It was Darkness

Ender Levin, the protagonist, is a young man who has been plagued by strange dreams and nightmares for as long as he can remember. Dead cities. Lifeless bodies scattered across the streets like ants. Blood staining the ruins. And something called... Zon. But what is Zon? Even Ender doesn't know. In one recurring nightmare, Ender and his cousin and best friend, Zack D. Roy, were being hunted by a group of mysterious, anonymous figures. No matter how hard they ran, they were eventually caught and killed. But what tormented Ender the most was... Just before his death, Ender sees his own deceased younger sister, Marine Levin, standing before him with a golden knife in her hand. It wasn't the first time he had these dreams. They've been haunting him for years, growing increasingly vivid and intense. Desperate to escape these dreams. Ender eventually leaves on a vacation with Zack and his friends. There, he encounters a strange man who seems to know far more about him than he should. The man takes Ender to an unfamiliar place and performs a series of mysterious chants. Suddenly, a strange red-black energy erupts from Ender's mouth. The man captures it inside a small bottle before preparing to leave. Confused and furious, Ender stops him. "What does this mean?" "Who are you?" Countless questions race through his mind. But instead of answering, the strange man takes Ender into the void of space itself, and begins revealing the hidden lore of his world. Ender soon discovers that the reality he knows is far stranger than he ever imagined. He and his friends are introduced to the existence of Astrans, beings capable of transcending the limits of ordinary humanity. But becoming an Astran is not as simple as gaining power. To awaken, they must confront their deepest guilt, regrets, fears, and buried desires. More importantly, they must convince both their souls and their unconscious minds to accept the transformation. Only then can they ascend into a higher-dimensional world known as Raiheart. There, Ender and his companions encounter a mysterious cult and its agency, Peace Order, becoming entangled in a world filled with secrets, conspiracies, supernatural forces, and entities far beyond human understanding. And this is where their journey truly begins. As they face increasingly dangerous threats, Ender and his friends must uncover the mysteries surrounding Raiheart, the origins of the Astrans, and the strange phenomena that have haunted them from the beginning. But the deeper they descend into the unknown, the more they begin to uncover something far more terrifying. Themselves. Because every mystery has a price. And sometimes, the truth doesn't set you free. It drives you mad. In the end, they will have to make a choice, How much of themselves are they willing to lose to uncover the truth? ---- [ Important Notice ] ---- If you are looking for a story with interesting lore and world building exploration along with well written characters. This will be enough to catch your gaze. But this is my first time writing a story. I don't have any experience in any of these fields so my condolences for everything.. I'm continuously trying to improve and working diligently with my execution and prose. [ Ruis Forst: the tritagonist ]