Chapter 2 The Ruins Collapse

The ruin groaned like a dying beast, its walls shuddering as chunks of concrete rained down. Master Korrin moved swiftly through the crumbling corridors, his katana sheathed at his side, its Rank 5 Heart Gem pulsing faintly with mana. Blindness had taken his eyes years ago, but his sensory magic—amplified to near-omniscient levels—painted the world in vivid detail. He felt the air's vibrations, the heat of sparking wires, the faint mana signatures of scattered Heart Gems. And somewhere deep within, a chaotic swirl of energies he couldn't name, where Caelen's signal had vanished.

His gauntlet, strapped to his wrist, projected a flickering holographic screen, but it was useless now—static buzzed where Caelen's vitals should've been. Korrin's lips tightened. "Boy, what have you gotten into?" he muttered, his voice low and gravelly. The Guild's entrance exam was meant to be simple: drop a kid in a cleared ruin, let them solve puzzles, fight a Rank 1 creature, and find the exit. Caelen, a scrawny "Gemless" orphan with barely enough mana to light a crystal, shouldn't have triggered… whatever this was.

The ground lurched, and Korrin's magic snapped his body into motion, dodging a falling beam as if his muscles had a mind of their own. His senses caught a faint pulse—Caelen, alive but fading, buried deeper in the ruin. And that energy: a clash of Vanta black, darker than the void and flecked with crimson embers like dying stars, and Lotus pink, glowing with golden motes like sunlight on flower petals. It wasn't mana, not exactly. It was something older, forbidden.

Korrin sprinted toward the source, his katana humming as he drew it. The blade, forged from a Rank 5 Serpent Gem, shimmered with green mana veins, ready to slice through stone or beast. The ruin's tremors intensified, and his senses picked up a new threat: a Rank 2 creature, a stone viper, slithering through the debris. Its scales grated against the floor, its Heart Gem pulsing with faint earth mana.

"Not now," Korrin growled. The viper lunged, its fangs glinting. His body reacted instinctively, magic amplifying his senses to predict its arc. The katana flashed, cleaving the creature in two. Its Heart Gem clattered to the ground, but Korrin didn't stop to collect it. Caelen was running out of time.

He reached a shattered chamber, its walls cracked open to reveal a hidden lab—ancient tech, monitors sparking with residual mana, and a shattered pedestal where a giant crystal had once stood. In the center lay Caelen, unconscious, his arm bloodied. Swirling around him were those unnatural energies: Vanta black tendrils coiling like living shadows, crimson sparks flickering within, and Lotus pink strands pulsing with golden warmth. Korrin's senses recoiled—the energies felt alive, aware, and dangerous.

"Boy!" Korrin shouted, kneeling beside Caelen. The teen's pulse was weak, his breathing shallow. The energies seemed to be… merging with him, sinking into his skin. Korrin's magic couldn't parse it; it was like trying to read a storm. He sheathed his katana and hoisted Caelen over his shoulder, the boy's slight frame pathetically light.

The ruin's self-destruction sequence blared through the lab, a robotic voice distorted by centuries of decay: *"Warning: Core overload. Detonation in 30 seconds."* The walls glowed with runes, their light unstable. Korrin bolted for the exit, his senses mapping the collapsing maze. A slab of ceiling crashed down, but he sidestepped it, his magic guiding his feet with inhuman precision.

*"Foolish child,"* a voice echoed in Caelen's mind, sharp and urgent. Zorak, the spectral figure, hovered in his unconscious vision, his robes tattered, his eyes blazing Vanta black and Lotus pink. *"You weren't ready for this power. Wake up, or we both perish."*

Caelen's body twitched, pain flaring as the Nephalem system continued integrating. His mind was a haze, but Zorak's words cut through. A digital chime rang, and glowing text appeared in his darkening vision:

*Nephalem System: Integration 60% Complete*

- *Zorak: "Fight, Caelen. The system is yours, but it demands strength."*

- Status:

- Ascended: 6

- Fallen: 6

- Balance: 50% (Stable)

- Mana: 15

- Strength: 4

- Agility: 5

- Endurance: 4

- Warning: Integration unstable. Remain conscious to maintain Balance.

Caelen groaned, his eyelids fluttering. The pain was unbearable, like his blood was boiling and freezing at once. He glimpsed Zorak's form, the ancestor's face etched with urgency. *"Who… are you?"* Caelen thought, unable to speak.

*"Your bloodline,"* Zorak replied. *"I gave my Heart Gem to preserve this system, but the cost… you'll learn in time. For now, survive."*

Outside, Korrin reached the ruin's entrance as the ground heaved. His senses screamed of an impending explosion, the air thick with mana and those alien energies. He tightened his grip on Caelen and leaped clear, landing in the wasteland just as the ruin erupted. A shockwave of Vanta black and Lotus pink energy blasted outward, singeing the air with crimson and golden sparks. Korrin's magic shielded him, but the force knocked him to his knees, Caelen still limp in his arms.

The dust settled, revealing a crater where the ruin had stood. Korrin's gauntlet buzzed, its screen dead. He checked Caelen's pulse—still alive, but barely. The boy's arm glowed faintly, the wound now sealed with faint traces of black and pink energy. Korrin's brow furrowed. He'd seen magic, Heart Gems, even alien tech in his years with the Guild, but this was something else. Something the Guild would kill to control—or destroy.

*"What are you, kid?"* he thought, standing. His senses caught distant mana signatures—Guild search teams, drawn by the explosion. He'd have to move fast.

Days later, Caelen woke in a sterile infirmary, the hum of crystal batteries filling the air. His body ached, but the searing pain was gone. He blinked, disoriented, as Zorak's voice whispered in his mind: *"You're alive. Good. Keep my existence secret, or the hunters will come."*

Caelen sat up, heart racing. The infirmary was in a city-state, its walls lined with mana-powered monitors. A nurse glanced at him, jotting notes. "You're lucky," she said. "Your teacher barely got you out. Three days unconscious, and you're the last exam recruit to arrive. The Academy's already started."

Caelen's stomach sank. Three days? He was late, marked as the failure who collapsed in a "simple" exam. The "weakest," they'd call him. He glanced at his arm, the wound now a faint scar with a subtle Vanta black sheen. The system chimed softly:

*Nephalem System: Integration Complete*

- *Zorak: "You're a Nephalem now, half-angel, half-demon. The Guild must not know. Train, grow, and hide."*

- New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Slash

- Type: Fallen (Vanta black)

- Description: A blade of inky darkness, laced with crimson embers.

- Cost: 5 Mana

Caelen swallowed hard, Zorak's spectral form flickering in his vision. The ancestor's eyes were stern, his robes rippling with dual energies. *"Why me?"* Caelen thought.

*"Because your blood is mine,"* Zorak replied. *"But the why… that comes later. For now, play the weakling. Survive."*

The infirmary door opened, and Master Korrin stepped in, his blind eyes hidden behind a dark cloth, his katana sheathed. His presence filled the room, his sensory magic prickling Caelen's skin. "You're awake," Korrin said, his voice low. "Good. You've got a lot of catching up to do, kid. The Guild's not kind to stragglers."

Caelen nodded, his mind racing. Korrin had saved him, but had he seen the energies? Did he suspect? The system's power felt like a weight, a secret that could get him killed. And somewhere in the Academy, other students were already training, judging, waiting to tear him down.

As Korrin turned to leave, a commotion outside caught Caelen's attention. Voices shouted about the ruin's explosion, rumors of a "forbidden power" spreading among the Guild. Caelen's grip tightened on the bed's edge. Zorak's voice whispered one last time: *"They're already watching. Be ready."*