• Through The Darkness

A thundering sound vibrated through the chasm. Rocks shattered. Dust — a fair bit of it — rose to the air. The smell of murk was dominant.

With his fists pulsing with the dark energy, Spheris struck the cave with mighty blows, as much as his strength could allow. The sound of crumbling stone echoed in the cavernous depths and each time he struck the rocks, a vibrating sensation rippled through his arms... deep in his bones.

But there was no pain. Thankfully.

Spheris had learned that wielding the dark force on his fist amplified his strike strength greatly. It was a bit similar to Nero's Icy Delayed Strike. Except there was no delay, the pulsing darkness struck the rocks at the same time his fist did.

He had digged through a reasonable length at that point, and now fatigue was already gnawing at him, and at his muscles as well. Yet, the Temple of Obsidian was focused.

'I refuse to succumb to exhaustion,' he spoke in his thoughts when he sat down to rest. 'If I am to go through... I will.'

And so he continued. Inch by inch, the rocky barriers continued to crack and splinter, succumbing to the sheer force of his shadow-amplified blows. Brief respites were few and far between, he would spend them catching his breath and having a small chat with Talon. But thirst was what was letting him down. He was extremely thirsty.

A grumbling sound came from his stomach.

Oh. And hungry as well.

As some debris of rocks fell in a cacophony, Spheris walked back through the path he had created, and arriving at the opening, he gazed down at the roasted remains of the Queen Scorvulcan.

'Ironic how it is that I'm glad you attacked me,' he thought. 'You've provided me with food and helped me with a plan to escape this prison.'

Then he looked down at his thigh which had already soaked his myrethian trousers with blood and venom.

'Ah, yes. You're also the reason why I have this.' His face turned gloomy. 'I guess the good doesn't outweigh the bad after all.'

With resignation, he knelt painfully and tore a portion of the creature's chest. At least, the meat was still warm. The cold hadn't gotten to it.

But as he raised the morsel to his lips, something interesting caught his gaze. Spheris frowned. He took the meat down from his face, and leaned closer to the Scorvulcan to get a better view.

Well, well, well... that looked familiar.

It was a pulsating red crystal nestled within the creature's innards. Spheris immediately reached out and grabbed the crystalline shard. He inspected the item and indeed it was quite identical to the red crystals in the glyph. Well, except the sharp edges were plane, but that was the only difference.

What was it?

Intrigued, Spheris quickly pulled out his glyph to compare the crystals within its interfaces and the crystal in his very palm. But the second he pulled the device out of his pocket, it whirred to life. Its red light projected upon the crystal stone, as though analysing it.

'What's... happening?' Spheris thought with a raised brow, anticipation overwhelming his fatigue and thirst.

[Soul Fragment Identified].

'What?' he grimaced. 'Soul fragment?'

[Soul Type: Scorvulcan]

[Soul Value: Rare]

[Soul Fragment Is Worth 60 Weapon Points]

'60 Weapon Points? Rare? Soul Energy? Okay, there's way too much going on now.'

As he was still trying to comprehend what was happening, the crystal suddenly disintegrated into smaller fragments, and he watched in awe as they were absorbed into the glyph. The fragments then arranged themselves into an empty crystal-shaped space in the interface, and lined up with that space, were nine other empty ones.

[Soul Fragment Has Been Harnessed Successfully]

[Weapon Crafting Has Begun]

[Nine More Singular Soul Fragments Is Needed]

'Singular Soul Fragment? So a Fragment from different types of monsters?'

[Great Power Awaits You]

[Goodluck On Your Crafting, Willful Bearer]

Then the interface disappeared.

_

Great... power.

For a prolonged moment, Spheris gaped at the device, slightly confused, definitely overwhelmed yet filled with an igniting sense of purpose. He could craft his own weapon! It was great news indeed.

Spheris knew how much easier his battle with the Queen Scorvulcan would have been if he had a great fearless sword or a carapace-tearing axe. He had quickly started to realise that his plan of averting danger was not going to save him in this place. Especially because one way or the other, danger seemed to find him. He was in The Abyss, did he forget?

Also, some very few minutes ago, he had unlocked an Influence, [Shadowmeld]. It was a stealth type Influence, and as the name suggested it gave him the power to meld into the shadows, completely becoming invisible... especially in the dark.

Funny how such powers would have been extremely useful in his thieving days.

But the problem was clear. Spheris wasn't a thief anymore, and he needed to attack to save his life. Just as Merisset had said. Oh... no, Merisset. He had completely forgotten about her.

What could she be doing at this time?

Is she — No! He could not let his thought drift away now.

Focus.

His Influences were becoming an issue, because he was consistently getting defensive and tactical ones, rather than offensive and powerful ones. It seemed like his Essence had began to merge with and understand his lifestyle and survival tactics. Which were basically just run and hide, or better yet, don't get caught.

But in The Abyss, he was always going to get caught. He needed to be more offensive. He needed to face the fight.

"Hmm." He mumbled calmly as he rose to his feet, ignoring the pain in his thigh. He couldn't start to savor his newfound purpose yet — the daunting task of breaking through the walls and escaping the hollow still remained.

He gathered the remaining carcass meat, fashioning a makeshift bag from his scarf to hold them in. Then, he hanged it over his shoulder, placed a chunk on the ground for Talon to eat and then continued punching his way out of the chasm.

Soon, he arrived at the stronger part of the cave walls. They seemed to resist his onslaught at first, stubbornly holding their ground against the Shaded Fists — as he called them. But Spheris refused to yield, his resolve unflinching as he pressed on.

He cried, groaned and screamed through every punch, knowing that the walls after these would be softer, as the harder rocks' duty was to protect the softer ones after it.

Now, he began to feel a little pain. But he went on.

"I must go on," he murmured continuously. "I must leave."

And finally, the hard rocks were all gone.

As he tried to catch his breath, he heard his glyph whir once again.

[True Resilience] it said.

'True Resilience? What does that mean?'

[You Have Been Granted An Influence Upgrade As A Gift For Your Resilience]

[The Gods Shine On You, Willful Bearer]

[Influence Unlocked - Shaded Surge]

[Influence Category - Offensive]

[Effectiveness - 30%]

[Power Level Growth Has Been Discerned]

[Power Level Increased]

[Power Level Is Now At 145ip]

[You Are Almost Adept, Willful Bearer]

A weary smile of victory stretched below Spheris's nose. This time, he didn't need an explanation of anything. He knew exactly what just happened.

He had just unlocked an upgraded version of [Shaded Blasts], called [Shaded Surge] and it had an Effectiveness of thirty percent. Which meant — his painful smile stretched even wider — he was definitely getting out of this cave.

The glimmer of hope exploded into a blaze and Spheris was certain his ordeal was coming to an end. "Step back, Talon." he said to his bird, and it obeyed.

With one final surge of strength, and a defiant roar, Spheris channelled as much of his Essence as he could into conjuring [Shaded Surge]. His hands pulsed with the dark energy in great matter and it exploded into the rocks in a destructive dash, causing the last remnants of the walls to collapse, and bursting a hole right through.

And in that hole Spheris stood, panting. His features were worn, his hair loose and falling over his face and shoulders, his myrethian gear were barely looking as impressive as before. But his defiance, his resilience, his drive to survive... they were still present. Clear as day. He always found a way to survive, and even though he needed extra help this time, still he had done it. Once again.

With slow, excited, yet painful steps, Spheris walked into the light.