The scream had ceased, replaced by a tense silence, broken only by the constant drip of brine. Kaito forced himself to stand up, every movement sending stabbing pains through his battered body. The Elf, whose name he still didn't know, looked at him with a mix of pity and weariness.
"You haven't asked why you've awakened here, in this body," said the Elf, her voice barely a whisper.
"I just need to know how to get out," Kaito replied, straightforwardly. Fear had been replaced by a cold, urgent need: power.
She smiled sadly. "What chains you isn't metal, boy. It's Shadow magic. The Paladins, whom you call Heroes, harvest it from those who die here to fuel their own spells of 'Light'. They call us outsiders Specters." Her bony finger pointed at the chains covering his arm. "The only way to break them is to have more power than what wove them. And that power isn't light."
Kaito felt the dark vibration again, a slow pulse in the palm of his hand. It was the opposite of the sensation emanating from the Paladins, which was warm but hollow. This was cold, dense, and real.
"I feel the magic in the chains," Kaito admitted.
The Elf's eyes widened slightly. She crawled closer, mistrust giving way to curiosity. "You feel the Shadow? That's... unusual. Most newcomers only feel the pain. What's your name?"
"Kaito."
"I'm Seraphe." And if you can feel the Shadow, you might have a chance. The magic in Eterea isn't something learned in the Heroes' academy; it's something extracted from the earth, from pain... from life itself. And the mineral we extract here, Crimson Salt, is a dark catalyst.
Seraphe grabbed a handful of the muddy salt from the ground. Under the dim light, it glowed with a faint blood-red hue.
"The Paladins use this place as a purge, a place where magicians born with dark affinities, like those of my kind, are consumed. But if you focus on the pain and the beat of the Shadow... you can steal from it."
Kaito understood. It was a desperate technique, utterly dark, something that would never have crossed his mind in his previous life. He closed his eyes and focused on the slow, heavy beat he felt. The pain of the chains, the hunger, the world's betrayal, all became a single point of focus.
I refuse to die here. Ren... If you're in this world, I'm going to find you.
He pushed his consciousness against the biological strands. He didn't attack them with force, but tried to absorb them. A silent scream tore through his soul. It was a different pain, burning, as if his own essence was being rewritten.
The sensation was overwhelming, intense, purely R18 in its invasive and absorbing nature. But through the agony, a drop of dark energy flowed from the chain into his body, hot as lava.
It works! The biological shackle on his wrist loosened slightly, becoming brittle and gray.
Seraphe gasped. Her face, previously withered, was now filled with awe and a dangerous hope.
"By the Ancient Gods... You did it. You're a Specter of the Mire. You're dangerous, Kaito. But what you've done will attract attention..."
Just then, a loud metallic clang was heard outside the main cavern. The moans stopped immediately. The reddish light of a lantern projected into the entrance.
"Time for the guard change! Come on, underground rats! Lord Darius has come to amuse himself!"
Kaito's first true enemy had arrived.