chapter 3
1082 Words
The forest was not silent. It breathed. With every step Ares took, the ancient trees seemed to lean closer, their silver bark shimmering like obsidian in the dim, violet light. The spectral Forest Rat, his first "Soul," moved silently at his feet, its translucent paws making no sound on the damp, mossy ground.
Ares kept his senses sharp. He had learned one thing about Aethelgard in the last hour: the environment was as much an enemy as the monsters.
[System Notification: You are entering a 'Hazard Zone'. Spawn rate of hostile entities increased by 40%.]
"Great," Ares muttered, his voice barely a whisper. "Just what I needed."
He checked the quest timer in the corner of his vision: [01:14:22 remaining]. He had roughly an hour left to reach the Forgotten Ruins. If he failed, the penalty would be a "Weakened" debuff, which, in a world where death was permanent, was essentially a death sentence.
Suddenly, his spectral rat stopped. Its glowing red eyes fixed on a thick patch of fog to their left. The hair on the back of Ares’s neck stood up. He didn't wait for a prompt; he ducked behind a massive, calcified root.
From the fog emerged a creature that looked like a cross between a wolf and a shadow. It was lean, its fur a shifting dark gray that blended into the mist, and it moved with a predatory grace that made Ares’s heart skip a beat.
[Target Identified: Shadow-Stalker (Lvl 4)]
[Danger Level: High]
It was four levels above him. Ares knew he couldn't win a straight fight. If he tried to use his basic starter blade, he’d be shredded in seconds.
Think, Ares. Think.
The Shadow-Stalker sniffed the air, its ears twitching. It was hunting. Ares looked at his spectral rat, then at the creature. An idea began to form. He wasn't just a fighter; he was a 'Soul Summoner.' His strength didn't lie in his sword, but in his ability to manipulate the essence of the fallen.
He grabbed a loose stone and threw it to his right, deep into the brush.
Clack.
The Shadow-Stalker snapped its head toward the sound, its eyes narrowing. In that split second of distraction, Ares commanded the spectral rat: "Charge."
The translucent rat dashed out from behind the root, screeching. The Shadow-Stalker hissed, lunging at the distraction. But the rat was intangible, its teeth passing through the wolf's neck without dealing damage. However, the momentary chaos was enough.
Ares leaped from his cover, not at the wolf, but at the shadows surrounding it. He thrust his hand forward, weaving his energy into the air.
"I've got you," he hissed.
He didn't try to kill the beast; he tried to bind it. He channeled every ounce of his mana into the connection. The blue energy erupted from his fingertips, forming chains of light that wrapped around the Shadow-Stalker’s feet. The creature yelped, thrashing against the spectral restraints.
[Skill: Soul-Tether (Partial) activated!]
The wolf resisted, its dark aura fighting back against Ares’s blue flames. Ares felt his own life force draining away. His vision started to blur at the edges—the cost of overusing his mana.
"Not... today!" Ares roared, pushing himself to the limit.
He didn't just need to bind it; he needed to break its spirit. He forced his energy to mimic the wolf’s own aggressive frequency, subduing its will from the inside out. With a final, explosive surge of blue light, the wolf let out a submissive whimper and collapsed.
[Warning: User Mana at 5%. Emergency shutdown imminent.]
Ares fell to his knees, gasping for air. The Shadow-Stalker stood before him, its form flickering. It was now under his control, but the toll on his body was immense.
[Congratulations! You have successfully subjugated a Shadow-Stalker (Lvl 4).]
[New Soul Acquired: Shadow-Stalker.]
[XP Gained: 250.]
[Level Up! You are now Level 4.]
Ares lay on the damp grass for a long time, letting his mana regenerate. The forest seemed quieter now. He had leveled up twice in one encounter, but he realized the terrifying truth: the further he went, the more he would have to sacrifice to get stronger.
He pulled up his status screen.
[Ares - Lvl 4]
[Class: Soul Summoner]
[Souls: Forest Rat (Common), Shadow-Stalker (Elite)]
He stood up, his legs still shaking. He looked at the Shadow-Stalker standing by his side, its dark form now emitting a faint blue glow—a mark of his ownership. He wasn't just a player anymore. He was becoming something else. Something the architect of this game hadn't anticipated.
He glanced at the timer: [00:45:10].
"Let's go," he commanded. The Shadow-Stalker leaped ahead, its speed far greater than his own.
As they neared the entrance of the Forgotten Ruins, the trees parted to reveal a massive, crumbling stone gate covered in ancient, glowing runes. Standing at the gate were two other players—a hulking guy with a giant shield and a girl with dual daggers. They looked exhausted, battered, and on the verge of collapse.
Ares emerged from the fog, his spectral wolf trailing behind him like a dark omen. The two players froze, their eyes widening in shock. They weren't looking at him; they were staring at the beast by his side.
"Who... who are you?" the guy with the shield stammered, raising his weapon defensively.
Ares didn't stop walking. He kept his eyes locked on the gate. "Someone who wants to live," he replied coldly. "Are you going to step aside, or do I have to make you?"
The tension in the air was thick enough to cut. The girl’s hand tightened on her daggers, but when she saw the glowing blue eyes of the Shadow-Stalker, she took a cautious step back.
Ares reached the gate. This was the point of no return. Beyond these doors, the real terror of Aethelgard awaited.
"Together," he said, surprising even himself. He wasn't usually the type to team up, but he knew they wouldn't survive the first room alone. "We enter together."
The gates groaned as they pushed them open. Inside, it wasn't just dark—it was alive. A thousand eyes opened in the shadows of the ruins, all fixed on them.
The test had just become a nightmare.
- Writer
