⚔️ Chapter 42
"Only those who bleed in the shadows may stand in the light."
📍Scene: Outside the Dungeon Gate – Trial Grounds
A towering black stone gate stood at the edge of a broken valley—jagged ruins around it, carved with ancient runes long thought extinct.
All first-year students of Sinjai Academy stood ready. Their gear was polished, weapons upgraded, eyes burning with tension.
Anshi was gripping Aeren's wrist tightly.
"Promise me… stay close. No matter what happens."
Aeren smiled awkwardly, nodding—but something inside him was stirring again. The mark under his collarbone pulsed faintly.
"Why does it burn... only near this gate?" he wondered.
Suddenly, the principal of Sinjai, a Platinum-tier Seeker, stepped forward.
"This dungeon is unlike any you've entered before. It hasn't been opened in 300 years. But today, it will test your soul."
"Team up, enter, survive, and return with proof of a kill. But beware… something woke up when this gate unlocked."
Then the gate… opened by itself.
A chilling whisper echoed:
"Welcome, Seekers… let the Cull begin."
⚠️ Scene: Entering the Unknown
Teams entered one by one.
As Aeren's team stepped in, they were pulled through a ripping space distortion — not teleportation, something older.
They didn't land in the same dungeon as the others.
Instead, they stood in a circular obsidian room. Symbols from Aeren's dream world glowed on the walls.
"This… isn't in the academy records," muttered one of his teammates.
Anshi gasped — her bloodline resonated here too.Aeren's hand began to tremble, and unknowingly, space around him bent slightly, a faint echo flickering around his body.
🌀 Scene: Twist — The Dungeon Within the Dungeon
In the real world, back at the control chamber…
"Sir! Team 13 — Aeren's group — is off the grid!""What?! The dungeon... split?""That's not possible unless…"
"Unless the Deep Gate Protocol is triggered," said a grim voice.
One of the Diamond-tier instructors looked horrified.
"We didn't open the gate fully. We woke it up."
🩸 Scene: Inside the Deep Gate — The First Blood
The room changed.
Pillars rose from the floor, revealing monsters—Level 5 elites—not supposed to appear this early.
One of Aeren's teammates charged and got ripped apart in seconds.
Anshi screamed, activating her bloodline to burn the creature alive.
"They're not testing us… they're feeding something!" she yelled.
Aeren's mark glowed brighter—then, for the first time, time slowed for him.
His eyes flickered violet-blue.
"I can see... everything."
He predicted the next three monster moves before they made them.
"We're in a trap. But not by the school."
"Someone sent us here."
🕳️ Scene: The Twist — Welcome to the Mouth of Kharvax
In the deepest part of the dungeon, hidden by ancient seals, a gate slowly opened.
Inside it… a pair of crimson eyes awakened.
"He's inside... the boy. The mindbender.""So the seal really broke…""Notify The Hollow Chain."
🧥 Scene: Far away, in the shadows…
A dark figure in a black robe with silver edges sat in a candle-lit room.
Chains wrapped around floating books. Blood oaths burned on the ceiling.
"So… Aeren has awakened.""Begin Phase II. Bring back the relic inside him."
A new name whispered in the dark:
"The Heir of the Mindworn Throne."
Anshi looked at Aeren as he sliced a monster in half with perfect precision.
"Who… are you really?" she whispered.
Aeren didn't answer.
He didn't know yet.
But something ancient did.
🔮 Coming Up – Chapter 43:
"Whispers from the Hollow Chain – The Cult of Memory"
The story now unfolds in three layers:
The dungeon that's a sealed gate
Aeren's rising but unknown abilities
A dark cult that's been waiting centuries for him to awaken