I sat in my empty soul sea, eyes closed, body relaxed, mind focused on only one thing.
My echo.
Even now, its body was coiled around me, as if embracing me.
It hadn't done this before. It used to float around me, before I had gained my fourth core.
Then it slowly changed, becoming more... touchy?
It started to make contact, even if not literally.
Then started to coil around me, watching around me in battle with such determination that it was almost physical.
It was strange.
And now, having God knew how much time left before the next battle, I wanted to figure out what this echo's deal was.
I didn't find anything while being awake, the runes themselves didn't tell me anything.
So I had no choice but to dive into my soul sea, the echo already formed and waiting for me.
I sighed, opening my eyes once more.
The runes appeared in a flicker, the echo already selected.
Echoe's name: [Darkened spirit].
Echoe's description: [Once a dark spirit threatening a single town for centuries. Now brought to heel by an equally dark knight].
Echo's rank: [Demon].
Echoe's class: [Awakened].
Echoe's Attributes:[Soul damage], [Spirit], [Darkened].
Nothing had changed.
I huffed, frustration slowly getting to me.
I silently outstretched a hand towards the creature, trying to pet it, touch it, anything.
My hand reached it, and instead of it passing through it like usual, it stopped.
It rammed it's snout into my hand, even biting into it a bit.
But the rest of its body was left in the spiritual realm, phasing through my body.
Then it came.
A screen flickered to life, and the voice of the Spell arrived like a knife to the gut.
[Would you like to turn the echo into a Nightmare? [Yes/No].
The "No" noticeably glowed brighter, the color a blood red.
And the "Yes" was barely readable, a dull black that matched my soul sea almost perfectly.
I scowled, but didn't hurry to make a decision.
The implication of transforming an echo into something else is worrisome.
Would it even obey me then? Would it be alive? Would it just become a nightmare creature again? Or was this something entirely different?
I sat silently, wondering, how could this possibly enhance or weaken the echo, or weaken it?
Is it even an "it" at that point?
My scowl deepened more, I was starting to hate all these things.
Why couldn't there just be power or no power?
Why were there always tricks and treats?
The scowl morphed into a smirk albeit a small one.
I shrugged, then parted my lips.
"Yes."
It happened at once, the echo almost teleported into my lap, its large slim body coiled around my waist several times.
And it appeared to be sleeping.
It's barely visible form, even in my soul sea, layed there unmovingly.
Then, it grew darker, and darker, and darker.
Until its barely noticeable form was as dark as my own armor, it's scales outlined by dark gray, its short legs now bearing black almost dagger-like nails.
It's mouth parted, revealing brilliant white teeth, soul essence formed into something like gray flames being pushed out between the gaps.
And then, the eyes snapped open.
Once a truly invisible pair, now we're a crimson red, the pupils slitted.
I stared at it silently, perhaps in awe, perhaps not quite comprehending yet.
The old runes flickered and died, replaced by new ones.
But they blurred as quickly as they appeared, a new single line of text replacing all of it.
[Name:______]
I stared at the text, then at the echoe turned Nightmare. Then back at the text.
A name I've never heard, nor knew the meaning of came to my lips.
"Nether."
A short pause later, the runes blurred.
Nightmare's name: [Nether].
Nightmare's description: [Once a dark spirit threatening a single town for centuries. Now brought to heel by an equally dark knight.
But the defeat was not enough, the servitude not enough.
The knight warped the very soul of the spirit, turning it into something more menacing, into something more. Into something that no world has seen for centuries. ]
Echo's rank: [Devil].
Echoe's class: [Fallen].
Echoe's Attributes:[Soul damage], [Spirit], [Darkened], [Nightmare], [Phisical], [Of ash].
I stared at the runes, mouth agape.
I had to be dreaming, right? Right?!
Cause there was no way the already powerful echoe jumped in class and rank just from this, right?
I quickly checked over my own runes, only a single thing amiss.
The previous five hundred or so fragments had vanished into thin air, now a lone zero was shown in their place.
I stared silently, not really mad, just annoyed at the lack of information on the Spell's part.
Which wasn't anything new.
I silently switched back to my companion's runes, checking the enchantments.
At least, the new ones.
[Nightmare] Enchantment Description: [A Nightmare does not fear nor cower].
A simple defense against fear and other such things, definitely useful if I ever use [Fear] by his side.
[Phisical] Enchantment Description: [Can take a physical form].
So a direct opposite of [Spirit] then?
[Of ash] Enchantment Description: [Able to create normal and soul flames].
Damn. Just damn. We're about to be even more broken!
***
A torrent of white flames spewed from Nether in his spirit form, the entire battlefield being flooded by them.
They stuck to all, ate at all, but didn't burn. Just consumed.
Several creatures ran through them, of the same rank as Nether himself. Even so, their souls were already damaged, and they were unprepared for what came next.
Essence gathered in the fanged maw of the Nightmare, which then compressed and compressed.
Instead of the usual ball-thick beam, a compressed thin line shot out, almost as slim as a string.
It shot through the creature, continuing onwards.
That's where I came in.
I focused on warp, then on the beam.
I watched as the beam's trajectory slowly started to shift, then rapidly spun around.
The next second it pierced through another creature, finally dissipating.
I stared at the absolutely wrecked battlefield, my mouth agape for the first time in public.
A ringing of a giant bell from the town alerted me back to reality, a dozen or so people descending, all afraid to even step near the battlefield.
This was fucking insane!
Or I'm going insane. Because there is no way that just happened!