The Shard Realm was wrong.
Not in the obvious, nightmare-scape sort of way—though there was plenty of that—but in subtler things. The light had no source, yet cast sharp shadows. The air felt still, but every few moments, Kael swore he heard distant whispers, carried on wind that didn't exist. And the sky… the sky pulsed. Faintly. As if it were breathing.
They walked through the red woods in silence.
Twenty-two of them had landed in this area. The others were scattered, likely dropped in separate zones of the Realm. Whether by design or malfunction, no one knew.
It had been hours. The System interface refused to give a map or coordinate data. Occasionally it flickered into view—only to glitch, bleed static, and vanish again. Every step forward felt like walking deeper into something watching.
Cassiel led, naturally. Of course he did.
He walked ahead with three others—Veyra, Thorn, and a narrow-eyed boy Kael didn't recognize. Their formation was tight, arrogant, polished. He barked out orders now and then, and the others obeyed. He was acting like this was already his hunt.
Kael stayed near the back, walking beside Elias.
There were no paths through the red woods, only soft soil and the rustle of brittle leaves. The trees looked like bleached coral, hollow and bone-like, rising at sharp angles and split down the middle with black veins. Occasionally, one of them would pulse—subtle, like a heartbeat.
"So…" Elias murmured beside him. "Still think this is a simulation?"
Kael glanced over. "Did I say I thought that?"
Elias cracked the faintest smile. "No. But you look like the kind of person who wants it to be."
Kael shrugged. "I'm the kind of person who wants to know what it actually is."
Elias gave a low, dry chuckle. "Fair."
Their conversation trailed off as they came to a clearing.
Ahead, the woods ended abruptly—cut like a line had been drawn across the landscape. Beyond it, there was… nothing. A void, pure and black. Suspended in it was a floating stone platform, and rising from its center, a spire made of the same bleached coral as the trees. The spire was covered in shifting glyphs, faintly glowing and moving like they were alive.
Cassiel stepped forward, staring at it.
"The Trial."
"How do you know?" Lyra asked from the left flank.
"Because it's obvious," Cassiel snapped, stepping toward the edge of the void.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
The others clustered forward, but Kael hung back.
The glyphs on the spire weren't just moving—they were reacting. Flickering in sync with their footsteps, their proximity. And the void between them and the platform shimmered slightly with every breath they took, like ripples in black water.
Then—
The glyphs flared.
A low, harmonic vibration spread through the clearing like thunder wrapped in silk.
From the base of the void, things began to rise.
Not creatures.
Shapes.
Angular, humanoid silhouettes of obsidian-black glass—smooth and shifting like oil in water. No faces, no weapons, just raw, humanoid impressions of form.
Six of them.
Then twelve.
Then more.
Cassiel stepped back. "Defensive formation!" he barked.
Too late.
The figures moved—not with sound or weight, but with intent. One moment they hovered. The next, they were among them.
The first clash was chaos.
Thorn roared, swinging a stone mace that materialized from a conjuration glyph. He shattered one of the creatures—only for the shards to twist mid-air and reform behind him.
Veyra's hands pulsed with violet fire as she cast illusions to distract and redirect the attackers.
Cassiel drew twin shortblades and moved like a practiced duelist—fluid, fast, confident.
Elias?
He didn't conjure a weapon. He just moved through the chaos with brutal economy—sidestepping, feinting, striking in soft spots. He didn't waste a single breath.
Kael stood still.
The first creature lunged at him, and instinct—not training—moved his hand.
Reality… bent.
The air shimmered like heat distortion. The figure's trajectory faltered—just slightly—but enough. It stumbled through an illusion of Kael that wasn't there.
Then Kael was behind it, heart pounding, breath shallow.
He hadn't moved.
But the world had.
> [System Alert: Latent Veil Interaction Detected]
Initiating ability trace…]
Kael backed up, eyes wide.
He felt it now. A pressure behind his eyes. Like something ancient had stirred, stretching its limbs.
Another figure lunged.
This time, Kael raised his hand without thinking. The shimmer pulsed again—only now, it split. A dozen illusory Kaels appeared in a wide arc, each mimicking his breath, his movement.
The attacker slowed—hesitated.
That was all Kael needed.
Elias swept in and crushed it with a downward strike of a conjured hammer.
They didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
---
Ten minutes later, it was over.
The creatures dissipated into shards of silence, and the clearing fell still once more.
Cassiel paced, clearly shaken but covering it with bravado. "They were constructs. Manifestations. Designed to test."
Lyra wiped blood from a cut on her cheek. "Or kill."
Thorn didn't speak. He hadn't since the fight started.
Elias exhaled, steadying himself.
Kael?
Kael sat on the edge of the clearing, breathing carefully.
> [Prototype Node — Partial Activation Achieved.]
New Ability: [Echo-Step (Unstable)]
Description: Instinctively project illusory movement. Chance to disorient enemy perception. Duration: 1.5s. Cooldown: Variable.]
Warning: Ability not fully synchronized with Veilcore.]
It wasn't much. But it was something.
His hands trembled slightly. Not from fear.
From recognition.
This was real.
He was becoming.
And the Gatewalk had only just begun.