Unknown

The shadows lunged.

The boy braced himself, teeth clenched, but there was nothing he could do.

No weapon. No strength. No chance.

This was it.

The first creature's arm stretched mid-air, its shifting limb distorting space as it lashed toward his chest. Another flickered behind him, cutting off any escape. A third—he didn't even know where the third was.

His body moved on instinct, twisting—but it didn't matter.

A shadowed limb slammed into his ribs.

A cold, venomous sensation spread through his body.

He gasped. Vision flashing.

The impact sent him crashing backward, his body colliding with the jagged ground. The world blurred, pain flooding his senses. He could barely breathe, his limbs felt heavy—but he wasn't dead.

Not yet.

Why?

The creatures didn't stop. They surged forward—but something was wrong.

The second shadow reached for him—but its movement faltered.

Its flickering form shuddered, like something was holding it back.

No.

Like something was resisting it.

The third creature had almost reached him. But it hesitated.

Just for a second.

And then, without warning—it was gone.

No. Not gone.

Erased.

The space where it had been standing collapsed inward, a silent ripple spreading through the air. No sound. No struggle. Just nothingness.

The boy froze.

The other creatures backed away instantly.

They didn't just retreat. They fled.

Disappearing into the darkness as if something had terrified them.

The ground trembled beneath him. A slow, pulsing force seeped into his bones.

Something else was here.

Something that wasn't part of the Searing.

Something that shouldn't exist.

The boy gritted his teeth, forcing himself to sit up despite the pain. His breath came shallow, cold sweat dripping down his back.

His body still burned from the creatures' attacks, but something else was mixed in with the pain—something foreign.

Not an injury.

Not the Searing.

Something watching.

Something waiting.

His pulse thundered.

What the hell was this Trial?The silence stretched.

The boy sat motionless, breath shallow, ribs aching. The creatures had vanished. But something was still here.

Watching.

The weight of its presence pressed against him, heavier than the air itself. It wasn't suffocating, wasn't violent—but it was undeniable.

And then, for the first time, he felt it move.

It wasn't like the creatures. It didn't flicker or distort. It didn't bend space or shift between forms.

It simply existed.

And that alone unraveled the world around it.

The ground beneath him trembled. The jagged spires in the distance cracked, deep fractures splitting through them. The sky—a void of swirling dark—rippled, like something vast was pressing against the fabric of reality itself.

The boy swallowed hard. His hands trembled, but he forced himself to stay still. Don't react. Don't move. Don't give it a reason to notice you.

If it hadn't already.

He couldn't see it.

But he could feel it.

A presence beyond reason, beyond understanding.

And yet, it had saved him.

Why?

The pulsing force surrounding him faded slightly, retreating.

Then, without sound, it was gone.

Just like that.

The world stilled. The sky settled. The shattered ground remained broken, but no longer shifting. The unnatural weight in the air vanished.

It was over.

But not really.

The boy exhaled shakily, pressing a hand to his ribs. His body ached, his mind screamed at him to make sense of what had just happened—but there was no sense to be made.

This was the Trial of Ascendance.The silence was heavier than the battle.

The boy sat slumped against a fractured pillar, his body aching, every breath a sharp reminder of how close he had come to dying. The ground beneath him was cold, the jagged stone still holding the echoes of whatever that thing had been.

He glanced at his shaking hands. His fingertips were still tinged with the numb, venomous sensation from the creatures' attacks. His ribs ached from the impact of being slammed against the railing. His muscles burned from exhaustion.

But he was alive.

Somehow.

His eyes flicked to the ruined space around him. The sky above was still dark, swirling, shifting. The shattered terrain stretched endlessly, uneven and cruel. But the creatures… they were gone.

And that presence.

His grip tightened. That was something else entirely.

He didn't understand it. Didn't want to.

But whatever it was, it had stopped those things from killing him.

That meant something.

Even if he had no idea what.

A dry laugh escaped his throat. It didn't matter.

He was still here.

For now.

His body wasn't in any condition to move much further, but he couldn't stay here. This place—this Trial—wasn't done with him yet.

He forced himself up, gritting his teeth against the pain. His legs were unsteady, his breath shallow, but he moved forward anyway.

Because there was only one path left.

Survive.

And keep moving.The terrain shifted as he walked.

Not physically, not like the spires breaking apart—but something about the Trial itself felt different.

Like the world was rearranging itself around him.

He had no idea if this place had rules, but if it did, he was walking deeper into something that didn't want him to leave.

He adjusted his torn shirt, glancing at the endless horizon. No landmarks. No signs of an exit. Just more of the same broken, shifting world.

And then, he heard it.

A faint sound. A whisper on the wind.

Not words. Not a voice.

But a presence.

Not like before—this one felt different.

It wasn't watching.

It was waiting.

The boy exhaled, steadying himself.

He didn't know what was coming next.

But whatever it was, it would not break him.

Not yet.

And now, he understood something terrible.

The creatures weren't the true danger here.

They were just the beginning.