The all too familiar white plain spread farther than the eye could see, barely lit by the overarching moon high in the sky. Last time I was here there was a chair fit for someone with tons of money and power. That's the place where my sword came to me along with the crown.
This time though it couldn't be more different. A swamp filled with shadowy mangroves and tupelos with meandering flowing water at my feet. Vines swung down from tree to tree way above my head, I felt dwarfed by the sheer size of the swamp. This must be a clue as to what my next weapon is.
My ears were flooded with the sloshing sound of the murky swamp water. I gripped onto anything that could help me navigate through this never ending maze of trees. It helped even less that it dimly lit, I couldn't make out the shapes of anything through this.
A chill spread across my body as a thin layer of fog built just above the surface of the water. Seeing fog lit some unpleasant memories in my mind.
(''Welcome boy'') That devilish voice echoed throughout the swamp, surrounding me from a distance.
How can she talk to me? Lucet killed her, there is no way we should be able to talk! My hands shook and breath grew ragged as my hands changed forms into the same darkness surrounding me.
(''Now now, no need to pull out your weapons. I'm not here to hurt you. And to tell you the truth, I know what's going through your mind.'')
She can read my mind? That shouldn't be possible, not even gods have the capability of reading minds. Should I trust her, Void says she has no intention to harm me but she had nearly killed me previously. Even thinking back on it my body shivers uncontrollably.
(''Why are you here Void? Or a better question is How are you here?'') My croaky voice bounced off the mangrove trunks endlessly before dissipating in the distance.
(''Yes I am technically dead. Your little goddess of light slew me with those giant pillars. But a neat little thing I bet you didn't know is that my soul was stuck in there.'')
Her soul was stuck in the monster core? What the hell does that even mean?
(''And here I thought you were smart. Right, here is a little lesson on frin. You could go as far as calling it magic theory.'')
She hesitated for a second, almost as if she pondered on how to deliver her point to me. Whatever she was to say next might be the key to the swamp and my new weapon.
(''Frin, as you know it is a lot more complex than you might think. Yes it fuels everything in this world, and it is found everywhere, but that's not everything. Frin is conscious, just like you and I. It flows like a water stream but it can think like a person. It also acts as storage or even to encode messages in.'') She inhaled a deep breath before starting again.
(''My soul was engraved into the frin inside of the monster core. You sucked out some of that frin into yourself and now I am a part of your consciousness.'') I..understand. Or at least I would like to say I do. It just doesn't feel right thinking that the very essence of our world is capable of thoughts and living.
I closed my eyes and looked down at the foggy shield. Just like before, I could see the particles of frin. Unlike the unmoving dunes, the murky water was flowing, carrying frin particles down the stream endlessly.
The mangroves and tupelos had a dark red, almost brown tint to their frin. I could see it! Slight movement, almost like a circular flow carrying nutrients to all parts of its trunk.
Magic theory is this expansive? No wonder I was so helpless against Void. Never in my life have I thought that something as complex existed in magic theory. The books in our village had never even mentioned the existence of such an idea. Frin having a consciousness.
I opened up my eyes and stared at the direction from where a glare followed my movements. Void was veiled in shadows and mist but I knew she was there, housing that same smile as before. I moved through the sloshing water towards her, hoping that she wouldn't be too far away.
(''There is no point trying to reach me boy, you won't be able to spot me unless I let myself be seen. You seem to have somewhat understood my lesson.'')
(''I need you to look at the frin particles and analyse them further. That is the first step to making a powerful weapon. Your sword was fine but it will by no means be enough when fighting someone above A tier.'')
My swords are no good? I could feel a wave of helplessness washed over me, nearly drowning me with future anxieties and regrets. No. I must move forward, to grow stronger to protect what is dear to me!
(''That's right boy! You must grow stronger. Powerful enough to slay my brother!'')
(''Yeahh!- Huh wait what?'')
(''Don't worry about the minor details!'')
(''That doesn't sound minor-'')
(''Can't hear you~'')
This creature is annoying, it reminded me of someone else I knew. Kill her brother though? Isn't that extreme? Why would I do such a thing to her brother?
(''Boy, you seem to be a little too interested in my affairs. You think I'm evil for asking you to do this. Well you may already think of me as evil from our previous encounter. But the only way for me and my brother to reunite is for you to kill him and absorb his frin.'') That seems logical but she sounded a little uncertain with the last part. Almost as if she had wanted to say something more-
(''You really are good at analysing me boy. Fine. I didn't want to tell you but he is an S+ Monster tier. It would be best to fuse with his core in order for you to grow to even greater heights. I'm sure even your little goddess would agree with me on this. Ask her after this ordeal is over.'')
Me? Slaying an S+ creature? Surely she jests. Though I detect no deceit…no that just can't be. And fusing with a core like that surely would give me an insight into shadow frin that is unparalleled. Not only the spells he possesses. I can't even imagine the arsenal he owns, hundreds of undocumented spells. My mouth watered at the thought of being capable of pulling some off.
(''Boy, focus, for now you have to master a new weapon capable of killing those Sand Serpents. I will nurture and refine your core while you aren't fighting. And on top of that I will help you in your spell creation. But for that you must listen to me. For now analyse your surrounding.'')
I didn't think she would be this helpful after being killed by our party. It feels uncomfortable working alongside her but if it means I can grow then it's a discomfort worth experiencing.
My eyes shut and the world lit up with various dark particles swimming and floating around me. Despite this world consisting of dark frin, green particles were corrupted by the darkness. These are what formed the trees and vines surrounding me. Even the water had a dark, sludge-like darkness mixed in with the blue frin particles.
It flowed down stream like before, this time something peculiar stood out to me. The particles of the trees were shaking by the water, almost as if trying to escape the tree's shape. Similarly the water particles were doing something similar, shackling themselves onto the spaces between brown frin particles. This is…interesting.
What if shadow frin did the same thing? Could this mean that frin is almost like a sticky substance? Or at least one that is inclined to stick together?
(''Correct boy! Yes, frin by nature is like a stick substance. You probably haven't inspected Zeraf using that particle vision. But whenever she uses her flames and fire remains on the grass, even when it's snuffed out the particles cling to wind particles.'')
Hell yeah! I need to write this in my tome as soon as possible for later research and study. Ecstasy spread around my body, eliminating any residual feeling of helplessness from earlier.
(''Now you can reforge your blade with the new knowledge you possess. First though, you must forge a weapon capable of slaying those serpents. I created this environment based on what you need in order to win.'')
How thoughtful of her to do this for me, maybe this is her way of apologising for nearly killing me before. Well that too, along with slaying her brother and allowing them a heartfelt reunion.
(''But I refuse to spoon feed you the exact method. That would stunt your growth, I can't have that happening boy.'') She was as stern as a nurturing mother but as violent as any warrior in war. I agree with her, that would most likely stunt my growth significantly if I never had to figure things out on my own.
Very well, let's analyse the environment. Before I would've said there wasn't much to this place outside of murky water, trees and vines. Mid-ranged weapon that consists of something here, that shouldn't be too difficult.
I can instantly eliminate the murky water since that contains water frin. Especially since we are in the desert which rules out using nature magic to grow trees with existing roots. That means…
(''Yes boy, you must make whips of shadow vines. A perfect mid-ranged weapon for a monster on that scale. Now, the hardest part. Manifest it.'')
Manifesting something of that size should be impossible for my level!
(''Sigh. Boy. You sucked my frin, you have gained some of my power. Manifesting something like that should be easy now'')
What? She must be kidding. There is no way I could manifest it after barely managing a blade.
I should at least try, if Void thinks I am capable then I must be.
My eyes shut and the world lit into many murky colours. The dark frin particles stuck to my skin like glue, refusing to let go. Some even tried to slip into my core, its not a problem though.
A darkness sapped from my core, corrupting my veins and spreading onto my skin. It glowed a darkness blacker than the void itself. I could feel Void's eyes grow wider as they preyed on me. This was…such a weird sensation.
I pictured in my mind exactly what I needed, a whip similar to vines that could cut through anything at my will. Particles of darkness stretched into long strads of hair. Slowing coming together to form a long flexible rope-like object. This is a whip huh.
With a swing of my arm, all the trees in the proximity were felled, revealing a smiling Void. (''Good job boy! Now go out there and kick some ass!'')
(''Hell yeah! Thank you!'')
As I faded back into reality I could barely make out her slightly blushed cheeks. I guess even monsters can blush.
(''I guess by the smile on your face that you acquired a new weapon. Go and kick some ass!'')