The Trial of Broken Threads ended not with silence, but with a tearing sound—like fabric ripped apart by unseen hands.
Ethan's vision blurred as the battlefield dissolved. The soil, the sky, the goddess herself—all shattered into fragments of starlight. He stumbled, reaching out, but there was nothing to grasp. His body fell through darkness, weightless, powerless.
Then came the light.
He landed hard on cobblestone, the impact jarring his bones. Gasping, he staggered upright. Around him stretched a bustling city square—not of steel and neon as he remembered Earth, but of stone towers, wooden stalls, and people clad in cloaks and armor. The air reeked of smoke, sweat, and horse dung.
The sudden shift overwhelmed him. Voices rose in the crowd, rough and unfamiliar.
"Who is that?""Where did he fall from?""Bloodied already… is he cursed?"
Dozens of eyes were on him. Suspicion thickened the air like fog.
Ethan stumbled backward. "Where… am I?"
The system flickered.
[New Location Registered: Kingdom of Elandros.][Warning: Host Soul Signature Detected – Foreign.][Note: You are an anomaly here.]
Before he could process that, armored boots struck the ground. A squad of guards shoved their way through the crowd. Their leader, a broad-shouldered man with a scar across his cheek, leveled a spear at Ethan.
"You there, outsider. State your origin and allegiance."
Ethan opened his mouth but faltered. Origin? Allegiance? How could he explain gods, threads, and alternate universes?
He swallowed. "I… I don't know."
The crowd gasped. Whispers rose.
"Doesn't know?""Suspicious.""Maybe a cultist of the Black Threads."
The guard captain's eyes narrowed. "Then you'll come with us. Whether you're spy, sorcerer, or lunatic, the magistrates will decide."
Ethan's fists clenched. His body was weak from the trial, his wounds only half-healed. Fighting wasn't an option. But neither was trust.
The system whispered coldly.
[Side Quest Generated: Prove Your Worth to the Mortals.][Failure: Captivity and System Restriction.]
Two guards stepped forward, chains rattling in their hands. Ethan's instincts screamed. He could feel threads faintly now, even without concentrating. The scarred captain's fate-thread shimmered faintly above his shoulder.
If he cut it… what would happen?
Before Ethan could decide, chaos erupted.
A roar shook the marketplace. From the rooftops, a monstrous creature leapt—a chimera of lion and serpent, its body riddled with jagged spines. People screamed and scattered. The beast crashed into the square, smashing a stall to splinters.
The guards shouted, weapons raised, but their fear was obvious.
The system flared.
[New Quest Generated!][Trial of Mortal Valor: Defeat the Chimera Spawn.][Reward: Integration 15%. Skill Upgrade Opportunity.]
Ethan's pulse pounded. His body ached, but adrenaline surged through him. He looked at the guards, then at the terrified civilians.
This was it—his chance to prove himself.
He forced himself upright, summoning the flickering golden blade of fate energy. "I'll take care of it."
The captain scoffed. "You? You can't even stand."
Ethan's lips curled into a grim smile. "Watch me."
The chimera roared and charged. Ethan's vision sharpened, faint threads glimmering across its monstrous body.
He lunged forward, pain forgotten. Every slash of his blade was a gamble, every thread cut a roll of destiny's dice. The chimera fought back with venomous strikes and crushing claws.
Each exchange pushed Ethan closer to collapse, but each decision sharpened his instincts. He learned to hesitate before slashing blindly, to choose the faint steady threads—the ones that unraveled true weakness.
Finally, his blade found the central thread pulsing within the beast's chest. He roared, driving the slash through.
The chimera shrieked, its body unraveling into dust that scattered on the wind.
Silence followed.
The crowd stared, wide-eyed. The scarred captain lowered his spear, disbelief plain on his face. "You… slew it?"
Ethan wiped blood from his lips, barely standing. His eyes blazed with quiet defiance. "Told you. Watch me."
The system chimed.
[Quest Complete.][Integration: 15%.][Skill Upgrade: Fate-Breaker Slash → Fate Severance Lv.1.][Description: Higher accuracy when cutting hostile fate threads. Can sever minor curses or debuffs.]
The crowd erupted into cheers and whispers. Some looked at him with awe, others with fear.
The captain hesitated before lowering his weapon fully. "You may not know your origin… but today, you've saved lives. For now… you'll come with us not as prisoner, but as guest."
Ethan staggered, relief washing over him. His first step into this world wasn't trust—but respect earned by fire.
Still, as he glanced skyward, he swore he heard faint laughter—Loki's mocking voice, carried on the wind.
"Dance well, little Fate-Breaker. The game has only begun."
Ethan's jaw clenched. He had survived another trial. But he could feel it—this world wasn't just dangerous. It was a chessboard… and he was already a piece in the gods' game.