The sky broke at noon.
Not with thunder. Not with lightning.
It split—like glass struck by an invisible hammer.
Kael froze in the middle of the plaza, his breath caught in his throat as jagged black cracks spread across the blue sky. A deep, unnatural pressure pressed down on the city, forcing people to their knees.
Then the sigils descended.
Golden symbols fell from the fractures above, drifting slowly like embers from a dying fire. One by one, they branded themselves onto the chests of those standing closest to the center of the plaza.
Screams turned into cheers.
Blessings.
The Awakening had begun.
"Remain calm!" a robed official shouted, his voice amplified by magic. "Those chosen today will be granted power by the gods themselves!"
Kael didn't cheer.
He stepped back instead, edging toward the crowd's shadows.
People like him weren't chosen.
He had known that his entire life.
Orphans didn't receive blessings. The weak didn't attract divine attention. While others trained for years, dreaming of magic and glory, Kael learned how to survive—how to stay unnoticed.
But fate didn't care.
A beam of light suddenly locked onto him.
Kael's heart slammed violently against his ribs.
"No," he whispered.
The crowd parted, instinctively creating distance as the light dragged him forward. His feet moved against his will, his body responding to a force far greater than himself.
Above him, a golden sigil formed.
Then it flickered.
The symbol trembled, its glow unstable—as if something was interfering.
Murmurs rippled through the plaza.
"That's strange…"
"Why is it shaking?"
The sigil shattered.
Darkness exploded outward.
A cold, suffocating presence poured from the broken symbol, wrapping around Kael like chains. Pain unlike anything he had ever known tore through his chest as something burned itself into his flesh.
Kael screamed.
Black tendrils slithered across his skin, carving an unfamiliar mark directly over his heart. The air turned frigid. Even the officials went pale, stumbling back in fear.
One of them fell to his knees.
"That mark…" he whispered. "It's forbidden."
The darkness sank into Kael's body.
His vision blurred.
Then a voice echoed inside his mind—deep, ancient, and amused.
[Abyssal Curse detected.]
[Host: Compatible.]
[Binding successful.]
Kael collapsed to the ground, gasping for air as the mark pulsed beneath his skin.
[From this day onward…]
[You belong to the Abyss.]
As unconsciousness claimed him, Kael realized one terrible truth.
The gods hadn't chosen him.
Something far worse had.