Kairo turned, senses on high alert, and found himself in a vast chamber that looked for all the world like a castle's throne room. Dust motes danced in the faint, eerie light filtering from unseen sources high above, illuminating a raised dais at the far end where a massive, empty throne sat shrouded in shadows.
And standing before it, his back initially to Kairo, was the man. The male Red Trace.
A cold dread washed over Kairo. "There's no way… I'm dying again, aren't I?" he thought, his body tensing. If this figurd possessed the same overwhelming strength as the figures in the labyrinth, this was just another futile prelude to death. He shifted into a fighting stance, but indecision warred with his readiness. Attack? Flee? Was there even a point?
Then the man turned and attacked. A dark pulse of raw gravity shot from his outstretched hand, hurtling straight towards Kairo. But as it flew, something clicked in Kairo's perception. The attack powerful, yes – but it wasn't the impossible speed he'd faced in the maze.
Shock, this time a jolt of electrifying hope surged through him. He dodged the gravity pulse as the dark energy cracking the stone floor where he'd stood a heartbeat before.
"This one… this one is different!" Kairo realized, a wild hope blooming in his chest. "His strength… it's like the one I fought last week, not the overpowered nightmare from the hallway!" Relief cut through his fear. This was a fight he could actually fight. With newfound determination, he sprinted forward, daggers leading the charge. The man met his assault, blocking Kairo's twin daggers with shimmering shields of gravity that formed around his hands. The impact sent sparks flying. Kairo pressed the attack, but the man's defense was solid. Pivoting on his heel, Kairo leaped, his boots finding purchase on the chamber wall. He kicked off, launching himself back towards his opponent, daggers aimed. And Mid-air, with a sharp mental command, he sent a wave of his ice affinity surging downwards. The stone floor beneath the Red Trace instantly frosted over, then erupted in jagged ice spikes that caught the man's feet, momentarily trapping him.
Kairo landed, using the man's slight immobility to his advantage. He unleashed a flurry of slashes, his daggers hammering against the hastily reformed gravity shield. Each impact was a jarring shock, but he pressed on, relentless. He spun, channeling his momentum into a powerful roundhouse kick that slammed into his opponent's torso with solid force. The gravity shield flickered, and the man was forced to stumble back a step to absorb the blow. Before the figure could fully recover his footing, Kairo thrust his hands forward. Dozens of needle-sharp ice crystals materialized in the air and shot towards him like a deadly volley.
Several of them found their mark, piercing the man's arm and shoulder. They hit! Excitement flared within Kairo. I can do this! I can actually win! The man coughed, a fleck of blood at the corner of his lips. His face, previously impassive, twisted into a mask of cold fury. He straightened, the wounds already beginning to seal with dark energy. It was clear he was done underestimating his opponent.
Kairo tensed, readying his next attack, but then it happened. That familiar, dreaded sensation. An invisible force clamped down on him, rooting him to the spot, just as it had that day he'd been defeated. He was frozen, unable to move a muscle. The Red Trace raised an arm, a dark sphere of gravity coalescing in his palm, clearly intending to slam Kairo into the nearest wall.
"Oh no, not this time!" Kairo's mind screamed, a defiant roar against the crushing pressure. He focused inward, drawing on the raging blizzard of his ice affinity, then pushed it outward with every ounce of his will.
An immense, super-intense wave of ice flames erupted from his very skin, not just cold, but burning with an impossible, ethereal chill. The azure and white energy overwhelmed the dark gravity holding him, shattering its hold. Kairo broke free, his eyes blazing with a light that seemed to mirror the incandescent frost now wreathing his body. He didn't hesitate, channeling the volatile energy into a focused blast, shooting a torrent of the ice flames directly at the Red Trace. The man countered, launching his own concentrated gravity pulse.
The two opposing forces collided midway between them in a spectacular explosion, sending a shockwave through the throne room. Smoke and debris filled the space, obscuring everything. Kairo seized the opportunity, he activated Stealth Mode. As a feint, he hurled one of his daggers with a flicker of ice-enhanced speed towards the left side of where he estimated the man to be, then immediately ghosted to the right. He heard the clang of his dagger being deflected. The man had noticed the projectile, turning to block it. He fell for it!
Kairo lunged from the man's exposed right flank, his remaining dagger a silver-violet blur. The blade struck true, piercing deep into the man's upper arm. The man roared, ignoring the searing pain, his hand shot out with blinding speed, snagging a handful of Kairo's hair. Kairo cried out as his head was yanked back. With brutal force, the man slammed him face-first into the stone floor. The impact was agonizing, stars exploding behind Kairo's eyes. The pain, sharp and visceral, dragged him back to the memory of his last humiliating defeat at this man's hands. Before he could recover, still held fast by his hair, he was lifted and then thrown, crashing violently against the far wall of the throne room. The world tilted, his breath knocked out of him. Every nerve screamed. But through the searing pain, something else ignited within Kairo – an unadulterated rage. "No! I Am Not Fucking losing to you again!" The man was already stalking towards him, Kairo still dazed and crumpled at the base of the wall. He reached down, grabbing Kairo by the hair again, and lifted him, his feet dangling a few inches from the ground, a cruel smirk on his face.
That smirk, that arrogant confidence, was the final spark. With a guttural scream that tore from his very soul, a sound of pure, unbridled fury, Kairo slapped both his open palms against the sides of the man's head with every last bit of strength he possessed. His hands clamped onto the man's face, and he didn't let go. Then, he unleashed hell. The ice flames didn't just burst from his hands; they exploded, engulfing his own arms, then surging outwards to completely consume the Red Trace's head and upper body in a roaring vortex of incandescent, freezing fire. Kairo kept screaming, pouring every last drop of his Etheron, his pain, his rage, into the inferno.
The man thrashed, desperately trying to pry Kairo's hands away, to throw him off, but Kairo's grip was like a vise, his body fueled by an almost berserk strength. The sizzling sound of the ice flames was punctuated by the man's choked, muffled cries, Kairo held on, screaming, until the intense light of his own flames was all he could see, until the struggling beneath his hands ceased, until the Red Trace operative simply… burnt down, his form crumbling into super-chilled ash and dissipating into nothingness before his very eyes.
Kairo's legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees on the cold stone floor of the throne room. The adrenaline faded, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion and the raw ache of his throat from that final, desperate scream. Tears, remnants of pain, rage, and a sliver of disbelief, still streamed down his face. He roughly wiped them away with the back of his hand, his breath hitching in a ragged sigh.
"I… I did it," he whispered, the words raspy. He stared at the spot where the Red Trace operative had stood, now only a scattering of super-chilled, icy ash that seemed to glitter faintly in the dim light. He had actually won.
A familiar chime broke the silence, and the Codex interface shimmered into view.
[URGENT QUEST: A SECOND CHANCE – COMPLETE!]
[LEVEL UP! HOST HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!]
[REWARDS AVAILABLE]
He managed a weak, triumphant smile. Level 10. He'd made it.
Slowly, Kairo pushed himself up and walked over to the nearest wall, slumping down against it. He was utterly drained, every muscle screaming. The 'Full Recovery' option beckoned on the Codex display, but he hesitated. He didn't feel critically injured, just profoundly exhausted. Better save it for when I really need it, he decided. He navigated the interface, a practiced weariness in his movements, and allocated his new stat points, focusing on bolstering his core attributes.
Then, he turned his attention to the rewards. The first was another training card, similar to the Obsidian Spire and Frostfell Wilderness ones, but this one radiated a far more ominous aura. Its surface was a swirling vortex of black and violent red, and the name etched onto it in jagged, silver letters sent a shiver down his spine: [THE DEMON TOWER].
A part of him, the part that thrived on challenge and growth, was undeniably excited to tackle whatever horrors that card held. But another, more tired part of him knew it could wait. Right now, he thought, I need a break. I need to see my friends, properly rest. And most importantly… He remembered the shard in his pocket, the key to his lineage and, hopefully, more power. Now that I'm Level 10, it's time to get the second fragment from the facility's Equipment Chamber.
He mentally selected the second reward. A cascade of notifications flooded his vision.
[HOST HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!]
[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: CODEX SHOP]
[CALCULATING BONUS REWARDS… STAND BY…]
[30,000 CODEX COINS ADDED TO INVENTORY]
"Shop?" Kairo murmured, his brow furrowing in confusion. He tapped the new icon on his Codex grid. An interface materialized, looking remarkably like an in-game store, filled with categorized listings: Weapons, Armor, Potions, Skill Tomes, Miscellaneous. Each item had a description, stats, and a price in 'Codex Coins.'
He scrolled through, a sense of bewildered awe growing. He could buy power-ups? As he browsed the potions section, one item caught his eye: [Elixir of Unburdening – Instantly banishes fatigue and minor aches. Price: 150 Coins].
Perfect. He mentally selected 'Purchase.'
[CONFIRM PURCHASE: ELIXIR OF UNBURDENING (150 COINS)?]
"Yes."
[-150 COINS DEDUCTED FROM INVENTORY]
[ELIXIR OF UNBURDENING ADDED TO HOST INVENTORY]
A small, faintly glowing vial materialized in his hand with a soft pop. He uncorked it and drank the cool, minty liquid. A refreshing warmth spread through his limbs, the profound exhaustion washing away like a receding tide, replaced by a comfortable alertness.
"This," Kairo breathed, a wide grin spreading across his face, "is so sick!"
But even with his energy restored, it was time to leave. He focused on the portal option, and the shimmering gateway out of the Sanctum of Shadows tore open before him. He stepped through, finding himself back in the familiar, sterile confines of the C.E.L.E.N. training chamber.
As he walked towards the exit, his mind was already racing. The artifact fragment. Should I ask Natasha to help me get it? Or… His father's warnings about trusting C.E.L.E.N., combined with the recent War Room discussions he wasn't privy to but could sense the echoes of, made him wary. No. Better if I get it myself. Keep it a secret for now.
He decided there was no time like the present.
Activating Stealth Mode, Kairo slipped out of the training chamber, his enhanced agility and now Level 4 stealth skill making him a ghost in the facility's corridors. He navigated the familiar routes with practiced ease, his heart thumping with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Soon, he reached his destination: the Equipment Chamber. It was a massive, reinforced metallic door, its surface gleaming under the corridor lights, a prominent facial recognition scanner beside it.
Kairo's heart sank. "Aahh, shit," he thought, deactivating Stealth Mode in the deserted corridor. "Now I don't have a choice but to ask Natasha. There's no way I can get past that."
Just as he was about to turn away, his hope deflating, he heard footsteps. Two C.E.L.E.N. agents, engrossed in conversation, rounded the corner, heading straight for the Equipment Chamber. Kairo instantly reactivated Stealth Mode, pressing himself flat against the wall.
One of the agents stepped up to the scanner. A brief whir, a green light, and the heavy door hissed open.
My chance!
As the agents walked in, Kairo, completely unseen, slipped through the gap just before the door began to close. He held his breath, moving silently into a shadowed corner of the vast chamber, waiting until the two agents had retrieved what they needed and departed, the door hissing shut behind them.
He let out a silent sigh of relief and deactivated Stealth Mode. He was in. The chamber was enormous, filled with rows upon rows of high-tech weaponry, armor, and glowing devices he couldn't even name. "Right," he muttered to himself, "now how do I find one specific artifact in all this?"
As if in answer, he felt a sudden, intense heat from his pocket. He pulled out the obsidian shard his father had given him. It was burning hot to the touch and glowing with a faint, pulsing red light, far more intensely than ever before. The glow seemed to tug gently in a specific direction.
A compass.
Following the shard's insistent pull, he navigated through the aisles of advanced equipment, the glow intensifying as he moved deeper into the chamber. It led him to a smaller, even more secure-looking room off to the side. The door was unlocked.
When he stepped inside, his breath caught in his throat. Dominating the center of the room was the colossal, perfectly preserved skeleton of a dragon, its bleached bones arcing towards the high ceiling in a display of ancient, terrifying majesty.
And nestled near its massive skull, resting on pedestals within two separate, illuminated glass display boxes, were two artifacts.
His gaze was immediately drawn to one. The plaque beneath it read: [Goldscale Core - Sovereign Tier Artifact]. As he moved closer, the obsidian shard in his hand blazed with an almost blinding crimson light, vibrating intensely. That was it. This had to be the second fragment. It was a beautiful, pure gold, egg-shaped stone, about the size of his fist, with intricate red veins pulsing softly within its depths, as if it were alive.
His heart hammered against his ribs. He carefully, reverently, lifted the heavy glass casing from the Goldscale Core. He reached out, his fingers closing around the warm, surprisingly smooth surface of the golden artifact.
Now he held both pieces – his father's dark shard in one hand, the radiant Goldscale Core in the other. He brought them together.
As they neared, he focused his Etheron into them, a silent command, a plea. The Codex chimed.
[ARTIFACTS ARE REACTING…]
The shard and the Core leaped from his grasp, hovering in the air between his hands. They began to circle each other, slowly at first, then faster and faster, a blur of red and gold light. A powerful thrumming energy filled the small room. Then, with a brilliant flash, they collided, merging into a single, perfectly unified piece – a sphere of deepest obsidian that pulsed with an inner golden-red fire. Before Kairo could react, the fused artifact shot forward and phased directly into his chest, painlessly sinking into his very being.
[FUSION COMPLETE!]
An unimaginable power surged through Kairo. He cried out as his body was lifted from the ground, an immense, visible aura of roiling red and black energy erupting around him, lashing out like living tendrils. He could feel it – a new, primal force awakening within, a power far beyond anything he'd ever experienced. The very air crackled.
The Codex flared with new pronouncements.
[NEW ELEMENTAL TYPE ACQUIRED: HELL-FIRE (DEVIANT)]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: DRAGON'S BREATH]
[DESCRIPTION: Allows the user to create, command, and manipulate Hell-Fire – a volatile, hyper-destructive deviant elemental energy, far exceeding the properties of normal fire.]
[HIDDEN SKILL UNLOCKED: FUSION]
[DESCRIPTION: Allows the user to combine compatible skills, artifacts, or equipment, to forge new, enhanced, or higher-level synergistic versions. Success and outcome are dependent on compatibility and user's understanding.]
Kairo slowly drifted back to the floor, the violent aura receding, though the immense power still thrummed within him, a controlled inferno in his core. He stared at his hands, clenching them. He felt… reborn. Again.
"Hell-Fire…" he whispered, a thrill of awe and a touch of fear running through him. He remembered Natasha's talk of Special Deviation Types. He then grinned, a wide, almost feral expression. "And a hidden skill for fusion? Sick. I've got to try that out later."
The possibilities were intoxicating. each one more potent than the last. He then took a steadying breath, It was time to go. Time to see his friends.
But as he turned to leave, an utterly overwhelming aura slammed into him. It was ancient, impossibly powerful, and so immense it felt like the air itself had solidified, crushing him from all sides. Kairo froze mid-step, his body locking up, a violent tremor running through his limbs. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, his newfound power feeling like a flickering candle in a hurricane.
[WARNING: EXTERNAL INFLUENCE DETECTED]
[SYSTEM ANOMALY: CODEX CORE INTEGRITY COMPROMISED…]
[STABILIZATION PROTOCOLS FAILING…]
The world around him began to glitch. The stone walls flickered like a bad holographic projection, the colossal dragon skeleton dissolving and reforming in distorted waves. Panic seized Kairo as the very fabric of reality seemed to unravel. The next second, everything vanished. He found himself floating.
Not his body, but him – his consciousness, his soul, adrift in an endless, silent expanse of utter darkness. It was a profound void, a mental space beyond the physical world.
Then, from the impenetrable blackness before him, two colossal, sun-bright eyes ignited, followed by the slow, majestic emergence of a dragon. It was massive beyond comprehension, its scales like mountains of obsidian and volcanic gold, its presence radiating an ancient, terrifying power that dwarfed even the aura he'd just felt. It regarded him, and a voice, not heard with ears but felt deep within his mind, thundered through his consciousness.
"WHO DARES DISTURB MY PEACE" The dragon drifted closer, its vast shadow consuming what little non-light there was. Its gaze, like molten gold, bored into him, and the voice thundered in Kairo's mind once more, shaking his very essence.
"YOU PRESUME TO CLAIM THAT WHICH IS MINE? SPEAK, MORTAL! WHAT ARE YOU, TO THINK MY ESSENCE COULD EVER SETTLE IN SO FRAGILE A VESSEL AS A MERE HUMAN?"
Kairo was utterly speechless, frozen by more than just a physical force now. This was terror on an existential scale. What could he possibly say to a being like this, whose every word felt like a physical blow?
The dragon drew nearer still, its colossal head filling his non-vision, the golden eyes staring intently, as if peeling back layers of his soul. Then, an almost imperceptible shift occurred in its immense presence. The crushing weight of its voice lessened, replaced by an echoing note of profound surprise, perhaps even… disbelief. It had sensed something within him –
"WHAT IS THIS? A MORTAL… YET BEARING THE MARK OF THE ORDER?" The mental voice was still powerful, but now laced with a strange, almost fearful awe. "IMPOSSIBLE... MY SIGHT WANES WITH THE EONS, OR DO I TRULY PERCEIVE THIS? WHO ARE YOU, CHILD? SPEAK PLAINLY."
Kairo finally found his mental voice, though it felt small and fragile, a mere whisper against the dragon's resonance. "I… I have no idea what you're talking about… sir?" he managed, his thoughts trembling like a leaf in a storm. "I don't mean to disturb you. Truly. Just… please let me go."
The dragon remained silent for a long moment, its golden eyes unblinking, scrutinizing him from an ageless perspective.
"SO BLIND TO YOUR OWN NATURE, ARE YOU…" it mused, the earlier hostility now replaced by a deep, contemplative tone, almost… resigned. "YOUR CONNECTION TO THE GREAT ENGINE IS FRESH…I SEE. THE PATH STRETCHES FAR BEFORE YOU, YOUNG ONE. YET, THE CHOSEN ARE… SELDOM LEFT TO FALTER. ACCEPT MY REGRET; I MISTOOK YOU FOR A THIEF, A DEFILER OF SACRED TRUST, RATHER THAN ITS BEARER."
"It's… it's okay," Kairo thought back, feeling profoundly awkward and utterly out of his depth, the apology from such a being almost as overwhelming as its anger. "But… what's the Engine? The Order? Could you please explain what any of this means?"
A sigh like the shifting of tectonic plates, vast and ancient, resonated through the void. "TIME ERODES ALL, EVEN MY ABILITY TO LINGER HERE. AND YOUR UNDERSTANDING IS YET A SAPLING, UNREADY FOR THE STORM OF TRUTH. SEEK YOUR ANSWERS AS THE SEASONS TURN, YOUNG ONE. KNOW ONLY THIS: YOUR DESTINY IS A KEYSTONE, AND THE ROAD AHEAD IS PAVED WITH TRIALS." It paused, then continued "ACCEPT THIS PRESENT, YOUNG ONE. MAY THIS SMALL REMNANT OF MY BEING SERVE YOU WHEN THE SHADOWS DEEPEN."
As the last mental word faded, a large, obsidian-black rock, veined with what looked like shimmering gold scales, materialized from the darkness before Kairo. It drifted towards him, pulsing with a faint, warm energy. He reached out with his ethereal, non-physical hand and took hold of it. The instant he touched it, the endless darkness shattered.
With another violent wrench, Kairo found himself gasping for breath, back in the small, secure room within the Equipment Chamber, the skeleton of the long-dead dragon his only company. The oppressive aura was gone. He looked down at his physical hands. Clutched tightly in one was a solid, surprisingly heavy black rock, shot through with beautiful gold scales. It was real. His mind raced, trying to process the impossible encounter. A cosmic dragon? The Order? The Engine? His purpose? It was all too much. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted from the fight, the artifact fusion, and now this… With a sigh that carried the weight of more questions than answers, he opened his Codex inventory and carefully placed the enigmatic dragon-rock inside. Whatever it was, whatever it all meant, it would have to wait. He needed to see his friends. He needed something normal.
Kairo turned and walked out of the chamber, he left the Equipment Chamber and the C.E.L.E.N. facility, heading straight for the one place he hoped might feel like solid ground after a day that had fractured his understanding of everything.