Sarah slowly opened her eyes.
The black gemstone rested in her palm.
For several seconds, she simply stared at it.
It was small.
Smooth.
Almost perfectly round.
Its surface was darker than ordinary black stone, yet faint traces of light seemed to move beneath it, as though something was sleeping inside.
This was her first opportunity to cultivate since entering the Trial.
For two months...
She had been a slave.
Now, finally, she had been given permission to cultivate.
Sarah quietly carried the gemstone back to her room.
The room itself was surprisingly simple.
A small bed.
A wooden table.
A chair.
A narrow window overlooking the strange world outside.
There was no sunlight.
No moonlight.
No indication of whether it was morning or night.
Only the endless darkness that seemed to surround the entire Trial land.
Sarah sat on the edge of the bed.
Then she placed the gemstone in front of her.
"Let's see..."
She remembered what the other girls had told her.
Gemstones were divided into four major classes.
Bronze.
Iron.
Gold.
Diamond.
The grade of a gemstone determined the quality and density of the essence contained within it.
Bronze gemstones were the most common.
Iron gemstones were rarer.
Gold gemstones were valuable enough to attract the attention of powerful cultivators.
And Diamond gemstones...
Those were treasures.
Even in the real world, a Diamond gemstone could cause powerful organizations to fight over it.
Sarah had heard that people who awakened without using the System relied heavily on gemstones.
Without a System to provide them with fragments and other rewards, they needed another method to strengthen themselves.
Gemstones provided that path.
By absorbing the elemental essence contained inside them, a cultivator could obtain fragments corresponding to that essence.
If enough fragments accumulated...
A breakthrough could occur.
The exact result depended on the elemental essence inside the gemstone and the cultivator's compatibility with it.
For Elite-ranked humans, gemstones were especially valuable.
Their bodies could absorb environmental essence far faster than ordinary Initiates.
An Elite could sit inside a rich essence environment and continuously draw power from the surrounding world.
Gemstones simply accelerated that process.
Initiates were different.
Their absorption speed was painfully slow.
Even in an environment overflowing with essence, an Initiate might spend an entire week merely gathering enough energy to obtain a single fragment.
That was why gemstones were so important.
They compressed what might have taken weeks of cultivation into something that could potentially be absorbed within a much shorter period.
Sarah gently picked up the black gemstone.
"So..."
"What grade are you?"
She closed her eyes.
Her fingers tightened around the stone.
Essence slowly entered her body.
At first...
Nothing happened.
Then—
Cold.
A strange chill spread from her palm.
It traveled through her fingers.
Then her wrist.
Her arm.
Her chest.
Sarah's eyebrows immediately furrowed.
"This..."
The sensation wasn't painful.
It was simply unfamiliar.
The essence inside the gemstone was unlike anything she had absorbed before.
Dark.
Silent.
Almost weightless.
Yet beneath that darkness was something else.
Something she couldn't identify.
Sarah remained still.
She waited.
Perhaps the gemstone would reveal its grade once she began absorbing it properly.
She was just about to begin...
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Sarah's eyes opened.
She immediately stopped circulating her essence.
Another knock sounded.
She frowned.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
Sarah stood.
She carefully placed the gemstone on the table before walking toward the door.
Her hand rested on the handle.
She hesitated for a moment.
Then—
Click.
The door opened.
Sarah's eyes widened.
Two figures stood outside.
Lady Valor.
And Lord Morgan.
Sarah immediately stepped backward.
She bowed respectfully.
"Lady Valor."
"Lord Morgan."
Lady Valor smiled.
"Sarah."
Her voice was gentle.
But there was something different about her expression.
Something serious.
Sarah noticed it immediately.
Lady Valor glanced toward Lord Morgan.
She gave him a small signal.
Lord Morgan understood.
He stepped inside.
Then closed the door behind them.
Click.
The sound echoed through the room.
Sarah's instincts immediately became alert.
She looked between the two adults.
"Is something wrong?"
Lady Valor didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she walked toward Sarah.
Then gently took her hand.
"Come."
Sarah hesitated.
But she followed.
Lady Valor guided her toward the bed before motioning for her to sit.
Sarah sat down.
Lord Morgan remained near the door.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Finally, Lady Valor looked directly into Sarah's eyes.
"You are different from the other girls."
Sarah blinked.
"Different?"
Lady Valor nodded.
"You don't belong to the Night Nation."
Sarah's expression changed.
She had already suspected that her origin might eventually become important.
Still...
She answered honestly.
"Yeah."
"I'm not from the Night Nation."
Lord Morgan spoke from behind them.
"We already knew."
Sarah turned toward him.
"You knew?"
He nodded.
"We knew after your elemental test."
Sarah's eyebrows rose.
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
Lady Valor smiled faintly.
"Because we needed to be certain."
Sarah remained silent.
Lady Valor continued.
"Your elemental essence doesn't behave like the essence of the Night Nation."
"Your body doesn't resonate with this land in the same way."
"And more importantly..."
She paused.
"...your potential is completely different."
Sarah's heart began beating faster.
"What does that mean?"
Lady Valor's smile widened.
"It means..."
"...you may be able to do something the others cannot."
Sarah frowned.
"What?"
Lady Valor leaned closer.
"You can ascend the Dark Abyss."
Silence.
Sarah stared at her.
"The Dark Abyss?"
Lady Valor nodded.
"Yes."
"But that's impossible."
Sarah remembered everything the other girls had told her.
Nobody had ever successfully explained what waited at the top.
Lady Valor continued.
"Most people born in the Night Nation cannot survive the ascent."
"Their bodies are adapted to the darkness below."
"The higher they climb..."
"...the more dangerous it becomes."
Sarah swallowed.
"And me?"
"You aren't from here."
Lady Valor's eyes became serious.
"That changes everything."
Sarah's confusion only deepened.
Then Lady Valor said something that completely stunned her.
"Not only can you ascend..."
"...we may be able to ascend with you."
Sarah stared.
"You?"
Lady Valor nodded.
"Yes."
"Together..."
"...we may have a chance to kill the corrupted creatures above us."
Sarah's expression froze.
"Corrupted creatures?"
Lord Morgan finally stepped forward.
"Yes."
Sarah looked at him.
"There's something above the Dark Abyss?"
Lord Morgan nodded.
"More than something."
"An entire threat."
Sarah slowly stood.
"What are you talking about?"
Lord Morgan's expression became grim.
"Above the Dark Abysses..."
"...there are corrupted creatures."
Sarah's breathing slowed.
"How powerful?"
Neither answered immediately.
That silence told her enough.
Very powerful.
Lady Valor eventually spoke.
"They are the reason we remain below."
"The darkness isn't simply a prison."
"It protects us."
Sarah's eyes widened.
"The Dark Abyss protects you?"
Lady Valor nodded.
"The creatures above cannot easily descend."
"And the people below cannot easily ascend."
"For generations..."
"We have lived beneath them."
Sarah suddenly remembered the rumors she had heard from the other girls.
The Shadow God.
The blessing.
The ascent.
She immediately asked,
"What about the Shadow God?"
Lady Valor's expression became complicated.
"The rumor is false."
Sarah froze.
"False?"
"There is no guarantee that ascending the Dark Abyss will earn anyone the blessing of the Shadow God."
Lady Valor sighed.
"The Shadow God is dead."
"The blessing people speak about..."
"...is merely a story that has survived for generations."
Sarah's expression became serious.
"Then why do people keep trying to ascend?"
Lord Morgan answered.
"Because the story isn't completely useless."
Sarah looked at him.
He continued.
"The Dark Abyss isn't only a prison."
"It is also the only path upward."
Sarah remained silent.
Lord Morgan pointed toward the ceiling.
"Above us..."
"...are the corrupted creatures."
"Above them..."
"...is the Fire Nation."
Sarah's pupils contracted.
"The Fire Nation?"
Lord Morgan nodded.
"They control the territory above the Dark Abysses."
"They watch us."
"They wait."
"For what?"
His expression became cold.
"For the day we become weak enough to devour."
Sarah's fingers slowly tightened.
"So..."
"The Night Nation is trapped between corrupted creatures and the Fire Nation?"
Lady Valor nodded.
"Exactly."
Sarah suddenly felt the weight of the entire Trial pressing against her.
She had thought this was merely a cultivation Trial.
She had thought she needed to become stronger.
Perhaps ascend the Dark Abyss.
Perhaps discover why she had been brought here.
But now...
She realized something far more terrifying.
This entire nation was trapped.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
And somehow...
She had become their possible path to freedom.
Sarah looked toward the black gemstone resting on the table.
Its dark surface reflected her face.
She slowly reached for it.
"Then..."
"What is our hope?"
Lord Morgan and Lady Valor exchanged a glance.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Finally...
Lord Morgan said one name.
"Mystic Jade."
Sarah froze.
"Mystic Jade?"
Lady Velo nodded.
"Yes."
Sarah frowned.
"Who is Mystic Jade?"
Lord Morgan's expression became unusually serious.
For the first time since entering the room...
Sarah sensed genuine fear in his voice.
"We don't know exactly who Mystic Jade is."
Sarah's eyes widened.
"You don't know?"
"We only know the name."
Lady Valor continued.
"It appears in ancient records."
"Old records that existed long before the current Night Nation."
Sarah stared.
"What does the record say?"
Lord Morgan slowly answered.
"That one day..."
"Mystic Jade will descend."
"And when that happens..."
He paused.
"The balance between the nations will change."