Confusion

Amid this darkness, Lucien saw.

A sky covered in darkness, with constant rays of lightning illuminating the firmament of the place. Also, a large structure resembling the residence of giants was visible.

A treacherous road plunged into darkness and a group of people headed towards the large structure that resembled the residence of giants. At the end, a beautiful sunset was seen.

After these brief images, Lucien's consciousness was pulled by an invisible force of attraction towards the slightly illuminated city lying in the middle of the darkness.

His body was falling into an endless void. There was no noise, no wind, no smell. Nor was there vertigo, pain, or any other symptom.

All around them, strange crimson stars floated, totally oblivious and unperturbed.

The whole atmosphere was unreal and fascinating, but this did not last long...

The fall intensified, becoming faster and fiercer. Like a gale, the wind whipped at his back and howled in his ears.

However, all this disappeared as quickly as the bursting of a soap bubble.

Lucien came to his senses abruptly, feeling great dizziness that brought him to the verge of vomiting... but that strange state of obscured consciousness and mental confusion had completely disappeared.

Bringing clarity back to his mind. Freeing himself from that unpleasant feeling, Lucien sighed in relief.

[Participant! Welcome to the World in Ruins. Prepare for your test]

With his senses recovered, Lucien looked at his surroundings with extreme suspicion, not letting any detail escape him.

He was in a rather rustic training field; there were only a few dummies made of a strange material he did not know, the size of the place was about the size of a volleyball court. However, everything was strangely empty... and dark.

As if the only soul in this place was Lucien.

There was no source of light, which increased his paranoia. Terror gripped his body, but despite this, he did not move an inch... Damn! He did not like this situation at all.

Sighing a long sigh, Lucien calmed his frayed nerves. Now, all he had to do was to get out of that training camp and think of a way to pass this test.

However, before making a move, he began to remember what the people in the tent had told him before he lost consciousness.

'What was it they were saying? Soul... soul rune, no, that wasn't it... it was something like Soul File'.

As he mentally repeated the 'Soul file, ' several letters formed in front of him.

…

Name: Lucien

Honorary title: —

Rank: —

Spiritual core: inactive

Register: —

Attribute: [Fire of Destruction], [Son of Calamity].

Talent: —

Lucien, looking at the letters that he did not know at all, felt strangely able to understand their content. His mind was filled with questions:

What were those letters, why could he understand their contents, what language was that, were they runes?

However, all those questions were sent to the back of his mind as he focused on the contents of the Soul File.

"Eh, my name appears and not Ray's... how strange and fascinating. But what is this 'Spiritual Core' thing?"

Due to the lack of information, he did not understand everything it said, but he could intuit it. As someone who had once read webtoons and web novels, it was easy for him to conclude what those letters showed.

At that moment, before Lucien could look at the attribute descriptions...

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Clear footsteps echoed throughout the training field. Lucien shuddered, accompanied by a strong shiver. Due to the shock, he could not tell whether the footsteps belonged to a human... or, much worse, to a grotesque creature.

Flooded by fear and terror, Lucien did not move a single muscle. He even stopped breathing to go unnoticed in the middle of that darkness.

The footsteps continued to sound, closer and closer, increasing the tension as the seconds passed...

'Shit, why is he walking so slow'.

Lucien couldn't stand the tension. He couldn't wait for whatever was walking to attack him and end his life. However, contrary to what he had expected...

A thick, husky voice was heard echoing throughout the darkened training camp.

"Darc, this is where you were hiding."

Lucien felt great relief, but still, he turned slowly toward the source of the voice without making much noise.

Who could tell if it was a creature that could mimic the human voice?

With his heart beating at full speed, Lucien turned around and saw the figure of a man between forty-five and forty-nine years old.

He had a thick white beard, a high bridge of the nose, blue eyes, and white hair. He was wearing a tight-fitting jacket with multiple buckles, straps, metal rivets, and brown pants with leather boots.

The older man narrowed his eyes for a moment and sighed.

"What are you doing there, frozen? Follow me; it's time for you to stop escaping your fate."

Frowning at the older man's strange words, what did he mean stop running away? Lucien followed him silently, not knowing what was in store for him.

…

A few moments later, Lucien was walking down a street where, from time to time, people with pale skin due to the lack of sunshine could be seen with oil lamps in their hands. The dark sky was occasionally illuminated by the rays that provided some light from that darkness.

Lucien noticed that people were eating fungus, lychees, and mangosteens as if they were a kind of exquisiteness. He found it strange and, at the same time, amusing... Although, the mangosteen and lychee were something exotic.

Not long after, they arrived at what appeared to be a rather rustic cemetery. Upon entering, there was a group of people dressed like old man, and they were tying up two individuals.

All of them had a sad expression. Sensing the arrival of Lucien and the older man, they stopped without saying a word.

The older man looked at them for a moment, sharing the same look as the group.

"Ard, Luk, Rud, Moran, good job. You may go and rest."

"I understand, Chief Niek."

The group that had tied up the two individuals responded. They started to leave, but before leaving the cemetery, they gave Lucien a pitying look. As if they had gone through the same thing he was about to experience.

Still not understanding what was about to happen, Lucien looked at the departing group with a strange expression. Why on earth were they giving him a look of pity?

'Damn it, what's with all the mystery?'

With a sigh, Lucien looked over to Niek, who at one point had an ancient-looking sword in his hand as if from medieval times.

In a hoarse, serious voice, Niek called out to him.

"Darc, come closer."

Lucien, without disobeying, approached. Niek handed him the sword. With a confused look, he looked at it. What was he going to do with this sword?

As if he understood Lucien's confusion, Niek pointed to the two people tied up, and with a deep and hoarse voice, he said.

"Kill them."