Darkness.
An endless, all-consuming void stretched before Abdul, swallowing everything—time, space, even sound. He couldn't tell if he was standing, floating, or simply… existing.
"Where… am I?"
His voice didn't echo. It simply disappeared, as if the void itself devoured it.
Then—a whisper.
"You have awakened… at last."
The voice was neither male nor female. It was deep yet weightless, like a presence that had been watching for eons.
A chill ran down Abdul's spine. His instincts screamed at him to run. But where? There was no ground, no sky, no escape.
And then, before him, the nothingness shifted.
From the shadows, a figure emerged.
It had no form, yet it was there. A humanoid silhouette, shifting between existence and oblivion, constantly unraveling and reforming.
"You are the chosen successor of the Void," the being continued. "The last inheritor of Nothingness. And yet… you are weak."
Abdul clenched his fists. He knew that.
His entire life, he had been weaker than everyone else. Powerless. Forgotten.
"Then give me power!" he demanded.
The void trembled at his words. The entity stilled, as if studying him.
Then, it spoke again.
"Power is not given. It is claimed."
A sudden weight crushed Abdul's body. His lungs screamed for air. His bones groaned. He fell to his knees, barely holding himself up.
[Void Trial Initiated]
[Survive.]
And just like that, the darkness came alive.
Shadows rushed toward him—twisted creatures with hollow eyes and gaping mouths. Their whispers clawed at his mind, filling his thoughts with madness.
"You are nothing."
"You will be erased."
"Disappear."
The first shadow lunged. Instinct kicked in. Abdul barely dodged, rolling to the side. Another one swiped at him—he stumbled, barely avoiding the attack.
His body felt weak. Too slow. Too fragile.
"Damn it…!"
The whispers grew louder. The darkness pressed closer. His vision blurred.
And then—a voice.
"You will never be weak forever, Abdul. Your time will come."
Anas's words.
Something inside him snapped.
A deep, primal rage exploded within him. The suffocating darkness around him… shattered.
Abdul's eyes glowed. The whispers stopped. The creatures hesitated.
And then—his shadow moved.
No—it expanded.
A cold, suffocating force erupted from within him, swallowing the creatures whole. They let out shrieks of agony before vanishing into oblivion.
The void around him trembled. The entity watching him chuckled.
[Void Trial Complete.]
[First Seal Awakened: C-Rank Power Achieved.]
The weight vanished. Abdul gasped, his body trembling from exhaustion.
"You have taken the first step," the entity said. "But this is only the beginning."
The darkness around him shattered—
—And Abdul woke up, gasping for air.
---
End of Chapter 2