"Are you okay?" A Kaylie’s voice pierced the darkness.

  "Yeah," I replied hoarsely, struggling to catch my breath as I was still reeling.

  After a few moments spent steadying my breathing, I lifted my head and saw Jack, Sana, and Kaylie looming over me, concern etched on their faces.

  "Where did you come from?" I asked.

  "Us? We were stuck outside," Kaylie answered. "We made it through the door, but after Jack closed it, it wouldn't open from the outside. Luckily, he managed to open it eventually, because it turned out to be just a buried alcove. We could have starved if we'd been stuck there. After your battle with the giant spider, Jack came out and told us a wild story about how you defeated it. Is it true?"

  "What did he say? That he single-handedly wrestled the spider into becoming his new housewife? If that's the case, I doubt it," I replied, sinking to the floor from my kneeling position, still feeling unwell.

  "No," Kaylie corrected, "we all saw you distracting the spider so we could escape."

  "He said you two fought the spider together, but it was an impossible battle and you both lost," Sana added. "Somehow, you managed to rescue him and Bass from the webs, and you gave your second-to-last health potion to the Ban-Sior."

  "That seems insane," Kaylie commented.

  "No more insane than trying to ride the creature for fun," Sana retorted.

  Kaylie then noted, “Well, he said your group at least targeted the spider’s legs and eyesight when it was temporarily incapacitated.”

  "Apparently, your giant surfing attempt didn’t go so well when the spider fell. It seemed like you were crushed under its legs," Sana continued.

  "He's been burned and strangled. Why not crushed too?” Kaylie joked.

  “What you probably don’t know," Sana concluded, "is that Jack held the giant back as best he could until it bled to death. You didn't look good, so he used your last health potion on you, and even then, you barely survived."

  Hearing the story secondhand, some pieces started to fall into place. I had wondered why the spider hadn’t crushed me completely like it had with the Ban-Sior. It turned out Jack hadn’t given up and kept holding it back the best he could until it died from blood loss. I'm surprised, as the spider could have just as easily turned on him next.

  “I guess that’s a fair summary, but I do have one question. Where is Bass?” I asked. The story wasn’t exactly right as I hadn’t surfed a spider for fun, but it was still a good recap.

  “The Dwarf is busy sifting through the supplies left by those devoured by the spiders. We've told him to steer clear of the main gem. We suspect that might be what you’re after,” Sana explained, standing firmly with a reassuring smile.

  I had nearly been killed. My armor was crushed, and worse, I was now out of health potions. My body felt as though it had been run over by a bus. The weight of it all bore down on me heavily. Yet, the moment Sana mentioned the treasure I had worked so hard for, that burden vanished, replaced by a surge of excitement. I bolted to my feet as quickly as I could.

  "Told you!" Jack exclaimed, laughing. "He's always about the loot."

  "Yeah, yeah. Where's the treasure?" I asked, my voice tinged with glee. They watched me, clearly amused.

  "Come along, right this way," Sana said, gesturing to our left.

  Finally, it came into view, yet it was unlike anything I had anticipated. It wasn't the coveted treasure I'd pictured in my mind but something altogether different.

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  Before me lay a stone desk, standing nearly chest high, dominated by an extraordinary gem firmly entrenched in its cold, unyielding surface. This jewel was a spectacle to behold. Light caught on its facets and split into every color I could name, while something inside it twisted and rolled like a rainbow caught in a gale. Despite being embedded in the chilly, harsh stone, the gem emanated a brilliance rivaling the stars themselves.

  Hovering above the radiant gem, a container existed that resembled a frozen bubble. It was crafted from a darkened, frosty glass, and within its confines, an inky fluid churned restlessly. It moved in perpetual billows, swirling and reshaping into patterns so cryptic that it felt like peering into an abyss.

  These two objects presented a paradoxical spectacle, a seeming conflict of elemental opposites. It was as though the darkness was on a relentless quest to swallow the light, and concurrently, the light strived to engulf the darkness. If I dared to close my eyes, I could have sworn they both teemed with life, yet the nature of that life was puzzling. Could they possess life akin to that of a flame, flickering and dancing, simultaneously consuming and being consumed? Perhaps they mirrored the life of a river, constantly in motion, shaping and being shaped by its surroundings.

  “What is it?” I asked, almost entranced by its motion.

  “Do you remember the statue of the fallen emperor above?” Sana responded, referring to the statue in the temple's atrium. Well, less a statue and more crumbling ruins. And less of a statue and more of just a stone head with a crown.

  “Yes.”

  “He wore a crown with a gem like this. According to legend, he was trapped in what is now the desert wastelands until he found such a gem. He used his power to bind his essence to his city, which allowed him to leave and begin his conquest. Ultimately, that’s how they defeated him. They stole his crown and took it far away, causing his death.”

  Confused, I asked, “So the gem links to places?”

  “The one he found did. As for this one, I'm not sure of its capabilities. I'm also puzzled by the function of the flowing container above us. It could possibly filter toxins, or perhaps it has the power to illuminate darkness. Honestly, I'm not certain."

  “How does it work?”

  "The Dwarf might have more insight, but crafting an item with this would require the skills of a high-level enchanter."

  I didn’t think that was right. I could feel something from both the gem and the container. They felt different yet the same, like two sides of a coin.

  As I extended my hand closer, the sensation intensified. The shadow above resonated and transformed. It had previously seemed focused on consuming the light, but now, as my hand drew closer, its insatiable hunger seemed to magnify, extending far beyond the radiance of the gem. It craved more, it craved me, it craved everything.

  In stark contrast, the light's behavior remained unaltered. Its yearning seemed to focus solely on the obsidian darkness. Fear seized me, compelling me to veer away from the threatening abyss. I opted to engage with the gem of light instead. Tentatively, I put my hand onto the radiant jewel, yet nothing occurred.

  Then it struck me. The sensation I was experiencing was familiar, akin to the feelings I'd encountered when absorbing souls. This time, however, there was no body containing the soul, which allowed me to perceive its essence in its purest form. The process seemed almost instinctual to me now, so I pulled the energy into me. Then it happened.

  As the foreign soul touched mine, a chill ran through me, akin to the icy wind of a midwinter night. The sensation quickly deepened, piercing my surface and sinking into my core. It was a burst of energy, potent and unfiltered, streaking through my veins. My body convulsed, as if struck by lightning.

  The pain that followed was unlike any I'd experienced. It wasn't physical but a deep-seated internal agony that gnawed at the heart of my being. It felt as if my soul, always a solitary entity, was being stretched and pulled to accommodate another presence. The sensation was intense, like a muscle being pulled until it trembled and threatened to tear. Only the strain was not in flesh. It was in my soul.

  My body trembled under the strain of the merging, vibrating with an energy that seemed to resonate from deep within. My soul quivered and stretched, as if on the verge of shattering into a thousand shimmering pieces.

  Gradually, my perception changed. The myriad shards that once made up my soul began to resonate together, no longer isolated. What had felt like separate fragments now pulsed with a shared rhythm, like individual trees revealed as part of a vast, living forest.

  A prompt appeared but disappeared just as fast before I could read it:

  Congratulations, you have absorbed a soul fragment. It is a potent shard of a soul broken off to harness its inherent power. You are the first person to absorb one, transforming the core of your being. This alteration has rendered your soul limitless.

  This soul fragment knows no bounds, opening a realm of infinite possibilities to you. Freed from the constraints traditionally imposed by your race and original soul, you can now master any skill. The opportunities now available are truly boundless.

  Then, the endless hunger returned as shadows grew and deepened. The cave began to rumble, the light fading as darkness coalesced. Before me, an ominous pool of black, fluid-like substance began to rise, towering over me.

  I didn't know how, but it was certain...

  The Void had returned.