The cavern was quiet, but not with peace. It was the brittle silence of unease, of people too tired to argue and too afraid to sleep soundly. The resistance had survived another day, but the cost lingered. One scout gone, several more injured, and a whisper of doubt now infected the group like a sickness.
Aric sat near the far wall, half in shadow. The torchlight carved his face into something harsher than he felt, but he didn't move closer. The whispers never stopped when he did. He could feel them even now—Kael's hushed voice among a group of soldiers, the words too faint to catch but heavy with suspicion.
He closed his eyes, trying to focus inward. The Sorrow System pulsed faintly beneath his skin, like a second heartbeat.
[Sorrow Stored: 128 units][Threshold Approaching: Risk of Instability at 150 units]
His breath caught. He hadn't realized it had grown so high. No wonder his veins itched, his bones ached. No wonder the whispers from the System pressed harder at the edges of his mind.
If I keep holding it back, it'll consume me anyway.
Lyra's voice broke his spiral. "You should eat something," she said gently, crouching beside him with a bowl of thin stew. "You've been staring into nothing for an hour."
Aric opened his eyes and managed a weak smile. "I'm not hungry."
"That's a lie." Her tone was light, but her eyes were sharp. "Maybe not for food, but I can see it in you. It's getting worse."
He looked away. "If I let it take over, I'll become something none of us can stop."
"Or," she countered, "you'll become something none of us can survive without."
Her words sank into him, heavy, dangerous. Before he could respond, Darius's voice echoed through the cavern, calling for attention.
The survivors gathered quickly, forming a rough half-circle around Darius. His presence was steady, but the lines on his face had deepened.
"We cannot linger," he said. "The Shades will regroup, and worse things than them stalk these tunnels. Scouts have found traces of a greater demon moving in this direction. We need to move camp."
A murmur spread through the group—weariness, fear, quiet dissent.
Kael's voice cut through like a blade. "Or we could stop running blindly into danger because one man thinks his cursed power can save us."
All eyes shifted toward Aric. He felt them like knives.
Darius's gaze hardened. "Without Aric, half of you would be dead already. Question him if you must, but question me as well, because it was my command that placed him at our side."
Kael sneered. "Your command, yes. But are we to gamble every life here on whether he loses control? I saw it in his eyes yesterday. He's barely holding back."
Aric clenched his fists but forced himself to stay silent.
"Enough." Darius's tone ended the discussion, but the tension remained, hanging thick in the air. "We move at first light. Rest now. You'll need your strength."
The group dispersed, but the whispers didn't stop. Aric could feel them crawling on his skin. He rose and slipped out of the cavern, needing space, needing air.
The tunnels beyond were cold and damp, the silence broken only by the drip of distant water. Shadows clung to the stone like stains. Aric walked until the camp's torches were nothing but faint glimmers behind him.
The System stirred.
They will never trust you.Why should they? You are different. You are more.Prove it. Feed.
His breath came ragged, the hunger swelling in his chest like a storm. He pressed a hand to the wall, his nails digging into stone. He could feel the sorrow in these tunnels—the residue of countless deaths, countless screams swallowed by the dark.
And then—he wasn't alone.
A low growl rumbled from the darkness ahead. Two pinpricks of red light appeared, hovering in the shadows. Then another pair. Then another.
Shades. No—something worse.
The creatures that emerged were taller, broader, their forms more solid than the formless Shades he'd fought before. Armor fused into their twisted bodies, blades of bone jutting from their arms. Their faces were masks of anguish, mouths locked open in silent screams.
[Warning: Greater Variant Detected – Soulreavers]
The System's alert slammed into his mind a second before they lunged.
Aric moved on instinct. His blade met the first Soulreaver's strike, the impact shattering stone beneath his feet. He staggered back, breath tearing from his lungs. The creature's strength was monstrous.
The second came from his left, claws raking toward his chest. He twisted, narrowly avoiding the blow, but the edge caught his arm, slicing deep. Pain flared hot, and the System pulsed violently in response.
[Sorrow Detected: +12][Total: 140 / 150][Warning: Instability imminent]
His vision blurred. Every scream he'd ever heard echoed in his skull, overlapping, suffocating. The hunger roared.
Feed. Devour. Become.
He slashed, shadows rippling from his blade as sorrow leaked into the strike. The Soulreaver shrieked, its form unraveling, the sorrow pouring into him like liquid fire.
[Sorrow Consumed: +18][Threshold Reached]
[Instability Detected – Evolution Pending]
Aric staggered, dropping to one knee as the System surged. His veins blackened, eyes glowing faintly violet. His body trembled as shadows writhed around him, whispering in dozens of voices.
The remaining Soulreavers circled, cautious now. They sensed the shift.
Yes… let it in. Show them all what you are.
Aric's breath came in ragged gasps. He could feel himself slipping, drowning in sorrow, his humanity fraying like tattered cloth.
"Not yet," he snarled aloud, forcing the shadows back with sheer will. His blade flared with dark light, and he lunged.
The battle was carnage. Every strike tore sorrow from the creatures, every scream fed the System, every death brought him closer to losing everything. By the time the last Soulreaver dissolved into mist, Aric was barely standing. His body shook violently, shadows clinging to him like chains.
[Sorrow Stored: 178 units][Instability Critical][Evolution Delayed – Forced Release Imminent]
He collapsed to his knees, clutching his head as whispers screamed in unison. The Watcher's voice rose above them, calm, almost amused.
You cannot resist forever. The next time, you will not hold it back. And when that moment comes, you will understand what it means to be chosen.
Aric's vision dimmed, the last thing he saw before darkness claiming him was the faint glow of torches approaching—Lyra's voice calling his name, distant and desperate.
Back at camp, Kael stood watching the entrance to the tunnels, his jaw clenched. "He's not like us," he muttered to one of the soldiers beside him. "He's going to bring ruin on all of us. And when he does, we'll need to be ready."
The soldier hesitated. "You'd go against Darius?"
"I'd go against anyone who lets that thing stay among us," Kael said coldly. "Mark my words—Aric will fall. And when he does, I'll be the one to end it."
Aric's body was carried back unconscious, his skin still faintly glowing with shadow veins, his breath shallow but steady. Lyra knelt beside him, brushing damp hair from his face, her expression fierce with both fear and determination.
"You're stronger than this," she whispered. "You have to be."
But in the silence of her words, the System whispered its truth.
He will not endure forever.When the hunger breaks him, you will all see what true sorrow means.
And in the dark of the cavern, the Watcher's unseen eyes never blinked.