When Darian emerged from the Rift, it didn't feel like returning home it felt like being expelled by a world that didn't want to let him go. His boots struck the alloy platform of the Federation staging bay with a jarring thud, and for a moment, all sound seemed to disappear. Then came the sterile light, the pressurized air, the cold efficiency of Federation systems welcoming him back. But the atmosphere felt thin, like reality hadn't quite formed fully around him yet.
His body refused to move the way it should have. His heartbeat felt both distant and thunderous. Every breath rattled through his lungs like he was trying to inhale through broken glass. Even standing upright felt alien. It wasn't exhaustion. It wasn't even pain. Something inside him was… alive. Awake. Not him, not human. Not separate. It had not just entered him it had coiled inside his core like a second soul.
[Exit Confirmed: Sector Theta-12]
Status: Survival Confirmed / Rift Entity Kill Logged
Awakening Complete
Beast Core Integration: 94.7%
Stabilization In Progress…
But "stabilization" felt like a lie. He wasn't stabilizing he was evolving. Quietly. Rapidly. Irreversibly.
Medical officers in Federation trauma armor approached cautiously. Their white suits shimmered with nullfield shielding standard for cadets showing signs of post-Rift contamination. One held a scanning wand; the other a sealed case marked Stasis Injection – L3.
"Cadet Vex," the medic on the left said flatly, voice filtered through a visor amp, "You are emitting unstable resonance. Stand still. Let the system scan complete."
Darian tried to answer, but his throat clenched as a wave of pressure tore through his spine. It wasn't external it bloomed from within, pushing against the edges of his nerves, pressing behind his eyes. The floor beneath him warped for just a blink lines shimmering, space folding, air vibrating.
[Core Surge Detected – Passive Containment Engaged]
Warning: Evolution Talent Flare Suppressed
He gritted his teeth. He could feel it now the Void Serpent wasn't just active. It was aware. Watching. Listening to every interaction, every heartbeat, every flicker of fear or thought.
The two medics looked down at their scans, then at each other.
"No data," one muttered. "He's not logging on the elemental net."
"Zero-classification. Not even tagged as Omega."
"He doesn't exist."
"He does now."
They guided him without touching through a side corridor usually reserved for anomaly triage. Doors opened automatically, sealed behind him with audible locking tones. He entered a diagnostic bay with no windows and one chair inside a full-body resonance pod.
The moment he sat down, the room dimmed.
[Analyzing Host Structure…]
Neural Density: 131% above baseline
Adrenaline Response: Auto-Regulated (Beast Reflex Override Active)
Void Influence: Contained – Unstable
Mental Integrity: 92.1%
Then the system unlocked the interface that no one else could see an interface that wasn't part of Federation protocols. This was something… different. Something ancient, coded not in light or glyphs, but in sensation.
[Beast Core Interface – Active]
Host: Darian Vex
Status: Bonded
Beast Name: Void Serpent of the Silent Coil
Beast Grade: Sovereign-Tier (Unregistered Classification)
Beast Type: Hybrid – Elemental / Physical
Element Affinity: Void, Space, Dimensional
Beast Stage: Infant – Phase I (Coiled State)
Cultivation Stage: Awakened – Tier 1
Primary Talent: Evolution Architect [SSS]
Secondary Talent: Spatial Instinct [A]
Passive Trait: Dimensional Silence (Locked)
Transformation: Inaccessible (Insufficient Rank)
Next Stage Unlock Requirement: 1 Sovereign Core or Path Catalyst Relic
Evolution Paths Available:
Path I – Rift-Tongue Wyrm
• Space Instinct Boost
• Rift Speech (Sealed)
• Passive Phase-Walk_
Path II – Blacklight Coilbeast
• Night Domain Resistance
• Predator Haze (Locked)
Path III – Astral Spine Drake
• Dimen-Warp Affinity: Moderate
• Starfire Pulse (Hidden)
He read each word twice, and still the meaning slipped past simple understanding. The Void Serpent pulsed with more than information it carried presence. Intelligence. Power not born of this world. The evolutionary paths didn't look like options they looked like destinies waiting to be unlocked.
He didn't feel like a cadet anymore.
When the pod released him, no one met his eyes. Technicians gave him space. Officers spoke quietly around him. And when a silent escort approached no insignia, no spoken orders he followed without question.
They passed secured checkpoints that weren't marked on standard cadet maps. Went through cold corridors lined with surveillance tech too advanced for training wings. And arrived at a black-glass tower set apart from the rest of the compound tall, silent, and seemingly empty.
The door opened on its own.
Inside was a vast chamber, lit only by thin pulses in the floor. At its center stood a man in a long uniform coat no rank, no armor. Just stillness and control.
"Sit down, Cadet Vex," the man said without looking up. "We have much to discuss."
Darian moved slowly. He wasn't afraid. Not anymore. The Void Serpent inside him curled with interest. Not alarm recognition.
"You've returned from Theta-12. Alone. Bonded with a Beast we can't scan. Killed a Riftspawn larger than your recorded loadout can handle." The man finally looked at him. "And you've triggered four system anomalies we didn't think were possible."
He tapped a hidden console. A holographic projection opened, showing Darian's core signature or at least what the system could catch. Most fields blinked red or empty.
Core Type: Unregistered
Energy Alignment: Unknown
Path Projection: Locked
Status: Anomalous – High-Risk Containment Advised
"We've seen this before," the man said. "Twice. Once in 2111. The cadet combusted during his second evolution attempt. The other vanished in the Rift without a trace."
"You think I'll be number three?" Darian asked, calmly.
"I think," the man replied, "you're the first one it's chosen willingly."
Darian felt it again then that quiet pull in the back of his mind, like a vast eye blinking from behind a thousand layers of void. The Void Serpent didn't roar. It didn't snarl. It simply… watched.
"I didn't force a bond," Darian said. "I didn't steal it. I walked in, and it came to me."
"That," the man said, standing slowly, "is what terrifies us the most."