A world divided by walls and a heart divided by secrets. Kael faces the reality of his brother's condition while standing at the threshold of the abyss.
An Ordinary Morning in a Broken World
Two days had passed since the transformation. Two days were strangely peaceful.
The sun rose slowly over the jagged towers of Sector F. Its rays pierced the tattered curtains of the apartment, illuminating tired dust motes in the air. Kael woke with difficulty. His muscles were as tense as drawn bows. Every movement brought a protest from his body. He sat up and took a long breath. His body felt new. It was too light to be his own. It was a perfect instrument fragile and dangerous at the same time.
He walked to the refrigerator. The hinge groaned. A yellowish light flickered inside. He found a banana, two eggs, and an apple that had already given up on life.
"Liam, did you eat?" he called over his shoulder.
"No," a sleepy voice replied from the top bunk.
Rhaziel was curled up on the boy like a black and red cat. His scales shimmered softly. He opened one lazy eye. "So, heir... what is the next part of your glorious plan?"
Kael peeled the banana without much energy. "Liam explained the system to me. To level up, I need quests."
Rhaziel yawned. "There are no predefined quests. Combat, blood, and survival. That is your schedule."
Kael remained pensive, chewing distractedly. "I haven't had a mission since that dungeon... since them."
Silence followed, heavy with the memory of the massacre. Then Liam's voice drifted down from the bed. "What if you went to the Rift?"
Kael froze. "That is far too dangerous."
"What is the Rift?" Rhaziel asked, finally lifting his head.
The History of the Rift
Kael sighed. "They say it's where everything began."
He spoke slowly as he paced the cramped room. "Fifty years ago... the first Rift appeared. A howling abyss. Creatures came out of it that no one could defeat. The authorities tried to seal it, but nothing worked. Then, fifty awakened women sacrificed their lives to confine the horror."
Rhaziel watched him, silent.
"They transformed the Rift into a tower. One hundred floors. Every level has stronger monsters and more distorted laws." Kael turned toward the grimy window. "Their magic saved the city. And Valdris forgot them."
Rhaziel inhaled softly. "Then that is where you will go. To climb. To harden yourself."
"It's a slaughterhouse," Kael countered. "There's no supervision. It's full of desperate people who want to change their lives and end up in pieces."
Rhaziel sat up. His eyes burned with an ancient light. "You will go anyway. And you will return only when you reach level 20. That is an order."
Kael ground his teeth. "Then come with me."
"If you die," Rhaziel replied coldly, "the pact will end. I will end with it. It would be useless for me to stop you."
A pause followed. Then, a thin smile appeared on the dragon's face. "But I will be there, inside you. Always."
Liam climbed down from the bed, looking worried. "Are you leaving?"
Kael ruffled the boy's hair. "I have to."
Rhaziel intervened. "I need to speak with him alone."
The Road to the Rift
Kael stepped out into the dull light of Sector F. The air smelled of rust and humidity. The leprous building facades stared at him like old scars.
"So, where are we going?" Rhaziel's voice echoed in his mind.
"To the Rift. It's here, not far."
"And these Sectors?"
Kael explained in a weary voice. "Sector 1 is for the royals. They are untouchable. Sector 2 is for the nobles. They have been rich forever. Sector 3 belongs to the Factions the legendary hunters. Sector 4 is for those who managed to survive and prosper. Sector 5... that's for the modest, the workers. People like us before. And Sector F..."
He pointed toward the malicious back alleys. "...the world's refuse."
He kept moving, avoiding the stares of beggars and the fists of thugs. In this place, one wrong step was enough to get you killed.
"Kael," Rhaziel said suddenly. "I want to talk to you about Liam."
Kael slowed down, wary. "What now?"
"He is not human."
The sentence fell like a guillotine. Kael stopped in his tracks. His heart hammered in his chest.
"That's impossible. He breathes the same air, he"
"That is exactly what is killing him: pure mana. He rejects it. He is something else."
"No." Kael's breath hitched. "You're lying."
"Your injections are keeping him alive. They purge the mana before it poisons him. Without them, he will die. But even with them... he is slowly wasting away."
Kael staggered, leaning against a grime-streaked wall for support. "Why him and not me?!"
"I do not know yet. But his limit is near. He has perhaps one month left."
The world seemed to crack inside Kael's skull. His hands shook. "No..."
"He can live, Kael. With dark mana. With monster blood."
"You want me to feed him... that?"
"If he reacts, I will know if he is lucid... or lost."
Kael clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms. Blood trickled down. "And if he becomes a ravenous demon?"
Rhaziel's silence weighed heavier than any answer.
Before the Rift
When Kael came to his senses, the tower stood before him. It was a column of shadow that swallowed the sky. A scar in reality.
The crowd milled about: leering mercenaries, whispered prayers, vacant stares. Kael saw none of it. He saw only his brother's shadow. He saw Liam's sickly smile and his pale blue eyes. He saw the specter of the truth.
Perhaps a demon. Perhaps a victim. But above all: his brother.
I will save him. Even against this world. Even against the gods.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword. Before him lay one hundred floors of darkness. Behind him, there was only one heart left to protect.
He stepped forward. Every footfall felt like a promise. Blood, monsters, salvation it didn't matter what the price was.