Kieran's entire body trembled as the last echoes of the System notifications faded from his mind.
His breathing was ragged.
His heart pounded in his chest.
He had won.
But as he looked down at his trembling hands—still pulsing with the remnants of Abyssal Thread—a single thought sank into his mind like a weight.
I killed something.
The Sky Devourer wasn't human. It was a monster. A predator. It had attacked them first.
But none of that changed the fact.
Kieran had killed it.
His chest tightened, a strange, foreign feeling curling in his gut. Fear? Guilt? He didn't know.
But before he could spiral further—
Selene's voice cut through the silence.
"Don't think too much about it."
Kieran flinched slightly, turning toward her.
She wasn't looking at him.
She stood over the Sky Devourer's corpse, her silver eyes narrowed.
"You hesitate now, but that won't last," she said simply. "The more you fight, the more natural it'll feel."
Kieran swallowed.
He wasn't sure if that was comforting or disturbing.
Selene crouched down, reaching into the Devourer's remains.
For a second, Kieran thought she was doing something horrifying like harvesting its organs—
Until she pulled out a small, glowing crystal.
A heartbeat later—
The System pinged again.
[Devourer's Core Acquired.]
[Item Rank: F+]
Kieran's eyes flickered to the notification.
"A… Core?"
Selene tossed the crystal toward him. He barely caught it in time.
"It's how monsters grow stronger," she explained. "Their power condenses into these. Consuming them makes us stronger too."
Kieran looked at the Core in his hands.
It was warm to the touch. Pulsing faintly, as if still alive.
Something inside him instinctively craved it.
Almost like…
Hunger.
Kieran clenched his jaw.
"I have to… eat this?"
Selene smirked.
"You don't chew on it like an idiot. Just crush it in your palm."
Kieran hesitated.
But then, slowly—
He tightened his grip.
The Core shattered in his hand, dissolving into pure energy.
And suddenly—
He felt it.
A surge of raw power flooded his veins, igniting every cell in his body. His vision blurred. His muscles tightened, strength rushing through him like a wildfire.
His mind expanded.
His Abyssal Threads twitched—reacting instinctively.
He could feel them extending further than before. Reaching deeper into the fabric of reality.
This… is power.
Then—
The feeling vanished.
Kieran gasped, stumbling slightly. The rush was gone as quickly as it came, leaving him breathless.
The System responded.
[Stats Increased.]
[Essence Absorbed: +100]
Kieran exhaled slowly.
He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers.
It wasn't a huge leap in strength.
But it was something.
Selene watched him with an amused expression.
"Not bad," she mused. "You're adapting faster than I expected."
Kieran let out a breathless laugh.
"Not like I have a choice."
Selene smirked.
"True."
Then—
The world shifted.
A familiar, mechanical voice rang out from the sky.
[The First Trial has been completed.]
[10,000 Participants remain.]
[Phase Two will now begin.]
Before Kieran could react—
The ground beneath them shattered.
---
Thrown into the Void
The sensation was instant.
One moment, Kieran was standing in the ruins of the cathedral. The next—
He was falling.
His stomach lurched as gravity vanished, sending him plummeting into an endless abyss of darkness.
Wind howled past his ears.
His body spun uncontrollably, his mind struggling to process what was happening.
Then—
Just as suddenly as it started—
He stopped.
A violent jerk slammed through his body, as if unseen hands had grabbed him mid-fall.
Kieran gasped for breath, blinking rapidly—
Only to find himself suspended in the air.
Or rather—
He was floating.
His body hovered weightlessly in an endless expanse of blackness.
A sky with no stars. A void with no end.
His heart pounded.
Where the hell am I?
Then—
A familiar voice cut through the darkness.
"You're in the Waiting Room."
Kieran turned sharply—
And found Selene floating nearby, arms crossed, completely unfazed.
She wasn't alone.
Around them—
Hundreds of others hovered in the void, their expressions ranging from confusion to fear to grim determination.
The other Participants.
Kieran exhaled slowly.
"Phase Two, huh?" he muttered.
Selene smirked.
"Welcome to your first real taste of hell."
---
The Tower's Invitation
Before Kieran could question her, the void shifted again.
A massive structure materialized in the distance.
A Tower.
It stretched endlessly into the sky, its surface smooth and black as obsidian.
Then, as if responding to their presence—
A voice boomed from above.
[Welcome to Phase Two: The Tower of Ascension.]
[Rules:]
You must climb.
You must fight.
Only 100 will reach the top.
Kieran's stomach twisted.
Selene's smirk widened.
And somewhere deep inside him—
A spark of something dangerous flickered to life.
Excitement.
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Only 100 will reach the top.
Kieran felt his chest tighten as he looked around at the other Participants. There had to be at least ten thousand people here. The sheer weight of that number made the reality of their situation sink in.
This wasn't just a trial.
This was a massacre waiting to happen.
Selene, on the other hand, didn't seem fazed in the slightest. If anything, her smirk widened.
"The Tower of Ascension, huh?" she mused. "I've heard about this before."
Kieran shot her a sharp look. "You've heard about this?"
She nodded. "Not much is known, but every person who has ever survived one of these 'games' mentioned it. The Tower is where the real culling happens."
"Culling?"
Selene shrugged. "The first phase was just a warm-up. Now, we climb—and the weak get slaughtered."
A chill ran down Kieran's spine.
This wasn't a game.
This was a war for survival.
And only 100 people would make it.
---
The Rules of the Tower
Before Kieran could respond, the void trembled—
And suddenly, massive, glowing golden text appeared in the sky, spelling out the System's rules.
[Tower of Ascension: Rules of the Climb]
The Tower consists of 100 Floors.
Each floor is a battleground. Survive, fight, or die.
Only those who clear a floor may ascend to the next.
Failure to ascend within 24 hours = Elimination.
Elimination = Death.
The top 100 to reach the summit shall be granted a wish.
A single sentence burned itself into Kieran's mind.
Elimination = Death.
There was no second chance.
No retries.
If you failed, you died.
And that last line…
A wish?
Kieran's hands clenched into fists.
That wasn't just some meaningless prize.
That was power.
Power enough to rewrite fate itself.
"Interesting," Selene murmured. "I can see why so many people are willing to risk their lives for this."
Kieran swallowed hard.
But before he could process any of it—
The voice rang out again.
[Teleporting Participants to Floor One.]
Kieran barely had time to react—
Before everything shattered.
---
Floor One: The Labyrinth of Shadows
Darkness swallowed them whole.
Then—
Light returned.
Kieran staggered forward, his boots scuffing against solid ground.
The sensation of weightlessness was gone. He was standing—somewhere new.
He blinked rapidly, adjusting to the dim glow of his surroundings.
Massive stone walls stretched around him, towering high into the sky. Flickering blue torches cast eerie shadows against the cracked stone. The air was thick with moisture and decay—the scent of something old and forgotten.
A labyrinth.
Kieran's breath came slow and steady.
He wasn't alone.
Around him, hundreds of other Participants materialized, appearing one after another in flashes of light. Some immediately drew weapons, others tensed in fear and confusion.
Selene landed beside him, her expression sharp.
"First floor," she muttered. "A maze?"
Kieran scanned the space.
Something felt wrong.
The silence was too deep.
The shadows were too thick.
Then—
A new notification flashed before their eyes.
[Floor One: The Labyrinth of Shadows]
Objective: Find the Exit.
Time Limit: 24 Hours.
Warning: You are not alone.
Kieran exhaled slowly.
Of course there was a catch.
---
A moment later—
A scream echoed through the labyrinth.
It was distant. Faint.
But undeniable.
A gut-wrenching shriek of pure terror.
Kieran's blood ran cold.
Then—
The shadows shifted.
Darkness pooled in the corners of the labyrinth, writhing like living tendrils.
And then—
They moved.
Something inhuman stepped forward from the void.
It had no face. No eyes. No mouth.
Only a twisted, writhing mass of shadow.
Then—
It lunged.
---
Abyssal Threads: Awakened
Kieran's instincts screamed.
He barely had time to react before the creature lunged at him.
Abyssal Threads.
The power in his veins flared to life.
Kieran twisted his fingers—
And shadows erupted from his hands.
Threads of darkness lashed outward, coiling like living serpents. They wrapped around the monster's limbs, stopping it mid-attack.
The creature thrashed violently.
Kieran gritted his teeth. It was strong.
Too strong.
His Threads strained against the weight of the monster—
Then, without warning—
It split apart.
The creature's body dissolved into a dozen tendrils of pure shadow, slipping through his grasp—
And then—
It reformed behind him.
"Shit—"
The monster struck.
Kieran's vision blurred as a claw raked across his side, pain erupting across his ribs.
He staggered back, gasping—
And before the monster could strike again—
Selene moved.
A flash of silver light cut through the darkness.
Her dagger slashed through the creature's head in a single, precise motion.
For a moment—
It froze.
Then—
The monster dissolved, vanishing into mist.
Selene exhaled, flicking blood off her blade.
"Not bad," she mused. "But you're slow."
Kieran gritted his teeth.
That thing had dodged his ability like it was nothing.
He clenched his fists.
He needed to be stronger.
---
The Race Against Time
Another scream echoed through the maze.
Then another.
And another.
All around them, Participants were dying.
Selene sighed. "This is going to be a long night."
Kieran exhaled, steadying himself.
"We need to move," he muttered. "Find the exit before these things pick us off."
Selene smirked.
"Now you're thinking like a survivor."
Kieran glanced at the twisting corridors of the labyrinth.
Somewhere in this maze was the way out.
But between them and the exit—
Monsters lurked in the shadows.
And only 100 people would live to see the next floor.
Kieran would make sure he was one of them.