Turning the suspected Essence Shard over in his hand, Aaron's resolve to uncover its secrets grew stronger.
Although it was clear that Maria believed the buyer in the story had simply used it as an excuse to kill Kevin, Aaron's intuition told him that the buyer's words might have been true.
'For the buyer to place such importance on this thing, it ought to be valuable. After all, anyone who can afford to buy a complete monster corpse must either be wealthy or an Ascendant.'
Recalling how the shard had reacted to his Soul Thread before, he decided to conduct an experiment. Holding the shard in his left hand to make sure that nothing went awry, he activated his ability.
He didn't choose to use the Soul Thread, though, but instead summoned the Phantom Minion.
Under his call, a white mist flowed out of his body, quickly falling to the ground before transforming into a translucent figure.
'No matter how many times I see it, it still feels magical.', Aaron sighed, though most of his attention remained on the shard in his hand.
Unfortunately, unlike what he expected, the shard showed no reaction.
He controlled the Phantom Minion to get closer, hoping to see a change, but even when the shard touched it, nothing happened.
'Was I mistaken? Why does it react to the Soul Thread but not the Phantom Minion?'
Recalling the Phantom Minion, Aaron activated Shadow Veil, but the results were the same. The Essence Shard remained unmoved.
'Is it because the Soul Thread ability itself is special?'
Aaron thought for a while and could only arrive at this conclusion. Though strange at first, it actually made sense upon further thought.
The Soul Thread ability might have looked simple and was neither as grandiose as summoning a minion nor as cool as walking in the shadows, but it was likely the core ability of the Soulweaver Class.
After all, even the Phantom Minion ability could only be activated after the Soul Thread had devoured an enemy's soul.
For a moment, Aaron hesitated over whether to continue experimenting. He knew that he could only find the truth of the shard by using the Soul Thread, but it might also be dangerous.
After several seconds of thought, he finally gritted his teeth and decided to go through with it.
'Anyway, what's the worst that could happen? Is it possible I'll die?", he muttered, trying to convince himself. Having made up his mind, he no longer hesitated.
A Soul Thread appeared in his right hand, and holding the shard with the other, he slowly brought them together.
The Essence Shard's vibrations grew more and more intense until finally, Aaron could no longer hold it still.
His grip loosened, and the shard flew out of his hand, landing beside the blue thread. The golden veins on its surface writhed violently, like hundreds of tiny worms, before shooting toward the blue thread and merging with it.
As if it had received a tonic, the blue thread began lashing around, hitting the walls, table, and even the mirror, leaving imperceptible cuts behind.
The scene looked terrifying, like a tentacled monster that had gone berserk.
Fortunately, Aaron was not there to witness it. The moment the golden veins touched the Soul Thread, his vision went dark, and he lost consciousness.
**
Aaron had a dream. He dreamed that he had become a monster. Or to be more accurate, a rat monster.
He didn't know how he came to be, only that he had been alone in the wilderness since the first moment he could remember.
Perhaps by luck, or for some unknown reason, there weren't many monsters nearby. So, despite his initial weakness, he managed to survive.
Every day, he wandered the wasteland, devouring everything in his path. This was true whether they were trees, grass, animals, or even other monsters.
In doing so, he felt himself growing stronger, as if he were the incarnation of destruction.
Time quickly went by. His days passed without meaning until he one day sensed a movement in the distance.
He could recognize its source; it was a human.
Acting on his instinct, he rushed toward it and found a lone human. Though Aaron had seen many humans before, due to his bad eyesight, their appearances always appeared vague and indescribable to him.
However, this didn't matter to him. As always, he lunged forward, seeking to kill this human who dared to leave the City in just one hit.
But to his surprise, the human dodged. Not only that, but shortly after, they vanished.
Confused, Aaron scanned his surroundings. Then, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
He raised his claws to defend, following his intuition, but a sharp object suddenly pierced his head. Countless tiny fragments soon followed, embedding directly onto his skull.
'Am I dying?', Aaron thought as he felt his life passing away. He wanted to struggle and try to save himself, but his body no longer responded.
'Am I dying again?'
This inexplicable thought startled him.
'What do I mean, again? Have I died before?'
The question seemed to have activated something deep within him, causing the world around him to freeze, as if someone had pressed the pause button.
'Who am I? A monster? No, no! I remember! I'm a human! I'm Aaron!'
The moment that realization hit his mind, the world around Aaron began breaking off, like a shattered mirror. Fragments began falling from the sky as the darkness consumed everything below.
The scene in front of him crumbled.
When his vision cleared, he was back in his decayed, dusty room.
At the same time, a series of messages flickered before his eyes.
[Detected that the Ascendant has come into contact with an Essence Shard...]
[Activating the Soul Resonance module... Complete.]
[Analyzing Ascendant condition... Error. Error! Retrying...]
[...]
[Ding! The process has been completed!]