The air in the forgotten ruins grew heavy with the stench of brine and decay as two Carapace Scavengers skittered out of the gloom. Standing two and a half meters tall, the abominations were a grotesque fusion of chitin and nightmare; their four pairs of segmented, scythe-like legs clicked rhythmically against the stone, while their human-like torsos swayed with a predatory grace. Two pairs of enormous pincers snapped, eager to crush bone, as the monsters lunged.
Sunny didn't wait for them to close the distance. Calling upon his shadow, he felt the familiar cold weight of his essence wrapping around his limbs, augmenting his speed to a blur. As the first Scavenger swung a massive pincer, Sunny detached his shadow from the ground, lacing it into his sword. The blade hummed with dark power as he slid beneath the creature's center of gravity. With a precise, upward thrust, he drove his blade into the soft joint of its rear leg. The monster shrieked, a wet, gargling sound from its mandible-filled mouth, but before it could retaliate, Sunny vanished back into the gloom—a phantom of the battlefield.
Nearby, Nephis and Blaze stood back-to-back, a wall of incinerating heat. Nephis's blade ignited with a pure, white radiance that shimmered with the dual promise of salvation and ruin. She met the second Scavenger head-on, her movements a disciplined dance of steel. When a scythe-like leg whipped toward her chest, she didn't just parry; she bathed the limb in her white flames. The chitin blackened and cracked instantly. The Scavenger lunged with its pincers, but Nephis let the flames roar outward, the searing heat acting as both a shield and a brand that forced the beast back.
Blaze seized the opening. While Nephis focused on the physical shell, Blaze targeted the essence within. His sword erupted in a flickering, ghostly violet fire—flames designed not to melt armor, but to scorch the soul. He leaped over a swiping pincer, his boots finding purchase on the creature's chitinous shoulder. With a roar, he buried his sword deep into the gap between the head and the armored torso. The soul-burning flames surged downward, bypassing the thick carapace. The Scavenger froze, its many eyes rolling back as its very life force was turned to ash from the inside out. It collapsed into a heap of twitching, lifeless limbs.
The first Scavenger, wounded by Sunny, tried to retreat, but Sunny was already there, his shadow-wrapped form appearing directly behind its neckless head. Simultaneously, Nephis surged forward, her sword trailing a wake of white fire. In a synchronized strike of shadow and light, Sunny's blade found the creature's throat while Nephis's fire consumed its heart. The monstrous centaur-crab slumped to the ground, its mandibles stilled forever.
A cold, familiar voice echoed in Blaze's mind:
[You have slain an Awakened Beast: Carapace Scavenger.]
*******
Blaze stared at the smoking corpse, his mind already calculating. I need armor, he thought. Real armor. He immediately began to scavenge the tough, fibrous meat and search for Soul Shards. Nearby, Nephis began dismantling the second carcass with professional efficiency, while Sunny went back to the coral wall to fetch Cassie.
Once the spoils were gathered, the group began the final push toward the next high point. Navigating the treacherous Coral Labyrinth was easier with Sunny's shadow acting as a remote scout. Nephis and Blaze took the lead as the primary vanguard, while Sunny and Cassie trailed behind.
They eventually reached the edge of the Labyrinth, where the path opened up to the colossal, headless statue of a giant knight. A group of Scavengers loitered between them and the monument, but they moved past without urgency. The sun was dipping dangerously low, but they still had time.
"Move, now," Nephis whispered.
Helping Cassie along, Blaze followed Changing Star as they sprinted across the open space. The real challenge, however, lay ahead: the statue was two hundred meters tall. Scaling it was a feat in itself, but pulling a blind girl up the vertical stone was a nightmare.
The ascent was slow and torturous. Blaze, Nephis, and Sunny took turns climbing twenty-meter stretches before pulling the rope to bring Cassie up to a stable ledge. By the time they reached the circular stone platform at the top—the knight's severed neck—Sunny's muscles felt like they were literally on fire.
They collapsed onto the stone just as the dark waters of the sea began to rush back in, drowning the Labyrinth below.
********
Night fell, cold and absolute. They hadn't brought materials for a fire, and it was too dangerous to light one anyway. They sat in a circle, passing around a bottle of limitless water and chewing on dry, tough strips of scavenger meat.
Blaze and Nephis gave Sunny a silent nod. He reached into his rucksack and pulled out the day's harvest: four shimmering Soul Shards. Without a word, Nephis divided them. She pushed two toward Sunny and took two for herself, immediately handing one of hers to Cassie.
Sunny watched in silence. He didn't reach for his shards. Instead, he pulled a third crystal from his bag—one he had been saving—and pushed all three toward Nephis.
The silver-haired girl looked at him, her brow furrowing. "Don't you want to grow stronger?"
Sunny grinned, though there was no humor in it. "Of course I do. But these won't do me much good right now. You're the main fighting force of this group. The stronger you are, the better our chances of survival. But," he leaned forward, his eyes locking onto hers, "it's not a gift. It's a trade. In return, you will teach me how to fight."
Nephis considered him for a long beat. "Okay."
"When?" Sunny asked.
"Now," Nephis replied. "We will start with words. That is enough for today. Blaze, Cassie—you should listen too."
Blaze turned, his interest piqued. Nephis gathered her thoughts before speaking.
"Mastery of combat is divided into two aspects: the body and the mind. Training the body is simple, but hard. It requires repetition until technique becomes instinct. A thousand hours of training is worth less than one real fight. Only those who survive countless battles truly command their bodies."
She paused, her gaze turning piercingly cold. "Training the mind, however, is where the true battle takes place. To master the mind, you must understand the essence of combat. Many people fail here."
She looked at the trio. "What do you think that essence is?"
"Victory," Cassie said softly.
"Survival," Sunny said simultaneously.
Blaze sighed. "Control."
Nephis shook her head. "No. The essence of combat is murder."
Blaze's mind whirred. If that's the case, wouldn't an assassin be the ultimate warrior?
"At its core, there is only this," Nephis continued. "You are trying to kill them, and they are trying to kill you. One will be the killer, and the other will be killed. Everything else—style, honor, weapons—is just noise. If you understand that, you will have the clarity to master your mind."
Blaze raised a hand. "Question."
Nephis looked at him, confused. "Speak."
"Let's say I'm fighting a creature that self-detonates upon death," Blaze posited. "If killing it means I die too, then 'murder' is the worst possible option. What is the essence of combat in that situation?"
The platform went silent. Even Nephis seemed stunned for a moment, her philosophy clashing with the brutal logic of a suicide-bomber monster. "Those cases are rare," she finally admitted. "For now, learn the way of the murderer. We will study the... exceptional use cases later."
Into the Soul Sea
As the others drifted into sleep, Blaze closed his eyes and retreated into his Soul Sea.
It was a vast, dark expanse of water, but now, orange flames flickered across the surface. His Soul Core hovered at the zenith, radiating a steady light. He realized his Innate Ability had begun to manifest physically; his bones and flesh felt denser, his blood resisted flowing too quickly from wounds, and his mental capacity had expanded. He felt sharper, his memory more crystalline.
Then, he saw them. Floating in the Soul Sea were black, amorphous blobs—the lingering echoes of the creatures he had slain. They drifted in the shape of Scavengers, dark shadows of his past victories.
Interesting, Blaze thought, watching the shapes.
He emerged from his meditative state and glanced at the sleeping Cassie. 'Tomorrow, she receives the vision of the future. I wonder what changes I brought.'