Nash sat cross-legged on the creaking bed of his cramped apartment, the light of the system interface reflecting in his tired eyes. The blue glow flickered across the dusty walls as he stared at the screen floating inches away from his face.
[Stored Supernatural: 1 – Murrglin, Sporeshade Trickster]
[Aether: 37]
[Convert Essence to Aether?]
He hesitated for a moment, rubbing his temple. "Alright... let's do it."
His finger hovered over the confirmation icon before pressing it. The interface pulsed, then the room dimmed as motes of pale green light drifted up from the projection.
The Murrglin's essence, its soul, or whatever the system called it dissolved into a swirling mist. The air vibrated faintly, like the low hum of static before a storm.
[Conversion complete.]
[+47 Aether gained.]
Nash blinked. "Forty-seven? That's it?"
He pulled up his balance.
[Aether: 84]
He groaned and slumped back against the wall. "Eighty-four. So freaking close to a hundred."
His voice echoed faintly in the small room. The air smelled like old ramen cups and cheap detergent.
"How does this system even calculate that?" Nash muttered. "Is it based on how strong the supernatural is, or how much they scream before they die?"
There was no answer, only the quiet hum of the ceiling fan.
He scratched his hair and sighed. "Guess Hina really has to capture another one."
He looked toward the cracked window. Outside, the neon glow of the city pulsed in the distance like a heartbeat.
Nash leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Nash then contacted Hina through their mind "I'm so sorry Hina but it's not enough, you'll have to capture another one." he said softly. "I hope your doing alright."
Hina then replied "Got it Nash and there's another to sorry about."
"Thank you Hina."
Nash brought up her status tab.
[Hina – Active]
[Connection: Stable]
A faint smile tugged at his lips. "She'll be fine. She's tougher than I am."
Then his smile faded. "Still... I can't keep relying on her forever. I need to get stronger."
He closed the interface and lay down, the bed springs squealing beneath him. The sound of rain began tapping against the window. Slowly, his eyes closed, though his mind refused to rest.
---
In the forest, miles away...
Hina sprinted across the moss-covered ground, chains clinking lightly with each step. The forest was darker tonight, the mist thicker than usual. Even the moonlight seemed to avoid this part of the woods.
"I just need to capture another one," she muttered under her breath. "but It's been three days already."
Her voice was low, almost human, but with an eerie, hollow undertone, as though her words echoed slightly out of sync with reality.
Branches brushed against her porcelain-like skin as she moved through the dense foliage. Her crimson eyes glowed faintly, cutting through the fog.
Hours passed. Every creature in the forest seemed to sense her presence and flee before she could even approach. The silence stretched endlessly, broken only by the whisper of her chains.
Then, faintly, she heard something.
A sound.
It wasn't the rustle of leaves or the howl of distant beasts. It was a vibration, deep, rhythmic, faintly metallic.
Her head turned sharply toward it.
"What is that...?"
She slowed her pace and began to move carefully, her body lowering instinctively into a stalking stance. Her bare feet made no sound on the damp soil.
Soon, she saw it.
A cave.
It yawned open at the base of a hill, framed by jagged stones and thick vines. A rusted sign hung from a crooked pole nearby, barely legible under the grime and moss.
DANGER – ABANDONED MINING TUNNEL
Hina tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing. The vibrations were stronger now, pulsing faintly from within the cave.
She took a cautious step closer.
The air that drifted out was cold and stale, carrying a faint metallic scent, like rust and old blood.
She whispered to herself, "There's something inside."
Her instincts screamed danger, but she felt excitement too. Finally, a chance to capture another supernatural.
Chains began to slide out from the seams in her arms and back, their faint crimson glow illuminating the cave entrance. The light flickered against the stone walls, casting ghostly shadows.
She entered.
The air grew heavier with each step. The tunnel branched off in multiple directions, twisting and turning like a maze. Every corridor looked the same, broken rail tracks, shattered lanterns, and old wooden beams that creaked under unseen pressure.
To avoid getting lost, Hina dragged one glowing chain along the wall, leaving behind faint scorch marks as a trail.
She walked for what felt like an hour.
Then, she froze.
A scream tore through the darkness.
It wasn't just loud, it was bone-shaking. A sound so raw and powerful that even the stone around her seemed to tremble.
The air rippled from the sheer force of it.
If she had been human, her ears would have burst instantly.
Her crimson eyes flared as her head snapped toward the direction of the sound.
"So there is a supernatural here."
Her voice was calm, but her expression was fierce.
The scream echoed again, closer this time. It was a wail full of agony and hate, something not meant to come from any mortal throat.
She began moving toward it.
The tunnel walls shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Ahead, she saw movement, something massive shifting in the shadows.
She stopped behind a fallen pillar and peeked around it.
What she saw made even her stop.
A creature crawled along the tunnel floor, long and pale, its skin stretched thinly over a skeletal frame. Its body moved like liquid, each motion jerking and snapping, as if strings pulled it from above.
Its face was the worst part, a warped, bat-like head with no nose and too many eyes, all glowing faintly blue. Its mouth opened slowly, and a trembling sob escaped its throat.
It wasn't an animal's cry. It sounded like a person weeping.
Hina whispered under her breath, "What... are you?"
The creature's head jerked upward.
It sniffed the air, its glowing ribs expanding and contracting with a slow, ghostly rhythm.
Hina didn't move.
She could feel its presence pressing against her senses. It wasn't just watching her, it was listening. Every drop of moisture, every soft breath, every twitch of muscle, it could hear them all.
Suddenly, the creature screamed again. The cave walls vibrated violently, cracks splitting through stone.
Hina clenched her fists. The sound was powerful enough to paralyze a human instantly, but she felt only a mild tremor run through her body.
When the scream stopped, the creature began to move, faster now, crawling through the tunnels like a spider, its limbs slapping against the stone in rhythmic horror.
It was hunting something.
But not her.
Hina narrowed her eyes. "Another one?"
A low rumble spread through the cave, and dust rained down from above.
The ground beneath her feet quivered. A strange melody began echoing faintly from the depths, like hundreds of whispers murmuring her name in voices that weren't her own.
The air shimmered faintly.
A second presence appeared.
This one wasn't crawling, it was gliding.
The air grew colder as light refracted along the walls. For a brief moment, Hina saw the shape of something vast slithering through the air like glass come alive.
She stepped back slightly. "Another supernatural..."
Her voice was quiet, almost reverent.
The translucent serpent coiled in the darkness, its eyes two voids of endless black. Each vibration of sound revealed its shape for only a heartbeat before it vanished again.
The first creature, the pale bat-like horror screeched at it, baring its teeth.
The serpent's body rippled, almost invisible. Then, the cave exploded with sound.
The two monsters collided.
The serpent's body smashed into the ground with a sound like shattering crystal, while the pale creature leapt, claws raking through the air. The shockwave sent fragments of rock flying.
Hina raised her arm to shield herself, eyes wide in fascination.
"They're fighting each other..." she whispered.
The serpent's form shimmered, bending light as it lunged, its fangs sinking into the pale creature's shoulder. The bat-like thing screamed, its body flickering between solid and incorporeal, before slamming the serpent against the wall.
The sound was deafening.
Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling. The air is filled with dust and echoes.
Hina's hair flowed wildly in the wind pressure, her crimson eyes glowing brighter. "This... is insane."
The serpent released a soundless roar, its body glowing with hundreds of faint veins of ore-like light. Then, a wave of compressed sound burst from its form. The shockwave slammed into the bat creature, sending it crashing into a collapsed section of the tunnel.
Both vanished into the deeper dark, leaving only silence behind.
Hina stood there for a long moment, chains rattling faintly.
Her lips curved into a small, wicked smile. "Perfect. I'll kill them both when they're at their weakest."
The cave trembled again in the distance, followed by another bone-rattling shriek.
And in that trembling dark, the red glow of her chains flared brighter as she began to move.