When the Black Mirror swallowed Ryn, he didn't feel his body falling; he felt his soul tearing apart. He found himself in a boundless realm where time intersected and spirits surged like waves of obsidian ink. There was no ground beneath his feet, no sky above his head—only a void and the echo of an ancient voice vibrating from every direction. It wasn't a voice born of a throat, but one that resonated from the deepest depths of his consciousness.
"Ryn... Son of the One who never witnessed the light..." The void trembled around him. "You are no mere farmer in a forgotten village. You are the heir the shadows have awaited for a millennium. Choose your path now: be the guardian who mends the rift, or the beast who consumes all existence."
Before Ryn could find the words to respond, a colossal entity materialized before him. Half of it was a blinding light that scorched the eyes, while the other half was a profound darkness that swallowed reality. The being wielded a sword of sapphire flame and a chain of unmelting ice. In a flash, visions pierced Ryn's mind once more—but this time, they weren't just images; they were sensations. He felt the biting chill of death and the searing heat of an unquenchable rage.
Ryn awoke abruptly, gasping for air, lying on the damp floor of the Forbidden Forest. His clothes were tattered, his sweat mingling with the earth, but something had changed forever. When he caught his reflection in a nearby pool of stagnant water, he recoiled in terror. His eyes were no longer the same. One retained the hue of a clear sky, while the other had transformed into a darkness as deep as a bottomless well, with a pupil that shimmered with a faint, violet light.
He had no time to process the transformation. The forest's silence was shattered by a swift rustle behind the trees. It was Leora, the priest's daughter, who had long watched him from afar in silence. She stood there, her eyes wide with a mixture of horror and awe. She whispered as she stumbled backward:
"It has begun... the prophecy unfolds before my very eyes."