Shadow leaned silently against the frozen cliffside while snow drifted around him. For several moments neither of them spoke.
Then Shadow finally asked the question lingering in the back of his mind since waking up.
'Why are you inside me?'
Sigfried laughed softly.
'Straight to the important questions now.'
'Answer it.'
The demon grew quieter after that, though Shadow could still feel the faint amusement lingering beneath his voice.
'I don't know.'
Shadow frowned immediately.
'You expect me to believe that?'
'Believe whatever you want, brat. The last thing I remember clearly is darkness. Fog. Chains.' Sigfried paused briefly. 'Then recently something changed. It felt like whatever was suppressing me weakened for the first time in centuries.'
Silence settled briefly between them while snow drifted across the mountain path.
Then Sigfried spoke again.
'That silver mana you used during our fight... what was it?'
Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly.
'You don't know?'
'If I did, I wouldn't be asking.'
The response caught Shadow slightly off guard.
Sigfried laughed quietly afterward.
'Whatever that silver mana was, it felt wrong. Ancient. Violent.' The demon sounded almost amused by the realization. 'I've seen countless forms of mana, but not that.'
Shadow said nothing aloud after that, but the pieces were already starting to fit together in his mind.
During the battle, the silver mana had torn through his body trying to purify and refine it under overwhelming pressure. If Sigfried was sealed within him, then the Astral Mana may have weakened the restraints while cleansing his body.
Not intentionally.
Just collateral damage.
Shadow looked back toward the endless frozen mountains while frustration twisted quietly in his chest. He needed Astral Mana to survive. To grow stronger. But every step forward also strengthened the thing sealed inside him.
The fox suddenly moved beside him, brushing lightly against his leg before continuing a few steps ahead through the snow.
Shadow blinked slightly.
Then, despite everything weighing on him, a faint smirk pulled briefly at the corner of his mouth.
Sigfried immediately noticed.
'Don't tell me you've grown attached to the beast already.'
Shadow followed after the fox through the snow-covered path ahead.
'It stayed.'
Sigfried gave a low scoff.
'So did I. Where's my appreciation?'
By midday, Shadow was climbing again.
The frozen mountain paths stretched endlessly ahead while snow drifted steadily through the air around him. The fox moved silently across the cliffs nearby, occasionally disappearing behind jagged rock formations before reappearing farther ahead as though making certain Shadow continued following.
Sigfried had gone mostly quiet, though Shadow could still feel the demon lingering beneath the Astral Core like something chained beneath deep water, patient and dangerous.
The mountain wind shifted suddenly.
Shadow sensed Neto before he appeared.
A familiar figure stepped silently onto the snowy ridge ahead, dark cloak moving faintly in the freezing wind while sharp eyes studied Shadow carefully from a distance.
The fox immediately stopped moving, its body tensing briefly before relaxing once it recognized Neto wasn't hostile.
Shadow slowed slightly as Neto approached.
For several moments neither of them spoke while snow drifted steadily through the mountains around them. Neto's gaze moved carefully over Shadow's body, lingering briefly on the faint traces of silver mana still pulsing beneath his skin.
"You look terrible," Neto finally said.
Shadow let out a quiet breath.
"Everything hurts," he admitted. "Feels like my body got torn apart and stitched back together wrong."
Shadow remained quiet for a moment before finally looking back toward the mountains around them.
"I found an inheritance," he said.
Neto's eyes narrowed immediately.
"What kind?"
"I don't fully understand it yet." Shadow lifted his hand slightly while faint strands of silver mana flickered briefly across his skin before fading again. "The place was hidden beneath the canyon. Ancient. There was a chamber and some kind of remnant left behind."
Neto listened carefully without interrupting.
"It called itself the Astral Core," Shadow continued quietly. "It's not like normal elemental mana. The inheritance said it was unstable and incomplete. If I don't gather the other inheritances connected to it…" He hesitated briefly. "It'll eventually destroy me."
The wind howled softly through the cliffs around them.
Neto's expression darkened slightly.
"That explains the mana."
Shadow nodded once.
"The Trial World changed after I accepted it." His gaze drifted across the frozen mountains surrounding them. "Or maybe I just started seeing more of what was already here."
Neto remained silent for several moments before finally reaching beneath his cloak and pulling out a rough map marked with several hand-drawn symbols spread throughout the Trial World.
"While you were recovering, I explored parts of the surrounding regions," Neto said calmly. "I found several locations with unusually dense mana signatures. Far stronger than ordinary beast territories."
Shadow took the map carefully and studied the markings while snow drifted quietly around them. Some locations rested deep within mountain ranges while others appeared scattered across forests, ruined valleys, and regions far beyond anything he had explored yet.
If the inheritance was telling the truth, then these places were likely connected to the remaining elemental cores needed to stabilize the Astral Core.
For the first time since awakening the inheritance, Shadow finally felt like he had direction again.
"This map is probably the most help I can give you," Neto said.
Shadow folded the map carefully before slipping it into his cloak.
"Still," he said quietly, "thanks."
Neto smiled at that.
His attention shifted briefly toward the fox standing nearby.
"That creature hasn't left your side once."
Shadow looked over at it.
The fox simply stared back calmly through the drifting snowfall.
"I think it decided I'm its problem now."
"That makes two of us."
Shadow snorted softly.
The wind howled louder across the mountains while thick clouds shifted overhead. After another few moments, Neto glanced toward the distant cliffs before looking back at Shadow again.
"You'll be alright from here?"
Shadow nodded once.
"Yeah."
Neto studied him carefully for several seconds, making certain he meant it.
Then he gave a small nod.
"Good."
Shadow frowned slightly as Neto turned away.
"You're leaving?"
"For now."
The answer settled strangely in Shadow's chest, though he understood why. This path was his to walk.
Neto glanced back at him one last time while a genuine smile crossed his face.
"Try not to die, kid."
Shadow shook his head slightly.
"No promises."
Moments later, Neto vanished into the snow-covered mountains without another word.
Shadow remained still for several seconds afterward before continuing higher into the mountains. Snow crunched steadily beneath his boots while the fox followed close behind him through the frozen cliffs.
The climb grew steeper the farther he went until eventually the narrow ridge opened into the peak of the mountain itself.
Shadow stepped onto the summit slowly.
Then stopped.
The world stretched endlessly before him.
And for the first time since entering the Trial World, Shadow finally saw how much everything had changed.
"Amazing."