Giving up trying to gain anything useful from the mirror, Nyx used her arms to slide down the mirror and onto the cold, stone floor.

Shuffling around, so her back was against the mirror, Nyx once again closed her eyes as she started to analyse her body and the energy it contained. Shockingly, even though most of the essence she absorbed earlier had diffused from her body, a tiny sliver of pure dark energy remained, hovering close to her heart.

This was the location that an abyss soul tended to reside when they occupied a body and led Nyx to believe that this strange occurrence was due to her innate affinity.

Nyx had never inhabited a body that had never cultivated before, yet the sight of the pure essence in her mind's eye caused Nyx to have a crazy, almost insane idea.

Carefully, avoiding the areas of her body that were severely damaged, causing the energy to escape, Nyx started guiding the darkness essence around her body. As she did, she pushed it through bones, muscles and flesh, following a pattern only she could see.

As it flowed, the energy continuously weakened yet, Nyx could already feel the impurities, toxins and even a trace of other elemental essence being extracted into her bloodstream.

While it wasn't enough for her body to naturally attempt to expel it, the fact that her idea had passed the first test overjoyed Nyx.

When the essence had traversed a little under half of her body, Nyx's stomach released a rumbling grow, startling her.

It was only now that Nyx remembered her body's starved state and realised that, even if she didn't want to cultivate and increase her strength if she wanted to survive, she needed to eat and drink.

Having already searched the room with her eyes, Nyx knew that there was no food, but at least there was a possibility of having a drink.

Not wanting to suffer the pain that came with standing, Nyx started to crawl towards the staw cot, or more specifically the jug that stood nearby, hoping that it contained at least a small amount of water, if not something with more substance.

On her way, locking her eyes with the cot and having set it as the goal for her struggling body, Nyx spotted a simple, torn robe piled under some of the straw on one side.

Unable to hide the smile that crept onto her lips, and finding it somewhat strange that after all her experiences, that now she was female she was concerned about covering up, Nyx decided that after she had drunk her fill, she would immediately put on the robe no matter how dirty it was.

After struggling to the jug and entering a sitting position, the smile disappeared for Nyx's face as she found it empty.

Cursing every deity she had ever heard of, even the one whose name she had stolen, Nyx feebly attempted to throw the jug at the wall only to suffer yet another blow as she realised how weak her body was.

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Calming down, Nyx then crawled the remaining few feet to the straw cot and reached out and grabbed the robe.

Half expecting it to be nothing more than a square cloth, Nyx was thrilled to discover that, while it was dirty and tattered at its bottom, it was still a fully functioning, almost nun-like robe.

It was made from a rough, itchy material but after what felt like a tremendous amount of effort, Nyx finally managed to pull it over her head and below her waist.

Feeling better for some indescribable reason, at least to Nyx who only value the defensive qualities of a wearable item, Nyx twisted her exhausted, battered body towards the cot and flopped onto her back.

Watching the shadows of the torch brackets dance up the wall and onto the ugly, stone ceiling, Nyx took a deep breath and lifted her small, delicate fist into the air.

With a mere thought, Nyx moved a portion of the power contained within her soul and started to draw in the dark essence in the surrounding environment.

The shadows around Nyx responded eagerly, quickly wrapping around her arm and flowing towards her fist, causing it to look more and more demonic as the seconds passed yet, unlike what she would have done in the past, Nyx only absorbed a small fraction of it. The rest, she flicked away with a twitch of her wrist.

What Nyx was after wasn't speed or quantity, but purity. Any essence that had even a trace of corruption was instantly rejected.

Earlier, when she had found the pure essence inside of her body, Nyx had come up with an idea that would have instantly marked her as one of the craziest cultivators ever known if it was to be revealed.

Having started to circulate the energy, and noticing its effects, she was even more certain of her choice.

She would not cultivate like she had done in the past, accepting any energy to boost her strength and abilities together but focus solely on her souls attribute, darkness.

However, this concept came along with a significant handicap.

After only twenty minutes, Nyx discovered that she had already exhausted the pure dark essence in the room, the rest having been contaminated.

Letting out a sigh, Nyx lowered her fist as she spoke out loud.

"My soul crystal has been stolen, and I am a captive in an underground room. I am also a woman who has been captured, raped and is being held for ransom."

With each word spoke, the few torches on the walls dimmed significantly, as if paying respects to a monarch.

"While they don't intend to kill me, they have already killed 'me' once. To exact my revenge and to destroy my crystal and find peace, I must survive by any and all means possible."

Nyx had to be careful with her words. While the abyss' laws wouldn't trigger if no sentient life heard her, if she claimed that she wasn't the originator of the body without the inference from an external party, she would likely be hit by lightning or worse, explode.

Even though Nyx's voice was quiet, it mysteriously started to echo in the small room. Shadows flowed through the room, creating a terrifying, yet captivating, view.

"My name is Nyx."

Nyx had already vocalised everything she needed to. Her objectives crystal clear. All that was left was to repeat the phrase that had become second nature to her over countless lifetimes. "From the darkness, I am born, to the darkness, I shall return."

Crossing her arms over her chest, momentarily annoyed that it wasn't as easy now that she was a woman, Nyx positioned her palms outwards ready to attack or defend at the slightest provocation.

Slowly, as if falling into a deep, eternal sleep, Nyx closed her eyes and took a calming breath.

While her body didn't have the energy to start cultivating, that wasn't exactly a problem right now. Her body still lacked the affinity to condense a core. Still, it wasn't like she couldn't do anything.

Nyx could absorb and refine the pure essence that naturally appeared around her, using into enhancing her bodies affinity with darkness while removing impurities, as it didn't use any internal energy.

A small, evil smile appeared on her pale, red lips as the flames in the room flickered before suddenly extinguishing. "Now the question is, how long will it take before I am strong enough to castrate that fat pig."