Atop the branch, Hyde and Fike waited patiently, poised to strike. Fike's breathing was steady and evenly paced, while Hyde was panting, his eyes glowing red.

Fike caught sight of Hyde's strange appearance and sighed, "Calm the fuck down! Just wait and I'll get you something to fight.

Hyde nodded mechanically, Fike's words had gone in one ear and out the other. He was crouching down on the thick tree limb, like a leopard, ready to pounce.

He looked like he would jump off the branch and onto the ground at any moment.

And, the ground was not a good place to be right now. 10s of Shrike swarmed below them, devouring the corpse of the general ranked shrike. They were fighting over the corpse, like starving wolves.

Realising he didn't have a lot of time before Hyde let loose, Fike planted his feet firmly in the centre of the branch and took aim. Below him, the Shrike struck out at each other, desperately fighting over the corpse.

Fike breathed steadily and closed one eye. He took aim and his harpoon thundered down in a flash of silver piercing the trunk of a warrior ranked Shrike.

Fike grabbed onto the rope and pulled upwards until it went taught. On the ground, the Shrike thrashed crazily and knocked over multiple smaller Shrikes. Its roots dug deep into the ground, holding it in place.

Hyde grabbed the rope Fike was holding and yanked it upwards, directly ripping the unwilling Shrike from the ground.

After the Shrike was raised up by about 30m, Hyde lept down from the branch and began shredding the stranded monster. Because it could heal itself by taking in nutrients from the ground, Hyde ended up making quick work of the Shrike.

It was in this manner, that Hyde and Fike picked off the remaining Shrikes one by one. Each time they killed one, the crystal core in their hearts grew bigger and more defined. Likewise, their position on the leaderboards soared up into the top 300.

...

Fike was lying limply on the branch, every ounce of strength had been sapped from him. Within his chest, a crystal core spun rapidly, releasing energy in claiming waves out into the rest of his body.

Trapped within the crystal core was a black spinning discus. The black disk was frozen within the crystal, like a fly trapped in amber. Likewise, Hyde's core had a glowing fire forever burning within it.

Their cores had fully formed whenever they had reached 100 points. And, right when the cores had fully formed, they felt a feeble connection form within them, linking them to some nebulous cosmic entity.

When Hyde focused internally on the crystal core within him, his consciousness transferred into the flickering flame, frozen within his heart.

...

"Where...?" Hyde asked confused.

He was lying down on top of a towering stone pillar. The Stone was scorched black and flawlessly smooth. A blinding light shone from above, forcing him to close his eyes.

"What the...? Wasn't I just standing on a branch?" He muttered. His voice echoed and reverberated out around him into the unknown.

Although he had asked a question, Hyde hadn't actually expected an answer. That was why When he heard an angry voice reply, he was shocked.

"Fiiiinally, Uh, Took you long enough, Jesus!"

"Huh? Who said that?"

"Me. Smart guy."

"Who the fuck is 'Me'? Cant' you see I have my eyes closed."

"Well open your eyes and look at me then genius."

Reluctantly, Hyde opened his eyes. Although he didn't like the idea of being blinded by the light, he really didn't like being mocked by a disembodied voice.

Opening his eyes just a crack, he realised that the light wasn't as blinding anymore, rather it had a gentle warmth to it.

Now that he could get a proper look at his surroundings, Hyde greedily took stock of where he was.

The stone pillar he was on stretched up from the black void beneath him. Above him, an unimaginably huge ball of flame burned in the empty space. It was exactly this ball of flame that had blinded him previously.

However, this time when he opened his eyes, The pillar Hyde was on was surrounded by a glowing red layer of fire. This fire seemed to absorb and filter the light, allowing Hyde to see properly.

Hyde, who was staring opened mouthed at the enormous ball of fire in front of him, was pulled out of his stupor when a harsh mocking voice spoke up.

"Wow, You look like a real tourist right now. Do you want me to point out any landmarks for you sir? Well, if you will kindly look to your... uh... below you, you will find the pillar of self. And above you is the flame of life, the origin of all fire, father of flame, guiding light etc. etc."

Before Hyde could complain, The disembodied voice began laughing hysterically, as if it had just told the funniest joke ever told.

In an uncharacteristic display of self-control, Hyde choked down his anger and breathed deeply. 'In... and then out... in and then out...' thought Hyde. 'Anger is but a figment of the mind. Since I am my mind, I will not be controlled by a figment of myself,'

"Hey! big guy, what is that bullshit poetry your telling yourself? haha, do you have anger management or something?"

"You little fuc... No. I won't play along."

Above Hyde, the glowing red barrier of flame shook and warped, as if it were laughing.

"My name is Hyde. What should I call you?"

"Oh, my name is... Mike, Hunt... Yeah, Mike Hunt."

"Good to meet you, Mike Hunt... Huuu" He could only sigh. When Hyde spoke the name out loud, he finally realised that the disembodied voice was messing with him.

The red barrier shook even harder when Hyde's expression twisted in anger.

"Hahaha, I'm kidding, you can call me Sol."

Hyde carefully thought this name over in his head, making sure there wasn't any hidden joke or meaning within. When he was satisfied that there was none, he sighed in relief.

'This Sol, fella sure is annoying though.'

"Thank you! Although I am actually a girl, hehe."

'Wait did it just read my thoughts'

"Yea."

Hyde grimaced, by now, he was reaching the end of his rope. He couldn't take much more from this annoying voice.

"So what manner of creature are you then miss?" He asked out loud. Although he could have just thought it, it felt weird to have a conversation in your own head.

"I am your elemental. Sol, at your service."

"Then why are you so annoying?"

"hehe..."

...

Fike looked above him, Just like his elemental had said, he caught sight of an enormous disk of black light. Or, To be more accurate, it was the complete absence of light.

Around the disk of black light, space was warped and twisted by the incredibly strong gravitational forces the thing was producing.

He was surrounded by a shimmering see-through semicircle shield made out of starlight. Beneath his feet, an endless stone pillar descended into the void.

"So, what does an elemental do?" Asked Fike.

A cold female voice replied. "I connect you to that thing above your head, the origin. By tapping into the origin of an element, you can control and create it."

"How come I haven't met you before?" Asked Fike suspiciously.

"I have always existed within you, you could say I am like your other half or your counterpart. When you completed your elemental core, I was finally able to communicate with you."

"When you say elemental core, do you mean..."

"Yes, The crystal core within your chest. This core connects you to the element and allows you to use its power."

Fike was already clear on this. When he used the core, he would feel a strange energy flow out into his body. If he concentrated enough, he could use this energy to freeze things.

"So... what is the core for?" Asked Fike. What she had said was all well and good, but since he had already finished the core, what now?

"You only have an elementary core. By using the core, you can gain a rudimentary control of spatial energy." Replied the disinterested lady.

"Rudimentary?" Fike, felt hurt when he heard this. He had thought he was pretty good at controlling the energy. He had even managed to use it to dodge the attack of a General rank Shrike.

"Yes. The core has three forms, The one you currently have is an elementary core. While an elementary core can still be strengthened by absorbing damned souls, in order to evolve it to the next stage, something else is required."

"What is the next stage?" Asked Fike. He was finding it hard to take all of this in. It was like he had climbed to the top of an enormous hill, thinking he had finally reached the end of his journey. Only to find a mountain still lay ahead.

"The intermediate-level core. This can be considered a pretty good level of elemental control and you won't need to worry too much about this for now."

"Ok, so when will I see you again? when I come back here after forming my intermediate core?" Asked Fike.

"I will be accompanying you out of this place and offer advice or companionship. Travelling through Hell is lonely after all." Replied the cold woman.

'Was Hell supposed to be lonely?' Fike thought. So far, he hadn't been able to get rid of Hyde.

"Oh... so you don't need my company then... I guess I will just wait here for you then." When the cold woman spoke, she seemed rather disappointed.

Fike wasn't sure why, but when he heard the disappointment in the woman voice, he felt guilty. Panicked, he quickly tried to cheer her up. "No no no, The more the merrier, that's what I always say. Please join me and keep me company Locus."

"Really?" Fike couldn't tell for sure, but she sounded excited.

"Yeah, so... how do I leave?"

"That's easy, you just need to move your consciousness down the pillar and back into your body.

...

In a flash, Fike's soul was forced back into his body and his eyes snapped open. Perched atop his chest was a pitch-black cat, galaxies glimmered within its eyes.

Fike was about to push off the cat when shockingly, it opened its mouth and spoke. "Hi,"

Although it sounded kind of awkward and shy, Fike recognised this as the voice of Locus.

Helplessly, Fike greeted her in kind, "Hi..." An awkward silence settled on the pair. The atmosphere was like that of friends who met each other on the internet meeting up in real life for the first time. Clearly, neither of them knew how to treat each other.

From Fike's perspective, it was kind of weird that he could read his thoughts, and he didn't actually know her at all. They had only just met after all.

From Locus's perspective, since she had existed within Fike as a part of him for a long time. She had known Fike for a long time and, had read his mind for a long time. Thus, she felt somewhat guilty.

The awkward silence was broken when Hyde gasped and his eyes shot open. On his chest, right above where his heart was, a small red dragon materialised out of the karmic flames that constantly surrounded him.

The second the dragon formed, it tried to flee, but Hyde's hand shot out like a viper and grabbed it by the neck. It gave up struggling and lay there weakly within Hyde's grasp.

"Ha! Try making fun of me now. It was different when you didn't have a body, but now what can you do?"

The second Hyde said this, smoke poured out of the nostrils of the little dragon, it looked like it had been wronged.

Hyde poked at her face and played with the dragon's wings like it was a toy aeroplane. He was treating the little creature exactly how a young child plays with a kitten. Domineeringly.

"Hyde, you better stop or you'll regret it," Growled the dragon, even more smoke was rising from its nostrils. It looked like it was internally burning in anger.

"Whatdya gonna do little girl? Nip me with those little fangs?" Hyde mocked while playing with the dragons scaly teeth.

"Don't blame me then." The dragon growled in a deep voice, drenched in fury.

"Blame you? For whaaa hot hot hot ouch!" Swore Hyde. The Dragon had exploded into red flames, Scorching Hyde's hands.

"HAhaha Look at the state of you! Serves you right, pervert." Laughed the dragon uproariously.

Fike turned away from this dysfunctional sight and looked at the cute little cat sitting on his chest, right above his heart. He cautiously raised his hand up and stroked the cats head. Locus purred gratefully and rubbed her head against his hand.

'Could be worse.' Fike thought.