{Do you wish to summon the [Barbarian]?}
Vikram's eyes widened. Summon the Barbarian?
The words echoed in his mind like a bell struck too hard. He looked around his dimly lit room, suddenly feeling exposed. The idea of summoning an actual human being into this space—this tiny box that barely belonged to him—sent a ripple of unease through his spine. With the possibility of surveillance ever-present, even the walls felt like they were listening.
His mind spun. The lines between the game and reality had always been blurred, but this... this felt like stepping over a cliff's edge with no bottom in sight. Summoning the Barbarian might lead to answers—yes—but it could also unravel everything. The unknown, as always, waited with teeth bared.
He turned toward the bathroom. If he had to do something this insane, he'd do it there. Fewer sightlines. Fewer angles for hidden eyes. After all, with the kind of tech the Mother System had introduced to Earth, who was to say his room didn't already double as an observation lab?
He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Cold tile met his bare feet. The mirror was clouded with moisture, remnants from a rushed morning rinse. A knot twisted in his stomach. The thought of a fully grown man emerging from thin air in front of him—flesh, blood, maybe even rage—made him nauseous. Images of steel tables and surgical gloves flickered through his mind. Governments dissecting what they didn't understand. Scientists eager to prod and label.
To ease up his mind, he went towards his mirror to see his reflection, and his eyes went towards his bald head, which he didn't like after experiencing the living bear of a man. He wondered how the hair hadn't hampered his strength in the middle of combat. But he just chalked it up to another magical wonder.
A chuckle slipped out of him, low and bitter. He was really trying to make sense of the situation around him, but everything was happening so fast that he felt lost.
But break was for losers. He had things to do, and things to confirm. And just as he was about to test whether he could summon a character into the real world, a knock broke through the silence.
He exited the bathroom and entered the hallway, and opened the door.
And there he was. Brunus.
A living wall of muscle, nearly blocking the frame.
Vikram raised an eyebrow as he looked at the rare expression of dissatisfaction ooze out of his face. "What's got you so moody, Brunus?"
The giant grunted, the sound low and resonant, vibrating in the air like a war drum.
"Damn kids," he muttered. "No respect. No sense of discipline. They treat everything like it's a joke."
"They're kids. They weren't built for this kind of madness."
Neither was I, he didn't say.
Brunus gestured vaguely behind him. "Come. The General's arriving soon. And... the next Trial begins today."
That stopped him cold.
"No," Vikram said flatly, raising a hand like a stop sign. "No damn way I'm going back into that hell."
The tension in his voice wasn't just defiance. It was fear—and fury. A raw, pulsing instinct that said anyone who tried to drag him back would get torn to shreds.
Brunus raised both hands, a flash of sympathy in his eyes. That only made it worse.
"Vik, you've—"
"We're not close enough to shorten my name, Partner."
Brunus's lip twitched. He let the correction pass.
"You completed the first Trial. That means your existence is now anchored. Registered. But you can't stop now. The next Trial isn't optional. If you skip it, your existence will begin to fade."
"Fade?" Vikram narrowed his eyes.
"Not metaphorically. Literally. If you don't complete the next Trial and bind yourself to the Axis, you'll start slipping through time and matter. A ghost in your own skin. And then... nothing."
Without waiting for a reply, Brunus turned and walked away.
Grinding his teeth, Vikram followed. He hated this. Hated the rules. Hated the way they were never explained until it was too late.
As they moved through the complex, Brunus spoke over his shoulder. "The General's coming to instruct the new recruits. Teach them the basics of the Axis. This world isn't like Earth anymore."
Vikram said nothing.
He climbed into the vehicle waiting for them, a monstrous hybrid of a military truck and a tank. It rumbled like a beast as it pulled away from the compound.
The ride was long, and the landscape slowly gave way to something that didn't belong to the old Earth. Skyscrapers twisted into the clouds like stone obelisks from another dimension. One structure loomed above all others, a tower that disappeared into the sky itself, beyond sight, beyond comprehension.
Vikram couldn't help the flicker of awe in his chest. That tower… it was like a monument to everything that had changed. Everything that had been stolen. Everything that still remained unexplained.
Brunus had said it would take two days to reach the center of the new world. Vikram had no idea what country this once was. The maps had been rewritten, the borders erased. This was Mother System's Earth now.
Still, he had more immediate concerns.
He turned to Brunus. "What about the others? The ones like me?"
He had seen them, teenagers in the canteen who radiated power and confidence. They moved like they belonged to a higher species, trailing sparks of magic and talent with every breath.
He had never spoken to them. Not because he was afraid of them, but because he was ashamed of himself. In a world of gods-in-training, he was the anomaly. The broken one. The boy with nothing.
Brunus didn't answer immediately. Then, quietly, he said, "Your case is rare. Abilityless... it happens. Almost never. The higher-ups issued a special notice. You're to be handled with care."
Vikram stared out the window, watching the broken Earth roll past beneath endless wheels.
Fantastic. I'm officially useless, and now I'm getting VIP treatment for it.
He closed his eyes. The ride wasn't ending anytime soon.
And now was as good a time as any to test a theory.
He reached inward.
The world around him dimmed.
A faint blue prompt shimmered behind his eyelids.
[Do you wish to enter the game?]