Chapter 7. The first gate

Axel hadn't moved from the clearing since retrieving the sword.

He didn't sleep properly that night. Just faded in and out of shallow awareness, one hand always near the weapon. The silence was no longer safe.

He rose early and began to move again. His body felt barely stronger, but just enough to carry the sword without trembling.

The terrain had shifted. The moss thinned, replaced by slick soil and twisted rootwork. Light filtered oddly between the trees. He passed between branches like gates, each marking a threshold he didn't understand.

Then he heard it: something wet dragging across the earth. It came from ahead. He crouched low scanning with his eyes.

The creature emerged slowly—a mass of limbs and tendrils, no true face, just slits and pulsating folds of muscle. Unlike the shadow before, this one moved with sound.

It saw him.

And charged.

Axel raised the sword.

And NEX voice sounded in his head:

> Combat initiation confirmed.

For once, he didn't hesitate.

The creature's charge was fast and brutal. Axel sidestepped, narrowly avoiding a tendril that cracked the bark of a nearby tree. He countered with a diagonal slash. The blade cut shallow, but drew something darker and thicker than blood.

The creature screeched, it seemed that he made some damage.

Axel pressed forward.

He slashed again. The weapon met resistance, and the creature recoiled. Tendrils whipped out, catching his arm, but he twisted and cut through them. Ichor sprayed across his chest.

> Stress index elevated.

> Muscular output: within optimal range.

> Suggestion: continue pressure.

Axel didn't need the advice from NEX. He was already moving. Ducking. Striking. It wasn't skill, he never touched a weapon or anything smilar considered 'dangerous' to the society, this fight was just survival, a pure and simple desire to kill his enemy.

The creature lunged, catching him off balance. Its mass crashed into him, forcing him back against a tree. He grunted, and his vision blurred.

The blade slipped but luckily not too far. With both hands, he rammed it upward. The creature convulsed.

Axel drove forward. A final thrust into the core of the creature.

Silence.

Then collapse.

The mass of limbs went still, curling inward like burned paper. It reeked of acid and ash. He stepped back, panting.

> Threat eliminated.

>Local hazard status: clear.

> Fusion: 0.1647%.

He stared at the screen. A small jump in the fusion again, it seemed that the more he interacted with the world the more the fusion progressed, he didn't know if it was only limited to the place he was actually in.

He suspected more and more that this place was some kind of dungeon, it was impossible that the world was just that simple and dull, but for now, this was his reality.

He then wiped the blade from the 'blood' of the creature, finally he had killed. On his own.

> Status updated.

------

Name: Axel 

Rank: F 

Strength: F 

Agility: F+ 

Mana: F- 

Stamina: F- 

Intelligence: E 

Luck: F- 

Skill: – 

Physique: – 

Oath: – 

Grimoire: – 

Job: – 

Trait: Persistence 

Tag: Deviant – Survivor (confirmed) 

Fusion: 0.1647% 

Status: Adapting Combatant 

System Integrity: Degraded 

------

He wasn't a prey anymore.

After the fight he wandered until the forest opened in a wide clearing.

His muscles were aching. The sword dragged behind, leaving a shallow trail through damp soil.

At the center stood something new.

A circular platform of carved stone, layered with symbols. Around it, eight monoliths stood like sentinels. At the platform's center: a smaller monolith with black crystal in its centre.

He stepped closer.

< Proximity registered.

< Initiating scan ... ...

< Identity: Unbound entity confirmed.

< Request access: [Yes] / [No]

Axel frowned.

> System anomaly detected.

> Unknown interface. Proceed with caution.

Ignoring NEX, he stepped forward and the crystal reacted.

A beam of light pulsed outward, it wasn't in his mind, but hovering mid air where symbols realigned conforming a readable interface.

It wasn't NEX anymore, it was the other system, the one native from this world.

A new prompt surged.

< External Memory Node located.

< Level 1 Access available. Initiate?

He didn't know what that meant but he felt it pulling him.

"...Yes."

He took another step and then... the world fractured and light swallowed everything.

The forest was gone.

He found himself in a different place, apparently it was a vision, but he wasn't 100% sure so he waited to see what would happen next.

Towers of obsidian pierced a violet sky. People moved with perfect rhythm, armored and marked by glowing runes that shifted on their skin. 

Voices echoed:

"To take an Oath is to bind yourself to meaning."

"A Grimoire finds you only when your Will aligns."

"Your Physique is not your body. It's your capacity to contain truth."

He saw a boy kneel before a floating black cube. It unfolded, breaking into pieces that swirled and merged into the boy's chest. 

"Only through trial does the system respond."

The scene become blurred, but voices could still be heard:

"The system is layered. Surface, Will, Legacy. Only those who pass the Gate may embody all three."

The vision shattered and Axel collapsed.

> Warning: cognitive dissonance.

> Feed terminated.

> Structural deviation minimal.

He gasped, clutching his chest. The image of the cube still burned behind his eyes.

He understood now: Oaths weren't choices. They were vows etched in being. Grimoires were not tools—they were relics forged by the weight of belief. Physiques… they were containers, thresholds.

The stronger they were, the deeper the integration. They weren't just stats in a panel.

He looked up.

A door had formed across from the monolith and some words appeared midair:

< Gate discovered.

< Boss Room identified.

< Activation requires touch confirmation.

Axel stepped forward but he paused and looked at the interface.

< Confirm entry: [Touch to accept]

His fingers hovered over the light, but hesitated.

> Suggestion: proceed.

> Opportunity window limited.

He didn't move.

"…Not yet."

He stepped back.

> Sequence interruption registered.

> Potential threat increase probable.

He didn't care. Axel sat down at the edge of the circle, sword across his knees.

The gate remained open and the monolith dimmed.

This time, he wouldn't rush forward just because the system told him to. He would enter when it was his decision.

Right at that moment...

CRAAKKKK

The monolith flared.

< Override initiated.

< Synchronization threshold met.

< Anomaly registered. Gate activation forced.

"Wait—!"

The ground cracked beneath him.

He tried to resist, but the light swallowed him whole.

The challenge had begun.