The grove is darker than Saryn had thought, only partly illuminated by mysterious orange berries that lie in the treetops.
The echoes feel muffled, as if something is swallowing the air around him.
Saryn noticed he hadn't eaten in quite a while upon seeing the berries, despite how full he felt.
'Does absorbing echoes lessen my hunger? Interesting.'
Saryn pondered as he advanced through the dense forest, he was quite a way up, nearing the top any time soon.
'Maybe this will be easier than i thou–'
A footstep, grand and terrifying, resounded somewhere nearby, but Saryn couldn't tell.
Another rang out, he could tell it wasn't far off.
He immediately ducked down behind a fallen log, inspecting the echoes around him.
Saryn saw huge fluctuations in the echoes, and he covered his mouth as he steadily peeked toward the origin.
'The stalker.'
He thought, his muffled breaths picking up the pace.
The footsteps stopped, as if the creature had settled.
But did it? Saryn didn't know, nor could he tell.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Saryn's curiosity got the better of him as he peeked again over the log.
He saw… nothing?
He squinted his eyes, observing, and just then.
A shadow peeled itself away from the base of a cliff.
Tall. Monstrous. And… simply wrong in ways Saryn couldn't imagine.
Its outline flickered like a mirage of pure void, half invisible, half demonic, the only feature Saryn could make out was that devilish hungry maw, waiting for its next victim.
The memory from before flashed past again in Saryn's mind, and suddenly the gaping jaws of the beast felt all the more threatening, bloodied with the lives of previous subjects.
His muscles tightened at the remembrance of this memory.
Eight white eyes glowed like diamonds, lined up straight on each side of its skull, highlighting the darkness that had overcome its body.
'Quite ironic that I'm technically the one stalking, but this is way more favourable than being chased by that demon.'
Saryn chuckled inwardly, calming himself with a dry joke.
He observed more closely.
The stalker's back was lined with pure shadow that flowed in the air like blazing flames, complementing its shining white rows of jagged teeth, which Saryn could barely make out.
It had two powerful legs that were almost hidden by its coat of darkness, which dug into the ground almost as if planting the stalker in place. Two smaller arms lay in wait underneath its neck, tipped with sharp white flawless claws; overall, the entity looked extremely predatory, chilling Saryn's nerves.
But, one thing stood out to Saryn the most.
He squinted his eyes, until he could make out one tiny lilac dot, floating around in the sea of cyan and blue echoes that made up the stalker's body.
Saryn paused as Marduk's line from the second room reintroduced itself in his mind.
' ...Saryn, these particles you see are echoes. They are the building blocks of this world, they make up every object or existence you see, they come in three forms.'
'Three forms? That must be the third!'
Once Saryn fully noticed the lilac echo, he suddenly felt an intense hunger overwhelm him, a hunger for that specific echo.
His body felt pulled toward it, as if it would bring about changes unimaginable to him.
Or rather, benefits unimaginable to him.
Saryn was lost in thought.
'It's huge… bigger than the memories showed. And that body… it's like it's not even fully here.'
'Could I… kill it?'
A thought so retarded even Marduk wouldn't have expected it to cross his mind, and yet, Saryn was contemplating it.
His breath trembled as his hunger for the lilac echo, no matter how singular, rampaged in his stomach.
Saryn's fingers curled into a fist.
'I can!'
I don't think so.
'Marduk said I don't need to, but he never said I cant.'
Doesnt mean you have to suicide buddy.
'Maybe I could kill it… near the lake?'
Perhaps.
He sharpened his resolve.
'I totally could.'
The thought was insane.
Reckless.
Suicidal.
But the lilac echo pulsed again.
Offering him permanent power.
Permanent evolution.
A chance the other candidates hadn't even noticed nor considered.
Saryn swallowed hard.
'... I'll… think about it later. First, the well.'
Just afterward.
The stalker turned its head, scanning the direction Saryn was hidden.
Saryn's grip over his mouth tightened involuntarily as he ducked down further, no longer peeking.
The stalker stood up on its hind legs, turning fully toward the array of bushes and trees that Saryn was located in before sniffing the ground curiously.
For another moment, Saryn kept his silence in fear of being discovered.
He could hear nothing except his own heartbeat and the occasional snarl of the Stalker.
A loud footstep rang out.
And then sniffing.
Lines of saliva dripped down its teeth, falling onto the stone ground with light taps, before the stalker dismissed its suspicions, leaving the area toward a different direction.
Saryn sighed in relief upon realising the coast was clear. After waiting a while to make sure, he stood up, patting the leaves off his torn robes, before proceeding up the hill in pursuit of the echo well.
He jogged slowly and carefully, in order not to invoke any loud noises nor alert the stalker of his presence.
He pondered.
'How could I kill that thing?'
'Marduk said the lake is a safe haven, meaning the stalker probably can't enter it, is it weak to water?'
This would explain the fact that Marduk gave him and the other candidates the specific materials only for the hydroform semblance, it was probably not possible to make any other semblance with that combination of materials, or rather any other semblance that he had knowledge of.
'But even assuming that, It doesn't look like it'll go down with a couple of blows using a measly tier one semblance, that thing is two meters tall!'
Mid-thought, a flash of inspiration struck Saryn.
'If I can absorb echoes, why shouldn't I just absorb the lilac echo directly out of its body?'
Saryn thought. It sounded illogical considering the lilac echo is a functioning part of the stalker's body, but he wouldn't know until he tried, yes, it was suicidal, but if he pulled this off, his strength would increase by leaps and bounds, future rooms would become stepping stones to him.
He had decided upon this idea, as for when he will execute it? Who knows.
Before long, he had reached the echo well, fairly tall, and exuding an ominous aura that leaked to the surroundings.
Saryn stepped forth as if being knighted by a monarch, before placing his hand inside the well, which was illuminated with echoes that looked like cyan and blue fireflies, weaving between each other like barrages of fireworks.
He willed it, and thus, the floods of echoes rampaging in the well bound themselves tightly into his arm.