A Tear In The World

Pain followed him like a shadow. His body was weak, his wounds still fresh from the fight with the Hallowed One well it was hardly a fight.Every step sent sharp reminders through his ribs, but he ignored it. Pain was nothing new.He was hungry Starved For Days He ran Into The Hallowed one while scavenging for food which wasn't very successful.

The outskirts stretched endlessly before him, abandoned ruins under a sky that never seemed to change. The city beyond the walls thrived, bright and untouchable, while this place was left to rot. Forgotten. Just like him.

Then—he felt it.

A shift in the air. A force pressing down on his skin, as if the world itself had turned its gaze toward him.

Then a Voice Echoed in his head

[ YOU HAVE BEEN CHOOSEN AS A SEAR]

It was said that every Lifted had their own Tear—a fracture in reality, invisible until the moment arrived. The Searing didn't grant power freely; it infected those it deemed worthy, forcing them to undergo the Trial. Some survived. Most didn't.

And now, it was his turn.

A jagged rift had split the air before him, a wound in existence itself. It pulsed, its edges twisting and writhing like something alive, something hungry. A deep, suffocating heat radiated from within, pulling at him, demanding entry.

His breathing was slow, controlled. He had no name, no place in this world—but now, the world had come for him.

His mind flashed back to the three Lifted who had saved him. They had seemed untouchable, stronger than anything he had ever known. But now he knew the truth.

They were nothing more than Wielders.

The lowest rank.

And the highest anyone had ever reached? Ascended. A level so far beyond him that it may as well have been legend. A level that could only be reached through a Third Trial.

He clenched his fists. His body screamed for rest, but rest meant stagnation. He had been left to die once. And yet, here he was. Alive.

Not because of fate. Not because of mercy.

But out of sheer, bitter spite.

He took a step forward, then another. The tear pulsed, its chaotic edges flickering in response.

Then, without hesitation—

He stepped through.

And the world shattered around him.