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LOCATION: FOREST CLEARING
AREA: OUTSKIRTS OF BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
DATE: FEBRUARY 20, 2163 | TIME: 8:30 AM
In a quiet field on the outskirts of Budapest, the wind stirred the tall grass with a whispering sigh. Birdsong laced the morning air, weaving a fragile calm across the landscape. Sunlight spilled over the wild terrain in golden streaks, brushing ancient pines that stood like solemn sentinels, patient and unmoved by time.
The birds fell silent, and a heartbeat later, they exploded skyward in a frenzy of wings, instincts screaming of danger.
The air split open.
A swirling portal tore into existence at the center of the clearing. A spiral of light and shadow, violent and jagged, as if reality itself had been wounded. A muffled sonic boom rolled outward. Not loud, but like a bomb going off under water. From the vortex burst a figure, trailing blood and scorched armor, her body a blur of motion and agony.
Kaela Sirova hit the ground shoulder-first. The impact carved a muddy trench through dew-slick grass before slamming her against the base of a massive tree. Dirt and steam exploded around her, clinging to her face and matting her blood-soaked hair.
Her armor hissed, venting heat in ghostly tendrils. The plating was burned and blackened, scorched like the hull of a downed starship. Blood traced a dark line from a gash above her brow, curling across her cheekbone. Her left arm dangled at an unnatural angle, clearly shattered.
Pain bloomed everywhere. Not sharp or clean, but deep and primal. The kind of pain that makes you forget your own name, and leaves only base instinct behind.
Shit. Is that the only place I'm still bleeding?
Hoo boy. I got lucky. Too damned lucky.
Those last few strikes I had to take in order to…
Blinking sweat and blood from her eyes, she looked at the ruin of her arm and gave a breathless half-laugh, half-cough.
"Ehh, I've seen worse," she muttered. "Least I'm still breathing… More than I can say for the other guys. That's for fucking sure."
Lying broken beneath the tree, Kaela listened to the silence.
No cheering crowds.
No audience.
No witnesses.
After everything she'd done today, she was alone.
Is that the price of winning?
But she was breathing. And she had won.
The rift was sealed. The incursion stopped.
Alone.
Kaela's trial, unprecedented and entirely solo, was complete. No one had known what waited beyond that breach. But she'd gone through anyway. Fought. Endured. And survived.
Her head rolled back against the bark, eyes closing as her wounds began to mend. Warmth rippled through her body in faint threads, her systems knitting bone and flesh back together. Her breathing slowed, shallow and steady, as she forced everything inward.
She was still standing.
Well, not literally, but that would come. At this pace, she'd be on her feet again in under an hour.
Desperately in need of a shower, yes. But hey…
You don't have to be clean to kick ass, do you?
She shifted and tried to rise. Braced herself on her right elbow, reached toward her scorched blade, half-buried in the grass.
Her fingers brushed the hilt…
And her arm gave out.
She collapsed with a grunt onto her back, shoulders shaking in quiet laughter as a few lazy clouds drifted across the pale sky above.
Then…
A soft chime echoed in her mind. A translucent overlay shimmered into view.
---
System Message
Kaela Sirova
You have completed [Trial: Ascension Portal of Glynnax]
1,500,000 experience points have been awarded.
You have reached level 500.
Stat points have been allocated.
+50 free points.
All core attributes have reached maximum values.
You are the first to reach this milestone.
You are hereby granted the title:
[First Ascendant]
Goal: Complete Level 499 Trial, reach Level 500, and attain maximum values in all core attributes.
Effect: All core stats increased by +20%.
---
Kaela stared at the message, unmoving, her breath caught between awe and exhaustion.
After decades of rift closures, System trials, and brush with death battles across the multiverse, she had finally reached it. The ceiling, the edge of what even the architects of the System had defined as mortal.
Level 500. The final threshold.
Part of her wanted to scream in excitement, while another simply stared at the title.
[First Ascendant]
It felt so unassuming. Not in a bad way, just more like the stillness between the lightning and the thunderclap. As if the universe itself had paused, holding its breath.
No grand announcement.
No blaring fanfare.
Just glowing words in her mind.
This can't be it… right?There has to be more beyond this.
She had done everything the System required of her. Every Trial survived. Dominated, even. Five hundred levels of agony, precision, and control.
She had shed blood, identity and fear. What else could it possibly want from her?
She exhaled slowly, then mentally selected Status.
---
Character Status
Name: Kaela Sirova
Race: Human – Augmented
Class: Void Sentinel (Mythical)
Level: 500
Profession: Chrono-Architect
Level: 485
Health: 45,236 / 98,490
Stamina: 12,955 / 65,660
Mana: 31,004 / 76,896
Titles:
First Ascendant (Mythical – Unique)
Chronicler of Ages (Legendary)
Harbinger of Silence (Epic – Combat)
Vow Keeper (Rare – Moral Integrity)
Architect of Insight (Rare – Profession Path)
Core Attributes (Stats):
Strength: 6,096
Dexterity: 6,788
Endurance: 6,566
Vitality: 6,566
Intelligence: 6,020
Wisdom: 6,408
Charisma: 6,044
Perception: 6,894
---
Kaela blinked, studying the numbers.
Her hand trembled as the final traces of adrenaline from her Trial bled from her system. The tension she'd carried for so long. The drive, the hunger. It surged through her spine like an electric current, then vanished.
---
Notifications Pending– View now? [Y/N]
---
She was surprised to see there was more. She selected Yes and nearly fell back in surprise.
A notification bloomed across her entire vision, its border etched in glowing gold. Even the font was different. Older. Ancient.
---
[Private System Alert – Legacy Access Level Granted]
Kaela Sirova, you have triggered a dormant message embedded deep within the Ascension Framework.
No other individual has reached the criteria required for activation.
Message Status: Unlocked
Subject: First Ascendant
You are the first to unlock this message.
Message review will take time.
Ensure you are in a safe place before beginning playback.
Do you wish to view the message now? [Y/N]
Note: You can return to this screen when ready.
---
Kaela's breath hitched, her vision blurring. Exhaustion tugged at her consciousness. She closed her eyes and selected No.
Not yet. She needed rest. A safe place. Clarity.
Once she was healed enough to walk, she retrieved her Aetherblade, slid it into its scabbard on her back, and turned toward the clearing's edge.
It was time to return to civilization.
Time to unlock some secrets.
Kaela Sirova was ready.
Maybe, hidden in that waiting message, there would be answers.