"We’re close," Reika said, her voice suddenly urgent. "I can smell it strongly now. Just over this ridge."

We scrambled up the rocky incline, my legs screaming in protest. At the top, I saw it. It was a small hidden clearing dominated by a pool so clear it looked like solid glass. The air around it was calm the exact opposite of the chaos raging inside me.

"The Mana Spring," Celeste breathed, a look of relief on her face.

I stumbled toward it, drawn by an instinct I didn’t understand. I was only a few feet away when the biggest quake yet hit me. It was like a bomb went off in my chest. I screamed, falling to my knees, my vision going black.

When I came to, I was on the ground, my head in Astra’s lap. The others were gathered around me, their faces etched with worry.

"Adrian? Can you hear me?" Celeste’s voice was distant, muffled.

I tried to answer, but only a groan came out. My mana felt like it was tearing itself apart, the fire, ice, and dark signatures losing ground against Astra’s overwhelming silver power.

"It’s not working," Valka said, her voice grim. "The spring isn’t close enough."

"We have to get him in," Reika said, her voice desperate. "Now!"

They lifted me, their hands rough against my skin. They carried me the last few feet to the edge of the pool and, without hesitation, dumped me in.

The water was cold, shockingly so. But as soon as I was submerged, the pain began to fade. It was like a balm being poured over a raw wound. The chaotic energy inside me finally began to settle.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky. The world was no longer spinning. The pain was gone, replaced by a dull, throbbing ache.

I looked at Astra, who was kneeling beside the pool, her face streaked with tears.

I had the power, but now I knew, with terrifying certainty, that I was just barely holding on.

I sat on the edge of the pool dripping wet, exhaustion settling into my bones now that the pain was gone. The girls hovered nearby, relief obvious on all their faces.

Astra was the first to move, kneeling in the mud at the water’s edge. She gently took my hand, her touch hesitant. "Are you... truly better?"

I flexed my fingers, testing for the phantom pain. "I think so. Nothing’s trying to tear its way out of my chest, so that’s an improvement." I looked at her, really looked at her. The guilt was still there, but it was layered under a profound sense of wonder. "I could feel your memories in the tower. Just flashes. It was lonely."

Her silver eyes shimmered, but she didn’t cry. She just nodded, a small, sad smile touching her lips. "It was. For a very long time."

Celeste stepped forward, her practical nature cutting through the emotional moment. "The spring stabilized you, but it didn’t fix the underlying problem. The sync is still unstable. The system warning was clear." She looked pointedly at me. "You’re just... patched up for now."

Valka grunted in agreement, crossing her arms. Her usual predatory confidence was replaced by a grim watchfulness. "The dragon’s power is part of him now. If it can’t tear him apart from the inside, it’ll find another way out."

"Way to be optimistic," I muttered, trying to stand. My legs wobbled, and Reika was instantly there, propping me up with a strong arm.

"Be careful, Master," she said, her ears drooping with worry. "You smell... fragile. Like you could break."

"So what’s the plan? Do I just live next to this magic hot spring for the rest of my life?"

"We can’t stay here," Celeste said, already scanning their surroundings. "This place isn’t on any map. It’s hidden for a reason. Other things might be drawn to it, things we don’t want to meet."

As if on cue, a low growl echoed from the dense woods behind the clearing. It wasn’t the sound of a single animal. It was a chorus of guttural, snarling voices.

We all froze. My exhaustion was momentarily forgotten, replaced by a surge of adrenaline. I reached for the halberd leaning against a nearby rock, my hand closing around the familiar, heavy shaft.

"Reika," Valka’s voice was a low command. "What do you smell?"

The kitsune’s nose twitched frantically. "Not wolves. Not goblins. Something... wrong. They smell like rot and... and you, Adrian. They smell like your chaos."

My blood ran cold. The instability wasn’t just inside me anymore. It was leaking out, staining the world around me. It was a beacon, and it was calling in the monsters.

The first creature burst through the treeline. Humanoid, but wrong. Its gray flesh looked melted and reformed unevenly, one arm stretched into black claws while a sickly silver light pulsed beneath the skin of its chest.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I breathed.

It was followed by three more, each one a unique nightmare of malformed anatomy and that same sickening silver glow in their chests. They were drawn to me. To the power I couldn’t control.

"Adrian, stay back," Celeste said, nocking an arrow. "You’re in no condition to fight."

"The hell I’m not," I shot back, hefting my halberd. "These things are my problem. I’ll deal with them."

Before anyone could stop me, I channeled my mana. I focused on the dark energy, Valka’s power, trying to form a simple strengthening spell. It worked, mostly. Black energy crackled down the haft of my weapon, but it was interlaced with chaotic silver sparks that made the air hum and crackle.

The lead creature, the one with the long claws, screeched and charged. I met it head-on, swinging the halberd in a wide arc. The axe head connected with its shoulder, and the dark mana did its work, necrotizing the flesh on contact. But the silver sparks flared, and instead of a clean cut, the creature’s entire arm exploded in a shower of glittering, pus-like fluid.

The thing didn’t even seem to notice. It just kept coming, its one good claw swiping at me. I parried, the metal shaft screaming against its claw. The force of the blow sent me stumbling back.

Reika moved to my flank, ice shards flying from her hands. They slammed into another of the creatures, freezing it solid. Celeste’s lightning arrow hit a third, electrocuting it where it stood. But the fourth one circled around, heading for Astra.

"Astra, look out!" I yelled.

"No," she said, her voice filled with a cold fury I hadn’t heard before. "You will not have him. You will not have any of us."

She thrust her hands forward, and a beam of pure silver energy shot out, hitting the creature dead-center in its glowing chest. There was no explosion. The creature simply unraveled into motes of silver light, which were then drawn back into Astra’s hands like iron filings to a magnet.

She stood there, panting, her eyes blazing with power. The remaining two creatures, the one I had maimed and the one Reika had frozen, turned and fled back into the woods, their screeches of fear echoing through the trees.

Silence returned to the clearing. We all just stared at Astra.

She looked at her hands, then at me, the fury in her eyes replaced by a dawning horror. "They’re... manifestations," she whispered. "Fragments of my power, twisted by the instability. By you."

The system chose that moment to chime in with the worst possible news.

[ QUEST UPDATE: THE MANA SPRING ]

[ NEW OBJECTIVE: THE FRAGMENTED SOUL ]

[ DESCRIPTION: THE DRAVONIC POWER IS FRAGMENTING AND CORRUPTING THE LOCAL WILDLIFE. YOU MUST HUNT AND DESTROY THE FRAGMENTS BEFORE THEY GROW STRONGER. ]

[ HUNT TARGETS REMAINING: 12 ]

[ WARNING: EACH FRAGMENT DESTROYED WILL TEMPORARILY INCREASE YOUR OWN INSTABILITY ]

I looked from the grim system window to Astra’s terrified face, and then to the dark woods where the other two creatures had fled.

My problem wasn’t just inside me anymore. I had unleashed it on the world.