The peculiar space that Lone presumed to be the interior of his soul presented itself to him once more.

However, instead of Sky battling against Void, he was met with a smiling version of himself who had deep purple hair, eyes and tails.

Lone sighed heavily. "How the fuck am I gonna explain two awakenings on top of Void's unique colourings now? I could get away with that crazy son of a bitch because its been wiped from the history books. Passing Void's influence off as a curse was simply enough. You though? Fuckin' everyone knows about you."

"Haha, right you are," Darkness said as it paced back and forth, seemingly upset at something.

Lone grinned. "Things didn't quite go to plan but what can you do when you're dealing with a Djinn, eh? I'll be honest, Darkness, I was expecting to get slapped with some insanity or even worse for being so specific. Having you locked up inside of my soul? Yeah, I can deal with that."

Darkness stilled as it turned its head to stare at Lone with a menacing smile spread across its lips. "Are you certain you won't still lose your mind? I am the Primal of Darkness, deity of illusions, memories, and, of course, dreams and their counterpart, nightmares."

The being faltered when it saw Lone reply to his words with nothing more then a look that clearly stated 'stop speaking shit'.

Lone was quite pleased that the ancient existence that had fooled him was now trying to wrangle some control out of an utterly hopeless situation.

"Okay, perhaps not all memories. Well done on that front. I truly had no idea you possessed a Djinn's Wish," Darkness admitted.

"And aren't I in luck, huh? Who knows what you'd have done if you knew," Lone answered honestly.

Darkness giggled with his copy of Lone's body. "I would traded. Breena's partial control over her body if you used it on something innane.... Then again, perhaps I already have. I did say I'd won, after all..."

Lone shook his head. "Nope. Not gonna work. I'd be dead if you'd 'won' and not here gloating to your pathetic ass. You've fucked with me for quite long enough. Now, I'm going to ignore you until I either wake up or get woken up. Maybe make yourself useful and help seal Void? Hell, maybe try to free him. You seem weak for a Primal, what with needing to rely on petty tricks to try to possess a little girl."

He grinned when he saw Darkness's smile turn into a frown. "I doubt you can affect Sky's efforts in any way whatsoever. I do wonder what skill I got from awakening to your element though. I don't like relying on trickery but I'll take what I can get."

"As will I, Lone, as will I," Darkness said coldly. "I don't hold it against you - accidentally imprisoning me here. It was clever even if unintentional. I truly am powerless when held within your soul! One day though, I'll have my way. I'm an old being and while odd and strange as you are, you're but a mortal."

"Keep talking like that and I'll dedicate my life to killing you. Neither of us really wants that, now do we? Play nice and maybe I'll forgive you for trying to forcefully take over the body of a traumatised child. Who knows? I might even find a way to get you out. I'm pleased you can't hurt anyone from in here but I'm hardly chuffed about having another resident in my lovely little soul," Lone remarked.

Darkness turned and began walking away. "It is not lovely nor is it little. I even have doubts if it's a soul at all..."

Lone rose with a throbbing headache and aching tails, but nothing more. He had notifications, of course, but he wasn't being tortured in some dank prison cell like the last time he'd regained consciousness after awakening.

That was a plus if nothing else.

He slowly opened his stinging eyes and met his gaze with Hamish's. "Not exactly the maiden I was hoping for, but I guess you'll do as the first sight of the morning."

"Piss off, ya cheeky git," Hamish scoffed. "... Ya awright?"

Lone properly sat up and kept rubbing his head to try to ease the pain a bit. It seemed to be an ache of magical or strange origin since his Basic Regeneration hadn't cured it already.

"More or less. I feel like I've got a hangover after a night of rum and whiskey. I'll live though. Where's Breena?" Lone asked.

Hamish gestured with his head to her tent. It was only then that Lone realised they were back in the camp in the tunnel he and the dwarf had carved out themselves.

"She's shakin' like ah demon in ah chapel an' she keeps sinkin' intae the ground every 30 minutes or so. Ah 'ave tae keep pullin' er oot maself. It's one 'ell o' ah sight. She awakened an' is strugglin' somethin' fierce tae get 'er new Primal skill under control. Nothin' serious fae what little ah ken aboot the topic," Hamish explained.

"I see. When was her last episode?" Lone asked.

Hamish puckered his lips in thought. "five, ten minute ago? There aboots."

"Guess I've got time to sift through my notification log then before I go talk to her and summon Sophie again. She's not gonna be happy I have another god living inside of me," Lone chuckled.

Hamish joined in. "Aye, ah doubt it. She's ah tough one, 'at lassie. Ye sure ken 'ow tae pick 'em."

"She picked me, really," Lone replied with a wry grin as he pulled up the system log.

The host has partially applied their Agility for the first time. Unlocking full application of the stat will be significantly easier in the future.

'That was the burst of speed, huh... Damn. I didn't know you could partially apply. What a bummer,' Lone sighed mentally. 'Still, it helped me reach Breena in time, so I'm thankful.'

Congratulations! The host has awakened to the Primal, Darkness. Warning: Awakening three times increases the rate at which the host ages by six times. Congratulations! The host has been chosen by the Primal, Darkness, to be its avatar! Warning: The host may lose their sense of self and be possessed by the Primal, Darkness, during the assimilation process of becoming Darkness's avatar.

'So I did end up its avatar. Glad it didn't possess me though unlike Void. Smart little fucker likely didn't even try to take control. It's upset at its current situation but not enough to lose its cool. It's aware I wouldn't forgive it if it harmed Breena or tried to summon Sophie. Hell, even if it had hurt Hamish I'd have tried to do something about it. The dwarf's a cunt but he's grown on me like a fungus,' Lone thought.

Primal Skill: You

A skill granted to the Avatar of Darkness.

Shadows, dreams, and all illusions, are an extension of your body.

Once a week, the host may enter any shadow, dream, nightmare, barrier, or obscured illusion/ with ease. Nothing can bar the host's entry when this skill is used.

Cost: 30,000 SP and 50,000 MP Mastery: Beginner Level 1

"Fuck me," Lone exclaimed.

Hamish raised an eyebrow. "Nae thanks. 'Ppreicate the offer but ah'm nae so far gone 'at ah'll shove ma cock in anything 'at moves."

"Oh, fuck off. I was just expressing my shock at the new skill I just got," Lone said with a roll of the eyes.

"Ah see. Gonne elaborate?" the dwarf asked.

Lone nodded. "Sure. For a start, it has a week-long cooldown on it per use. It also has an insane usage cost. 30,000 SP and 50,000 MP. Not as insane as Void's skill which needs 100,000 MP, but it's still the first skill I've ever earned that needs both resources."

Hamish sighed. "It's uncommon but nae unheard o'. Now, ah'm gonne regret this but remind me, what the fook is 'Void'?"

"Ah, of course. It's the ninth Primal. You know, the one erased from history," Lone said nonchalantly.

"Ah, of course. How daft o' me nae tae recall," Hamish remarked. "It's almost like ah'm ah dwarf who's never left the Farwinds an' 'er kriegs."

"Almost. Good thing we both know how worldly you truly are though, huh?" Lone joked as he got up. "Well, I'm gonna go check on Breena."

Hamish nodded. "Aye, ye do 'at afore ye reveal anymere world-shakin' secrets tae me."

Lone laughed at that as he approached the girl's tent and gingerly opened the fabric door. He entered it and smiled kindly when a set of tired eyes looked up at him.

"Howdy," he greeted.

"... Uh... howdy?" Breena answered with a rough voice while her body shook as if she was in a blizzard.

Lone frowned before he summoned a cup then just enough cold freshwater to fill it. He handed it to her and said, "Drink. You sound like shit. Can I help with that shaking in any way or is that skill-related?"

She nodded and took the cup from him, instantly chugging its content in one go. "Thank you. It's, uh, skill-related. I... I can't control it yet."

"Huh... Well, I'm happy Hamish dragged us both out of there but he could have given you something to drink. It's not like he doesn't have provisions in that adventurer's pouch of his," Lone sighed as he sat down next to the girl.

They remained in silence for a bit, Lone just holding his knees and smiling, Breena staring at her cup awkwardly.

"So... we both got raw-dogged by that fucker, eh?" Lone noted as he glanced at Breena's eyes, hair and tails; of which, she now had three.

Just like him, the centre of her eyes held a purple glow and the tips of her hair, ears and tails were also a deep shade of Darkness's signature colour.

"Congrats on the new limb. Soph'll love that," Lone said.

Breena jolted in shock a bit. "T-Thanks..."

A deep hesitation overcame her as she seemed to try to speak but kept failing to find the right words. Lone didn't push her. He was happy with waiting for her to collect herself.

What he didn't expect, however, was for her to curl up and started crying. "I... I don't want to die..."

"What?" Lone panicked a bit. He'd never seen her acting so emotionally before. "Why would you die? Is it related to whatever skill you got for awakening?"

Breena's cries soon became sobs. "I'll start ageing now, won't I? The system said so... I only have 50 or so years left now."

Lone froze. "That... that might be true but... but I did include in my wish to ensure nothing negative happened to you. I even specifically mentioned it in the wish. Ageing certainly sounds negative to me. Does it to you too?"

"... Y-Yeah, it does," she slowly answered.

Lone smiled again, happy at having regained control of the conversation somewhat. A crying child was never an easy thing to deal with, let alone one as mature and scarred as Breena was.

Lone carefully reached over to her and patted her back lightly. "Right? I ignore those notifications myself, having awakened three times. My Basic Regeneration can counter the ageing I'm pretty sure. However, in your case, If you do start ageing I have two solutions for you. Want to hear them?"

'Honestly, I didn't think she'd care much about ageing. As much as it upset me, she never really seemed the type to care about if she died or not. Maybe there's more to this than meets the eyes?' Lone wondered.

Breena sniffed loudly and raised her head from her knees to look at him. "Yes, I do! Please! I can't age!"

'Now she's even raising her voice. Definitely more to this than just a fear of dying,' Lone concluded. "Well, first, there's always the option I gave to Gilbert. Just get stronger. Rank ups extend the lifespan of mere mortals like our dwarven friend outside and Soph, right?"

Having calmed significantly, Breena nodded. "T-That's right. I... I want to do that but... I have no talent..."

Lone scoffed. "Talent doesn't mean shit. If you try, and I mean really try, you can literally do anything. Of course, excluding the impossible like turning into a goose and going on a honking spree, but then again, this world's a pretty magical place..."

He saw that she didn't seem to believe him from the way she was looking at him. 'Confidence issues fuckin' suck to work out. It's so hard to progress and so easy to lose any meaningful changes via one loose-lipped arsehole or something. Ha-ah... well, I'll work on it. Good to know about her issues regardless. Can't help fix something if you don't know it's broken.'

"As for the second option, well, remember how I removed your slave collar? Painful memories tied to that, I'm sure, but it's connected," Lone asked.

Breena wore a difficult to read expression on her face but she still nodded regardless. "I... I remember."

"Well, the skill I used then is also the skill I could maybe use to heal your body if it does start to age. It depends though. What does your body deem as natural when you start ageing? Your current form or the older one from the effects of ageing? I can cure both but one is vastly more expensive than the other. I also can't do it for quite a few months. That skill and my MP are sealed 'cause I overused it in a sense," Lone explained.

"Oh... I, uh, I, see... So... ranking up then?" Breena asked timidly as she wiped her eyes with her wrist.

Lone grinned. "For now, yeah. I know you won't believe me, but you really are quite skilled. I mean, you learned Needle Mastery pretty quickly and you even have a new skill now, right? A Primal one at that."

Breena tried to smile back at him but it just looked forced. "R-Right."

Lone sighed in his mind. 'I really need to help her out. I mean, I have my own issues but I'm an adult, she's just a kid. It'd be wrong of me to not at least try before we return her to her clan.'