The mist of Mournveil grew thicker the farther they walked. It wrapped around the streets like a living thing, whispering soft, broken words.
"Shhh... fear... feed... grow..."
Kean followed behind Jerni, his boots wet from the drenched, cold stone ground. The strange creature that floated beside her kept making sounds like puff... puff... puff..., almost like it was breathing.
He didn't know where they were going, but every step pulled him deeper into a world that felt both beautiful and terrifying.
"Stay close," Jerni said without looking back. "Mournveil's street shifts when the fog grows. If you get lost, you might never find your way out."
Kean nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I noticed. It feels... alive."
"It is," she said simply. "Everything here breathes. The city was built from fear. Every building, every path, every weapon, born from what people felt when they died."
Kean stayed quiet. The more he heard, the more he realized how fragile this place was. Everything ran on sadness and fear, like a machine powered by pain.
They reached an old gate of black iron. It was covered in symbols that shimmered faintly whenever the fog touched them.
Above the gate were the words: The Wailing Quarter
Inside, faint voices echoed. Some sounded like prayers. Others like cries. Kean felt his skin crawl.
"What is this place?"
"It's where new warriors are trained," Jerni said. "And where the broken ones rest."
When they entered, Kean saw rows of stone statues shaped like soldiers, each holding a weapon close to their chest. But when he looked closer, he realized they weren't statues. They were people, frozen mid-breath, their faces stuck between pain and peace.
He stepped closer. "Are they... alive?"
"Some are," Jerni answered softly. "They tried to control more fear than they could handle. When your emotions overflow, your body turns to stone until you calm your soul."
Kean felt his chest tighten. "That's... horrible."
She gave a sad smile. "It's the price of power. Here, nothing comes free."
They reached a courtyard lit by lanterns floating in the air. The flames inside were blue, and the light made everything look like a dream. A group of young warriors stood in the center, training. They fought shadow-like creatures that crawled out of the black circles on the ground.
Kean watched as one of the trainees screamed in fear, and suddenly, his blade grew longer, sharper. The moment his fear rose, so did his strength.
Jerni noticed his surprise. "Fear fuels everything," she said. "It makes you faster, stronger. But it also feeds the Abyss. If you lose control, you don't come back."
Kean whispered, "So everyone here fights using their fear...?"
"Yes," she said. "We call it Ethereal Energy. The more you feel, the more real you become."
A loud explosion echoed through the courtyard.
*BOOM!*
A trainee fell backward, his weapon breaking apart into dust. His partner ran to help, but the boy's body started glowing dark blue.
"Oh no," Jerni muttered. Smoke rose close to Jerni's hand, and it formed into her dark scythe.
"What's happening?" Kean asked quickly.
"He's losing control!"
The boy screamed, and his shadow stretched across the ground, twisting and forming a face. The shadow grew taller, darker, its mouth opening wide with a screech.
*SCREEEEEEEE!*
The other warriors backed away. Some raised weapons, but fear made them freeze. Kean's heart raced. The scene felt too familiar, like a glitch inside one of his horror games. Without thinking, he stepped forward.
"Wait, what do you think you're doing?!" Jerni shouted as she tried to chase Kean, but was stopped by her mist beast.
Kean closed his eyes and focused. He imagined the courtyard turning into something else, something structured and controllable. His mind drew walls, barriers, symbols of control.
A blue light flashed. The air around him changed. The ground beneath everyone turned into stone tiles again, his tiles, his world.
Jerni looked around in shock. "You... changed the environment again?"
The shadow creature hissed and lunged toward Kean, but before it could reach him, Jerni quickly moved and blocked the attack of the shadow creature using her scythe, then spikes of blue energy rose from the floor.
*CRASH!*
The monster screamed, trapped. Kean opened his eyes, sweat dripping down his face. "Stay calm!" he yelled. "Don't fight your fear! Focus on it!"
The trainees listened. They aimed their fear at the shadow, turning it into fire, blades, and wind. Within moments, the creature shattered into black dust.
*FWOOSH!*
Silence followed. Only the sound of ragged breathing remained. Jerni approached Kean, her blue eyes glowing faintly. As she got closer to Kean, she slapped him hard, making him fall back to the ground.
"You idiot! That was a risky move! You could have died with one wrong move." Kean could only stare at Jerni with a surprised look as he touched his stinging cheek.
He saw her tired eyes, as if she's done losing comrades. Jerni took a deep breath, finally calming down. She crouched down to be at his level.
"I'm sorry... If this goes out, the Nightborne Oath will hunt you down. Especially now that it's confirmed you're a Spirit Architect, people like you can bend reality like that."
He frowned. "Spirit Architect?"
She nodded. "Builders of emotion. They shape the world with their feelings. Most died long ago when the Abyss first opened."
"So... I'm one of them?"
"Maybe. Or maybe something worse," she said, studying him. "You didn't build that world from sadness or anger. You built it from logic. Design."
Kean stared at his hands, trembling. "That's... how I always worked. I was a game designer. I built systems to control chaos."
Jerni looked impressed and a little afraid. "Then your mind is dangerous in this world. You can make things real just by thinking them through."
They left the courtyard quickly after Jerni made sure the new young spirit warriors would not utter a single word about Kean's power. They entered a hall made of glass and steel. Inside were shelves filled with glowing stones, each one pulsing softly.
Kean stopped to look. "What are these?"
"Memory shards," Jerni explained. "Fear made solid. When a person faces death, their strongest emotions become crystals. We use them to make weapons or energy."
Hearing from Jerni, Kean remembered Jerni's weapon. "Then... you're weapon was made of-" Kean didn't finish when he saw Jerni's sudden change of presence.
Jerni took a deep breath and looked at Kean. "It's my deceased lover's despair."
She picked one up. Inside the shard, Kean saw an image, a man crying as he held someone dying in his arms. The light flickered with every heartbeat.
He shivered. "That's... too real."
"It is real," Jerni said quietly. "Every shard is someone's story."
Kean was quickly silenced, but Jerni continued to speak. "My parents... they didn't approve of my relationship with my deceased lover. They force us to be apart, and so we did. Despite still yearning for each other, he chose to marry someone else and had a family to forget me. Years later, when I was still training to become a spirit warrior, I found out they were in great danger. I came running to rescue them, but I was too late. When I arrive, only shards of them are left."
She placed the shard back gently. "The Nightborne Oath collects them. They say it's to keep the balance. But sometimes... they destroy shards that are too strong... Like my deceased lover's shard... But I managed to steal it and make it my weapon."
Kean frowned. "Because they're afraid of them?"
"Because they fear what happens when one person holds too much despair," she said. "That kind of power can break the world."
He looked down at his hands again, then at Jerni. "Then you and I are already a danger."
She didn't answer, but her silence said enough.
Later, as they reached an old watchtower overlooking the city, the fog began to glow faintly purple. It was night again. From there, Kean could see all of Mournveil, the endless lights, the mist, the people who traded tears and built homes out of sorrow.
"It's strange," he said softly. "I spent years designing fake worlds for people to feel fear. Now I'm inside one that's built from it."
Jerni folded her arms. "Maybe that's why you're here. To fix what fear has broken."
He turned to her. "Or maybe something wants me to finish the job."
She met his eyes, calm but serious. "If that's true, then you'll have to choose which side of fear you stand on."
The small creature floated between them, letting out a soft purr... For a long time, they stood in silence, watching the mist rise. Then a distant horn blew, echoing through the city.
Jerni's eyes widened. "That's the Nightborne signal. They must have sensed your power."
Kean's stomach dropped. "Already?"
She nodded sharply. "They'll hunt you now. The Architect of Dread isn't supposed to exist."
He clenched his fists. Jerni drew her scythe. Its blade hummed, sharp and cold. "Come on," she said. "If we stay here, they'll find us before dawn."
The fog below seemed to pulse, whispering his name again.
"Kean Riven... The Architect... has returned..."
Kean followed, his heartbeat pounding like thunder. He didn't know where they were going, but one thing was clear. The world wasn't done testing him, and he could only rely on Jerni.
Far beneath the city, deep in the darkness of the Abyss, a figure with glowing white eyes watched through the mist. Its voice slithered across the void.
"The game begins again, Architect... Let's see what kind of world you'll build this time."
The fog swallowed everything.