The lock snapped.
Chains clattered to the ground, and a hiss of stale air slithered out from the doorway like a dying breath.
Kaien stood at the threshold, hand still pulsing. The mark on his palm glowed like molten steel—guiding him. Daring him.
One step in.
Then another.
The old catacombs of Sector D swallowed him whole.
---
The passage sloped downward, lit only by flickering emergency lamps barely hanging from cracked walls. Pipes overhead dripped, the metal groaning as if the tunnels themselves remembered pain.
Kaien moved slow, every footstep echoing into the abyss. Dust clung to the air. It felt thick, almost alive.
Then he heard it.
Tap... tap...
He froze.
A whisper rode in on the sound. Not words—just… intent. Hunger.
Kaien reached into his jacket and pulled out a pocketlight. The beam cut through the dark like a blade.
Then he saw it.
A door at the end of the corridor. Black, with concentric circles carved deep into its metal face—same pattern as his mark.
As he approached, the symbol on his palm glowed brighter.
Without thinking, Kaien pressed his hand to the door.
Click.
The lock unraveled like clockwork gears spinning backward. The door slid open with a grinding shriek.
Inside: a massive chamber, cold and circular. Old tech lined the walls—ruined terminals, shattered glass, scorched tiles. But at the center stood a stone-like pedestal, wrapped in glowing tendrils of red energy.
On it: a mask.
Not modern. Not digital.
Bone-white, smooth, with jagged etchings across its surface.
It pulsed—once—with the same rhythm as Kaien's heart.
Then all the lights went out.
---
Click—click—click—click.
The sound of something crawling.
Kaien spun, holding his breath.
Then it emerged.
Not human.
A creature built from shadows and wires, like some half-formed specter made from the broken tech around it. It dragged metal limbs across the floor, its face a screen flashing erratic symbols. Its mouth—if you could call it that—split open like a glitching seam.
It shrieked.
Kaien backed away, heart hammering. The mark on his hand flared red-hot—and then…
Something inside him clicked.
Like an old switch finally flipped.
His breathing slowed.
His eyes narrowed.
Time slowed.
Then—
He moved.
He ducked beneath the first strike, rolled across the floor, and snatched up a jagged pipe.
The creature lunged.
Kaien twisted, slammed the pipe into its leg joint, and snapped it clean off. Sparks rained. The beast screeched, but Kaien was already moving again—each motion fluid, precise, like he'd trained for years.
He hadn't.
This wasn't instinct.
It was something else.
The mark blazed, and a word flashed in his mind:
> "Initiate: Breath of Embers."
Kaien's eyes widened. Fire coiled around his arm, spiraling up like a living ribbon. It didn't burn. It empowered.
He launched forward, heat bursting from his palm.
BOOM!
His fist hit the creature square in the chest. A wave of force exploded outward. The thing was obliterated—shattered across the wall, smoking and sparking.
Silence returned.
Kaien dropped to one knee, panting. His hand still glowed, now softer—more controlled.
He looked back at the pedestal.
The mask waited.
He reached for it.
The moment his fingers touched the surface, the world rushed away.
---
FLASHBACK.
A voice. Deep. Cold.
"You are marked."
Kaien stood in darkness, surrounded by falling ash. A silhouette stepped from the void—cloaked, crowned in iron, eyes glowing like suns behind a veil of smoke.
"You carry the Embers of Wrath. The inheritance of fire. The world above will burn. And you… you are the match."
Kaien gasped, stumbling back.
"Who—what are you?!"
No answer.
Just laughter.
Then—
Silence.
---
Kaien snapped awake on the floor of the chamber, mask in hand, sweat on his brow.
A notification blinked in his vision, floating just above the air like a ghostly HUD.
> Artifact Acquired: Ember Wraith Mask
Passive: Increases combat instincts under stress. Grants access to Breath of Embers.
Status: Bound to Kaien Nox.
He exhaled. Shaky. Wired. Alive.
And changed.
Whatever this was—it wasn't just power.
It was destiny.
And now it had a name.
---