"You passed, disciple. Soon, you'll regret trying to become my disciple." She laughed and walked away. That was the first time I'd seen her laugh. I slumped to the ground, my arms and legs bleeding excessively. I feared I might die from blood loss, but no seeker could be threatened by a little blood.
---
The day after the incident was hell. Sylvia informed me that my body was too weak to handle her arts and subjected me to torturous training. The first day, I had to do 1,000 push-ups. Then I had to run 1,000 miles. The worst part was swimming across the sea to reach the reef. My old wounds reopened, making everything worse. But I was ready to learn her art.
Sylvia looked at me, and I felt the weight of déjà vu—she had given me the same look when she said my body was too weak. "Night," she said. "Yes, master."
"Your emotions are opposing," she stated.
I stared at her. "What do you mean?"
She looked at me with piercing eyes. "I can feel all your emotions in disarray, Night. Because of that, your mind is more broken than I can understand."
A question kept haunting me: Why do I fight? What is stopping me from losing myself? My answer was clear—I wanted to protect those I cared for. But Sylvia asked, "Is that truly what you want? Once you have the answer, you may learn my art. It's the only way to fully understand Aen."
Her words hit me like a storm. It was true—my emotions were chaotic, but how could I learn Aen? Everyone had Aen, the essence that flows through everything. But to use and feel it, one must be awakened. And I wasn't.
I felt the burden grow heavier. It felt like something buried deep inside me was slowly breaking free. I wasn't meant to be here. I wasn't meant to be alive. I wasn't meant to see this. I was never meant to reach it.
A voice echoed in my mind:
[The mind of the user is in utter chaos.]
[Due to the willed rule of ???, user will be pulled into soul point.]
Before I knew it, my consciousness was pulled from my body, leaving it defenseless.
---
I found myself in the lightless void of my soul. Black flowers bloomed across my soul, their beauty amplified by fireflies of light. Then, I saw the guardian, curled up, waiting for me to summon it. It was a whisper—a soul bound to my essence. It could be killed in the real world, but it was immortal here.
As soon as it felt my presence, it raised its head. Its eyes reflected the same sorrow they had before I killed it. But something new caught my attention—a floating shard of glass, reflecting the memory I had received as a reward. Alongside it was a flower, not black, but something else, burning with black flame, at the center of my soul. I touched it. It was icy cold, but I didn't mind. Slowly, the flame seeped into me.
The hex rang:
[Your flame grows stronger.]
[Your understanding of the ??? increases.]
I didn't feel any change, but I could sense the black flame growing. My mind slowly calmed, and for the first time, I felt all my emotions clearly. I used to try to ignore them, but now they seemed even more broken than before. Who exactly was I? Where had I reached?
Memories flashed before my eyes—none of them clear. The guardian slithered toward me. I felt calm seeing it and reached out, touching its forehead. The chaos inside me settled.
The hex echoed:
[Your emotions react to the whisper.]
[Shadow's Blessings trait is activated.]
[Black Flame trait is activated.]
I felt no change, but the black flame seeped out of my body unconsciously. The black flowers responded, swirling around the guardian. The hex echoed again:
[With the power of ???, the guardian can be converted into a darkling.]
Something felt wrong. From the first time I awakened the flames, I felt as though they had always been within me, but I had never truly questioned this power. What was it? What was the hex?
[Do you wish to create a darkling? A part of the truth of ??? will be revealed upon conversion.]