The room buzzed with the clatter of keyboards and the rapid-fire clicks of controllers. Ethan sat at the helm of the party, his fingers gliding across his setup as his group of beta testers fought their way through another mission in Ascension: The Path of the Reborn. The game was set to launch in a week, and they were running final tests. Everything was moving smoothly—until the Darkspawns appeared.
They were guarding a caravan of goods, transporting it through a dense forest, when the creatures emerged from the shadows. Dark, twisted beings with eyes that glowed like burning coals, their movements feral and chaotic.
"Hey, Ethan," one of the beta testers said, his voice crackling through the headset. It was Kyle, a long-time tester who often spoke his mind without filter. "Where did these Darkspawns come from? I didn't see them in any of the earlier builds. Monsters, yeah, but these... this is something else. I like it, though."
Ethan's frown deepened as his fingers never left the keys. He hadn't added Darkspawns to this build. In fact, he hadn't even conceived of these creatures. The game's algorithm shouldn't have included them—he was certain of it. But instead of revealing his confusion, he masked it with a thin smile.
"Yeah, spur of the moment thing," Ethan lied smoothly. "Wanted something different for the final push. Glad you like them."
"Good call," Kyle replied. "These things are nuts! Way harder than the usual mobs. Makes the fight more intense."
Ethan said nothing, focusing instead on the screen in front of him. His character was slashing through the dense forest, the caravan trundling behind him. A cold knot twisted in his stomach as his eyes flickered toward the edge of the forest. There, just at the periphery of the screen, a shadow moved.
His team was surrounded.
The Darkspawns emerged from the shadows like wraiths, their forms twisting and unnatural, eyes glowing with an eerie red light. They were nothing like the regular monsters in Ascension. They were faster, stronger, and their attacks were far more precise. Ethan's heart rate spiked as his character was suddenly forced into combat.
The caravan shook as the Darkspawns descended upon it. The team moved into formation, swords and spells flying as they fought off the attackers. Ethan's assassin struck out with a flurry of blades, slicing through the creatures with swift, deadly precision. But something about the fight felt wrong—too real.
"These things are brutal!" shouted one of the testers, his voice crackling through the comms. "What the hell, Ethan? This is way harder than anything we've faced before."
Ethan gritted his teeth, trying to keep the growing unease out of his voice. "Stay sharp, guys. We're almost through this."
But even as he said it, a sense of dread filled him. He didn't design these creatures. And yet, here they were, moving with a precision and ferocity that felt... alive.
The battle raged on. Ethan's character unleashed a barrage of combo moves, spinning through the Darkspawns with graceful lethality. His fingers moved faster as the enemy count grew, his heart pounding as the game world seemed to warp and bend around him. He had programmed the game to be immersive, but this... this was something else entirely.
"Ethan!" Kyle's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Look at the map! There's more coming from the east."
Ethan cursed under his breath as he pulled up the mini-map. Sure enough, another wave of Darkspawns was making its way toward the caravan. The enemies moved with alarming speed, their dark forms cutting through the forest like phantoms.
"Hold the line!" Ethan shouted. "We need to protect the caravan!"
The team scrambled to adjust their positions, forming a defensive perimeter around the caravan. Spells erupted in bright flashes as the mages among them hurled fireballs and lightning bolts at the approaching enemies. Ethan's assassin dashed forward, his twin blades slicing through the first wave of Darkspawns with practiced ease.
As the enemies closed in, Ethan's mind raced. This wasn't part of the game's design. The AI shouldn't be this responsive, this adaptive. The Darkspawns weren't just reacting to their movements—they were anticipating them.
A sickening realization began to creep into Ethan's mind. These things weren't following the usual algorithms. They were acting on their own.
"Ethan, we're getting overwhelmed here!" Kyle shouted, his voice tinged with panic. "There's too many of them!"
Ethan's hands flew across the keyboard as he activated a series of combo moves, his character spinning through the air in a deadly dance of blades. The Darkspawns fell in droves, but more kept coming, their glowing eyes fixed on the caravan.
The battle was chaotic, frantic. Ethan could hear the rapid clicking of keyboards and the shouts of his team as they fought to keep the caravan from being overrun. His own heart was racing, sweat beading on his forehead as he struggled to keep up with the relentless onslaught.
But just when they thought they had a handle on the situation, a massive Darkspawn burst from the tree line. It towered over the others, its body twisted and grotesque, its eyes burning with malevolent intelligence.
"What the hell is that?!" someone screamed.
Ethan's blood ran cold. This wasn't in the game. He hadn't programmed this.
The Darkspawn let out a deafening roar, its mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth as it charged toward the caravan. Ethan's fingers flew across the keys as he shouted commands to his team, trying to rally them, but the creature was too fast.
The first of the team members were thrown aside like ragdolls as the creature barreled into them. Spells fizzled out as the mages were knocked unconscious, and the swordsmen were no match for its sheer power. Ethan's heart pounded as he watched his team get decimated.
He activated a series of his most powerful abilities, trying to turn the tide of battle. His assassin lunged forward with a combo of Shadow Strike and Void Rend, the dark energy from his attacks slicing into the creature's thick hide. For a moment, it seemed like the tide was turning. The Darkspawn faltered, its body shuddering from the impact of Ethan's strikes.
But then it smiled.
A slow, menacing grin spread across the creature's face as it stood tall, its wounds already beginning to heal. The air around it crackled with dark energy, the very ground beneath it corrupting with every step it took.
"Fall back!" Ethan shouted, his voice hoarse with panic. "Fall back now!"
But it was too late.
The creature unleashed a devastating wave of dark energy, sending Ethan's character flying across the battlefield. His health bar plummeted to near zero as the screen flashed red.
"Ethan, we need to get out of here!" Kyle's voice was desperate now. "We're gonna get wiped!"
Ethan tried to pull his team back, but the Darkspawn wasn't finished. It turned its glowing eyes toward Ethan's character and let out another roar, this one filled with pure malice. The ground beneath Ethan's feet cracked and splintered as tendrils of darkness shot up from the earth, wrapping around his character and dragging him toward the creature.
Panic surged through him. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't how the game was designed.
His character was pulled closer to the Darkspawn, its massive hand reaching out, ready to crush him. Ethan's heart pounded in his chest as he frantically tried to escape, but the tendrils held him fast.
Just as the creature's hand was about to close around his character, everything went black.
Ethan jolted awake, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked around, disoriented. He was in his room, his computer screen dark and his keyboard silent. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and his hands were trembling.
It had been a dream.
But as he sat there, trying to calm his racing heart, a new fear began to creep in. That hadn't been just any dream. It had been too vivid, too real. The way the Darkspawn had looked at him, the way it had smiled—it had felt like more than just a nightmare.
He rubbed his temples, trying to shake off the lingering unease. But as he closed his eyes, the image of the Darkspawn's smile flashed in his mind again, sending a shiver down his spine.
And then, without warning, the dream came rushing back to him in full force. He wasn't just watching the battle anymore—he was in it. The landscape around him was familiar, a warped version of the world he had created in Ascension. But it wasn't the game.
The Darkspawn loomed before him again, larger and more terrifying than anything he had seen before. It wasn't just a creature in a game. It was something else. Something far worse.
In the distance, he saw a figure—a powerful being, bathed in a strange, dark light. He moved with grace and precision, a black bow in his hand as he unleashed arrows that ripped through the darkness. The figure's name echoed in Ethan's mind: Aethlar.
Aethlar fought valiantly, his every move calculated and deadly, but the Darkspawn was relentless. As Ethan watched, the powerful being seemed to falter, his strength waning as the battle dragged on. The Darkspawn unleashed a torrent of dark energy, and Aethlar barely managed to deflect it.
Then, to Ethan's shock, Aethlar turned toward him.
Their eyes met across the battlefield, and Ethan could swear Aethlar was looking directly at him. For a moment, time seemed to stop. Aethlar's lips moved, but Ethan couldn't hear the words. His mind screamed for him to understand, but the words were lost in the chaos.
Before he could make sense of it, the Darkspawn turned its attention toward Ethan. Its glowing red eyes locked onto him, and it smiled again—that same smile.
Ethan woke with a start, drenched in sweat. His hands shook as he ran them through his hair, his heart pounding in his chest. That dream—it wasn't just a dream. It felt too real, too connected to what had happened earlier in the game.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
And the worst part? He knew the Darkspawns weren't just part of a game anymore.