Jude could not see anything, or rather what he could see were concepts that his mind could not comprehend, so all it could do was distil his surroundings into a simple pallid colour. There was nothing for him to stand on, yet he felt ground blurring underneath him. He was sure there was no air, but he could still breathe. It was a world that seemed fundamentally different to his own. A realm in which he did not belong.

  But even though he could not see, a power deep inside of him could sense he was not alone. Two Presences, so enormous that once again he failed to understand, were near.

  “That was the ending I wished Derhor received. We were known for being the wise, aloof city that remained separate from the very territory that we belonged in. A shining beacon of hope, only to fall at the hands of our own greed. Watching my uncle, tainted as he was, cut through our own people without a smidgeon of mercy in his eyes… That was what set me down this path. In some small way, his act changed the world did it not?” the spirit’s thoughts echoed directly into his own.

  “You… were Eva?” he asked hesitantly.

  That was why she had made him save her city. Not because she wanted him to become a hero, but because of her guilt. That one piece of information brought about countless other realisations. He had really gotten a glimpse into the past. They had all existed, and had mostly all died.

  “What was that gods-damn challenge? You did that just so you could see some happy ending!” Jude growled.

  Then the second presence broke their silence, “Such confidence. Even in the face of powers that are far beyond his understanding, he still has the courage to face us. And after what I just witnessed, I see why you think he would make a good fit. But you have revealed too much.”

  Confidence. As if. It was what happened when he lost all care of what happened to him. Evangeline, if that was her name, had broken him with a challenge unlike any of the noble Trials he had heard of.

  “Power exists in many forms, Jude Ravenhelm. Despite your desire for logic, you were ruled by emotions. Even though you hold a weapon of power, you were weak. Death after death, tempered with memories of a harrowing journey, left you broken. I am not one to teach morals, but if you see a pattern, you can find one on your own. But yes, perhaps I did enjoy watching you suffer to save my city.”

  Before he could think anything, the second presence cut in.

  “There is no time. They are holding him off. If we wish to implant it, there cannot be any lingering.”

  “Implant what?”

  Was he really about to become some sort of lab rat for these beings? Without getting any explanation on all the shit that had happened? Jude did not think so. First of all, they would need to tell him what that creature at the end was, and what they were putting in him, and where he was, and…

  He nearly forgot about the fact that he was supposed to awaken his Talent! Where was his reward?

  Evangeline sighed, or at least that was what he heard. He didn’t think a spirit could sigh.

  “I’m sorry. With this, you should find at least some of the answers you seek, if you live long enough. Try not to die until we’re able to retrieve it.”

  Then his world shattered to pieces. Jude opened his mouth, what he thought was his mouth, but was just a raw stump of a hole that wished it could talk. He needed to scream, struggle, move, but every single muscle in his body was locked in place. But the agony burrowed deeper than flesh, gnawing all the way into his soul.

  I am nothing. I am..

  His very identity was being reshaped, and remoulded. In those moments, Jude did not not know who he was. He was just a piece of meat enclosed around a torment that seemed to stretch on for infinity. Yet he could still think, every thought like a splinter widening the cracks of who he was, actively crushing the remnants of memory within him.

  Until his thoughts were all replaced with one word. A singular thing was forcefully shoved into the fraying ashes of his soul, churning infinite waters. Not just the realm, but every realm. He saw into everything, as the brightness threatened to burn him into nothing.

  MYTHOS.

  Evangeline struggled to contain the reaction, focusing all her strength onto the squirming boy as the power was rewritten into every spark of his being. Her fellow fragment also assisted, keeping the chaotic storm locked onto the small time bubble they were isolated in.

  A conscience that she had forgotten rose up to question what she had done. The burden that she had placed on the boy who just wanted to live. Those who already had stories revolving around them would have an easier time encapsulating the Nexus. However, they would not last for long.

  But it was the only way to keep it hidden. Granting it to someone who could not possibly achieve much. Even with his Talent, Jude Ravenhelm had no distinct shift in the waters unlike his companions. That was why she had risked revealing so many secrets.

  “Enough. He is almost here. We must stabilise it now before he realises.”

  “What? But it’s incomplete!”

  “Remember what we agreed on, and our own sacrifice for humanity. This is needed, at least until we find the chosen.”

  And with that, everything returned.

  Jude felt like his entire body had been dragged through a lake of molten metal, left to melt. He groaned, or at least wished he could.

  But at the same time, a sudden pulse opened a gate within him. Unleashing a deluge that he knew was supposed to feel magnificent, but only helped ease some of his discomfort.

  One pulse. One Talent.

  As far as he knew, Talents only existed within a few people, so even having one was lucky enough. He tried to smile.

  Then he fell into the middle of battle.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  None of them had expected the mist to vanish.

  Athanius had been leading them forward, following the footsteps of at least one of the sacrifices, while stepping over the lifeless Fiends peppering the ground like drops of excrement. He remained calm, refusing to flinch, remembering full well that any sign of weakness was beneath him. Especially since they were pathetic Fiends.

  No matter how stomach-churning their appearance might be.

  Some of Lilian’s acolytes had started to get nervous. Far too inexperienced for this mission. Most of them did not have Talents designed for combat, more for scouting and a prepared ambush. The Chrysalis Sect should have given him better, considering that it was in a burgeoning period of growth. Sure, during the Fellstorm they had performed well, but he was sure that none of them had killed a human. Having useless Nascents, even in a situation where they would not have to do most of the fighting, was not the best outcome.

  It was a shame what they had done to the initiation.

  He stepped past thistles that cracked like vacant eggshells under his boots, starting to get annoyed. This was the spirit’s domain. Why was it waiting to bring them in?

  “Patience.” he received a condescending look, and snarled.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Instead of responding, her face shifted, alert, “They’re close.”

  “Why didn’t you say this earlier?” Athanius whispered harshly.

  Behind them, their followers froze, unsheathing their weapons and backing into a formation. They all fell silent. It was rare that Lilian’s sensing ability was shrouded to such a degree, which meant that there was something unusual going on.

  That was when it happened.

  An ever-hanging remembrance that they were in a spirit’s domain, brushing against the rear end of the clouds themselves, completely disappeared.

  Revealing three humans. Two stood, wreathed in the glory of their awakening. The third was on the ground, dazed.

  Mere metres in front of them, a man swathed in the finest of armour, made of interlocking plates and gears that spun with a life of its own, stood with a harsh countenance plastered over his face. Surrounding him were a posse of six, each alit with the blaze of their individual Talents.

  No words needed to be exchanged. Realising all hope was lost, Athanius charged, summoning his wings to take off into the air.

  Jude had no idea what was going on, but knew he was in the way. Still gaping for breath, and jealous of both Dharn and the girl for not going to go through whatever that hell was, he tried to roll out of the way. His body responded to his call with newfound strength, surprisingly springy as he landed by the tree. Even though the minor pains of a headache was still there, it felt amazing. Everything about him seemed better, from cords of muscle that had latched itself to his arms, to reflexes that felt faster than a bullet.

  He felt like he had become the strongest in the world.

  A feeling that was probably the most stupid thing he had ever noticed.

  For, as oxygen flooded his lungs, he realised that the only reason he had escaped was because none of them considered him a target. The arrogant man from earlier looked shaken for the first time as a thrum seemed to ripple his body, gazing at the knight paused with the blade in front of him. Jude groaned. The ‘Peer’ had his curved, white scimitar right around the girl’s throat. He hadn’t even got to learn her name.

  “All of you stay where you are. I know how much you knights preach about the life of an innocent. One thought from me, and this… little failed sacrifice will go through a very unpleasant death.”

  The life of an innocent, huh.

  There were Blessed out there that believed in that, nowadays? He doubted it. Remarkably, none of the other side moved. Not even the knight, who was definitely a Paragon, considering the fact that he could feel his Presence pushing against his soul. Jude spotted the scarred man on the side, being restrained by the other Sect elite.

  Again, it seemed they had forgotten him. He felt like a bystander, which was the exact thing that he refused to be anymore.

  So, he drew upon the newly Flow. A warm cocoon that felt like it was inside his stomach. The power responded to him, and he prepared himself for the incredible miracle that was about to happen. Then his heartbeat sped up.

  What…

  At that moment, Athanius felt an invisible force prise his grip. His entire form crumpled, and catapulted into a branch with such force that the entire line of trees behind him were left flattened . An echo reverberated from his fingertips in vengeful fury, but it barely shifted the armour in his path. Feid strode forward, while chaos erupted behind him.

  “Good job, Talia.” his voice scraped the air like a whetstone dragged along an uneven blade, coarse and grating, dashing his hopes.

  You’re telling me that all it did was speed up my heartbeat.

  There was no time to lament, because two of the younger sect members had finally noticed him, approaching with raised hands. He contemplated rushing deeper, but had the irrational desire to stand at fight. Either he would die, or his Talent would bloom its true colours.

  The first unravelled a chain tied to her arm and flung it towards him. Embracing the warm thrill of the Flow, Jude grabbed at it, and felt his skin burn. But from the surprised reaction, it was supposed to do something else. As the warm pool spilled into every fibre of his body, Jude pulled on the metal and the sun-glazed steel suddenly shuddered. The silver stain was overcome with the crimson sheen of blood. And with a sharp thrust, it battered into the second cultist, whose face contorted into surprise. Before he melted like a wax statue. Jude felt another throb on the side of his arm, which had brought about a patch of flaking white, numb as if drained from blood.

  He was moving purely out of instinct, figuring out his abilities while fighting a battle sure to lose. Blood-based. Temporary invulnerability? Jude was not stupid enough to think he stood a chance. Both were definitely caught off guard by his reckless offense, but even the one that he had struck with the chain looked relatively unharmed.

  And he was right. Sensing the return of the second cultist, he was far too slow to intercept a neat carve through the head.

  Then, the noise of ringing metal rang like music to his ears. He found himself out of breath.

  Standing before him, lips pursed in a deathly confidence, was one of the most beautiful young women that he had ever seen. Not like his step-mother, who was simply inhumanly attractive, or the other girl, with her childlike innocence, but a mottled aesthetic carved with resplendent Flow. On the very tether of what was human, sculpted with scarlet curls that whipped against the side of her cheek. She was the Talia that the Paragon was talking about, he was sure of it. A Nascent casually overpowering a Peer, or perhaps even higher. It was quite possible, considering the wide variety of Talents, but the arrogant young man probably held something to have that attitude.

  If Jude had been a person to fall in love with someone because of their appearance, then this might have been love at first sight. Instead, he turned his eyes away, feeling as if they were burnt. Ingrained forcefully into his soul, he could tell the Mythos had responded in some small way. Whatever that meant, it was not good.

  The first cultist had taken the brief time to withdraw the chains back onto a latch around her arm, before beginning her own onslaught. Soil rumbled underneath, burning away, bringing up a cloud that obscured a dash. He was barely able to keep up with the successive hurricane that trickled through attempts to block, a frenzy that broke apart whatever haze he had left. So, Jude tackled her. Sharp fists struck his spine, that would soon snap it in half, yet in the time he had, Jude churned the Flow-blessed blood within him into a rupture that pulsated all the way into her soul.

  Into her Fount, though he did not know it. Face fallen slack, she collapsed onto the fallen leaves with a satisfying thump.

  “Useful.” a murmur sounded from the young woman that had effortlessly slaughtered her foe.

  He didn’t know what to say. The statement had been whispered so quietly that Jude wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear it. She had already left before he could utter another word.

  Jude turned as if to follow her, taking in the rest of the battle. It was almost at a close. The force from the Sect, while stronger than he’d expected stood no chance whatsoever. The devastation seemed to range across spans of the forest, a frothing mix of the elements, the remains of the trees, and the world itself trying to contain the clash borne from the Flow.

  Then the scarred man ran out of the chaos, and vanished. He flinched, not even questioning it. Teleportation as a Talent was not unheard of. If only he could escape from here. Jude did not dare interfere with any of these fights.

  Until everything around him began to crumble.

  Intermingling the space above them, the Astral Realm kneeled before the titanic deities. Two fragments, against one whole.

  A whole forged an eternity before fate of the other two had ever been conceived, birthed from a seed of their one true terror. Needless to say, Evangeline would have stood no chance if it had not been a mere husk of its former self.

  The various arrangements of the future wrinkled across her boundless sight. Grasping a corporeal form, she twisted the shadow’s null effect and watched her influence dribble into its own.

  Battles upon this plane, especially without a mortal body, were unlike anything the world had seen. Her fellow fragment merged with the Flow of the waters, pushing back against the shadow’s origin. It felt like they were winning, even though she knew that everything served its goal.

  A very human frustration came over her, as it escaped her grip, vanishing away like a melting phantom while commanding the Corruption to slice away at her Fount. Her soul fell apart into splinters, trying to find an outcome that she could take advantage of. But in the torrent that had formed from their clash, the future was but a faint idea swallowed by its hungry maw.

  Where…

  “Return to your master, vile thing! We do not possess what you seek.”

  As far as she knew, the seal still held. But somehow, his Presence was a typhoon amongst their ripples, leaking through the tight-knit strength of their sacrifice. It should have been a call to arms that all of her fellow fragments responded to. Yet, consumed by politics, even though they all knew what was going on, none moved to assist them.

  She felt the expected disturbance through the small piece she had left to watch over the mortals’ skirmish, and couldn’t help but feel grimly satisfied. The power-hungry state of the world would be left in an upheaval after this.

  As a Calamity was about to awaken from its eons-long slumber.