Chapter 7 — Sand and Broken Inheritances

Chapter 7 – Sand and Shattered Legacies

Adrian stood before the cave, his legs tense from the long journey. The wind whistling between the stones echoed like ancestral whispers.

"This is where it all begins."

With steady hands, he pulled his combat gear from the backpack. He strapped on the supply bracelet, adjusted the cross-shaped amulet around his neck, and tightened his reinforced boots.

"I'm just an ordinary person… If I want to pass this test, I'll have to be extremely careful."

"Here we go," he muttered, stepping into the cave.

As he crossed the dark threshold, the world around him trembled. The light twisted violently, as if being devoured by an invisible vortex. The ground dissolved beneath his feet, and before he could scream, everything vanished—as if the world had folded and hurled Adrian into another dimension.

When he opened his eyes, the scene was apocalyptic.

Above him, the sky cracked like shattered glass, laced with glowing purple and golden veins. A dry wind howled, lifting fine grains of sand across a desert that stretched endlessly. Amid the vast devastation lay the ruins of collapsed castles—shattered towers, crumbling walls, and tattered flags that barely fluttered in the stale breeze.

In the center of an ancient stone plaza stood a gigantic cross. Or what remained of it—broken in two, as if the faith of this world had been destroyed along with it.

Adrian stepped forward hesitantly, eyes wide.

"What is this place…?" he whispered, feeling the sand seeping into the seams of his boots.

Clang… Clang…

A metallic noise broke the eerie silence.

"What was that?"

He spun around. From the rubble, two soldiers emerged. Their helmets barely concealed skeletal faces, and their rusted armor groaned with each step.

Without warning, they attacked.

Adrian barely dodged the first sword—it sliced past his shoulder with a hiss. He stumbled sideways, rolling in the sand until he landed near a rusty sword. Without thinking, he snatched it and swung, striking one soldier's leg.

At that moment, the cross-shaped amulet on his chest pulsed with light. A wave of blinding white energy surged from it, racing across the ground. The soldiers screamed in agony as the divine force blasted them to their knees, their armor clattering under the pressure.

Adrian seized the moment. He leapt up, gripped the sword with both hands, and slashed downward—cleaving the nearest soldier's head clean off. Black blood and dust spewed from the helmet.

The second soldier rose, swaying. Adrian dashed forward to finish him—but hesitated.

That pause cost him.

The soldier lunged, stabbing a jagged blade into Adrian's thigh. A searing pain shot through his leg.

"AHHHH!"

He collapsed, clutching the wound as blood soaked the sand. The remaining soldier crawled toward him, lifeless eyes gleaming under the helmet.

"I'm going to die here…" he thought, panic tightening his chest.

But something ignited within him.

"No… I won't die here!"

With a roar of pain and fury, Adrian twisted his body, snatched the sword, and drove it into the soldier's skull. The impact shattered the helmet, and the body slumped, motionless.

Breathing heavily, Adrian rolled to the side, gripping his bleeding leg.

"Hah… hah… hah…"

Clang… Clang… Clang…

The sound returned—faster and heavier.

He turned, wincing, and saw ten more soldiers approaching from the ruins, their dented armor reflecting the fractured light above.

"The noise must have drawn them in."

Bloodied and exhausted, Adrian bitterly smiled.

"Perfect timing… With my leg like this, there's no way I can run. Only one option left."

He planted the sword in the ground to steady himself.

"Even if my chances are close to zero… they're still not zero."

With defiance burning in his eyes, he shouted:

"Come on, you bastards! I'll defeat every one of you and claim the inheritance! I'll protect everyone at the orphanage!"

Just then, a divine light split the sky.

A bolt of pure white energy struck the soldiers with cataclysmic force. The explosion shook the earth, raised a cloud of dust, and hurled Adrian two meters back.

BOOM!

Cough… cough…

The air was thick. Dazed, Adrian struggled to lift his head.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?"

Half-conscious, he blinked up at a little girl in a simple dress, smiling gently as if they were just in a park.

"Hi! My name is Cordelia," she said cheerfully.

Adrian couldn't hold on any longer.

He passed out in her arms.

"Hey…? Hello…?"

She sighed, looked around, and with a soft glint in her eyes, said:

"Let's get out of here."

In the blink of an eye, she lifted Adrian effortlessly, and the two vanished—leaving behind the desert and the shattered legacies of a forgotten world.

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