The world beyond Astra City was broken.
Not shattered.
Not ruined.
Broken.
Like something once whole that had been violently bent out of shape and left to rot.
Che stood at the edge of the outer wall, rain still clinging to his hair and clothes, staring into a wasteland that stretched endlessly beneath a heavy, bruised sky. The horizon was a twisted silhouette of collapsed megastructures, shattered highways, and skeletal towers swallowed by thick fog.
Wind howled across the open plains, carrying with it the scent of dust, rust, ozone, and decay.
The stranger stood beside him, cloak snapping violently in the wind.
"This is the Black Zone," he said. "Once the heart of civilization. Now… the grave of empires."
Che inhaled deeply.
The air felt different.
Thinner.
Colder.
Heavier.
Each breath scraped against his lungs, sharp and raw.
"What happened here?"
The stranger's golden eyes darkened.
"War," he said simply. "And something far worse."
They stepped forward.
The gates behind them closed with a thunderous boom.
And just like that
There was no turning back.
They traveled on foot.
No vehicles.
No airships.
Nothing that could be tracked.
The ruins swallowed them almost immediately.
Gigantic skeletal buildings leaned at impossible angles, their steel bones exposed like ribs torn from the flesh of the earth. Entire districts lay collapsed into deep craters, filled with stagnant black water and twisted metal.
Che moved cautiously, senses alert.
Every sound echoed.
Every shadow felt alive.
His breathing remained slow and controlled, but tension coiled tightly in his chest.
The deeper they went, the quieter the world became.
No distant city noise.
No faint engines.
Only wind.
And the low, endless groan of shifting ruins.
After hours of walking, Che finally asked, "Who are you?"
The stranger did not stop.
"My name is Kael."
"Why help me?"
Kael's steps slowed.
"Because once, someone saved me. And because the Dominion must fall."
Che studied his profile.
Sharp jaw.
Scar running across his left cheek.
Eyes that carried far too much history for someone who couldn't have been much older than thirty.
"You fought like a trained assassin."
Kael's lips tightened.
"I was one."
They reached a canyon just before nightfall.
Massive slabs of fallen city infrastructure formed jagged cliffs on either side, descending into endless darkness. Faint mist drifted upward, cold and damp.
At the canyon's base stood ancient ruins stone buildings far older than the cities above, carved with strange symbols glowing faintly blue.
Che felt a subtle pull in his chest.
The pendant warmed.
"What is this place?" he whispered.
Kael stopped.
"This," he said, "is where the first awakened ones were born."
They descended carefully.
Every step echoed.
The air grew heavier.
Charged.
Che's skin prickled as unseen energy flowed around them.
At the canyon floor, massive stone gates loomed, carved with intricate patterns of stars, flames, and fractured circles.
Kael pressed his palm against the center symbol.
The stone rumbled.
Ancient mechanisms groaned.
The gates parted slowly, revealing a vast underground world.
Light flooded outward.
Not electric.
Not artificial.
Living.
Bioluminescent plants clung to towering cavern walls, glowing in shades of blue, gold, and soft violet. Massive crystal formations pulsed gently, casting shifting reflections across underground rivers and stone bridges.
And within it all
A city.
Hidden.
Alive.
Breathing.
Hundreds of people moved through layered stone streets, their clothing a mix of ancient designs and advanced tech. Some wielded glowing weapons. Others manipulated floating constructs of light and metal.
Che's breath caught.
A child passed them, levitating effortlessly.
Another molded stone with bare hands.
A woman bent flowing water into delicate floating sculptures.
Kimyos.
So many of them.
Kael placed a hand on Che's shoulder.
"Welcome to Aetherfall. The Hidden City."
They were escorted through winding streets until they reached a towering spire carved directly from crystal and stone.
Inside, an immense chamber opened upward, illuminated by a suspended sphere of golden energy that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Figures stood waiting.
Five of them.
Each radiating immense power.
The stranger stepped forward and knelt.
"Elder Council," Kael said quietly. "I've brought him."
The tallest figure stepped forward.
Her hair was pure white, cascading down her back like a waterfall of moonlight. Her eyes glowed soft gold, ancient and knowing.
"So," she said gently, "this is Che."
Che swallowed.
The pressure in the room was overwhelming.
His breathing slowed.
Forced.
Controlled.
"You carry the Ember Core," she continued. "The legacy of the First Flame."
Murmurs rippled through the chamber.
Che blinked. "The what?"
The elder smiled faintly.
"Your power is not random. It is inherited. Passed down through bloodlines that no longer officially exist."
Kael looked at Che sharply.
"You are one of the Primordial Vessels."
Silence fell.
"What does that mean?" Che whispered.
The elder's gaze softened.
"It means the power inside you can either save this world… or burn it to ash."
That night, Che lay awake in a chamber carved from glowing crystal.
His breathing was slow.
Steady.
But sleep refused to come.
His mind raced.
Rael.
The pendant.
The awakening.
The Dominion.
Now this hidden city.
This legacy.
His chest tightened.
He clenched his fists.
"I never asked for this," he whispered.
Soft footsteps approached.
Kael stepped into the room.
"You don't have to like it," he said quietly. "But you have to survive it."
Che sat up.
"Train me."
Kael studied him.
"You don't even know what you're asking."
"I know exactly what I'm asking."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Kael nodded.
"Then tomorrow," he said, "your real hell begins."
Training began before dawn.
They took Che deep beneath the city into massive subterranean caverns where gravity fluctuated, energy storms raged, and ancient machines still functioned without explanation.
His first trial
Control.
They placed him within a ring of unstable energy fields that reacted violently to emotional shifts.
Every time his fear spiked
The air exploded.
Every time anger surged
Gravity twisted.
He was thrown.
Crushed.
Burned.
Again.
And again.
And again.
His breathing became everything.
In.
Hold.
Out.
Control.
Sweat drenched his body.
His muscles trembled violently.
Pain tore through every nerve.
But he did not stop.
He could not.
Rael's voice echoed in his memory.
Endure. Or die.
Days blurred into weeks.
Che trained until his hands bled.
Until his muscles tore and healed stronger.
Until his bones screamed.
They taught him to feel the flow of energy in the air.
To shape it.
Compress it.
Release it.
His breathing became rhythmic.
Meditative.
A weapon.
Slow inhale.
Gather.
Controlled exhale.
Strike.
Every breath sharpened him.
Every heartbeat forged him.
Slowly
He changed.
One night, deep within the crystal caverns, Che stood alone before a massive ancient altar.
The pendant floated before him, glowing blinding gold.
Energy surged violently.
The air shook.
A presence stirred.
Deep.
Immense.
Ancient.
His breathing slowed.
Then
A voice echoed inside his mind.
Child of flame…
Che stiffened.
"Who are you?"
Your beginning. And your end.
The cavern trembled.
Golden fire erupted around him.
Pain exploded through his chest.
He screamed.
But did not fall.
He inhaled.
Then exhaled.
Control.
The fire folded inward, flowing into his veins.
The presence receded.
Silence returned.
Che collapsed to one knee, gasping.
His body shook.
But his eyes burned brighter than ever.
Far away, in a towering fortress of obsidian and steel, alarms blared.
A massive holographic map flared to life.
At its center
A glowing golden point pulsed violently.
The Dominion had found him again.
And this time
They were coming in force.