Into the Unknown

[Congratulations, Challenger Kael. You have completed your first trial]

The Tower's voice echoed in Kael's ears, cold and emotionless. The words washed over him, but they felt distant, unreal. Completed the trial? His body, bruised and battered, felt every bit of the struggle he had just endured. At least, he was somehow still alive.

[You are now officially a Challenger]

A brief, bitter laugh escaped his lips, though it was more of a wheeze than anything else. Is that all it takes? Almost dying a few times? He wanted to scream at the absurdity of it all, but his body had no strength left to give.

The Tower's voice returned once more, still calm and indifferent.

[Prepare for transportation back to reality]

Before Kael could make sense of what was happening, the world around him began to blur, all seemed to twist and melt into darkness. His vision swam as if shadows were crawling from the edges of his mind, pulling him into an abyss.

A dizzying sensation swept over him, similar to what he had experienced when crossing the archway into the trial. He felt like he was falling, tumbling through an endless void, swallowed by shadows. His stomach churned, and his mind screamed in protest as the disorienting sensation intensified.

Then, as suddenly as it began, the feeling stopped.

Kael was expelled from the shadows with a force that knocked the breath from his lungs. He hit the ground hard, gasping as his body struggled to adjust to the sudden change. The air here was different—still and cold, carrying a sense of deep foreboding. His hands pressed against cold stone as he lifted himself off the floor.

He looked around, confusion quickly setting in.

This wasn't the room where Seer had sent him into the trial. It was similar, yes, but there was something off. The atmosphere felt inverted, like a dark reflection of the place he had first entered. The walls were made of the same ancient stone, but they seemed to shimmer faintly in the low light, as though shadows crawled beneath the surface.

Kael's gaze darted to the center of the room, where Seer should have been standing. His voice, cryptic words, or that knowing look—none of it was there. The well that had once been filled with dark, rippling water was now dry, an empty pit.

A sudden wave of frustration hit Kael. Where is he? He had been guided through this nightmarish trial by the riddles and half-truths of Seer, only to come back and find nothing. No answers. No explanations. Just… emptiness. It felt like being cheated. Cheated out of knowledge, cheated out of understanding whatever twisted path had been set before him. He had survived, but for what?

With no Seer, no familiar surroundings, and no one to answer his growing frustration, Kael ground his teeth and turned to the passageway he had once come through.

"Great. I get thrown into a trial, almost die, and then the one guy who could explain all this nonsense disappears." He muttered the words aloud to himself as he stalked toward the exit.

"Perfect."

But as he moved through the passage, it became clear that something was off. The hallway wasn't leading him back to where he'd been. It sloped gently upward, the air growing lighter and thinner. Soon, faint rays of sunlight pierced through cracks in the stone. Real sunlight.

Kael's frustration ebbed, replaced by a creeping sense of hope. An exit.

He pressed on, the strange passage giving way to a broader tunnel that led toward an opening. The air smelled different here—clean, fresh, and alive.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Kael stepped through the exit.

The view took his breath away.

Kael found himself standing on the edge of a hill, looking out over a sprawling forest that stretched into the horizon. The trees below him were lush and green, their leaves rustling softly in the wind. The sunlight felt warm on his skin, a stark contrast to the oppressive cold he had endured during the trial.

Far to the right, perched on the horizon, Kael spotted a grand city. Its walls gleamed in the distance, and towering spires that looked like trees jutted into the sky like proud sentinels. It was distant but not impossibly far, perhaps only a few days' walk. And for the first time since his strange journey began, Kael felt a surge of wonder.

"This… is the world outside."

He had no memories of it, no recollections of where he had come from, or how he had ended up in the trial in the first place, but this view—this vast, untamed world—stirred something deep within him. The forest, the distant city, even the open sky—it felt like a strange, welcome relief after the suffocating walls of the trial. Yet, at the same time, the unknown was daunting. The mysteries of the Tower still loomed over him, and he had more questions than ever.

He didn't remember anything besides his name and that bizarre trial experience. What was this place? Who were the people in that city? Was Seer somewhere out there, watching?

Kael pushed the questions to the back of his mind. He couldn't answer them here. There was only one clear path forward—toward the city. With a deep breath, he began his descent down the hill.

The forest felt peaceful, almost deceptively so, as Kael made his way through the trees. Birds called out to one another, their melodies echoing through the branches. Every so often, a breeze rustled the leaves, and for a time, Kael allowed himself to relax, trusting the relative quiet.

But as the sun dipped lower in the sky, something in the atmosphere shifted. The air became heavy, tense, like it was charged with something… unseen.

Kael's senses sharpened. His eyes darted around, scanning the shadows between the trees. That prickling sensation at the back of his neck warned him of something… wrong.

A loud screech tore through the air, and before Kael could react, a massive shadow descended from the sky.

Kael barely managed to throw himself to the side, crashing to the ground as the creature—a giant bird with blood-red eyes and a beak made of gleaming metal—landed with a thunderous crash. Its talons, long and curved, gouged the earth where Kael had been standing.

Heart pounding, Kael scrambled to his feet, his body still remembering the reflexes he had honed during the trial. He felt the hum of his core, a strange source of power deep inside him, but he knew instinctively that he wasn't prepared for this.

The bird's eyes locked onto him, and with another ear-piercing screech, it lunged.

Kael summoned his sword—his boon from the trial—and raised it just in time to block the creature's attack. The steel beak collided with the blade, sending a shockwave of force through Kael's arms. His bones rattled from the impact, the sheer strength of the creature nearly knocking the sword from his hands.

"I'm not going to survive this."

The bird circled, its red eyes gleaming with hunger. Kael knew he couldn't win this fight. The beast was too strong, too fast. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. He braced himself for the bird's next strike, barely managing to deflect the blow with his sword.

But the force sent him crashing into a nearby tree, his vision swimming from the impact. Pain shot through his side, and as he tried to rise to his feet, the bird prepared for another attack.

Just as Kael's strength began to fail him, a massive axe cut through the air with a powerful whoosh.

The double-bladed axe slammed into the bird's beak with a deafening clang, knocking the creature off balance. The next moment, a figure rushed past Kael—bulky and fierce, with raven-black hair and eyes that glinted with sharp intent.

The woman moved like a whirlwind, grabbing her axe mid-spin before delivering a devastating blow to the bird's neck. The strike was clean, powerful, and with one final screech, the beast collapsed in a heap of blood and feathers.

Kael stared, slack-jawed, as the woman wiped the blood from her axe. She turned toward him, her eyes narrowing in amusement.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, her voice rough but curious.

"And what are you doing here, looking like you just crawled out of the grave?"

Kael blinked, his mind struggling to keep up with what had just happened. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out.

The woman raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

"Well, you're lucky I found you. That abomination would've made you into lunch if I hadn't shown up."

Kael's thoughts raced, still trying to process everything. Who am I? It was a good question—one he didn't exactly know how to answer.

As he tried to make sense of it all, one thought passed through his mind:

Maybe being eaten by that bird would've been less confusing.