Beneath the bustling city of Lumina, where the sky never reached and secrets thrived in silence, the Underground Market stirred with faint echoes of business and blood.
Shadows danced across damp stone walls, and among them moved a man cloaked head to toe in a sleek black suit, his face hidden behind a smooth mask that left only his sharp, watchful eyes exposed.
Rey walked briskly down the narrow lanes, weaving through stalls lit by flickering enchanted lanterns, whispering to the voice only he could hear.
"Are you sure there's nothing else here?" he muttered. "If we're done, I'm not staying another second."
"Relax," Aiden's voice replied lazily inside his mind. "I've scanned this place five times already. Nothing worthwhile leftâand now some pests have been trailing you for a while now."
Rey's gaze briefly flicked over his shoulder. He noticed a few eyes lingering too long, but none with enough intent to spark action.
Still, he didn't like the weight of attention.
After circling the market once more, Rey finally found the same guarded lift he had entered fromâjust a single man stood watch now. Nothing suspicious, maybe the other was off-duty. Either way, he kept his guard up.
Without a word, the guard noticed him and pressed a hidden button beneath a worn-out poster. A soft mechanical hum echoed as the lift arrived.
Rey stepped in, the metal door sliding shut behind him.
As the platform rose, he glanced at the walls of the shaft, their surfaces covered with some strange metal meant to hide this place from outsiders.
'
So much hidden beneath our feet... and I didn't even know until now.'
The lift opened, revealing two stationed guards aboveground. Rey passed silently between themâneither dared speak. Something about him, an invisible pressure, made their words stick in their throats.
They only realised how unnerving the man was after he vanished like a wisp of shadow under the streetlights, swallowed whole by the dark.
Rey used
Shadowmeld
, merging with the night as he raced across rooftops and alleyways, his movement ghostlike and flawless. With
Phantom Stride
, he soared through the urban maze, steps light as whispers, leaving no trace behind.
'Never again,' he thought grimly. 'That place is crawling with predators... and I'm not eager to be prey.'
Within minutes, he reached the familiar streets near his home. He avoided the front gate, instead slipping around to the side of the house. Like muscle memory, his hands found the crevices in the wall, and with practised ease, he climbed up to his window without even activating a skill.
Sliding into his room, silence greeted him.
'Good...'
He checked his phoneâno missed calls. Jasmine hadn't noticed a thing.
Creeping down the hallway, he peeked into his mother's room, then Emmy's. Both slept peacefully, untouched by the chaos he had just left behind. A quiet sigh of relief escaped him.
Downstairs, he poured himself a glass of water and leaned against the counter. That's when the kitchen light flicked on.
Heart skipping a beat, Rey spun around, instincts screaming, hand halfway to a hidden blade.
But it was just Jasmine.
She rubbed her eyes, yawning. "Rey...? What are you doing up at this hour?"
Rey quickly raised the tumbler in his hand. "Just... thirsty. That's all."
Jasmine glanced at the clockâ3 a.m. "Still, you should've turned on the lights. What if you bumped into something?"
"I didn't want to wake you," Rey lied with a casual shrug. "Besides, I've lived here long enough to walk it blindfolded."
"Hmph. Well, just don't stay up too late," she muttered as she shuffled back toward her room. "Your school's ended now, butâyou'll regret missing sleep if you get caught by me."
As soon as she disappeared toward her room, Rey exhaled deeply, wiping the sweat from his brow.
'That was too close...'
'You could have warned me?!'
he snapped at Aiden.
"Oh, please, what am I, your butler now?" Aiden scoffed. "It's your mother. Not some rogue assassin. You'll live."
Rey rolled his eyes but said nothing more. He finished his water, turned off the lights, and quietly made his way back to bed.
He barely touched the pillow before everything changed.
In an instant, he found himself once again standing in the
White Room
âthe mental realm where his spirits resided.
His eye twitched in irritation. "Can I not get a single night of sleep without being dragged here?!"
Aiden stood off to the side, arms crossed. "You can rest when you're strong enough to protect what matters. Otherwise? Get used to it."
"I justâugh. Fine. I'll train," Rey grumbled. "But let me look around first."
Something felt... off.
The White Room had changed.
Once an endless blank canvas of white, it now shimmered faintly with coloursâfaint pulses of red, silver, and deep violet weaved through the walls. Most shocking of all,
eight ornate doors
now stood around the perimeter, each humming with a strange power.
Victor stood before one, both palms pressed to the surface, trying to open it like his life depended on it. Aiden and Veylen, usually calm, watched their own respective doors intently, eyes narrowed.
"What's going on?" Rey asked, stepping toward one of the doors. It seemed to respond to himâglowing faintly.
He reached out, pushed... and it
opened
.
A sudden pullâan overwhelming void of darkness surged out, wrapping around his arms and face. He teetered forward, nearly consumed by it, when
Victor dashed forward
and yanked him back just in time.
The door slammed shut.
Rey staggered back, breath shallow, his heart pounding in his ears.
Victor frowned and tried the same door again, but it didn't budge. Just like before.
Veylen approached, his expression unreadable. For a moment, a subtle smile curved his lips, as if understanding something Rey hadn't.
None of them said anything. They just
stared at him
, waiting for him to explain what had just happened.
But Rey didn't respond.
He sat down on the floor in silence, pretending like he understood
nothing
.
Because truthfully...
He didn't.
"What the hell is going on here?" Rey demanded, eyes darting between the eight mysterious doors that had appeared in the soul realm. "What are these... and are you guys somehow involved?"
Veylen glanced at him, then away, his silver eyes unreadable. "Yes⊠and no. I know
what
they are. I know
why
they're here. But they're not ours. Not truly." He circled the truth like a vulture avoiding fire.
Rey narrowed his gaze. "Stop talking in riddles."
But the other spirits remained quietâeither unwilling or unable to explain more.
Frustrated, Rey turned toward Victor, who was still pounding on one of the unearthly gatesâa door so alien in design that even Aiden, the self-proclaimed All-Seeker of Knowledge, could not decipher its origin.
"Move," Rey said. Victor stepped aside wordlessly.
Rey pressed his palm against the surface.
Click.
The door that resisted even Victor's brutal strength now opened soundlessly at his touchâlike an ancient god recognising its master. A whisper of wind swept past them, cold and damp, as if the gate had been sealed for eternity. Victor lunged toward the opening, butâ
BAM!
The door slammed shut in his face, flinging him across the room.
"The hell...!" Victor stood, fury in his eyes. "I'll destroy you, you cursed door!" His fists blurred as he launched punch after punch, with some words automatically blurring out of his mouth in repetition. The gate didn't flinch. No dents. Not a single crack. Not even dust.
He finally stopped, breathing heavily, sweat sliding down his brow. Quietly, he returned to his seat.
He knew it nowâwhatever lay behind that door... it wasn't for him.
The others tested the remaining gates. All eight. And every time, it was the same. Only Rey could open them. Only Rey could cross their thresholds.
The five gathered around a conjured round table, summoned by Aiden.
"My theory is this," Aiden began, voice low. "These gates⊠they're the manifestations of the Octageon Arts. When Rey fulfilled the requirements for them, this realmâthis soul spaceâresponded. It built these doors as gateways to those arts."
A pause followed. A heavy, loaded silence.
"Think about it," he continued. "Eight gates. Eight supreme arts. And they've fused directly into your soul, Rey. Not ours. Just yours."
Rey's face hardened. "I got a prompt after completing the hidden requirements back then. Asking if I wanted to enter the Realm of Octageon Arts. I skipped itâŠ"
A flicker in the air.
[Host has met all hidden conditions. Do you wish to enter the Realm of the Octageon Arts? Yes / No]
He didn't hesitate."Yes."
The panel faded.
Seconds passed.
"Is something even going to happen or not...." Victor asked.
Thenâ
CRACK.
Above them, the ceiling split. A spiralling vortex formed in the dark sky, pulling everything upward.
Rey's feet left the ground.
"Oh, hell," Aiden muttered.
"Did you really have to say it?" he snapped at Victor, who'd just opened his mouth.
"It was
just
a coincidence!" Victor shouted back.
But no one listened. All four spirits leapt toward the vortex, refusing to leave Rey alone.
They were swallowed by the dark.
Rey awoke floating in a voidâblack, endless, suffocating. The four spirits hovered around him like sentinels.
"Where are we?" he whispered. "Inside me⊠or somewhere else?"
"Still within your body," Aiden said. "But far deeper than ever beforeâwithin your Sea of Consciousness. The place where your soul lives."
Rey turned, but saw nothing.
"Then where's my soul?"
"Right in front of you," Veylen said. With a snap of his fingers, the darkness pulled back like a curtain.
A faint light bloomed.
Thereâfloating in lotus positionâwas a perfect spectral version of Rey. Silent. Glowing. Calm. But not alone.
Around it orbited three luminous orbs and eight inert, strange itemsâdark, murky things that pulsed faintly.
"What are those?"
"The orbs?" Aiden explained. "That's usâyour spirits. One in your mind. One in your heart. One in your gut. And those eight⊠are the Octageon Arts."
Rey frowned. "So⊠what now? Do I touch them? Absorb them?"
"No clue," Aiden said honestly. "Not even I've seen something like this."
Then the system responded:
[System has detected entry into Host's Sea of Consciousness for
Octageon Arts
Realm.]
[Integration of the Arts has been initiated.]
[Beginning Soul Fusion in 3... 2... 1...]
[Process: INITIATED.]
The eight dormant items rippled.
One by one, they began to meltâliquid light pouring from their forms.
Rey's eyes widened as the glowing streams spread across his soul like paint on water. The light slithered into the soul's form, embedding deep within.
At first, it was calm. Silent.
Then chaos erupted.
The energy began to clash.
What had once been serene turned violent.
The Octageon Artsâeach containing divine knowledgeâweren't just merging. They were
resisting
. Like rival gods forced into one vessel, their powers began to war against one another inside Rey's soul.
His soulâonce clearâwas now a battlefield of colliding lights, colours, and raw power.
CRACK.
A jagged fracture split across the soul's surface.
Pain tore through Rey like lightning. His floating form spasmed.
In the real world, his body convulsed on the bed.
Veins bulged beneath his skin. His flesh turned crimson. His heartbeat exploded in rhythm. Blood rushed chaotically through his body, almost bursting out.
Victor saw it first. He vanished from the realm, reappearing beside Rey's physical form.
"Too fast⊠the arts are breaking him apart!" he growled, slamming his hand on Rey's chest.
His powers flaredâtrying to suppress the blood flow, stabilise the heart, and slow the collapse.
Back inside the soulâ
Crack.Crack.CRACK.
Rey's soul was falling apart. The vessel meant to contain divine-level power⊠was at its limit.
And it was about to break.
Rey was chokingâclawing at his own chest in the physical world.
The pain wasn't just pain. It was something
beyond
. His soul was tearing itself apart, and he could feel every second of it. His breath came in shallow gasps. His fingers trembled. His eyes had rolled back.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Aiden and Zero tried desperately to stabilize the torrent of wild energy threatening to shatter Rey's very existence.
But nothing worked. Their interference only dissolved into nothingness, like throwing twigs into a storm.
"This isn't working!" Aiden growled. "At this rate, his soul will rupture completelyâhe won't survive this!"
And yetâVeylen⊠stood still.
Unmoving. Silent.
His eyes, calm as a frozen lake.
Aiden turned toward him, fury brimming in his voice. "What are you doing!?
Help him
! Can't you see he's dying?"
Veylen's gaze remained steady. "Why should I interfere with fate?" he said softly, almost like a prayer. "Even you⊠should step back. Have you forgotten where we are?"
Aiden gritted his teeth. "You're insaneâ!"
"We are inside the
domain of our master,
" Veylen interrupted. "If he bestowed this power upon Rey, then he also bestowed the trial that comes with it. Trust in that. If Rey is meant to survive⊠he will."
Aiden clenched his fists, torn between logic and desperation.
Then, the system flared.
[System Alert: Sudden anomaly detected in host's body.]
[Dormant bloodline⊠has awakened.]
[Origin linked to: Unknown Space.]
[Location of awakening: Soul.]
[System interference blocked.]
[Defensive protocols⊠failingâŠ]
The screen stuttered. Words glitched. Thenâ
Silence.
The entire realm trembled.
A riftâbarely the width of a fingerâ
ripped
open in the darkness of Rey's Sea of Consciousness.
And from that sliver of nothingness⊠came
presence
.
Cold. Overwhelming. Eternal.
Even Aidenâwho had stared into forbidden tomes and walked paths between life and deathâfroze.
Zero dropped to one knee instinctively, struggling to remain upright.
But Veylen⊠Veylen bowed. Instantly. Deeply.
"All hail⊠the True Will of Darkness," he whispered, voice trembling in reverence. "My lord, I bow once more to your shadow."
Even the wild, raging energies tearing Rey's soul apart suddenly slowedâas if
they too
recognised who had entered.
A voiceâcalm, ancient, and endlessly coldâechoed from the rift.
"To think we would meet again so soon, little vessel. Your soul⊠has degraded this far already, not even able to hold such things? Tch. And yet, you still all dare to try and hold
more
within him. Quite greedy..."
"Very well. I cannot enter fully⊠but this much, I
can
grant."
From the rift, a sliver of condensed energyâpure, starless blackâdrifted downward.
It pierced through the void effortlessly, unaffected by the Sea's chaotic turbulence.
This energy wasn't just dark.
It was
absence
made form.
The shard descended, slow and deliberate.
As soon as it touched Rey's fractured soulâ
Everything stopped.
The raging arts froze mid-clash.
The cracks across his soul ceased spreading.
And thenâŠ
The darkness bled in.
From the very fabric surrounding his Sea of Consciousness, tendrils of true darkness seeped into Rey's coreâinto his soulâand into the Octageon energies themselves.
The eight clashing forces, each once resisting the other, now began to
merge
.
Bound. Unified. Catalysedâby the presence of something greater than any of them.
It was unnatural. It was wrong.
And it was perfect.
Rey's soul began to heal.
What had been torn was now mended. The cracks vanished, replaced by smooth, resilient crystal. And the chaos gave way to harmonyâif only barely.
[System Update:]
[Awakened Bloodline has returned to dormancy.]
[Octageon Integration: Complete.]
[Host's mind has exceeded the threshold for pain. Emergency shutdown initiated to prevent collapse.]
And with that⊠Rey's consciousness flickered out.
Gone.
Vanished from the Sea.
The remaining four spirits stood in silence, staring at the now-still form of Rey's soulâno longer glowing, no longer struggling, but peacefully dormant.
Something had changed.
Something irreversible.
Then they noticed it.
The residual darkness that had once lingered around the soulâŠ
Was gone.
The Octageon energiesâ
gone
.
As if they had been
consumed
,
blended
, and
reborn
into something else entirely.
The only things that remained were the three luminous orbsâthe spiritsâand a faint, barely visible shadow etched along the soul's edge.
A mark.
A reminder.
Of what had intervened.
They returned to the White Room.
Rey's body now rested peacefully on one of the couches, his chest rising and falling slowly. He was aliveâbut deep in unconsciousness, lost within himself.
But that wasn't all.
The eight mysterious gates that once pulsed with incomprehensible gibberishâŠ
Were changing.
One by one, their forms began to take shape.
The door Victor once obsessed over now bore the silhouette of a human body surrounded by a glowing ringâa symbol of physical ascension.
Zero's door emitted flickering blue glyphs, slowly revealing ancient runes of movement and storm.
Aiden's chosen gate reshaped into a glowing neural networkâan over-evolved brain, alive with pulses of thought.
And Veylen's chosen door⊠spiralled into a terrifying eye made of fractal shadowsâan eye that watched back.
The doors were no longer locked by chaos.
They were awakening.
But the one who could open them⊠still slept.
And no oneânot even Aidenâknew how long that slumber would last.
â To Be ContinuedâŠ
Will Rey wake up again?
What is the price of this power he now holds?
And whose will... truly resides in his soul now?