Shadow Slave

After a while, Rain felt rested enough to move. She rose from the ground with a grimace and went about taking care of her wounds.

Her teacher had made a fire from the splintered remains of the twisted tree, so neither of them had to freeze in the cold. Rain disinfected the cut on her side, then wrapped it tightly in a clean bandage. That would have to do until she returned to Ravenheart and found a healer.

Usually, she would have been lamenting the need to pay one, but there was a sizable reward promised to anyone who managed to slay the Huntsman. Not only could Rain afford a decent Awakened healer, but there would be enough coins left for her to replace the broken javelin, and maybe even upgrade a few pieces of her equipment.

«No, wait… actually, I don't need to worry about that anymore?»

Rain still had hope of Awakening swiftly. Even if she failed to do it before returning to Ravenheart, there would be no more hunts in the next few months — she already had everything she needed to form a soul core, so the best course of action would be to hole up in a safe place and patiently work on becoming an Awakened.

Once she was an Awakened, her mundane equipment would not be of much use. She would be able to draw a much more powerful bow, wear armor crafted from much heavier mystical materials, and even wield Memories.

Her entire arsenal would need to be changed. She would have to purchase a lot of things.

…Suddenly, Rain did not feel rich anymore.

She was so poor!

Full of sorrow, Rain put on her winter coat and approached the remains of the Huntsman. She stared at it for a while, then glanced at her teacher.

«Should we harvest his armor? It should sell for a lot of coins.»

He scratched the back of his head.

«Who's going to carry it all the way back to Ravenheart, though?»

Rain sighed.

«How can a deity be so useless?!»

«…Yeah. Still, we should take the axe blade, at least. To prove the kill at the town hall.»

That axe blade alone would sell for a hefty amount of coins.

She fished the giant blade from the ground and attached it to her backpack. Her teacher, meanwhile, looked at the remains of the dreadful Chalice Knight and clicked his fingers.

suddenly rose from the ground and sliced the carcass apart, cutting the rusted

the corpse as she harvested the soul shards and sat down, staring at them

not too large, but to her,

«This is it, then.»

moment for four long years. Those years had been full of pain and hardship… but also joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment. And now, the final stretch

ground across from

on. You worked hard to

silent for a

«I did.»

that, she unsheathed her knife and crushed the

flowing into her soul. And then… her soul

was suddenly permeated by a cool, vibrant, nurturing flame, However, that flame simply passed through her flesh, unable to

«W-what… what is happening?»

teacher was looking at her with keen interest. The

though your soul, which had been dim and drowsy, is suddenly coming

remained silent for a moment, and

because of your heart… but you don't have a soul core, which is like a heart for soul essence. So, for now, you'll have to substitute it with your

took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining the map of her body. She could feel her essence flowing freely, chaotically, with no shape or form. So, she slowly extended her will and

always felt like trying to push a boulder to the top of a mountain… the boulder was dead weight, it was cold and reluctant to move. The moment she lost concentration, even a little, it

complicated cycle, At first, there was a lot of chaos and colliding currents in its flow, but as Rain

teacher chuckled

the first try? You're

not open

how do I

and confident, like an anchor that she could

and the pull of the rotation. You don't need to form the entire soul core all at once… one grain of

Rain smiled.

it was a beautiful process. Like stars and planets

and faster, and faster. The greater its speed, the more willpower she needed

on.., a little

the place where her heart would have been. It was not solid yet,

at the very heart of that mass, where the pressure

tiny crystalline gemstone… so small that it