The ruins outside Astra Noctis were older than the city itself.
Broken pillars leaned against one another like corpses frozen in time.
Cracked stone stairs descended into darkness, and strange symbols—half-erased by centuries—glowed faintly along the walls.
This was supposed to be a training mission.
At least, that was what they had been told.
---
Kael Arvion walked at the back of the group.
He always did.
Not because he was weak—but because people tended to show their true nature when they thought no one important was watching.
Kael watched quietly.
---
"Why is he so calm?"
one of the boys whispered.
"Yeah… it's creepy," another replied.
"He doesn't react to anything."
Kael heard them.
He simply chose not to respond.
---
As they moved deeper into the ruins, the air grew heavy.
The light spells illuminating the path flickered.
An elf girl in the group frowned.
"These ruins are wrong. The mana flow is unstable."
No one listened.
They never did.
---
Then it happened.
A sudden surge of mana exploded behind Kael.
BOOM—!
The ground beneath his feet shattered violently.
"Kael—!"
Someone screamed his name, but the sound was swallowed by collapsing stone.
---
Kael felt weightlessness.
The world flipped upside down.
Cold air tore past his body as he fell, hitting jagged rock again and again.
His vision blurred.
Blood filled his mouth.
> So this is how it ends…
The thought came calmly.
No panic.
No screaming.
Just acceptance.
---
Then—
CRASH.
---
Pain exploded through his body.
Kael's consciousness flickered, fading in and out.
When his eyes finally opened, the first thing he saw was darkness.
Not normal darkness.
This darkness felt alive.
---
He tried to move.
Agony shot through his limbs.
His left arm was twisted unnaturally.
His ribs burned with every breath.
Around him—
Bones.
Broken weapons.
Dried blood.
Corpses that had long since lost their shape.
---
"This place…" Kael whispered hoarsely.
He understood instantly.
This was not part of the ruins.
This was the Abyss.
A dumping ground for failures.
A grave where the world threw away what it did not want.
---
A sound echoed.
Grrr…
Kael's breath froze.
Two red lights opened in the darkness.
Then another pair.
And another.
---
A massive Demon Beast stepped forward.
Its body was twisted, unnatural, formed from muscle and bone fused together.
Black saliva dripped from its fangs.
Kael tried to stand.
He failed.
---
"So this is it…" he murmured.
He felt no anger.
No despair.
Only a quiet frustration.
> I didn't even get a chance.
---
The beast lunged.
At that instant—
Something inside Kael broke.
No.
Something opened.
---
The pain disappeared.
The fear vanished.
Even the sound faded away.
The world went silent.
---
A vast, endless space stretched before him.
Black. Empty. Boundless.
And within that nothingness, a presence existed.
Ancient.
Cold.
Absolute.
A voice echoed—not loud, not soft—but unavoidable.
> "You stand at the edge of erasure."
Kael did not kneel.
He did not scream.
He simply listened.
---
> "This abyss has devoured countless souls."
"Do you wish to join them?"
Kael's lips trembled.
"I don't want to die."
---
Silence.
Then—
Laughter.
Not mocking.
Not cruel.
But indifferent.
> "Then live."
"Live by erasing everything that threatens you."
---
A sensation flooded Kael's body.
Cold.
Empty.
Yet terrifyingly clear.
The demon beast froze mid-motion.
Its body began to crack.
Not burn.
Not shatter.
It simply ceased to exist.
As if it had never been there.
---
Kael collapsed to the ground, gasping.
His body screamed in pain again.
But something had changed.
Deep inside his chest—
A void had taken root.
---
Far above, in the ruins, no one looked back.
No one searched.
Kael Arvion had been discarded.
---
But in the depths of the Abyss,
where even gods did not look—
A boy began to change.
Not into a hero.
Not into a savior.
But into something far more dangerous.
---