Pain.
Not the familiar sting of a bde cutting flesh. Not the dull ache of bruises left from a fight. No—this was something deeper, something that cwed at the very essence of his being.
Lucian’s body felt like it had been ripped apart and stitched back together, but the seams weren’t fully closed. A sensation of wrongness pulsed beneath his skin, something foreign, something alive.
And beneath it all…
A ugh.
It was distant, buried beneath the weight of his thoughts, yet it was there—a presence, a whisper, an echo that refused to fade.
Then came the scream. A bloodcurdling shriek that wasn’t entirely human. His mind could barely process it before darkness swallowed him whole.
Now, he was awake.
Lucian’s eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, he thought he was still dreaming.
The bed beneath him was so soft, so warm, that he felt like he could sink into it forever. He had never felt something like this before. His whole life had been spent sleeping on cold concrete, on tattered bnkets, or not sleeping at all.
His fingers brushed against the silk sheets, and a pang of unease twisted in his gut. This wasn’t right.
Slowly, he forced himself to sit up.
The room around him was pristine, untouched by the decay and ruin he had always known. The walls were a smooth white, almost too perfect, with faint glowing lines running along the edges, pulsing softly—almost like they were breathing.
Lucian’s breath caught. No. That wasn’t right.
But the longer he stared at the ceiling, the more certain he became.
The walls… the ceiling… they were pulsing.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
Before he could question it further, the door swung open.
A girl stepped inside as if she had always belonged there, moving with effortless confidence.
She was young—maybe a year or two older than him—but something about her presence made her feel far more dangerous. She had short, dark silver hair that barely touched her shoulders and striking green eyes that flicked over him like she was evaluating something.
Her outfit wasn’t casual. It was built for war.
A sleek, reinforced combat suit clung to her form, armored ptes woven into the material in a way that didn’t restrict movement. At her waist, a curved dagger gleamed under the artificial light, strapped securely to her belt.
She was prepared—for what, Lucian didn’t know.
Then, she spoke.
“Hey, you… You’re Lucian, right?”
Lucian frowned. His voice was hoarse when he answered. “Yeah. Why?”
The girl smirked. “You awakened, didn’t you? Got an Echo and all that?”
His breath hitched.
How did she know?
Before he could ask, she waved a hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. That’s why I’m here—I’m supposed to help you. Make sure you don’t die when you go to the Beyond.”
The Beyond.
Lucian had heard the name before. A world that was repcing Earth piece by piece, merging with it in ways no one fully understood.
No one sane ventured there willingly.
Lucian’s fists clenched. “Who are you?”
Instead of answering, the girl reached into thin air.
Lucian’s muscles tensed, his instincts screaming at him to move, to run—but then he saw what she was holding.
A leather water bottle, covered in intricate swirling patterns.
Lucian’s breath stalled. Where the hell did that come from?
The girl caught his reaction and grinned. “Cool, right?” She tossed the bottle into the air and let it vanish again. “It’s a Forgotten. Weapons, armor, items… things we take from the Beyond.”
Lucian exhaled slowly.
A bottle. A simple bottle could be taken from another world and brought here.
That meant—
He swallowed hard. “You said I’m going to the Beyond?”
She nodded. “In one month.”
His hands curled into fists. One month. That wasn’t enough time to prepare for anything, let alone surviving in a pce filled with god-knew-what.
The girl leaned against the wall, her arms crossed.
“Normal people don’t get to know what I’m about to tell you,” she said. “But you’re not normal anymore. You’re Harmonic now, and that means you need to understand the world you’ve stepped into.”
Lucian didn’t reply.
“The Beyond is swallowing our world,” she continued. “It’s not just a pce—it’s a force. And once you step into it, you’re on your own.”
Lucian forced himself to stay calm. “And what happens if I don’t go?”
The girl’s smirk vanished. “Then the Beyond comes for you anyway.”
A lump formed in his throat.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Listen. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a stronghold—a pce where other humans have set up defenses. If you’re unlucky…” Her voice trailed off. “You’ll have to kill the Guardian of the stronghold to get back.”
Lucian swallowed. “And if I can’t?”
She met his eyes. “Then you die.”
Silence stretched between them.
“Now,” she said, shifting gears. “You need to know how the creatures in the Beyond work.”
She raised a hand, counting off her fingers.
“Monsters are ranked by two things: Css and Veil.”
Lucian listened intently.
“Css determines a creature’s physical strength and resilience. There are ten ranks:
Beast
Aberration
Butcher
Predator
Tyrant
Pgue
Cataclysm
Archangel
Colossus
Primordial”
She let that sink in for a moment before continuing.
“Then, there’s the Veil. That tells you how many Echo Runes a creature has.”
Lucian’s fingers twitched at the mention of runes.
“The ten Veil ranks are:
Lesser
Horror
Compound
Deformed
Anomalous
Runic
Executioner
Resonance
Devastated
Absolute”
Lucian exhaled sharply. Twenty different ranks.
The girl nodded. “Deformed rank and above? You run.”
Lucian’s jaw clenched. He wasn’t the type to run—but from what she was saying, these weren’t just monsters. They were something worse.
She pushed herself off the wall. “Enough talking. I’m training you until you leave for the Beyond.”
Lucian hesitated. “Wait. What’s your name?”
She gnced back at him, a smirk tugging at her lips.
“Selene.”
Then she turned and walked out the door.
Lucian sat there for a moment before shaking off the st remnants of his exhaustion. He felt different—stronger, sharper, like something inside him was coiled, waiting to unleash itself
But there was one thing he knew for sure.
This wasn’t Harrowpoint.
Not the Harrowpoint he knew.
And whatever had changed… it had changed him, too.
