Unexpected Reward

A shattering noise pulled my mind out of the darkness, and I found myself standing back in the dimly lit room.

Just a few feet away, Aria and her reflection stood frozen, their wide eyes locked on me in disbelief. Their gazes darted back and forth between me and the headless, fractured, shimmering form of my reflection.

I smiled as the reflection's body collapsed to the ground, turning into silver sand.

"That's what happens, you bastard," I spoke before my own vision turned black, and I fell head-first to the ground, unconscious.

--

A sudden familiar chill forced me out of the darkness.

My eyes shot open as I immediately jumped up on my feet and began assessing my surroundings. I was currently inside our makeshift camp; just feet away from me sat Aria and Tess in front of the campfire, both staring at me with a startled expression on their faces.

Suddenly, it all started coming back to me: the reflection and the memories.

Was I finally out, or was this a memory as well? It didn't seem like it. I didn't remember anything like this ever happening.

"You are finally awake," Aria spoke and stood up from her seat. She tried coming closer in my direction, but I raised my hand and signaled her to stop.

My mind might still be in shambles, but I knew that sudden chill. It had saved my life a bit too many times for me not to recognize that.

"How long have I been unconscious?" I instead asked Aria, all the while looking for anything that might have activated the deadly intuition.

"You have been out for three days," Aria spoke, clearly a bit taken aback by my sudden cautiousness.

"Are you okay? We tried everything we could to wake you up, but you didn't respond." Tess questioned while standing up herself.

I didn't answer. Instead, I dove deep into my soul to check its condition.

It seems a lot better now… a bit too better, in fact. The last I had checked my soul, it had seemed like it had been torn from the center like a washcloth; now, however, the damage seemed to have been fixed…mostly. Everything seemed okay here. Could my damaged soul be the reason why Deadly Intuition went off?

"Why are you acting like that? Is everything okay?" Tess asked this time, prompting me to finally lower my hand.

"It's nothing; I am okay. I just had a crazy night," I answered and slowly sat back on the ground. Even though my soul had been largely healed, my physical body still felt like it had been thrown inside a grinder.

"What happened back there?" Aria approached and sat down beside me. "You just looked in that thing's eyes, and next thing I know, it shattered into pieces while you fell down to the ground unconscious.

"This is the first time I have ever heard of a reflection shattering. Did you really defeat it?"

"I really don't want to talk about it." I took a deep breath and looked at the shut-off window. The sandstorm seemed to still be going on outside; that was good news, at least.

"You should rest; I'll make something for you to eat," Aria said, walking back to the campfire. She then took out some of our supplies and proceeded to cook me some stew.

"You know I really wanted to know how you defeated that thing?" Tess spoke, but I didn't answer. I was too tired for that.

Aria brought me some stew after a while and I checked once more to see if deadly intuition was going to activate.

Thankfully, it didn't. Quickly finishing my unpoisoned food, I walked up to a corner and lay down to rest, closing my eyes. But I didn't go to sleep. There was a good chance that Deadly Intuition might have been activated because of the damage to my soul, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Besides, no one has still told me why Tess had behaved the way she did that night.

With nothing much to do, I instead focused on the series of notifications blaring in my peripheral vision.

--

[Alert: Unknown @%$*&#^@ Detected]

Anomalous essence located in the immediate vicinity.

Do you wish to absorb it?

[Y/N]

Absorbing essence…

Your soul begins to resonate...

Your soul begins to shift...

Your soul begins to evolve...

...

...

[Transformation Complete!]

Your soul has undergone a profound metamorphosis.

New Constitution Acquired: [Seraphic Spirit Constitution]

Possible Effects: Increase in mana density, Increase in mental resilience, Increase in soul's resilience.