The darkness was heavy.
Shallow breaths escaped the boy as he plummeted, his body weightless in the void. His eyes remained closed, and though the wind should have been howling past him, it felt distant—muted. In his mind, he wasn't falling. He was floating, drifting like a leaf on a still pond, carried by an unseen current.
"What was I doing again?" Kaz thought, his consciousness slipping further into the abyss.
Then—cold.
A chill rippled through his body, sharp and unnatural. A touch, featherlight, traced his cheek. It was soft. Gentle. Wrong.
His stomach twisted in instinctive revulsion, his skin crawling at the sickeningly tender caress. His breath hitched—then—
SPLASH.
The impact shattered the trance.
Kaz crashed into the water, the force knocking the air from his lungs. His body flailed, panic surging through him like fire. The cold enveloped him, dragging him down, and for a moment, he was drowning—just another piece of prey swallowed by the abyss.
Even the most seasoned swimmer would have panicked at that moment.
But Kaz wasn't a swimmer.
He was a survivor.
He regained his bearings and started swimming. The cold water was a sharp contrast to the overwhelming heat he had just endured. Despite the initial shock, it didn't feel like a long swim—though then again, hitting the water while unconscious was a surprisingly great motivator.
With burning lungs and aching limbs, he finally reached the shore, dragging himself onto the rough, stone ground. His breath was heavy—another stark contrast to the shallow ones he had taken before.
Then, as he lay there, exhausted, the Rift's voice echoed in his mind.
"You have slain a Regent Scorpion of the Aberration rank."
It repeated.
Once.
Twice.
Five times.
What was this voice?
The Rift could speak?
Now that he thought about it, this wasn't the first time—it had done so when he first arrived and again when he killed the scorpion… or Regent Scorpion, as he now knew.
But the Rift—no, the Rift Curse, as he decided to call it—wasn't finished.
"You have received a Talisman."
A Talisman—like those things from Japan? Or was it voodoo?
Well, it didn't matter. The specifics wouldn't help him now.
How was he supposed to check this system?
"Status," he muttered.
Nothing happened.
Again, louder. "Status!"
Still nothing.
So it wasn't like the web novels he read as a kid. No convenient menu popping up on command. Maybe if he just focused…
And then—something did happen.
Words appeared before him, forming out of the air like script-like runes. They twisted and shifted, unfamiliar yet strangely intuitive. Beneath them, a translation flickered into view.
It was weird. Weird.
But when he looked closer—looked—his breath caught in his throat.
His skin turned pale, his body rigid with fear.
Not because he was strong.
Quite the opposite.
"What the hell…"
What was he supposed to do with that?
Kaz looked up, then down, his eyes darting between the strange script and the harsh reality around him. He looked away, tried to clear his mind, then looked back.
But no matter how many times he tried, the words were still the same.
And nothing had changed.
Name: Kazeem Steel
True Name: —
Soul Crystal: Shard
Rank: Novice
Talismans: Eyeless Sense
Hollows: —
Features: [Beyond] [Prosper] [Creature of Chaos]
Trait: Son of Tarnished
Trait Description: [A Tarnished is a useless creature with nothing special to them. The Son of Tarnished is rare. The Tarnish shouldn't have kids.]
Kaz was speechless. He couldn't tell if he was seeing things or if this "Rift curse" really was that unfair. Was this supposed to be his lifeline? If he weren't hurting so badly, he might've laughed—because it felt like some cruel joke. His trait was called Son of Tarnished. Kaz couldn't even bring himself to read more, at least not about himself. He decided to focus on Eyeless Sense. Maybe it was something useful, especially since it was granted after one of those scorpions fell to its death.
Now that he thought about it, where were the scorpions?
Kaz looked around, but the darkness made it nearly impossible to see. The massive hole they'd created by falling into the cave had done little to light the space. His gaze shifted and, to his horror, what he saw made whatever was left in his stomach threaten to spill out. Blood splattered across the ground. The insides of the creatures lay in a gruesome mess, pieces of scorpions scattered everywhere in a grotesque display.
He had to turn away quickly or everything would spill out. He went back to his script—which he decided to call it—and looked at the Eyeless Sense and read its description.
Eyeless SenseTalisman description: [This talisman comes from the creature Regent Scorpions. For decades, this creature lived triumphantly alongside the Desert Queen, its mother. But one day, a lowly Tarnished killed it with cheap tactics. The creature's life ended with a fall to its death.]
"The hell?" Kaz thought. Cheap tactic? He didn't know there was a cave under all that sand. And what was with the lowly? He didn't choose to be Tarnished—the Rift did. And now, it was calling him lowly. Kaz decided to activate the enchantments—well, one enchantment to be exact.
Sensed by the Cowardly[You are able to feel when another creature is close by and how much bloodlust they are spreading.]
Kaz lightly touched the tip of the creature's leg, recoiling slightly as the sharp barb cut through his finger. Blood spilled down his hand, warm and sticky. The leg was jagged, barbs protruding like twisted thorns, their edges still slick with remnants of life. He could feel the faint pulse in the severed joint, a disturbing reminder of the beast's once-living nature. His stomach churned at the grotesque sight, but there was no time to hesitate. He needed to make this work.
Kaz took a deep breath, focusing despite the nausea that clawed at his throat. The bone was dense, the leg heavy in his hands, but it would serve its purpose. He walked carefully to the edge of the water, where the uneven ground scraped against his boots. His fingers trembled as he gripped the leg, and with each motion, the task became harder. The scraping sound of meat and skin tearing away from the bone filled the air, making his stomach lurch.
The stench of blood and decay clung to the air, thick and suffocating, as Kaz worked, forcing himself to ignore the bile rising in his throat. He didn't dare look away, each scrape of the bone feeling like a betrayal, a necessary evil for survival. The act was sickening, but survival was his only choice.
After what felt like hours, the disgusting task was finally done. The bone was covered in scratches from the rough stone, but its strength remained intact. Kaz tested it by striking the ground, and sparks flew from the impact, deadly and melodic in their dance.
Kaz felt a heavy sensation in the air, something off, but he couldn't pinpoint it. Then it hit him—he still had the Eyeless Sense. In a rush, he grabbed it, unsure why he felt such urgency. As soon as his hand made contact, he instinctively understood how to activate it. Energy seemed to pour into him, and when he did, his heart dropped. Everything around him froze. The bloodlust was overwhelming, terrifying, and he immediately knew where it was coming from.
Looking up, he saw it—the Desert Queen. The massive scorpion was facing him, studying him with cold, intelligent eyes. There was no mistaking it now. This creature was far more than a mindless beast. The hatred and bloodlust emanating from her were enough to freeze his very soul. The Queen had ruled the desert for decades, and with her underlings dead, she was now out for revenge.