The dark world sank back into silence.
Seconds later…
A tiny, glowing white dot appeared in the air—barely noticeable.
Slowly, it grew, taking the shape of a delicate, ethereal ring, just a few centimeters wide.
From far above, watching from space, a pair of eyes observed the scene.
It was a feminine silhouette, undefined and shapeless, with nothing visible except her eyes.
"What an idiot… but he managed to activate his powers before dying. Technically, he passed… might be worth giving him a shot," she muttered.
With a wave of her hand, the ring trembled and vanished.
***
'Please… come…'
A weak, barely-there female voice echoed in Darian's mind. At that moment, his consciousness stirred.
'Hm?' he grunted mentally, stunned. He was completely submerged in darkness—he couldn't feel his body, had no senses, and saw nothing around him.
Slowly, as his mind started to settle, he began to notice something… a strange, unpleasant smell. Something he'd never sensed before.
Suddenly, in the middle of the darkness ahead, it was as if two tiny lights appeared.
They were two amber eyes.
In that absolute darkness, they seemed to shine with their own light, glowing with a strange kind of life. But there was something unsettling about them. They weren't just beautiful—they saw through things, judged, hid storms beneath a calm surface. Eyes that could charm or devour, depending on who dared to stare too long.
But the moment he saw them, Darian felt like a hammer had slammed into his mind.
He lost his breath. He didn't know what was behind those eyes, but his curse revealed the truth instantly.
It was evil.
A creature of pure wickedness, a karma so twisted it felt like he was standing before the worst demon from hell.
But...
Those eyes trembled slightly.
There was moisture in them. Darian felt a storm of emotions rising—pain, sadness, joy—but most of all, will.
A desperate will to fight.
It was a plea for a chance. Just one chance.
But...
Without warning, Darian's curse activated.
It was like a movie he couldn't stop watching. Different from before—where he'd see horrors that gave him nightmares, always from the other person's point of view. This time, he was floating in the air.
When he looked down, what he saw pierced his chest like a blade.
There was a red pool, and at its center floated a little girl. Compared to a human, she looked about five years old. But she clearly wasn't human. Despite the humanoid body, she had wings, claw-like hands and feet, and her entire body was covered in greenish scales. She wore no clothes, giving her a wild, feral appearance.
But what pinned Darian in place were her eyes—amber, glowing with tears of pure pain, overflowing with a sadness so deep it seemed to suck all the light around her.
She tried to scream… but only let out hoarse grunts, sounds like the final death-rattle of something slowly fading away.
Around the pool, hidden in the shadows, twelve figures watched in silence, like cold, emotionless predators.
A voice, full of excitement, broke the heavy air:
"Her mutation is perfect, my King. Rejection rate's almost zero. Using subjects of the same age and gender was the key. We'll finally restore our bloodline's honor."
"I see… this is excellent. Gather as many compatible offerings as you can. At this absorption rate, she might be ready for the trial in a century," another voice answered, cold and dripping with malice.
Darian couldn't move, speak, or turn to see who was talking. He could only watch, forced to witness that silent agony.
And then, as if something violently yanked his consciousness back, he was ripped from the vision and thrown into reality.
He stared into those amber eyes again. Was this the same little girl who'd suffered so much? Had she really endured a century of pain, like that voice said?
'You came… thank you…'
That same voice echoed again, pulling him out of the shock in the middle of the darkness.
It was a feminine voice, melodic, very weak, now filled with emotion.
But...
That was the last thing she said.
The eyes slowly closed…
'What?!'
Darian's eyes went wide—he could feel it clearly. Her life had just ended.
He moved closer and saw…
Trapped in a wall, there was a bundle of black chains surrounding a humanoid figure. He could barely make anything out. Through tiny gaps between the chains, her closed eyes were visible.
His mind quickly recalled what he'd read in that book: after someone's life force runs out and they die, their soul can remain in the body for a while—until the Yin of death builds up and forces it out.
Her soul was still inside, though unconscious.
Darian felt a deep pain in his chest — the only other time he'd felt this bad was when his mother died.
Judging by her body, that little girl from before was now a woman. He'd seen her story—all the suffering she went through. So why was she chained up like this? And now, just when she seemed grateful and even happy… she died right after?
He sighed and wondered what the hell he was doing there, and what was even going on.
Then, as he looked deeply at her...
'!'
He felt something inside her. It was subtle, but it felt like a beacon to his senses—even though he couldn't see it.
Being a soul was strange: he didn't have the usual five senses, but it was like he had other kinds of perception.
'This… I can feel a strange energy inside her… is it her blood? Is this a Bloodline?' Even he couldn't believe what he was sensing—after all, he wasn't seeing anything. How did he even know it was a bloodline? He had no answer to that either.
'Is this the unique power of the people here? The one the instructor mentioned?'
According to the instructor, he needed this to complete his spiritual root and then form that 'ring-something' essential for Spiritual Guardians.
'Now that I think about it… if I'm here… is she my destined partner?'
He muttered mentally, now burning with fury. His test had already turned into a complete mess. Based on what he'd been told, if he was brought to a different place, that meant he passed the test. But now, upon meeting his partner—she just straight-up died in front of him? Couldn't anything go normally for him?
"Fuck it, whining only dragged me into despair. I've gotta act—I'll find a way..."
He paused. Could he devour her black karma?
It seemed like an option, but something told him nothing good would come from it. So, he focused first on the energy he sensed inside her.
After a few seconds, Darian thought about what he could do and his options.
'Where's my spiritual root? Where did my power come from?' He finally turned his focus inward. Before, he either hadn't had time for that… or just didn't care much.
Seconds later… something stirred inside him and gave a faint tremble.
Looking within, he saw two small rings on his fists — one white, one black, both dim and lifeless.
'Two rings? Wait, wasn't I supposed to get this later? Well… I already have some weird power, so who cares.'
Things were getting weirder and more confusing for Darian. He hadn't awakened his spiritual root like others did. And now he had what looked like two rings inside his soul... Wasn't it supposed to be one?
He decided to ignore that for now and focus on what knowledge he had. After thinking about that book and recalling the past scene he'd seen of the woman...
'Could she have the bloodline of a Primordial Beast?'
According to the book, Primordial Beasts were lifeforms born from the laws of the universe. They had been one with the world since the beginning, with power beyond mortals and near-immortality.
It was almost impossible for them to have kids with mortals, but they could pass down their bloodline with ease. That bloodline, in turn, could be inherited for generations through the mortal's descendants.
The instructor had said everyone needed to receive a special power from their partner. And there were few things more special in the world than a bloodline like that, so Darian firmly believed it could be true.
He nodded, totally focused… could he just take that from her, even though she was already dead? After all, he needed it.
Not knowing what else to do, he brought one of his fists closer to her body and tried using it, hoping it worked like devouring karma.
…
Didn't work. So he tried something else. Anything.
…
Nothing happened, and he was already freaking out. Time wasn't on his side.
Clearly, this wasn't going to work like that. Looking at her dead body, still covered in chains, and feeling her unconscious soul inside, he let out a heavy sigh.
'We're both screwed…' he thought genuinely. 'You had a rough life… I wish I'd come earlier. If I'd gotten more of the white power, maybe I could've saved you in time…'
He wondered what kind of person that little girl would've grown up to be. If she went through all that he saw… she'd probably be mentally shattered. But then again, he wasn't exactly a shining example of stability either. Honestly, they felt like fated partners.
With those thoughts, and his entire focus on her, something inside him shifted… it felt like their souls aligned and pulled toward each other.
Without knowing how, suddenly Darian felt something change and looked at his fist.
The small white ring trembled faintly. He looked up quickly and noticed a faint bluish line connecting him to the person in front of him.
'Did I just connect to her soul? But she's already dead…'
He really had wanted to save her, and now it felt like that will had made this connection happen. No time to think about it too much. In a few minutes, once the Yin of death spread through the corpse, she'd vanish — and he'd lose everything.
A strong sense of urgency overwhelmed him — and of course, he still had no clue what the hell he was doing.
Darian's mind raced. He barely knew this world, but words like Qi and spiritual root were in the book. That was his only reference.
'Spiritual root… in the book, and just like the instructor said, it's a connection between living beings and the Heaven's Will. Everyone has a spiritual root, but according to him, awakening it before becoming a Spiritual Guardian makes it special…'
'If I already have those two rings, was my spiritual root already complete? If that's true, then why did I even get a partner?'
He thought quickly, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He focused on the link between him and her soul. And with just a thought, he was stunned — he could see perfectly inside her soul. This connection united them completely, as if they were one.
He ignored the details and quickly noticed lines inside her soul, like veins.
Remembering the test, those veins looked just like the spiritual roots he'd seen in others — but theirs were glowing, lit up.
'…wait. If my spiritual root is already complete, then…'
He seriously considered a new possibility. Maybe he still had to create the ring, even though he had those two rings on his fists, black and white. By now, it was pretty obvious that those two rings weren't part of the usual program that everyone went through. That's why he was brought to her — to get her bloodline... he guessed.
Back during the instruction, the instructor said they needed to fill their bodies with Qi; once they were full, the Spiritual Root would awaken. Darian already had his root awakened, so he didn't need to worry about these steps anymore.
Now, since his root was already awakened, what he needed to create a ring, the 'normal' ring, was his partner's bloodline. This was what was supposed to have happened from the start. Well... except for the fact his partner was now a corpse, that is...
Let's not forget that the rings are where the energy of the Spiritual Guardians is kept, kind of their cores, if you will.
Suddenly, with just that desire, her body vibrated.
Inside the still blood, tiny glowing specks started seeping out through her skin and flowing toward Darian, leaving him speechless.
Through their connection, it really felt like he was stealing it from her.
It took just a few seconds. When it ended… a sharp pain shot through his head.
It passed in two seconds — and then he felt something almost solid on his forehead. Reaching up and touching it...
'It really is a ring… did I actually do it?'
He swallowed hard...
Then looked ahead, sensing a dark energy start to rise from her body. That was definitely the Yin of death.
Darian felt the connection with her begin to tremble, like it was slowly breaking.
'Shit… I just came in here and stole from her without giving anything back…'
Remembering the emotion in her eyes right before she died — the genuine happiness — he felt awful.
He started feeling something swirl inside the ring on his forehead. A faint energy began to spin.
'This feels kinda like the black and white power I used against the Risen… they were in those rings on my fists, right? Can I use this new ring's power too?'
He tried doing the same thing he'd done in that fight… and soon enough, he actually felt a subtle energy leaving the ring and moving through his soul.
'!'
That energy moved toward the two rings on his fists — it was like they were all connected.
Darian didn't hesitate. Maybe he could remove the Yin of death from her, or even heal the body and bring her back.
Right after that, he thought it was a ridiculous idea, but… the white power really had felt miraculous.
He stretched out his hand...
The energy entered her body, and the black layer began to fade, making Darian's eyes light up.
'YES! It doesn't feel like the white power, but it's definitely clearing away the Yin.'
After entering the body, the energy moved gently to her soul… and straight into those internal veins.
He watched, confused. Then...
The veins began to glow and pulse.
His eyes widened — now they looked just like the ones from the test.
'What the fuck…!'
He froze as he felt her soul tremble.
Then...
*Thurmp! Thurmp!*
The sound of a heartbeat echoed.
He looked at the figure still bound in chains in front of him…
And saw a pair of amber eyes open again.
'What?! She… came back?!'
He exclaimed in shock, then even felt a faint life energy blooming again in her body.
Had he really brought someone dead back to life? That was insane.
Silence.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Her amber eyes were confused too, then they started to tremble.
'Are you… really my partner?'
He heard the question in his mind but was still speechless.
'No! What is this… what's happening?'
She asked, clearly sensing something was very wrong.
'I feel the contract between us complete, but… my bloodline is so weak…'
Darian heard that and focused on his newly-formed ring. He'd used up everything — but she still had some left?
With that thought, she seemed to sense something else terrifying.
'If it's inside you, then you took it from me… wait??' Her voice was stunned. 'This thing in me… this is actually a spiritual root!'
At the same time, she felt the link between their souls. That meant they had formed a Spiritual Guardian contract. If she had a spiritual root, and not him...
'You… you became my Summoner?' she asked, tense.
Darian's eyes widened — and he understood. By accident, while trying to save her, he had taken the role that was meant for her… and reversed their fates.