The cavern reeked of iron and smoke. Every breath Kael drew was thick with the stench of blood, cloying and heavy enough to choke him. All around lay the bodies of his fellow disciples, some hacked apart by claws, others crushed by falling stone. Their robes, once white with the insignia of the Dawnblade Sect, were now painted red and black.
Kael pressed his palm to the wound across his stomach. Warm blood oozed between his fingers, each drop tapping the stone floor like a cruel countdown. His knees shook beneath him, yet he refused to collapse. He didn't want the beast to see him kneeling.
The shadows shifted at the edge of the cavern. Twin eyes gleamed, burning with an unnatural light—yellow like molten gold, inhuman and merciless. The sound it made was not a growl, but a vibration that crawled through Kael's bones and rattled his teeth.
He should have been dead. By all rights, he was dead already, sealed in this dungeon by those he once called brothers. He could still hear Renn's mocking voice as they shut the stone gate, leaving him behind as bait.
"Dead weight. You'll only drag us down."
The words cut deeper than the wound in his belly. He had given his life to the sect. He had scrubbed their halls, endured their taunts, swallowed every insult just for the chance to cultivate. And when the test came, when they ventured into the dungeon together, they had cast him aside like garbage.
His lips twisted into a bitter smile. "So this is what I was worth to them."
The beast moved, its massive frame sliding from the shadows. Its body seemed more smoke than flesh, its claws scraping sparks against the stone. Muscles rippled beneath a hide etched with glowing runes, symbols older than memory. The disciples had called it a Guardian—an ancient creature left behind by forgotten immortals to test those who dared trespass.
The others had tried to kill it. They had failed.
Now, only Kael remained.
He took a step backward, but his heel struck a corpse. His senior sister Lira stared blankly up at him, her throat torn open. He swallowed hard, guilt stabbing at his chest. She had been the only one to ever defend him, even once. And still, she had died for nothing.
Kael clenched his jaw. "If this is where I end… then so be it."
He raised the broken sword still clutched in his hand. The blade was jagged, more like scrap metal than a weapon, but it was all he had. He forced himself forward, heart pounding like a war drum.
The beast lunged.
A rush of wind slammed into him as claws the size of scythes carved through the air. Kael threw himself aside, pain flaring in his stomach as his wound tore open further. He hit the ground hard, vision spinning, but he rolled and forced his feet beneath him. The broken blade came up on instinct, deflecting a swipe that should have torn him in half. Sparks flew. His arms screamed under the force, nearly breaking.
The beast reared back, preparing to strike again.
And then… time seemed to fracture.
A voice, ancient and steady, whispered inside his skull.
Do you wish to ascend?
Kael froze. He staggered back, glancing around, but the cavern was empty save for him and the monster. The voice was not outside—it was within him, as if his very blood carried the sound.
His lips parted. "What…?"
Answer. Do you wish to rise, or to perish forgotten?
The air shimmered. Before Kael's eyes, a book appeared, its pages bound by chains of light. Symbols older than language glowed on its cover, shifting and twisting like living things.
The Eternal Codex.
The beast roared and charged, but Kael could no longer move. His vision tunneled, drawn wholly to the floating tome. His hand lifted without thought, as if compelled.
When his fingers touched the cover, pain exploded through his body. His veins burned like molten fire, his bones groaning as if ready to crack. He screamed, the sound raw and animal, echoing with every ounce of rage and betrayal festering in his soul.
The chains shattered. The Codex flared with light.
The beast struck—yet the moment its claw connected, a surge of power erupted from Kael's body. The cavern quaked as a shockwave blasted outward, hurling the creature back into the stone wall. Rock splintered and collapsed, dust raining down like ash.
Kael fell to one knee, gasping for air, his chest heaving. His wound still bled, but something had changed. A heat pulsed in his core, steady and unrelenting, like a second heartbeat. His hand shook as he looked down at the broken blade. No—not broken anymore. The jagged edges had smoothed, reforged by the Codex's power into a black blade etched with glowing runes.
The voice returned, stronger this time.
Your path begins here. Devour, ascend, endure. The world will break before you do.
Kael's lips pulled into a grim smile. For the first time in his life, he felt weight behind his words as he whispered, "Then let the world try."
The beast roared, climbing free of the rubble, its body half-shattered but still alive. Its golden eyes burned hotter than ever, fury embodied.
Kael rose to his feet, sword gleaming in the dark, a fire he had never known blazing in his chest. He was no longer the discarded disciple. No longer the weakling left behind.
If fate wanted him dead, then he would carve his way through fate itself.
The cavern trembled again as man and beast prepared to clash once more.
And so began the first step on Kael Ardyn's forsaken path.