Soul Trials

Orion had long since learned the lesson that the world did not care for the weak. He learned it when he was a child, abandoned in the slums, surviving on scraps while others took what they pleased. He learned it when the strong laughed at him, stepping over him as if he were nothing. But most of all, he learned it when he entered his Soul World for the first time.

The sky above him stretched endlessly, shifting between hues of deep violet and stormy gray. The ground was a cracked reflection of reality—a barren, twisted landscape, with fragments of broken structures scattered like remnants of a forgotten past. In the distance, black spires jutted out from the earth like the ribs of some long-dead beast. This was his Soul World—the reflection of his being. Cold, harsh, and unrelenting.

But none of that mattered now.

A guttural growl echoed through the desolation. Orion turned sharply, eyes locking onto the beast before him—a hulking, four-legged creature with jagged bone protrusions running down its spine. Its crimson eyes burned with primal hunger.

A Nightfang Beast.

He had seen others in the orphanage awaken in brilliant forests, tranquil lakes, or even ancient temples within their Soul Worlds. But not him. His was a ruin, a wasteland—just like his life. And his first trial? A predator that would tear him apart if he made a single mistake.

"Hesitate, and you die."

The words weren't his own but the voice of an old scavenger who had once shared a meal with him in the real world. Orion clenched his fists. He had no weapon, no allies, and no divine fate smiling upon him. Just his mind. Just his will.

The beast lunged.

Orion barely rolled aside, feeling the wind of its claws slicing through the air where his head had been a second before. He scrambled back, searching for an advantage. The ground was uneven—cracked terrain, small ledges. The beast was fast, but its movements were heavy. If he timed it right—

The Nightfang lunged again.

This time, he ran. Not away, but toward a jagged stone outcrop. As the beast chased, he pushed off the ledge and twisted his body mid-air. The Nightfang followed instinctively, pouncing with full force—

And that was its mistake.

Orion twisted again, just enough to push off the beast's back as it crashed headfirst into the rock. A sickening crunch. It howled in pain, thrashing, momentarily stunned.

Orion didn't hesitate.

He grabbed the nearest broken stone—a sharp fragment—and drove it into the beast's throat.

Warm blood splattered against his hands, but he didn't let go. He pushed deeper, twisting the stone until the Nightfang's struggles slowed, then stopped entirely. Heavy breaths racked his chest. His muscles burned. But he was alive.

And he had won.

A flicker of light pulsed from the beast's corpse. The Soul Core. The essence of what it once was. He reached out, feeling its energy thrumming in his hand. Absorbing it would make him stronger. But there was a limit to how many he could take. The real path to power lay in something greater—ingredients. The right combination could refine his Soul Core, increasing its storage, allowing him to hold far more power.

This was just the beginning.

As the beast's body faded into the abyss, Orion exhaled sharply. The world devoured the weak. But he would not be weak. Not anymore.

As the core pulses in his hand, Orion absorbs the power inside the core, feeling a rush of warm energy flood through his body. It wasn't just his body, but deeper. It's like something inside him was getting water after a long time of not drinking anything. This was his first time entering his soul world, but he has heard plenty about them from the people in the city. Soul worlds were essentially the reflection of someone's soul. The more abundant your soul is, the more luxurious your soul world might look, filled with different herbs and ingredients with monsters that are close to your level.

Orion looks up as a system window appears in front of him. It has his name, and his core aspect name with how many soul cores he has absorbed. Orion shifts his gaze down to the name of his core aspect. It's… Adaptation?

He stares at the name, secretly expecting an explanation but nothing happens. He sighs as he waves his hand in the air, making the screen disappear. He looks down the mountain he's on top of, staring down at the ground. There's no obvious way down but he could still climb down, it would just take a long time.

Orion turns and squat down on the edge, sticking one leg off as he places it on a somewhat large stone that was jutting out the side. He moves his other leg to a nearby rock as he hangs from his hands on the edge, slowly beginning to descend down.

After an hour or so, the ground is getting closer but it's still a ways away. His arms and fingers are feeling numb from holding himself up on small ledges and cracks in the stone. He continues, his only focus is on getting to the ground unharmed. He breathes in a deep breath as he continues to descend down the mountain. After another hour, his feet finally touch the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looks around at the area around him. A thick fog covers the area, the only light being from a half moon in the sky shining down. The ground he stands on feels like the mountains, rough and jagged. But it has some cushion to it, which is the dry dirt that scatters the ground.

Orion begins to walk forward, splitting through the fog as if it's avoiding him. He takes slow and steady steps, not knowing if there's a sudden drop if he keeps walking. Soon, he reaches the edges of the fog, finally able to see his surroundings clearly. His eyes slightly widen when he sees in the distance, large mountain ranges that touch the clouds, some having snow while others are split in half with either large trees growing out of them or a lightning bolt that's seemingly frozen in the air.

His gray eyes shift to his right, gazing at the closest thing near him which is a large ancient cathedral with the top of it crumbling inwards. Orion stares at the two large doors leading into the cathedral.

"I'm gonna have to go in there, won't i?" He groans, walking towards the door. Before he enters, he grabs a nearby stone and focuses. He taps into his soul core, a silver thin aura wraps around the rock. He breaths in, readying himself as he pushes the doors open.

They open to reveal a large sanctuary with rows of chairs going from the entrance all the way up to the front where there lies a black coffin. It's placed on top of an elevated part of the ground, slightly standing above the rows of seats.

Orion stares at the coffin, the moonlight shining through the broken ceiling, illuminating the coffin. It's as if it's beckoning him to come over and touch it. And that's exactly what he does.

Orion walks over to the coffin, his boots echoing through the silent room. He steps past the podium. He reaches out his slim skinny fingers out, touching the coffin. He rubs his hands over it, feeling the metallic, cold coffin that's probably been left here for who knows how long. Possibly centuries. Maybe a millennium.

The coffin lets out a screeching sound as the lid slides off. Orion squints his eyes at the noise but suddenly takes a few steps back, preparing for whatever might come out of it. But when the lid slides off onto the ground, kicking up dust. Nothing happens.

He hesitantly and cautiously approaches it, as he gets closer, his mind races with possibilities of what's inside. He steps forward, leaning over slightly to look in. He sees a black sword with white edges that are shimmering under the moonlight.

He sees something next to it. A core? Well, he isn't too surprised considering this is a soul world. Anything can happen here.

Its pulsing with a slight white light. If it's a core, it shouldn't activate any traps. Hopefully. He stares at it before quickly reaching out and grabbing both the sword and core, jumping back to see what happens.

Nothing happens. He sighs, knowing he's being paranoid. He looks at the core, realizing it's nearly the size of his hand.

"Geez..why is everything so large here?" He smirks and shakes his head. Gripping the core, he begins to absorb the energy of the core into his own. The thick abundant energy fills his core completely. The system window pops up again, notifying him that he has achieved the foundation stage.

"Congratulations. You have now achieved Foundation Stage core refining"

He stares at the window in shock. He didn't expect this core to push him all the way to the next tier. His previous grin forms on his face, but this time turning into a full own smile. If he kept finding cores like this, he could even get to the Transcendent Stage. Then he would be able to reform his soul world to make it better for him to live in.

"This is exciting…" He looks at the ingredients he needs to refine his core and increase its capacity. Seems like he'll need three Shadow Giants claws and two Knightfangs teeth. I don't know what a Shadow Giant is but I've seen a Knightfang since I killed that one earlier. They were strong, but dumb, so I could take another one out if I'm careful enough.

He ponders on where he could find them, turning away from the open coffin as he walks towards the exit. The core he had in his hand turned to dust after absorbing the energy from it. He didn't feel the rush of heat like before, but he can definitely tell he got stronger.

He walks out, holding the sword in his hand. The moon's light casting an eerie shadow over the world.

"At least I have a weapon now. I won't have to cling to my life with a rock as my only source of protection. How pathetic." He lets out a deep breath, his system window popping up once again.

"I didnt even do anything ye-" He cuts himself off as he reads the text.

"You have completed your first soul trial. You will return to your original world in ten seconds."

"I guess I'll get to go home for now." He lifts up his sword, taking a good look at it before it disappears from his hand.

"Huh, where-" He gets cut off again as he wakes up in his body, "Stop cutting me off!"

He quickly sits up and looks around. When he fell asleep, he was sitting on a park bench. Now he's in a completely white room. He slowly stands up, looking around the room. There's nothing inside. The ground and walls are made out of what feels like couch cushions.

"Where the hell am i?" He looks towards the door, making his way over to it. He touches it, but suddenly, there's a large electric discharge that shocks him, but it only stings for a few moments.

"What the hell is this!?" He shouts, looking around the room to find a secret wall or something. But nothing. Then a voice booms through the room.

"I apologize but this is necessary for the safety of the people. You were letting off soul energy at the park, so we had no other choice but to bring you here." It's the voice of a man. He sounds regretful and actually seems like he's sorry.

But Orion knew better than to trust someone who wouldn't even show their face. He stares at the ceiling, not sure where to look.

"Well I'm not a danger anymore, you can let me out." He doubted they would let him out, but contrary to his thoughts. The door that had shocked him opened.

The voice spoke again. "Turn to the left and walk down the hall, you'll be able to speak to me face to face." Orion doesnt say anything. Neither does the voice.

Accepting his situation, he steps out of the room and turns, walking down the hallway. It was surprisingly elegant. There were multiple chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Each casting a golden light in the hallway, the walls were covered in a silky white paint. There were also no doors, except the one at the end of the hall. That must be it.

Orion walks up to the door and pushes it open, revealing a large room with 4 people standing up and staring at him. Seems like they were waiting on me.

He inwardly sighs at this turn of events. Now he has to do with four instead of one bastard.

"Just great, how exciting.."