To love someone is to give them a part of your soul. So when you part from that person, that part of your soul becomes a void—empty. No one else can fill it. However, when that person returns, it is like time and distance never existed.

~Taliesin, God of Rhapsody

Song Xue went first this time. The water rune glowed brightly, and then her summoned weapon shattered into a kaleidoscope of colors. All five runes combined into a long thin crystal about the length of her finger.

“What do I do with this?” Song Xue asked Crow.

“Step past the pylon. If I’m not mistaken, there should be a place on that podium or altar to insert it. I assume you put the crystal in and then place your fingers inside the grooved section shape like a hand. Want me to go first?”

“Want me to stab you, little bird?” Song Xue grinned and approached the altar. The others quickly got their crystal and stood around Song Xue, waiting to see what would happen.

Directly on top of the altar was a five-sided hole and the crystal slid into it perfectly. They all heard the sound of crystal rubbing against stone, and then it stopped when it sank halfway in. Light shot up and refracted from the crystal, creating many colorful bubbles floating above Song Xue’s head. She gently touched each bubble as if seeing something Crow and the others couldn’t.

“What are we looking at?” Mara asked.

“Not sure. If I were to guess, those bubbles are items, and Xue’er is choosing her reward.”

“Can we even take it out of this place?”

*Yes. It is Soul-Linked.* Nin said.

“Yes. It is Soul-Linked,” Crow said, mirroring Nin’s information.

“Wait… does everyone get one?”

*Not everyone. Only those that guessed at least one rune correctly. Because you completed the challenge perfectly, your item is going to be of better quality. But it is hard to rank a Soul-Linked item as it continues to evolve. The people following you will get a garbage item, but if they nurture it long enough, can it really be considered garbage? Your items just have a massive headstart.*

“Maybe,” Crow said, choosing not to divulge everything Nin said. “But do you think any of them figured out the puzzle to the extent we have? Maybe some contenders in front of us, but not those yahoos.”

Mara chuckled.

“Ahh!” Song Xue shouted, and Crow realized he forgot to warn her about the pain.

“Xue’er, endure it. That burning sensation is your soul forcing your reward to bond with you. It shouldn’t last long.” Crow tried to soothe her and felt guilty when he saw a trickle of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. She’d bitten her lip hard. Several long seconds later, she stepped back.

“What did you get?” Mara asked excitedly. She seemed obsessed with loot ever since they became pirates.

Song Xue summoned her item, and a leather fingerless glove, with a manacle-like wristguard. On the back of the glove was a claw-like weapon with each blade not much longer than her fingers. Crow had never seen a weapon like it before.

“It is called the Flying Blizzard Claw. Watch,” she said and struck forward a few times in a slashing movement that produced a handful of snowflakes. Then punched forward and away from her friends. The claw shot off and reached a distance of three meters before retracting back to her hand. “The distance is small, but that thing said the chain’s length is proportional to much soul energy I can push into it. Over time that distance will grow.”

“That is wicked,” Crow said. He didn’t know how to use something like that, but it went beyond just being a weapon. She could use that thing to scale mountains.

“Ohh! Me next,” Mara said and stepped forward. She dropped her crystal into the slot on the altar and placed her hand in the appropriate spot. Her eyes glazed over as she reached out and enthusiastically and touched every bubble she could. Prepared for the pain, Mara only gasped when she felt her soul burning. Seconds later, she too stepped back, and everyone stared at her with expectation.

She held up her hand, and in between her finger and thumb, a needle appeared that glowed purplish-black. Mara threw it, and it disappeared from Crow’s mana sense. If he couldn’t still see it with his physical sight, he’d have thought she unsummoned it.

“It’s a Void Penetrating Needle. Supposedly undetectable by those on the same level as me. If I nurture it enough, even those a rank or two higher won’t be able to sense it.”

“That’s… an interesting choice,” Crow said. The needle was powerful; there was no doubt about that. But, Mara didn’t strike him as the assassin type. She had the guile of a lioness, which is to say not much at all. Had it been Song Xue that chose it, Crow wouldn’t have said anything.

“Don’t be condescending. I chose it because of you, idiot.”

“What? Why?”

“You told me I should look into Void-related abilities. If I really have an affinity for it, like you said, then this thing is going to be a godly weapon in my hands.”

“Uh.” Crow wasn’t sure what to say, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He imagined that not all the bubbles had decent items, so they were limited in their choices. They could search for years and never find a void weapon, so getting over the initial reaction, he realized it suited her. It would undoubtedly shock the hell out of someone not expecting it. “Alright, that’s true. But I’m confused. Why are both of your weapons ranged?”

“All the choices are ranged weapons,” Song Xue said. “As an example, my other choices were shurikens, needles, and even a boomerang… However, this was the only one that was the most versatile, and it had a snow affinity. I imagine Mara’s choice was similar. The key part of the range weapons is that you can resummon them after use—provided it wasn’t broken.”

“Ohhh, that’s pretty good, then. So Mara can throw that needle endlessly?”

“No,” Mara shook her head. “There is a delay between throws, and if I recall it, then the needle disappears and reappears in my soul. So I have to summon it out again. The delay isn’t huge, maybe ten seconds depending on how far away I threw it. Then another few seconds to summon it. Maybe in time, I can summon it instantly.”

“Still, that’s pretty good. Otto, you go next.”

The big guy nodded without speaking, and Crow could see the spark in his eyes once more. He doubted the big guy was back to a hundred percent, but his fleeting intelligence had returned. Otto placed the crystal and then pressed his massive hand into the groove, which grew to match his size. He didn’t even make a sound when the item linked to him, and out of the three, he was the fastest at choosing.

“Show me!” Mara shook Otto.

The giant held out his massive arm, and an ethereal blue light grew from it until it formed the curved haft of a throwing ax. The crescent ax blade was made of black iron, giving it a cruel and sinister look. Crow didn’t know whether to laugh or cry because Otto’s throwing ax was almost too big for Crow to wield as a standard two-handed wood ax.

The incredible thing was the purple flashes that sparked from the black iron—

“That’s not black iron,” Crow muttered. The blade was black because of the purple lightning infused into it, and just based on that, it was hard to tell what material was used. Overall, the spark was weak, and it probably wouldn’t even numb the flesh of the person it struck. However, Otto didn’t need to worry about that. If that ax struck someone, they’d be cut in half anyway. The spark was like spitting on the corpse.

Otto threw the weapon, curious about how it’d feel. Once it was launched, it was like it supercharged the mana around it until the entire blade was covered in lightning. After about thirty meters, the ax turned into that ethereal blue light and faded from sight. Moments later, it reappeared in Otto’s hand.

“Otto like toy,” Otto grinned at Crow.

“Ha! Your brother is pretty damned imposing. I feel sorry for any guys that come knocking on her door at the Sky Torn Sect.” Mara was laughing so hard tears were running down her face. Even Song Xue was chuckling.

Crow went up to the altar next and followed the standard procedure.

*Welcome. We cannot determine an appropriate choice of weapons for you. You may choose a primary weapon and ask for one material enhancement and one modification.*

*What? So I can’t get a unique weapon like the others?*

*We cannot determine your fighting style nor your accomplishments. Once you’ve inserted the crystal, the choices displayed cannot be changed. That is why we are allowing you to modify one of the base choices.*

Crow sighed. He understood immediately what had happened. It was because he was unfated. This damned ghost didn’t even know he was the one that solved this challenge, which made it even more unfair.

Almost all his choices were related to ammo for ranged weapons like arrows, pellets for slings, throwing spears, throwing knives, darts, needles, and more. Nothing with extra utility or that stood out as unique.

The only option that made any damned sense for him was an arrow. He was sure the system would create a specific arrow if he asked, so he mentally assessed all the arrows that Barnes ever made. Eventually, he settled on a variation of an exploding arrow. Obviously, he didn’t want to destroy the items, but…

*If I know what I want to do, can you pick the appropriate upgrades to make it happen?*

The mysterious voice was silent for some time.

*We will listen.*

Crow shrugged. It was better than receiving a no.

*I am cursed with Soul Burn, and as a result, I have the soul flame Night Fire roasting my insides. I am also an archer, and I want to choose the arrow. However, is it possible to imbue it with Night Fire when I summon the arrow? Is that possible?*

Another long silence.+

*We can do this, but it will have a severe drawback. Let’s talk about that first, and then you can decide before we explain the rest. You’ll only get three charges. Each charge takes a total of twenty-four hours to restore. If you use the weapon without any charges, the Ember Star we used will explode upon impact, destroying the weapon. Is that acceptable?*

*I accept that.* Crow felt that using various types of arrows, such as the ones Barnes taught him about, would be the best way to extend his utility during a fight. Having a powerful arrow hidden away as a trump card was ideal. It would hurt him to lose a Soul-Linked weapon, but he couldn’t expect the thing to give him an arrow that could only exist in legends.

*Very well. Then we’ll provide you with three materials. None will be as good as the single material upgrade we offered previously. First is the Ember Star, which is used as the arrowhead. This is a rare material but not terribly hard to find in this realm. It can’t be shaped, only chiseled into shape, but it is capable of storing heavenly flames without shattering. This is the second drawback. If you have all three charges, you must use one charge every two weeks, or the arrow will become unstable and explode. This is not something you want to happen inside your soul.*

*Damn, that’s intense. Will that always be the case? What if I can’t summon it?*

*I’m afraid you’ll die if you don’t do as we said. As to your other question, it depends on how you nurture the item and evolve it. Now the following two materials are relatively common. First is Petrified Wormwood, it is more like a stone or metal, so it’ll be highly resistant to flames, but the arrow will be heavier. And the last material is hair from an Ice Hippo. The hair is stiff but not so rigid it’ll shatter, and its icy nature will prevent your Night Flames from burning the fletchings. This is the best we can do for you. Do you have any questions?*

*Yes. Will the charges increase over time?*

*It is hard to say. Item evolution isn’t always predictable. It could increase the explosive power of the charge or decrease the recharge time. Honestly, this arrow will take too long to grow, and it would be worth finding someone that can upgrade it for you. A word of advice, I’d push for increasing its explosive power rather than having more charges. One last reminder before I give you your reward. I do not have access to Night Flames, so it currently has no charges. I don’t recommend using it in the next twenty-four hours.*

Crow felt the sting of the item connecting to his soul, but he was practically a veteran at this point. He briefly wondered if the soul could be strengthened in this way. Before the process ended, he had one last stray thought… What the hell was an Ice Hippo?

“Let’s see it,” Mara said when he stepped back.

“It’s just an arrow. Apparently, being unfated means they can’t assess my actions.”

“Seriously?” Mara frowned. “Then what took so long?”

“That voice allowed me to modify the arrow,” Crow summoned it, and although it was weak compared to the other weapons, he had to admit it looked pretty cool.

The arrow shaft was made from Petrified Wormwood, which had a milky gray color, almost like old bones. The Ember Star arrowhead was also white, but it had a slightly pink coloring, like super-heated metal. Finally, the Ice Hippo hair fletchings were a whiteish blue and had a metallic sheen. Aesthetically, the milky color gave it a uniform look, but he couldn’t shake the fact that it looked like a bone arrow.

“Why the conflicting elements?” Song Xue asked. She could sense the coldness coming from the fletching, and there was even a tiny bit of frigid mana coming from the petrified wood. However, the tip of the arrow blazed like the sun. Her sensitivity to cold allowed her to sense it without using her mana sense.

“The crystal can store three charges of my soul flames…” Crow explained the modification he asked for, and both Song Xue and Mara felt it was a good compromise. It gave Crow a trump card that would remain powerful for quite some time. If he had to use the item over three times, he was probably already in serious trouble, so trading an item in exchange for his life was a no-brainer.

They talked about their rewards until they reached the twin barriers. None of them were sure what they were looking at.

“Choose,” the mysterious voice that came at the end of each challenge commanded them. “The left barrier is to continue the trial. The right barrier will exit the trial. Continuing forward will have additional rewards. You must choose before the sun sets.”

Crow didn’t need to think about what would happen if they didn’t choose. He looked at his friends and suddenly felt melancholic. Other than Mara, it’d be two years before he’d see Song Xue and Otto again.

Song Xue flew into Crow’s arms, and he could feel her warm tears seeping into his shirt. One arm hugged her tight, while the other hand stroked her straight black hair. He didn’t want to let go but feared staying even more.

“I’ll be at Sunstar in two years,” Song Xue whispered. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

“Faelan?” Crow tried to speak, but she placed a finger on his lips and shook her head. Her finger was warm and soft, and he had an urge to bite it but stopped himself. She stepped back with a smile as if knowing exactly what Crow was thinking.

Crow moved to Otto and hugged him, too. “Keep her safe.”

“Brother, don’t die,” Otto laughed. “Otto, protect sister.”

“If anyone touches her, break them.”

“Break. Burn. Smash. Otto do.”

“You two look out for each other,” Crow said and smiled mischievously. “Xue’er? Try to get my brother a girlfriend. His puppy dog eyes are breaking my heart.”

Song Xue and Mara burst out laughing while Otto punched Crow on the arm. There wasn’t anything else to be said, so Crow gave them both one last glance before heading toward the right-side barrier.

“Stay safe, you two. Don’t worry, I’ll keep him out of trouble,” Mara promised, and Crow nearly spat blood.

“Keep me out of trouble? Is that right, Pirate Mommy?” Crow rolled his eyes and heard Song Xue and Otto chuckling before he stepped into the barrier.