Ash opened his eyes, slow and careful, leaving the soul space behind.
"Check your soul pool. Mine changed. The cap jumped from three hundred to four hundred."
Kael and Max locked eyes, then shut theirs, reaching inward.
Silence stretched between them.
Then—
Kael's laugh burst out, raw and sharp.
"This is insane! My cap doubled—five thousand to ten thousand!"
Max let out a low breath, a crooked smile pulling at his mouth.
"Almost feels like we gained an extra soul core… just like Ash's."
Kael's grin faded. His head snapped toward Ash, something clicking into place.
"Wait. If you're already at four thousand on Stage One…"
His words trailed off.
Max's face darkened.
"Yeah. His growth is different. Way different. Multiple cores stack harder."
He crossed his arms tight against his chest.
"If he hits Stage Five… his cap could break twenty thousand."
Kael turned fully, staring at Ash like he wasn't sure what he was looking at.
"That's insane. But… wouldn't it take forever to pull in that much soul energy? And your Dark Core—how are you even supposed to use that? We don't have anyone to teach you."
Max nodded.
"He's right. Mom's the only Dark Soulcore wielder we know. And she made it pretty clear she's not teaching you."
Ash's eyes lowered for a second, ignoring the comments they were making about his stuck soul.
"There's more to this upgrade than we thought. Especially when it comes to our soul pool."
The way he said it made the air feel tighter.
Max's brow furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
Ash's jaw tensed.
"My Soul Energy isn't stuck at three hundred. It's already at three thousand, four hundred and thirty."
His voice dropped lower.
"I'm not sure yet… but I think I have a guess why."
The wind whispered through the broken battlefield, tugging at the silence.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"So how?"
Ash looked up, gaze steady. His voice came out heavy.
"From now on… to increase our soul pool, we have to kill. To grow, we must kill. I noticed it during the fight with the Apex Troopers. Every time I killed one, I gained soul energy."
Max's shoulders tensed.
"What?!"
Kael's stare hardened. He didn't blink.
"How can you be sure? Maybe you were absorbing energy while fighting—drawing it in passively."
Ash exhaled, slow and sure.
"You know how hard it is to gather energy. It takes time, focus, especially for someone in a lower stage. But every time I killed an Apex Trooper, the same message popped up—'I gained soul energy.' Over and over."
Max's fists clenched. His eyes shut tight as he reached inward, searching for the familiar pull of energy.
Nothing.
His eyes snapped open.
"Kael… I think he's right. I don't feel anything out here. No ambient soul energy at all. This is bad."
Kael closed his eyes too. He focused. Reached for the flow.
Silence.
Then his jaw tightened. He opened his eyes.
"So… we only grow by killing now?"
Max's fists trembled. His breathing stayed level, but tension rolled off him like heat from a forge.
"Damn. I know we're in a squad where killing's unavoidable, but absorbing ambient energy is how we've always grown. Now we have to kill. That's going to limit us. What—do we just fight every day just to keep up?"
Ash lowered his gaze to the cracked, bloodstained earth.
Soul energy is created when a life ends.
Most people paid elite hunters to kill monsters for them so they could safely absorb the lingering energy. It was clean, Safe, and Simple.
Not anymore. Well for them.
Kael was still quiet, brows drawn in thought. Then he asked,
"Wait… if we were supposed to grow by killing, why didn't I gain anything? My cap didn't budge."
Max blinked.
"Yeah… I didn't get anything either."
Ash looked up sharply.
"Wait—you guys didn't receive any soul energy?"
Max stared at Ash, thoughtful.
"You said some of the troopers gave you energy. Not all?"
Ash nodded slowly.
"Yeah. The message didn't appear every time. Only from a few kills."
Max rubbed his temples. Silence stretched. Then his eyes snapped open.
"Wait… Ash, you can kill Stage Two users without even trying, right?"
Ash tilted his head, confused by the question.
"Well… yeah. With my Tier Five body and speed, they weren't hard to take down."
Max let out a long breath.
"Okay. I think I figured it out."
Both Kael and Ash turned to him.
"I thought something was off. I've been killing enemies too, but my soul pool hasn't moved at all. Neither has Kael's. But you gained energy. So I started thinking—maybe it's not about the type of person we kill… but their stage compared to ours."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Soul Stage? What does that have to do with energy gain?"
Max sighed.
"You might not like what I'm about to say. But think about it—Kael, you're Tier Six. Ash is Tier Five. I'm Tier Two. If this was about vessel tier, then one of us should have gotten something. But we didn't. Only Ash did."
Ash blinked.
"So… what does that mean?"
Max nodded, eyes sharp.
"It means you can only gain soul energy by killing someone who's a higher Soul Stage than you."
Kael frowned.
"Wait—what?"
Max turned toward him.
"You're Soul Stage Five. I'm Stage Four. The Apex Troopers we fought were mostly Stage One, Two, or Three. Since they were below us, we didn't get anything. But Ash? He's still in Stage One. So almost everyone he killed was above him."
Ash's breath caught.
"That's why I got energy. Not because I'm different—but because I'm weaker."
Max nodded grimly.
"Exactly. The weaker you are, the more you gain. The stronger you are… the less that door stays open."
Kael muttered under his breath.
"So the only way we can grow… is by fighting enemies stronger than us?"
Max nodded again, his jaw clenched.
The brothers tried to process the weight of this new truth.
Silence pressed around them, thick and dry. You could hear the sand shift beneath their boots.
Ash looked at his brothers. Their heads still hung low. He exhaled, slow and tired.
"Sometimes, I wonder if this change is a blessing or a curse."
Kael scoffed, his jaw grinding tight. His eyes lifted to the torn sky.
"It's a curse. No question."
His voice was a low simmer, a storm barely contained.
"How the hell am I supposed to surpass Dad if the only way to grow my soul pool is through killing powerful creatures? Of course, I love battle—but I know my limit."
Max shifted his weight. His gaze moved between them before he cracked a small, crooked grin.
"You? Surpass Dad? Come on. That's impossible. He's already at the Seventh Stage. And you think he's gonna wait around for you to catch up?"
Kael's expression darkened. The humor didn't stick.
"Yeah... he probably won't. And now, with this curse, I never will. Maybe I'll make it to the Sixth Stage. But killing... that's asking too much."
Max crossed his arms and let out a long sigh.
"We'll figure it out. I'll dig through the archives when we get back. There's gotta be something—anything."
Kael barely heard him. His eyes were already scanning the broken ruins around them. His brows pinched in thought. Then he froze.
"Wait... this place—"
Max followed his gaze. His expression shifted, recognition flickering across his face.
"Yeah, It's Cinderholt. Hard to believe, right? The blast reached even here. Just shows how terrifying Dad really is."
Ash turned slowly, taking in the jagged remains of the world around them. His pulse quickened.
"If you recognize this place, then there's a way back—right?"
Both he and Kael turned to Max, waiting for an answer.
Max rubbed his temple, frustration tightening his brow.
"Yeah... but the explosion was massive. I don't know exactly where we landed. After the incident, settlements popped up all over this region. The whole place shifted."
Ash let out a breath. Heat shimmered off the scorched ground beneath him.
"Good. I'd rather not roast under this damn sun."
Max nodded once, firm.
"If we find a settlement fast enough, we won't have to. I made sure the ship wouldn't land outside the Cinderholt Region—our base should be somewhere around here. But it's going to be a long walk."
Kael snorted.
"Yeah, imagine if we landed in some far-off region or worse, another sector. That would suck."
Max didn't answer.
His eyes lingered on the horizon—a fractured world stretched too far.
"We'd better move. If we find a settlement, getting back will be easier."
Ash rolled his shoulders.
"Yeah. Let's go."
They started forward, but Max raised a hand, halting them.
"Wait."
Ash and Kael turned.
Max's eyes swept the wreckage around them.
"There's a lot of scrap here. We should scavenge."
Kael sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You and your junk obsession…"
Ash glanced down at their torn suits—ragged and barely holding together, even Kael was naked and still) on his shorts.
He exhaled.
"Fine. Let's grab what we can."
They split off—moving through the debris, ducking under twisted beams, boots crunching over ash and scorched steel.
Max moved more slowly. Intent.
A kicked sheet of metal slid aside, and something flickered beneath. He crouched, clearing rubble with quick hands.
Cold metal met his fingers.
A disc—round, smooth, flawless. Not a single mark, despite the devastation around it. Soft lines traced its surface, glowing faintly. Alive. Responding to his touch.
Max's breath slowed.
"…The portal device."
He turned it over.
The lines shifted under his fingers, rearranging themselves like veins of light.
Far beyond anything he'd studied at the Academy.
He whispered under his breath, not even meaning to:
"The mind behind Apex... might be smarter than me."
Kael's voice cut in behind him, dry as ever.
"Not a high bar."
Max ignored it. His grip tightened on the device.
This thing wasn't normal and he needed to look into it.
————
The wasteland stretched forever—blackened ground giving way to broken rock, then shifting to dry, cracked sands. Above them, the sun hung like a hammer, pounding down without mercy.
Of course, the journey hadn't been easy. Along the way, they battled dangerous creatures day and night. Things would've been much worse if Ash and Max were alone, but luckily Kael was with them. Still, fighting in a place where the creatures had already adapted to the heat—some even immune to it—wasn't easy, even for him.
Max stumbled. His knees hit the dirt first, then the rest of him followed with a dull thud. A groan slipped from his lips.
"That's it... I'm done. Just leave me here to rot."
Ash slowed, glancing back. His dark shirt clung to his skin, sleeves pushed up to reveal old scars. The small bag across his chest clattered with bits of Apex tech, the sound sharp in the heavy air.
Kael turned too, a few paces ahead. Dust clung to his gray vest, his boots caked in grime. Arms crossed, he stared down at Max, unimpressed.
"You're the one who insisted we haul all this junk. Now look at you. Slowing us down. This is your fault."
Max groaned again and shoved himself upright. His brown shirt sagged, soaked through with sweat. A strange device hung from his ear, thin wires running along his back, pulsing with weak flickers of light.
He wiped his forehead.
"You two are monsters. I was born with a Tier 2 Vessel, and you guys pulled Tier 5 and Tier 6. How is that even fair?"
Kael rolled his eyes.
"Maybe you traded your power for brains."
Max shot him a glare.
"And you traded your brain for a bigger fireball."
Kael's smirk dropped.
"You know I was only trying to make you feel better. Now I regret it."
Max grinned, breathless.
"So you do have a heart after all."
Kael scoffed.
"Shut up before I drop-kick you."
Ash smiled, stretching his arms behind his head.
"Man, if someone saw us now, they'd never believe we're the same people who tore through an Apex ship four days ago."
Kael snorted.
"Yeah. Look at us. One genius barely holding himself together, one guy hoarding trash, and one who thinks running fast makes him special."
Ash rolled his eyes. Ever since he showed Kael his new speed ability, Kael had been acting strange. The thought that Kael might be jealous of what Ash had almost put a warmth in Ash's heart.
Max pushed himself to his feet, brushing off the dirt.
"If we don't find a settlement soon, I'm trading one of you for a horse."
Ash squinted at the horizon.
Then he froze.
A shadow broke the endless stretch of sand and sky. Not a rock. Not a mirage. Something real.
'A settlement…'
"…I think I see—"
The air shifted.
Something heavy pressed down on them, thick and choking. The ground shuddered, the tremor crawling up their boots. A low, broken rumble rolled through the earth, shaking their bones.
Kael's head snapped up. His hands clenched into fists.
"Huh? What the hell was that?"
Max went still. His eyes dropped to the sand underfoot. A memory—cold and sharp—clawed its way up from deep inside him. His heart slammed against his ribs.
"Guys… I think I know where we are."
Ash and Kael turned to him, the air tense and still.
Max swallowed, his throat dry.
"We're in SandWorms Valley."
Their voices exploded at once.
"What?!"
The ground buckled again. A crack split open nearby, sand pouring into it like water down a drain. Another quake hit—louder this time—a growl that seemed to come from the bones of the earth itself.
Then—silence.
Max didn't wait.
He spun and bolted.
"Run. Now!"
Kael cursed, eyes blazing.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?! You'll lead those things straight to them!"
Max didn't stop. His breathing was rough, but his legs never faltered.
"The fact that place is still standing means someone—or something—strong is in there. And I don't want to wait here to find out."
Kael bit down a sharp curse.
Of course, sandworms were no match for him—especially with his power-up. But this… this was a swarm. And they were in their domain. They ruled the desert. And that was bad.
Kael threw a look at Ash, who hadn't moved an inch.
"Run, you idiot!"
Then he followed Max.
But Ash didn't move.
Something in the distance caught his eye. A heavy pull in his gut pinned him there.
The sand shifted.
A ripple moved across the dunes—fast and wide—as if something massive stirred beneath the surface.
Then—movement.
Worms.
Dozens of them.
Their long bodies churned through the sand, cutting clean paths like blades through water. They surfaced and dove again, circling.
Then they broke free.
Monsters burst from the ground, stone-plated bodies grinding against each other, chunks of earth sliding off their backs. Their spiral jaws opened wide—rings of black teeth snapping at the air. A low hiss rumbled from their throats, thick and ugly.
They weren't just hunting.
They were swarming.
Ash's blood pounded in his ears. His brothers were running. But the worms were faster. Too fast.
They were not going to make it.
'I guess I got no choice but to use it.'
"[Skill: Phantom's Stride]"
Red aura bled out from his skin as the world slowed.
Ash saw every detail—grains of sand floating midair, the flicker of muscles under the monsters' armor, Max's shirt whipping behind him.
Kael was already ahead.
Ash moved.
His hand clamped onto Max's waist.
He surged forward.
His arm hooked around Kael.
The world snapped back.
Air ripped past his face. The dunes blurred into long, golden streaks.
The worms lunged—spiral jaws snapping shut just behind him.
Ash crossed the invisible line that divided the Sandworm Valley from the settlement.
The change was instant.
Solid ground hit his boots. The choking heat vanished, swallowed by a still, heavy air.
Max stumbled beside him. Kael crashed down on one knee, both gasping for breath.
Behind them—
The sandworms halted.
Their monstrous heads loomed over the border. Mouths wide. Frozen like statues. Segmented bodies twitching—leaking small falls of sand through the cracks in their armor.
But they didn't move forward.
They just stared.
Ash stiffened. His fists clenched. The worm's faceless head locked onto him—unmoving and watching.
Then—just as fast as they had come, the beasts twisted and slid back into the dunes.
The earth stopped shaking.
The desert went still.
Ash let out a slow, tight breath. His chest rose and fell, sharp and heavy. His voice cut through the silence—low and wary.
"...What the hell was that?"