[Inside the Portal]
The transition was violent.
It wasn’t the gentle spatial folding that Ariana’s teleportation created.
This was being ripped through reality itself, every atom in their bodies screaming in protest as space folded in ways that shouldn’t be possible, dinsions overlapping in configurations that made physical laws weep.
Two hundred fifty students materialized simultaneously in the sa location, their bodies hitting muddy ground with wet impacts that sent splashes of thick, oily liquid spreading outward.
THUD THUD THUD
The sound of human bodies striking earth echoed across the strange landscape, overlapping into a continuous drumbeat of arrival.
Damian hit the ground hard, mud coating his hands and knees as he pushed himself upright.
Pitter-Patter
Rain fell from the sky.
Cold, heavy drops that felt wrong against skin – too thick, too viscous and carrying sothing chemical that made skin itch where it touched.
The sky above was wrong.
It wasn’t night-black or day-bright but sothing in between – a dark grey that seed to absorb light rather than reflect it, filled with lightning that crackled horizontally across clouds moving too fast.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Thunder followed seconds later, the sound arriving distorted and echoing from all directions.
The ground beneath them was mud – thick, clinging and sucking at boots with each movent, making every step feel like walking through quicksand.
Fog rolled across the landscape in waves, thick white mist that reduced visibility to maybe ten ters at best, sotis less.
The whole place looked incomplete.
Like reality hadn’t finished rendering properly, like the dinsion itself was still forming, a world caught between existence and void.
And the silence...
The eerie, oppressive silence that pressed down like physical weight, broken only by rain and distant thunder and the ragged breathing of two hundred fifty terrified students.
"What–what is this place?!"
"Where are we?!"
"I can’t see anything!"
"Soone help! I can’t–I can’t breathe properly!"
Panic spread like wildfire through the assembled students.
Nobles who’d never known real fear in their privileged lives suddenly found themselves in a hostile portal with no preparation, no support and no rescue coming.
Even the Imperials – those who’d trained since birth to lead, to fight and to represent humanity’s finest – showed cracks in their composure.
Cassius Eckhart stood with his black hair plastered to his face from rain, his grey eyes scanning the fog desperately.
Sophia Verratoux’s pink hair clung to her neck, her mind abilities unable to penetrate the fog to detect threats, her usual confidence shaken by the unknown.
David Evergreen’s green eyes showed fear despite his healing abilities, knowing that recovery ant nothing if they were all killed before he could act.
Ben Royce’s fiery orange hair seed dimd by the oppressive atmosphere.
Raymond Kingsley’s blonde hair whipped in wind that ca from no consistent direction.
Alexander Vance’s brown eyes assessed defensive positions, his shield ready to use at any ti.
Jonathan Thorne’s golden features showed strain, his light-principle abilities feeling weak in this place where darkness seed fundantal.
The Republic Academy team clustered together, their predominantly commoner composition making their panic more honest.
William Greene – their president, a commoner who’d risen through pure capability – tried desperately to calm his teammates and nearby students.
"Everyone stay together! Don’t scatter! We’re stronger as a group!"
His voice carried across the mud and rain, trying to impose order on chaos, trying to give people sothing to focus on besides fear.
But nobody was listening.
Two hundred fifty students, humanity’s finest young awakeners, reduced to panicking children.
****
At the back of the formation, separated slightly from the main cluster, Damian stood completely still.
Both hands covered his face, fingers digging into skin, rain running down his arms and soaking into his combat uniform.
His team stood nearby – Zavier, Lysa, Ronan, Edrin – all watching him with varying expressions, waiting for their leader to process whatever he was thinking.
’Am I... truly living based on my choices?’
The thought crashed through Damian’s consciousness with devastating force, bringing with it doubts he’d constantly been suppressing since knowing the truth from Elizabeth.
’Why... why do I feel like my life is still being manipulated? Like I’m following a script written by soone else?’
His mind went to the old beggar who’d manipulated his past life.
’Is he in this world as well? Have I t him without recognizing him? Is Kaiser the beggar? Is soone else? Is he watching everything and controlling events like a puppeteer?’
The paranoia spread through his thoughts like poison.
’What does he want from ? Does he want to beco powerful? To keep surviving impossible situations to force growth? Or am I being paranoid?!’
The rain continued falling, cold drops mixing with the heat of his skin, grounding him in physical sensation.
’Two fucking portals... First one completely random and the second one deliberately opened by a fucking cube that I have no knowledge of.’
His hands clenched tighter against his face.
’Am I a tool being guided toward so predetermined ending? Or am I just a person experiencing bad luck in a world filled with portals and monsters? Who the fuck am I?!’
The questions had no answers.
Just endless spirals of doubt and uncertainty.
After so ti passed, Damian sighed – long, deep and carrying the weight of existential crisis – and slowly removed his hands from his face.
His crimson eyes opened, taking in the nightmare landscape.
’Doesn’t matter. Paranoid or not, manipulated or not, I’m here now. These people are also here now. And dwelling on philosophy won’t keep anyone alive.’
He looked at his team.
Zavier stood with his spear held loosely, his face showing a nonchalant expression – like being trapped in a hostile portal was mildly interesting rather than terrifying.
The trauma that had broken him had also made him almost fearless in ways that weren’t entirely healthy.
Lysa and Ronan were clearly panicked – their breathing faster than normal, their hands trembling slightly – but they remained silent, just looking at Damian, waiting for guidance rather than succumbing to fear.
And Edrin...
Edrin stood slightly apart from the others, his analytical mind clearly working through sothing, his face showing that particular expression he got when tactical calculations were processing.
"What is it, Edrin?"
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