Chapter 3: Abyssforged

Kael's breath was unsteady as he stared at his hands. Shadows coiled around his fingers, alive yet obedient. The power he had just unleashed was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was raw, primal, and intoxicating.

The wraiths that had attacked him were gone, their forms reduced to drifting remnants of mist. But their echoes lingered. They had feared him—feared what he had become.

A deep chuckle resonated through the abyss.

You are beginning to understand.

The voice had returned. It had been there since his fall, always watching. Now, it felt closer. More real.

Kael's jaw tightened. "What am I?"

Silence. Then, the darkness rippled before him. Something vast stirred.

From the shadows, a figure emerged.

It was neither man nor beast. A towering entity cloaked in shifting black mist, its form fluid yet imposing. Its eyes burned like dying stars, ancient and knowing.

"You are Abyssforged," it spoke, its voice echoing through Kael's very bones. "No longer bound by mortal frailty. You have been reforged in the depths, made anew."

Kael clenched his fists. He had felt his body change, his senses sharpen, but he needed answers. "Why? Who are you?"

The entity's presence loomed over him, oppressive yet… expectant. "I am what remains. A fragment of what was lost. And you… you are the vessel through which the Abyss will rise once more."

Kael's mind reeled. Vessel? He had no intention of being anyone's pawn. "I don't care for riddles," he growled. "If you want something from me, say it outright."

The entity let out a low hum, as if amused. "Very well. Prove yourself worthy of the power you wield."

The ground beneath Kael's feet cracked. A pulse of energy surged through the wasteland.

A shape emerged from the darkness.

It was massive—twice his height, armored in abyssal black, with jagged limbs that pulsed with raw energy. Its face was an amalgamation of shifting eyes and twisted bone. A guardian. A test.

Kael exhaled. His body tensed, instincts screaming at him to move. This thing was not just a mindless wraith. It was something far deadlier.

The creature lunged.

Kael barely dodged, rolling to the side as the ground where he stood shattered under its strike. Dust and debris flew, but he had no time to react before it came at him again.

Too fast. Too strong.

But he wasn't the same man who had fallen.

Dark energy pulsed in his veins, and he let it guide him. His fingers curled, and the shadows obeyed. A tendril of abyssal power lashed out from his arm, striking the creature's side.

It staggered, but only for a moment. Then it turned, its eyes burning with renewed fury.

Kael grinned.

Good.

He lunged forward, the abyss coursing through him. Shadows coiled around his fists, hardening into jagged claws. He struck, tearing into the beast's armor. It roared, swiping at him with a massive claw, but Kael was already gone—moving faster, reacting sharper.

The battle was brutal. Every attack he landed, the creature returned tenfold. But Kael adapted. With every wound he took, his body responded, his abyssal power surging stronger.

And then, he saw it. The core. A pulsing black mass embedded deep within the creature's chest.

Kael moved.

The guardian roared, raising both its arms for a final, crushing blow.

But Kael was faster.

Abyssal energy surged through his limbs. He leapt, twisting mid-air, and plunged his clawed hand straight into the core.

The creature froze.

The abyss swallowed it whole.

Silence returned.

Kael landed, panting. His vision swam, but his body no longer felt like it was breaking—it felt like it was evolving.

The entity's voice returned, softer this time. "You have taken your first step. But strength alone will not be enough. You must become more."

Kael exhaled, looking at his hands once more. He had embraced the abyss. But what came next?

The darkness around him shifted again, revealing something new in the distance. A doorway. A path forward.

He wasn't done yet.

He had only just begun.