Chapter 31 – Whispers in the Dark
The world felt different.
Akari stood in the eerie silence of the battlefield, her breathing slow, measured. She flexed her fingers, and the sensation sent a shiver through her. It wasn’t pain. It wasn’t pleasure.
It was something else entirely.
A presence coiled beneath her skin, slithering through her veins.
> What… are you?
The whisper wasn’t her own. It wasn’t Tsubaki’s.
It came from within.
She felt it lurking.
The remnants of the Shadeborn, no longer separate, but one with her.
A flicker of movement in the corner of her vision.
She turned—too fast.
The world blurred, her perception shifting unnaturally. Her body felt weightless, as if gravity had lost its grip on her.
Her shadow stretched, shifting independently of her movements.
And then, for the first time, she heard its voice.
A breath. A whisper.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
> Hunger.
She staggered, her hand gripping her chest.
Tsubaki rushed to her side, golden eyes filled with concern.
> Master? What’s wrong?
Akari didn’t answer immediately. She was too focused on the abyssal presence winding itself around her consciousness.
The Arbiter stepped forward, their amusement barely concealed.
“A gift,” they mused. “Or perhaps a curse?”
Akari shot them a glare, but even that felt different. Her emotions churned like a storm, wild and untamed.
She forced herself to breathe.
In. Out.
Control.
She could control this. She had to.
Tsubaki pressed against her, warmth grounding her in the present.
The Arbiter tilted their head. “You made your choice, little warrior. Now, what will you do with it?”
Akari exhaled, steadying herself.
Her shadow shifted.
And this time—
She willed it to stop.
It hesitated, resisting for only a moment before settling into stillness.
She could feel the hunger clawing at her mind. The desire to consume, to grow stronger, to take and take until nothing remained.
But she wasn’t just some mindless beast.
She was Akari.
And she decided who she would become.
She straightened, locking eyes with the Arbiter.
“…I move forward.”
The Arbiter’s smile widened.
“Good.”
A pulse of energy flickered through the air.
Akari turned just in time to see the barrier shatter.
The battlefield around them crumbled.
And the real world—
Returned.
---
Beyond the Trial
Akari blinked.
One moment, she had been standing in that fractured dimension—
The next, she was back.
The vast chamber stretched before her, the Trial’s ancient runes flickering with dying light.
The other participants lay scattered across the ground, unconscious.
She was the only one standing.
Tsubaki stood by her side, fur bristling, eyes wary.
Akari clenched her fists, steadying her breath.
Then, the voice of the Trial Overseer boomed across the hall.
> “The Trial of Shadows has concluded.”
A heavy silence fell.
Then—
> “One victor remains.”
Murmurs rippled through the watching crowd.
Akari didn’t move, didn’t speak.
She could feel the weight of every gaze on her.
The Overseer stepped forward, an unreadable expression on their face.
“You absorbed the Shadeborn,” they said, more statement than question.
Akari met their gaze without flinching.
“Yes.”
The Overseer studied her for a long moment.
Then, to her surprise—
They knelt.
“Then you are no longer just a player in this world.”
They bowed their head.
“You are something more.”
Akari felt something shift in the air.
A new notification appeared before her.
> TITLE UNLOCKED: SHADEBORNE ASCENDANT.
You have stepped beyond the limits of mortals.
The path ahead is no longer bound by fate.
A slow, steady grin tugged at Akari’s lips.
She had entered this world to escape poverty. To live a simple, carefree life.
But now—
Now, she had stepped onto a path that no one had walked before.
And she would carve her own legend.
