The shrine pulsed every evening now. Its hum slipped into our bones until we breathed with it.One night, the glow sharpened, like the air itself was calling us to move.
"Tonight," I said.
Kayra closed her ledger, fingers still stained green from mixing herbs.Ragnar twirled his knife, grinning. "About time we see what these spirit toys can really do."Klaus only nodded, quiet as stone. His shadow rippled around his boots—already alive.
Lucifer sighed. "Family bonding through armed meditation. What could go wrong?"
1. Entering the Gate
We sat around the shrine, one hand on the stone, one on our marks.The pulse quickened, then folded inward; the world slipped.
Cold vanished. Color bled to silver.We stood in the Echo Forest, its trees mirrored glass, its beasts translucent light.
"Stay linked," I said.
Shadows coiled around me, shaping my Shadow Elf.Beside me rose Klaus's Darkness Elf, armor like smoke and iron, silent as judgment.Ragnar's Illusion Elf flickered, tails of light darting around it like laughter that didn't need sound.And Kayra's Healing Elf appeared as a soft bloom of green fire, petals of light drifting with her breath.
Lucifer muttered in awe, "Congratulations, kiddo—you've invented family therapy that bites back."
2. The Hunt
Movement rippled through the silver brush—a herd of warped boar-shapes, tusks glowing blue with unstable core-light.
"Echo Boars," Klaus said. "They charge mana when threatened."
"Then don't threaten them," Ragnar said—and immediately threw a rock.
The herd squealed; light exploded.I stepped into shadow; the world blinked. Shadow Step carried me behind the nearest beast.My scythe carved through light that bled black. The corpse fell, leaving behind a glimmering core.
Klaus raised a hand. Darkness folded outward like a dome, swallowing another charge before it detonated.Ragnar's elf split itself into three copies, confusing two beasts long enough for Kayra's green light to bind their legs in vines made of healing energy turned restraint.
Together we moved like a rhythm we didn't know we knew: strike, defend, heal, vanish.When the last beast dissolved, the forest quieted as if waiting for applause.
Lucifer clapped once, invisible. "Functional. Terrifying. I approve."
We gathered six Echo Cores, humming faintly—raw mana caught between life and death.
3. Distillation
Back home, Kayra spread parchment over the table, diagrams already sketched."The cores are volatile," she said. "If we distill them too fast, they'll burst."
"Ragnar," Klaus warned, "don't blow anything up."
"I don't plan to," Ragnar said. "Accidents are part of the art."
We built the still: copper tubing, glass flasks, the shrine's faint energy feeding through rune-cords to stabilize the flow.Kayra crushed herbs; I guided mana through the shrine's shadow vein, letting it filter impurities.
The first drop fell—liquid silver that glowed faintly against the wood.
"Echo Essence," Kayra whispered. "Concentrated mana made stable through reflection."
We mixed it with our healing balm.The result shimmered softly, a salve that pulsed in time with a heartbeat.
I dabbed a bit on an old cut; warmth spread, pain gone.Even Lucifer sounded impressed. "That's… disturbingly efficient. You've weaponized self-care."
4. The Market Day
We reached the market before sunrise. Frost clung to canvas roofs; merchants were still cursing at their tables.
Kayra placed a small wooden sign:Machiavelli Balms — Heals, Strengthens, Endures.
The first hunter laughed. "Another miracle jar?"Klaus said nothing. He simply uncorked one, rubbed a drop on the man's scarred hand. The scar faded to pale skin.
By midday, the entire square buzzed. Coins clinked steady as rain.We sold every jar.
Ragnar ran inventory math on his fingers. "Profit margin… delicious."
Kayra smiled for the first time in months. "We can buy more herbs, better glass."
I looked at the shrine's faint glow visible from the hill outside town.People stared at it now with something between reverence and greed.
Lucifer's whisper brushed my ear:"Congratulations, kiddo. You've officially turned enlightenment into commerce."
"Someone had to," I said.
5. Evening Reflection
We sat by the shrine again that night, the silver coins stacked beside the core.The hum of the stone was stronger, fuller—as if it enjoyed being useful.
Klaus cleaned his blade. "We should limit hunts. Too much energy might draw things worse than boars."Kayra nodded. "Or attention."
Ragnar leaned back, grinning. "Attention pays."
I traced the runes on the shrine's edge. They pulsed once, gentle.My Shadow Elf emerged, kneeling beside me. The others' Elves hovered behind their hosts like silent stars.
"We built something alive," I said quietly. "Let's keep it that way."
Lucifer chuckled, softer than usual."Just remember, kiddo—everything alive eventually wants more."
The shrine's light flickered, not in warning but in agreement.
We didn't pray. We planned.
Tomorrow we'd hunt again. Tomorrow we'd craft more balm, maybe new brews—strength, stamina, illusion dust for Ragnar's tricks.For the first time, survival didn't feel like desperation. It felt like enterprise.
End of Chapter 6