Clack! The door finally closed, and in an attempt to let oxygen back into my lungs which were expanding fast like I had been drowning, I loudly gasped, "argh."

At that point, nothing surprised me anymore. The only thought going through my head was to go home and eat a good meal with my brothers, and there I remembered… we were so poor that my brothers might have starved by now if they had not been consumed by the time they came back from this mission. I was promised a mere ten silver for this week-long mission.

I knew I was being ripped off, but I had no other choice as an unlicensed rift traveler. Being poor is for the weak, I had thought. I continuously blamed myself for my brothers, and I had.

My father and mother had been killed by my own hands to keep my brothers safe from those monsters.

I realized that I did not believe humans had any hope of goodness or…well, humanity in them. All of them are selfish bastards. They were only thinking of gaining for themselves and nothing else. It had been impossible for me to reason with nobles to get my brothers into Xenovia academy.

I had tried to make connections through fake smiles and tail-wagging favors, but none of them agreed. They just laugh it off, telling me I would be better off not sending them there as it would be their end.

I had lost myself in thoughts again. My attention is taken away by the despair these creatures had brought with the fear of it.

Click! I let go of the handle, and soon the door started dissipating, and the appearance of the hall changed to that of a small room with a big piano in the middle.

"Welcome, O foolish one"- a lady-like voice came from the piano's direction. Fear had engulfed my body once again as I froze up.

"Walk up, don't be afraid of this old one"-once again, her voice sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't shrug off the unsettling feeling that she was giving off despite knowing I did not have another choice.

"Thump, Thump" Loud footsteps echoed from my feet as I realized that my fear had gotten the best of me, and my body was moving on its own, getting closer to this shady figure.

"Do not fret as I am not the one that brings you demise," she proclaimed in a distinct low yet sharp voice. "I find it amusing that you don't recognize me anymore ---------" as if it was cut out, the last part could not reach me. I could not understand what she said, but she felt so familiar yet distant.

What amazed me most about this absurd scene unraveling in front of my own eyes was that even If

I could not see her face or how she looked, my gut told me that her beauty was unmatched; her grace was like no other.

I was so shocked that I could not bring myself to speak even when I calmed down; my mouth opened, but words would not come out, and I got lost in thought again; her loud voice interrupted my train of fearful thinking.

"It seems you cannot speak for yourself yet, and here I thought that you were ready for the Trial of the Castle,"-she said in a very disappointed tone, with her voice continuing to echo through the what seemed like never-ending darkness behind the spotlight that lied where the piano and the lady were.

"Fret not, O son of the night; you will soon find out the true meaning behind your sole existence,"- she uttered in a softer tone this time which had me forget who I was… what had I been doing until then.

This whole situation had made my memory so blurry as I walked through the dark corridors; there had been multiple windows that were the only light source that gave me even the slightest hope that there was a way out of this dark place.

The rift gate was just outside of the castle that was surrounded by only water and multiple giant rocks, this whole scenery was like straight out of a fantasy novel, but now I had been trapped in a room with this veil covered lady that was spouting some bullshit prophecy about me and unlike the fortune tellers that I never believed… this time I had no choice but to hear her out. Me being there was no coincidence.

If this had been a 5th class rift like I had been told, I would have finished and gone home to my brothers and bought them a good meal just like I had promised, and nothing wrong had happened until I walked into the rift. No distortion, commotion, or problems on the rift sync with reality.

So were all these events that unfolded the cause of some higher being… I was forced into believing as I had seen creatures that were worse than what some high-ranking rift walkers had described as being in the rifts between reality and these "Dreams."

This was the first time in a while that I had felt ultimately defeated by this forsaken thing that we call life. But little did I know that this would be the beginning of a new era…MY ERA.

"Now that YOUR time has come, it would be appropriate to let you go through with this,"- the white lady said again in a low, calm voice.

My confusion at her words would end when a door suddenly opened behind her and the piano. After gathering my thoughts, I began to step close to the door, and as I passed, I heard a whisper in the now familiar voice of the veiled lady.

'Try not to lose yourself, O son of the night."