A motherly embrace clad his body, gently draping its blanket over him.
Syllian felt himself falling through a pit of darkness; through the calm, peaceful darkness.
He dearly missed this sensation, the comfort and joy of freedom. His body was painless, free of all injury and struggle; it was a feeling he had almost forgotten after days of perilous nightmares.
This time a lock didn't clamp down on his eyes.
Flutter-
The swirling darkness within gazed through a filter, a thin veil made to protect his helpless soul.
But this time-
A net of cobwebs stretching to the ends of time, flawlessly etched nodes and strings; the purest silk of divinity.
It pulled to the edge of the universe, covering all.
Surveying all.
No being could escape the enamouring pull of this pristine existence.
Nothing could rip free of the everlasting labyrinth of string carving a network that could sustain itself for eternity.
Perhaps it was even the source of eternity.
The Net of Ruin.
-his brain didn't feel like it was about to explode.
Floating before this divine existence, Syllian felt his soul elevating.
Rising.
Purifying.
It was a miraculous sensation, Syllian felt a touch so tender he swore it could melt into his being.
But it wasn't just a false sensation.
It truly was melting into his being.
Amidst the sublime purification of his being; Syllian caught it with his mortal eyes.
From the depths of the endless webbing, a node so pure, so pristine that he felt like he was tainting it with his sight; flashed.
As it flashed-
Ding...
-Syllian heard a bell ring from the depths of the Net of Ruin.
It was a stark, dull noise.
But it was solemn, ailingly so. Syllian felt his soul ache from the distant noise.
Once the bell rang, the flashing node paused for a moment; it was waiting.
For what-?
Syllian felt the sublime feeling in his body begin to fade away, replaced by the comfort of the Net of Ruin once more.
-for his purification to end.
A magnificently strong light pulsated from the distant node, and with the pulse, Syllian caught something flying over.
Soon, he discovered what it was.
A string.
A string so dark; so bright; so colourful; so dull.
So...
Violent, but serene.
To Syllian's shock, the string was headed towards his chest, aimed at something within him.
But the boy wasn't worried.
Because from that string, he sensed something so familiar, so warm...
Thud-
...like it was always meant to be a part of him.
It sunk into his chest, slipping through his mortal self and into the core of his being.
His soul.
He couldn't see the physical change, but he didn't need to see it.
Because he could see something entirely different floating in the void.
Words.
[Human Syllian has accomplished an achievement deemed impossible; in the midst of his despair; at the depths of hell, the boy pulled himself out.]
[In exchange, the boy sacrificed what should not be sacrificed.]
[Granting Title]
The English words ended.
In place, a set of runes revealed themselves in the darkness.
It deemed it sacrilegious otherwise.
In a magnanimous voice...
The divine Net of Ruin echoed through the endless webbing the English words...
"Omen of Serenity."
Syllian felt the words echo through his body, merging into it in a melodic symphony.
As this process occurred, the Net of Ruin went silent once more.
Instead, in front of Syllian's eyes, not in the endless void separating him and the webbing, but truly in his eyes, a new set of runes webbed themselves into existence.
There, they revealed his new self.
The Net of Ruin translated it all into English for the boy.
Name: Syllian
Title: [Omen of Serenity]
Source: A Fool's Errand
Source Abilities: [Seething Noise]
Source Rank: Adolescent - Fragments of Ruin [0]
It ended there.
And so did his temporary stay in the presence of the Net of Ruins.
The light in his eyes shut out, returning him to the darkness.
Then-
The boy fell.
As he fell into the void, and as his brain switched off...
The Net of Ruin spoke once more.
But his mind only picked up the final few words.
This time...
It's voice-
[...May luck be on your side.]
-was fit for a devil.
-----
In the crater, a ruined city from a lost civilization lay.
Running through the ground erratically were valleys that led to an abyss that seemed to have been carved by a god.
On the outskirts of the Outer District.
In the military district.
In a logistics camp.
In a basement, a well-carved wooden door separated a room retrofitted for Ruination Candidates from the corridor.
Inside the room, on two of the beds, Ruination Candidates slept.
Resting on the second bed, an amalgamation of blackish-purple void-like fragments that weaved together into one human-shaped Rift quivered.
The tangible Rift vibrated, shaking the bed beneath it.
As it vibrated the human-shaped Rift started molding at the body's heart.
From there it began breaking apart, dissipating like the boy's human body had before.
But replacing the purplish-black void wasn't human flesh.
String.
Dazzling, pristine white string.
It webbed out from the heart of the body as it gradually covered every corner of the Rift, replacing it with the purest of webbings.
Soon the Rift was no more.
The human-like figure was composed of nothing but the most beautiful white string.
Thump...
A Node at the centre of the heartbeat sent a wave of ripples echoing through the exquisitely woven network of strings.
Thump...
With the second beat-
Squelch.
-human flesh rapidly composed itself.
Starting from the heart, then spreading to the lungs; stomach; liver; intestines...
Then came the bones.
They seemed to glint beneath the light, and soon they were covered up.
The muscles, tendons, veins...
Until a human boy approximately 165cm in height lay on the bed.
From bottom to top all of his skin was a rosy, pinkish-white colour. It was still on the pale side, but his old, unhealthy pale skin was no more.
Every scar, injury and deformation from years of neglect and nutritionless food disappeared.
The muscles lining his body were packed with silent strength, they contoured his body; lining it cleanly.
They weren't large, but they were visible enough to sense the power hidden within.
His face no longer had heavy bags beneath the eyes, and the proportions between each feature were much more well-defined.
He wasn't very handsome, but he could definitely pass on the good-looks scale.
The only odd feature was his lips.
Blood red, an unhealthy; seething blood red.
If his lips moved then you might even witness a scarlet liquid swish within.
Flutter...
The boy's eyelashes twitched, and soon, he took his first breath.
"Haa..."
Syllian's dark eyes squinted from the sudden change.
'Light...?'
Living in the darkness for many days made it hard to adjust to the light again.
Squeezing his hands, Syllian felt his muscles tightening rapidly, constricting the air between his palms.
He sat up but couldn't look around properly yet, his eyes needed a couple more seconds to recalibrate.
This was new to Syllian.
His body wasn't in constant pain, and his fatigue was gone.
Most importantly he was safe.
'There's no danger?'
His heart suddenly felt uncomfortable and his hands were itchy.
The boy was unconsciously preparing for something to happen; this newfound sense of freedom couldn't connect well in his mind.
In these few silent seconds, Syllian's eyes finally adjusted.
The room with a few beds was in sight once again, the only difference was...
"There's another... What were they called...?"
It clicked in his mind.
"Ruination Candidates."
This Ruination Candidate had a different body from the one he originally saw.
Syllian then looked down at himself.
'I'm naked.'
His package was visible for everyone to look at but no one else was in the room except for the other unlucky person.
Looking around his bed Syllian found a set of clothes neatly folded on a bedside table.
A white T-shirt, some black pants, and basic underwear; it was fit for his size.
It was all clean and had no creases-
"Oh my..."
-Syllian had never worn clothes like this before.
Curiously picking them up, Syllian belatedly saw his fingers.
"Wow."
They looked like a pretty boy's fingers now even though they were mangled into pieces just a few minutes ago.
Syllian had a lot to get used to.
The main one is his new powers.
After putting on the underwear and black pants, Syllian ran his fingers along his abdomen.
The small amount of muscles combined with his smooth skin felt pleasant to the touch. It was satisfying.
Syllian covered it right after with the clean shirt; it was the shirt's turn now to fall victim to his touch.
'Soft, comfortable, and no holes or weird stenches.'
A smirk rose on Syllian's face, "So fancy."
Creak...
The wooden door swung open, wafting in a wave of warm air.
Standing sharp, with a brutal; calm gaze in his eyes, was the military man from many days ago.
Syllian pointed at him and bluntly said:
"It's the guy who gave me shit advice."
The man's green eyes squinted, then he lifted one of his hands and scratched his head, ruffling up a few of his greying hairs amidst his black hair.
"Thanks for the compliment, and..."
He lifted his free right hand, reaching out for a handshake.
"...welcome back, you survived."
Syllian stepped forward with a few careful steps, making sure not to overexert his new strength, and clasped it.
"I don't know about survived, but I guess, yeah, I'm-"
The young boy's mouth struggled for a moment and his blood-red lips tightened.
"-back."
Back to what?
The ruined city?
His home?
Behind the man another face revealed itself, this one a much younger face, but still older than Syllian by a couple of years.
With carefully trimmed brown hair that parted on the sides and black eyes, his military uniform was more loosely organised than the older man's; the white shirt beneath his coat had its top 2 buttons open revealing the creamy skin beneath.
It fit his handsome looks well.
"Captain, is this the one?"
'Captain...'
The word reminded Syllian of The Adler.
"Yes, he's the one that became a Candidate on the same day as the other kid, and was stuck for 10 days."
The man planted his hand on his chin and ran his gaze up and down Syllian with a playful smile.
"Not bad."
Walking up, he patted Syllian's shoulders and squeezed them slightly; ignoring the boy's uncomfortable face.
"Your really unlucky, our ugly Captain lacks in the communication and looks aspect. He probably gave you the worst advice before you entered, right?"
Syllian opened his mouth and uttered a small "Yes-", but couldn't continue his sentence.
The man blocked his speech with his own, wiggling his index finger with a sleazy look in his eyes.
"Let me guess, he said something like: Please, survive. With a really serious look on his face, right?"
The Captain flinched.
"I knew it."
He let go of Syllian's shoulders and returned to standing behind the Captain.
As for the Captain, he cleared his throat, ignored Syllian's unapproving eyes, and calmly said.
"The easy Trials are over, the hard part begins from here on out."
Syllian's eyes froze.
"E-easy...?!"
Pah!
The man smacked his superior's shoulder with a chop.
"Don't call it easy-"
Then, the man muttered something very quietly under his breath.
So quiet that it sounded like he simply breathed in.
"-you idiot."
But.
That voice which should be impossible to hear.
Syllian easily caught it with his ears.