A Blessed could gain two things from a Cursed Creature.
The first was called a Shard. The nature of Shards remained somewhat mysterious, but the prevailing belief was that they were rewards—manifestations of the Archons' essence—bestowed upon a Blessed for their efforts. By extracting a fragment of the Cursed Creature's most redeemable virtue, the Archons transformed it into a tangible item: a weapon, armor, or utility, gifting it to the one responsible for the creature's death.
Shards followed the same grading path as the tiering of Blessings and were imbued with a vast range of abilities.
The second thing a Blessed could gain was far more natural, though less understood. It was known as a soul heart. Over time, the runes used to depict this name had evolved and fragmented, distorting its meaning. These days, it was more commonly referred to as a corruption heart.
In essence, however, it was simply the soul heart of a Cursed Creature—an anchor of its essence, severed upon death. A Blessed could harvest and absorb it, strengthening the potency of their own soul's essence. But there was a carefulness and custom to this act.
Corruption hearts were cursed, tainted by the very nature of the creatures they came from. They embodied the stark, demented inversion of a Blessed's own soul heart. Absorbing them without caution could bring… consequences. Terrible ones.
Thus, purification was an absolute necessity. A Blessed had to take the heart to a temple, where it could be cleansed. Once a Blessed attained the rank of Consecrated, a stage above Devout, they gained the ability to purify corruption hearts on their own.
That meant Auren had gained two things from killing a Major Blighted.
The first had been officially announced—a Shard. The second required no announcement.
Yet, Auren highly doubted he would need purification to use the corrupted heart. After all, [Devourer] automatically absorbed the Cursed soul of the abomination he slew. But acorruption heart was different from the soul itself—it was a physical crux of the soul, the tether that bound it to the body.
That was what made him uncertain.
Still, he would find out soon enough.
For now, he wanted to see what kind of Shard he had received.
At that moment, a new set of runes floated before Auren's eyes.
[Shard]
Name: [Spiked Carapace]
Type: [Armor]
Grade: [Major]
Level: [II]
Level Abilities: [Metal Spears], [Steel Surface]
Description: A Gluttonous Chasm Dweller, met its death at the hands of a vile vermin, leaving its skin carapace as a trophy of victory]
A grimace fell on Auren's face. Shadowing his features slightly.
'Who is the vile vermin?'
He sighed immediately and looked to the bright side of things.
'Finally! Something to wear!'
But something was off.
There was a discrepancy in what he was seeing. The grade of weapons and armor was supposed to align with the Tier of Blessings—Common, Rare, Epic, Mythic, and Divine. That was what they had been taught.
Yet here he was, seeing Major.
It contradicted everything he had learned. But given his current circumstances, it also... made sense.
'No need to dwell on it.'
The armor itself was far more important.
Sighing, Auren closed his eyes, steadying his breath.
Summoning a Shard from the depths of one's soul was tricky, but for Nascents who had fully awakened, it was inherent knowledge.
Auren, however, was not fully awakened.
Yet, every rule he had been taught—every limitation imposed upon those at his level—either came to him too early or didn't apply at all.
He knew exactly what to do.
Reach into the depths of his soul. Will the selected Shard into existence.
'The depth of my soul...'
That was another mystery.
Blesseds had something called Soul Depth, but it was only accessible to those who had fully awakened. Only a Devout could access it.
Given all the strange things happening to him, would he even have one?
He didn't know.
But right now, it didn't matter.
The armor was beginning to take form around his body—black and red sparks of light flickering across his frame as the Spiked Carapace wove itself into existence.
And then—
Something went wrong.
The forming armor shattered, breaking apart into smithereens of black sparks.
Auren's vision blurred for a fraction of a second, then a new set of runes appeared before him.
[Devourer has devoured your armor.]
[Metal Skin has been strengthened.]
Auren was lost for words, frozen in place for a few seconds, blinking in disbelief.
When he had finally thought he'd gained something to wear—[Devourer] took it.
'...Tch.'
Auren exhaled sharply. This ability was going to be a handful.
At the very least, he no longer had to worry about how to grow the abilities he absorbed. But now… now he had to worry about his armor.
And more pressingly, he needed a shirt.
Since he had used the last one as a catalyst for fire.
With another sigh, Auren finally moved. He stepped toward the monster's carcass, picking the holy sword on the ground on his way. Then he plunged it into the dead abomination.
Carving.
The sacred blade sank through flesh like a butcher's knife, slicing through layers of tainted meat.
Then, amidst the gore, something small and glistening caught his eye.
A darkish-purple orb rested in his palm.
Auren studied it for a moment before a smile pulled at his lips.
A soul heart.
He slid it into his pocket. It had no use for now—but eventually, it would.
With that taken care of, only one thing remained.
Get out of the Chasm.
And break these chains.
Asides the fact that he needed all the freedom he could get if he had any chance of surviving the dangers that lurked, Auren was beginning to really have a strong dislike for chains and being bounded.
He also needed to ensure he had everything he could take from this place.
'Who's to say what else a glutton's lair might hold?'