Arin continued practicing purification, thinking about the small fragment of the Shadow that was still connected to Mr. Colin and how he could eliminate it.
He hadn't slept at all through the night. Even while practicing, he hadn't had much success, and that thought made him feel depressed.
He kept worrying "What if I fail at purification today? What will happen then?"
Lost in his worry, Arin forgot to eat, and he also forgot to check whether his grandfather had returned home.
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
His Ember energy was almost gone, and his body was starting to fail him. He didn't even have the strength to move properly; he was that exhausted.
[System Note: Host Fatigue Critical – Immediate Recovery Recommended]
[Ember Detected: Near Depletion]
His grandfather's house wasn't very big, but in Arin's current state, it seemed enormous. Even so, he didn't stop to rest and slowly made his way to the staircase.
As he descended the stairs, his whole body ached terribly.
Finally, he reached the door.
He wondered if his grandfather was outside, but when he opened it, it was Mira.
Mira looked at him softly and said, "hmmm....Look at you. You haven't slept at all, have you? You look like a ghost."
Arin gave a faint smile and said, "ah...yeah, I kinda spent the whole night practicing, trying to figure out how to do rituals properly.
But I still couldn't succeed. I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I couldn't sleep."
"Rituals? Arin that is a high level blessing art. There's a reason only a few can do it..."
Mira said, "You can't go to school in this condition today. You need to rest."
Arin replied, "I can't..... I have to go to school today no matter what.
If I don't go, something could happened
Mira asked, "What's going on? You stayed up all night practicing something you'd never achieve, and even now, you're saying you'll go to school in this state? I don't know you're going bonkers or something else.
Just tell me why you're doing this, I will help..."
Arin said softly, "I know you'll help me, but if I tell you about it, you'll want to come with me. I'm sorry, Mira."
With that, he stepped outside. His legs trembled, threatening to give out under him, and he barely made it down the path with the last of his Ember energy.
[Ember Status: Minimal – Recovery Required]
[Health Status: Critical – Overexertion Confirmed]
Mira didn't say anything. She watched him quietly, and in her mind, she had already decided to follow him to make sure he was safe.
Arin staggered as he walked, his vision starting to blur, but he sensed the fragment of the Shadow that remained with Mr. Colin and became alert.
[System Notification: Residual Demonic Presence Detected – Low Intensity]
[Fear Index: 50% – Threat Recognition Active]
The further Arin went, the stronger the fragment became.
Arin sat down for a moment and thought, "My Ember energy is so low, and my body is in bad condition… can I even manage purification in this state?"
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Mr. Colin moving ahead. The System sent a notification, but Arin didn't notice it.
[System Alert: Target Movement Detected – Monitor for Fragment Activity]
Only when he snapped back to reality did he see the System's notification, and he saw Mr. Colin moving in front of him.
Arin got up from his seat and slowly started following behind Mr. Colin, but his body was weak, and he stumbled over each step.
A few minutes later, Mira came following him. She saw Arin sitting and thought, "He's sitting there… what could he be thinking?"
When Arin stumbled, Mira couldn't help it and whispered in a very small voice, "Arin!"
Arin froze for a moment, thinking, "huh… Mira?" When he looked back, no one was there.
Mira was hiding, thinking, "did he see me? no no, I hope he didn't?"
Arin turned his attention back to Mr. Colin and slowly moved forward. His Ember energy was almost gone, but the System sent a faint signal.
[Alert: Corrupted Essence Detected – Target Mr. Colin]
Even though he couldn't see anything with his naked eyes, he sensed a shadow-like distortion in Mr. Colin's aura.
He tried to channel Ember energy through his hands, but they were trembling.
[Ember Flow: Unstable – Control Difficulty High]
The System's soft monotone voice gave instructions:
[Initiate Purification Sequence: Align Mind – Focus on Fear]
Arin closed his eyes, and the feeling of fear intensified in his mind as he sensed Mr. Colin's presence.
In his mind, he saw an aura like black smoke. The smoke resembled Mr. Colin's shadow.
Arin imagined pure Ember light and tried to use it to dissolve the smoke. Initially, the smoke resisted, as if it were alive.
'Come on....'
Nothing. He knew it, he was weak, but the moment called for him now or never.
'come on...'
'come on.'
Suddenly, the System flickered:
[Ember Empty… Instability Detected]
[Ember Empty… Instability Detected]
'No...no no no...I almost had it. I almost had it...'
[Fear index: 45% => 110%]
[Ember Empty… InstAbility DetEcted]
[EmVgfer Empty… Inst$@&(bility Detec(###ted]
[ERROR‼️]
[ERROR‼️]
[ERROR‼️]
[ERROR‼️]
[ERROR‼️]
[10x Fear Resonance Active – Caution Advised]
[Ember Full]
[High Amount of Ember Detected within the Host. Caution ⚠️]
That was the moment he realized. His past skill... Glitch.
His body was suddenly filled with heat. Ember surged through his veins, but it was too strong for his current condition.
[Health Critical – Risk of Collapse]
The Ember light destroyed a large part of the shadow fragment, but the remaining part violently backlashed, attacking his mind.
Arin tried to control his scream, but blood started dripping from his nose.
Mira watched in terror. She saw Arin's shadow flicker behind him, and a massive shadow flashed. She was too scared to move but couldn't look away either.
The System:
[Partial Purification Complete – 63% Corruption Neutralized]
[User Condition: Critical]
[Immediate Recovery Recommended]
Arin fainted.
[Health: Unconscious – Critical]
Mira ran to him and reached his side. She thought, "Arin… what was that?"
She saw Mr. Colin unconscious nearby—but the shadow residue still lingered in the air, faintly pulsing.
Arin lay on the ground, chest rising and falling unevenly. Mira had rushed to his side, her hands trembling as she checked his pulse.
Then, a sudden movement behind her caught her attention. Mr. Colin's body twitched violently.
His eyes snapped open, black veins crawling across the whites. The faint shadow residue in the air pulsed toward him, like it had a mind of its own.
Mira froze. "Arin… what is happening?!" she whispered, fear lacing her voice.
Arin's vision blurred as he tried to sit up, weakly raising a hand. The System's monotone voice buzzed in his mind:
[Warning: Shadow Fragment Adapting – Purification Incomplete]
A cold tendril of darkness shot from Mr. Colin toward Mira. Her scream echoed, as Arin still felt the surge of Ember energy, raw and unstable, channeling through his body.
His hand glowed with a pale light as he formed a barrier instinctively. The dark tendril hit it, hissing like burning smoke, and recoiled.
Arin gritted his teeth, feeling the strain. His body shook violently, but he forced the Ember to expand, pushing the shadow residue back.
Mr. Colin coughed violently as the fragment lashed at him, but the larger part had been destroyed by Arin's previous strike.
The System's voice cut through the haze:
[Partial Neutralization Successful – Remaining Corruption: 37%]
[User Condition: Critical – Immediate Caution Advised]
[Ember Status: Very High – Dangerous: Regeneration Required]
Mira's voice trembled. "Arin… you… you're… doing that?!"
Arin barely managed to nod, gasping, "I… I didn't mean for you to see…"
But Mira's gaze had already hardened. Fear and awe mingled in her eyes.
She realized now that what Arin had been hiding wasn't just strange… it was dangerous. And it was real.
The shadow residue in the air throbbed faintly, like a heartbeat. It wasn't gone. Not yet.
[System Note: Residual Threat Detected – Full Purification Required]
arin's breathing was uneven, body shaking. faint ember pulses shimmered beneath his skin, system alerting softly: partial threat detected. fragments of thought raced through him. shadow… still alive… cannot fail.
the residue writhed subtly, tendrils stretching toward him. the room felt alive—creaking wood, low hum, faint wind brushing the windows—all amplifying the tension.
arin summoned the last of his ember. his hands glowed pale gold, trembling. the circle flared, shadow residue recoiled. a part of it dissipated into faint smoke.
[system notification: partial purification successful – 70% corruption neutralized]
the remaining fragment lashed violently. tendrils whipped toward him. arin convulsed under the force. mira edged closer, nudging him gently.
As arin pushed more and more, not wasting this chance that his Glitch gave him. As his nose started to bleed.
"arin…arin you're bleeding...don't overdo it," she whispered. ember flickered along his veins, pushing against the darkness.
arin clenched his fists. cannot fail… must purify. the ember surged brighter, hotter, reshaping the corrupted energy.
[system alert: Ember Overload, user condition critical – extreme caution advised]
[ember flow: unstable – recovery required]
the shadow twisted, lunged, then recoiled. arin's body shook, but ember pulsed with his heartbeat, feeding off fear and determination.
finally, with a concentrated surge, he pushed the last of the light forward. the shadow shrieked, twisting before unraveling into harmless motes, drifting away.
[system notification: full purification successful – 100% corruption neutralized]
[fear index: 120% → 26%]
[xp gained: 320]
[ember: High > Mid]
arin collapsed to his knees, muscles screaming. mira gripped his hand. "you… you did it!"
he managed a weak, exhausted smile. "yeah… it's… over… for now." his voice hoarse, body trembling, ember pulsing faintly, calm.
[Congratulations!! You leveled Up!!!]