Ascension Protocol

The Gates of Power

Chapter 8: The Gates of Power

The final trial began at dusk.

It started not with a voice, nor a challenge, but with the sudden sensation of weight a thousand invisible hands pressing against Samuel’s skin, bone, and soul.

> Trial Objective: Core Compression Training – FINAL STAGE

Simulated Gravity Field: x8 Earth Normal

Duration Required: 600 seconds

Failure Consequence: Neural Snapback | Memory Fragmentation Risk

Reward: Stat Boost — Strength +2, Will +3

Progression Unlock: Ascension Tier II Access

He stood in the abandoned sub-basement of his complex, bare-chested, sweat already beading on his brow before the countdown even began.

Then it hit.

The force crashed over him like an ocean made of steel. His knees buckled immediately. His body screamed. Every tendon stretched, every cell compressed. The room distorted at the edges of his vision.

He fell once. Twice. But never stayed down.

He bit down on the inside of his cheek, blood running from his mouth, to anchor himself to pain the one sensation he still trusted.

Each second dragged like a century.

By minute four, his consciousness began to drift. The system activated Mental Forking, splitting his mind into fractured awareness. One fragment screamed in agony. The other whispered cold calculations: shift your weight, breathe in five-second bursts, override muscle collapse.

> Core Integrity Holding: 32%

Neural Stress: Rising

DNA Integrity: Stable

Estimated Completion Time: 92 seconds

His vision was nearly gone. But in his mind, Ayla's voice whispered once more:

> “Strength is not in muscle. It is in choice.”

“In choosing to rise when logic begs you to fall.”

He screamed not out of pain, but defiance and pushed harder.

The timer hit zero.

The weight disappeared.

And Samuel stood, hunched, trembling, lungs burning, but alive.

> Trial Complete

Stat Boost Applied

Ascension Tier II: Access Granted

> System Integration: 52%

New Module Unlocked: “Threadweaver Protocol – Skill Customization Enabled”

He collapsed to his knees, smiling through bloodied teeth.

He had won.

Three days passed.

The pain faded, but the power remained. His strength had grown not just in raw numbers, but in control. He could now feel the shift of tension in the air before movement. He could predict direction from eye flickers. He no longer simply reacted; he preempted.

Then came the message.

It arrived in a silver envelope physical, hand-delivered left on the cracked kitchen counter of his apartment without explanation.

> To: Samuel Gray

Subject: Provisional Acceptance – Zenith Academy of Advanced Sciences and Strategic Development

Congratulations.

Your aptitude scores on the national cognitive registry flagged you as a potential candidate for the Zenith Initiative.

You are invited to attend the upcoming academic quarter at Zenith Academy, the city’s most advanced institution for hybrid intellect and combat-adjunct training.

Attendance is not mandatory. But for individuals like yourself, options are rare.

Should you accept, transport arrives in 72 hours.

—Administrator Ryel Korr

Zenith Academy Council

Samuel read the letter twice.

Then he laughed dry, cold, quiet.

He hadn’t taken any exams in over a year. The system must have broadcast his Trial results… or worse, someone was watching from afar.

But one thing was clear.

This was no coincidence.

Zenith Academy wasn’t just a university. It was the university. Reserved for heirs, the ultra-elite, and those handpicked by unseen hands for reasons never revealed. There were whispers rumors of secret societies, of shadow duels in the courtyards, of government projects masquerading as scholarships.

Samuel wasn’t naïve. The system interface had already flagged five known alumni as affiliated with Red Order, Trine Consortium, and Echo Chamber three factions competing not just for wealth, but control.

> New System Entry Logged:

[Factions Identified at Zenith Academy]

– Red Order: High-aggression combat sect. Known for recruiting those with genetic anomalies and hosting underground ranking matches.

– Trine Consortium: Intelligence-based faction with global political influence. Members rarely seen; influence always felt.

– Echo Chamber: Digital supremacy advocates. Hackers, thinkers, post-human philosophers. Some believe they’re half-code already.

Estimated Risk of Open Conflict: Moderate

Estimated Risk of Covert Assassination: High

Samuel didn’t hesitate.

He accepted.

And began to prepare.

He trained harder than ever before.

He rewrote his combat protocols through the Threadweaver System, modifying Phase Edge to split mid-strike, allowing simultaneous dual-directional slashes.

He infused Veil Blink with a stability buffer, enabling consecutive blinks through narrow walls or even through security grids.

He created a stealth-based Adaptive Cloak Protocol from scrap skill components piecing together unused reflex modules with passive motion dampeners.

> Skills Updated:

– Phase Edge III

– Veil Blink II

– Ghostwalk (Passive)

– Pulse Reversal (New) – Temporarily reverses incoming kinetic energy back to source; cooldown: 60s.

The day before departure, he stood before a mirror, shirtless, the system glowing softly across his skin like circuitry beneath the flesh.

His face still looked human. But his eyes were something else sharper, colder, and unknowably deep.

He looked at the silver envelope again.

There would be others like him. Maybe stronger. Definitely older. Possibly crueler.

Some would want to recruit him. Others, to erase him.

He didn’t care.

Let them come.

Three hours before dawn, the sky shimmered as a sleek black transport descended on the rooftop of his apartment. The door opened silently.

A woman stepped out, clad in a long coat bearing the Zenith crest spiraling wings around an obsidian eye.

“You’re early,” she said.

Samuel stepped forward, hands in his pockets, mind already scanning for threat markers.

“No,” he replied. “You’re late.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You really don’t know what you’re walking into, do you?”

Samuel smiled faintly.

“Neither do they.”

The door sealed behind him. The transport rose.

And beneath them, the city exhaled.