POV Dex and Echidna:
The transition was instantaneous.
A moment ago, they were in Cultivation Hall Level 3 — surrounded by fifty students meditating intensely and the dense energy of the Grade-S Crystal.
Next...
Here.
Dex opened his eyes — and the first thing he noticed was...
Nudity.
There were no clothes. The academy uniform had disappeared completely.
Only skin exposed to the black void of the Realm.
'Of course,' he thought with amused resignation. 'The Realm is a manifestation of the soul. Physical clothes don't exist here.'
He looked down, observing his own body.
The form was... different but familiar.
Still humanoid. Still the appearance of seventeen-year-old Dex.
But intensified.
White hair with violet tips glowed faintly with its own light. The black horns were slightly larger and more defined. Eyes he knew were deep crimson burned with an intensity that made the air around them vibrate subtly.
And the tattoos — black runes running along his arm, chest, back — seemed to pulse with rhythmic crimson energy.
But fundamentally?
It was him. Dex.
"Like what you see?"
Echidna's voice — provocative as always — came from behind him.
Dex turned around.
And his breath caught for a second.
Echidna.
Also naked. In her twin form.
But like him, intensified.
White hair with violet tips cascading over bare shoulders and reaching almost to her buttocks, glowing softly. Her elegant black horn curving. And crimson eyes fixed on him with predatory intensity.
Her body was... perfect.
Curves that the physical world saw but here were... more. And the tattoos she carried didn't help hide the perfection either.
And completely and shamelessly naked.
She then, with a provocative smile, covered as much of her body as she could with her hands. "I'm being violated by a pervert's stares!"
And then without being able to help it, Dex laughed.
Not a small laugh. But a genuine belly laugh that echoed through the black void of the Realm.
"You," he managed to say between laughs, "just blew a provocative kiss at Zephyra literally two minutes ago. And now you act like an innocent victim?"
Echidna immediately dropped her hands, her smile transforming into something between amusement and pride.
"Well, Zephyra isn't you," she replied with the tone of someone explaining something obvious. "I have the right to be shy in front of my husband, don't I?"
"Shy," Dex repeated with incredulity. "You. Shy."
"Exactly!" She turned completely, giving a full spin — deliberately displaying every angle of her naked body before stopping again in front of him with hands on her hips. "See? Very shy."
Dex shook his head with a smile on his face. "You're impossible."
"And you love me for it." She retorted without hesitation.
"Unfortunately."
"Unfortunately?!"
Echidna advanced — quick and fluid movement — closing the distance between them until she was inches away.
"Take that back," she demanded, with a threatening tone.
"Or what?" Dex provoked back, pulling her closer, while wrapping his hands around her hips.
"Or I won't repeat our first time here." She said in a serious tone.
And instantly he corrected himself. "I love you happily for all time and beyond."
Echidna's expression melted completely.
"Much better," she murmured, leaning in to kiss him briefly.
But the kiss didn't remain brief.
His hands that were already at her waist descended. Skin against skin.
And the kiss deepened.
When they finally separated, both were breathing rapidly.
"Echi..." Dex tried to speak.
"No," she interrupted, her crimson eyes shining with the intensity of lust. "We're not going to pretend we can concentrate like this."
She pulled him closer.
"We need to get this out of the way."
...
Time passed slowly until the current situation.
Echidna stretched languidly, her naked body marked in various spots by Dex.
"Done," she said with obvious satisfaction, turning to Dex who was staring at the Realm's ceiling with the expression of someone who couldn't believe what had happened. "Now that I'm satisfied, I can concentrate completely on work."
Dex turned his head to face her.
"Are you real?"
"Real and productive," she said with a predatory smile. "I just don't know if I can get pregnant here, but we have other things to deal with besides making babies."
She then stood up and offered a hand.
"Come. We have a tree to build. And this time..."
She winked deliberately.
"...No distractions."
Dex took her hand, allowing her to pull him to his feet.
"So," he said, observing the black void around them, "where do we start?"
Echidna pointed into the distance.
And Dex saw.
Floating in the center of the Realm, glowing with pulsating black-crimson light...
A sun.
Not the golden sun of the mortal world. But a black core like absolute void, crossed by crimson veins that pulsed rhythmically.
"Our soul," Echidna said reverently. "But it's... far."
"Far?" Dex looked around. There was no ground. There was no gravity. Only infinite void.
"How do we get there?"
Echidna smiled — small but mysterious.
"The Soul Realm responds to our will. If we desire to fly..."
And without warning, her body began to rise.
No wings. No physical propulsion.
Just pure will.
And she rose five meters, ten, twenty — floating in the black void as if it were as natural as breathing.
"Come!" she called, extending her hand.
Dex hesitated only a second before desiring movement.
And space itself responded instantly and slowly his body disconnected from the invisible floor of the Realm.
'This sensation is... liberating.'
No weight. No restrictions. Only absolute freedom.
"This is..." he murmured, spinning in the air.
"The Realm is an extension of us," Echidna explained, taking his hand. "Here, we're practically gods. Everything responds to our desire. Including time."
'Time?' Dex wondered upon hearing Echidna's words.
She pointed to the distant black sun.
"Let's go."
They flew through the void side by side through the darkness.
"The further we advance, the hotter it gets." Dex noticed.
"We're approaching the core," Echidna responded. "And in it is concentrated the will of two beings, so it's normal to be like a flame."
The black sun grew as they approached and finally they stopped meters from the pulsating core.
"This is our First Soul. Or more precisely... the beginning of it."
She gestured to the black sun which compared to them was perhaps ten meters in diameter. Large, but not massive.
"Now it seems small," she continued and her voice seemed increasingly animated. "But when we finish the first Yggdrasil and saturate all the pathways with energy, it will grow and grow until it expands violently."
"And after we repeat this process of construction and expansion several times..."
"This 'small' black sun will be a gigantic star that will illuminate the entire Realm. And perhaps these ten meters will transform into thousands of kilometers."
"But there's something more important," Echidna continued, turning to face him completely as they floated.
"The energy we use to build Yggdrasil... where does it come from?"
"If mana comes from outside then where does aura come from?"
Dex considered and thought about what he had learned in the game. "From the soul?"
Echidna shook her head in denial. "Although that's what most people believe, it's not true."
"The fact that there are two main classes, mages and knights, makes people think that only knights have aura, but that's not true."
She then continued. "Aura is something everyone has from birth, whether humans, elves, dragons, or even a simple house cat."
"Everyone has it within them and it's used in different ways. Knights use it to fortify their attacks and body, while mages unconsciously use it to manipulate and control ambient mana."
And before she could continue, Dex spoke. "Aura comes from people's will."
Hearing this, she smiled. "Exactly. Aura comes from ourselves, from our consciousness, from our desires and our will."
"And this also applies to us, but only partially." As she said these words, she began to form spheres of energy in both her hands.
In her right hand appeared a purple sphere and in her left hand a golden sphere. "For us, our aura is born mainly from the Sins we possess..."
"Gluttony," Echidna said, raising her right hand slightly. "Your first Sin. And the sin you used to devour me."
"Pride," she raised her left hand. "Your second Sin."
She then joined the two energies and looked at Dex. "These two Sins — Gluttony and Pride — are fuel for our demon king's aura."
The formed energy seemed to be as somber as the sun itself. "And this is just the beginning. When we have all the other sins, the demon king's aura will show its true strength."
And the energy around her exploded in intensity with black flames that enveloped her entire body.
Hearing this, Dex felt something resonate within him. And slowly his eyes, already altered by his Archon race, began to glow faintly red.
And he extended his own hand and from it an energy responded. "Seeing you so animated makes me happy, but I feel you've forgotten something important."
And from his palm, energy began to materialize.
Not purple. Not golden.
But deep crimson — the color of blood, of desire, of life itself.
Echidna blinked, genuine surprise crossing her face.
"Dex?"
The crimson energy grew, forming a sphere between his hands that pulsed in perfect synchrony with the red bursts coming from the sun.
"Gluttony and Pride are Sins I possess," he continued, approaching her while holding the floating sphere, "because I love Zephyra and Erica, but..."
He then stopped inches from her and the crimson sphere fused with the black flames that enveloped Echidna. "You are the sin I chose. That I desire, not by destiny. That defines me more than any of the Seven Sins."
"So never forget to include this sin in your plans."
"Dex..."
For the first time since they entered the Realm, she was the one without words.
Dex then took her hand. "Can you guide me in building this foundation for our goal, my Original Sin?"
She then laughed, still somewhat incredulous.
"Always."