Levi was escorted down the corridor to a room which was pitch black "Be at the crystal caves by mid-day tomorrow, Lord Rynel wants to meet you." the guard then turned to leave but paused at the door. "There should be some candles in there somewhere. Light them up if you want light" then he slammed the door and he was gone.
~Sigh~
~`Finally some peace. I can finally rest. Wonder what's been happening back at Ashwood.
why should I care! After all I probably will never see that place again.
~More importantly, how did I get healed so fast? I need to start getting answers to some of these que...~
Before Levi could finish that thought, he was interrupted by a cold almost mechanical voice that rang loud in his head.
[Reward for killing tainted creature (lost Krag) synthesizing….]
[Reward synthesis complete]
Levi jolted, all his hairs standing on end. the voice appeared out of nowhere
[Reward for slaying tainted creature: Krag successfully synthesized]
[Reward has been transferred to soul chain]
[Open soul chain to view reward]
The words echoed in his head, but their meaning at first refused to take shape. A faint, puzzled frown touched his lips. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head
~Is it the shackle speaking? does the shackle even speak to those it has infected? How come I've never heard of that. Wait how will I even hear of such a thing. Back at the slums, the most anyone knew about the shackle was that it was a death sentence. Wait, didn't it earlier say that that Krag creature was a tainted creature, I sont even know what that is. Questions just keep on piling up. I really need to start getting answers. And soon.
`also what exactly is this soul chain thing. And how does the shackle expect me to open it?~
[Focus your mind on the location of a black vein found on your body]
~Is the shackle listening to my thoughts? ~
He waited, but all he heard was the silence of the room
~Maybe not~
Levi fumbled in the darkness, his fingers scraping against rough stone until they closed around a half-melted candle. He shuffled back to the hallway, holding the wick to the flame of a sconce on the wall. It sputtered to life. Bringing the light source into his room, Levi finally caught sight of it. There wasn't really much to look at. Just a small room with a mattress on the floor along with a bucket. That was pretty much it. The walls were carved from volcanic rock, cobwebs littered the ceilings forming a tapestry. The floor was made from the same volcanic materials as the walls. No windows or anything. He fixed the candle in its holder, the light dancing across the walls. Levi sat on the hard mattress. He pushed up his sleeves, twisted to see his back
He stripped off his ragged shirt, In the flickering light, his malnourished frame was a map of ribs and flaked skin. And there it was. High on his shoulder, just where it met his neck, a thick vein, black as polished obsidian, pulsed faintly beneath his skin. It looked less like a vein and more like a parasite.
~When did this thing appear? ~
Levi wondered.
Levi then proceeded to take a deep, shuddering breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He poured every ounce of his will into the image of that black vein, focusing until his head throbbed. For minutes, nothing. Only the darkness behind his eyelids. Then, the world tilted. A wave of profound, unnatural exhaustion slammed into him, dragging his consciousness down into blackness. Levi didn't fall asleep; consciousness was ripped from him by sheer exhaustion. The last thing he felt was the cold press of leather against his cheek before the darkness swallowed him whole