Finn had to admit, he wasly a model student ba school. But he retty sure he could still name all the ps in the Sor System, and Vanov wasn’t one of them. And the Torrina System? What even was that?

  Was this some kind of joke? Phoenix? Vanov? Torrina System? Was he being pranked?

  But the creature didn’t look like it was joking, or lying, for that matter.

  Maybe this was just some misuanding on his part—like how the Mayans misinterpreted the stars?

  When Finn didn't respond, the creature spoke again.

  "It’s the p where orcs live. That’s what I am. My Name is Yukha, by the way, I apologize for not introdug myself earlier," the orc said, extending a rough, calloused hand.

  An orc?

  "I'm Finn... a human," Finn responded absently, reag out for a handshake.

  "So, those tusks? Are they real?" he asked.

  "As real as the armor I wear," Yukha replied with a grunt, tapping the thick metal pting on his body, produg a heavy g.

  "Want a feel?" he asked, his voice ced with dry humor.

  "No, I’ll pass," Finn quickly answered.

  He started to doubt everything he knew. Maybe he’d beeiy all along. Still, he decided to go along with it for now and focused his attention ba Yukha.

  "But you said you're a human? This is the first time I’ve ever seen one," Yukha said. "So this is how humans look. I've only ever heard about you from legends."

  "I mean, I haven’t seen an orc before either," Finn said awkwardly. "And humans don’t usually have this," he added, pointing to his scar.

  "Yes, I tell," Yukha chuckled lowly. "So, a human... that means you’re from Earth?"

  "Uh… yes? You know, from the Sor System? Which, until just a minute ago, I thought was the only habitable p the whole universe."

  At Finn’s firmation, Yukha raised an eyebrow, his expression hardening.

  "So, it’s true then... How creatures from Earth are sheltered," Yukha said. "Not many know of your kind. Rumors say your p is favored by something a."

  "Earth is favored? What do you mean? I’ve been living there for over 20 years and wouldly call it favored," Finn replied, his fusion growing.

  Yukha snorted, shaking his head slowly. "Ah, boy, you wouldn't uand. Such things are passed down through geions. They say Earth is uhe prote of something mighty—strohan any of the Great Gods. It keeps your world safe from corrupted elementals."

  Great Gods? I thought there was only one?

  "Corrupted elementals?" Finn asked, still fused.

  Yukha's sharp eyes softened with a hint of pity. "You truly do not know, do you? Did not know about the phoenixes either, calling them just a fming bird. What a shame. I assume there's no elementals either... not on your Earth."

  "Sorry, I’m lost. Elementals? Corrupted elementals? Gods?" Finn asked, genuinely baffled.

  "You really don't know, do you?" Yukha said, his voice tinged with a mix of disbelief and amusement. "Even though you're a didate? I was uhe impression an invitation was required to even reach this pce."

  He sat down with a grunt, crossing his legs auring for Finn to follow.

  "Well, we have some time. I might as well expin things to you. Being clueless now is ohing, but it will not serve you ohe ast begins. Without uanding what lies ahead, you will not st long."

  Fiated, but seeing Yukha’s seriousness, he sat down too, ready to listen.

  Besides, judging by Yukha's responses, he was starting to realize something. Maybe he was the one who was out of his element here. Perhaps it was him who had misuood the universe all along.

  "First, the universe. I assume you at least have some idea of how vast it is?" Yukha began. "In fact, it’s so immehat there are tless pary systems—like your sor system and our Torrina system—that ’t even begin to be fully ted. And with every passing millennia, more systems are born. Among these systems lie habitable ps, like ours."

  "And how do you know this?" Finn asked, narrowing his eyes.

  "I know because some members of ord travel to these other ps—either for trade or to provide aid during against wars, much like I do," Yukha replied with a hint of pride.

  Pary travel? What the hell?

  Yukha noticed Finn’s stunned expression and smirked. "Judging by your face—like a mert lost in a battlefield—I'm guessing you humans don’t yet have the means to visit other ps?"

  "Well," Finn began defensively, "we’ve been to our moon once."

  At this, Yukha let out a hearty ugh. "Adorable," he said, shaking his head.

  Finn’s cheeks burned, but he bit his tongue, choosing io focus on what Yukha was saying.

  "Now, let’s move on to the Freat Gods," Yukha tinued, his tone shifting to something more reverent.

  Four? So, he wasn’t talking about the Trinity?

  "First, the Stone God, Terron—the eldest among them," Yukha expined. "Then Maris, the Water God, the sed oldest. Isha, the Fire God, the sed you. And finally, Lirael, the Wind God—the you of the four."

  Gods based on the four basic elements? A fire god?

  "Those elements sound familiar, but I’ve never heard those names before," Finn said, frowning.

  "I did not think you would," Yukha replied. "Your kind likely does not know much about the gods. In any case, all living beings in this world borrow their power. Humans, though... your kind even do that? I have never been sure."

  "Well, I kind of summon fire. Does that t?" Finn said.

  "Summon fire? You mean make it appear out of thin air?" Yukha asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

  "Yeah, out of nothing," Finn firmed.

  "And this... was it before or after you got the system?" Yukha asked, leaning forward a little.

  "What system?" Finn asked, genuinely fused.

  Yukha blihe out a deep chuckle. "Well, sider me shocked. You might actually be a natural. That would expin a thing or two, wouldn’t it?"

  "A natural? What’s that supposed to mean?" Finn said, frowning.

  Yukha exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "I told you earlier how we borrow the Great Gods’ power, didn’t I? Most of us use the elements already around us—Wind, Stone, Water, even Fire that’s already burning. But naturals don’t o borrow. They make the elements themselves, out of thin air."

  "I see. And what about this ‘system’ you mentioned?" Finn asked.

  "The system is how we see our stats, skills, and elemental affinities," Yukha expined. I got mi the same time as the invitation to the Assion Ceremony. Same as everyone else here, I’d wager. What, you seriously don’t have one?"

  Stats? Skills? Affinities? Finn definitely reized the terms but couldn’t ect them to anything in this pce, if it really wash.

  "No idea," he admitted.

  Yukha chuckled again, shaking his head. "You’ve got a lot to learn, Fin bring it up with the anizer when he shows up."

  "And what's the Assion Ceremony? The anizer mentioned something about a Tower of Assion—what’s that about?" Finn asked, still trying to piece things together.

  Yukha leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. "Like I said, worlds are born every millennium. When those worlds evolve enough to have se beings, they need someoo lead and protect them. That’s where the tower es in. The invitation says if you make it to the top and quer the tower, yrahe power of a demigod a a po rule over."

  "Being a demigod? Ruling a p?" Finn said with a dry ugh. "Just a moment ago, all I wanted was to survive. Now this?"

  Yukha snorted. "If you make it to the top, that is. Everyone here’s gotten the invitation, and we’ve all been given a system, ten years ago. A decade to traironger, and level up."

  Level up? Another familiar phrase. But from someone who wasn’t even supposed to be from Earth? That was ued. Did other races have RPG games too? Or even know what they were? Whoever had handed out these systems clearly knew something about them, though.

  "Okay, but if I was brought here and haven’t gotten the system yet. And if everyone had been training and leveling up with the system for a decade... Does that mean I’m way behind? Am I not in a position to even try for the tower?" Finn’s voice dropped as the realization began to seep in.

  Yukha met his eyes steadily. "That’s for you to figure out. But if you want the truth, everyone here is one of the stro beings in the universe. No one is getting through the tower without power. And that’s what the system is for."

  Before Finn could speak out his worries again, the bring sound of hundreds of trumpets bsted through the air, an overwhelming, deafening cacophony. Finn winced, immediately c his ears to shield them from the assault.

  A single beam of light pierced through the air, brighter and more brilliant than any of the floodlight-like lights around them. It illumihe space like a spotlight, drawing every eye to its source.

  Finn squinted and looked upward, expeg to find some sort of ceiling. But there was none. Above him was an endless expanse of blue, dotted with puffs of white, like the clear skies of a perfect afternoon.

  "The sky?" Finn murmured to himself, his heart rag. His mind struggled to make sense of it. "Don’t tell me… this pce—The Threshold, is still somewhere oh?"

  But then, something even more bizarre happened, f him to resider.

  The sky above them didn’t just open; it ripped apart, violently, like a great whirlpool tearing through the heavens.

  In that moment, for the third time in what felt like mere minutes—if it had evehat long—Finn thought he was about to die... Again.

  As the swirling vortex above him seemed to threaten to swallow them whole, starting with him, it did the ued. Instead of pulling them in, it spat something out. No—someone.

  Even from a distance, Finn could make out their form. The figure wore a milky white robe that shimmered with ahereal glow. At the hem, a line of gold traced the edges, as if they were draped in the very fabric of the sun itself.

  An angel? Am I in heaven now? Where really even is The Threshold?

  When the glowing figure reached a height where Finn could clearly see him, the whirlpool snapped shut. The bring sound of trumpets ceased abruptly, repced by an eerie silenot a single murmur, no rustle, no sign of movement filled the air.

  "Greetings, didates. Let me introduce myself again," the still-floating man said, his voice slig through the quiet like a sharp bde.

  His words were crisp and clear, resonating off the unseen walls of the vast space.

  Amid the whirlwind of questions tumbling in Finn's mind, oood out more than the rest.

  "My name is Halgon, a demigod. You think of me as one of the messengers of the Freat Gods. "