Damien tried to speak.His throat was completely dry. He swallowed hard, his heart hammering against his ribs like it was trying to escape.
"I… yes," he finally managed, his voice barely above a whisper. "I think so."
The figure remained motionless, those crimson eyes boring into him with an intensity that made his skin crawl. Seconds stretched into what felt like hours.
And then It stood.The movement was fluid, effortless, impossibly graceful like smoke rising from a dying fire. The black cloak rippled and flowed around it like living shadow, and the weapon in its hand spun once twice a blur of motion before slamming it down onto the stone floor with a sound like a thunderclap.
CRACK.
The entire chamber shook.Fissures spiderwebbed out from where the weapon had struck, spreading across the polished floor in jagged lines that glowed faintly with dark purple light.The figure took a single step forward.
Then another.Its footsteps echoed through the vast chamber, each one deliberate and heavy with purpose.Damien's instincts screamed at him to run, but his legs wouldn't obey. He stood frozen, watching as the shadowy warrior approached.The figure stopped a dozen feet away, its faceless head tilting slightly as those crimson eyes studied him.
"Weak." It said
The word hit Damien like a physical blow.
"Broken." And it took another step forward. "Fragile." Another step. "Barely able to stand on your own two feet."
The figure's voice was cold, utterly devoid of emotion.
"This is what the Dragon God chose as his heir?" The Unwritten said
The crimson eyes narrowed slightly, and for just a moment just a heartbeat Damien thought he detected something behind them.
"Pathetic." He rained another insult on him.
Something inside Damien snapped.The fear was still there, coiling in his gut like a living snake. But beneath it, anger flared hot and sudden and sharp.
"I didn't ask for this" he shouted, his voice echoing through the chamber. "I didn't ask to be chosen I didn't ask for any of this!"
The figure stopped moving.Those crimson eyes focused on him with laser intensity.
*"No," it said slowly, its voice thoughtful.
"You didn't. You asked for death it's that simple "
Damien flinched as if he'd been struck.
"You threw yourself from a cliff," the figure continued, each word precise and cutting,
"because you were too weak to face your shame. Too cowardly to keep living. Too broken to even try."
Each sentence was a blade finding every wound, every insecurity, every moment of self hatred.
"You gave up on yourself." The figure's head tilted the other way. "And now you stand before me a warrior who has served the Dragon God since before your pathetic kingdoms even existed and you expect me to bow to you?"
The voice dropped lower, colder.
"Tell me, boy. Why should I acknowledge someone who gave up on himself? Why should I serve a master who couldn't even serve himself?"
The question hung in the air between them, heavy and inescapable.Damien stood there, trembling. His fists clenched at his sides so hard his nails dug into his palms.
It's right, part of him whispered. You did give up. You jumped. You wanted to die. You
No.
The thought came from somewhere deep inside, from a place Damien hadn't even known existed until this moment.
"No. I'm done with this"
He looked up, meeting those burning crimson eyes directly.
"You're right," he said quietly.
The figure tilted its head, clearly surprised.
"You're right,"
Damien repeated, louder now. His voice was shaking, but there was steel underneath.
"I gave up. I threw myself off that cliff because I couldn't take the pain anymore. Because everyone told me I was worthless. Useless. A mistake."
His hands were trembling, but he didn't look away.
"My brothers told me I was trash. The nobles whispered that I was Father's bastard, an embarrassment to the royal bloodline. My fiancée rejected me in front of the entire kingdom." His voice cracked. "And my own father… my own father couldn't even look at me."
He took a shaky breath.
"So yeah. I believed them. I started thinking maybe they were right. Maybe I really was worthless. Maybe the world would be better off without me."
Another breath. But Steadier this time.
"But you know what?"
He raised up and took a step forward.
"I'm done believing them."
Another step.
"I'm done being weak."
Another.
"I'm done being laughed at."
He stopped, standing as tall as he could manage, and stared up at the faceless warrior.
"The Dragon God gave me a second chance. I don't know why. I don't know what he saw in me. Maybe he made a mistake. Maybe I'm still not worthy."
His jaw set.
"But I'll be damned if I waste it."
The crimson eyes bored into him, unblinking.
"So go ahead," Damien continued, his voice gaining strength. "Test me. Judge me. Tell me I'm not worthy."
He spread his arms wide.
"Because I'm going to prove you wrong. Just like I'm going to prove everyone else wrong. My brothers. My father. Seraphine. All of them."
He was breathing hard now, his chest heaving.
"I may be weak now. I may be broken. But I'm not going to stay this way."
He met those burning eyes one more time.
"So either help me get stronger, or get out of my way."
The figure stared down at him for what felt like an eternity.
And then it spoke
"Words."
The figure's voice was utterly flat.
"Pretty words. Brave words. Foolish words."
It shifted its stance slightly, and the weapon in its hand the long black rod began to ripple and change. The form blurred, twisted, and when it solidified again, it was no longer a rod.It was a spear. The blade gleaming with a dark purple light that seemed to drink in the surrounding light.
"But words mean nothing without strength to back them." It said
The figure lowered into a combat stance.
"I am The Unwritten. Forged in the age before history. Warrior of the First Dragon King. I have stood beside gods and watched empires crumble to dust."
The crimson eyes flared brighter.
"And you prince of nothing, heir to a broken legacy you think determination alone will be enough?"
The spear spun in its grip, moving so fast it became a blur.
"Then show me."
Damien's eyes widened. "Wait, I don't even know how to"
The Unwritten moved.One moment it was standing a dozen feet away.The next, it was right in front of him, the spear already in motion.Damien barely had time to throw his arms up in a desperate attempt to block ,The impact felt like being hit by a battering ram.
Damien was thrown backward like a ragdoll, his body slamming into one of the massive stone pillars that lined the chamber. The air exploded from his lungs. Stars burst across his vision. Pain so overwhelming radiated through his entire body.
He crumpled to the ground, gasping, unable to breathe.
"What… what just happened?"
The Unwritten walked toward him slowly, deliberately. The spear dragged along the ground behind it, carving a line in the polished stone.
"Weak," it said again. "Just as I thought."
Damien tried to stand. His legs wouldn't obey. His arms shook violently.
"You talk of proving yourself. Of becoming strong. But you don't even know how to stand properly after a single strike."
The Unwritten reached down so fast Damien couldn't react and grabbed him by the throat with one hand.It lifted him off the ground effortlessly, holding him up like he weighed nothing.Damien's hands scrabbled at the shadowy fingers around his neck, trying desperately to pry them loose. It was like trying to move solid iron.
"Pathetic."
The Unwritten hurled him across the chamber.Damien's body flew through the air, tumbling end over end, before crashing into another pillar with a sickening crack. The ancient stone fractured, spiderwebbing with cracks from the impact.
Damien collapsed to the ground in a heap, blood dripping from his nose and mouth.Every part of his body screamed in agony.
"Get up,"he thought desperately. "Get up. You have to get up."
He managed to push himself onto his hands and knees, coughing and gasping.
The Unwritten was already there next to him Its foot connected with Damien's ribs a brutal kick that sent him skidding across the smooth floor. He rolled several times before coming to a stop, his ceremonial robes torn and bloodied.
"Is this the heir the Dragon God chose? This weak, broken thing that can barely withstand a fraction of my strength?"
Damien tried to crawl forward. Tried to find some way to defend himself.The Unwritten grabbed him by the back of his robes and lifted him up with one hand. Damien's feet dangled in the air.
"You are not ready," The Unwritten said coldly. "You are not worthy."
It slammed Damien face first into the ground.
Pain exploded through Damien's skull. His vision went white, then dark, then white again. Blood pooled beneath his face.The Unwritten lifted him again this time by his hair and dragged him across the chamber floor like he was nothing more than a sack of grain.
Damien's hands scrabbled uselessly at the stone, trying to find purchase, trying to stop the humiliating drag. But The Unwritten's grip was absolute.It stopped in front of the throne of dragon skulls.And then it held out one hand.
The air shrinked ,And from nothing from pure emptiness a rod materialized in The Unwritten's palm. It was identical to the one it had been holding, shining with that same dark purple light.
"Creation ability," The Unwritten said simply. "One of my many gifts."
It held Damien up with one hand and raised the newly created rod with the other.
"You wanted to prove yourself, boy?"
The spear thrust forward.Damien screamed.
The blade punched through his left shoulder, pinning him against the chamber wall. The pain was indescribable agony that consumed his entire world.Before he could even process what had happened, The Unwritten created another rod.And drove it through his right shoulder.
Damien was pinned to the wall like an insect in a collector's display, both shoulders impaled, his feet dangling several inches above the ground. Blood ran down his arms, dripping from his fingers.He tried to speak. Tried to scream. But only a broken whimper escaped his lips.
The Unwritten stepped back, observing its work with those cold, crimson eyes.
"You are not worthy," it said, its voice echoing through the chamber with terrible finality.
"The Dragon God has made a mistake choosing you. You are too weak. Too broken. Too human."
It turned away, dismissing Damien entirely.
"When you die here, perhaps he will choose someone better."
The Unwritten began walking back toward the throne of skulls, its footsteps echoing in the vast chamber.Damien hung there, pinned to the wall, blood dripping from his wounds. His vision was blurring. The pain was overwhelming. He could barely think.
Is this… is this how it ends?
"I survived the fall. I made a contract with a god. I was given a second chance."
"And now I'm going to die anyway?"
His head dropped forward, his strength failing.
"No… no, I can't… I can't die here…"
And then a sound.It was soft, almost gentle. Like a bell chiming in the distance.
Damien's eyes cracked open and floating in the air before him, glowing with faint golden light, were words:
[System Notification]
[Quest: Prove Your Worth]
[Objective: Survive The Unwritten's Judgment]
[Status: FAILING]
[Warning: Critical Injury Detected]
[Warning: Blood Loss Severe]
[Warning: Death Imminent in 3:47… 3:46… 3:45…]
Damien stared at the words, his mind struggling to process them.
"Death… in three minutes?"
And then More text appeared:
[The Unwritten has deemed you unworthy]
[You have one option remaining]
[Use your awakened element to prove your will to survive]
[Ability Available: Heat Manipulation]
[Source: Contract with the First Dragon God]
[Status: UNLOCKED - Never Used]
[Warning: You have no training in this ability]
[Warning: Uncontrolled use may cause severe injury]
[Warning: Death timer continues - 3:21… 3:20… 3:19…]
[Will you use Heat Manipulation?]
[YES] / [NO]
Damien stared at the glowing text, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Heat… Manipulation?"
He didn't even know what that meant. He'd never used magic before in his life. He didn't know how to channel mana, how to cast spells, how to do anything.But the timer kept counting down.
3:15… 3:14… 3:13…
Across the chamber, The Unwritten had reached its throne and was settling back onto the seat of dragon skulls, clearly intending to simply watch Damien bleed out.
Damien's hands trembled.
"I don't know how to use it,"he thought desperately. "I don't know how to do anything. I'm going to die. I'm going to fucking" but then he said
"No."
That voice again. That stubborn, furious voice from deep inside.
"You already died once when you jumped off that cliff. You already gave up once."
"Are you really going to do it again?"
Damien's jaw clenched.Blood dripped from his wounds.The timer counted down.
2:58… 2:57… 2:56…
And with the last of his strength, Damien raised his trembling hand toward the glowing text.
And pressed
[YES]
The world erupted into flames and Damien began to change