The central pavilion of the camp was bathed in a sickly, pulsating violet luminescence. Outside, the wind howled across the Border Marches, but inside, the air was unnervingly still, heavy with the scent of burning incense and the metallic tang of raw mana.
Evelyn von Drich sat upon a throne carved from the bleached bones of a dragon-wasp, her silver hair spilling over her shoulders like moonlight reflecting on a pool of blood. Her violet eyes were fixed on Silas, who knelt within a complex geometric pentagram etched into the dirt floor.
"Three years ago," Evelyn began, her voice a low, melodic purr that vibrated in Silas's marrow, "a Knight of the Third Circle—a man who had trained his soul for decades—was subjected to a double-dose of the Void Essence. He lasted three seconds before his ribcage turned into glass and shattered. The explosion took out half the laboratory."
She leaned forward, her gaze intensifying. "Today, Silas, you will take three. If your heart survives the pressure, you will cease to be a cleaner. You will become my personal acolyte—a Shadow Servant. If you fail... your remains will be used to fuel the camp's perimeter wards for the next week."
"I am... at your mercy, My Lady," Silas whispered, his forehead touching the cold earth.
Internally, his mind was a storm of data.
[Warning! High-Density Void Surge Imminent!]
[Target: Evelyn von Drich. Current Power Output: 300% of safety threshold.]
[Preparation: Activating 'Bottomless Abyss' filtration mode. Buffering soul-core... 85%... 100%.]
Evelyn raised her hand, and the atmosphere shattered. A vortex of liquid darkness descended from the ceiling—thick, tar-like, and humming with the discordant screams of a thousand trapped echoes. It didn't just touch Silas; it slammed into him like a falling mountain.
The pain was beyond anything he had ever imagined. It felt as if every cell in his body was being sliced open by obsidian scalpels, filled with molten lead, and then stitched back together with jagged lightning. Silas let out a ragged, primal scream, making sure to keep it sounding desperate and broken.
But beneath the mask of agony, the System was gorging itself.
[Absorbing... 200 Points... 800 Points... 1500 Points!]
[New Passive Unlocked: 'Void Marrow' (Level 1) - Your bones are now reinforced by dark matter.]
[Synchronization with Target Evelyn: 5.5%.]
"Still breathing?" Evelyn whispered, her eyes widening in genuine shock. She stood up, her crimson robes swirling around her as she stepped closer to the edge of the circle. She increased the flow, her own spiritual pressure descending on Silas like a physical weight.
Silas's skin began to crack, faint violet veins glowing beneath the surface of his neck. To Evelyn, he looked like a vessel on the verge of shattering. But Silas could feel his Void-Core spinning faster, refining the violent energy into pure, lethal mana. He wasn't just surviving the ritual; he was stealing the very foundation of her power.