"Ugh... just hug me..."
"What?"
*Ahm...* Antanasia was confused, but seeing Temorsth's state, she didn't hesitate.
'So soft...' Temorsth buried his head between her ample chest.
'Good job. No, excellent! You nailed it, Persona!' Embracing her tightly, he locked his arms around her waist.
'Thanks, I just tried to use the little memory you gave, Relatio.'
'Ugh... but man, this pain is still unbearable...'
'Yeah, this is extreme even for me.'
'What did you two expect? All three of our minds and memories surfaced at once. Amazingly, only a few blood vessels burst with our heart rate nearly doubling.'
'Yeah, you are right, Brilliance, but it does seem to be working.'
"Wait, blood? Are you bleeding?" At that moment, scent reached Antanasia, and she immediately reacted.
"Yeah, but don't worry—it's just a nosebleed."
Antanasia calmed but squirmed awkwardly, accidentally squashing him with her chest.
'Almost like in anime—getting a nosebleed from an embarrassing situation.'
'No, that's not why…'
'Uh, just be quiet, Brilliance— you wouldn't get it anyway.'
Antanasia shifted uncomfortably.
Temorsth lifted his head, cheeks squished, making him look like a tiny hamster.
'Cute...' She quickly hid the thought behind a fake cough. "Yes, what is it?"
"You don't like blood?"
"Why would you think that?"
"You started acting weird."
"That's..."
"Hmm?"
Noticing her discomfort, Temorsth softened his tone. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to."
"No, it's just... I'm thirsty."
"Thirsty?"
'She's thirsty! Did you hear that?'
'She didn't mean it like that.'
'Again-'
'Can you two stop talking? I'm getting confused enough just by your thoughts.'
'Alright...'
'Sorry...'
'Fuf, thanks...' Thoughts quieted enough for Persona to breathe.
"Do you react like this whenever you see blood?"
"No! I'm not like that—what are you thinking? I'm not some lowlife!"
"You... what?"
Seeing his innocent hamster-like expression made her pause, bewildered.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Didn't your parents ever teach you anything?"
"They did—lots of things. Why... is this offensive?"
Temorsth's blue eyes sparkled innocently even through the still bloodshot look, making Antanasia lose focus.
'What happened... to him, I didn't think this little guy could be a mischievous devil one moment, an innocent baby the next...'
She remembered her sister's warning.
...
"Sis, beware of schemers like these."
"What are you—?"
"Sis, you're strong, but they'll play you with that innocent look."
"Hey, I—!"
"Those bastards just want one thing," Katarina said softly, stroking Antanasia's face.
"Sis, you are truly innocent..."
...
Shaking her head of the memory, Antanasia began.
"To stay strong, young or feral vampires need to drink blood."
*Umu... umu...* Temorsth slipped his head back between her chest.
"But higher-ranking vampires drink blood only to heal, when some taste pleases them, or to form a bond."
*Umu... umu...*
"Can you stop squirming?"
"No... You smell nice—I want to enjoy it more."
"What?"
Temorsth grinned mischievously.
"So, does my blood tempt you?"
'You little cheat, changing the subject when it suits you...' She thought, but still played along.
"Uh... yes."
"Why do you like it?"
"It smells sweet."
*Hmmm...* After a thoughtful hum, "If you want, I can let you drink some."
"...!" She jolted.
"Hmm?"
*Sigh* Antanasia steadied herself. "I won't even ask—you clearly don't know…"
"No."
"Drinkin—" His short sentence shook her again.
"I know."
"...!?"
"You're already mine. What's one more bond?"
"...!"
"Am I right?"
"You..."
"Yes?"
His voice was so innocent that it only made her angrier.
"You little pervert! If you're so full of energy, let me go!"
"No! Not yet."
Temorsth resisted, easily overpowering her gentle push.
*Umu...* Feeling her grip loosen, he snuck back into her embrace.
"Just a little longer. I need to recharge."
'Recharge? Am I a power source or what?'
After a few more minutes:
'What happened to him exactly...?' Antanasia was thinking to herself, not just the outward situation, but the inner as well.
'Though the change in aura and presence was so subtle no one would notice, because I was focusing on him, I felt it... but I can't even word what it was...'
'His personality seems to have also changed a bit compared to the six days I have known him... Possession? No... such thing can not be so subtle...'
*Mhm...*
"I like this," Temorsth murmured, 'but we should get up now or the day will pass.'
"All right, I'm fully recharged," Temorsth said, releasing her.
Antanasia's eyes fluttered as the pressure lifted. She pressed a hand to her chest and thought, 'Empty...'
'Sis...' Holding a child like this also made her remember similar moments with her sister, trying to ward off the cold and pain.
A chill crept over her as the warm touch vanished.
Temorsth stretched dramatically, like he'd just woken from a good sleep.
"Hey," he called, "my offer still stands—just ask."
"What...?"
Before she could respond or even form a thought, he surprised her with a quick peck.
"And that's your reward... for taking care of me."
Silently, he walked away.
Antanasia touched her cheek, mind blank, completely dumbfounded.
...
At the same moment, someone was watching everything unfold in real-time.
"She took it!? She took his first!" A woman, shadowed, shouted to herself, alone in a realm only a select few could ever access.
"She... she..." An unfamiliar side of Aidana began to surface, triggered by the feeling of something being taken from her.
"No... no, Aidana, calm down. It was just on the cheeks. What am I, some teenage girl or something?" To steady herself, Aidana lightly tapped both her cheeks.
"Huh? Why did I get so angry?" Confusion quickly clouded her expression as she struggled to understand her sudden flare of emotions.
"What's going on with me?"
Neither Aidana nor Temorsth had yet realized that he was capturing the hearts of not one, but two women simultaneously.
...
"Now, let's think this through. What did Dad mean by 'slashing the shadows'?" Temorsth asked, standing back in his training ground.
'No,' Brilliance said, and the single word threw everyone off.
'What do you mean, no?'
'Dad never said, "slash the shadows." Look for yourself.'
The memory surfaced, unaltered this time:
"Son, I'll give you two words as a hint."
"First — shadows."
"Second — slash it."
'Shadows. Slash it. Two separate instructions, not one,' Brilliance said, letting the memory settle into Persona's mind. Temorsth's eyes widened as it clicked.
'You're right. I remember already being corrected once... But then what am I supposed to slash? And what do the shadows actually do?'
'We need to find "shadows" first,' Brilliance said.
'Aren't the ones around us already what we need?' Relatio commented.
'No — those are the destination, not the source. We need a starting point.'
'Then how do we start it?'
'Start with the spear.'
"Right, I still have it." He'd only just finished training, so it was close at hand.
'Now activate the Balance Breaker.'
"Balance Breaker!" Black energy tore loose around his body, wild and dark.
'Think back — how did Dad look when he used Shadow Step?'
Temorsth froze. "Wait... I look just like he did."
'Exactly. According to my speculation, this is what "shadows" means — we're standing in them right now.'
'But we still need one more piece,' Relatio cut in.
"Slash it — but slash what, and how?"
'Don't worry about that yet. Just take a step, the way Dad did.'
"Just a step... okay."
Temorsth moved forward, the black energy wreathing around him just as his father's once had.
[Notice: You are attempting to imitate the 'Darkness' of a higher-realm being.]
[Notice: Requirement met — Ruler title activated!]
[Ruler of Darkness: Knight]
"Just..."
"...one step."
Temorsth moved forward through the noise of the system.
To anyone watching, it looked like nothing more than a single ordinary step.
Yet the instant his foot touched the ground—
*Tear.Slash.*
The shadow beneath him distorted.
For the briefest moment, it looked as though the darkness itself had been sliced apart.
Temorsth's whole body shifted several centimeters farther than a normal step should have allowed.
"..."
Everyone inside the mind fell silent.
Then—
'...We did it, this easily?'
'...I think...'
'WE DID IT!'
Even Persona couldn't hide the excitement.
"We actually—"
His words stopped.
Something warm trickled down his ankle.
"Hm?"
Temorsth looked down.
Blood.
A crimson pool slowly spread beneath his left foot.
Behind him, Antanasia's nose twitched.
The scent reached her before the sight did.
"Hm?"
She looked up.
"What happened now?"
By the time she reached him, blood had already soaked his entire lower leg.
The flesh around his calf looked as though invisible blades had carved through it.
'Space...?' She frowned.
Only the leg that had taken the step was injured.
Nothing else had a scratch.
"So much blood..."
Her first instinct was to heal it.
The second told her it was impossible for her.
'I need to call Olendriant—'
But she stopped.
"...?"
Temorsth was smiling.
Not forcing himself.
Not enduring the pain.
He genuinely looked... satisfied.
'We did it.'
Persona grinned.
'Finally.'
'Cool!'
For several seconds, the excitement echoed throughout the inner world.
Until—
'...There is a problem.' Brilliance's calm voice cut through the two's celebration.
The excitement instantly faded.
'Hm?'
'We performed something. That much is certain.'
'But...'
'...we didn't learn anything.'
Silence.
Brilliance calmly opened the System.
'Skills.'
[Skills:
Reincarnation
Lear Family Swordsmanship
Olendriant Magic Arts
Sword Mastery
Spear Mastery
Bow Mastery
... Masterys ...]
'...No new entry.'
He switched menus.
'Titles.'
[Titles:
One Who Was Embraced by Death
Experienced the Singularity
Ruler of Light
Ruler of Darkness]
'...Nothing.'
Persona frowned. '...Maybe Unique Abilities aren't recorded?'
'They almost certainly are.' Brilliance shook his head. 'The more likely explanation...'
'...is that we accidentally reproduced the phenomenon. But we still don't understand it.'
'The System seems to acknowledge understanding, not coincidence.'
"..."
'So... We just have to keep using it, no?' Relatio asked.
Brilliance nodded.
'Until we understand what actually happened. Only then will it become ours.'
Persona sighed loudly. "...Of course it can't be easy."
Only then—
Temorsth blinked.
"...Hm?"
He looked at his leg again.
"...I'm bleeding."
He stared at it for another second.
Then the pain finally reached him.
"Ugh..." Or at least the reaction he had to make.
He dropped his spear, his knees buckled as he grabbed the wound.
"What the hell... What is this delayed reaction?" Antanasia finally gave up trying to understand him today.
Just moments ago, he had been smiling while losing enough blood to paint the ground red.
Now he suddenly reacted as though he'd only just noticed.
"..- I'll call your mother." She disappeared using Transcendence.
The moment she vanished—
Temorsth slowly stood again.
The pain was still there.
He could feel it.
But it wasn't what occupied his mind.
"...One more."
He lifted his uninjured leg.
"If I repeat exactly what I did..."
Step.
Nothing happened.
"..." He blinked. "...What?"
He immediately tried again.
Step.
Still nothing.
"Hey..." His brows knitted together. "What changed!?"
"It just worked!"
"Why isn't it happening now!?"
His frustration returned almost instantly.
Inside the mindscape, even Brilliance remained silent.
"..."
'What changed...?' Relatio asked too.
For the first time since arriving in the light...
Brilliance had no answer.
A little while passed.
'...Maybe.'
Brilliance suddenly spoke.
'It's the title.'
'Hm? What do you mean?'
'The first time... the Ruler title reacted.'
'...!'
Temorsth immediately opened the System.
[Ruler of Dark
Authority:Knight
Description:
You are one of the few acknowledged by the concept of Darkness as a possible future ruler.
Prove yourself by conquering the world of darkness. ]
'This and the other one appeared back when I first used the Heart Wood Spear, but I ignored them because the description was useless...'
'But what does this title actually do?'
Brilliance answered almost immediately.
'There is someone who knows more than we do.'