A dread essence core is a rare and aberrant variant of the ordinary cores found within beasts.
Whereas common essence cores are merely crystallisations of spiritual energy, a dread essence core carries within it an indelible emotional imprint.
The true shock lies in the impossibility of its creation. Beasts are not thought capable of emotion beyond raw pain and instinctive fear. Their existence is driven solely by hunger and survival.
For such a core to form, however, the beast must have endured a deeper, almost human state of consciousness — specifically, regret.
That regret becomes embedded within the core as a distorted resonance, warping the spiritual energy into something volatile and catastrophic.
When consumed by another, the dread essence core reacts with violence, unleashing destructive convulsions that may annihilate even the devourer, rending and corrupting its own essence core while sending ripples of disruption outward.
The duo stood aghast at the revelation that the Glacial Skyscander, long deemed a mindless predator, had borne a fragment of conscience.
A phenomenon like this defied the natural order, and its existence alone signalled a profound aberration within the world....
***
Kyle and Na-Ri exchanged glances as they regarded the frozen Ignivore.
For a time, silence lingered across the night, broken only by the dim glow of embers smouldering on the Glacial Skyscander's carcass, their light glinting against the iced husk of the other beast.
Kyle, in that stillness, offered a private thanks to the dead gods. The Ignivore had made an example of itself by consuming the core.
Had the opportunity been his, he might have attempted the same through sheer opportunism, and he would have shared its fate.
"Well, that clears the road ahead for us completely..." Na-Ri said at last, her tone flat.
Kyle turned to her with a blank stare, blinking twice.
"Uh?"
He could not fathom what she meant. The death of the two monsters offered no safe passage in his mind, only a brief respite from greater peril.
To him, the road ahead was steeped in more danger, of which he had merely stolen a few hours' reprieve.
Na-Ri exhaled in weary resignation as she stepped towards the dam's edge, preparing to climb down.
She spoke without turning back to him:
"The death of these creatures will draw lower-ranked beasts here to scavenge, and contending with them would be needlessly costly. Our only choice is to press forward. We cannot return to face the Migrel Sea Titan."
The young man swiftly grasped her meaning. The carcasses of the two fallen beasts would inevitably draw others, most likely carrion-seekers among the flying creatures, eager to scavenge the remains. Instinct would drive them to settle upon the dam itself, placing both travellers in immediate peril.
In consequence, the battleground was no longer a refuge. Their only recourse was to press forward through the night, burdened by hunger and exhaustion.
Kyle's Vitality had already dwindled to a hundred, while his stamina hovered dangerously near the same mark. Hunger had taken its toll, compounded by the brutal struggle in the plunge pool and the desperate flight from the abnormal sandstorm.
These conditions further restrained him from consuming the Vigour Pill he had acquired from the manual. Perhaps this ordeal was precisely why such a reward had been granted.
The manual's reward system did not merely dispense items or skills for immediate survival. It frequently bestowed resources that anticipated future necessity. There was a strong likelihood it possessed awareness of what awaited, and thus prepared him accordingly.
Many had once sought to exploit that foresight, attempting to divine the future from the gifts they received. All who pursued that path met miserable ends.
As for the other reward, the Starred Lantern, Kyle reflected upon its potential while descending the far side of the dam alongside Na-Ri. The more he considered it, the clearer its utility became.
With the lantern, the two of them could move through the night without harm.
"So we only need to be careful not to encounter creatures like these at Stage Three. If fortune favours us, we may cover some distance and perhaps find other survivors once the sky lightens," Na-Ri reasoned, summoning her weapon into its blade form.
Kyle regarded her closely.
Honestly, he doubted the wisdom of seeking survivors, uncertain whether any still lived. Even if they did, they would only become dead weight along the journey.
If he had to take anyone in, he would refuse outright.
When he considered voicing this, he held back.
The stranger would likely brand him selfish and narcissistic — judgements that were not inaccurate, though better left unspoken. It seemed wiser to let her reach the conclusion herself, that more companions meant greater burdens, and that more burdens meant greater chances of death swinging its scythe towards them.
Setting such thoughts aside, Kyle and Na-Ri descended safely to the ground, now facing the carcasses of the Ignivore and the Glacial Skyscander.
Beyond them stretched a vast, impenetrable darkness, heavy and difficult to pierce with sight.
Kyle turned to Na-Ri, expecting she might have a means of piercing the darkness. The Starred Lantern remained useless in this respect; it did not illuminate the night but merely enabled him to perceive creatures of the ruin within it. Its unstable white light was visible to him alone, according to its description, and thus would not attract the beasts that prowled unseen.
"Do you happen to have a light source?" Kyle asked, his eyes fixed on the stranger.
"Oh, yes. I do. That will carry us through the night," Na-Ri replied flatly, before raising her hand.
At once, another summon appeared: a floating orb, cracked along its surface with faint light leaking from within. A cluster of rusted rings revolved around it, each etched with worn symbols that lent it the air of an ancient artefact.
The orb drifted forward under its own power, shedding a cold yellow glow that lit the path like a lantern. There was nothing ordinary in its bearing. The way it moved carried the same solemn weight as the old tales of Death leading souls into the beyond.
Kyle was taken aback by the item, for without a word of explanation he already recognised how far superior it was to his own.
If he were to put it plainly, the manual and he were natural enemies, with the manual firmly holding the upper hand, granting him nothing but objects he would deem utterly useless.
"This will lead us through the darkness, steering us away from paths thick with peril. All we need do is follow it," the beautiful stranger explained as the glowing orb advanced steadily.
At her words, Kyle felt as though a weight had been dropped squarely upon his shoulders.
'Would you look at that... what crimes must I have committed in a past life to deserve this ceaseless punishment?' he muttered inwardly, his grimace betraying the thought as the two of them followed the orb's cold light into the depth of the heavy darkness.