The cavern stank of mold and iron, damp air clinging to Kael's lungs with every ragged breath. Water dripped from the ceiling, echoing in the hollow dark. He pressed his palm to the jagged stone wall, forcing himself upright, ribs aching from the fall.
A flicker of light pulsed weakly nearby.
The Fire Spirit hovered mid-air, its body wrapped in a cocoon of molten light. Cracks ran across its shell, glowing veins of crimson and gold shifting beneath the surface. It was evolving—but helpless while doing so.
"Three minutes," Kael whispered, his voice hoarse. "I just need to last three minutes…"
His words felt empty in the silence.
Then he heard it.
A wet dragging noise, like claws scraping rock.
Kael froze. His eyes darted toward the cavern's mouth, where the shadows thickened unnaturally. Something moved within them—slow, deliberate, and utterly alien.
Two pale eyes opened.
The monster stepped into the dim glow of the cocoon.
It was twisted—its limbs too long, its skin gray and stretched taut like parchment over bone. Its mouth hung open, revealing crooked, needle-like teeth, saliva dripping in long strands. A faint hiss rattled from its throat as it hunched forward, sniffing the air.
An Abyssal spawn.
Kael's blood ran cold. His grip tightened around his dagger until his knuckles turned white.
The spawn twitched suddenly, its head jerking toward him. The hiss deepened into a gurgling snarl.
And then it lunged.
Kael threw himself to the side just as the creature's claws tore through the stone where he had been standing. Shards exploded across the cavern. The force alone was enough to make his bones rattle.
He scrambled back, panting. Too strong. One hit and I'm dead.
The spawn's pale eyes glared, unblinking, filled with hunger. It licked its teeth, then charged again.
Kael rolled beneath its swipe, slashing upward with his dagger. The blade carved into its arm, but instead of cleanly cutting, it only grazed, as if the flesh itself resisted steel. Black ichor oozed, sizzling where it dripped.
The spawn howled, a piercing screech that made Kael's ears ring.
"Shut up!" Kael roared, lunging forward. He thrust the dagger toward its throat, but the monster moved too fast, catching his arm with its claws.
Pain ripped through him as talons dug into flesh. Kael cried out, twisting, forcing his body to roll with the motion before the spawn could rip his arm clean off. Blood streamed down his sleeve, warm and sticky.
The monster loomed over him, its fangs snapping inches from his face. Kael shoved his forearm against its throat, straining to keep it back. Its breath reeked of rot and bile.
His vision blurred. His muscles screamed.
But then—he remembered.
Survive. Whatever it takes.
With a guttural yell, Kael rammed his dagger upward beneath its jaw. The blade sank deep this time, puncturing into the roof of its mouth. The spawn jerked violently, claws gouging his shoulder, but Kael twisted the blade with every ounce of strength he had left.
Black ichor gushed, hissing as it splattered onto his skin. His arm burned, but he didn't let go. He wrenched the dagger free and slashed again—across its throat.
The creature staggered.
Kael screamed, driving the dagger down again and again, until finally, its body shuddered and collapsed to the ground with a bone-jarring thud. Its pale eyes dimmed into lifeless void.
Silence.
Kael fell back against the wall, his entire body trembling. He was drenched in blood and ichor, lungs heaving like bellows.
Then the air rippled.
The corpse began to unravel, wisps of black energy peeling away like smoke. They didn't fade into the air—they condensed, forming a small, jagged shard pulsing with faint red veins. An Abyssal Fragment.
Kael reached for it, but the cocoon of his Fire Spirit pulsed violently.
The shard jerked from the air, yanked toward the cocoon as if caught in invisible gravity.
"What—?!" Kael staggered back.
The cocoon flared, engulfing the Abyssal Fragment whole. For a moment, it shook violently, molten cracks splitting wider. Heat blasted outward, forcing Kael to shield his face. The cavern lit up as if a newborn star burned within.
Then silence returned, the cocoon stabilizing once more—but its glow was no longer just gold and crimson. Black streaks of energy now pulsed faintly across its surface, twisting into the fiery veins like a corruption trying to fuse with light.
Kael's breath caught.
"What… just happened?"
Before he could ponder, a familiar weight pressed into his chest.
[Level Up! → Level 5][Summon Limit Doubled.]
His muscles tingled, a rush of strength filling his veins. His body felt sturdier, faster. But his eyes remained locked on the cocoon.
Something had changed.
The Fire Spirit was no longer evolving alone. It was fusing with the Abyss.
And Kael had no idea what kind of creature would emerge when the cocoon finally cracked.