I watched as the crowd slowly dispersed, the noise of the ritual fading into scattered conversations. Some families walked away smiling, pride visible in the way they carried themselves, while others moved more quietly, their faces weighed down by disappointment they did not speak aloud.
That day passed, but its weight stayed.
A year went by faster than I expected, and before I could settle my thoughts, the Descent had returned once again. Everything looked the same as before, the stage untouched, the guards in their golden robes standing without movement, and the sky above waiting to fracture at the exact moment it always did.
This time, I was not standing behind the crowd.
I was part of it.
The blue robes I wore felt new and unfamiliar, their color deeper under the light, as if they carried a meaning I was only beginning to understand. Standing there among the others, I could feel the difference clearly, this was no longer something I could observe from a distance.
My eyes found Venuza almost instantly.
He stood a few steps ahead, taller than most around him, but what caught my attention was not his height. A faint beard had formed along his jaw, and the easy confidence he once carried had settled into something more controlled. His expression was serious, almost restrained, as if the memory of the previous year had not left him.
I kept looking at him longer than I should have.
After a moment, he noticed.
"What?" he said in a low voice, turning slightly toward me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
I shrugged lightly, keeping my tone casual.
"It's nothing. I was just wondering if you remember this place."
He didn't answer.
For a brief moment, his expression tightened, then he turned his face away, avoiding my gaze completely. That was enough for me, and a small smirk formed on my lips before I shifted my attention back to the stage.
The call came soon after.
The first region stepped forward, and just like that, the ritual began again with the same precision, the same order that never seemed to fail.
One by one, the regions were called, each stepping onto the mark and receiving what had been decided for them.
Tazkia received the Dominion of Collapse.
Forulo received the Dominion of Bound Horizons.
Jusain received the Dominion of Pale Mercy.
Hukuzania received the most common of them all, the Dominion of Glass Fate.
The crowd reacted in waves, murmurs rising and falling with each announcement, but I barely paid attention to any of it. The names passed through my mind without settling, because none of it mattered anymore.
All that mattered was what came next.
My turn.
My heartbeat grew louder with every passing second, steady but heavy, each beat carrying the weight of the past year. Expectations, doubts, and quiet pressure had built up over time, and now they all seemed to surface at once.
My hands felt colder than they should have.
My steps felt heavier.
And yet, I moved forward.
Because this time, there was no distance between me and the Descent.
This time, I had to face it myself.
"Yalyur, my son… you will surely receive Iron Will in the next Descent."
"No, darling, he deserves something better, the Dominion of Golden Statue would suit him perfectly."
"Both of you stop it. He's going to receive Blood Oath, just watch."
That was all I heard for an entire year.
Everywhere I went, every conversation that involved me ended the same way, filled with certainty I never asked for. My parents believed it the most. They always said I had a golden heart, that I was meant for something greater, and people around them agreed without hesitation. To them, I was friendly, dependable, and brave enough to stand where others stepped back.
At first, it felt good to hear.
Then it started to feel heavy.
I remember one moment clearly, something that stayed with me longer than anything else that year.
A man with the Dominion of Inferno Heart had cornered a merchant in the marketplace. The merchant was old, thin, and carried the mark of Glass Fate, one of the weakest and most common domains.
"Guhair," the man said, his voice sharp and demanding, "give me twenty Tazkian sweets right now."
"Yes, my lord," the merchant replied nervously. "That will be three stacks of Tazkian gems."
The man's expression hardened instantly.
"You dare ask payment from me?!" he snapped. "Do you even understand what my Domain is!? I can burn you to ash in a second for that!"
The merchant dropped to his knees, grabbing the man's legs, his voice breaking as he pleaded.
"Please… forgive me. Here, take them… they're yours."
The man glanced at the packet, unimpressed.
"Now I want forty."
His fists began to glow, a deep red heat building beneath his skin, enough to make the air around him waver. The merchant flinched, fear replacing whatever strength he had left.
I stepped forward before I could think twice.
"Hey, Guho, how are you?"
He didn't respond. He didn't even look at me. His hands moved faster, preparing another packet, trying only to survive the moment.
"Forty Tazkian sweets?" I said lightly. "That must be for someone important."
When I looked at the man properly, it was obvious what had happened. He hadn't earned anything. He had taken it through fear.
He left soon after, satisfied.
The moment he disappeared, the merchant collapsed.
"Yalyur…" he said between sobs. "I have nothing left. He took everything I had. Those sweets were worth six stacks of Tazkian gems. It will take me a year to recover."
I bought whatever little he had left, then went straight to the enforcement division. Those stationed there bore the Dominion of Broken Chains, known for their strength, resilience, and their ability to endure extremes without faltering.
They listened.
And for once, the system worked.
Within a week, the matter was resolved. The merchant got his goods back, and the man disappeared from the marketplace entirely.
When I returned, the merchant greeted me with tears in his eyes, but this time they were not from fear.
"Thank you, Yalyur. Without you, I would never have had the courage to stand up for myself. You deserve the best Domain, my son."
I nodded and left.
After that, everything changed.
People began to recognize me. My name spread quietly at first, then more openly, until even strangers spoke as if my future had already been decided.
"He's the one who helped the merchant."
"Because of him, our region will receive a strong Domain this year."
"Someone like him cannot receive anything less."
Every word added something I couldn't see, but could always feel.
Weight.
At first, I tried to ignore it.
But it didn't go away.
What if I don't receive a good Domain?
What if I disappoint everyone?
I pushed the thoughts down every time they surfaced, but they always returned. Slowly, without me realizing when it began, there wasn't a single night where I slept without them finding their way back into my mind.
My thoughts snapped back to reality as the voice of the golden-robed guard echoed across the stage.
"Children of the region of Veguila, assemble at the mark."
The words hit harder than I expected, and before I could fully process them, we were already being pushed forward. The crowd shifted behind us, making space as if this moment had been decided long before we ever stepped into it.
We moved together toward the coffin.
Our steps were almost synchronized, shaped by years of watching the ritual, yet something felt different now. The rain still fell, the thunder still rolled, but none of it seemed to reach me anymore. Everything had narrowed into this moment.
We took our positions around the vessel.
My heartbeat drowned out everything else. Each beat carried the weight of the past year, pressing harder with every second. My hands felt cold despite the tension in my body, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I was ready for what came next.
"Place your hands on the vessel and receive your Domain," the protector commanded.
It took me longer than it should have to react.
Slowly, I raised my hand.
Please…
Let it be something worthy…
Blood Oath… Iron Will… anything…
The words repeated in my mind as my palm touched the coffin. I took a long breath and forced myself to stay still.
"It's going to be alright, Yalyur," I told myself quietly.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then something moved inside me.
It felt like something alive had slipped beneath my skin, coiling through me, spreading in ways I could not understand. It wasn't pain, but it wasn't anything normal either. The sensation was overwhelming, unfamiliar, and impossible to ignore.
It continued, settling deeper with each passing second, until time itself seemed to stretch. I couldn't tell how long it lasted before it finally began to fade.
When I opened my eyes, the protector was staring at us.
But something was different.
There was hesitation in his expression.
He turned toward the crowd.
"The people of Veguila have received… the Dominion of Hollow Mercy."
Silence followed.
"Oh f*ck."