The Holo World was a realm without morning or night, a dead sky stretched endlessly above in a permanent reddish hue, casting no warmth, no comfort only oppression. The land beneath was barren and cracked, filled with jagged mountains, hollow caves, rivers of dark red water, and forests where trees and plants had long since rotted to their core, standing as corpses rather than life. This was not a world meant to nurture anything. Every living being here was designed for one purpose alone to kill in order to survive. The animals of this world were dangerous beyond reason, some so desperate that they devoured their own kin to live one moment longer, and here survival was not mercy, but cruelty refined into law.
There was no oxygen in the Holo World. No air that humans could breathe. The only way to live was by consuming animal soul cores, harvested from the corpses of beasts killed within this realm. A soul core acted as breath itself, and its duration depended entirely on the grade of the animal it was taken from Grade A to B soul cores could last up to one week, Grade C to D only three days, and Grade E to F a mere fifteen hours. To survive, one had to hunt. To live, one had to kill. There was no exception.
Edward stood at the entrance along with the others, waiting in silence as a massive gate hovered in space before them. It had no back, no walls, no structure beyond its frame only emptiness behind it, as though it were stitched directly into reality itself. A red Holo light seeped through its edges, forcing its way outward, and with it came a stench so thick it crushed the lungs a suffocating smell of corpses and long-decayed death that invaded every breath they took.
A message appeared.
Rules of the Holo World.
Rule One: To live, you need oxygen. Oxygen does not exist here. You may only breathe by using animal soul cores. Their duration depends on the grade of the beast killed.
Rule Two: You must survive for ten days. Only after ten days will the gates reopen. If you die inside, no one will know until the final day. Survive, and only then may you awaken your bloodline.
Rule Three: Excessive use of soul cores is forbidden. Over-absorption may cause your body to mutate into the animal whose soul you consumed. Absorb only what your body can endure.
The message vanished.
"Now enter the Holo World. Countdown begins. Ten… nine… eight…"
Edward took out the small sword fragment in his hand and crushed it without hesitation. The blade manifested instantly, sharp and cold, radiating authority. Around him, Derek, Kinstone, and the others went on guard as well. Everyone knew this was not a trial meant to be survived easily.
"Three… two… one."
The gates opened.
A violent wind exploded outward, throwing people backward as though they were nothing more than debris. The smell intensified rotting flesh, blood, and decay. Beyond the gate lay a sky soaked in red, bones of animals scattered across the land, and creatures feeding on corpses without fear. Wolves stood upright like men, others prowled in full beast form, all of them watching, waiting. Sweat poured down every face present.
Another message appeared.
A basic soul core, lasting one day, has been granted. After this, survival depends on your own kills.
Panic erupted.
People rushed through the gate like madmen, sprinting without direction, splitting apart instantly. Groups formed eight teams in total, each made of twenty-four members from Eternal Bloodlines and Fragment Bloodlines. One team had an extra member.
Edward was left alone.
The main forces had divided long before the ceremony, and the common bloodline participants were chosen here not as allies, but as meat shields. Promised soul cores for survival, they followed blindly, unaware they were walking traps. Eight teams moved out, leaving behind a single figure.
Edward—Dev Ravenclaw.
Everyone vanished into the Holo World, choosing paths they believed were safe, destinations prepared in advance, knowing full well that in this place, alertness was required every second of existence.
Dev remained at the entrance.
He had not yet stepped inside.
In the distance, a bird appeared.
Their eyes met.
There was no fear in Dev only a strange, unfamiliar sense of connection. Slowly, he took his first step into the Holo World. The bird reacted instantly, flying toward him. As it approached, it grew larger, its presence expanding, yet Dev felt no danger only an inexplicable feeling of safety, as if this creature belonged to him.
The bird grew massive, ascending nearly ten feet above, its wings stretching wider as it closed the distance. When it landed before Dev, the ground shook. The creature stood over a hundred feet tall, its red feathers burning like blood-soaked fire. It resembled an eagle, but with six wings, eyes sharp enough to pierce the soul, and a beak as thin and deadly as a blade.
It screamed.
The sound pierced Dev to his core. He covered his ears, lowering his head as the scream echoed across the land. Then it stopped.
The bird spoke.
"What is your name?"
Dev froze. "I am Edward Shade."
The massive head lowered to his face.
"Do not lie, child. I can smell your blood. You know the answer."
"…Dev Ravenclaw."
The bird burst into mad laughter, a sound so terrifying it was heard by all eight groups, triggering a deep sense of danger that forced them to run faster without rest.
"The time of prophecy has come," the bird said. "So you carry your grandfather's name."
Dev swallowed hard.
The bird continued, "I have a name, though I do not remember it. Your grandfather gave it to me. We animals do not need names, but he insisted. It has been nearly seven hundred years since I last saw him."
Dev's breath caught. "You lived here for seven hundred years?"
"This is nothing," the bird replied calmly. "My clan lives over two thousand years. Your grandfather lived with me here for two hundred. Everything we did… was for you."
Dev's mind shattered further.
"Your parents lived here too fifty years. They left for urgent matters."
Shock flooded him. His father a librarian. His mother a housewife. Yet both had lived decades longer than possible.
Then he remembered the communication fragment his mother had given him.
He crushed it.
A room appeared old sofas, worn rugs, and a woman sitting calmly. Helena.
"My son, are you safe?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I am… but there is a bird. She wants to talk to you."
Helena smiled faintly. "Ruby. How are you?"
"Oh, so that was my name," the bird laughed. "Yes. Ruby."
"Take care of my son," Helena said firmly. "Guide him through the awakening. Take him to his grandfather's grave."
Dev could hear fear beneath her strength.
"Everything will be explained slowly," she said. "Listen to Ruby. We will meet again at the Imperial Academy Hall."
The connection ended.
Dev sat in silence, his body unmoving, but his mind was anything but still. Questions piled upon one another without pause, tearing through his thoughts like blades about his grandfather, about his parents, about the bird before him, about the Holo World itself each unanswered doubt gnawing at him relentlessly, eating him alive from the inside. He did not speak, because there was too much to ask and no single question that could contain the weight pressing down on his chest.
Ruby noticed.
Her sharp eyes, ancient and unblinking, observed the turmoil within him as clearly as blood in water. She did not interrupt his silence immediately, nor did she offer comfort, because this was not a world where comfort existed. Instead, her voice descended with authority, calm and absolute.
"Hold your questions," Ruby said. "This is not the place for answers. Wait until we reach a safe location."
"Get on my back," she commanded. "We must leave before the white fog arrives."
Dev did not hesitate. He climbed onto her back, gripping tightly as the heat of her body seeped through his palms, steady and overwhelming, like standing against a living mountain. The moment he secured himself, Ruby's wings unfurled.
The air screamed.
With a single powerful motion, Ruby launched into the sky, the ground collapsing beneath her takeoff as violent wind tore through the barren land. Dev felt the world fall away beneath him as they ascended rapidly, the rotten forests, scattered bones, and prowling beasts shrinking into insignificance below. The red sky closed around them as Ruby accelerated, her wings cutting through the air with ruthless force.
They flew.
Behind them, far in the distance, pale mist began to rise from the ground slow, silent, and consuming.
The white fog had begun to move.