NOVPUB
Chapter 96: Dreadhorn
She chuckled softly, brushing a stray lock of hair from his forehead and kissed it.
"Goodnight, Zayn." With that, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving him in stunned silence.
Zayn exhaled slowly, his eyes fluttering open as the soft click of Elisse’s door echoed in his ears.
He waited, still as a statue, just in case she decided to pull the ol’ "forgot something" and pop back in for another accidental chest-to-face collision.
That’d be awkward with what he was about to do.
When the coast was clear, he drew his legs together in a cross-legged stance.
He closed his eyes and reached inward.
A pulse of golden soul energy began to hum in his chest, but he didn’t want gold this time.
Nah. He needed that other flavor.
Fear.
He let his thoughts spiral — visions of being caught in a fight... visions of his friends sustaining wounds beyond repair... visions of Elisse dyi —.
Goosebumps prickled along his skin, and sure enough, the energy shifted.
Gold became pink.
There was something unnerving about it. The way it twisted and pulsed, an echo of fear laced with adrenaline.
His breath caught as he channeled it upward — toward the mark on his neck.
He didn’t need to touch it anymore. The fear-fueled soul energy gravitated toward it like it was calling home.
The second it touched the mark, a sharp thrummm sounded in his ears.
He bit his lip. His vision darkened for a moment — not from pain, but from the pressure building up in his skull — and then...
Sprrkkk!!!
Sprkkk!!
Two horns broke free from his scalp with a satisfying, but slightly gross, squelch.
They curved back gently like demonic antlers and glowed faintly with a pale pink sheen.
Zayn blinked.
"...Okay. That’s still really weird."
Just then, a soft chime rang out.
[DING!]
A screen blinked into view before him.
<< SYSTEM RECOGNITION: WITCHMARK TRANSFORMATION - "DREADHORN FORM" >>
[Category: Soul Energy Transformation]
[Type: Witch-Blessed]
[Affinity: Fear-based Soul Energy (Pink Variant)]
[Status: Stable]
[Perks Gained]
[+20% Soul Energy Output]
[+100% Enhanced Reflexes]
[+100% Enhanced Strength]
[Soul Shielding: Soul energy naturally creates a shield that defends the user against harmful attacks automatically, the power of this shield varies depending on the User’s mastery over soul energy]
[Soul Sight: Allows the user to see fluctuations in another’s soul energy for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour]
[Creepy Aura: People will sense something is off about you. They probably won’t like it.]
Zayn raised an eyebrow. "’Creepy Aura’?? That’s a perk now?"
The system screen blinked in response, almost like it was shrugging.
He stood slowly and walked over to the small mirror that hung beside the wardrobe... again. He couldn’t see it well the first time.
The horns shimmered faintly under the moonlight peeking through the curtains.
His reflection stared back — still Zayn, but with an otherworldly flair.
He looked like the sort of guy who would either save your village... or eat your crops. Some half-human, half-demon variant.
He ran a hand through his hair and winced as his fingers grazed the horn base.
"Alright, not exactly painless," he muttered, "but I can work with this."
He flexed his fingers and watched the pink soul energy dance around them like smoke.
It was wild, unrefined — raw. He would probably practice how to hone this one too when he was alone, after all he couldn’t go into battle with a power-up he had no idea how to use.
If the golden energy was the noble wine of soul manipulation, this stuff was the moonshine.
And he kinda liked that.
"System, how stable is this form?" he asked aloud.
[DREADHORN FORM STABILITY: 70%]
"Huh. That sounds... moderate."
[Warning: Overuse may lead to soul fracturing, insomnia, or spontaneous hair pinkening.]
"Spontaneous — wait, hold up, pink hair?!"
[Statistically rare. 0.6% chance per transformation.]
Zayn stared at the screen. "You’re telling me I could wake up with hot pink highlights one day? What am I, a magical pop idol?"
The screen dimmed.
Still, curiosity itched at him.
He closed one eye and focused on the new ability — Soul Sight.
It took a second, but a pulse of warmth surged from the horns and everything around him changed.
Colors. Movement. Glowing outlines.
He looked toward the wall and saw traces of soul energy where Elisse had walked.
Hers was golden, vibrant, filled with warmth — and bouncing, curvy joy, based on how energetic the trail was.
His own trail was chaotic, like a thunderstorm in a jar.
"Okay, this is cool," he whispered, grinning.
But it was draining.
He felt the power recede almost immediately, and the screen popped up again:
[Soul Sight Deactivated. Cooldown Engaged.]
A yawn escaped him before he realized it.
His entire body felt like it had run a marathon while emotionally confessing to a high school crush at the same time.
He reached up and willed the transformation to fade.
Pop! Pop!
The horns retracted like turtles back into their shell, and the pink energy dispersed.
His scalp was sore.
His heart was still racing.
But he was smiling.
That was progress.
Still shirtless, he flopped backward onto his bed, staring at the ceiling and soon slept off.
...
Zayn’s slumber was deep, the kind that left him feeling as though he’d been momentarily detached from the mortal realm.
However, the universe had a peculiar way of reminding him of its presence.
As he stirred awake, the first thing he noticed was the absence of his blanket, which had somehow made it’s way to the floor during the night.
"Traitor," he mumbled, reaching down to retrieve it.
The room was bathed in a soft, pre-dawn glow.
Zayn stretched, feeling the satisfying pop of his joints aligning after a night of peculiar dreams involving pink energy and... horns?
He shook his head, dismissing the remnants of sleep-induced fantasies.
Deciding to embrace the early start, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and padded over to the window.
With a swift motion, he drew back the curtains, only to be assaulted by a blinding beam of sunlight that seemed to have been lying in wait.
"Gah!" he exclaimed, shielding his eyes. "What the fucking hell?! Why is it so bright?!"
Blinking away the temporary blindness, he quickly shut the curtains, leaving just a sliver open to allow a more manageable amount of light.
