[Welcome to your first test, Candidate.
The trial to become the Lastborn is about to begin.
***
Here is your current Status:
Name: Kenzo
Rank: None
Heart: Human
Power: None
Blessing: [Touched by the Unique]
Gift: None
***
Status update at the end of the trial
Number of candidates tested: 127
Number of candidates deceased: 127
Good luck.]
– « What ?? They're all dead?! »
Kenzo froze at those words.
– « Is… is all this normal? » he thought, frowning. « I really should have asked Yareth more questions… »
He blamed himself. He hadn't wanted to know anything about the test, convinced he would never need that knowledge. Receiving the Revelation had seemed so unlikely. He had underestimated it. And because of his pride, he hadn't asked a single thing.
He sighed.
– « The ego of people from the outer walls… What stupidity. We envy everything about the inner walls: their clothes, their comfort, their culture. But we refuse to ask for help. We die from misplaced pride. We're pathetic. »
He clenched his teeth.
– « I swear, this is the last time. »
A strange shiver ran down Kenzo's spine. He didn't even have time to react before he felt himself ripped from his body, as if sucked into an icy vortex. Space twisted, his consciousness drifting between shards of distorted reality, until a dull impact violently pulled him back.
The contact with the ground was brutal. Cold, hard stone. A frozen bite against his bare skin.
Short of breath, he tried to move. A sharp pain shot through his wrists: he was chained. He struggled to open his eyes, his eyelids heavy, as if filled with sand. And what he saw made him grimace in disgust and resignation.
– « A prisoner again? And chained again? Seriously?? » he growled, more to himself than to anyone else. He had barely freed himself during the previous trial… and here he was again, trapped in a dark, moldy, crumbling cell.
A growl answered him. Or rather, a breath. In the shadows, curled up against the wall, was another prisoner. His bony back jutted beneath grayish skin, wrapped in rags. Dull white strands hung from his hunched shoulders like dead moss.
Kenzo looked away. He glanced at his own body, and the sight wasn't any better. Already frail, almost sickly in the real world, he now looked even paler, even weaker, almost corpse-like.
– « What is this madness…? I look like a revenant… »
But he shook his head. He wasn't here to complain about his appearance. This test—however sinister and incomprehensible—had a purpose. He had to hold on, survive, understand. That was all that mattered.
He straightened as best he could, finally taking in his surroundings.
The cell had nothing in common with modern prisons. It was nothing more than a damp dungeon, roughly carved into the rock. The floor was covered with heavy, uneven stone slabs, probably laid centuries ago. The rusted bars looked so fragile one might think a simple shoulder charge could break them.
But he didn't trust appearances. Nothing here was what it seemed.
No light came from outside. Darkness reigned, barely pushed back by a few torches mounted along the corridor walls. He moved closer, his chains clinking with every step, and peered through the bars.
Dozens of other cells stretched out on both sides. All dark. Some occupied. He could make out curled silhouettes, whispers, ragged breathing.
And suddenly… a smell.
Putrid.Fetid.
He covered his nose, eyes narrowing in disgust.
– « What is that stench…? »
He didn't have time to think further. Around him, a wave of panic rose. In the other cells, murmurs swelled, turning into moans.
– « Oh no… it's coming… »– « Goddess of Life, please… save us… »
Prayers. Tears. Desperate voices.
And behind him, the previously silent figure shifted slightly.
– « Kid, I suggest you back off and stay as still as a statue if you don't wanna die, » the man growled, his voice hoarse, worn down by years.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Kenzo heard a metallic sound in the distance.
CLANG.
A door had opened, at the far end of the corridor.
And instantly, the air changed.
An oppressive presence seeped into the prison. Not just through the sound of heavy, slow footsteps echoing on stone, but through something deeper, more instinctive. A sense of imminent death. As if the atmosphere itself were tightening around their throats, slowly strangling them.
– « What's happening? Who… or what? »
He pressed himself against the wall, trying to become as small and silent as possible, his breath shallow. Even his chains seemed to hold back their clinking, as if they too feared the approaching being.
And then he saw it.
A massive, misshapen shadow crossed the corridor. It was a beast. A Void Creature?
The nearest torch flickered in its presence, as if the flame itself wanted to flee.
Its steps stopped right in front of their cell.
Kenzo held his breath. He could hear his own heartbeat—louder, faster. Too fast. It felt like it was going to choke him from the inside.
The thing moved closer, resting against the bars.
A creak.A muffled growl.
The old man beside him didn't move. He kept his eyes shut, teeth clenched, whispering through his dry lips.
– « Whatever you do… don't say a word, » he breathed. « Don't look it in the eyes. »
Kenzo didn't even have the courage to answer.
And then… the thing left.
Without warning. Without a word. Without a gesture.
It retreated slowly, like a black mist withdrawing after prowling.
Silence returned. But it was a tense, suffocating silence. A warlike silence.
Kenzo waited several minutes before daring to breathe fully again.
He turned his head toward his cellmate, his heart still pounding violently.
– « What is this place…? And more importantly… how long am I going to last here? »
He had no answer. No one did.
And yet, the real trial was only just beginning.