Lucien took deep breaths, desperately trying to stabilize his condition. In the middle of one such breath, his hands slipped into a pool of blood behind him. The slick warmth made him freeze for half a second before he started hyperventilating again.
Lucien's pupils blew wide. The metallic stench of blood, paired with the sensation of fresh, warm liquid coating his hands, completely clouded his mind. Then, as if the suffering itself wasn't enough, a violent migraine tore through his skull.
AGH! MY… MY BRAIN! THIS FEELS LIKE GETTING HIT ON THE HEAD BY HUNDREDS OF FISTS!
Lucien's eyes rolled back, and his body gave out as he collapsed onto the ground once more.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in an entirely different place.
An empty world stretched endlessly before him, plagued by turbulent climates. The earth beneath his feet quaked violently, splitting apart into deep, gaping ravines that scarred the land.
Lucien's amber eyes darted frantically from one point to another, following the destruction. His balance soon failed him, and he fell hard to the ground. By the time his face slammed into the earth with a dull thud, the earthquakes had grown even more violent.
What's… this place..? What is even going on anymore? His thoughts spiraled. Grandpa… I think I'll be coming to meet you soon.
Yet beneath that despair, something else burned.
A deep, primal fear of death, raw and overwhelming, finally surfaced.
Lucien's body trembled uncontrollably, but despite that, he made no attempt to rise.
"Please… what is this place? Am I really going to die..?" His voice cracked. "I'm too young to die! NO! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO MEET DEATH SO SOON! GRANDPA, IF YOU'RE LOOKING OVER ME, PLEA—"
A sharp pain exploded at the back of his head, cutting his plea short. At the same time, an unknown figure appeared before him.
"Shut up, kid. Stop shouting. You're pissing me off."
The cold, deep voice sliced through the air. For a brief moment, even the raging earthquakes and distant volcanoes stilled, as if the world itself recoiled.
Lucien looked up while clutching his head. His eyes resembled those of cornered prey, wide with terror and utterly unfocused.
"Tsk. Pathetic weakling."
Lucien weakly scooted backward, slowly lowering his hands from his head. Not because the pain had faded, but because fear had completely overtaken him.
"You… who are you..?" he asked, his voice cracking. Tears streamed freely down his face as his body continued to tremble.
The man crouched down to Lucien's level and stared straight into his eyes.
"Onyx. That's my name, kid. And this world?" He gestured vaguely around them. "This is you. It represents your entire existence."
Lucien blinked once. Then again.
"Onyx… and this is my existence? What..?" His confusion deepened. "Then how are you here?"
"That… I can't tell you. I don't even know myself." Onyx replied, sounding genuinely puzzled. "I simply can't remember."
He straightened slightly.
"Whatever the reason, I'm here. Though strangely… It feels like a part of my identity is missing. Not that it matters right now." Onyx's gaze hardened. "You, kid, are so hopelessly naïve that it pisses me off just watching you."
"I… I'm sorry..!"
Lucien shut his eyes tightly, muttering the words in a small, pathetic voice that trembled just as violently as the ground beneath them.
"Fuck off. That's not what I'm saying." Onyx snapped. "If you want to survive in this ruthless world, you need to be cold and strategic. And you?" His lip curled. "You can't even comprehend something that basic. How old are you, anyway? You look old enough to have ventured out already."
Onyx reprimanded him harshly, words laced with disdain and reluctant instruction alike. Lucien, however, barely understood a word.
He stared at Onyx with unfocused eyes, like a child hearing language for the first time. Confused, yet undeniably curious.
"Cold and strategic…?" Lucien murmured. "My grandpa always told me to be kind…"
"You can be cold and strategic while still being kind." Onyx replied, forcing the words through clenched teeth. "They aren't opposites."
His face gradually reddened with frustration.
"UGH! YOU FUCKING IMBECILE! HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS MUCH!?"
The shout alone nearly broke Lucien. Onyx struck the back of his head again.
Lucien whimpered, clutching the spot in pain.
"So… what do I even do here..?" he asked weakly.
Onyx pinched the bridge of his nose. "How is it even possible to be this clueless…? Fine. Listen."
He gestured toward the shaking land. "This place reflects you. Your mental state is mirrored by the skies. Your emotional state is mirrored by the earth. That's why the ground is tearing itself apart right now. Your emotions are out of control."
"Oh…" Lucien muttered. "Then what do I do? How does this even help me?"
He was struck again.
"OW! Owowowow!"
"How does this help?" Onyx barked. "HOW DOES THIS HELP!? Everything that exists can be controlled if you have enough mastery over yourself and enough understanding of the world."
He took a sharp breath.
"This is called Nexus. At its core, Nexus exists everywhere. As long as something is, it contains Nexus. Do you understand?"
As Onyx spoke, his hand subconsciously tightened around Lucien's throat.
Lucien gasped, eyes bulging.
Onyx noticed and immediately pulled back.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Lucien wheezed, his throat burning.
"…Ah. Seems I subconsciously used Nexus." Onyx said casually.
Lucien continued gasping, his voice growing hoarse, as if his throat had been scraped raw.
He coughed violently, spitting blood as his lungs burned from within. The invasive flow of Onyx's Nexus had traveled down from his larynx into his lungs, tearing them apart.
"Oh… shit." Onyx muttered. "Sorry, kid. You won't last more than fifteen minutes. Maybe. And that's only because elves can hold more air than humans."
"Is— is there no way… to fix this…?" Lucien rasped, barely able to form words without suffocating himself further.
"Well, there is." Onyx replied flatly. "But you'd have to awaken Nexus yourself. And with the fourteen minutes you have left?" He shook his head. "I doubt it."
"To awaken Nexus, you need a truly deep understanding of yourself and the world." Onyx continued. "And looking at you right now… you're fucked."
Lucien met Onyx's gaze.
The fear reflected in his eyes was so deep, so primal, that it momentarily startled even Onyx.
***
Onyx had never witnessed such overwhelming fear in another being. It was absurd how completely the boy was consumed by it. And yet, beneath that suffocating terror lay something else.
A willingness to do anything to live.
Lucien's survival instincts were buried, suppressed by fear, yet still ferociously present. The moment Onyx had looked into his eyes, he had noticed it.
Such instincts, persisting even under absolute terror.
Interesting kid.
Onyx's lips curled upward ever so slightly, forming a faint, amused smile.
"Well, kid… you'd better start understanding yourself fast." His tone was casual. "Otherwise, you know what'll happen."
The advice was half-hearted, but Onyx believed it would be enough to snap Lucien back to reality.
Despite the pitiful odds and the nine minutes remaining, Onyx felt something he couldn't quite explain.
Lucien might actually survive.
Even Onyx didn't know why he believed that. But the moment he saw that desperate defiance buried within Lucien's fear, he decided to trust him.