Finn and Nyx sat side-by-side on the cold stone floor of the chamber, taking stock of their supplies and tending to their wounds.
The only light ca from the ethereal glow of the portal, casting long shadows across their weary faces.
Nyx sifted through the contents of Finn’s rucksack with deft fingers, laying out bandages, rations, and water bottles in neat rows.
She paused, holding up the voidsteel sword shard they had won from the Barrow Lord’s corpse. The dark tal seed to drink in the faint light.
"This is a potent material," she murmured, turning it over in her hands.
Finn glanced up from where he was winding a length of gauze around his torn forearm. "Yeah? What do you think we could do with it?"
"aning the right smith could shape it into sothing rare." Her crimson eyes t his. "A weapon worthy of you, Bearer."
He huffed a laugh, tying off the bandage. "I’ll settle for one that doesn’t break halfway through a swing."
They lapsed into companionable silence, the simple rituals of rest and recovery gentling the adrenaline still surging through them.
Finn’s gaze kept straying to the two options shimring on the portal’s surface. Descend, or return. The thought of more floors, more horrors waiting in the dark, sent a chill down his spine.
But the alternative...
Returning ant facing the city. The desperate survivors. The slow march of the days until the First Trial, for which none of them were ready.
At least down here, for all its perils, they were moving forward. Growing stronger. And Nyx was with him.
As if sensing his thoughts, she shifted closer, her shoulder brushing his. "Sothing weighs on you."
He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Just thinking about what’s next. I told you we might make it to the bottom of this place. I ant it. I’m just... not sure I’m ready for what’s down there."
"Fear is no enemy of yours, Bearer. The fool feels none and dies first." She tilted her head, watching him. "You feel it and walk forward anyway. My people have a word for that. So do yours, I assu."
Finn looked at her then, really looked. At the delicate curve of her cheek, the dark fall of her hair. The unwavering resolve in those crimson eyes.
In that mont, the choice crystallized in his mind.
"...Thanks. That actually helped."
A slow smile curved her lips, sharp at the edges. "I should hope so."
Finn pulled up their status screens and began to analyse the changes.
[Nyx Sanguina — Level 12]
[Stats]
Strength: 8
Agility: 13
Endurance: 12
Perception: 12
Intelligence: 22
Willpower: 19
[Stat Points Available: 14]
[Finn Morrow — Level 12]
[Stats]
Strength: 13
Agility: 25
Endurance: 23.5
Perception: 14
Intelligence: 15.5
Willpower: 14
[Stat Points Available: 4]
Compared to yesterday, their numbers had climbed sharply. It was reassuring to see how far they’d co — but it still wasn’t enough.
He looked over at their [Skills] section and noticed that Nyx’s had been updated.
Shadow Step Lv. 2 (Active) — Allows the caster to travel within a set range through shadows. Range: 70m — Cost: 8MP
Whisper Lv. 1 (Passive) — Bonded partner can hear Nyx’s thoughts within 1km.
’Her skill levelled up. The cost dropped, the range stretched. When did that happen?’
’During our last fight. When I used it.’
Her voice in his head still startled him. But the answer confird sothing useful that carried over from the ga: skills levelled through repeated use.
Which raised an obvious question. How was he supposed to level his own?
[Skills]
Covenant Summon Lv. 1 (Active) — The Covenant Bearer can summon an entity to form a Bond. The entity can fight for the bearer.
Soul Link Lv. 1 (Passive) — The Covenant Bearer can sense the bonded entity’s location and HP at all tis. Range: 10 KM.
Covenant Recall Lv. 1 (Active) — Summon the bonded entity to the Bearer’s side from any distance. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Cost: 40 MP.
Finn stretched out a hand. "Covenant Summon."
[Summon Limit has been reached. Skill level is too low.]
’...Figured. Another summon would tilt the odds for the next floor, but I can’t level a skill I can’t use.’ He sighed again. ’Which ans the hard way. I’ll need to use a different thod.’
His shoulders sagged.
’Oh? Has my Bearer grown weary of already, that he hunts so eagerly for another?’
’No — Nyx, that’s not what I —’
’Mm. Of course not.’
He could practically hear the smile in the thought. Unable to find a clean reply, he just shook his head and focused on a new section that had appeared on his screen. [Bond.]
He opened it.
[Bond: Nyx Sanguina.]
[Bond Level: 1]
[Shared Experience: ACTIVE]
That was all. Which only raised more questions. What did Level 1 actually an? How was he ant to raise it? And what would they gain if he did?
He chewed the inside of his cheek.
"Nyx."
"Hm?"
"...Co here a second."
She arched a brow but obliged, leaning toward him. "Yes, Bearer?"
He cleared his throat. "When we ford the bond, we kissed. I think it might be how the bond levels. Doing it again, I an."
There was a beat of silence. Her crimson eyes glittered with sothing between amusent and disbelief.
"You wish to kiss . For research."
"...When you say it like that it sounds bad."
"Mm."
The tips of her ears had gone faintly pink, though her expression remained perfectly composed.
"And should nothing co of it?"
"Then we tried."
"A poor hypothesis," she said softly. "But I am, however, willing to test it."
Finn and Nyx leaned toward each other. His heart hamred against his ribs as they closed the distance, a hairsbreadth at a ti.
Their lips t.
It was just as electric as the first ti — a spark igniting down his spine, a sudden flush of heat. His hand found the small of her back, drawing her closer. She made a quiet sound against his mouth, her fingers curling in the front of his shirt.
For a long, dizzying mont, there was only the press of her lips on his, the silk of her hair beneath his fingers. Then, reluctantly, they parted.
Finn blinked, his head spinning. He checked his status screen with bated breath.
[Bond: Nyx Sanguina]
[Bond Level: 1]
[Shared Experience: ACTIVE]
Nothing had changed. The kiss, electrifying as it had been, hadn’t affected their bond at all.
"A pity," Nyx murmured, the faintest tremor in her breath. "Your theory, it seems, was inconclusive."
"Yeah." Finn cleared his throat. "We’ll, uh — we’ll have to think of sothing else—"
He stopped mid-sentence, head snapping toward the chamber entrance. The unmistakable sound of footsteps echoed from the stairs they had descended not long before. Soone else had just arrived at the second floor’s boss room.
Finn scrambled to his feet, his hand flying to the Voidsteel sword shard. Nyx was already moving, a pale blur as she slipped into the shadows at the chamber’s edge.
Five figures erged from the stairwell, weapons at the ready. The leader, a wiry man with sharp eyes, had an arrow nocked and drawn, the point aid squarely at Finn’s chest.
"Easy there, mate. Let’s not do anything hasty, yeah? Just tell us if you’re hostile or friendly, and we’ll go from there."
Finn held up his free hand in a placating gesture. These were the first living people they’d encountered since leaving the Safe Zone. The first who might have news, information, supplies.
Or the first who might try to take what they had.
"Don’t," Finn said, keeping his voice level.
The leader’s draw arm tightened. "Don’t what, mate? Don’t shoot? Bit late to be asking— "
"I wasn’t talking to you."
In the shadows behind the man, crimson eyes flashed. Nyx rose from the darkness like a wraith, the edge of her dagger laid neat against his throat. He went rigid, his bow wavering.
"Be still," she said softly, and there was nothing soft about it. Her eyes were cold and lifeless. "He asked you most courteously, did he not? It would grieve to mar so civil an exchange, and you, in particular, for daring to draw upon my Bearer."
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