The fog wrapped around my waist like something alive.
Thick. Oppressive. It clung to my clothes, my skin, seeping cold into my bones. The ground beneath my feet had changed—no longer gray ash but dark reddish-brown earth, cracked and dry like dried blood.
Black twisted trees loomed on all sides, bent at wrong angles, their branches reaching toward the crimson sky like skeletal fingers. Sentries guarding something terrible deeper in.
So this is the Crimson Barrens.
"Two red essences," Lucy said, turning to look at me. "You had one already. We just got another. That's enough for a Tier 6 artifact, right?"
Somi lifted her hand, brushing silver-white hair from her face. Her red eyes remained calm, unfocused, like she was calculating something I couldn't see. "We said we'd wait. Collect more. Then decide."
"But we're *here*," Lucy said, annoyance creeping into her voice. She gestured ahead at the fog-shrouded wasteland. "In the Barrens. Where Yetis are stronger. More aggressive. Wouldn't it be smarter to upgrade *now*? Before we push deeper?"
I watched Somi. Her hand moved to her chin, fingers tapping slowly against her jaw. Thinking.
Then Grey spoke.
That alone was surprising enough to make me turn. His deep voice cut through the fog like his sword through flesh. "Lucy's right. If we're going to hunt nine more Yetis here—"
"Nine?" I interrupted. "I thought we only need eight?"
Somi's eyes shifted to me. "Eight to make one white essence for the Tier 5 Mirror World. But red essence always opens either the Main Region or the same-tier Mirror World—that's unique to Tier 7. So we need one additional red essence to return to the Main Region afterward."
She paused, her expression unreadable. "And for some reason, there's no Tier 6 Mirror World. But Tier 6 artifacts exist. That's how the system works."
My stomach tightened. "What if we don't have that red essence? Are we stuck in the Mirror World?"
"You'd have to clear it," Somi said quietly. "Defeat the Ghost Rebound. Open the next door. Enter another Mirror World. Loop endlessly until you find a way out or die trying."
The words hung in the air like the fog around us.
"That's ten total kills," Lucy said, her voice softer now. "We've killed one. We need nine more." She gestured at the red mist, the twisted trees, the hostile silence pressing down on us. "In *this* place."
Somi was silent for a long moment.
The fog shifted. Something distant—maybe wind, maybe not—made a sound like breathing.
Finally, Somi nodded. "You're right, Grey. We change the plan. We use these two red essences now. Create one Tier 6 artifact. At least we'll have an advantage for the next nine hunts."
"Then who gets it?" I asked.
Everyone looked at Grey.
He blinked, genuinely surprised. "Me?"
"Of course," Lucy said immediately. "You're our tank. If you get stronger, we all become stronger. We might actually survive this."
I nodded. So did Somi.
Grey looked at each of us, then slowly nodded back.
I pulled out my red essence—still warm, still pulsing—and handed it to Somi. She held it in her palm, then gestured for Grey's. He produced his own essence, and both floated above her hands, spinning slowly, glowing in sync like twin hearts beating in the dark.
"Two red essences create one Tier 6 artifact," Somi said. "Grey will absorb it. The artifact will form based on his emotions. His intent. But first—" She looked at him. "You need to shatter your current artifact. We can't risk you holding two at Tier 7. The consequences are too severe."
Grey's face went serious. He nodded once, then summoned his long red sword into his hand.
For a moment, he just looked at it. The weapon he'd created. The weapon that had kept him alive.
Then he closed his eyes.
A crack appeared on the blade—thin, spiderwebbing outward. Then another. The sword trembled in his grip. The red glow dimmed, flickered, died.
With a sound like breaking glass, it shattered into crimson mist.
The pieces dissolved into nothing, drifting away on air currents I couldn't feel.
Somi released the two red essences. They floated toward Grey, circling him once, twice—
Then sank into his chest.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Grey gasped.
His eyes went wide. Red light erupted from his body—so bright I had to turn my head, squinting against the glare. Raw power radiated outward, making the air shimmer and crack. The fog retreated. The ground beneath him trembled.
When the light finally faded, I blinked hard, trying to clear my vision.
A sword had materialized in Grey's hands.
Massive. Easily six feet tall. The blade was deep white, almost silver, darkening to black at the edges. Red runes glowed along its length, pulsing with the same rhythm as a heartbeat. The handle looked reinforced, wrapped in dark leather that seemed to shift and move on its own.
"Woah," Lucy breathed. "That's..."
"Heavy," Grey finished, testing the weight. He swung it left, then right.
The air *screamed*.
A shockwave rippled outward from the blade, kicking up dust and ash, making all of us stumble backward. The fog parted like water, trees groaning under invisible pressure.
"Careful!" Somi shouted.
"Sorry," Grey said. But he was grinning. "It feels... incredible. Like I could cut through anything. And I feel *stronger*. Not just the sword—me. My body. Everything."
"Tier 6 artifacts enhance the user passively," Somi explained. "Your strength, durability, reflexes—all improved. You're fighting at a higher level now."
Grey stared at his new blade with something like reverence. "This changes everything."
Lucy's smile faded. "Right. Nine more Yetis to kill in this hellscape."
---
We hunted.
Days blurred together—or what felt like days. Time moved strangely in the Barrens. The red sky never changed. No sun rose or set. Just that same crimson glow pressing down on us, making everything look like it was drowning in blood.
We pushed deeper into the fog. Found Yetis lurking near collapsed ruins, behind twisted trees, in caves that smelled like rot and silver blood. Each fight was brutal. Each one left us exhausted.
But Grey's new sword made the difference.
He moved faster now, hit harder, tanked blows that would have shattered bones before. The white blade cut through Yeti flesh like it was paper. When he swung, the ground shook. When he blocked, nothing got through.
Lucy's fire magic burned brighter. My dagger's fear effect gave us openings. Somi's defensive coat kept us alive when mistakes happened.
We worked like a machine. No wasted movement. No hesitation.
One Yeti. Two. Three.
Red essences collected, stored, counted.
Four. Five. Six.
My hands stopped shaking when I summoned my dagger. The panic faded. Replaced by something colder. More focused.
Seven. Eight.
Lucy stopped making jokes. We all did. Just moved through the Barrens in silence, hunting, killing, surviving.
Nine.
When the last Yeti dissolved into mist and the final red essence formed on the cracked ground, I just stared at it.
We'd done it.
Nine red essences. Plus the one we already had.
Ten total.
Somi picked it up, her red eyes reflecting the glow. "We have what we need."
"Eight for the white essence," Lucy said quietly. "One for the Main Region return. One spare."
Grey's grip tightened on his sword. "So what now?"
Somi looked at each of us. "Now we make the choice. Create the white essence. Enter the Tier 5 Mirror World.
The name hung in the air like a curse.
I felt it then—that familiar weight in my chest. The knowledge that we were about to step into something far worse than anything we'd faced before.
The Barrens had been brutal. The Yetis had nearly killed us more than once.
But this? The Tier 5 Mirror World?
This was different.
Somi produced all eight red essences, holding them in a circle above her palm. They spun faster, glowing brighter, pulling toward each other like magnets.
The red light intensified—blinding—then collapsed inward with a sound like breaking glass.
When it faded, a single essence remained.
White.
Pure, glowing white, cold to look at. It pulsed once, slow and deliberate, casting pale light across Somi's face.
"This is it," she said.
No one spoke.
The white essence floated between us, waiting.
Somewhere in the fog, something howled. Distant. Hungry.
Lucy exhaled slowly. "I guess there's no turning back now."
Grey shifted his sword to his shoulder. "There never was."
I summoned my dagger. The black blade with its crimson veins felt heavier now. Or maybe I just understood the weight better.
Somi closed her hand around the white essence. "Then we go."
Ten red essences. Enough power to tear reality open. Three weeks ago I was heading to a job interview. Now I count monster kills like grocery items. The dagger's weight in my hand feels more natural than my phone ever did.
End Of volume 1 ( Sanctus mortis)