Raine stepped through the massive doorway, his breathing steady but his thoughts restless. The Overseer's words still echoed in his mind.
"You'll either become something great… or something monstrous."
The way he had said it—it wasn't a warning. It was a statement of fact.
The corridor beyond was vast, lined with towering pillars of black stone, their surfaces etched with shifting symbols that seemed to pulse with life. A steady hum filled the air, vibrating against Raine's bones.
It wasn't just stone. This place was alive.
The girl, still silent, walked beside him, her eyes darting between the runes. The sharp-eyed man trailed behind, his sword resting loosely in his grip.
None of them spoke.
They didn't need to.
They all felt it.
Something was waiting for them ahead.
---
The corridor ended at another massive door—not metal this time, but something darker. The material looked like obsidian, yet it pulsed faintly, as if it were breathing.
The girl hesitated. "This isn't normal stone."
The sharp-eyed man sighed. "Nothing here is normal."
Raine reached out. The moment his fingers brushed the surface—his mark flared.
A deep, resonating voice filled the chamber.
"One step forward, and there is no return."
The words weren't spoken. They were felt.
Raine exhaled. No hesitation.
He pushed the door open.
---
The room beyond was nothing like what they had seen before.
It was an endless expanse of black water, the surface smooth like polished glass. The only thing that stood in the void was a single monolithic structure—a black altar, surrounded by floating chains.
Raine's heart slowed.
This place… felt different.
Darker. Deeper.
It wasn't just a trial.
It was a contract.
The Overseer's voice rumbled behind them.
"This is where you decide."
The sharp-eyed man turned, startled. "Decide what?"
The Overseer stepped forward, his masked gaze fixed on the altar.
"Whether you truly belong to the Abyss… or whether it will discard you."
Raine's pulse quickened.
"And if we refuse?"
The Overseer's tone was unreadable. "Then you'll wish you had died in the first trial."
The girl tensed. The sharp-eyed man's grip on his sword tightened.
Raine?
He already knew his answer.
Without waiting, he stepped forward, onto the water.
And the Abyss swallowed him whole.
---
Raine fell.
Or maybe he didn't.
There was no ground, no air, no sense of direction—only darkness.
Then, it shifted.
The void morphed into something else—memories that weren't his.
He saw figures, faceless and towering, standing in the heart of a ruined battlefield.
He saw a throne, its surface drenched in blood, and a man kneeling before it—his body broken, his mark shattered.
And he saw himself.
Or at least, a version of him.
Eyes empty. A shadow wrapped around his form. A monster wearing his face.
Raine gasped, staggering back.
The darkness laughed.
A voice, soft and cruel, whispered inside his mind.
"You think you can resist?"
A figure stepped forward from the shadows—the version of himself from the vision.
Raine clenched his fists. "You're not me."
The doppelgänger tilted its head. "Not yet."
It lunged.
---
The first strike was almost too fast to see.
Raine barely dodged, twisting away as the shadow-blade sliced through the void. His own dagger felt heavier in his grip, its edge dim compared to the dark energy pulsing from his opponent's weapon.
This thing wasn't just a copy.
It was everything he feared becoming.
The doppelgänger attacked again—this time with familiar movements. Raine recognized them. His own fighting style.
He blocked, countered, but each clash sent a pulse of cold energy through his mark.
The whispers grew louder.
"Why fight it?"
"You know what you're meant to be."
Raine grit his teeth. No.
He wasn't some mindless servant of the Abyss.
He refused to be.
And if this shadow wanted to take him—he'd destroy it first.
He shifted his grip, exhaled—and attacked.
---
The fight blurred into a storm of motion.
Each strike sent ripples through the void, each clash of steel sent shockwaves into the darkness.
The doppelgänger was relentless. It didn't slow. It didn't hesitate.
But neither did Raine.
And then—he saw it.
A faint weakness in its movements.
It fought like him. But it wasn't him.
It was just a reflection—an imitation.
A mockery.
Raine exhaled.
And he did something he never would have done before.
He let go.
Instead of blocking the next attack, he let the shadow's blade graze his side. Pain flared, but he didn't stop—he used the momentum to drive his dagger deep into its chest.
The doppelgänger froze.
Raine twisted the blade.
The darkness screamed.
And the shadow shattered.
Raine collapsed to one knee, gasping.
The void trembled, the whispers dying out.
The Abyss had tested him.
And he had won.
A searing pain burned across his arm—his mark changing once again.
It spread, curling up his forearm, shifting into a shape more intricate, more complete.
Raine stared at it.
Stronger. Deeper.
He had changed.
And there was no turning back.
---
The world around him snapped back to reality.
He was back in the chamber, kneeling before the altar.
The girl and the sharp-eyed man stood beside him, both breathing heavily, their own marks glowing.
The Overseer watched in silence.
Then, he chuckled.
"Well, well. You didn't break."
He turned away, gesturing toward the next doorway.
"Then let's see how much more you can endure."
Raine exhaled, rising to his feet.
The hunger inside him had grown.
But so had his control.
Whatever came next—he would face it.
And he would win.