Chapter 8:
The days blurred into a cycle of pain and exhaustion.
At dawn, we trained—sparring until bones cracked, running until lungs burned, channeling our Veyra until our bodies threatened to collapse. At night, we were locked in the barracks, the whispers of the soul parasites slithering through the minds of the other disciples.
But Joren, Lina, and I still resisted.
I could feel the parasite inside me now—not as a controlling force, but as a coiled shadow, its energy absorbed and repurposed by the system. Yet for my friends, the corruption was spreading. Their eyes grew darker at the edges, their movements sluggish when they thought no one was watching.
I had to act fast.
(Decay Veyra Progress: 78% to Level 2.)
Every time I used my power, the system logged its growth. A touch to wither a training dummy. A brush of fingers against stone to erode its surface. But it wasn't enough. I needed something stronger—something living.
Yet I wasn't relying on Decay alone.
(Earth Sense Active: Perimeter Secure.)
I'd kept my earth abilities dormant, but never idle. Each night, I'd extended my senses through the barracks' foundation, mapping the guards' patrols, listening to vibrations in the stone. The system's passive enhancements made it effortless—like breathing.
Tonight, the earth whispered a warning.
Someone's coming.
I nudged Joren awake just as the door creaked open. The lean instructor stood silhouetted in torchlight, his branded cheek twitching. "Up. The Blood Trial begins now."
They herded us into the caverns, their torches casting long, flickering shadows. "You will hunt," the branded man sneered. "Not animals. Each other."
A murmur of fear rippled through the disciples.
"Last ten standing earn double rations. The rest… well." His grin was answer enough.
The caves swallowed us whole. The air reeked of damp earth and something fouler—old blood, perhaps, or the remnants of past trials. Joren's fire flickered weakly in his palm, casting trembling light on the jagged walls. Lina's wind stirred the dust, her breaths shallow.
"We stick together," I said. "No matter what."
They nodded, but their movements were sluggish. The parasites were winning.
(Earth Sense Expansion: Detecting vibrations in bedrock—three hostiles, 50 paces northeast.)
I halted our group, pressing a hand to the cave wall. The stone resonated with footsteps. "Ambush ahead," I whispered. "Lina, gust the dust toward that crevice. Joren, be ready."
As Lina's wind kicked up a choking cloud, I melted my fingers into the cave floor.
(Earth Manipulation: Level 5 – Minor Terrain Alteration.)
The ground beneath the attackers' feet softened just enough to stumble them. One yelped as his ankle twisted. Joren's fire roared to life, illuminating three older boys with daggers drawn.
"Decay's yours," I muttered. "Let me handle the earth."
I wrenched my hand upward.
(Earth Meld: Level 5 – Localized Quake.)
The cave floor buckled in a precise tremor, sending the lead attacker crashing into a stalagmite. The other two lunged—until Lina's wind hurled grit into their eyes.
My fingers brushed the first boy's arm as he swung.
(Decay Veyra Activated: Necrotic Touch.)
His skin blackened, muscles shriveling like rotten fruit. He screamed, but the sound was cut short as Joren's fire engulfed his chest.
(Decay Veyra Level Up: 2 → 3.)
(New Ability Unlocked: Necrotic Touch – Rapid cellular decay on contact.)
The remaining two fled.
Lina panted, staring at the withered corpse. "We… we killed them."
I clenched my fist, feeling the cave's minerals cling to my sweat. "We survive. That's all that matters now."
We emerged from the caves with twelve others. The instructors seemed pleased. The Grand Elder watched from a raised platform, his expression unreadable.
Then he pointed at me.
"Lishen. Step forward."
The yard fell silent.
"You've progressed… unusually fast." His voice was calm, but his eyes were knives. "Demonstrate your Decay."
A test. A trap.
I exhaled and reached for a training dummy. My fingers grazed the wood—and it crumbled, rotting into mulch in seconds. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The Grand Elder's lips twitched. "Good. But let us see its limits."
He snapped his fingers.
Two disciples dragged forward a prisoner—a man in tattered robes, his face bruised, his eyes wild. A captured cultivator from a rival sect.
"Decay him," the Grand Elder ordered.
The yard held its breath.
Joren's fists shook. Lina's breath hitched.
The man spat blood. "Do it, demon spawn. See what your masters make of—"
I acted.
But not just with Decay.
(Earth Sense: Detecting the prisoner's shackles—iron, weak at the hinges.)
My hand clamped over his arm, and Decay surged—but I channeled it precisely, rotting only the man's outer flesh while my other hand brushed the floor.
(Earth Manipulation: Vibrations targeted at shackle bolts.)
A microscopic tremor loosened the metal. The man's eyes widened as he felt it.
I leaned in, whispering under the cover of his screams: "When I drop you, run west. The wall there is rotten."
My Decay pretended to ravage him, but the Grand Elder didn't see the truth—that I'd just given the prisoner a chance.
(Decay Veyra Level Up: 3 → 4.)
(System Notification: Parasite Purge Available*.)
The Grand Elder nodded, satisfied. "You will serve the sect well."
As they hauled the prisoner away, I met Joren and Lina's eyes.
Tonight, I mouthed.
When the barracks fell silent, I crept to their cots.
"Hold still," I whispered.
I pressed a hand to Joren's chest—and willed Decay inward.
The parasite shrieked in my senses, a writhing mass of dark energy. My power latched onto it, dissolving its tendrils, breaking its hold. Joren convulsed, his breath ragged, until—
(Parasite Neutralized.)
He gasped, his eyes clearing for the first time in days.
Lina was next. Her parasite fought harder, lashing at my mind, but my Veyra was stronger now. It rotted away into nothing.
(Decay Veyra Level Up: 4 → 5.)
(New Ability Unlocked: Soul Rot – Weakens external corruptive energies.)
They stared at me, free but terrified.
"What now?" Lina whispered.
I smiled grimly, pressing my palm to the floor. The earth whispered of patrols, of hidden tunnels, of the sect's rotten foundations.
(Earth Sense: Level 8 – Full Compound Scan.)
"Now," I said, "we make this whole mountain crumble."