A sudden sound pierced the silence of the forest.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
"Well done… well done," a voice called out, eerily unfamiliar, yet brimming with smug amusement.
Kastis turned, eyes narrowing. A tiny will-o'-wisp shimmered forward, its form a gently flickering orb of pale cerulean flame that drifted through the mist like a curious child.
"…Valerian?" Kastis said, trying and failing to suppress a chuckle. "You're… You're so damn cute like this and was the clapping sound made from your mouth."
The will-o'-wisp flared in annoyance and Kastis could have sworn it turned a light shade of red. "I liked it better when you were depressed and suffering like a few days ago," Valerian snapped. "Did the sadness crack you?"
Kastis froze mid-laugh, his smile faltering. "…Maybe a little."
Valerian's tone shifted, suddenly alert. "Wait… now that you've advanced… Oh, what the…" His voice cracked, not from fear, but from unfiltered shock. "You have multiple Pathway Sequences?!"
Kastis exhaled sharply. His expression turned serious. "Yes. I encountered a vision and a door through my skills and attributes. I'm one hundred percent sure it was Lord Unknown himself. He gave me… this."
"You. You actually met Lord Unknown?!" Valerian's pitch jumped three octaves into something that could only be described as full-blown fangirling. The mist around him trembled with his excitement.
"Yeah. Now stop squealing and tell me what you're doing out here, in the open, instead of brooding in your cave like the cryptic bas**rd you are." Kastis folded his arms, half-smirking.
Valerian coughed, his voice regaining its usual dry sarcasm. "I wasn't squealing. That was tactical vocal modulation. Anyway, I came to form a contract with you."
"A contract? Why?"
"Because, frankly," Valerian said, deadpan, "I want to get the hell off this forsaken plot of land. But more importantly, I can help you. I carry fragmented memories. Echoes from hundreds of lives. Fighters, scholars, madmen, and prophets. All tangled up in me like a cosmic migraine."
He hovered closer, flickering with urgency.
"Please."
"Please."
"Please."
Kastis stared at him. "…Fine. How does it work?"
Valerian perked up instantly. Smugness returned. "According to my ancient knowledge, and by ancient I mean vaguely remembered, we'll need physical contact. Place your palm on me and pour in your soul energy."
Kastis stepped forward without hesitation. The mist swirled with a subtle pull as he extended his hand and pressed it against the glowing wisp.
Power flowed from him. Soul Essence, thick and potent like molten light.
The will-o'-wisp quivered, then began to shift.
It contorted violently, mutating into countless shapes in rapid succession. A bird. A mask. A chained eye. A twisting helix of flame. And finally, it settled into something awe-inspiring.
A creature stood before Kastis.
A hybrid beast. Part wolf, part lion. Its majestic form is composed entirely of endlessly churning sapphire mist. Its mane billowed like smoke trailing the void. Its eyes glowed like twin constellations lost to time.
It radiated presence. Arrogant. Magnificent. Unreal.
"Ooooh, ooooh, ooooh. I look majestic as f*ck, don't I?" the creature preened. "You may now address me as The Most Majestic Beast."
Kastis stared blankly.
Valerian, unfazed by the silence, continued, "Now that the contract's stabilized and my new form is complete, I will begin the ritual to summon Dad."
"No," Kastis said immediately, his tone as dry as cracked stone. "You will not call me Dad."
"Whatever, killjoy. Still, I'm reborn. You need to give me a new name. One that suits my elevated status."
After a pause, Kastis finally murmured, "…Valer. Just Valer."
Valer blinked once, then burst out, "Ooooooow, I love it."
Before Kastis could react, Valer surged forward and plunged into his chest.
A pulse of cold went through him. Like being submerged in forgotten memories.
"What the hell was that?!" Kastis gasped, stumbling back.
"Shut up," Valer's voice echoed in his mind, laced with mischief. "Now take off your shirt."
Kastis hesitated, but curiosity got the better of him. He pulled off his tattered top and stared at the mirrorlike pond beside him.
Etched across his back, from shoulder to spine, was a shifting, ethereal tattoo. It depicted Valer's true form, slinking across his skin, coiled like a phantom guardian ready to strike.
"…That looks insane. Does it stay?"
"Only while I'm inside you," Valer replied. "It vanishes the moment I separate. As for whether I enhance your abilities while riding shotgun…" He paused, his voice thoughtful. "I guess we'll find out. But first, we need to return to the cave."
Kastis turned toward the pond.
As he stepped forward, the surface split and surged around him with an unnatural calm, welcoming him like an old friend. Mist curled around his ankles, clinging to him like forgotten prayers. The water didn't ripple. It yielded.
He descended into the depths without fear, swallowed by pale blue mist and the echo of things not yet named.
The pond closed behind him. Only life remained behind. A pulsing, shapeless form on the pond.
And the cave awaited.
…
As Kastis descended into the pond's crystalline depths, time seemed to stretch thin. The water was clear, almost too clear, yet it pulsed with a vibrant blue hue that made it feel alive. Sunlight filtered through the surface above, scattering into golden fragments that danced like spirits across his skin. Tiny translucent creatures darted through the water, brushing against him like curious thoughts.
He felt no need to breathe. In that moment, Kastis was no longer separate from the world around him. He was the water silent, drifting, untethered.
At last, his feet brushed against the pond's floor. Smooth stones, dusted with glimmering silt, gave way beneath him as he spotted a hole in the earth, quietly swirling with red-tinged mist.
"There it is," Valer's voice echoed in his mind, comically serious but oddly distant. "The entrance to the cave. You must hurry along… Dad."
Kastis narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He stepped forward, the floor crunching beneath his boots as iridescent shells cracked underfoot. The air around the hole distorted, like heat rising off scorched metal. The mist reached up as if eager to swallow him whole.
Then came the falling.
There was no transition. One moment he stood. Next, his vision dissolved into a cascade of shifting fog. It clung to his skin and invaded his thoughts. He fell not through space, but through sensation itself weightless, thoughtless, unmoored from all things.
Time lost meaning.
Eventually, after what felt like both seconds and centuries, Kastis touched ground again. His knees buckled. Mist slid off his limbs like silk. He blinked as his surroundings began to crystallize. His iris dilated in awe.
He had entered a place untouched by time.
Obsidian walls surrounded him ancient, monolithic, and veined with strange silver patterns that seemed to move when unobserved. Etchings lined every surface. Words in forgotten languages. Symbols without meaning. Fragments of something older than memory.
"What do you see? What do you see?" Valer's voice came again, urgent with childlike anticipation. "Tell me, please, Dad."
Kastis tried. He opened his mouth and described what he could, but the truth was he couldn't understand any of it. Not yet.
There was silence, then Valer sighed and changed the subject.
"Okay, fine. I want you to go to that door."
Kastis frowned. "If you can't see, how do you know there's a door?"
"Ugh. Don't be stupid," Valer groaned with a dramatic sniffle. "I've felt around this place for, like, a hundred years. I know it better than anyone. Just go through the door, my dad."
Suppressing a sigh, Kastis walked forward. The wall ahead was strange it protruded slightly, but the moment he stepped near, it began to shimmer. The ancient text across its surface seemed to unravel, dissipating into red mist before folding inward. The door revealed itself not by opening, but by ceasing to be.
Without hesitation, he stepped through.
Mist poured over him like a second skin. It coiled around his ankles and licked at his clothes. Every step down the corridor sounded muted, like walking through the memory of a dream. The hallway was narrow and dark, yet it breathed. The mist pulsed with something deeper than life's intention.
Eventually, a faint glow appeared ahead. Not a room. A chamber.
It radiated the feeling of an ending, or perhaps a beginning. A paradox carved into stone.
Light spilled from the chamber's ceiling through a jagged hole above. Water streamed down from it but it didn't fall. As it descended, the liquid fractured into vapor, becoming luminous mist that drifted in twin spirals to either side of the room.
Kastis stepped forward cautiously. The ground below his feet felt strangely soft, yet solid. As if the mist had been compacted into something corporeal. He felt no resistance, only subtle pressure, like walking across the surface of a frozen cloud.
Then, the light shifted. The invisible sun above reached its zenith, and a single beam of radiance struck a pedestal at the center of the chamber.
And there it was.
The mask.
It rested silently, awaiting him.
A black demonoid visage forged not of metal, but of something deeper. Mist, hardened by desire. Shadows, condensed by will. The mask devoured the light that touched it. Not absorbed, devoured. Its shape pulsed faintly, as though breathing.
Kastis froze.
His heart thudded once. Then again. Then everything slowed.
His voice was barely a whisper.
"…That… that is Lord Unknown's mask."
The words left his mouth, but he did not understand their weight.
Something inside him stirred.
Something forgotten.
Something hungry.