Nausea, vertigo, and an unbearable feeling of intrusion stirred her from her slumber.

“Ah, she’s waking up!”

“About damn time,” came another unfamiliar voice. “And just look at all the power flowin’ through ‘er. We hit it big, alright. She’s gon’ be worth a ton!”

“We’re not selling her!” the first voice cracked across the room like a whip. “We had a deal.”

Fifteen-year-old Tanya blearily opened her eyes, the ominous words piercing through the haze of fatigue that fogged her mind, only to be replaced by an even more horrifying realization. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know who she was with. She couldn’t see anything.

What the hell was going on?

She tried to move, but only chafed her own wrists in the process. Forcefully calming herself— one of the first lessons a clan heir learned —Tanya reanalyzed her situation. She was immobilized by chains, and blindfolded to take away her most precious sense.

Despite all her training, it took all her might not to simply break down into sobs. Tales of thugs kidnapping nobles only to do heinous things to them flitted through her mind, each scenario more gruesome than the last. While Tanya had been warned of the cruelty of the outside world, she had never expected something like this to happen to her.

Her manacles clinked.

Still, she wasn’t completely helpless. They had taken her sight and limited her touch, but Tanya was more than that.

She was an Asukan.

And that meant she had lifeforce. Far more than any of these thugs could ever even imagine in their lives.

Composing herself, she dug deep into the power she’d been born with, and the familiar feeling of lifeforce flooded through her veins. She may not have had a kami yet like the others, but her father made sure she knew how to protect herself even without one.

Lifeforce flowed up like a tide—

And then died.

The manacles clinked again.

…What was going on?

Tanya tried again, only to suffer the same results. Then again, and again, and again and again and again. Every single time she tried using lifeforce, something snatched away her control and returned the wave of power to the well from where it came. It was almost as if—

“Look ‘ere lads! The lass seems like she’s figured it out!”

“What have you done to me?” Tanya asked, unable to fully mask her anxiety, if the wobble in her voice was any indication.

“It won’t work,” the first voice interrupted amusedly. “Those manacles are specially made. They won’t let you use lifeforce, Asukan princess. But don’t just take my word for it.”

Furious and filled with disbelief, Tanya focused even harder and tried again—

But nothing answered her call.

Just like the man said.

“Silly little girl,” the man cruelly laughed. “Did you really think we weren’t prepared for something so simple? Even if you had a kami to summon, it still wouldn’t work.”

“Just—” she grunted, struggling against her binds, “let me go!”

“No can do, lass,” the second voice replied. “Ye’r a Shimizu princess. Ye’ll fetch us a good deal when I send ye all wrapped up to the yokai.”

Tanya stilled. Yokai? That didn’t sound right. Yokai were terrible, evil monsters that had been driven out of Cyffnar and the Eaborid Kingdom years before she’d even been born. Her own father had been instrumental in wiping out the last of those monsters, and—

“Shut your mouth!” the first cried out in alarm, attracting her attention. “You’ll rat us out!”

“Bah!” the second sneered. “As if this lil’ lass can do anything ‘cept cry!”

Tanya grit her teeth, her helplessness only amplified by the man’s callous words. She tried ripping the chains apart again, but to no avail. What was happening? Why couldn’t she just tear through the bindings?

She made a third attempt, but still nothing. It was like her connection to her own lifeforce had been muted. But how? The growing pit of despair in her stomach lurched as cold, heartless laughter reverberated throughout the chamber.

“What? Ya done already? Don’tcha have some fight left in ya? Man, givin’ up so easy… what’re they even feedin’ nobles these days?”

“Please,” Tanya finally sobbed. “Just let me go.”

It hurt. Asukans never begged— her father had taught her that. And yet here she was, a proud princess begging her captors. Begging these vile dogs for mercy. To be simply left alone.

The sound of footsteps grew louder, followed by another vile laugh.

Tanya moved back instinctively, as much as her bonds would allow. “Don’t— don’t touch me!”

“Are ya scared, lil’ lass? Frightened?”

A cold, sticky parm caressed her face, before a sudden burst of light caused her to blink rapidly. A moment later, the blurry face of a middle-aged man swam into focus, a thin black strip of cloth held in his right hand.

“That’s the best part, ya know,” he grinned cruelly. “The fear, I mean.”

Tears began to track down her cheeks as she cried. Loudly.

“Oi, Tauren! Make her shut the fuck up!”

The man in front of her— Tauren — snickered. “Well, I’m glad ya asked. That’s the fun part!”

Gripping her arm tightly, he pulled her up until she was at eye-level and—

SLAP!

Tanya was sent tumbling to the floor, reeling in pain as warm, sticky blood filled her mouth.

“Not so great are ya now, huh? Ya nobles think ye’r so fuckin’ great? That e’ryone else else exists to be ye’r fuckin’ dogs? Do ya even see us as people?”

Tanya felt a sharp pain in her stomach as the man casually rammed his boot into it.

“Well do ya?” he asked, raising his voice. “Answer me!”

But she didn’t answer. Overcome by fear and pain, all she could do was curl up into a ball and cry harder. The man continued kicking her— not hard enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to cause pain and, more importantly, humiliation.

It was then that something deep within her stirred.

The pain began to fade. Sensation began to fade. And something cold began to rise.

With that cold came the numbness. The fear, the anxiety, the anger… it all simply vanished. All that remained was ice-cold logic. The absolute knowledge that the garbage in front of her was nothing more than—

Than—

Food.

“Oi, what in the hell’s happenin’? Her mana levels, her eyes! I thought ye sealed—”

CRUNCH!

A long, jagged spear of ice tore through his body like wet paper. Tanya watched on in fascination as the ice slowly covered his body, the glimmer in his eyes slowly transitioning from surprise to fear to resignation, to nothing.

Killing him had been… surprisingly easy.

Distantly, she could make out the sound of something metallic shattering.

But Tanya didn’t care. Rubbing her arms, she turned towards the rest of the men as their remaining companions all rushed into the room at once.

“You— you killed him!”

Her lips spread into a soft smile.

“Yes. I did.”

And then, she raised her hand and called it. It needed no training, nor any additional knowledge on how to be used. The ice responded to her like a memory, like something she had always known how to use, simply waiting to be called upon once more.

Before the men in front of her could so much as twitch, ice spears tore through their stomachs and out their backs. But she was more careful this time. Instead of freezing them all at once, she held herself back. This time, it would be slower… more painful…

“No— wait— you don’t—”

“Shhhh…” Tanya smiled, her palm caressing the closest man’s cheek. The very next moment, he became immobilized as frost danced from her palm and spread across his face, unable to do anything but suffer from torturous cold as his very life essence was drained to feed her frost.

Feed her Hunger.

“M— monster,” another gasped, drawing her attention.

Once more, she softly smiled.

“Yes. I am.”

Alluring white eyes snapped open in the darkness.

The cold soon followed.

A familiar icy fire rushed through Tanya’s veins, giving rise to the detached curiosity that came with her transformation. Power came next, an overwhelming force beyond her ability to control.

But that was alright.

Forcing a river into submission was folly. To truly use its power, you had to surrender to its current, using its inherent force to your advantage. And in her case, this wasn’t just any power.

This was Frost.

A bitter chill so frigid, so cold that it would trickle away all life that came under its domain. It was the embodiment of the absence of heat. The utter consumption of the concept of entropy.

And she was no stranger to it.

She had used the ability time and time before. It had answered her when nothing else had.

But this time, it was different.

Before, she had suppressed it to the best of her ability. Chained it like a predator inside the prison that was her mind. But now, she welcomed the same feeling with open arms, allowing herself to be inundated with its very essence. Every bit of chill, every shard of ice — it was an extension of her soul, of her very self.

As her emotions faded, she began to speak in a voice not of her own.

“Ice is my Soul.”

It was as if her entire form resonated with the words that escaped her lips. Her mana surged violently, shifting from its ordinary, benign nature into cruel crystals of frost and snow. That which she had always meticulously kept chained, now ballooned with unspeakable ferocity in her mind, begging to be used.

A vacant smile floated on her face.

“Everfrost.”

The Ice leapt out of her form and latched onto the nearest monster— a large, four-legged creature with a jagged orifice for a mouth and far more tails than it could ever need.

The result was nearly instantaneous.

The creature’s body began to contract as a thin layer of ice began to cover it. Dozens— no, hundreds —of spikes erupted from the monster’s form in an attempt to shatter the frost growing over its body.

It was completely in vain, as the Ice accelerated.

Tanya smiled. She knew precisely what was happening. Her Everfrost was no mere ice, nor was it a derivation of ice-mana given shape by a spell. This was accursed Frost, one that fed upon the victim’s own lifeforce to grow. The more lifeforce the victim tried to use, the more Everfrost strengthened itself and the faster it consumed its prey.

A vicious cycle that had but a single endpoint.

Death.

The frozen, crystallized remains of the dead creature fell to the floor as it shattered.

Everything around her screamed in rage.

Winter smiled.

“This is fun!” Lukas yelled as he twisted his body in mid-air, smashing his knee against a particularly large crystal. The rock fractured like shattering glass, liberating a strange golden dust from within. He didn’t know exactly how information translated into dust of all things, but he knew what to do with it.

As far as he was concerned, he had the important bits under control.

“Soul Siphon.”

A strange yet familiar blackish luminescence spread across his body, not unlike the lines drawn in an integrated circuit, coming to life. One moment, he felt energy surge within him, and in the next he felt something being dragged into him. There was a brief resistance, but it was quelled before he could fully register it.

Soul Siphon Complete

Devoured Soul Prototype : Neothelid

A faint, flickering image of what seemed to be a twisted hybrid between a snake and a large rafflesia flower flitted through his mind. But it quickly vanished as a monster— a hound-like thing that looked more slippery than oil —came charging at him, bearing rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Its three pairs of legs were too large for its body and its claws too unwieldy for its small feet. But it didn’t matter. The creature was quick on its feet and exuded an aura that would’ve turned the average person into a quivering puddle of fear.

Fortunately, Lukas was far from average these days.

Faster than the human mind could comprehend, it snapped towards his neck, aiming to separate it from the rest of his body in one bite. But before it got the chance, he coated his fist with lifeforce and sent it flying at its jaws. The monster squeezed itself out of the way, leaping back in surprise. With a grating howl, it invited five more of its kin to the fray, and the herd leapt at him.

Not that it mattered.

Burst!

As expected, all six of them weaved their way out of the attack’s trajectory. Which, in Lukas’s humble opinion, was completely acceptable. After all, that wasn’t the point of his attack.

With the monsters out of the way, the full-powered wave of kinetic force smashed into an entire cluster of crystals, shattering them faster than one could say—

Soul Siphon Complete

Devoured Soul Prototype : Orocoran

Soul Siphon Complete

Devoured Soul Prototype : Rathen

“Sorry about that,” he drawled. “I aimed for you guys and blasted that open instead. Maybe if you stop moving, I’ll hit you properly this time.”

The hounds merely screeched with aggression, stalking closer with every second.

“You’re enjoying this far too much.”

“What can I say?” Lukas grinned. “You’re a bad influence.”

He could feel Inanna preening in the back of his mind.

“I’m not saying I’m against this,” he chuckled, slashing at an approaching hound with his dagger, his perception operating at double speed. “But is aggravating them really the right idea?”

“Color me surprised, mortal,” Inanna quipped. “I imagined you would jump at the chance to stake claim to these stored prototypes.”

“Oh believe me, I am,” Lukas freely admitted, decapitating a second monster with a single hit, his hand slathered in purple body fluids. “But the way they just keep spawning is… troublesome.”

Another swipe of his dagger, and three more dead beasts joined the count.

“Yes, you clearly look troubled.”

Soul Siphon Complete

Devoured Soul Prototype : Seugathi

“How much longer do you think it’ll take before the anomaly goes all out?” he casually asked, deflecting one of the hounds’ deadly claws and stabbing another in the head with his dagger.

It was dead before it hit the floor.

“The more damage you cause to the anomaly’s treasury, the faster. But in this one instance, I encourage you not to take my word as gospel.”

“Right,” he grinned, crushing another hound with a pulse of raw lifeforce.

It felt good.