Irin stood outside and watched the coal dust from the aftermath of the collapse slowly settle.
"I…did it. I'm alive. I-"
The words had barely left his lips when he heard a voice.
"That's quite admirable."
A voice said from everywhere and nowhere, layered upon itself like overlapping echoes from different ages of existence.
Irin's surroundings vanished. In the blink of an eye, Irin found himself in an unfamiliar environment.
He stood upon a floor made of pure gold that shone so brightly. There was no sky or horizon, just a vast distance without end.
"W-where am I…?" His voice sounded small. "Who's there?"
Irin's question received no response.
"Does it matter? The voice finally responded, now nearer than before.
"What matters is how you kept such a delicate situation under control. You subdue the Devourer Beneath."
"The Devourer Beneath?" The name almost made Irin's heart jump down a mountain.
"Oh. That Viper was no ordinary viper," the voice paused before it continued. "It's an old calamity. A horror sealed beneath this world since the very beginning of life."
"It's one of the first failures. My body was its prison. However, over time, it grew so strong that it broke out of its prison. I need to find the cause of its potential breakout."
"Definitely no mere mortal could subdue it," the voice said thoughtfully. "Not by hands like yours."
"Unless…"
The voice fell silent for a few seconds.
"…Oh."
Her voice, for the first time, carried an unexpected note of surprise.
"…It's you."
"Child of Grace," she whispered.
Her voice was soft as mercy, vast as eternity, and insanely charming enough to make anyone go to war because of her.
"What does that mean?" Irin demanded. "You still haven't told me who you are."
The invisible entity let out a gentle sigh.
"I am bound," she said. "And names are dangerous things. But I will tell you this. Your existence has intrigued me."
Suddenly, a blooming mist of light covered Irin.
A golden spear of light, appearing suddenly from the sky, plummeted towards him like a meteor.
Before Irin could react, the golden spear of light hit him. Pain spread across his entire body.
'Is this the afterlife where I get to be free from the struggles of life?' Irin thought himself dead.
But such thoughts didn't last long enough before he collapsed to the floor on both knees, gasping for air.
"What did you do to me?" he said, still struggling to breathe.
"I returned what was never meant to be lost," the voice answered gently.
"I'll see you soon at the appointed time," the voice declared, and then vanished.
'Finally, I'm free,' Irin breathed in relief.
He was relieved for only a moment before an excruciating sound prompted him to cover his ears.
Another voice spoke despite his pain.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Initiating Stratum Ascendancy Bestowal.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
STRATUM ACQUIRED
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Stratum Name: The Witness
Principle: Observe the event, cause, and every possibility that ever exists.
▌Phase 1 Unlocked ▌
Phase Name: Lone Survivor
Description: You are the last survivor of your kind. You are not supposed to be alive. Yet you live not by mercy. Not by chance. But because of a flaw so small that reality does not notice it has made one.
Attributes: You can survive events meant to kill you by figuring out how to survive in that situation.
…..
Irin felt surprised and confused at the same time.
"What does a Stratum mean?" he asked subconsciously.
As if knowing his question, the voice replied almost immediately.
[Stratum are layers of a dimensional paradigm of power or concepts tied to a fundamental law of reality and non-reality.]
With the explanation, Irin quickly understood what it was about.
A stratum links reality-based and non-reality-based concepts or powers, leading people who have one to be called Ascenders. Hence the name Stratum Ascendancy.
"What about the phases?"
[Phases are different stages one ascends in the stratum. The higher you ascend in the phase, the stronger you become. There areten phases per STRATUM. Those who transcend phase Nine enter a state beyond logic: The ZENITH or TRUE FORM phase…]
Irin remembered what Barak told him years back when their world had encountered many wars with the SILENCE seizing dominion. Humans had powers that helped them combat these nightmares and horrors. And the only way he could survive outside the prison is if he was lucky to be an ascender, mastered a proficient skill like fighting, or became a beast tamer.
'Out of the many cool phases I could get, I got the most useless of all. Luck is truly not on my side' Irin let out a frustrated sigh.
Irin was on the verge of asking an important question, but the engine noise of a heavy transport vehicle speeding towards the mine interrupted him.
The vehicle halted a few meters from the mine, while thick black smoke hissed from its exhaust.
The doors swung open, and a squad of prison guards disembarked from the vehicle.
They spread out automatically. While some formed a loose perimeter, others advanced directly toward the collapsed mine, with their weapons raised and alert for any sign of movement.
At the center was a man with tall, broad shoulders, dressed in a coat that was darker than the others.
He was the chief security officer.
He stopped several steps from Irin and surveyed the scene.
Finally, he sighed.
"Well," he said in a flat voice, "that's a setback."
"We are running out of prisoners who can offer free labor."
Irin stared at him in utter disbelief.
'This officer asked no questions about the prisoners or guards who had died. No sense of empathy or urgency. Just a straight-up selfish goal. Can you pretend to have some shame, even for a few minutes?'
The officer finally turned his attention fully to Irin.
"And you are?" the officer asked.
"Irin," he replied. "A prisoner."
The officer raised an eyebrow. "Yes. That much is obvious."
He paused, then pointed toward the mine. "Tell me what happened."
Irin hesitated for half a heartbeat before he narrated what happened.
"A coal viper," the officer said slowly. "The rumors were true after all."
"And yet," the officer looked at Irin in shock, "you survived."
His eyes settled on Irin's small stature, his narrow shoulders, and the bruises on his body.
"How?" the officer asked. "Given your size, I would have expected you to be among the first casualties."
Irin answered without thinking.
"I was wise enough," he said.
The words came out before he could stop them.
For a moment, the officer stared at him. Then, without warning, he started laughing.
"Well," the officer said, shaking his head. "That explains it."
He turned to the guards. "Take him back to the facility. A medical assessment is necessary for him; after that, place him under confinement. I also want a full report logged."
"Yes, sir."
Two guards stepped forward and escorted Irin into a vehicle while the chief officer and some guards stayed behind to investigate the mine further.