Kaelvren's body was in deep trouble. He knew it wasn't exhaustion that made him tremble—it was tension and stress. He was stranded, unarmed, and had no proper weapons to begin with. But now, he had nothing at all. That was a different kind of problem.
He found himself in a desolate, dangerous place—one where even a Rank 4 Harbinger Gravestalker had met a miserable end. That sight alone was enough to remind him of his vulnerability.
With that, his mind drifted back to his school days. He recalled a lesson from one of his teachers…
"A monster's corpse does not disappear after death. Use it before another monster eats it."
With that line echoing in his mind, Kaelvren started to get to work. But this time, it was going to be difficult.
The Gravestalker wasn't just any monster—it was a Rank 4 Harbinger, a predator that even Rank 3 Pioneers feared to face. Stripping it for resources wouldn't be as easy as carving up a lesser beast. Its body was mostly curved with bones, making it a nightmare to deal with. Without proper tools, this was going to be a hell of a job. But… first things first.
Let's come up with a plan.
Step one: extract its claws.
It was going to be a challenge—but not an impossible one.
After extracting its claws, he turned them into makeshift knives to dissect the Gravestalker's own body after Hours of struggle and hard work , he had crafted a crude bone armor for himself and An Artistic dagger from the creature's remains. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than empty hands .Even though the armour wasn't elegant, it was still functional and offered some protection against the cold wind.
With that, his gaze fell upon the Gravestalker's meat. He wasn't sure if it was edible, but he had no other food source. And he had no idea how long this trial would last. Perhaps he would be stuck here forever—if fate had decided so.
Carefully, he carved out several pieces of flesh and set them aside, knowing he would need fire to cook them properly. Until then, he wrapped the meat in layers of hide to preserve it for later. He also separated some thinner cuts, hoping they would dry and turn into jerky over time.
Just as he finished making his gear, a sudden realization struck him that he yet to check his Nexus. By Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind and uttered a word:
"Nexus."
A hum resonated in his mind, and suddenly, a holographic dark screen materialize before him, glowing faintly in the dim light.
---
[NEXUS]
Name: Kaelvren Stormborn
Soulname: No Soulname
Title: No Title
Rank: Unawakened / Lesser
Soul Core: Not Form
Soul world: No Form
Class: Not found
Talent: Not found
Attributes: Not found
Skill: Not found
Strength: 4 / Agility: 7 / Vitality: 10 /
Endurance: 4 / Perception: 3 / Luck: 7
Bloodline: Unknown
Artifacts: 1
Summons: 0
Weakness : Not found
---
[Notice]
All the soul fragments you will have accumulated will be calculated at the end of the trial.
As he scanned the screen, his heart began to pound. A wave of unease settled over him, and he found himself rubbing his eyes, half-expecting the numbers to change. But they didn't.
Then, suddenly, a nonsensical thought popped into his mind.
"Luck 7? Seriously? My whole life has been nothing but misfortune—this trial included. So why the hell is my luck so high?"
He let out a dry chuckle while shaking his head. Either the seeker had a kind of twisted sense of humor, or there was something that he wasn't seeing. With that he started to contemplate the nature of this trial, a sensitive topic linger inside his mind.
Lifting his gaze toward the dark sky , he saw two moons one smaller and one larger. His eyes settled on the larger moon, a faint smile tugging at his lips. As he was licking his lips and murmured, "Maybe I won't be able to leave cursed world."
Then—everything shifted.
The scene blurred, the twin moons merging into one singular, radiant moon that has bathed this world into an ethereal glow within this shimmering luminescence, two girls stood facing each other as if locked in a duel.
Their hair, flowing like liquid silver, shimmered beneath a celestial glow, each strand reflecting the moonlight as if woven from moonlight itself. Their eyes, mesmerizing with a shade of bright blue, gleamed like polished crystals, with a delicate border of gray that added an air of mystery. They looked like fairies born from the moonlight, enchanting, their beauty both serene and haunting.
The surroundings were nothing but an endless desert, stretching infinitely in all directions. The two girls stood motionless in the moonlight, identical in every way—their faces, their weapons, even their clothes mirrored one another. But there was one difference.
One girl remained silent, her expression unreadable, her dark, empty eyes holding an unfathomable depth. The other, however, suddenly yelled, " Just die already!"
With that, she lunged forward.
As she lunged forward, the scene shifted in an instant.
The girl with dark eyes was no longer standing instead was now lying on the desert floor, motionless.
Then, without any sound, she simply faded away, vanishing into the thin air as if she had never existed.
With a sharp ding ringing in her ears, she turned her head, startled.
A glowing [Notification] appeared before her eyes.
Ding!
[You have passed the trial of reflection ]
Ding!
[Trial completed. Initiating core formation...]
Ding!
[You have obtain a class Twin Breaker]
Ding!
[You have obtain a Talent rank Transcendent]
As the notification faded, the world around her shifted. The desert vanished, replaced by Temple of Trial. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, an unbearable pain consumed her.
It felt as if her bones were shattering and reforming, her flesh tearing apart and rebuilding itself from the inside out. Every impurity in her body was being forcibly purged, leaving nothing but raw, refined essence behind.
She clenched her teeth, unable to scream as the pain reached its peak. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.
Rough breaths come of her lungs with that she collapsed to her knees. A sharp ding echoed in her mind as her Nexus activated once more.
[NEXUS]
Name: Laynara Moonveil
Soulname: Naelara
Title: No Title
Rank: Achiever
Soul Core: 1
Soul fragment: [0/1500]
Soul world: No Form
Class: Twin Breaker
Talent: Transcendent
Attributes: Traces Of Moonlight, Clarity, Reflection, Equilibrium
Skill : 3
Strength: 8 / Agility: 12 / Vitality: 20 /
Endurance: 12 / Perception: 6 / Luck: 5
Bloodline: Undiscovered
Artifacts: 1
Summoning: 0
Weakness : Fractured Will
With that, she opened her eyes inside the pod where she lay.
A soft glow illuminated the chamber, casting divine light over the sleek metallic walls. Her breathing was uneven as she adjusted to her new body.
In front of her, another pod rested. Inside, a woman lay still—her features strikingly similar, the same silver moonlit hair and crystal-blue eyes, but with an air of maturity, as if she were an older sister… or something more.
A lump formed in her throat as recognition struck her.
She hesitated, then softly called out, "Mother?"
The woman's eyes fluttered open.
Without thinking, she lunged forward, breaking free from the pod and throwing herself into the woman's embrace.
Then darkness Within that darkness, a two shining moon appears.
The twin moons shine brighter than ever, casting a ghostly glow over the desolate landscape. Beneath this ghostly glow, a lone figure stood, his clothes drenched in a gray blood of a slain monster. The metallic scent of death lingered in the air as kaelvren attack, his hands moving with practiced precision despite the trembling in his fingers.
With a deep exhale, he plunged his hands into the monster's chest, pushing through the torn flesh and shattered bones as he reach in the inner cavity of the chest and found something closed around solid. Slowly, he pulled it out it's a monster core. It was shining under the moonlight, pulsing like a gemstone infused with raw energy.
He tightened his grip around the core, his breath steady but his thoughts in turmoil. What should I do with this?
If he ever found a spatial treasure—a storage box, a space-related ability—he could keep it safe. But for now, he had no such luxury. And there was no telling how long he would remain trapped in this world. In reality, monster cores were priceless, a resource only Ascendant Ranks could carry back into the real world. Until then, all he could do was store it into his handmade hide bag created from the hide of his latest kill.
With a deep breath, he secured his bag and adjusted his grip on his weapons a spear and an artistic dagger. His body was still trembling not from exhaustion, but from the fear of death.
Then, he heard it.
A sound.
Not a growl. Not a howl.
A deliberate, rhythmic chime. Faint. Distant.
Kaelvren froze.
His muscles locked with a shiver crawled down to his spine. Slowly, he turned, his gaze across the endless darkness.
And then he saw it.
A faint, crimson flicker on the horizon.
A warning.
A trap.
Or something far worse.
His breath hitched. His heartbeat begin to pound.
Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. I'm gonna die.