A hundred years ago, the sky split apart like torn fabric.
A singular, world-shaking event later known as "The Cataclysm" changed the Earth forever.
From a colossal dimensional fracture now called The Abyss, nightmarish creatures poured out—Twisted, malformed horrors that defied human logic, driven by hunger, madness, and the sheer will to erase humanity.
And standing in front of that dimensional fracture with a couple hundred more teenagers and military personnel was Kael.
Seeing the Abyss on TV was one thing—standing before it was something else entirely.
Although it looked like nothing but a fractured glass floating in space, Kael could feel the pressure released by the abyss and judging by the expression of the other candidates, they could feel it too.
Surrounding it was Fort Daedalus, a military compound built like a fortress around the Abyss. Towering barricades circled the Rift in concentric rings, each one heavily armed with weapons, sensors, and automated defense systems.
Gunmetal watchtowers stood just a few feet away from the rift, their turrets quietly tracking movement as though expecting the Rift to spit something out at any moment.
You're so close, Kael, jump in.
He's not ready yet, he'll die.
Kael was snapped out of his thoughts when the whispers returned. They were a lot louder than the night before but he held in the urge to clench his ears and fall to his feet.
"Attention!"
Luckily, a sharp barked command sliced through the rising whispers, snapping Kael out of the trance he hadn't realized he'd fallen into.
A man in an officer's uniform stood atop a raised platform ahead of the group, flanked by two guards dressed in the same armor as the ones that escorted Kael here. His voice echoed across the yard, amplified by the comms system.
"You are all here because the world decided you might be useful. Congratulations." His tone was dry, not the least bit congratulatory. "The Abyss doesn't care who you are. It doesn't care where you come from. Inside, you are nothing but prey—until you prove otherwise."
Although his words caused some of the already pale candidates to become already paler, he had no intention of sugar-coating them.
He let his words sink in before he continued.
"Some of you won't come back." He paused, eyes sweeping over the group. "But those who survive… those who return… will never be the same."
His words was soon followed by an overwhelming pressure that fell on Kael and all the other candidates.
The pressure pressed down on them like an invisible hand.
Neither Kael nor most of the candidates could move.
They wasn't restrained by force, but by presence. The man's aura forced them in place, robbing them of even their ability to breathe.
"Feel it?" the officer asked in a low voice, but somehow louder than before. "That weight crushing your chest? That's Aura, my awakened ability."
He took a step forward, and several candidates unconsciously stepped back.
"When a human survives the Abyss, they become awakened. For some, it's strength. Others, speed. Some can manipulate the elements. A few… become monsters themselves."
"But we'll worry about that later," he continued, "for now you'll worry about surviving."
The officer let the silence hang—heavy, suffocating—before letting out a low breath.
The pressure vanished in an instant.
Gasps tore through the yard as the candidates collapsed to their knees, some trembling, others coughing. A few had fallen flat on their backs, eyes wide in disbelief.
Kael remained standing, barely. His legs quivered beneath him, sweat rolling down his neck. But he hadn't fallen.
The officer's gaze rested on him for just a moment before it continued unto the other candidates. Then he spoke again, this time in a flat tone.
"When the Abyss opens, you will enter one at a time and it will choose where to send you."
"If you're lucky, you might end up in the same trial as another candidate," he continued. "If not... then may luck be on your side."
His words unsettled the candidates even more, but as stated before, he had no intention of sugar-coating his words.
"Now listen carefully," his commanding voice boomed out, "once you enter into the Abyss, it will mark you as a Challenger, officially granting you access to a thing called the system."
"To access the System, just say 'Status' out loud—a screen should appear in front of you." The officer paused briefly before continuing. "On its own, the System isn't anything special. All it does is display your attributes. That's it."
"If you truly want your system to be special, then survive. Complete the task assigned by the Abyss. Only then will your system become anything more than a set of stats on a screen."
He scanned the faces of the candidates again before adding, "the trials of the abyss will be revealed to you by the system as soon as you are in the trial grounds."
"Some might seem impossible, other might actually be impossible but your only chance at survival is completing them."
He paused again, letting his words sink in before he asked, "any questions?"
Just when it seemed like none of the students had any questions, a nervous hand was raised among the the crowd causing the officer to turn towards them.
The hand belonged to a skinny kid with with a head full of brown hair and the same eyes, he looked like the kind of kid who got picked last in gym class, the kind who'd apologize if you bumped into him.
"U-um, I was wondering," he stammered, voice barely above a whisper, "w-why can't an Awakened go with us during the trial? Wouldn't that make the survival rate a lot higher?"
The officer seemed a bit satisfied with that question and as if something he expected them to ask, he started, "that's because you'll all die if you're followed into the abyss by an awakened individual."
"The Abyss adjusts the difficulty of the trial based on the average attributes of the candidates," his words confused the candidates, so the officer proceeded to explain, "now imagine if the attributes of the awakened was taken into consideration during the trial setup, what do you think would happen?"
The candidates immediately understood how things would go if that happened.A heavy silence fell over the crowd as the weight of the officer's words settled in.
"Now, since there's no more questions, I'll leave you to prepare."
"You have one hour," he added. " During that you can meditate, scream, cry, pray—I don't care. After that, the Abyss will open."
Then, without waiting for a response, he turned and strode off the platform, the guards falling in line behind him.