The sun began its slow descent behind the horizon, casting long shadows over the academy.
A pristine white, double full moon rose in the sky, its pale white glow slowly flooding the landscape.
The academy building, majestic and foreboding, was bathed in silver light. Shadows clung to its base, with only the upper sections catching the eerie luminance.
The contrast between light and dark made the academy look like a place caught between worlds—half in reality, half in some other, more mystical plane.
The Drifters were led through a narrow corridor toward the academy's basement. The passageway was dimly illuminated by an unnatural white light, casting a thin, glowing horizontal line along the walls.
The lights formed a broken pattern, as if a glowing dash had been etched into the corridor's surface, giving the entire space an unsettling, fragmented appearance.
"We can't stop the trial from claiming you," said the white-haired man leading them, his voice echoing slightly in the confined space.
"But we can monitor your vitals using something called the sleeping pod. It was designed by M.O.O.N. over a century ago, and it's saved many lives. Prevented quite a few Nexus gates from forming when a Drifter dies in their Trial."
Riley, walking toward the back of the group, raised an eyebrow. "How does it stop the gates from forming?"
The man ahead chuckled, his tone growing dark. "Trust me, you don't wanna know."
"Will you tell us after we finish the Trial?" Riley pressed, though his gut was already telling him the answer wouldn't be pretty.
The man glanced back, a cryptic smirk playing on his lips. "I'll give you a hint. When a Drifter or Ascender dies in the Nexus Realm, their body mutates.
They become a Nexus Creature, one series stronger than the Ascender who died. Their soul dissipates and a gate forms where their body lies."
Riley's stomach twisted. The group fell into an uneasy silence, but the white-haired man continued.
"A Drifter's death creates a Category Two Gate. A Dreamer's death, a Category Three. Both allow streams of Nexus Creatures to pour into our world.
The only way to stop it is to either prevent the mutation—which the sleeping pod can do—or track down the Gate Guardian once the gate forms and kill it. And that, well… that's usually the Ascender who just died."
The air grew colder, the grim reality sinking into the minds of the teenagers as they followed him deeper into the academy's underbelly.
Soon, they reached a double-reinforced door glowing faintly with green light. Sealing runes, intricate and ancient, were carved along its surface—designed to keep things inside from escaping, and to prevent anything outside from getting in.
The white-haired man placed his ID on a panel beside the door, which hissed softly as it opened. A stream of cool white mist escaped from beneath the threshold. Inside, the room was pristine, the walls lined with glowing artificial lights.
Floating in the air, like strange, ethereal sarcophagi, were the sleeping pods.
Some were already active, emitting soft beeps, while screens attached to them displayed the vitals of those inside. The faces of the people within were serene, illuminated by the soft blue glow inside the pods.
The pods themselves resembled high-tech coffins, with glass lids and blue smoke-like substances swirling inside, supplied through thin tubes.
"This is the sleeping pod," the man said, turning to the group with a faint smile. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
The teenagers stared, mesmerized by the eerie, almost otherworldly sight. Yet, beneath that beauty lay a darker truth—these machines would prevent their bodies from becoming monsters, but at what cost?
"As I mentioned before," the white-haired man continued, "you'll be asleep soon. In an hour, you'll be in the Nexus Realm, facing your Trial. I wish you good luck."
He gestured to the workers, who began guiding the Drifters to their respective pods. One by one, the teenagers entered, and the moment they closed their eyes, the pods' lights shifted from green to blue, indicating the transition into slumber.
Riley hesitated as he lay inside his pod. His mind buzzed with a thousand questions, but he knew none of them would matter soon.
'Would I be selected? he wondered. Or will I just slip into a deep sleep, like the others I saw earlier?' He barely had time to ponder before a strange lightness settled over him. His body felt like it was floating, and his thoughts began to blur.
Darkness enveloped him. For a moment, Riley wondered if this would be his eternal prison—trapped in an endless, suffocating void. But then, tiny lights flickered in the distance.
Pinpricks of illumination shimmered into existence, spreading across the blackness like stars. The darkness began to recede, replaced by vast cosmic landscapes.
His breath caught in his throat. The sight was breathtaking.
"It was as if I am in outer space!" Riley opened his mouth to say this, but he discovered that no words came out from his mouth.
There was no air in to carry his words. He started to panic and he felt himself losing oxygen faster. And then all of a sudden he tried to draw in air, but failed, and after a while he discovered he didn't actually need oxygen to breath.
He was a soul, and soul's don't breath.
[Welcome to the Nexus Realm… Riley Ross…]
The runes in front of him came as a surprise, he hadn't expected the runes message.
Then the world started to move, the stars rushed towards him, and in a few seconds, he was traveling several light speed in anticlockwise direction.
And after the rollercoaster, everything became white, it was like the sun suddenly exploded, he felt like he was looking at a supernova explosion, his eyes hurt, and then the excess light died down, and then he opened his eyes. He was looking directly at the sun.
"Puff", "Puff"
The sound of train horns drew his attention, and when he glanced back down, what he saw left him surprised.
The subway was crowed, men wearing suits and a hat, holding a matching cane, walked through the sub way, heading to the train that was about to depart.
Some of them were with ladies who were wearing à l'anglaise— an open robe consisting of a bodice cut in one piece with an overskirt that was parted in front to reveal a matching petticoat. The robe fitted bodice did not have a center back pleats.
Those ladies were all holding an hand fan, using it to cover half of their face. Their hairs were also weaved in a strange manner, raising high on their head.
Several children ran across the subway station, offering to carry the loads those gentle men wanted to move into the train. And those kids look malnourished, their clothes were dirty and tattered. And their lips were white and broken.
The subway almost had a chocking smell, that Riley started to find it hard to breath, immediately he summoned an item, it's appearance was like a inhaler used by asthmatic patients, he placed it in his mouth and pressed on the blue bottom on the cap, the inhaler sent a pill inside his mouth, and immediately, Riley was able to breathe again.
'Thankfully I asked Marion in a gentlemanly manner to get me some Nexus Items that I would find useful, in the second Trial, but I didn't expected that the item I considered almost useless and almost rejected last night would be the one to save my life...
It's Ironic.'
It meant that till the trial ends, he would likely have to rely on the item, which the Trial Named "Stifled Breath", regardless, Riley was happy, the stifled breath only needed soul essence to function, it was not like he needed to get another stifled breath or have to find a refill.
"Shit! This is messed up. I never expected my second Trial would throw me in the industrial revolution era. Wasn't it supposed to be the survival of the fittest? I thought I would all be thrown in some large ring and have to face some crazy monsters." He cursed and mumbled. Still…
He was thrilled as he started to imagine what his trial would be, he knew inwardly that it would not be simple. But he was excited and then his mind wandered to his doom attribute, immediately his excitement died down. Making the smile on his face freeze.
"Crap!" Riley immediately cursed the moment he thought about is Doom attribute, because it was already in action.
The train had started moving, and Riley immediately discovered he was almost trapped, he didn't know how or when he got on the tracks, all he knew was that his legs was almost stuck in the railway.
"Damnation!"
He yanked his leg out, and his small body hurried off the railway, he scurried off and climbed the platform, barely escaping being crushed to death by the train which was starting to gain speed.
"Damn it, Is this another form of racism? I'm white not black, Nexus listen well, I hate this pranks." He mumbled as he started to navigate the city, he relied on the memory he inherited from the owner of the body he now possess.
And soon, he entered a crowded street, then he took a horse dragged carriage to Donegall Street where the home of the body he possessed, and pretty soon, he was in front of the familiar and unfamiliar house.
"I always thought horse dragged carriages were fun, but damn, hell it's a bumpy ride." Riley grumbled as he proceeded inside the house, the house also had the same design as the ones he had seen in the European movies based on the industrial eras.
Riley steadied his breath, and then pushed the door open.
--
When the last of the Drifters were being transported into their Nexus realm, the pristine white double moon at its apogee, became crimson, it was as if the world was bathed in blood.
The white haired man muttered something, he cast a sorrowful glance at the Teenagers who were now in deep slumber. The workers around him had an ominous feeling in their heart when they heard the man muttered:
"Oh, God..."