Lucian paced the dark room back and forth, lost in deep thought. He moved from one end of the room to the other, occasionally glancing at the rune before turning away and resuming his pacing.
He had spent the last hour trying to unravel the mystery of the rune. The more he thought he understood, the further away the truth seemed. According to the rune, it was a kind of guidance, and in many ways, it did seem so.
Lucian's first test aimed to determine if the rune was sentient. After its initial response, it appeared that might be the case, but after asking a series of questions, the results remained inconclusive.
"Are you alive?" Lucian asked.
He waited for a moment, but as expected, there was no response. However, when he asked a different type of question, the outcome changed.
"What is the Bloodlust skill?"
[Bloodlust:
The innate instinct of all demons. When activated, the demonic core pulses and sends murderous impulses to the brain while emitting a powerful aura of bloodlust, instilling fear.]
'Yeah...' Lucian thought, frustrated but not surprised.
It was the same as before. The rune didn't respond to questions unrelated to his abilities, but when it did, it provided detailed explanations. Lucian couldn't decide whether this was a sign of some level of sentience or just incredibly sophisticated programming.
'I'll figure it out tomorrow. I need whatever sleep I can get now,' he thought, shaking his head.
Lucian rubbed his face with his hands and walked over to the bed, collapsing onto it. His body was exhausted, and the moment he closed his eyes, he was swept into unconsciousness.
---
The floor of smooth obsidian stretched out endlessly in all directions. Flames burned relentlessly at every point, but they did nothing to dispel the oppressive darkness that plagued the entire space.
Lucian looked around, but all he could see was the stretch of obsidian and flames.
In the distance, he heard a laugh, a twisted sound that screeched and scraped against the surface of his mind.
"You amaze me… truly. Let's see if you succeed."
A banging sound echoed through the space, repetitive and constant, and though his surroundings began to blur, the banging only grew louder.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Lucian's eyes shot open, and he jolted upright in bed. His sheets were drenched in sweat. He turned to the door, where the banging continued.
'What... the hell?' he thought.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the lingering drowsiness. As the knocking echoed through his room again, Lucian swung his legs over the bed, flinching slightly as his bare feet touched the cold metallic floor. He walked to the door, gripping the handle and pulling it open, revealing Ash, her hand raised and ready to knock again.
"What do you want?" Lucian asked, rubbing his eyes again.
"How long do you plan to sleep? It's been almost an entire day," Ash replied.
"What?" Lucian narrowed his eyes, surprised by how long he had slept.
"Your mission begins soon. Come to the lobby."
With that, Ash turned and walked away.
Lucian closed the door and leaned his back against it. The room was still dark, and only at that point had he realized that it didn't matter what time of day it was—without windows, it would always be like this unless he turned on the lights.
"Where is it?" Lucian muttered to himself, running his hands along the wall, searching for the light switch.
After several long seconds of searching in vain, he gave up and made his way to the door at the other end of the room, assuming it led to the bathroom. When he opened it, the lights flicked on automatically.
'Thank goodness'
He walked over to the sink, turned on the tap, and splashed cold water on his face, taking a deep breath.
'That nightmare… it wasn't just a nightmare, was it?' He thought to himself.
---
Lucian stepped out of his room to find Ash standing and Iralis sitting on one of the couches. It was clear they had been waiting for him.
"I'm sorry for the delay… let's begin," Lucian said, stopping beside the couch where Iralis sat.
Ash stared at Lucian for a moment. She clearly wanted to scold him, but she held back and turned toward the large screen behind her.
"Today, both of you will carry out your first training mission, and what should be your easiest," Ash began as a satellite image of a large compound appeared on the screen.
"Aviz Karethi, the leader of the Godless Resistance. He's a pagan who advocates for equal human rights for every citizen of Shadowfall. He leads a group protesting against the constant divide between the poor and the wealthy. He believes those born into the lower class should have equal opportunities and he dreams of a Shadowfall where every child has a chance at life rather than some left with a terrible fate decided for them at birth."
"Okay, what about him?" Iralis asked.
"You two will infiltrate that compound and slaughter every member of his resistance, including him."