The pain began to slowly fade as his eyes slowly closed. The world seemed to stop moving, and as his gaze blurred, the last thing he managed to catch a glimpse of was the golden knight pulling at the spear lodged in his chest. After that, his eyes shut tight, a pleasant voice resounding in his head a moment later.
[Your soul is taking shape]
[Your awakening shall now commence]
The voice sounded enthralling, like the sweetest thing he had ever heard. As he lay, drowned in darkness, feeling himself slowly fall apart, the voice of his system was the only thing keeping him together... barely.
Had he been conscious, he would probably be smiling despite his agony. The awakening was a success, but now he had to prepare for the worst.
As he knelt, his eyes closed and his hands on the top shaft of the spear, he quickly pushed himself away from the weapon and let out a terrifying scream of agony. It wasn't because of the pain he felt forcing a spear out of his chest...
It was something much worse.
The soul, though different, shared a direct bond with his physical body, and the awakening of his soul brought along nothing but excruciating pain. He had suffered a broken back, shattered limbs, and a stab to his heart, but none of them came close to the pain of awakening.
It felt like his mind and body were falling apart and coming together once more, becoming something much better, like a creature shedding its skin. Every fiber, muscle, and bone inside him was being torn apart and reshaped. It was a convoluted mess.
His eyes were shut tight, his heart racing, and then, after what seemed like an eternity, he stopped yelling and let out a loud gasp. For a while longer, he lay on the bloodied floor, taking raspy breaths.
Then a familiar voice rang in his head.
[Your awakening has concluded]
And then the system screen appeared before him.
[Name: Kent Starshine]
[Race: Demi-Blood Demon]
[Affinities: Starless Night, Blood Bane]
[Soul Class: Divine]
[Soul Grade: Awakened]
[Energies: Soul Radiance, Life Bond, Firmament]
[Abilities: Star Shard, Blood Control]
[Attributes: ...]
His soul grade had improved, which meant that Katerina's plan had been a success. He didn't die, and he was now an Awakened, lying on the floor too weak to even open his eyes.
For him, the world was suddenly blank. All he could see was darkness, all he felt was pain. And if there wasn't pain, then there was nothing. There was never an in-between.
As he lay on the floor, his mind blank, new thoughts slowly began to flood it. The first thing he remembered was why he was in the room in the first place.
Katerina had asked him to go inside. She wanted to force his awakening for reasons unknown to him, and she had succeeded, but it had come at the cost of his current condition. He wanted to be angry, to get up and walk out of the temple as far away from her as he could.
But he couldn't. He knew he couldn't. Not only was he divine, he was a vessel, and most of all, he was a blood demon. If he were to be left alone to fend for himself in this new world of his, then he knew that he wouldn't last more than a week.
He reached out his hand and slowly stood up from the ground. Thinking about how angry he wanted to be at Katerina had nourished him somewhat, and he could now rise from the floor, even if he couldn't stand yet.
As he pulled himself up, his eyes peered open, and the first thing he saw was the pool of blood he was now sitting in. The wound on his chest had healed, but he had lost a great deal of blood, which had now circled around him.
However, he didn't have to worry about it, as another thought lingered in his mind. He could still remember Katerina's attempts to teach him blood manipulation a few hours ago. The feeling of his Lifebond rushing through his body.
And as he looked down at the pool of blood he had made, the first thing he thought of was attempting blood manipulation once again. Though quite vaguely, Katerina had done well in teaching him the basics of using an ability.
To top it all off, the sensation of his Lifebond flowing through him was now pronounced, though not as perfect as Lady Night's.
Closing his eyes, he focused and tried to will his blood to flow toward him. This time it did, much quicker than it had earlier. He now had a solid grasp on his control, and more than that, since he was an Awakened, he could properly express his ability using Lifebond.
The drops of blood that had flowed toward him began to coalesce, turning into a medium-sized ball. But instead of turning the ball of blood into his desired shape, Star did something else entirely.
He invoked his ability—[Star Shard]—and used his ability skill—[Shard Transmutation]. Then he watched as the ball of blood slowly began to turn crystalline. The ball of blood began radiating a dim glow, and a few seconds later, it shattered, exploding into a rain of shards.
All around him, about a hundred shards of different sizes flowed, tinted red and glowing slightly as they refracted the pale blue light of the torches hung on the walls. The sight was nothing short of mesmerizing.
He had barely touched the surface of what his ability could do, and right now, as he thought about it, he couldn't help but not be bothered by everything that had happened to bring him to this point. If anything, Katerina deserved a good show of gratitude from him.
He got to be immortal and now one of the first humans to have two abilities because of her.
While he was still thinking about Katerina, the stone door slid open once more and revealed Katerina standing in the exact same position she was in before he walked into the room.
He gazed at her and furrowed his brow. She looked pale with her hand held out, and though it was barely noticeable, he could see that she was out of breath as well.
'What happened to her?'
Well, that was a question he wanted to go and ask her, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He had an idea already anyway; the fact that he survived a forced awakening wasn't a mere coincidence or some sort of miracle.
He didn't want to think about what price she paid either.
But he did wonder what she would be taking in return, or rather, what she was going to have him give in return.
As he sat on the floor thinking, Katerina cleared her throat, drawing his attention.
After lingering for a moment, she spoke.
"We must not waste our time. The inner sanctum awaits."
Star shifted before slowly standing up from the ground. Most of his strength had now returned to him, and he could at least walk on his own.
As his focus on his Lifebond wavered, the shards that had been flowing around him suddenly dissipated, almost as if they had never existed.
It felt strange, like a part of him had suddenly ceased to exist. He continued to dwell on that feeling as he made his way out of the building, and then turned around and watched as the stone door slid shut once again.
For a few seconds he and Katerina stood in silence, and then she directed a rueful gaze at him and asked,
"Did you see him?"
Star narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment. Afterward, he answered her question with a question.
"Who? The knight?"
Katerina nodded and sighed, turning toward the remaining narrow path that lay before them. The stairway stood there, shrouded in shadows.
Without saying a word to him, she turned and began to approach the stairs. Star followed behind, gazing at her with a bit of pity.
As they reached the base of the stairs, the torches that lined the walls suddenly lit up, and behind them, the outer corridor of the temple became shrouded in darkness once more.
It was time for them to ascend to the upper chambers of the ziggurat.