Jason knelt in the cracked wasteland, his hands trembling as the last remnants of the energy in his palms faded. The air was thick with the acrid smell of scorched earth, and the massive creature lay lifeless before him, its hulking form already beginning to disintegrate into ash.
He stared at his glowing hands, his mind racing. What had he just done? What was this power? He felt drained, as if the energy he'd unleashed had taken something vital from him. Yet, beneath the exhaustion, there was a flicker of something new—pride. He had survived.
The voice echoed in his mind, calm and unrelenting: "Well done, Jason. You have proven your will to live. But there is no time for rest. The trials will not wait."
Jason gritted his teeth, frustration bubbling to the surface. "Trials? What trials? You throw me into a death match with a giant monster, and now you're telling me there's more? What the hell is this place? What do you want from me?"
There was a pause, and when the voice returned, it carried a hint of amusement: "I want nothing from you. This world, however, demands everything. You chose to step into its domain. Now you must prove yourself worthy to exist within it."
Jason slammed his fist into the ground. "I didn't sign up for this!"
The voice didn't waver. "Didn't you? You signed the contract. You made the choice. Whether out of desperation or ambition, it no longer matters. What matters is survival."
Jason sat back, his anger fading into a hollow numbness. The words stung because they were true. He had signed the contract, blind to its consequences. Now, he was trapped in a world that seemed determined to kill him.
The ground beneath him began to shift, breaking his train of thought. Jason jumped to his feet as the soil cracked and crumbled, revealing a glowing symbol etched into the earth—a larger version of the marks on his hands.
Before he could react, the symbol flared to life, and the ground fell away beneath him. Jason plummeted into darkness, the wind rushing past his ears as he tumbled helplessly.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the fall ended. Jason landed hard on a cold, metallic surface, the impact jarring but not fatal. He groaned, pushing himself up, and looked around.
He was in a massive chamber, its walls lined with pulsing blue veins of light that illuminated the space in an otherworldly glow. Strange machinery hummed in the distance, their purpose incomprehensible. In the center of the chamber stood a towering structure—a spire of obsidian-like material, its surface covered in the same shifting symbols that adorned his hands.
Jason approached cautiously, the hum of the spire growing louder with each step. The voice returned, softer now but no less commanding: "This is your next trial. The spire will reveal what lies within you—your fears, your strengths, and your weaknesses. Succeed, and you will be stronger for it. Fail, and the spire will claim you."
Jason clenched his fists, his resolve hardening. He didn't understand this world, didn't know what the spire or these trials truly meant. But one thing was clear: he couldn't afford to fail.
Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on the spire. The symbols lit up, and Jason's vision blurred as the world dissolved into a cascade of light and shadow.
When his vision cleared, he wasn't in the chamber anymore. He was standing in the middle of his old apartment, the air thick with the scent of stale beer and regret. The peeling wallpaper and broken furniture were painfully familiar.
"What is this?" Jason whispered.
A voice echoed through the apartment, different from the one in his mind. It was his own voice, full of bitterness and anger: "This is what you are. A failure. A coward. A man who runs from everything."
Jason turned to see himself standing in the doorway, but this version of him was gaunt, with hollow eyes and a cruel smile.
"Do you think this world will save you?" the other Jason sneered. "You'll fail here, just like you failed back there. Because that's all you are—a failure."
Jason's fists clenched, his glowing hands faintly illuminating the room. "You're wrong," he said through gritted teeth.
The other Jason laughed, a hollow, mocking sound. "Then prove it."
The walls of the apartment began to collapse, and Jason braced himself as the floor gave way beneath him. The trial had begun.