[The first Chapter is a bit slow but it's necessary from chapter 2 the pace increases and the world deepens.] A lean young man lay on the ground, breathing hard. His chest rose and fell in quick, shallow movements, and his eyes stared up at the sky without focus. Dark, unwashed hair hung to his ears, framing a face that looked too thin for his age. Rem. In front of him, the Crawler King lay dead. Its black chitin shell was split open along the head. A dull grey orb, cloudy like old glass, stared blankly from the wound. Black ichor seeped from the gash in its maw and spread across the stone beneath it. In Rem’s hand, the Serpent’s Kiss still dripped with the monster’s blood. The blade was narrow and curved, more like a long fang than a sword. He could feel the vibration of the kill traveling up his arm, a faint tremor in the metal. He had stabbed it. He had killed it. Then, in the darkness behind his eyelids, white text began to form. [ABYSSAL GUARDIAN: CRAWLER KING — TERM

Rem kept moving. The sky above was a flat, heavy black that seemed to soak up the light from the streetlamps. He found the entrance he was looking for—a concrete mouth cut into the sidewalk with a sign that read U7 ARENA in peeling, sun-bleached paint. He headed down the stairs. The air changed as he descended, growing thick with the scent of damp stone, old electricity, and that faint, metallic undertone he'd lived with for years. The silence in the stairwell wasn't peaceful; it felt like a held breath. The station opened up into a vaulted cavern, and it was already packed. It smelled of unwashed bodies, machine oil, and the sharp, sour tang of pre-fight sweat. Rem scanned the crowd, watching a man in the corner methodically tightening the straps on a set of leather armor, his hands moving with a slow, practiced rhythm. Nearby, two women stood back-to-back, their eyes constantly roaming the room while their fingers rested on the hilts of their knives. In the distance, someone wa

[Trial Segment: Path of Judgment.] [Choose your fate.] [Time Remaining: 02:00:00] Panic erupted almost immediately. "Two hours? For what?" a man yelled, his voice sounding strangely loud in the quiet cathedral. The silver-haired girl seemed unaffected. She walked toward the Sword arch without saying a word and disappeared into the darkness beyond it. A Highborn boy with a smirk followed the Scale path, and that seemed to encourage others. Soon, several people were pushing toward the same arch, arguing over what it meant and whether choosing together would make them safer. Rem stayed where he was. There were three paths. The Sword was straightforward. Strength, violence, direct conflict. It was probably the natural choice for anyone confident in their ability to fight, but for someone in Rem's condition, it was almost an invitation to die. The Scale was different. Truth, judgment, balance. It sounded more suited to people who relied on their minds instead of their fists, but t