Sayan was the first to compose himself, after him Elyria and Kaelen came back to their senses by supressing their fear. No one dared to moved irascibly. The beast walked slowly as a hunter who had cornered his prey.
This was not some ordinary monster. It was something far more sinister than the Feeders that they just faced. It was a grotesque giant stitched from the bodies of the fallen, its shield-arm is a mosaic of silent faces while its other is a sharpened blade of raw bone. It is a walking tomb that refuses to die, animated by two hateful hearts that offer only a choice between a crushing, hopeless end or a swift, furious one.
Sayan moved his gaze towards his feet to signal Elyria to break though the cave using Frost Blast to provide then an opportunity to escape. Elyria understood Sayan's plan and raise her swords with both her arms and as she was about to plunge it into the ground. The monster's figure appeared before Elyria and bashed her breastplate with his shield-arm in an instant, leaving behind afterimages. The strike threw her to the back of the Cave.
If not for her Tier 2 armor Elyria's chest would have caved in and she would have died on the spot. Even though her armor absorbed most of the impact, she still suffered great damage. Her vision blurred, she spewed out a mouthful of blood, her ears were ringing and her entire body was in agony.
Sayan and Kaelen immediately moved towards Elyria. Sayan made his gloves so heavy that they caused him to fall down on his fist. He used this technique to follow his initial plan of busting through the ground. Sayan grabbed Elyria and Kaelen stayed in close as the floor collapsed and they fell down. The monster stood at the edge of the crater formed by Sayan's strike and observed them.
The three of them fell down to the bottom of a ravine formed between the mountains. Sayan used Bastion to grab the surface around him to cushion his fall. Kaelen used his daggers to jam on to the surface of the mountain near him in the ravine. Despite their vital attempts, Kaelen and Sayan were not able to completely cushion the effect of their fall as they had fallen to a great depth. This caused them to suffer grave injuries due to the disastrous magnitude of their fall. Sayan had cushioned the fall for Elyria completely by holding her in front of him and falling backwards. If Elyria had suffered any injuries from this fall, she would have died.
The trio reached the bottom of the ravine in very dire condition. Elyria was still unconscious. Kaelen and Sayan were covered in injuries from head to toe. The back of Sayan's had split open and blood was flowing violently. Kaelen's left arm had fractures and his legs were bleeding heavily.
Even in this condition they did not stop to rest as they didn't know if the monster would follow them. They had to move as far as they could. There was also a risk of encountering Velcryn creatures on the way. Encountering even a single creature could spell death for them.
They hid in the shadows of ravine and washed their blood while walking to prevent from creatures attracting towards them due to the scent of their blood. Elyria had gained consciousness after some time and was able to walk on her own. So Sayan didn't had to carry her. This improved their speed greatly.
As the sun was about to set and darkness was reigning in, the trio found another cave on their way. They instantly became alert about any dangers. But the cave was empty and there were only a few dead lurkers near the cave. This made them apprehensive. But with no other option they decided to stay inside the cave. But this time they sealed of the entrance to the cave completely moved the corpses of the dead creatures away from them.
After sealing themselves inside, they didn't light a fire but instead used a torch with low flame. All three of them had suffered great injuries and were on the verge of collapsing. This was troublesome because after facing the monster they had experienced the Trine tempering and their body and mind would undergo various changes. The tempering required them to be stabilized and had sufficient energy to complete the process safely.
To prepare themselves they used all medical treatment sources available to them to speed up their recovery. However, due to the extent of their injuries they didn't experience any benefits that could be helpful. At the end Sayan suggested that they use their vest's ability to heal them. But the problem was that the vest required them to expend a great amount of Ether. If they were to deplete their mana pool, they would lose their consciousness and become unstable.
This was the risk they had to take. There were no alternate options available. This was their only choice. So, they devised a plan that only one person will use their vest at a time. This allowed them to take the person and move in case of danger. Elyria was the first to use her vest as she was in the worst condition among the trio. She immediately became unconscious and her veins protruded beneath the surface of her skin. Her injuries started healing.
After ninety minutes Elyria was healed and she regained consciousness. Following after her Kaelen and Sayan did the same.
Five hours had passed since they entered this cave. Luckily no accidents happened this time and they all recovered. They were still exhausted and the state of their minds were in shambles. The three of them sat silently in the dim light of the fire torch and started meditating and placating the rampant and turbulent Ether within them.
Midnight struck and the Ether surged within them. There were only stillness and silence inside the dim-light cave. The concentration of desire and intent inside the cave intensified and the Awakening of Mark began.
The Ether that was like a foreign presence inside their body, began integrating with their beings. This communion brought painful changes with it. As Ether inside their heart started seeping into their bones, coagulating with their blood and throbbing in their veins; they began to undergo a strange Metamorphosis.
The seeping Ether caused countless fractures in their bones, the blood in their veins ran hot with the mixture of blood and Ether, their vision transformed as they became momentarily blind due to the pain, the remaining of their senses became isolated from the blood as if they never existed. The only things they could sense were the darkness in front of their eyes and the excruciating agony of their body rebuilding itself with Ether.
The process lasted for two hours. These two hours of anguish were not for naught. As the trio slowly regained their senses, they started noticing the changes that occurred in their body. The first thing they noticed was the intricate path of Ether Channels circulating the Ether within them. This was different from their veins and arteries; it existed as if it was projected beneath their nervous system.
The current of Ether was more rigid as it had a proper route to flow through. Their bodies no longer seemed like mere flesh, but rather like highly polished conduits, created specifically for the purpose of channelling power.
The searing aches and stabbing pains of their horrific tumble down into the gulch were gone, replaced by an acute awareness of strength. Their bodies felt heavier, coiled up with power they'd never possessed.
Sayan tightened his fist, experiencing no tension, just firm, unforced strength. It was if the wild Ether, having completed its wild surge, had stabilized itself within their own bones, strengthening them from the inside out. The world itself now felt different, more defined. The faint torch flame in the cavern now highlighted each crack and each crevice in the rocky walls with crystal clarity.
Kaelen heard the distant, rhythmic dripping of water from a cleft deep in the rock. and to his recently restored senses, each drop was less like water and more like one solitary desolate heartbeat.
Elyria could sense the slight change in air pressure as the wind reversed outside their locked entrance. Their senses, previously just human, were now enhanced, caressed by the constant, low-frequency thrum of their own roused Pulse.
And then, of course, there was the Mark itself. No longer a distant glow from the Awakening, the mark on each of their forearms now a deep, detailed component of themselves. A nexus of the vast energy now flowing through their new Ether Channels, always reminding them of what they had endured and of the new existence they had just started.
Sayan felt anchored on whatever stance he took and his vision was now different. He observed the world in a layered state. He could see the physical world, but it was not just the details of the space around him that he could grasp. He was able to perceive the superimposed, faint shimmering grid of geometric lines, revealing trajectories and spatial force exerted by everything around him. This was the birth of his Pulse Parallax Sight.
The space around Sayan warped towards him and settled in a state of clarity. A black tesseract mark began etching itself on his left forearm. It had a mesmerizing, impossible depth, as if he was looking into a tiny, star-filled cube held just beneath his skin. This was his Mark, Fractal Anchor.
A profound stillness originated from Elyria's core. Her body was now a conduit for cold. Even the blood coursing through her veins was cold now.
The state of her body was stable like an unshakable mountain and the flow of Ether inside was serene and graceful.
Her perception transformed. She saw other others as a start silhouette of heat and cold. She could sense their passions and desires, but she was also able to see the cold spots of deception and fear. This was her PulseFervour Signature.
A cold layer of frost materialized and started producing patterns on her skin giving birth to her Mark, Rimeheart. The frost settled and produced a frostflower bloom spiralling from forearm to elbow, shimmering with blue and silver.
For Kaelen, the changes were a heavy. The shadows in the cave seemed to cling to him, his presence felt denser and more solemn but at the same time it was like he was not and an individual but a product of the darkness around him. The anguish and terrors accumulated by him in the passage of his tragic life seem to concentrate towards his left forearm.
The greatest change was sensory; the phantom sound of past suffering, were no longer a faint whisper but a constant raving in his perception. He could sense the lingering pain in the stones and the sorrows around him. His world now had a constant, agonizing soundtrack that only he was cursed to listen. This was his PulseDirge Echo.
Thorns protruded from beneath his forearm and formed a hollow ring of black thorns. The pattern was sharp and seemed to quiver as if it contained a life of its own. This was a brand of living, contained anguish. This was his MarkCursed Reliquary.
The three of them sat in a heavy silence. There was only the sound of their ragged breathing audible within the walls.
Kaelen suddenly flinched, gritting his teeth and pressing his feet into the ground, "The sounds inside here have become too loud."
Sayan looked over, speaking slowly due to his exhaustion," I don't hear anything."
"Not with your ears," Kaelen rasped, his eyes squeezed shut. "Every sound has an echo underneath it. A sound of what it's broken. It's deafening."
Elyria, her hand trembling, reached out and touched the cave wall. Her eyes widened. "He's right, she whispered, in a low voice. "Something is wrong. The stone, it feels warm. It feels like it's humming."
Sayan stared at them. The humming Elyria felt in the stone and the "noise" Kaelen heard was similar to the strange, disorienting pressure he felt in his vision on observing. He was terrified, but he steeled himself and pieced the whole picture to understand what was going on with them.
"It's not the cave." His voice trembled. "It's us. The Ether is changing us."
As he finished speaking those words, a faint, silver-blue light began to trace itself on Sayan's skin. Just below the indiscernible depth of Fractal Anchor, words made of pure, settled Ether took form.
Elyria gasped softly, seeing the same thing happening on her own arm. Kaelen's eyes shot open, his pained expression shifting to one of stunned disbelief as he stared at his own mark.
Slowly, with the shared terror and dread, they read the words. These were not mere titles; they were a Revelation of their new souls. These were the identities branded onto them, with the astronomical weight of destiny burdened upon their young selves.
On Sayan's arm, beneath the tesseract: Fractaled Seer of the Veiled Fold.
On Elyria's arm, woven around the crystalline bloom: The Heir of Frostbound Will.
And on Kaelen's arm, encircling the ring of thorns: The Vigil of the Whispering Wound.
The glowing words did not feel like a blessing, but like the first heavy links of an unbreakable chain.