The vast, smooth marble floors stretched out in front of her. She could feel the coolness beneath her bare feet, her slippers having been left outside the door of her room. She ran down the halls, her small feet tapping softly against the stone as she chased a big, bright ball. She was younger here, maybe five or six, and the castle surrounding her felt warm and familiar, like something deep within her heart.

  I recognize this place.

  I don’t recognize this place.

  She pushed the thought away as the ball bounced further down the hall, just beyond her reach. She ran faster, eager to catch it, but no matter how fast she ran, the ball seemed to keep just out of reach. She veered into one room, then another, the soft sound of her breath mixing with the echo of her footsteps in the empty halls. Each room she passed through was beautiful, but something was always missing—something she couldn’t name. The ball led her forward, always a few steps ahead.

  Finally, the ball darted into a room that seemed different from the others. The air inside was warm, comforting, and the sunlight streaming through tall windows painted everything in a soft golden glow. Rich carpets lined the floors, their patterns intricate and foreign. A grand table sat in the center of the room, laden with gleaming plates, goblets, and food that sparkled as if freshly prepared. But the ball was gone, vanished, nowhere to be seen.

  A strange quiet settled over her as she looked around. The voices of laughter and conversation drifted in from behind a door to her right. She walked toward it, curiosity pulling her closer. Standing on her tiptoes, she gently opened the door inward.

  Inside, three figures stood in a room that felt both expansive and intimate. A tall, distinguished man with a regal bearing, his face lined with respect and wisdom. Beside him, a woman—beautiful, elegant, and youthful despite her years. There was warmth in her eyes, a tenderness that spoke of a deep bond. And then, a young girl. She had the same wide eyes, the same soft features—almost strikingly similar to her own. She felt a sudden, sharp tug in her chest, like she was looking into a mirror that reflected a past she couldn’t remember.

  This is my family.

  The words rang out from the girl in front of her, though her lips never moved.

  But as she stood frozen in place, another thought echoed back to her with confusion.

  Who are these people?

  The thought echoed louder, more insistent. The words didn’t feel like her own; they felt distant, fading away like fragments of a dream she couldn’t quite hold onto. She blinked, a sharp pang of emptiness growing in her chest. A sense of loss washed over her, like something precious had been taken away.

  Her feet stumbled backward, instinct driving her to retreat. But before she could spin and flee, the girl—her mirror image—extended a hand, her voice cutting through the air like a blade.

  Why did you take them? They aren’t yours.

  The words struck like a thunderclap, reverberating through the room. The ground shuddered beneath her feet, walls splintering as jagged cracks tore through their pristine surfaces. A formless power shook the once-tranquil air, contorting the surrounding space and causing it to descend into chaos. The floor gave way, and a deafening buzz drowned out every sound, pressing into her ears like a relentless swarm.

  Everything shattered.

  The world crumbled into a swirling black void, dragging her into its consuming darkness.

  Enya!

  The voice pierced the abyss, sharp and urgent. Her body jolted upright, a gasp ripping from her throat as her eyes flew open. Her chest heaved, lungs struggling to pull in air. The room swam into focus—cold stone beneath her, the familiar faces of Pell and Josier hovering close. Their worry was etched deeply in their expressions.

  Sweat streaked her forehead, and her trembling hands pressed against the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest, an unsteady rhythm that refused to calm.

  “Hey, kid, breathe,” Pell said, his voice steady but lined with unease. The eerie flames in his eyes flickered, betraying his concern.

  “Are you alright?” Josier’s question carried a hard edge of uncertainty. His role as her overwatch weighed heavily on him, and the thought of failing her—even for a moment—seemed unbearable.

  Enya blinked, trying to push through the fog clinging to her mind. The fragments of the dream still clawed at her, refusing to let go. She opened her mouth, her voice cracking as she finally spoke. “I—I don’t... what happened?”

  “Just take it slow,” Pell urged, gesturing with a skeletal hand. “Steady your breath, kid. In and out.”

  She nodded faintly, focusing on the rhythm of her breathing. Inhale. Exhale. The sharp edge of panic dulled with each passing second.

  Josier shifted uneasily beside her. “You were collecting whatever it was you were collecting, and then you just... collapsed. Like something hit you out of nowhere.”

  “Yeah, one second you were fine, and the next, you were grasping at the air like you were in agony,” Pell added, his bony fingers tapping against his chin. “You were out for about five minutes. We were this close to dragging you to a healer.”

  He leaned closer, his voice dropping. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Enya swallowed hard, her pulse still unsteady as she searched for an answer. The dream’s remnants whispered at the edges of her consciousness, but the words to explain them wouldn’t come.

  “A-ah…” Enya managed to stammer, her voice weak. “T-the book said I could expand my soul-energy capacity by absorbing it directly. It mentioned… it might hurt the first time. I just… wasn’t expecting it to hurt that much.”

  “Holy nine hells, kid,” Pell said, his soul flames flickering erratically. “You should’ve told me you were about to try something like that! I thought you were about to keel over right here in the middle of the dungeon.”

  “S-sorry…” Enya muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Pell sighed, the sound rattling from his skeletal frame. Without another word, he extended a bony hand toward her. She hesitated briefly before reaching out to grab it, and he hauled her back to her feet with surprising ease.

  “You alright now, or do we need to call it here?” Josier asked, his arms crossed as he stood nearby.

  Enya glanced at him, then back to Pell. “I-I think I’m okay now. The book said that the first time I expanded my capacity would hurt. If I try it again, I think I should be fine.”

  Pell crossed his arms, the flames in his eyes narrowing. “You had me worried, kid. Don’t pull that kind of stunt again without telling me first. I didn’t know what the hell was happening, and if it had been anything worse, I wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing to help you.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “I understand. I won’t. I’m sorry,” Enya said quietly, her gaze dropping.

  Pell shook his head, irritation bleeding into his tone. “Alright, fine. So, did you at least get what you needed?”

  Enya glanced to the side and pulled up her status screen. Sure enough, her capacity had expanded.

  System Notification: You have succeeded in expanding your Soul-Energy capacity.

  Soul-Energy: 24/200

  “Yeah,” she said with a small nod. “My soul-capacity increased. I can hold up to 200 points now.”

  “That doesn’t mean much to me,” Pell said, unimpressed. “Is that good?”

  “Uh…” Enya paused, searching for the best way to explain. “Oh! Soul-energy works kind of like mana, but at half value. So 200 points of Soul-Energy is like gaining 100 points of mana.”

  Josier raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. You’re saying you can just gain 100 mana, just like that? Permanently?”

  Enya shook her head. “Not exactly. It’s just the capacity. I have to kill things, absorb their souls, and fill it up to 200. It doesn’t regenerate on its own.”

  Pell turned to Josier, his tone sharpening. “The kid’s too loose-lipped. Listen to me, and listen carefully: under no circumstances are you to tell anyone about her abilities. Not Lorrin, not Clament—nobody.”

  Josier nodded, his expression serious. “Understood.”

  Enya tilted her head, trying to piece together why Pell had just threatened Josier.

  “Stop. Telling. People. About your damn abilities,” Pell said, his tone exasperated as he caught her confused look. “Just because someone asks doesn’t mean you need to spill everything. You need to learn how to keep secrets.”

  “Oh. Right,” Enya replied awkwardly, her foot tracing small circles on the ground as her toe twirled back and forth.

  “With that out of the way, you’re sure you can keep going, then?” Pell asked, his arms crossing. “You got about 12 points of mana from soul-energy currently, but what about your actual mana?”

  At his prompting, Enya pulled up her status screen again, frowning as she read it.

  Mana: 12/30

  “But… I didn’t use that much mana…” she muttered, her brow furrowing.

  “Probably the gloves,” Josier said. “That shopkeeper mentioned they had terrible mana efficiency, didn’t he? Blocking that crystal cobweb likely drained a lot more than you expected.”

  She glanced at Josier, considering his words. That made sense. She had cast a few bone spears, but it shouldn’t have brought her mana down that low. The shield had saved her from taking damage, but the mana cost, as Pell might say, was too damn high.

  “You got a spare mana potion for her?” Pell asked, turning to Josier.

  Josier reached behind him, lifting a portion of fabric from his suit to reveal a small array of vials attached to his belt. The vials were as tall as his hand but no wider than a finger, each containing a shimmering blue liquid.

  “Pemely Mana Potion,” Josier said, carefully unhooking one and holding it out to Enya. “A drop or two should restore enough points for you.”

  “A drop? I’m missing almost 20 mana, though,” Enya said, eyeing the vial skeptically.

  “Pemely potions are super-condensed,” Pell explained. “One drop is plenty. Those vials go for around 20 gold each, so don’t waste it.”

  Enya twisted off the cap and tilted the vial carefully over her mouth, sticking out her tongue. A single drop of the blue liquid fell, landing squarely on her tongue. Almost immediately, she felt her mana pool refill, the sensation warm and invigorating.

  “It tastes… really sweet,” Enya said, clicking her tongue as she recapped the vial and handed it back to Josier.

  “Made from Pemely berries,” Josier replied, slipping the vial back into place. “Those things are absurdly sweet—almost syrupy.”

  Sure enough, once she opened her status menu, her mana pool was restored.

  Mana: 28/30

  “I think… I’m good now,” she said, glancing up at the others. “My mana is at 28 out of 30.”

  “Alright,” Pell said with a curt nod. “Then we’ll keep going. But stay back this time and be smarter about it. No more reckless moves. And tell us—tell me if you are about to do anything.”

  Enya nodded earnestly, clutching her hands together as if to seal the promise. “Got it.”

  “You going to absorb the rest of the spiderling corpses? There is still the other three you haven’t absorbed,” he asked.

  “Uh… yeah. I’ll do that right now,” she replied.

  The group pressed on through the expansive cavern, navigating its twists, turns, and labyrinthine paths. The further they went, the more uncommon green crystals dotted the walls, their faint glow casting an eerie, emerald hue.

  “Finish it!” Enya shouted.

  Muffins swung their blade with precision, bringing it down hard on the crystal spiderling. The crack of shattering crystal echoed as the creature split apart, more gleaming ichor spilling onto the floor.

  “Good job, Muffins!” Enya praised, stepping closer to the now-lifeless husk.

  Despite Muffins' fractured skull, Enya figured it was better to have three minions than just Tim and Grace. With Josier’s stash of mana potions, reviving Muffins seemed like the best plan.

  She pulled out her bonecarver’s quill and plunged it into the spider’s remains. The familiar rush of energy filled her reserves.

  Soul-Energy: 203/200

  “That makes eight spiders now, doesn’t it?” Pell asked, his tone tinged with frustration. “Shame we haven’t found anything worth even a single coin.”

  “I’m capped on Soul-Energy again!” Enya said cheerfully, withdrawing her quill back into its mysterious space.

  Pell crossed his arms, his fiery eyes narrowing with concern. “You’re not seriously thinking about expanding it again, are you? What if you pass out—or worse?”

  Enya looked up at him, shaking her head. “No, not yet. The book said I could go up to 150%, right? I think I’ll wait until I’m closer to 300 points before I try it again.”

  She glanced back at the spider’s corpse before looking ahead. Something had shifted as they ventured deeper into the cave. Unlike the barren tunnels they’d seen earlier, the walls here were now draped with crystal-like cobwebs, glinting faintly in the dim light. The cavern almost seemed to be cocooning itself.

  “What’s with all the cobwebs? Are we heading into an older part of the dungeon or something?” Pell asked, his gaze darting between the crystalline threads glinting in the dim light.

  “We might be approaching a hive,” Josier replied, studying the patterns with a sharp eye. “Seeing this many crystal cobwebs likely means a queen and her base of operations are nearby.”

  “A queen?” Pell asked, his tone skeptical. “Anything special about it?”

  “I’ve only ever heard about the queen in passing—never seen one myself,” Josier admitted. “But it’s said to be smaller than the others, with a body entirely made of crystal, not just partially like the rest.”

  They pressed on, the cavern around them subtly shifting. The familiar white crystals that lined the walls earlier had almost entirely vanished, replaced by the semi-bioluminescent green ones. Their faint glow bathed the walls in a sickly light, more ominous than the white ones.

  Then, something caught Enya’s eye.

  “Hey! That one’s yellow!” she shouted, jogging ahead to inspect the brighter crystal embedded in the wall.

  She crouched down, marveling at the solid, almost pristine texture of the yellow crystal. Unlike the green ones, which were riddled with fractures and shadowy lines, the yellow crystal was smooth and unblemished.

  Josier and Pell caught up, their eyes narrowing in curiosity.

  “Huh… I’m not an expert on this stuff,” Pell admitted, leaning closer. “But I know some of these colored crystals can sell for a pretty penny at the market, from what I’ve seen at least. Any idea what this is, Josier?”

  Josier shrugged, adjusting his coat. “Minerals aren’t my area of expertise, I’m afraid. But judging by its size, I’d wager it might sell for at least one gold coin. That’s just a guess, though—it could just as easily be worth a few silvers.”

  “Should we take it out?” Enya asked, glancing between them.

  Pell rubbed the back of his skull, the scraping of bone on bone making her wince. “The best way to get it out without losing value is to remove it cleanly, but we don’t have the tools for that. Honestly, we should just leave it and come back later.”

  Enya frowned. “Come back later? Do we even know how to get back here?”

  Pell hesitated before Josier cut in, his voice calm. “That’s why I’m here. I’ve got a tracking skill. I left a mark at the portal when we entered. As long as I’m with you, we’ll find our way back safely.”

  Reassured, Enya turned back to the crystal. “What if we just break off a piece now? The tournament is tomorrow so I don’t know if I’ll have the time to come back.”

  Pell sighed, glancing at the crystal again. “Fine. Just take a chunk, then.”

  Enya gestured to Tim, who lumbered over. The skeletal minion planted his sword on the ground, then gripped the base of the crystal with both hands. With a creak and a snap, the crystal broke free, sending a large piece and a few smaller shards tumbling to the ground.

  Enya shuffled forward, picking up the biggest piece and handing it to Pell. He held it up, his soul flames flickering as he inspected it.

  “Not the cleanest break,” he muttered, “but it might still fetch something.” He tucked the crystal into his spatial inventory.

  As Tim bent to retrieve his sword, a sudden skittering sound echoed from deeper in the cavern. The noise grew louder, like countless legs moving in unison.

  Everyone froze.

  “What the hell was that?” Pell hissed, his gaze snapping toward the shadows ahead.

  Josier’s eyes squinted, as he focused on the darkness far away from them. “I think we might have found the hive.”