"Gyaa!!"
The moment consciousness returned, Kivas bolted upright, gasping, drenched in cold sweat. Her breath came in ragged pulls as if her lungs had only just remembered how to work.
The dream world had vanished, but the echoes of the centipede Voidling's screams still reverberated through her bones.
Her hands trembled faintly. Her skin felt feverish. Yet underneath the physical exhaustion, there was something cleaner—an absence.
"You're awake," Samael's voice murmured above her. "How do you feel?"
Kivas blinked rapidly and only then noticed the warmth beneath her cheek. Her head rested against Samael's lap, the former dragon's fingers calmly brushing strands of hair from her forehead.
Kivas stared in blank confusion at the fabric beneath her face, registering the texture with alarming clarity.
"...Am I still dreaming?" she muttered.
Samael tilted her head slightly. "No. You're quite real. And quite damp."
Kivas groaned, hiding half her face in the fabric. "You didn't think to put a pillow under me?"
"I tried," Samael said. "You rejected it mid-spasm and dove directly into my thigh."
Kivas exhaled into Samael's leg, cheeks tinted with the color of shame and amusement. "Well, I can't complain. These thighs feel like memory foam and guiltless luxury. I think I once stayed in a hotel with cushions this soft. Fancy job assignment abroad."
Samael raised an eyebrow. "The one where you fumbled so bad that you got demoted?"
Kivas narrowed her eyes and rolled her head sideways. "How would you know that?"
Samael gave her a sideways smile, almost smug. "That's a secret."
Kivas groaned and tapped her forehead with her palm. "I'm going to assume you peeked using some eldritch dragon magic and let that trespass slide, because I'm too tired to throw accusations."
"Curiosity is a healthy thing to have, but a dangerous one to maintain."
Kivas let herself rest against the lap a few seconds longer, her breathing evening out, until she finally lifted her hand and flicked her fingers.
Her Well of the Soul opened.
Glyphs formed in the air above her, symbols shifting and churning in patterns that would make no sense to any outsider. Purples and violets danced with interlaced reds. Each arcane stroke reflected a language of soul-resonance, one only Kivas could interpret. She scanned the data and frowned deeply.
➤ 『WELL OF THE SOUL』
Name: Kivas Chariot
Race: Fateling
Total Level: 1
➤ 『Attributes』
💪 Strength (STR): 14
🧠 Intelligence Quotient (IQ): 23
🙏 Piety (PIE): 31
🛡️ Vitality (VIT): 20
💨 Speed (SPD): 19
🎯 Dexterity (DEX): 10
🍀 Luck (LUK): 16
➤ 『Vitals』
❤️ Hemo Psyche (HP): 36 / 36
🔮 Mana Psyche (MP): 26 / 26
➤ 『Derived Stats』
🗡️ Attack Power: 14
✨ Magic Power: 23
🔆 Divine Power: 31
🛡️ Defense: 20
🍃 Magic Defense: 31
👁️ Detect: 16
🧩 Disarm Trap: 12
🚧 Evade Trap: 18
🏃 Action Speed: 19
🎯 Accuracy: 12
🌀 Evasion: 18
⛓️ Resistance: 26
➤ 『Classes』
◈ Priest Lv1
➤ 『Skills』
◈ Divine Soulmate Imbuer Lv1 – You possess the power to imbue a Genesis Core onto your fated soulmate.
◈ Fate Weaver Lv1 – You possess the power to weave fate.
◈ Soul Entanglement Lv1 – You possess the power to latch your soul.
➤ 『END OF THE WELL』
"Wait. +6 Strength, +2 Intelligence, +1 Piety, +10 Vitality, +12 Speed, +1 Luck? That's it?" She turned toward Samael with a betrayed look. "I got dragged through a trauma stew, fought that overgrown insect until I was bathing in its blood, and this is what I get?"
Samael looked unfazed. "You barely contributed to its death in your earlier attempts. The Nightmare that formed wasn't bloated with enough resentment."
Kivas sat upright properly, still in Samael's lap, legs stretched, her hands flopped on her thighs. "So... the stronger the victim's hatred, the stronger the Nightmare. But if I don't feed enough hatred, the rewards are weak, huh."
"You want gains? Then make sure you are the source of the final death," Samael replied. "Feed it your rage, make it fear and haunt you to death."
Kivas rubbed her face. "I'm not sure if I'm fighting my enemies or becoming a therapist."
"Think of it as a spiritual economy. And this was your down payment."
"I feel like I got taxed and mugged."
Samael tilted her head. "You're alive. That's the return."
Kivas let herself fall backward and splay over Samael's legs again, groaning theatrically. "Then I'll be resting here for hours."
"As expected." Samael then grabbed Kivas' head before casually dropping it to the ground.
"Gyah!"
"I'll be hunting Curios and getting something to feed this Exo Human body of mine," Samael smirked. "Hope you have a sweet rest, my Fateling."
"Yeah, yeah, make sure you get home safe~" Kivas playfully teased, holding her aching head.
Kivas spent the next six hours barely moving, her mind drifting in and out of shallow sleep, quenching her thirst for silence and peace.
She didn't dream again. No insects. No nightmares. Just weightlessness. By the time she stirred again, her body felt lighter, her limbs loose, her breath smooth.
What she did feel was hunger. Obnoxiously persistent, physical hunger. Her stomach growled in a rude declaration.
Before she could voice her needs, Samael stepped through the doorway of the shelter, arms full. A mass of cloth and canvas tumbled onto the table beside the fire pit, some tied in string, others wrapped in runes.
Kivas turned her head slowly toward the pile.
"...Samael."
"Yes?"
"What are those?"
"Loots," Samael answered with a slightly disappointed undertone. "I searched a wide radius, but there weren't many Curio spawns this cycle. Still, this is usable."
Kivas got up and approached like a curious animal. She squatted by the table, began peeling back layers of cloth, and froze as the first item gleamed in the ambient light.
A bottle filled with swirling golden liquid that clung to the glass as though alive. Its surface emitted a soft hum.
"Flask of Imbued Equilibrium," Samael explained. "Common-tier. Restores balance between Hemo Psyche and Mana Psyche when used. Good for recovery in lopsided fights."
The next item she uncovered was a crescent-shaped dagger made of crystallized sap, its edge etched with soul fractals.
"Voidwood Fang. Another common. Weak durability, but bypasses certain resistances if your target has shadow-aligned soul cores."
The pile kept revealing itself.
A ring with a carved ant head—Chitinous Sigil. Common-tier. Passively boosts survivability against insectoid enemies.
A folded black scarf that occasionally shimmered blue at its edges—Driftwool Wrap. Common. Improves stealth in fog-covered zones.
An orb of glass containing a petrified eye—Staring Pearl. Common. Can be thrown. Explodes in a burst of paralyzing fear for lower-mind creatures.
Other items included.
A Myco Spore Pellet, edible but mildly mutagenic.
A Glass Mapplate, a broken navigation artifact.
Three Hollow Totems, non-functioning relics, soul-inscribed but inert.
A Pulse-Flint Bracelet, stabilizes minor heat on the arm for three seconds. Quite useless.
A Dream-Skin Drum, spiritual signal tool, not for combat.
A pair of Fractal Pins, common alchemical foci.
And a Sifter's Journal, which appeared to be blank but held soul echoes when viewed with divination.
Kivas pulled away the cloth covering the rarer items.
A dagger forged of coral and bone—Serated Coralblade. Rare-tier. Absorbs vitality with each strike and temporarily converts it into movement speed.
A palm-sized orb of vibrating water—Liquid Mnemonic. Rare. Can store a memory for instant recall. Has one use.
A small lantern lit with silent green flame—Lantern of the Buried Voice. Rare. Reveals invisible trails left by cursed beings.
And lastly, a red locket marked by dragon symbols—Drakeborn Favor. Rare-tier trinket. Once activated, grants resistance against fire-aligned soul damage for one battle.
Kivas gaped openly. "This is... I mean, this is—wow."
Samael crossed her arms. "No Legendary. No Exotic. No Godly. No Curio chains. Just average frequency and density. The loot pool is thin this cycle."
Kivas laughed. "I think my mouth just watered at the idea of these so-called common and rare loots, let alone Legendary."
"Don't drool on the table," Samael said dryly. "Also, you're hungry, aren't you?"
Kivas' stomach roared before she could lie. "Starving."
Samael turned toward the doorway and raised an eyebrow.
"Then it's time to hunt. There's no better breakfast than a Voidling you kill yourself."
Kivas stood slowly, stretching her arms with a faint wry smirk. "So that's how you get your food here. Slaughter and seasoning. No wonder why you didn't bring me any..."
"Slaughter, then devouring their nightmarish essence," Samael corrected. "You'll learn the flavor varies depending on what part of the soul you bite into."
Kivas cringed. "That's going to ruin metaphors for me forever. That's not how attributes acquisition works."
"Good," Samael said. "Now let's go see if these new equipment and your new stats can actually catch something worth eating."