The air on Level Three smelled of rusted metal and old flesh.
The creature—still nameless, though something in its chest burned for one—moved cautiously, its new chitin plates scraping against the damp walls. The Kharis, its small luminous companion, clung to its shoulder, emitting increasingly rapid pulses of amber light.
Danger.
It wasn't a word. It was a sensation that vibrated between them, as clear as the snap of a bone breaking.
And then they saw it:
The ground changed. The black stone of the abyss gave way to opaque red crystalline formations, like crusted dried blood. The crystals grew in misshapen clusters, illuminating the tunnel with a sickly light that didn't brighten, but marked.
A growl echoed in the dark.
Six pairs of red eyes ignited among the shadows.
The Karnash.
Beasts thin as blades, with skins covered in crystal shards that screeched with every movement. Their maws dripped blackish saliva, and their hind legs bore scars that reeked of human.
The Kharis curled tighter around the creature's arm.
Do not hunt. Observe.
"On my mark!"
Roy, the blue-haired captain—a hue unnaturally inherited from the radioactive algae of the upper wells—tightened his grip on his sword. His men grouped behind him, bone-plated armor creaking.
The Karnash attacked in silence.
The first one leapt, crystals on its back gleaming like daggers.
Roy spun, and his sword sliced through the air with a whistle.
The beast hit the ground, split in two, its innards exposed—not red, but black and viscous.
"Shock grenade, now!"
The device burst in a blinding flash. The remaining Karnash howled, disoriented, stumbling over each other like blind pups.
Then the ground trembled.
From the depths of the tunnel, something massive approached.
The Alpha emerged in a rain of crystal shards.
It was twice the size of the others, with twisted horns sprouting from its skull and a mane of razor-sharp crystals. Black smoke poured from its snout, thick as burning tar.
"Shit—!"
The Alpha charged.
One warrior died instantly, his armor shredded in the beast's jaws. Another screamed as a claw opened his belly from top to bottom, his entrails glowing under the red light of the crystals.
Roy felt the heat of blood on his face.
"Retreat! Now!"
The creature watched everything from the shadows, unmoving.
Something new stirred within it.
It wasn't hunger.
It wasn't rage.
It was... something else.
The humans fought like the beasts of the abyss, but there was order in their movements, a choreography of death that fascinated it.
Roy, the blue-haired one, was shouting names.
Kaleth. Lirin. Vorak.
Words that meant something.
The Kharis made an uneasy sound, but the creature didn't move. Not until the Alpha Karnash moved away, leaving behind a trail of black saliva and deep footprints in the stone.
In a semi-sheltered crevice, they shared a silent meal: soft-shelled insects, split by the creature's claws and softened by the Kharis's digestive fluids.
Then the impulse came.
I need a name.
It wasn't a clear thought. It was a desire, as visceral as the need to hunt.
It looked at the Kharis, whose light pulsed gently in the dimness.
It opened its mouth.
A rough sound, like stones breaking, emerged from its throat:
"Rrrr—"
It stopped. Frustrated.
The Kharis moved closer, tentacles extended in a gesture that could mean encouragement or curiosity.
It tried again.
"Rheeeeeel."
Longer this time. More its own.
The Kharis vibrated, her golden spots flashing.
And then, pointing at its companion with a careful claw:
"Luuu-mis."
The name fit.
Like a dislocated bone snapping back into place.
They were no longer creatures.
They were Rheell and Lumis.
And the abyss, which took everything, had returned something to them for the first time:
Identity.
The camp between levels two and three smelled of burnt flesh and iron oil. The gas lamps hissed, casting trembling shadows across the stone walls.
Roy collapsed against a barrel, his sword still stained with the Karnash's black viscera.
"DAMN IT!" He slammed a fist into the ground, bone splinters flying. "If I'd known there was a mutant Alpha, we wouldn't have gone in."
A calloused hand rested on his shoulder. Kaleth, the research team captain, looked at him with tired eyes. The scars across his face tightened as he spoke:
"Easy, kid. The abyss always holds surprises. It's not your fault."
Roy rubbed his face, smearing dark stains across his pale skin. "We needed the blood crystals. York requires them for the new experimental gear. But... I should've been more careful."
Lina approached, her journal open to a page full of sketches: Karnash, crystal formations, and in one corner, a blurry figure with pale eyes and golden flickers.
"It was reckless, Roy," she said, chewing the tip of her pencil. "The Karnash are altered. And not just them... things from Level Six have started moving up."
A murmur swept the camp.
Lirin, the masked boy from the Vorak clan, appeared from the shadows, the crack in his bone mask revealing a lichen-green eye. Behind him, others emerged, their black robes brushing the ground.
"Well, the vultures have arrived," Goran grunted, sharpening his obsidian axe with rough movements.
The Vorak handed over their report in silence and prepared to ascend. Camille, a warrior clad in gleaming armor, leaned toward Lirin.
"Be careful going up. The abyss is... restless."
The boy nodded, but his gaze drifted toward the depths, as if something were calling him.
Level Three echoed with distant sounds: human screams, the crunch of crystals, the whisper of wind through unknown tunnels.
Rheell moved with confidence now, its body more defined, more aware. Lumis, perched on its shoulder, emitted golden pulses that danced across the walls.
We play.
They weren't words, but shared images: Rheell chasing Lumis among stalagmites, Lumis glowing brighter when caught.
Then the smell stopped them.
Blood. Fear.
A wounded Karnash, separated from its pack, dragged a broken hind leg. Its red eyes blinked, unfocused.
Hunt.
The thought surfaced in both at once.
Rheell crouched, its claws digging into the stone. Lumis slid to the ground, her light dimming almost to nothing.
The Karnash sniffed the air, nervous.
Too late.
Rheell leapt from above, sinking its claws into the beast's crystalline back. The red shards crunched under its weight, splintering like glass. The Karnash howled, twisting to bite, but Lumis acted: a jet of golden fluid hit the beast's eyes.
Burn.
The Karnash thrashed, blinded. Rheell gave no respite. Its claws found the throat, tearing through black veins. The beast collapsed, convulsing before falling still.
They dragged the corpse back to their cave, a hidden refuge in the cracks.
The feast was slow, methodical. Rheell tore through the dark flesh while Lumis fed on the crystals, dissolving them with her fluids.
And then...
Change.
Lumis grew slightly, her tentacles thickening, her glow intensifying.
But Rheell...
Its body transformed.
The chitin plates on its shoulders expanded, covering its torso like natural armor. Its claws lengthened, curved like sickles. It was no longer a shadow among rocks.
It was a beast.
A true creature of the abyss.
And when Rheell looked at its reflection in a pool of stagnant water, for the first time, it didn't feel confusion.
It felt power.