The corridors above the lower levels of the Academy were filled with noise again.
Boots pounded steel. Sirens pulsed red against polished walls. Crackling announcements echoed through the reinforced speakers, distorted by signal scramblers kicking in.
"Level B5 lockdown initiated. Unauthorized system activation detected. All Third-Tier Initiates and above to mobilize."
Kael pressed himself against the shadowed edge of a hallway junction, heartbeat thudding in his ears louder than the alarms.
They were coming.
Not students. Not guards.
Ascended.
He wasn't ready for that.
His trial in the Echo Chamber had given him something. A skill. A fragment. A pulse of power beneath his ribs that whispered ancient things.
But it wasn't enough.
Not yet.
[Ashborn Protocol: Semi-Integrated – 3.5%]
[Current Tier: Initiate Null]
[Next Advancement: 10.0% Integration Required]
[Warning: Prolonged exposure to Hostile Ascended Users will result in destabilization.]
Kael didn't need a system alert to know staying here would get him killed.
He peeked around the corner.
Two shadows swept into the corridor. Both wore the crimson-gold uniform of Ascended Cadets. Not just any—Third-Tier.
One of them hovered two inches off the ground. Levitation field. An Aetherborne.
The other's eyes flickered with molten runes. Pyromantic lineage—Cradle-bonded.
Kael's breath caught.
He knew their names.
Kaleh Drayven and Brant Corin.
Both sons of major Houses.
Both legendary duelists.
Both deadly.
[Engagement Advised Against.]
[You are not strong enough.]
"No shit," Kael whispered under his breath.
And then—
Something shifted behind him.
He turned, but there was no one there.
Just a pulse. Like static in the air. Like the world itself was peeling.
It wasn't the soldiers he should've feared.
It was the void.
Kael didn't scream.
He couldn't.
Because the air had stopped working.
His lungs no longer drew in breath. His ears rang with unnatural silence. And from the floor beneath him, a crack had begun to spread.
Not through the metal.
Through space.
It splintered outward like glass. A coldness seeped through, one that didn't belong in this dimension.
Kael stumbled back, eyes wide.
The soldiers turned too late.
Too slow.
It came through.
It didn't walk.
It didn't fly.
It twisted.
A thing made of hunger and shapes that should not touch. Part skeletal bird, part pulsating fog. Multiple limbs shifted in and out of phase. Where it moved, the lights above shattered without contact.
Kael's system screamed warnings.
[ENTITY CLASS: Interdimensional Aberrant.]
[Designation: Shiverborn Reaver.]
[Threat Level: CRIMSON-VOID.]
[Survival Odds: 0.02%]
"…Great," Kael whispered, frozen.
Brant summoned a flare-blade, his arm igniting with orange fire.
"Back!" Kaleh shouted. "Use magnetic seal formation!"
They never got the chance.
The Shiverborn Reaver blinked.
Not teleported.
Ceased to exist where it was, and reappeared impaled through Brant's chest.
Kael watched, horror twisting in his gut, as Brant's fire flickered once and died.
The body was thrown aside.
Kaleh roared and unleashed a blast of aetheric arcs, dozens of bolts lancing from his gauntlets.
Some struck true.
Some missed.
Some passed through.
The creature screamed—but not in pain. In joy.
And Kael ran.
Down.
He didn't know why.
Only that it was the one direction the soldiers weren't going.
Down past warning glyphs. Down through collapsed stairwells. Down through cracked elevators that hadn't run in years.
Until the world above dimmed completely.
And a new voice called out.
Not from his system.
From the walls.
"Welcome, Ashborn Candidate."
Kael stopped, body drenched in sweat, panting.
"What…?"
A panel in the wall lit up.
A circle. A rune.
Then a hologram appeared.
Female. No older than thirty. Draped in robes, eyes burning gold.
"This sublevel is restricted to Protocol Seeds. You are not expected. And yet… the doors open for you."
Kael swallowed. "Who are you?"
"I am Instructor-AI Designate Seraph Unit 001. I trained the first Ashborn."
Kael blinked. "There were… others?"
"There were. You are the last. The Cradle erased all trace of us. But your presence reactivates long-dormant threads."
The AI raised its hand.
"Do you wish to awaken more?"
Kael hesitated.
He was barely holding on. His strength wasn't real. Not yet.
And yet… if he didn't grow stronger now, that thing upstairs would kill him.
He nodded.
"Show me."
The room beyond the AI chamber was circular. Empty save for a floating sigil above a pedestal. Carved in script older than common tongue, it pulsed once when Kael stepped near.
[PROTO-SEED INTERFACE INITIATED.]
[You may imprint ONE of the following latent instincts.]
Abyssal Pulse – Gain passive resistance to extradimensional energies.
Specter Step – Instinctive burst evasion during critical danger.
Ash Grip – Imbue strikes with entropy, wearing down magical barriers.
[Warning: Only one choice may be made per awakening tier.]
Kael's heart raced.
Each sounded powerful.
Each was a leap.
He had no time.
He chose.
"Specter Step."
[Confirmed.]
[Latent Reflex Instinct Embedded.]
[Ashborn Protocol Integration: 6.4%]
Suddenly the world twitched.
His body surged forward—just half a step, but unnaturally so.
Time bent.
Space contracted.
And Kael knew—if he'd had this even five minutes ago, he might've survived an encounter.
Or helped Brant survive his.
Too late for guilt.
Too soon for comfort.
Alarms flared again.
Kael looked up.
This time, it wasn't soldiers.
It wasn't even the Shiverborn.
It was something else.
Something old.
Something Cradle.
"ASHBORN PROTOCOL DETECTED," came a cold, mechanical voice from above.
"VARN LAW OMEGA IN EFFECT. CODEBREAKER UNIT DISPATCHED."
Kael turned.
And the entire wall behind him began to open.
Elsewhere.
Far above, in the Council Hall of the Ascendant Pillars, nine holograms flickered into view.
Each represented a faction.
One spoke, calm and cold:
"It has begun. A Nullborn has awakened the Protocol."
Another snarled:
"Impossible. They were extinguished."
A third leaned forward:
"He must not survive the Cycle."
A fourth said nothing. But a shadow passed behind them.
And it smiled.
Back below, Kael stood before what could only be described as a war-machine.
It was humanoid.
Seven feet tall.
Clad in obsidian exo-armor, etched with Cradle sigils. Its arms were blades. Its face was an unfeeling mask.
[Designation: CODEBREAKER-001 – Ascended Hunter Unit]
[Tier: Fifth Class Exile Enforcement]
[Status: Active]
[Objective: Terminate Ashborn Candidates.]
It raised its hand.
And pointed at Kael.
"Nullborn. Unauthorized system detected. Prepare for immediate correction."
Kael took one step back.
Then another.
No one was coming to help.
No hero. No rescue. No miracle.
Only him.
Only the system.
And a will to live.
[System Override: Emergency Directive Engaged.]
[Skill: Specter Step – Active Window: 2.0s]
[Passive: Null Resilience – Cradle-Seals ineffective.]
The machine moved.
Too fast.
Too brutal.
Its blade arm sliced forward.
But Kael twitched.
And vanished.
He reappeared behind the Codebreaker, gasping.
Specter Step.
But it wasn't enough.
The machine twisted—inhumanly—at the waist. Came down with its other blade.
Kael blocked with a shard of pipe—stupid.
It shattered.
His shoulder split.
Blood sprayed.
He fell hard.
Vision blurring.
[Injury Level: Severe. Internal bleeding. Fractured scapula.]
[Recommendation: Flee.]
[Alternative: Improvise.]
Kael looked up at the pedestal.
Still glowing.
Still pulsing.
He crawled.
The Codebreaker raised its blade again.
Kael threw himself forward.
Grabbed the core.
And screamed.
[Protocol Surge Detected.]
[Emergency Integration Spiked.]
[Warning: Instability Level 87%.]
[Proceeding with Emergency Override.]
Light exploded.
A circle of ash formed around Kael.
And from it, a figure emerged.
Not a person.
Not an enemy.
A projection.
Of what Kael could become.
Shadowy, white-eyed, cloaked in entropy.
It struck.
The Codebreaker reeled back.
Once.
Twice.
A third blow—pure feedback.
The Codebreaker sparked.
Staggered.
And fell.
System alerts cascaded down Kael's vision.
[Ashborn Protocol Integration: 10.1%]
[Tier Upgraded: Initiate > Wakened]
[Skill Unlocked: Revenant Echo – Temporary Summon of Shadow Double (Limited Use)]
[Ashborn Trait Unlocked: Persistence – Survive one fatal wound per 48 hours.]
[Directive Updated: You are now marked by both the Cradle and the Hollow.]
Kael gasped for air.
Bleeding. Burned.
But alive.
For the first time, he stood over something powerful—and it was dead.
Not him.
Not today.
END OF CHAPTER 3