate itself.
But not all Roots worked the same way. There were two classifications.
The first was known as Persistent Roots. As the name suggested, these Roots persisted for as long as their bearers existed. They had no conditions to fulfill and no natural end. They simply continued to impose their effects, no matter what the bearer did. Both [Ashened One] and [Eye of the Storm] belonged to this category.
Then there were Resolving Roots. These were different. Each was tied to a purpose, conflict, or condition that could eventually be resolved. Once that happened, the Root would break, freeing its bearer from its effects.
And as Ash recalled, there was something else about them.
Once every Resolving Root bound to a person’s soul had been resolved, all their other Roots, including Persistent ones, would break alongside them.
Ash’s lips curled into a subtle grin.
This was his ticket out. His freedom.
Fates weren’t supposed to bind people forever. At least, not if their Roots could be resolved. Once freed from every Root, a person became fateless, no longer bound by the laws that governed the lives of others. But that freedom came at a cost.
To be fateless was to become meaningless to fate, making a person entirely expendable as collateral to anyone who was fated.
Not that Ash cared.
All he needed to do was find his destined rival and resolve the [Adversary of Light]. Whether he killed them or died himself didn’t matter. Either way, the Root would be resolved, bringing him one step closer to breaking free of the curses that had plagued him for so long.
Then his smile faded.
’Wait... aren’t all Ascended who wield Light Cores already extinct?’
Before he could process the thought, his Soul returned. Ash hoped it would offer an answer, but its next words only left him more bewildered.
The Soul spoke:
[Ashley, congratulations. You have reviewed your Core Roots. With that, the requirements to view your Soul Root have now been met.]
Ash narrowed his eyes.
"My... what?"
[Soul Roots]
The reflection vanished again, replaced once more by floating script.
Soul Root: [Wretched Seeker]
[Wretched Seeker] Description: You are a wicked thing hated by fate. Stripped of free will, you exist only to fulfill one absolute command, and that’s to find the Root.
Souls Aware: 21
Ash stared in absolute shock. If he had ever harbored a shadow of a doubt that the universe was actively going out of its way to torment him, the proof was right here, etched into his very soul.
’What the hell...?’
To make matters worse, this was another Resolving Root. He would need to resolve this cosmic command as well if he ever wanted to break free of his Persistent Roots.
But Ash couldn’t help but notice the number below the description.
Souls Aware: 21.
He furrowed his brows. That made no sense. The [Adversary of Light], which he’d only just discovered, had just one soul aware of its existence, and that soul was his.
So why did this newly revealed Root already have twenty-one? He should’ve been the only one who knew about it. So who the hell were the other twenty?
Ash didn’t understand. He decided not to think about it for now. He was already too busy wondering why fate hated him. Maybe this was why everything had gone wrong since he received his first Root.
Ash gritted his teeth in anger.
"What kind of twisted joke is this?! What did I ever do to fate for it to trash my life this much?!"
The endless void of his soul space offered no response.
Ash stared at the script again. Something about it felt strangely familiar. He’d seen or heard those words somewhere before...
Oh. Seeker...
Then it hit him. It was the voice from his nightmares.
Ever since his awakening, Ash had barely been able to sleep because of the nightmares. In every nightmare, a woman dressed in red appeared, whispering the same command over and over again: Find the Root.
It had to be connected.
’The Root...’
What was it supposed to be? Was it a physical object? An entity? A concept? How was he supposed to track down something he couldn’t even define?
’Wait...’
Was it a Core Root? A Soul Root? Was he supposed to just go around asking people about their Roots?
In this world, people guarded their Roots with their lives. Revealing your Root was practically committing suicide. Roots granted a form of functional immortality, and most people weren’t willing to give that up by becoming fateless.
"Argh..."
Ash rubbed his temples in frustration. Finding a Light Core rival was already impossible. Now he had to find something he couldn’t even define?
He paused, then snapped his head upward.
"Hey. Do any of you actually know what this ’Root’ thing is?"
The reflection materialized again.
[The dark core says it is strictly against the rules to tell you.]
"What rule?"
The Soul didn’t reply.
Ash ground his teeth.
"Useless... You’re all completely useless."
He was back at square one. There was nothing he could do but wait for death.
Ash sighed, looking back down.
"Am I free to leave now?"
The Soul remained silent for a moment before saying:
[Soul Records]
It vanished, replaced by words:
Name: Ashley
Realm: Core
Vessel: Human
Vessel Tier: 5
Mind Level: 4
Soul Rank: 1
Soul Pool: 2000 / 2500
Soul Energy: 5%
Soul Cores: [Fire], [Lightning], [Dark]
Core Roots: [Ashened One], [Eye of the Storm], [Adversary of Light]
Soul Roots: [Wretched Seeker]
Soul Abilities: [Fire Palm], [Lightning Space], [Nightstalker’s Sight]
[Ashley, you are currently in the stage of Awakening.]
Ash scanned the records. Finally, he remembered why he was stuck here in the first place.
Whenever an Ascended exhausted their Soul Energy, their soul forcibly drew their consciousness into their inner space to prevent further damage. While his mind was recovering here, his physical body remained unconscious in the real world.
It had been so long since he last used a soul ability that he’d forgotten the basic rules.
"Well, I guess I should wake up... If I’m still conscious in here, then my physical body must still be fine... I think."
Just as he prepared to leave the soul space, Ash noticed that his Soul hadn’t returned. It seemed to be deliberately keeping the display in below of him, as if it wanted Ash to see something.
Ash scanned the text again, then noticed the bottom section:
Soul Abilities: [Fire Palm], [Lightning Space], [Nightstalker’s Sight]
[Nightstalker’s Sight] was the new ability, forcibly implanted into his soul by that annoying dark core.
The reflection flickered back into view.
[The dark core says he wasn’t being annoying, just generous.]
Ash ignored the core entirely, staring at his Soul.
"Fine... Show me the abilities."