Jason expected to wake up. That was his first thought. That this—whatever this was—would end the moment his eyes opened. But the feeling didn't change. There was no ground. No sense of direction. Just… falling. Not fast. Not slow. Just endless. No wind against his skin. No rush in his ears. No gravity pulling him in any clear direction. It felt wrong, like the concept of falling existed—but none of the rules that came with it.
Then—impact. Hard. Real.
Jason's body slammed into something solid. Air forced its way back into his lungs so violently it hurt.
"—Ugh!"
He rolled onto his side, coughing, his chest tightening as he dragged in uneven breaths. For a few seconds, that was all there was: breathing, pain, weight, reality. Then his vision started to clear. Shapes formed, and a dim, distant light spread across an unfamiliar surface.
Jason pushed himself up slowly. "…Where…?"
His voice sounded normal again, which alone felt strange. He lifted his head—and froze.
He wasn't in the classroom. He wasn't anywhere he recognized. A massive hall stretched in every direction, the ground beneath him smooth but not polished—almost like stone, but too even. Too perfect.
Students were scattered everywhere. Dozens. No—more than that. Hundreds. Some were still on the ground, groaning. Others were already on their feet, turning in circles, trying to make sense of it.
"This isn't funny!" someone shouted.
"Who did this?!" another voice followed.
"Is this some kind of experiment?!"
Jason stood slowly, his eyes scanning the space. No doors. No windows. No visible exits. The ceiling rose impossibly high, fading into darkness before it could be fully seen. The space didn't feel closed; it felt contained, like they were inside something rather than in a place.
"…This doesn't make sense," someone muttered nearby.
Jason took a step forward, then stopped. The air changed. It wasn't gradual; it dropped, heavy and thick, like something invisible had just settled over the entire space. The noise died down almost instantly—not completely, but enough. People felt it, even if they didn't understand it.
Then, something appeared. Not with light. Not with sound. Just—there.
A figure hovered above them. Not descending. Not arriving. Just existing.
Jason recognized it immediately. The same presence. The same shape. From before. From the moment everything began.
Silence spread through the hall, complete this time. When it spoke, the voice didn't come from one direction. It came from everywhere.
"Welcome… to Edenfalls."
The words didn't echo. They didn't need to. They settled, heavy and unavoidable.
A ripple passed through the crowd: confusion, fear, anger.
"What is this?!" someone shouted.
"Where are we?!"
"Send us back!"
The figure didn't react. "You have been brought here… by the will of the Gatekeeper. This realm offers power beyond the limits of your former world."
Jason's eyes narrowed slightly. *Power.* The word landed differently. Around him, others reacted more visibly.
"What does that mean?"
"Power… like what?"
"This has to be some kind of setup…"
The figure raised its hand slightly, and everything changed.
It wasn't visible at first, but Jason felt a shift. Then—heat. It started low and deep, like something had been placed inside his body, before spreading fast up his arms, across his chest, and into his veins.
Around him, people reacted immediately.
"My hands—!"
"I feel something—what is this?!"
"Is this real?!"
A boy a few steps away suddenly ignited. Flames burst from his shoulders and arms—but he didn't burn. He just stared at himself in shock. "I—I'm not—why am I not—?!"
Another student staggered back as frost formed across her fingers, spreading like fragile glass. Someone else clenched their fists—and the ground cracked beneath them.
Chaos followed instantly. People shouted, some laughed in disbelief, others panicked.
"Your bodies are awakening."
The voice remained calm, untouched by any of it.
Jason clenched his fist. He felt the heat and the pressure, so he waited, focused, watching. Around him, abilities took shape—fire, ice, electricity, and strange distortions. Some students dropped to their knees, overwhelmed by whatever was happening inside them. The chaos didn't spread evenly. Some people panicked, some lost control, and a few—adapted.
A sharp crack cut through the noise. Not loud, but precise.
Jason turned instinctively. Aurora stood a short distance away, still, calm, and completely unlike everyone else. The air around her had changed. It wasn't heavy like before—it was cold. Not a surface cold, but a deep cold that didn't just touch your skin, it settled into your bones.
Frost formed at her feet, not wild or spreading out of control, but measured and precise. A thin layer of ice crept outward in perfect patterns, like something being drawn rather than formed. Aurora lifted her hand slowly, and the temperature dropped again. People nearby stepped back instinctively.
"…Why is it so cold?" someone whispered.
Jason watched closely. Unlike the others, she wasn't reacting; she was understanding. A shard of ice formed in her palm, perfect and sharp enough to reflect the faint light in the hall.
The system voice echoed again, clearer this time.
[High-Grade Manifestation Detected]
Attribute: Absolute Frost
The words landed differently. Even the system gave it weight.
Aurora's eyes moved slightly as she studied the ice, then she clenched her hand. The shard didn't shatter—it condensed, growing sharper, denser, and more dangerous until a spear formed. It was long, balanced, and perfectly shaped. No wasted movement. No loss of control.
Jason's gaze narrowed slightly. That wasn't just power. That was precision. Aurora exhaled slowly, and the frost around her settled, not gone, but waiting.
Not far from her, someone stumbled back. "Hey—what's happening to him?"
Jason turned again. Peter stood there, but unlike Aurora, he looked overwhelmed. Energy flickered around him, unstable and unfocused. It didn't form into something obvious like fire or ice; it pulsed inconsistently, like it was trying to decide what it wanted to be.
Peter clenched his hands. "…I can feel it—but I can't control it—"
A faint ripple passed through the air around him, subtle but real. The ground beneath his feet didn't crack, it shifted slightly, responding to him but not fully obeying.
The system voice spoke again, more uncertain this time.
[Attribute Detected: Adaptive Resonance]
Classification: Growth-type
Peter looked at his hands. The energy flickered again, then faded slightly, remaining restrained. "…What does that even mean?" he muttered.
No one answered, but Jason suspected one thing immediately: Peter's power wasn't weak. It was unfinished.
Around them, the contrast became clear. Some abilities exploded outward while some stabilized, but a few felt like they were just beginning.
Aurora stepped forward slightly, her spear dissolving back into fine frost that lingered in the air. Her gaze moved across the chaos, sharp and focused, until it briefly landed on Jason. A pause—just long enough to notice—and then she looked away.
Peter exhaled slowly, trying to steady himself. "…This is insane."
Jason didn't respond. His attention had already shifted, because something else was about to happen. Others stood frozen, unsure whether to move or breathe. Jason waited.
But nothing changed. The heat inside him flickered, weakened, and then—faded.
"…What?" He opened his hand slowly. Nothing. No energy, no change. Around him, power surged, but he remained the same. "…That's it?" he murmured under his breath.
No answer came.
"Those who fail to awaken…" The voice paused, not long, but long enough for everyone to listen. "…will be cast into the far reaches of this realm."
The words landed heavier than anything before them. Silence followed. Not confusion this time, but real fear. Jason's jaw tightened slightly.
Then—
[INITIATE SELECTION PROTOCOL]
A shift occurred, subtle but immediate. A boy nearby vanished mid-sentence, just gone, leaving a faint ripple in the air where he had been standing. More shouts followed as a few more people who didn't awaken vanished.
"What just happened?!"
"Where did they go?!"
Above them, faint symbols flickered briefly, unreadable and unstable. Jason's eyes narrowed. So there were others. "…So that's how it works."
Then, something else happened. Different. Sharper.
[Compatibility confirmed.]
[System initializing…]
Jason froze. The voice wasn't the same; it wasn't the Herald. It was closer—closer than it should have been.
A cold sensation ran through his body. Not like the heat from before, this was precise, focused, and controlled. His heartbeat slowed, not from fear, but from clarity.
[Awakening: Unique Condition Met]
For the first time since arriving, Jason's expression shifted slightly. "…What is this…?"
Around him, chaos continued, but his attention narrowed, focusing inward. Then—
[ERROR: Unable to classify entity]
[ERROR CODE: 011]
Jason's brow furrowed. "…Error?"
The feeling inside him destabilized, neither growing nor forming, just existing like something that didn't belong. Reality itself felt unstable for a brief moment.
Then, the pressure shifted again. Everyone felt it, even those in the middle of awakening.
Darius stepped forward, and the atmosphere changed. It didn't explode; it compressed. The space around him tightened, focused and intentional.
"Candidate Awaken detected…" Darius frowned slightly. "…Tch."
Then, force surged through him. The ground beneath his feet cracked with immense weight, and his veins lit up with a deep crimson glow. Flame erupted from his arm, but it wasn't normal fire—it didn't flicker wildly. It moved slow, heavy, and dense, as if it carried actual mass. The air around it warped.
"…What is that?" someone whispered.
"That doesn't look like normal fire…"
The system spoke again, clear this time.
[Attribute Identified: Infernal Gravity Flame]
Darius looked at his hand. The flame coiled around his arm like it had always been there, waiting. He clenched his fist, and the flames compressed instantly, tighter, sharper, and controlled. A slow smile formed. "…Yeah."
Behind him, Kane stepped forward. Electricity sparked along his arms, but instead of scattering, it locked into place and condensed.
[Attribute Identified: Storm Conduction Core]
Kane exhaled, a grin forming. "…That's clean."
Leo moved next. The ground beneath him didn't crack; it bent, and space itself warped slightly around his hand.
[Attribute Identified: Spatial Distortion]
Leo tilted his head slightly. "…Huh."
Around them, the difference was obvious. The elites were adapting fast and with perfect control, and even the system acknowledged it.
[PRIORITY CANDIDATES CONFIRMED]
Darius exhaled slowly. The flame around him pulsed once, then settled completely. "…So this is Edenfalls." Not excitement, not fear—just acceptance.
Then, something shifted again. Above the crowd, a message appeared, clear and unavoidable.
[ERROR RESOLUTION: UNAWAKENED HOST DETECTED]
Deficient Host Found: Jason Thorn
The hall went quiet. Not completely, but enough. Peter turned sharply. "Jason—!"
A circle formed beneath Jason's feet, just like the ones that had claimed the others who disappeared earlier. Light rose from it slowly, cold and unnatural.
Jason looked down. "…So this is it." The reality of his situation hit him harder now. His body locked; he couldn't move or step out.
Aurora appeared at the edge of his vision. The ice had formed into a spear in her hand, but she didn't move forward. Not fully. Something held her back.
Then came a quiet laugh.
Darius stepped forward, his pace measured. "…Wow." The flame around his arm shifted slightly as he looked at Jason. "So you didn't awaken."
Jason didn't respond. Darius walked closer, the pressure radiating from him forcing nearby students to move aside.
"You stood there the whole time...and got nothing?" Darius paused, stepping even closer. "…Not even a basic ability?"
Kane smirked faintly. Leo watched without speaking. Darius stopped just outside the glowing circle, looked down at it, and then back at Jason.
"And I thought you were just quiet. Turns out you're just empty." The words weren't loud, but they didn't need to be; they spread anyway.
Jason's expression didn't change, but his eyes sharpened slightly. Darius noticed and smiled. "Oh? Still looking at me like that?" He leaned forward just a little, his voice dropping. "Let me help you out. You weren't rejected by accident."
The system pulsed again.
[EXILE CONFIRMED]
Light climbed Jason's legs, slow and final.
Darius straightened. "You were never meant to be here, weakling."
Silence settled, clean and heavy.
Peter stepped forward. "That's enough, Darius."
Darius didn't look at him. "Stay out of it, scrawny."
His attention stayed locked on Jason. "Try to survive wherever they send you… if you can," he added with a faint smirk.
Jason finally spoke, his voice quiet and steady. "…I will."
That made Darius pause, just for a second. Then, he smiled—not with mockery this time, but with a strange flash of respect. "…Good."
The light surged higher. Jason didn't struggle or resist. He just looked up, not at Darius, nor at the crowd, but at something else—something only he could see.
"…I'll figure this out," he breathed. "…Even if I don't belong to it."
The light swallowed him completely, and then—he was gone.