Kai was certain that he had been walking for hundreds of miles.
He thought he'd be able to find another Nightborn easily, but he underestimated how vast the House of Night truly was. Perhaps, like the ever-expanding universe, it was growing endlessly with no sign of stopping.
Not too long ago, he remembered meeting a wall that led him towards Noxian.
But there was no wall this time.
Noxian told him that if he kept following the Draco constellation, he'd meet another.
Might not be the Nightborn he wanted, yet anything goes right about now.
I don't even know what I want.
Hearing from the bits through rumors, he knew Lion was incredibly formidable.
Kai needed to get even stronger, but he didn't know what exactly he needed to be able to go against Lion. "I probably needed a fragment that would increase my physical stats," He thought aloud. "Or do I need more mana? Using the Dark Discharge imprint one time drained a quarter of my reserve."
Even though he didn't know what he needed, he had time to figure it out.
In this place, there was nothing as far as the eyes can see other than the twinkling stars.
Many would find it easy to lose their minds in this isolation.
But fortunately, Kai wasn't alone.
Other than his own mind talking to him, there was Bella with him.
She kept him sane as she talked about her favorite romance novels about an Alpha Werewolf who fell in love with a crippled Luna woman. Kai didn't find the plot to be interesting. Not that the story itself was bad, but because he never had a girlfriend.
No matter how good the story was, he couldn't relate, especially to the explicit parts.
Regardless of what she was talking about, the walk felt more like a refreshing trot due to her.
More time passed inside the House of Night.
"Two-hundred thousand and ninety-seven."
"Two-hundred thousand and ninety-eight."
"Two-hundred thousand and…"
It had been quite some time since Bella ran out of topics to talk with him about.
Or maybe his mind couldn't recall anything more than she could talk about.
Kai filled the silence by counting aloud, as that's the only thing he could think of doing.
He made the wrong step and stumbled, falling into the shallow water.
"Huff… Huff…" Kai raised his gaze. Everything is now blurry, but he knew the scenery ahead remained the same. Right now, his head was already throbbing from the strain of staying in this place for too long.
He could feel that he won't last any longer, "But I have to keep going…"
Noxian warned him clearly that he ought not to stop until he's inside another Nightborn's domain.
He didn't know exactly why he couldn't stop, but he didn't want to find out.
Just as he was about to rise, a sharp, excruciating pain drilled into his skull.
Kai was overwhelmed, and his ears began to ring loudly.
Unable to endure the pain, Kai fell into a prone position with the side of his face against the shallow water. He groaned and moaned, trying to open his eyes, but could not. Amidst the loud ringing, he heard whisperers.
Astral whisperers from creatures of the damned.
They came at him from all sides—voices calling his name, voices speaking in strange tongues, voices begging in languages he'd never heard, voices that only growls and hisses, and there's even the sound of ear-shattering weep.
I need to answer one, but how…?
Noxian told him that when the strain in his mind reached its peak, there would be whisperers.
Kai assumed that all of them were Nightborns who were aware of him.
But among them, there are those who want to be known and those who do not. Those who wanted to be known would help him as Noxian did, while those who didn't would devour him and erase him from existence.
How do I know which one to choose? How do I know the ones who won't kill me?
Kai gritted his teeth.
Knowing which one is which is already impossible, but right now, he couldn't even focus on one. There are hundreds of whisperers—and their voices were mixed into a chaotic requiem that only serves to irritate his ears and mind.
No use thinking about it.
He needed to pick one and answer it.
Everything now depended on his gut.
Just then, however, the whisperers suddenly started to fade one by one.
No, not disappear, but his mind was filtering them, significantly reducing his options.
Until eventually, only one voice remained whispering in his ears. It growled low, and each breath it took felt like labor, like its lungs were made of rock that grinded with every inhale. A smile touched Kai's lips.
He knew that once again, Bella had helped him.
Knowing his luck, if he chose one himself, he'd probably choose the one who'd bring him death.
So, Bella made the choice for him.
Kai strained to open his heavy eyelids—and through the blur saw something opening to his right. A gap in the dimension that led to another place. Without hesitating, he used every bit of his strength to crawl towards it.
One pull followed by another, he dragged his body towards the portal.
It took a moment for him to enter, and he immediately felt dirt when he entered.
He looked up while still lying flat on the ground like a worm and saw a gigantic figure looking down at him. It was covered by thick mist, but there was no doubt that it was big. At least as big as a three-story building.
"What is… your name?" Kai asked with strain.
Unlike Noxian, the giant Nightborn did not answer with a voice. Instead, a name drove itself into Kai's mind—hammered there through telepathy. It echoed through the chambers of his skull until darkness claimed him.
Kai woke up exhausted.
Returning to reality, his deprived senses were immediately bombarded with sensations.
Being in the House of Night for so long made everything feel new—the creak of insects, the rustle of wind-swept leaves, the cold night air against his skin. Everything felt like a sensation that he hadn't felt before.
[You have gained 4 exp]
I got exp even though I entered the House of Night?
He stretched and cracked his neck as his sleep tonight was worse than staying up.
It was all thanks to the hazardous walk.
However, he wasn't complaining as he had now met his second Nightborn.
"Status."
…
[Status]
Name: Kai #####
Rank: Grade 0 Awakened
Bloodline: First Son of the Primordial Night
Primordial Lock: 1
Legacy Skill: Deep Slumber
Legacy Imprint(s): Nigh-Phantom, Dark Discharge
Ending: Perfect Slash
Path: God of Doom — Perion the Golem Ending
Ending Fragment: Stone (0 / 20 Exp)
Usable Exp: 24.7
Quest: Explore the House of Night
…
"Fragment of Stone…?" Kai stared at the ending fragment in utter confusion. He was expecting something to help him grow his physical stats—and also something more straightforward, but this isn't that. "What does that even mean?"
Perfect Slash fragment is easier to understand.
It allowed him to always make the perfect slash, no matter the circumstances.
But Stone fragment? He has no idea.
"Does it mean I'd be able to manipulate stone?"
He contemplated for a second and then gave up, deciding to see it for himself.
No matter what, he believed in Bella's choice.
And besides, stone is sturdy, so he might get what he really wanted from this.
"First is Goddess of Discord, and now God of Doom," Kai smiled inwardly. "How can I get abilities from different Gods like this? I never heard a Supernal possessing more than one Patron God before."
Kai shook his head and allocated the usable exp into the Ending Fragment of Stone.
It was surprising to see that the Fragment of Stone costs more than the Fragment of Perfect Slash. But Kai didn't assume Perion is stronger than Noxian, as the Perfect Slash was the weakest fragment that Noxian had that he could absorb.
This only meant that Perion's weakest fragment is stronger than Noxian's weakest.
Once he filled the twenty exp, a notification appeared.
[Ending Fragment of Stone can only be accessed upon quest completion]
"Huh? Quest?" Kai raised a brow. "Does that mean I have to meet Perion again?"
He was hoping that before making a move against Team Coeus, he'd have the Ending Fragment of Stone, even if it's incomplete. Anything that made him stronger is better than nothing.
But it seemed he wouldn't be able to do that if he needed to meet Perion again.
Before he could curse, another notification popped up.
[Perion Quest: Draw the symbol of the golem using the b—]
"Hey…"
Kai was startled when a hand touched his shoulder.
He was too focused on the notification to realize that Abigail was right behind him.
"Abigail? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping? We're going to clash with Team Coeus soon enough," He stood up, looking around to see whether there was anyone that might've woken up Abigail, but found and sense nothing. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not that tired. Unlike you guys, I didn't do much today," She rubbed her arms to warm herself up.
"Still, you should relax while you can."
"Actually, I was thinking you could get some rest. I can't sleep anyway."
A change happened on Kai's face almost instantly.
He looked… colder for some reason.
"If you have anything to say to me, Abigail…" He rasped with a throaty voice. "Tell it to me right now. This is the right time to say it."
Abigail was taken aback.
And for a second, her eyes trailed somewhere else as she fell into contemplation.
But eventually, she offered a smile, a little too sweet than normal. "What? I came out only to offer switching watch duty. That's all, I swear. You must really be on edge with your nearing clash with Team Coeus."
Something in her voice didn't land right.
And Kai snorted at what she said.
It was almost a mocking snort, which stiffened the smile on Abigail's face.
"Go back inside," Kai sat back down again.
"You…" Abigail played with her feet. "You sure you don't want to switch?"
"No," Kai shook his head. "I'll wake you up once your turn comes up."
Abigail returned to the bushes, and she seemed reluctant to do so.
Once she was gone, Kai sneered, "Your nearing clash? So that's how it's going to be."
He waited for a few more minutes, keeping his senses open to catch anything that was out of the ordinary. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, Kai sprinted away, into the overgrowth, and activated his Nigh-phantom.
Like a prowling predator, he kept his body low and went in a particular direction.
Soon, he heard the sound of rustling bushes.
It made him move even faster and strengthened his grip on his scimitar.
He burst out and slashed at the space behind the tree, but found nothing. His scimitar dug into the tree trunk. "Did I sense it wrong?" Kai thought aloud. He made a sudden snap to look over his shoulder, and saw a tall cliff.