The wooden sword in Lucian’s grip felt lighter than it should have. His muscles, honed over a month of grueling training, moved with newfound ease. He was faster now, sharper, more dangerous. Today was his final test before stepping into the Beyond—a spar against Selene, the woman who had taught him everything he knew.

  With a sharp breath, he lunged forward, his wooden bde descending in a swift arc toward her. Selene barely reacted—she simply tilted her sword to parry, the effortless movement deflecting his attack like it was nothing. The force of the impact sent a dull vibration up his arm, but he didn’t hesitate.

  Before she could counter, Lucian twisted his body, bending his back at an almost impossible angle to evade her follow-up strike. His spine curved unnaturally, his weight shifting without faltering, allowing him to slip away like liquid. It was one of the many strange advantages his Echo had granted him—he couldn’t fall or stumble. His bance was perfect, even in the most absurd positions.

  Selene exhaled, stepping back to reassess him. "I forget that you can do that," she muttered, a flicker of amusement in her voice.

  Lucian smirked. "You're just slow." His instinct to mock during battle had only grown stronger with time, and he relished in it. The moment he taunted her, a surge of power rippled through his limbs. He felt faster. Stronger. His Echo thrived in conflict, feeding off the chaos he created.

  Selene’s eyes narrowed. She dashed at him, her body zigzagging in a diagonal pattern to throw off his defenses. Lucian barely had time to react before her sword sshed toward his ribs.

  His instincts kicked in.

  He shifted his weight unnaturally, pivoting on one foot in an almost impossible contortion to avoid her bde. At the same time, he swung his wooden sword from the opposite side, forcing her to redirect her defense.

  Their movements became a blur. Wood cshed against wood, echoing in the training hall. Each exchange was faster, more precise. Lucian grinned, pushing harder, swinging again and again from unpredictable angles.

  Selene deflected every strike, but she was frowning now, her body adjusting to his erratic, unorthodox attacks. "You really fight like a damn jester," she muttered. "Completely unpredictable."

  "That’s the idea," Lucian shot back, stepping forward with a flourish, his sword twirling before coming down in a sharp thrust.

  Selene finally changed her approach.

  Instead of parrying, she stepped in—fast. Too fast.

  Her knee shot up into his stomach.

  Lucian barely had time to react before the air was knocked from his lungs. His body bent backward unnaturally to absorb the impact, but it wasn’t enough. She grabbed his wrist and twisted, sending his sword cttering to the floor.

  And just like that, it was over.

  Selene stood over him, her bde resting against his colrbone. "Dead," she announced, her expression unreadable. Then, a slow smirk tugged at her lips. "But you sted longer than I expected."

  Lucian groaned, rubbing his ribs as he sat up. "You enjoy hitting me, don’t you?"

  "A little," she admitted. "But in the Beyond, there’s no room for hesitation. If you hesitate, you die."

  Lucian exhaled, letting the reality sink in. He was strong. Stronger than he had ever been. But Selene was still leagues above him.

  And the creatures in the Beyond? They would be even worse.

  Selene extended a hand, pulling him to his feet. "That was your final test. You’re ready."

  Lucian rolled his shoulders, shaking off the sting of defeat. "Then let's get this over with."

  _______________________________________

  Lucian stood among the crowd, his fingers twitching as he took in the sheer number of people gathered around the portal. There had to be at least five hundred of them—newly awakened, just like him. Some looked excited, others terrified. A few stood rigid, their eyes hollow as if they already knew they wouldn’t make it back.

  The portal chamber was massive, its dark stone walls humming with unseen power. At the center, the portal itself churned—a swirling vortex of bck and violet energy, pulsing like a living heart. It was wide enough to swallow an army whole, and in a few minutes, it would open.

  Lucian clenched his fists, suppressing the unease crawling up his spine. He had trained for this. He was ready.

  But not like this.

  They had stripped him of everything before bringing him here. No armor. No weapons. Not even the simple training clothes he had grown used to. Everyone stood in identical gray garments—barebones survival gear that offered nothing in terms of protection.

  It was part of the test.

  The first time someone entered the Beyond, they had nothing. No equipment. No supplies. Just their Echo and their instincts.

  Selene had expined it the night before.

  "If you can't survive the first day without a weapon, you wouldn't have survived with one."

  At the time, Lucian had ughed it off. But now, as he stood before the portal, the reality of what he was about to do hit him like a punch to the gut.

  Hundreds of them were about to be thrown into an unknown world, unarmed, unprotected, with no guarantee of return.

  And most of them wouldn’t come back.

  The chamber trembled as the countdown began.

  "Five minutes until transit," a voice echoed through the hall, calm and mechanical.

  Lucian exhaled, his heart pounding. Around him, whispers spread through the crowd.

  "Do you think we'll nd near a stronghold?"

  "I heard some people get sent straight into monster dens…"

  "If I find a weapon fast, I might have a chance."

  Fear was thick in the air. He could smell it.

  Selene stood at the far end of the room, arms crossed, watching him. She wouldn’t be going with him. She had already survived her first entry into the Beyond years ago. This time, she was just an observer.

  When their eyes met, she gave him a single nod.

  "Survive."

  That was all she had told him before he was taken to the chamber.

  Lucian smirked. "I pn to."

  A deafening boom shook the air. The portal roared to life, expanding outward, its dark energy crackling like a thunderstorm. A massive pressure wave washed over the crowd, making some stumble. Lucian stood firm, eyes locked on the abyss ahead.

  A mechanical voice rang out once more.

  "Portal stable. Initiating transition in five… four… three… two… one—"

  The world turned upside down.

  The moment Lucian stepped forward, everything blurred. Cold rushed through his veins, his body twisting and stretching in impossible directions. He felt weightless—adrift in a void of nothingness.

  Then, everything snapped back into pce.

  And he was falling.

  The wind howled past his ears as Lucian plummeted from the sky. He barely had time to process what was happening before instinct kicked in.

  Don’t panic.

  His body twisted midair, and he caught a glimpse of the ndscape below. A ruined city stretched out beneath him, its buildings cracked and overtaken by nature. Some were half-sunken into the earth, while others jutted out at impossible angles.

  Something was wrong with gravity here.

  Chunks of nd floated in the air, twisting slowly, defying the ws of physics. Rivers of red mist snaked between them like veins. In the distance, he saw a towering structure—a fortress.

  A stronghold.

  He needed to get there.

  Lucian gritted his teeth, angling his body as best he could. Others were falling around him, some screaming, others filing. One man wasn’t moving at all—he had already passed out from shock.

  'Not my problem.'

  The ground was coming fast. Too fast.

  Lucian had no parachute, no equipment, no way to slow himself down.

  Except—

  A flicker of instinct surged through him, and he felt something shift inside his soul.

  His Echo.

  For the first time, it responded to his desperation.

  The world warped around him. His perception of gravity twisted, and suddenly, he wasn’t falling straight down anymore. His trajectory curved—his descent turning into a chaotic spiral instead of a deadly crash.

  It wasn’t flight.

  But it was something.

  He nded hard, rolling across the cracked pavement before smming into the base of a broken statue. Pain shot through his body, but nothing felt broken.

  Lucian groaned, pushing himself up. Around him, others weren’t as lucky. Some had nded awkwardly, bones jutting out at unnatural angles. A few didn’t move at all.

  The Beyond had already cimed its first victims.

  Lucian exhaled,

  scanning his surroundings.

  Survive. That was his first goal.

  And to do that, he needed a weapon.