• The Brave And The Blonde

"What do you mean?" Cerene's demeanor etched with concern. "What mistake?"

Spheris barely had the words to speak. He only gazed down at the glyph, his pupils dilating and trembling at the projection before him.

[Celestial Possession]

It was like a punch to the gut. He had just been tricked. By the God of trickery and mischief himself. He hadn't died; somehow Obsidian had managed to trap his conscience in the exact moment he fainted, tricking him into believing he had met his end.

All so he could give him this Influence, the [Celestial Possession].

Spheris could feel a boiling steam of rage inside him, but the concern of what the result of this deceit could be, and the shame of allowing himself to be deceived, did not allow him to freely express this anger. And so he was just mute and dumbfounded, grappling with a storm of emotions.

Still though, unlocking an Influence and using it were two separate things, and Spheris swore at the back of his mind that he was never going to use that damned Influence. No matter the situation.

He didn't even bother reading its description, he quietly tucked the glyph back into one of his safe pockets and let out a defeated sigh.

"Spheris?" Cerene called him gently. "There is a worried look on that your usually bleak face. Are you okay?"

He met her gaze with a calm expression. "I am fine." Then he observed her shrug before turning away. In her hand, she toyed with a red stone, tossing it up and catching it in a continuous motion while humming an old townish rhyme.

Spheris narrowed his gaze at the stone. It was a Soul Fragment, identical in shape and size to the one he had retrieved from the Queen Scorvulcan. How could she handle it so casually? It was as if she didn't recognize its significance, or she was already very accustomed to its presence.

Eventually, Cerene caught his stare and stopped playing with the stone. "It's yours," she said, throwing it at him.

Spheris caught the crystal and studied it for a second. "Mine?"

"Yes," she replied with a sigh. "I retrieved it from the Lavadrake you killed. Figured you might need it, assuming you don't already possess a Lavadrake Soul Fragment."

Giving her a scrutinizing gaze, Spheris withdrew his glyph once more, and offered it the Soul Fragment.

[Soul Fragment Identified]

[Soul Type: Lavadrake]

[Soul Value: Uncommon]

[Soul Fragment Is Worth 40 Weapon Points]

"Hmm." Spheris expressed his disappointment. It seemed it was a less valuable Fragment compared to the Scorvulcan's.

The Fragment then dissapated into the glyph.

[Soul Fragment Has Been Harnessed Successfully]

[Eight More Singular Soul Fragments Are Required]

[Craft On, Willful Bearer]

The device whirred into silence and Spheris raised his gaze to Cerene. "By my guess, you already have a Lavadrake Soul Fragment."

"True." she pouted. "Those creatures are all over these hills."

Spheris arched an eyebrow. "How many singular Fragments have you completed?"

Cerene averted her gaze momentarily, searching for something as her hand disappeared behind her. "Five," she said.

'Five!? What the hell!? How could she already have five?' His stare hardened. "How did you find your way out of the cave?"

"I went through the walls," she replied, taking a soft bite of the meat she had gotten from behind her — Spheris's carapace meat. "Wasn't easy. This tastes horrible."

Seeing her eating his saved food, Spheris realized that his scarf wasn't with him and he slowly but instantly jumped to his feet. As Cerene watched, he walked behind her with purpose, then got on his knees, took out all the roasted meat out of the old scarf and took the garment back to his earlier position.

She shrugged.

Seated once again, Spheris queried, "How did you know to go through?"

"I spoke with my Guardians." Cerene responded with a casual air. "They showed me the way."

The manner in which Cerene spoke of the Kobolds made it seem like she had already known about their existence long ago, which brought up another question in Spheris's head. "Wait, how long were you in the cave for?"

"Two days," she answered.

'Two days!?' Spheris felt his mind threatening to explode. 'Two bloody days!?'

"You look surprised," Cerene said, chewing softly on the carcass meat. "I suspected that you stayed for longer."

"A week," he replied.

"A week?!" her eyes widened. "That is... a long time."

"Yes it is," Spheris muttered, his gaze falling.

"Is that where you got poisoned? You were attacked by a Scorvulcan?"

"A horde of them." Spheris answered. "I killed the horde and the Queen."

"Mhm." Cerene's expression was indifferent. "Impressive."

Her tone raised his suspicion. "You killed a Queen as well, didn't you?"

"Yes." she replied flatly.

Spheris suddenly felt a pang of dissatisfaction, a wave of self-doubt washing over him. All this time, he had considered his achievements to be remarkable. Surviving countless beasts, enduring a week of starvation and thirst in a trap cave, learning about the Mystiqarium, and how to navigate The Abyss. Only for him to find out that someone else had done the exact same thing, but faster, and maybe even better.

"If you escaped the cave five days ago, how come you're still here?" he asked her.

"What do you mean 'still here'? Are you just escaping the cave yourself?"

Spheris frowned.

"Is this where your caves led you to?" she pressed.

He looked through the bubble shield and down at the landscape below the hill where they sat. The rain was still falling, and so were the leaves. But even with all the rain, the magma river continued to flow steadily, but thankfully, the Lavadrakes had vacated the sky.

"Yes." he replied.

"Interesting," Cerene said thoughtfully. "It seems our respective caves led us to very different paths within the realm. When I escaped, I found myself in a land of floating rocks, and you, in a land of falling grass."

Floating rocks. Spheris's face squeezed at the thought of it. There really wasn't anything impossible in this Expanded Realm. He watched her rise up to her feet, and raising her hand above her head, she unconjured the wattery shield.

"Come on," she urged. "The rain has stopped. When the sun comes out, it's going to get hot really fast. Best be on our way, so we can find the rest of the team."

Spheris rose quietly, still feeling dispirited and agitated, he secured his scarf around his neck and his companion perched on his shoulder. Then with a deep breath, he trailed after Cerene, who had already started threading the reddish terrain.

Even though he hadn't faced true death, the feeling was still the same for him. The Abyss was all, and the only way to survive it was to defeat it. And to defeat it, he needed to get stronger. And to attain that strength, he couldn't afford to shy away from confrontation. He had to go for the fights — initiate it himself if that was what it took. It was time to shed his evasive tactics and embrace the path of the fighting survivor, not a fleeing one.

There was no shortcut. Knowing how to survive wasn't all that was going to save his life — not in The Abyss, where countless predators lurked, hungering for his demise.

He took out his glyph once again and gazed at the interface:

[Eight More Singular Soul Fragments Are Required]

'Eight more.' He thought with resolution. Then he returned the device and continued behind Cerene. 'No longer will I retreat in fear. I will confront these beasts head-on. I will hunt them down and create a powerful weapon from their souls.'

Then he turned back to take one final gaze of the landscape of Falling Grass. 'And with the aid of this weapon, I will not only survive, but I will destroy this accursed place.' His eyes blazed with fortitude. 'The Abyss may be relentless... but so am I.'