Rowan shook his head. ‘Let’s not think of anything bleak right now.’

After a few moments, his mom spoke in a cheerful voice: “Little Star, what do wanna have for dinner tonight? Let’s celebrate your return and assimilation! What about you Talia? You're leaving again tomorrow, right?”

“Right. I’ll just have pasta.”

“For me, any rare breed chicken dish would do.” Those breeds were not cheap, not to mention even mass produced farm meats were not common either, but he really wanted to savor it before leaving again.

His mom chuckled. “Feeling fancy, are we? Sure. Let’s have a feast tonight!”

She made a call to someone and they went to pick up the chicken. Most people would not have been able to get the rare meat that fast, even if they had the money but his mom had connections with many different people. ‘Mom is amazing. I gotta ask her on how to be more social.’

Finally, they reached home and he went to clean himself up. He had a lot to think about. The strange voice and what it said. His now turbulent Soulscape and his upcoming expedition. ‘Speaking about my Soulscape…’ his thoughts trailed off and he closed his eyes and reached for the space deep within his mind. After a few moments, he was standing in a wide open space with ghostly blue flames dancing wildly all around him. Looking around, he saw an enormous shelf that seemed to be made of solidified smoke. ‘Strange. That wasn’t there before.’ Standing in front of it, he saw a single object placed on it. It was a beautiful green jade bottle.

Rowan held his breath as he took it off the shelf, carefully examining it. ‘It’s…an artifact. How did I get it? Wait…that tingling sensation I felt when the Brood Mother died…But I didn’t even kill it, so why did I receive this?’

His eyes went wide ‘Those giant blue flames…come to think of it, it only activated when I was inside the circles, my blood dripping on it. Did I activate some kind of mechanism with my blood?’ Then was the kill somehow partly attributed to him? If that were the case then he should have received a lot of Soul-sparks from it, which he didn’t. He tried to channel it but could only feel a meager amount. 

Shaking his head, he focused on the beautiful bottle in his hands. It seemed to be made out of a strange material instead of being natural. The body had beautiful engravings and the cap was a bit wide. “Hmmm…what does it do’. 

Right at that moment, a small tablet made of solidified smoke appeared where the bottle used to be. Picking it up, Rowan saw letters starting to form on its surface. With wide eyes, he read: “Artifact: The Tear of Longing. Imbue Inner Spark and a steady supply of rejuvenating water will flow.”

‘Huh. That’s actually amazing. I don’t have to carry any water for my journeys.’

After admiring his first ever artifact for a while, Rowan realized something more important. He had completed his 'First' challenge, even though his assimilation was not complete, which was unusual, to say the least. That means that he should have gained a new ability! 

‘How do I check any new abilities I gain?’ His first Observation ability had been intuitive and activating it was like second nature now. Looking around, he saw that a lectern was rising out of the ground with a single tome made of the same misty stuff. Walking towards it, he opened it and saw that only two pages were filled. The others were all just misty blanks. The first one was describing his Observation ability. It read: [Soul Sight] - ‘Peer into the souls of living beings and study their patterns. Backlash: Intense Headache.’

He already knew that. Looking at the other page, his eyes went wide. ‘[Soul Mend]: Heals an ally or the bearer from any form of damage. Backlash: When healing an ally, the bearer must feel twice the pain of the injured but the injured’s pain will completely disappear and will be replaced by immense relief. When healing oneself, the bearer must feel the pain of his soul burning.’

Rowan stared, dumbfounded. Healing abilities were extremely rare to come across and he just got one! Not to mention one where any type of damage could be healed, though he suspected he needed to grow more for it’s full potential to work. The problem though, was the Backlash. He would have to feel twice the pain of the injured!? Wasn’t that quite unfair? What if he has to heal multiple, badly injured people at the same time? He was quite confident in his pain endurance capabilities but everyone had their limits. And what is that about healing himself? He had to feel his soul burning? Would that feeling be similar to the one he had felt when he was consumed by the giant blue flames before returning?

His mental mouth went dry. ‘Why of all the pain…’ He still vividly remembered the horrifying feeling of his soul burning. It was the worst type of pain he felt or will ever feel. His mind still hadn’t recovered from that shock completely.

‘Oh well. I’ll just have to not get injured! How hard could it be?’

Shaking his head, he took a look at his surrounding again and went back to his room. 

Rowan changed into a comfortable loose white trousers and a black t-shirt. Going to the kitchen to help his mom, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable remembering what that ‘voice’ said. ‘What did it mean by me wishing to be dead? Was it talking about my upcoming expedition? What a way to motivate someone… Well, whatever the case, I need to train a bit more with my new ability. If it’s a potent healing ability then it’s gonna attract some attention. The bad kind. ’

He reached their kitchen and saw that Instructor Carol was already there, sitting on one of the dining chairs and talking to his mom, who was busy preparing the chicken. Upon seeing him, the brown haired Instructor smiled faintly and greeted him. “Hey Rowan. Good to see you're doing well.”

He returned her smile. “You too Instructor. Are they demanding a report now?” asking that, he went near his mom and started helping with preparing the dishes and the plates.

“Yeah. I was just informing the senior about the details. Solo Warp Gates are rare but not that much. The Challengers returning alive is the shocking part. There have been some records of it but most of them are from the Great Families. This news would make them interested. They most likely will start knocking on your doors if the report reaches them.”

His mom spoke in an agitated tone: “Is there really no other option? It’s just choosing a different type of chain…”

Rowan looked at her in confusion. “Mom?”

She just bit her lip nervously and didn’t answer.

Instructor Carol spoke up instead. “If you don’t want to get involved with the Great Families then there is a way. The government would have to intervene and register you as one of their Blessed Soldiers. Don’t worry too much though, I’ll try to stall for time for as long as I can. They haven’t even tested you yet so it’s still not that dire. For now.”

After a brief pause, she continued “So, Rowan. If you're okay with it, can you tell us what happened in the Challenge and how you got out? I’ll try and twist the events so that it would seem like you are incapable of providing any value to both the Great Families and the government for the time being.”

He nodded. “Sure. I was planning on telling it when everyone was present anyway. Where-”

At that moment, his big sister entered the kitchen and leaned against the wall. “Tell us. I’m curious about it too.”

Rowan took a deep breath and thought: ‘This…is probably gonna sound really weird…’

With that, he opened his mouth to narrate what transpired during his first Challenge.