Kaen's footsteps echoed softly through the ancient stone corridor, deep beneath the twisted roots of Noxfall Forest. The walls were etched with symbols of the forgotten Void—circular carvings, sealing sigils, and blood-stained murals depicting skies torn asunder and shadows rising from the earth.
He wasn't a stranger to this place.
Years ago, before he became anyone of importance, Kaen had led an expedition to these very ruins. Back then, they found only silence and death. Now… he knew better.
> "The Void never reveals its true face to those who aren't ready," he muttered.
His breath fogged in the freezing air. Though buried underground, the atmosphere was cold enough to bite through bone. Silence draped over everything like a burial shroud.
Then—he stopped.
A sound.
Not loud. Not clear. But there. Like a whisper. Like a name carried on the wind.
> "...Kaen..."
His crimson eyes narrowed.
Not a hallucination. The voice spoke his real name—not Rai, not the name this new world knew—but Kaen Valcarys. A name that should've been erased.
He quickened his pace. The corridor walls began to tremble in response, faint purple light bleeding from ancient runes as the very air thickened, warping reality around him.
He reached the chamber.
It was circular, massive, and hollow. In its heart stood a black stone altar, entwined by colossal roots—as if the Void itself had claimed and buried it. Floating above the altar was a dark crystal shard, pulsing slowly as if it had a heartbeat.
> "Void Fragment," Kaen whispered.
He recognized it—not just from old studies, but because he felt it. A piece of him was sealed within that fragment. A sliver of his lost power… waiting.
He stepped forward. Calm heart. Sweating palms.
Darkness thickened. Shadows twisted into screaming faces. Disembodied hands clawed from the walls.
One more step.
Kaen raised his hand to touch the Void Fragment—
When darkness exploded from the altar.
A creature surged forth, like a nightmare wrenched from the abyss. Tall and skeletal, wrapped in black smoke. Where its face should've been was a burning skull, with twin crimson lights glaring from its sockets.
Claws long as daggers gleamed. Violet veins pulsed beneath its ash-like skin. It crouched, snarled, and leapt.
No warning. No mercy.
Kaen dropped and rolled to the side just in time as its claw shattered the altar stone like brittle glass.
Boom. The room shook.
Kaen spun, drew his rusted dagger. His breath was shallow. "Fast and heavy… but not smart."
The creature shrieked—a chilling chorus of a thousand trapped souls screaming in torment.
Then it attacked again.
Its movements were like liquid shadow—darting, unpredictable, lethal. Kaen dodged, retreated, parried with his near-broken dagger. Each clash unleashed purple sparks of Void energy.
The blade cracked.
Kaen stumbled back. But before the beast struck again, he kicked a nearby stone pillar—sending debris crashing down, disrupting its path.
"Focus. Timing. Angles."
Deep breath. "I can't fight it head-on."
The monster plowed through the rubble, a storm of claws and rage.
Kaen waited—not to block, not to strike—but to observe.
> "Three fast strikes… then a half-second delay. That's the kill window."
He moved.
The creature lashed out—right, left, overhead.
Kaen evaded cleanly—then slid to its blind side. He smashed the hilt of his dagger against its temple.
It staggered.
Kaen spun and kicked its knee, sending the tall figure toppling.
As it fell, Kaen grabbed a broken iron chain from a collapsed pillar and wrapped it around the creature's throat, pulling with every ounce of his strength as claws tore into his flesh.
> "You want to test me?" he growled into its burning skull.
"Feel my will."
With a final cry, Kaen yanked—and snapped its neck with a sickening crunch.
The creature went limp.
Then… erupted into black mist, dispersing across the room—only to be pulled back into the Void Fragment as if it belonged there all along.
Kaen collapsed to his knees, body trembling, breath ragged.
Blood dripped. Hands trembled. But his eyes—
They burned.
> He had won.
No magic. No legendary weapon.
Just instinct, technique, and the will not to die.
And for the first time since his rebirth… the Void responded.
The fragment pulsed with calm, gentle light. As he reached out, it welcomed him—its power seeping into his veins. Slowly. Carefully. But undeniably.
His power was returning.
Then, a new voice echoed inside the crystal. Soft. Feminine. Chillingly clear.
> "Kaen Valcarys… you're not the only one who has awakened."
Kaen froze.
His eyes locked onto the fragment… and saw a shadow.
A pair of golden eyes stared back at him from the depths of the Void.