The Guide said nothing.
His fingers slowly touched a black, holographic interface that took shape in the air.
Data scrolled.
"Candidate 019: sensory loss after 43 seconds.Candidate 074: exceptional pain threshold, but mobility compromised.Candidate 112: anticipatory attack, adaptive behavior — potential under evaluation.Candidate 089: suicidal reaction, mental shutdown — rejection."
He closed a window. Opened another.
And his gaze stopped.
Another series of arenas had just activated.
Not those of the rejects.
Those of the chosen.
Those the Tower itself had drawn.Those it wanted to see act.Not just survive.
The Guide straightened slightly in his seat, almost curious.
One of them had just appeared.
A lean figure.Arms wrapped in bandages.A strange smile plastered on his face.
Gravyor.
They emerged from the mist crawling.
Four gremlins.Twisted, vicious, excited.But this time, they slowed.
Their dance was no longer circular.They hesitated.
Gravyor did not move.He smiled.
But his gaze...His gaze pierced.
A gremlin approached from the flank.Not too fast, not too close.
Gravyor slowly turned his head toward it.A simple movement.Precise.Slow.
And the gremlin recoiled.
It did not understand.
It was not strength.It was not a fighting stance.It was something else.
A presence.
Gravyor spread his arms, palms open.
— Come closer, little things... Come closer...
He spoke without raising his voice.Almost whispering.But every syllable carried.As if the very stone transmitted his words.
— I don't need to strike you...It's enough that you know I can.And that I will—with love.
His smile widened.His eyes remained empty.
— I am what you become... when fear consumes you.
A gremlin let out a rough cry, almost involuntary.Then jumped back, as if burned.
The others hesitated.
But one, smaller, more nervous, launched itself.
It leapt.
Gravyor did not dodge.He simply raised a finger.And this time, his gaze fully opened.
A flash.A contained madness.A sublime void.
The gremlin stopped dead mid-run.
Its body trembled.It growled.Receded.
It had not been touched.
But it dared not approach again.
Gravyor slowly lowered his hand.
— You tremble.Perfect.
He closed his eyes.
And waited for them to make the first move.
The gremlins did not attack.
Not yet.
They turned.They sniffed.Their claws scraped the stone, but without coordination.As if their pack instinct had been fractured.
One grimaced, eyes blinking rapidly, breath harsh.It still held its serrated blade...but its hands trembled.
Gravyor, meanwhile, remained motionless.Eyes closed.Calm.Almost religious.
The silence grew heavy.
Then suddenly, a sharp noise in his head.
Like a mental thunderclap, violent, pure, absolute.
And the pain.
A spike in the skull.
An agony so intense he thought his eyes would explode.
His knees buckled.
For a moment only.
[AURA OF DREAD — Awakening confirmed]
He gritted his teeth.
His breath quickened.
No fear.
Pleasure.
— Hhhhah...!
Yes... yes, I feel it...
A trickle of blood escaped from his left nostril.
He straightened.
Rigid.
Straighter than before.
His eyes...
Were darker.
Emptier.
More alive.
He smiled.
— Thank you... little invisible voice.
— You finally understand what I am.
The Guide, heart racing after such a spectacle, decided to glance at the other participants... until his gaze landed on the arena where Kael had just arrived.
The arena was silent.
Not a sound.Not a breath.Just a gray stone floor, cracked in places, and a still, almost sickly light.
Kael stood there.Straight.But this time... a little more present.
He no longer breathed like an empty shell.
Something, or rather someone, had lit a spark in his eyes.A recent memory.A firm, sincere voice.Veda.
Not enough to fix everything.But enough to keep the void from swallowing all.
He lowered his eyes to his hands.
And then... a telepathic shiver slipped into his mind.
The Guide.
— A deal has been made. What you will endure could cost you dearly.But sometimes, being poisoned, paralyzed, burned... might be more beneficial in the long run than you think.I will not repeat myself.
The message cut off abruptly.
Kael closed his eyes.
Very well.
Scraping claws on stone.
Gremlins.
Five.Slow. Vicious.They did not charge.They circled.
The first scratched his arm.The second bit his leg.The third spat black bile on his side.
Kael did not move.
The burning rose.The poison.The paralysis.The nausea.
He fell to his knees.
His heart beat like a war drum.His throat burned.His arms no longer responded.
And then, the shock.
A mental spiral.A stake in the skull.
[Paralysis Resistance — Avatar Sub-Enhancement: confirmed]
A familiar voice imposed itself.
— I see you understood what I told you.And the Axis has already rewarded you.Magnificent.Keep holding on... that's very good.
Kael gasped.The pain intensified.But he held on.
And in this chaos...
Another voice.
Not the Guide's.Not a thought.
A presence.Dense.Ancient.And it knew him.
"Kael..."
He froze.
It was not him...Not the Guide. That voice... it knows who I am.But how?
And the voice continued.
"Everything has a flaw.""Even the mountain has its point of erosion.""Stare long enough at death... and it will show you where to strike."
An unbearable burning erupted behind his eyes.As if something wanted to exit him through his orbits.
He screamed.A guttural, primal cry, twisted by pain.His fingers clawed his skin.His body convulsed.
Blood flowed from his eyes.
And the gremlins stopped.
One whimpered.Another recoiled, terrified.They did not understand what they saw.But their instinct screamed:
Don't come near that.
Kael, on his knees, slowly opened his eyes.
Red.Unreal.Vibrant.
And in his vision...
Lines.Cracks.Breaking points.
He did not know what they were.He did not know how he saw them.But he saw them.
And his instinct...knew what to do with them.
In the astral observatory, the Guide no longer moved.
He stared at the arena.His interfaces had fallen silent.His voice too.
A subtle shiver ran up his spine.
"...This is not an enhancement.""...This is not an awakening."
He tilted his head slowly.
"...An epiphany..."
Then, in a barely audible whisper:
"...Tower, what have you sent me this time...?"