Chapter 6: Whispers Beneath the Surface
The nights had grown colder. The city ruins, once bustling with panic and screams, were now eerily quiet. Kai sat beneath the overpass, his eyes fixed on the moonlit stream that cut through the cracked concrete. The Water Goblin stood silently nearby, guarding without orders. It was strange—how natural it felt, having a creature of death and water watching over him.
He raised his hand, pulling a thin thread of water into the air. It shimmered and twisted around his fingers like silk. With every use, the bond deepened. The element listened more clearly now. It moved with his breath, his intent.
But he also felt something else—like a quiet pulse in the distance. Not from the Water Goblin. Not from within himself.
From the element.
The water rippled, though there was no wind.
Kai stood up. "You feel that?"
The Water Goblin turned its head, then nodded.
A presence. Powerful. Familiar.
This wasn't the first time Kai had felt something awaken within the element. Back in Chapter 5, he had learned that his unique power—the Elemental Soul Link—didn't just allow him to summon monsters, but to bond with the very essence of elemental forces that lingered in them. When the Water Element first awakened within him, it had chosen the fallen goblin as its vessel. Now, it seemed to be calling again.
He packed what little gear he had and moved. The Water Goblin followed close. The pull led them to the edge of Sector 7, where the road dipped into what used to be an underground highway—now partially flooded.
Water trickled down broken barriers, collecting into a shallow lake that swallowed the first thirty meters of the tunnel. Moss clung to the walls, and something hissed softly from the darkness.
Kai's breath misted.
The moment his boots touched the water, the surface rippled unnaturally. A voice—not human—echoed from within the tunnel walls. It was not words. It was intention.
**"Prove yourself."**
A wave surged forward, throwing Kai back. The Water Goblin jumped in front, planting its watery form into the stream to block the blast.
From the depth of the tunnel, a monstrous form rose—serpentine, glistening blue, with translucent fins and glowing gills. The Hydrofang Serpent. It towered over them, coiled in silence, its eyes like liquid moonlight.
Kai readied his bow instinctively. It appeared the moment he focused, formed of hardened water and bound by blue soullight—the weapon shaped by his current element.
The serpent struck.
He rolled left, loosing an arrow mid-motion. It sliced the serpent's fin but did no real damage. Water burst upward—**Tidal Slam.** Kai shielded with a wave wall, the Goblin helping channel the flow.
The serpent vanished in mist. Fog thickened, turning sight useless.
"Spread out!" he ordered.
The Goblin flowed into the water, merging with it. Seconds later, it burst out of the ground like a geyser, slamming its blade into the serpent's flank.
Kai took the opening and focused.
**"Soul Link: Sync Shot."**
He fired. The arrow wasn't just water—it was the Goblin's essence mixed with his own. It pierced the serpent's hide, freezing around the entry point and crackling with pressure.
The Hydrofang thrashed. The water around it began to glow.
**"Enough!"** the voice boomed through the flood. The entire tunnel shook as the serpent's coils loosened, and its form began to melt—not from damage, but from choice.
Water rose in a spiral, swirling around Kai's bow.
The Water Element spoke—not aloud, but within him.
**"You've proven your bond. Accept this gift. Strengthen the conduit."**
The water fused into his weapon. The bow shimmered, changing—becoming leaner, faster, sharper. Runic markings of the serpent glowed along the limbs of the bow.
The Goblin knelt beside him, still silent.
Kai exhaled slowly.
He hadn't gained a new summon.
He had evolved.
Before he could leave the flooded tunnel, a voice called from above the surface.
"Kai!"
He turned, spotting two figures descending the rubble-covered stairs that led into the highway. One was a tall girl with short black hair and a light staff slung over her back. The other, a guy with dark gloves and a sheathed blade, watched warily from behind.
"Been looking for you," the girl said, stepping into the ankle-deep water. "Name's Elira. He's Juno. We're from Vanguard Guild. You're hard to track for someone who just made a boss-level dungeon quake."
Kai lowered his bow, eyes narrowing. "You saw that?"
"We felt it," Juno muttered. "And you've got a lot of people asking who you are."
Kai eyed them, uncertain. But something told him this was just the beginning.
**End of Chapter 6**