And then…
Nothing.
Draemir felt… nothing. No pain, no fear, not even a sensation of weight or pressure. Just an empty, floating stillness. He wasn’t sure if he was dead or simply in some strange limbo, but either way, it was peaceful.
“No better way to go, then,” he murmured into the silence, his words fading as quickly as he spoke them. He was… strangely accepting of his fate. What else was there to do but accept the way you died? It felt final. Inevitable.
He’d always known he would die earlier than most. Life in the outskirts didn’t exactly favor long, healthy lives. He’d accepted that truth years ago, in the quiet moments between desperate struggles to survive. He couldn’t change it; he couldn’t fight for a right to live if such a thing even existed. He just… carried on, day by day, making the best of what he had.
But this—he’d never pictured it ending quite like this. Sure, he’d imagined he might meet his end in a scuffle over stolen food, or in some unfortunate accident, or even—if he’d been careless enough—in a fight. But not like this. Not at the fangs of a mythical beast in the middle of a death trial.
And certainly not… in this void.
He floated there, silent and still, his mind oddly clear, watching the endless darkness around him. He didn’t know how long he stayed like that, just… waiting. There wasn’t much else to do, after all.
But then something caught his eye, a flicker in the void, a strange phenomenon that pulled him out of his passive acceptance. He squinted, the faintest hint of recognition tugging at his thoughts.
‘Huh. This looks strangely like the void that the trial started in…’
Just as he completed the thought, a wall of text faded into view, bright and clear, hovering in the empty space in front of him.
[Congratulations, Ascender! You have passed the First Ascension Trial!]
[Determining your results.]
[Marvelous!]
‘What?’
He stared, stunned, his mind racing to make sense of what he was seeing. Passed? How could he have passed? He was dead. He’d been swallowed by that creature, accepted his death, felt it in every fiber of his being. The whole point of a trial was to survive, wasn’t it? And here he was… in the void. The telltale sign of failure.
Before he could fully process the message, the text faded, and a new, larger wall of text appeared, scrolling down slowly, almost solemnly, as if each word carried a weight all its own.
[It was once more that dreams filled the sorrowful halls of the last temple, for they knew what was to come.Fate had destined them to die, who waited within the cloak of inevitability, steady and unyielding.But within those fading walls, they gathered purpose—a final, defiant act.What they did would marked the end of everything, an eventuality that even fate could not change.And when they emerged at last, they faced the heart of the storm and, with quiet resolve, accepted its embrace instead.]
‘…’
He stared at the words, his mind trying to wrap around the meaning. It was odd… the kind of language that hinted at a context he couldn’t fully understand. But the message seemed clear enough.
‘So… the task was to die?’
The thought was surreal. All that struggle, all the fear and the uncertainty, only to find that accepting his own death had been the key to passing. It was as if the trial had been testing not his strength or his ability to fight, but his willingness to face the inevitable—to meet his fate with calm acceptance, rather than rage or fear.
He thought back to his time in the temple, the endless waiting, the growing sense of dread, the quiet resignation that had eventually settled over him. It was as if the entire trial had been designed to lead him to this point, to push him toward a moment where he would finally stop resisting and simply… let go.
So that’s what this was all about? he thought, a strange mixture of relief and frustration bubbling up within him.
‘Not fighting. Not surviving. Just… accepting.’
It felt almost like a trick. Like he’d been led through a maze only to find that the answer had been something as simple—and as maddening—as surrender.
As he floated in the silence, the final lines of the text hung before him, lingering in his mind.
The text in the void faded, and a new message took its place, floating before him in clear, simple words.
[Your rewards are here!]
[Your soul has strengthened.]
[You have received a gift: Fragment of Dreams]
‘A gift?’ Draemir thought, a flicker of surprise breaking through his calm acceptance. He barely had time to process the words before he felt himself pulled, as if by some unseen force, back toward the waking world.
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The void dissolved, and slowly, his senses returned to him. The first thing he felt was the hard surface beneath him, followed by the ache in his limbs and the strange tightness around his neck. As he opened his eyes, they adjusted slowly, dilating to the harsh, artificial light overhead. Everything felt… surreal. I’m back… I’m alive.
The air was stale and quiet, a stark contrast to the void of nothing he had come from. He could feel the cold metal restraints holding his neck and limbs in place, making it difficult to move, but as he strained to look around, he caught a glimpse of his surroundings. To his left, to his right—the walls of the small, reinforced room, and the door, which was open. Beyond it, he could just make out a faint light spilling in from the stairway.
Before he could fully process what was happening, he heard a voice, clear and calm, with a slight edge of amusement.
“Finally, you’re awake. Took you long enough. Must have been one hell of a trial.”
The voice was feminine, warm but carrying an undertone of something harder, something that suggested a life spent dealing with situations like this one. Draemir felt a jolt of surprise—he hadn’t even known anyone was in the room with him.
“Let’s get you out of those restraints,” she continued, her tone casual, as though she was used to dealing with people who had just come back from the edge of death.
He felt the metal around his ankles unlock first, and then his wrists, the sudden freedom almost startling. Finally, he felt the restraint around his neck release, and he could turn his head fully for the first time since he’d woken up.
As he did, the figure moved into view, stepping around to the side of the table where he lay.
He blinked, momentarily at a loss for words. The woman standing before him was… stunning.
She was unlike anyone he’d ever seen before, her presence commanding, with an effortless elegance that made her seem almost unreal. Her skin had a warm, sun-kissed tone, and her eyes, sharp and intelligent, held a glint of something that felt both familiar and entirely foreign. Her hair, cut short, dark, and straight- framed her face perfectly, adding to the striking intensity of her gaze.
Draemir swallowed, unsure if he should speak, but feeling compelled to say something.
She raised an eyebrow, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she noticed his staring. “You alright there?” she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. “Don’t tell me that trial left you mute?”
He felt his cheeks warm, and he cleared his throat, trying to shake off the lingering disorientation. “Uh… yeah, I’m… I think I’m alright. Just… a bit confused.”
She chuckled softly, crossing her arms as she leaned against the edge of the table. “Understandable. Coming back from an ascension trial tends to do that to people.” Her tone was matter-of-fact.
Draemir managed to sit up, rubbing his wrists where the restraints had held him in place. “I… survived?” he asked, the reality still sinking in.
“Yes,” she replied, nodding. “Not everyone makes it through the first trial, especially outskirt rats like us. But here you are.” She tilted her head, studying him with sharp, onyx eyes that glinted with a predatory gleam, as if she were assessing his worth, his survival.
“Though it seems like you took the hard way through. You took a lot longer than trials usually take.”
Draemir managed a weak, self-conscious smile, unsure of what to say. “Yeah, well… it wasn’t exactly straightforward.”
Her gaze softened, just slightly, and she nodded. “Yeah. That happens sometimes.”
Something in her words snagged his attention. Like us, she’d said. Did that mean…?
“You said ‘like us’… are you from the outskirts too?” he asked, curiosity creeping into his voice.
She nodded again, her expression unreadable. “Yes, I grew up here, but after completing my trial and gaining citizenship, I joined the military. Now here I am, watching over the unfortunates as they complete their trials.”
“Oh.” Draemir took in her words, the realization sinking in. He knew what that meant. She’d probably seen far more death than success stories.
He hesitated, then asked, “How many people from here survive the trial?”
“Just about nobody.” Her words were blunt, her tone matter-of-fact, but there was no denying the gravity in her gaze as she looked at him. “Consider yourself lucky. You’ve fought your way to an opportunity that most people from the outskirts don’t live to see.”
She paused, then added, “But that’s not all you’re lucky for. I read your file.”
Draemir’s stomach tightened. He hadn’t realized he even had a file.
“Orphaned at the age of eleven,” she continued, listing off details with a crisp, almost detached tone, “then caught for theft, assault, two more thefts, and a breaking and entering. Mixing it up this time, huh?” She raised an eyebrow, her expression flat but her tone laced with ice. “You’re becoming a habitual, Draemir.”
He could feel the weight of her judgment pressing down on him, and before he could respond, she leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous tone. “Let me be the first to warn you, very clearly.”
Draemir’s heart skipped a beat as he met her gaze, those dark, predatory eyes that seemed to bore straight through him.
“You’re new to this, and we come from the same place, so I’m going to take a risk and extend you a bit of courtesy,” she said, her voice like steel. “The lifestyle you’re used to? It doesn’t mix well with being ascended. There’s no jail, no trial for people like us if we step out of line. If you’re found hurting some mundane, or using whatever ability you have to cause trouble… I have another role in my duty. I’ll end you before you can blink.”
Her words were seething with threat, every syllable dripping with lethal intent, and the look she gave him was nothing short of deadly. He could practically feel the air around her grow cold, her presence as fierce as the beast he’d just escaped.
Draemir swallowed, his throat dry.
Who knew someone could be so terrifying?
“I… I understand,” he managed, his voice barely a whisper.
Her face broke into a sudden, almost startling smile, her tone lifting to something almost cheerful. “Good! We have an understanding, then.” She straightened, gesturing for him to follow her. “Come with me. We have more to discuss.”
Without another word, she turned and strode toward the door, her movements as precise and purposeful as everything else about her. Draemir took a shaky breath, then forced himself to follow, trying to soothe the weight of her words.