The ash hadn't fully settled over Arkwatch.

Burned wood, collapsed towers, and bloodied soil still bore the memory of chaos. The wind howled through broken stone, and crows circled above like vultures drawn to an unburied past.
Elias stood before the scorched crater where the fight with Varik had unfolded. Behind him, the others watched silently—Logan, Faith, Dante, and Dorian.

Elias: "It's here. I can feel it—pulsing beneath the stone like it's calling to me."

Dorian stepped forward, tense. "That's because it is calling you. Echoes don't hum for just anyone. That thing is corrupted Forsaken essence—raw chaos waiting to infect your soul. We should leave it buried."

Elias didn't flinch. His eyes were fixed on the cracked earth. "You didn't stop me when I walked into death. Don't stop me now when I walk into strength."

Faith, worried: "What if Dorian's right? What if taking that... thing changes you?"

Logan, arms crossed but voice quiet: "He's already changed. But I think it's because of all this that he has to do it. If we're being hunted, he'll need every edge."

Dorian growled under his breath, frustrated. "You think you're ready? You think surviving Nyxoth's void makes you untouchable? That Echo down there could melt your mind. Twist your blood. It's not a toy, Elias!"

Elias turned to him, eyes calm, but fire behind the words. "Then I'll twist it back." He stepped forward. "I didn't survive Nyxoth. I was brought back. Given a second chance. I'm not wasting it hiding behind fear."

Without waiting for a response, Elias moved to the crater's edge. The air was heavier there. The crater pulsed—faint but steady, like a dying heartbeat trying to rise again.
The others watched anxiously.

Faith grabbed Dante's arm, nervous. "He's not the same as before, is he?"
Dante, watching intently: "No... and that might just be what saved us."

The ground beneath Elias's feet cracked. Shadows bled from the crater, pulling around his boots. The Echo's energy called louder now, echoing like whispers only he could hear.
And with one final glance at the others, Elias stepped down into the voided pit—toward whatever power waited below.

As Elias stood on the lip of the crater, shadows coiling like black steam around the cracks, Dorian took a step forward.

Dorian: "You're not going alone."

Faith's eyes flicked to him, concern tightening her grip on her staff. *"He's right. We've got your back—if that thing even twitches, we're there."

Dante rolled his shoulders, blades humming faintly at his hips. *"You've carried enough weight already, Elias. Let us take some of it this time."

But Elias didn't turn around. His eyes were locked on the swirling darkness within the crater. A low, reverberating pulse echoed in his bones, like a drumbeat older than time itself. His voice, when it came, was steady.

Elias: "I'll be fine."

He took a single step forward—and the shadows reacted.

The crater pulsed with a flare of black and crimson, tendrils of corrupted energy slithering up and around his frame but never touching. It was like the void recognized him... and respected him.

A gust of wind roared outward, pushing dust and embers back. Faith raised her arm to shield her eyes, and Logan narrowed his gaze as Elias descended.

Logan (low, watching him): "At this point... he's stronger than all of us."

Dorian didn't argue. He didn't move.

His jaw clenched, and though pride shimmered behind his eyes, it was mixed with something else. Worry. Unease.

Dorian: "He walks like someone who knows the world won't ever hurt him the same way twice."

Elias dropped into the crater, swallowed by darkness, the whispers growing louder.
And none of them followed.

The deeper Elias descended, the more distorted reality became. The crater's inner walls twisted unnaturally, lined with glowing runes no human hand had carved. This wasn't just ancient—it was watching.

At the lowest point, silence reigned—until it moved.

A colossal creature stepped from the dark, muscle stitched by cursed sinew, black tendrils coiling around it like breathing armor. One eye glowed dim blue, the other socket a void.

It didn't speak—but its presence screamed one truth:
The Echo Beast.

A guardian. A judge.

Its purpose was singular:

To test those who dared reach for power they might not deserve.

Elias stepped forward, unfazed.

Elias: "I'm not here to beg for strength. I'm here to take what's mine."

The creature lunged without warning. A bladed arm cleaved through stone where Elias had stood just a heartbeat before. He responded with flame—but it coiled around the beast, ineffective.

It spun, claws slicing. Elias summoned a reflective barrier, shattering on impact but redirecting the blow just enough to give him a window.

He vanished—blinked behind the beast, channeling condensed force into a short-range blast that hurled the monster forward.

Elias (thinking): "It's not a beast—it's a gate."

As if responding, the creature let out a deep, guttural sound and reshaped part of itself—gaining an extra arm, blades along its back.

It had evolved.

Elias (quietly): "A trial that fights smarter the more you rise to it."

The battle raged. Burn marks scorched the crater. Lightning, flame, blood, and magic collided in brutal cadence. The Echo Beast was a creature of violence with purpose. It wasn't enraged—it was measuring him.

Until Elias, using a feint with arcane decoys, struck its exposed spine with a precise concentrated spell—more compression than blast. The beast's core ruptured. It thrashed, limbs flailing in blind fury before collapsing into black dust.

Above the corpse, the Echo emerged.

A fragment of pure chaotic essence. Floating, waiting.

It did not resist him.

As Elias closed his hand around it, the Echo vanished into his chest. A searing pain followed—a surge of knowledge, power, weight.

A pulse of black and white magic exploded outward.

Above, the others staggered at the crater's edge.

Logan: "That... was different."

The wind had stilled. No movement. No sound. Only silence.

Faith stepped closer to the edge, eyes locked on the distorted depths below.

Faith (worried): "What's going on down there...? Is he alright?"

Dorian stood a few paces behind them, silent. Watching. Calculating. He clenched his fist once, then released it.

Dorian: "He's either earning that power... or being consumed by it."

A brief rumble. A distant pulse of energy like a heartbeat echoed up the crater walls.

Faith (whispering): "Come back, Elias."

The crater pulsed again—this time stronger. A light flickered deep inside.

They all took a step back as a gust of energy blew upward like a shockwave, stirring dust and cracking the stone under their feet.

Then silence again.

Until—

Faith (eyes wide): "Look!"

A figure slowly rose from the depths—his coat torn, eyes glowing faintly. His steps were calm, steady, like nothing had touched him.

Elias walked out, his hand clenched around a small black shard that shimmered with energy.
Dorian stared, expression unreadable.

Dante (under his breath): "He really did it."

Logan (grinning): "Of course he did."

Elias stopped in front of them, glanced at each of their faces, and said simply:

Elias: "One down."