Chapter 1:The Frayed Thread of Fate
The air in the plaza tasted like iron and ozone , thick with the silent panic of ten
thousands freshly - summoned Hunters.Above them,the impossible structure known as the Eclipse Tower pierced the swirling, permanent Twilight of the new sky - a hundred floors of judgment waiting to be climbed.
Rin stood with his back rigid,his worn leather duster clinging to his frame. His fingers flexed, finding comfort in the smooth, familiar wood of his sheathed sword,a simple - looking blade he knew could carve dimensional rifts.He was a beacon of controlled calm in the chaos, radiating the subtle, warm light of a rising sun.A light that was utterly, deliberately focused straight ahead.
He knew exactly who was standing ten feet to his left. He felt the cold pressure of that presence like a spatial distortion.
Aiden.
Reborn.Again.
Aiden has chosen the crowd's edge, blending into the shadows with the chilling
efficiency of a natural predator.His face, perfectly sculpted and dangerously beautiful,was a mask of stoicism. He wore
Simple, dark tactical gear that offered no hint of his true, terrifying power. Rin didn't need to look to know Aiden was studying the Tower's structure, analyzing the weakness of the floor 's monster horde,and calculating
every possible angel of escape and attack. Aiden had always been the strategist,the mind that could predict three steps into the future.And that mind had once orchestrated a betrayal that shattered their world.
Rin inhaled, letting the warm air of the System's tutorial floor fill his lungs.He had to be stronger this time.He had to climb higher.
He had to succeed without him.
A robotic,genderless voice boomed across the plaza:[WELCOME, HUNTERS.THE TUTORIAL FLOOR WILL BEGIN IN T- MINUS 60 SECONDS. REWARD:BASE
CLASS AND SKILLS SCROLL.]
Rin finally allowed his gaze to drift- not at Aiden 's face , but toward the ground where Aiden's shadow fell.
I don't know you.You are a stranger.You are nothing.
He repeated the mantra like a prayer.He'd
Practiced it for years in the few, quiet moments he'd had between his last life and his current awakening.He was Rin, the brave swordsman,warm,easy to approach, friendly to everyone.He was not the man who had loved Aiden so completely he'd allowed the betrayal to destroy him.
Suddenly,a massive,rusted steel gate shuddered open on the far side of the plaza, revealing the pitch-black maw of the Tower's entrance. From the darkness spilled the first enemies: a wave of shambling Ghouls, their eyes glowing sickly green.
The Hunters screamed.
[00:05.COMBAT PHASE INITIATED.]
Before the countdown hit zero,Rin moved.
He didn't use a special skill ; he used the
raw,efficient speed of a master. He drew his
sword- a flicker of blue light - and executed
a perfect, sweeping crescent arc.
Six Ghouls at the front of the horde disintegrated into black smoke.
Aiden, ten feet away, finally reacted,his cold eyes narrowed in a flicker of appreciation,
perhaps even pride.Rin saw it in his peripheral,a tiny, almost imperceptible softening of the ice in his gaze.
imperceptible softening of the ice in his
gaze.
The System notification flashed in Rin's
Vision:
[Hunter ' Rin' has achieved FIRST BLOOD.
Bonus:+1 Agility.]
Rin ignored the reward and stepped deeper
into the swarm,his movements fluid, beautiful,and utterly lethal.
A minute later,the center of the plaza was
a slaughterhouse. While others still fumbled
With their newly acquired basic weapons,
Rin had cleared his quadrant.He was breathing heavily, his warm exterior
now slick with a cold sheen of sweat.
He was momentarily blocked by a fallen
statue of an unrecognisable deity. He shifted his weight, preparing to jump over it,
when a Ghoul clawed past the statue,
lunging at his unprotected side.
Instinct took over . Rin braced himself,but
before he could twist his sword,a cold,
hard force struck the Ghoul's head.It
wasn't a sword or a first, but a heavy,
polished rock the size of a fist,thrown with
impossible precision and velocity.The
Ghoul dissolved.
Rin paused,his body frozen in the half- turn.
He followed the projectile's arc back to its
source.Aiden . Aiden hadn't even looked
his way. He was already thirty feet away, craving a path through his own cluster of
Ghouls using only calculated, non- magical
strikes to conserve his reborn mana.
He didn't use his skills.he used a pebble.
Aiden's voice,low and devoid of emotion,
reached Rin over the din of battle, flat and
formal,just loud enough to be heard over
the screams." Conserve your core energy,
Swordsman.The next wave is armored."
Rin stared at the back of the strategist's dark, broad shoulders.The simple,
mechanical advice was an insult,a dismissal.It was a lie.It was a warning.It
was the deepest expression of care he
could give without breaking the vow of
silence they both subconsciously
maintained.
Rin sheathed his sword with a sharp,
metallic click. The sound cut through the
noise,a declaration of defiance.
"My energy is not your concern,Hunter,"
Rin replied, using the generic term to stab at the intimacy of their shared history. He
turned his back fully on the one man he truly wanted to kill, or perhaps,kiss,and dashed toward the black gate. " Keep your eyes on your own survival."
Aiden did not respond.But in the shadow
cast by the Eclipse Tower,his hand, which had been raised to strike a Ghoul, faltered
for the barest fraction of a second,an ancient pain tightening around his heart.
He knew that coldness better than anyone.
He had put it there himself.
The end of chapter 1