Cold.
That was the first thing Kael registered.
Not fear.
Not awe.
Cold.
It seeped through the thin fabric of his shirt and pressed against his skin like damp stone. The air inside the forest was heavier than Earth's air dense, metallic, carrying the faint scent of rust and wet bark.
He did not turn around immediately.
He listened.
Wind threaded its way through twisted branches overhead, producing a low whispering sound not quite natural. The trees were tall but unnaturally thin, their bark pale gray and flaking as though burned long ago and left to decay.
The sky above was dim.
Not night.
Not day.
A permanent overcast pressed down on the canopy, clouds moving slowly in unnatural patterns, like something breathing beyond them.
Kael exhaled once and flexed his fingers.
Cold earth pressed beneath his shoes. The soil was dark and loose, littered with brittle leaves that cracked softly under his weight.
He glanced behind him.
There was no portal.
No doorway.
No distortion.
Only forest.
His jaw tightened slightly.
"So it closes automatically."
His voice sounded strange here absorbed too quickly by the air.
He stepped forward carefully.
The moment his foot shifted, something in the trees reacted.
A shape darted between trunks.
Low.
Fast.
He didn't chase it.
He scanned instead.
The forest wasn't random.
It was arranged.
Subtly.
The trees curved inward in a loose circular pattern, as if forming a boundary around something deeper within.
He took another step.
Then another.
Crunch.
The sound of dry leaves underfoot.
A snarl answered.
The creature lunged from the underbrush without warning.
Gray skin stretched over protruding ribs. A metal collar fused into its neck, chains hanging broken and dragging behind it. Its fingers were elongated, nails cracked and blackened.
It moved faster than a normal human.
Kael reacted on instinct.
He pivoted sideways.
The creature's claws sliced through the air where his throat had been a moment earlier.
The ceramic mug was no longer in his hand.
He'd dropped it at the threshold.
"Right," he muttered.
Unarmed.
The creature twisted unnaturally mid-lunge and came again, jaws unhinging wider than anatomy should allow.
Kael didn't attempt to overpower it.
He stepped backward deliberately, forcing it to adjust its footing on the loose soil.
It slipped slightly.
Enough.
He drove his shoulder forward, not to knock it down but to unbalance it further.
The creature stumbled.
Kael seized its collar instinctively.
The metal was cold.
Heavy.
He twisted.
The chain around its neck caught against a tree trunk.
The creature thrashed violently, clawing at his arm.
Pain flared across his forearm as nails tore fabric and skin.
He didn't scream.
He tightened his grip and pulled backward, forcing the chain taut against the bark.
The creature choked.
Its movements grew erratic.
It clawed blindly.
He stepped aside again, guiding its momentum until the chain cinched fully around the trunk.
The collar dug into its throat.
The creature's limbs spasmed.
Its jaw snapped once.
Twice.
Then its body convulsed and went limp.
Silence returned.
Kael released the collar slowly.
His breathing was controlled, but deeper now.
He looked down at his arm.
Three shallow cuts.
Blood welled slowly.
He pressed the wound with his opposite hand and scanned the surroundings.
Nothing moved.
A faint shimmer appeared in the air above the corpse.
Minimal.
Translucent.
> Level Increased.
>
> Level 2.
He stared at the text for half a second.
No dramatic sound effect.
No bright explosion.
Just confirmation.
"…So it counts."
He crouched beside the creature.
Up close, it looked less monstrous.
More broken.
The prison uniform it wore was old fabric deteriorated but not completely destroyed. Symbols were etched faintly into the collar. Not Earth language.
The chain wasn't attached to anything.
It had been broken.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Former prisoner."
The forest wind shifted.
Deeper inside, something metal scraped stone.
Chains.
Long.
Heavy.
He stood.
This wasn't the center.
This was perimeter.
The creature had been weak.
Fast, but weak.
If that was baseline, he could survive carefully.
He tore a strip from his shirt sleeve and wrapped it tightly around his forearm.
Temporary solution.
He stepped forward again.
The forest thinned slightly as he advanced.
The trees became more spaced, forming a rough circular clearing in the distance.
The ground sloped downward gently.
As he approached, he saw it.
A stone circle carved into the earth.
Massive.
Intricate.
Symbols etched along its circumference geometric patterns layered with script that shifted faintly if stared at too long.
And at its center
A pillar of black iron rising from the ground.
Chains extended from it in eight directions, each vanishing into the earth beyond the circle.
And seated within the boundary formed by those chains
A figure.
Kael slowed his steps.
The air felt different here.
Heavier.
Warmer.
Powerful.
The figure was seated upright, one leg crossed over the other.
Long hair cascaded down her back dark crimson, almost black at the edges. Two curved horns rose from her temples, sleek and polished like obsidian.
Her skin was pale not gray like the creatures in the forest, but smooth and unblemished.
Her eyes were closed.
Even seated, there was a weight to her posture.
Authority.
Her wrists were bound by faintly glowing restraints connected to the central pillar.
The chains at her back were thicker.
Older.
The forest around the circle seemed unwilling to intrude closer.
Kael stopped just outside the stone boundary.
Her eyes opened.
Gold.
Not bright.
Deep.
Ancient.
They fixed on him without surprise.
Silence stretched.
Then
"…A human."
Her voice was low.
Not echoing.
Not amplified.
Just controlled.
Kael didn't step back.
He met her gaze steadily.
"You noticed."
One eyebrow lifted slightly.
"…You stand within a collapsed fragment of a prison world," she said calmly. "You are unawakened. Your mana flow is negligible. And yet you are not dead."
Her eyes flicked briefly to his injured arm.
"You survived a feral wretch."
Her tone held no praise.
Only observation.
Kael glanced down at the stone boundary.
He took one careful step forward.
The moment his foot crossed into the circle, the air tightened.
Pressure pushed against his chest.
He didn't collapse.
But he felt it.
"Restriction zone," he murmured quietly.
Her gaze sharpened.
"You are perceptive for livestock."
He smirked faintly.
"That's a new one."
Her lips curved not into a smile, but something close.
"You are within the outer ring. I cannot cross the inner threshold."
He tested it.
He stepped deeper.
Nothing attacked him.
She did not move.
Her restraints shimmered faintly.
"So you're the reason the others can't cross."
She tilted her head slightly.
"The forest wretches are degraded prisoners. They are bound to perimeter law. I am bound to central law."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning," she said smoothly, "you stand alive because the prison laws that bind me still function."
Kael absorbed that.
He circled slowly around the boundary.
Her eyes followed him without turning her head fully.
"You don't seem surprised."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"This fragment should have anchored seventy-five years ago."
He stopped.
"…Seventy-five?"
"Yes."
Her eyes opened again.
"It failed."
"And now?"
"It has anchored."
Her gaze sharpened.
"And it anchored to you."
The air between them felt heavier.
Kael considered his next words carefully.
"You're saying this isn't random."
"Nothing about primordial fragments is random."
The word lingered.
Primordial.
He glanced at the restraints again.
"Prison world."
"Yes."
"You were… what? A criminal?"
A flicker crossed her expression.
Not anger.
Something colder.
"I was judged."
"That wasn't the question."
For the first time, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
"You speak casually for prey."
"You can't reach me."
The chains vibrated faintly.
The pressure in the air increased for a fraction of a second.
Then stabilized.
"…Correct," she said softly.
Silence settled again.
Wind moved through the forest.
Kael crouched at the edge of the circle and studied the etched symbols.
"They respond to presence."
"They respond to authority."
He looked up.
"You have none."
Her golden eyes studied him intently.
"Yet the fragment recognizes you."
He didn't answer.
Instead, he stood and stepped fully into the circle.
The pressure intensified.
His vision swam slightly.
But he did not kneel.
He stopped several meters from her.
"If this is a prison," he said calmly, "what's the release condition?"
Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly.
"You assume there is one."
"All systems have exit clauses."
Her gaze deepened.
"…You are not entirely foolish."
He waited.
She leaned back slightly against the restraints.
"Fragments anchored by the System are governed by law."
"And?"
"This prison fragment requires stabilization."
"Which means?"
Her lips curved faintly.
"A conditional contract."
He exhaled slowly.
"Between us."
"Yes."
Her tone remained calm.
"If you die, this fragment collapses. If it collapses, I remain bound in limbo. If you stabilize it, the fragment condenses. Authority transfers to the stabilizer."
"And you?"
"I remain bound," she said smoothly. "But less so."
Kael studied her carefully.
"You don't get full release."
"No."
"Convenient."
She tilted her head slightly.
"For you."
He folded his arms.
"What's the catch?"
Her eyes gleamed faintly.
"You must survive long enough to raise fragment stability."
"And how do I do that?"
"By clearing the degradation layer."
"The forest."
"Yes."
He glanced toward the trees.
"How many?"
"Enough."
He stared at her for several seconds.
"Why not wait for someone stronger?"
She regarded him quietly.
Then
"Because stronger would attempt extermination."
"And that's bad?"
"For me," she said evenly.
He nodded slowly.
"So I'm expendable but preferable."
"Yes."
He chuckled faintly.
"At least you're honest."
Her expression remained composed.
"I have no reason to lie."
He turned and looked toward the forest again.
More movement now.
The creatures were gathering.
Watching.
He flexed his injured arm.
Pain flared manageable.
"You can advise," he said without turning.
"I can."
"You can't fight."
"I cannot cross the inner boundary."
He glanced back at her.
"For now."
Her gaze didn't waver.
"For now."
Silence settled once more.
Then
The faintest translucent window flickered before his vision.
> Primordial Fragment: Prison Layer
> Stability: 3%
>
> Conditional Resolution Available.
>
> Accept Preliminary Contract?
Kael stared at it.
He didn't rush.
He looked at the forest.
At the gathering shapes.
At the chained pillar.
At the ancient being watching him calmly.
He exhaled.
"…Preliminary only."
Her eyebrow lifted slightly.
"Cautious."
"Alive."
The notification shifted.
> Contract Initiated.
The air trembled faintly.
The chains glowed dimly.
And somewhere beyond the clearing, something much larger shifted in response.