Chapter 193 189 - Meanwhile

Outside the basin, in the village right over the pass, the night was cold. The chill permeated their bones, keeping people inside their homes, huddled around their fireplaces. There was no one outside, except for two figures walking down the main street.

Arlen clenched his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter under the sheer force he was putting into it. Next to him, Valon walked in silence, almost flinching every time his boss shifted his body.

“I don’t understand why that vessel is so important,” Arlen said, anger simmering in his voice. “I know the mistress never lost one, but it was bound to happen someday. Why can’t she just accept it and cultivate a new one?”

Valon hesitated. “The malediction must be difficult to cast.”

“Of course it is. It’s a malediction. She needs to expend lifeforce to cast it, and a suitable vessel. I get that,” Arlen said. “But it’s nothing a Ruby-rank can’t do.”

“Boss, we shouldn’t—” Valon started, only to stop when he noticed Arlen’s cold gaze locked onto him.

“Do you want to go into the basin on your own?”

“No…”

“I get that she wants to live,” Arlen started. “But I want to live too, and that means not entering a low-level region. Especially when a group of Paladins has already spotted me.”

Valon hesitated, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

“Speak,” Arlen ordered.

“If we don’t, the mistress will kill us herself.”

The Platinum stopped dead in his tracks and sized up his subordinate up and down. “You’re Gold-rank. You’re welcome to go on your own. Who knows, perhaps you won’t end up crushed to smithereens like Marlon.”

“I… Sorry.” Valon looked down. “I’ll listen to you.”

Arlen nodded. “Let’s go. We need to reach the Ardent before the mistress finds us.”

“The— The Ardent? You want to see the apostle?”

Arlen started walking again and didn’t look back. “Low-level regions have been designated by both heroes and apostles. The Ardent won’t stand for the mistress’ orders.” From behind him, Valon saw the corner of his boss’ lips tilt upward. “Me entering the basin would have direct consequences for the Ardent. It’s only natural to warn about her insubordinate Ruby.”

Valon took a deep breath and followed.

*

Speck was full.

There was something new and exciting about this idea. Speck hadn’t known it could be full. Until now.

Speck had spent weeks eating the darkness elemental sources it had gathered from the cultists' trap.

Now there were only three sources left, but no matter what Speck tried, it couldn’t absorb them.

So Speck was full.

It shifted inside Alexandra, moving toward her mouth. It was night. She was sleeping, emitting this loud purring sound she only made when she was unconscious. It slipped out of her and sneaked out of the house.

In Balrum, Speck knew not to attract attention to itself. People didn’t fancy elementals around here. If they did, it was purely business-oriented, and not the kind of business Speck wanted to be a part of.

Speck made its way to the building in the rock that Alexandra and her people had been renovating. On the way in, it spotted Willow working hard on the windows of the first floor. The fool wanted to bring light inside the dark haven: a strange, misguided goal.

But arguing about this wasn’t the reason Speck had come here. Without alerting Willow, it entered the building and climbed down the stairs to the basement. There, even the moonlight couldn’t reach, leaving Speck in the most comfortable environment.

Making itself at home, it took a selection of fine rocks out of its darkness dimension. Not too many: Speck didn’t want to clutter the space. Two hundred and ninety-five rocks would do. It was just enough to have varied shapes, sizes, and types of rocks, while leaving enough space for the rocks Speck could already imagine adding to his collection.

The geological makeup of the basin was sadly lacking. Speck could tell instinctively that its collection was only a fraction of what rockkind was capable of.

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Arranging the collection was a delicate art.

Speck hovered in the dark basement, gently shifting a jagged fragment of granite an inch to the left. Beside it sat a porous piece of pumice, and just beyond that, a remarkably smooth river stone that Speck fancied a lot.

Each rock had a texture, a weight, a story that resonated deeply with Speck.

It nudged a quartz crystal and vibrated with quiet satisfaction.

“Wonderful.”

For the next several hours, time lost all meaning. Speck reorganized the stones by hardness, then by emotional resonance. Then it rearranged them again when a group of sandstone pieces upset it by refusing to listen to its precise instructions.

Those rocks had to learn their place. Speck was the conductor. They were the orchestra following its every whim.

Only when the storage room finally looked presentable did Speck snap out of it and focus on the matter at hand.

Speck was full. It hadn’t known it could be. But now that it was, Speck knew what it meant.

It was time to evolve.

The darkness shifted around Speck as if bowing to its lord.

The basement seemed to hold its breath.

Speck didn’t have lungs, but if it did, it would have taken a deep breath to savor the moment. Since contracting with Alexandra, darkness had been polluted by her light, by the light of the surface, or by the artificial lights those foolish humans insisted on using. But down here, surrounded by two hundred and ninety-five perfectly obedient rocks, the gloom was opaque. Rich, like a heavy soup.

It drifted a few inches above the cold stone floor, its source throbbing with a steady pulse.

Inside Speck, the sheer volume of elemental energy pressed against its outer shell.

The sensation was uncomfortable, like swallowing a rock too large for its darkness dimension—though such a thing was impossible.

“It's. Time.”

Speck pulled.

The three remaining darkness elemental sources collapsed. The darkness bleeding off Speck’s body expanded outward, expanding instantly to coat the basement in a layer of void so absolute that Speck feared for its rocks.

A sound filled the basement, like wind passing through a deep cavern, as every scrap of ambient shadow within the building was dragged toward the center of the room. The darkness reached for Speck, and Speck reached back, opening itself completely.

The dark energy rushed into its source. For a moment, Speck felt as though it might shatter into a thousand useless pebbles. Speck was not a fragile sandstone. Speck was solid like basalt, unbreakable like granite, beautiful like marble.

It squeezed its source, forcing the wild dark mana to condense. Speck commanded the darkness to obey, using the same authority it used on its rock collection.

The dark buckled under its will.

The temperature in the basement plummeted. Frost began to bloom across the stone walls. Speck snapped a strand of shadow outward, carefully insulating its prized rocks behind a protective barrier. A lord protected its subjects.

With its collection safe, Speck surrendered to the darkness.

Its indistinct form dissolved entirely into a cloud of ink. The gloom didn’t surround Speck. Speck was the gloom. It expanded, filling every corner of the basement, tasting the rough texture of the rocks, the damp earth, the silence of the subterranean world. Darkness was everywhere and everything at the same time.

The ink condensed, pulling backward into a single point above the floor. The density grew so thick it bent the air, leaving only a humming void star in the center of the room.

The sound of glass shattering echoed through the dark.

The pressure vanished, replaced by an intoxicating lightness.

From the void star, Speck emerged, greater than ever before.

It felt... different. Denser. Larger, yet somehow more compact.

Speck reached out with its mind, testing its new boundaries. It didn’t need to speak for the darkness to listen. Its senses reached the first floor above, then the streets outside. It felt Willow tilt her head in confusion as her light enchantment flickered under the conceptual weight of darkness.

Pride welled within its source. Speck flexed its new perception, feeling the shadows stretch and bend effortlessly around the room. Every stray stone, every speck of dust in the dark now answered to its call. The orchestra had grown.

“Magnificent,” Speck whispered into the pitch-black room, deeply satisfied with itself.

Now, it just had to go back to Alexandra. She would be pleased. Perhaps enough to take a break from this senseless renovation and take Speck hunting for rocks.

Name: Speck

Class: Darkness Elemental

Rank: Gold

Level: 17 (0/900)

Strength (STR):89

Dexterity (DEX):78

Constitution (CON):100

Intelligence (INT):174

Perception (PER):151

Class Art:

• [Darkness Incarnate] – You are darkness. Darkness belongs to you. Claim it.

Class Perks:

• [One With Darkness] (Gold)

• [Formless] (Silver)

• [Superiority] (Silver)

• [Consume] (Silver)

• [Intangible] (Silver)

General Skills:

• [Rock Connoisseur] (Rare) - 19

• [Shadow Manifestation] (Rare) - 15

• [Darkness Dimension] (Rare) - 5

• [Shadow Limbs] (Uncommon) - 15

• [Human Speech] (Uncommon) - 7

• [Light Resistance] (Uncommon) - 12

• [Dark Mind] (Uncommon) - 8

• [Familiar Contract] (Common) - 10

Achievements: Defiance IV, Gold