Somewhere in the wrecked old world.
Blanketed by the calm moonlight, Rudy, a nineteen-year-old boy, walked through the rabble-filled streets while leaning on his cane.
He scrunched his nose at the foul smell and continued forward without stopping.
Surrounding him were the ruined buildings that were once considered modern architecture, but it had been centuries since they fell into ruin under the onslaught of the dreadborn — horrifying monsters that heralded the end of a once presumably peaceful world.
Even though he was in such a precarious place, his expression was calm.
The sound of his cane hitting the hard ground echoed throughout the empty area, and after walking for a few minutes, he stopped at a crossroad and looked behind.
Nothing except the ruins and rubble fell into his vision. Sighing in relief, he mumbled, "Seems like they really weren't able to find me..."
Turning his head to his front, he took out a small glass vial.
He lifted it before his black eyes, and seeing the strange, red liquid within, his expression twisted into something ugly.
The liquid moved towards him.
He immediately looked away from it, his hand flew towards his neck, and he touched the red veins that were bulging all across his body.
"Ugh!" Groaning, he threw the vial onto the ground.
The vial broke instantly, and the red liquid within spread like a blooming flower; suddenly, a strange hum echoed throughout the area.
"AHHHH!" Rudy screamed and fell to his knees. Images of that cursed day once again began to flash before his eyes.
His eyes turned bloodshot, the red veins began to expand, and he muttered while gritting through the pain ravaging him, "Just you... wait! I'll come for... all of your... heads!!"
Just as he finished his words, serene white runes flickered before his eyes, and following the runes was a calm voice that sounded similar to that of a young woman.
[Warrior Rudric, You have been deemed worthy!]
Hearing that, his lips stretched into a crazed smile, and before his very eyes, the space tore open, and a bloody red glow seeped out of it.
"How Ironic... The very thing... that broke me... was the key to my salvation... hah..."
Trembling, the cane fell out of his hand, and he crawled towards the trial gate with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
As he reached the trial gate, his figure, which was barely visible, became clear, and surprisingly, didn't appear to be someone who could belong to such a rundown area.
[Warrior Rudric, do you wish to enter the trial of blood?]
[Yes | No]
The glimmer of hope blazed into full-fledged flame, and with a dark smile, he whispered, "Yes."
[Warrior Rudric, You are being sent to the trial of blood!]
"Hahahaha!" He broke into a crazed laughter, his hands gripping the crumbled asphalt in defiance of the pain coursing through him.
The runes flickered once again.
[The Final Will wishes you a glorio—
However, before he could read them, another sound reached his ears. "You are finally acting like the rat you are, 105."
Rudy's face instantly went pale, turning his head to the back, his gaze fell on the hover jet that was flying high in the sky, and he could barely make out the figure that was standing on it.
But the voice alone was enough for him to know who it was.
Horrified, his lips parted, and he called out, "Meli—"
However, his words were cut off by a sudden devastating gust, and following it, a gigantic sword that looked like silver water zipped through the air with speed too fast for the naked eye to see.
The next moment, the ground shook as the sword fell onto Rudy, crushing him in an instant.
A quake spread throughout the ruined city, and a few of the buildings that were barely standing fell.
The figure standing atop the hover jet stared at where Rudy used to be.
Within the crater, his body had exploded into fragments, his blood had sprayed all across the street, and the only thing remaining of him was his cane.
The figure continued to stare at it, and after a few minutes, the hum from before once again echoed throughout the area, and the red tear in the space began to close.
Once the gate was gone, the figure turned around and mumbled, "You've always been an idiot."
"Let's return."
"Roger," came another monotonous voice, and the energy thrusters of the hover jet came to life.
The hover jet moved slightly, and the next moment it was gone.
Even though Rudy's body was completely decimated by the figure, his lingering soul was pulled into the trial.
Once his soul entered it, Final Will created him anew.
[Warrior Rudric, we welcome you to the Soulstar Lake!]
Within a serene, mirror-like white lake knelt Rudy, covered in dense fog that only allowed his head to be visible.
"Huff...huff..." his breath was ragged, and sweat rolled down across his body as he was still feeling the sensation of his body exploding into bits.
Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists and finally looked down.
From beneath, he stared back at himself and saw that he no longer had the red, vile, bulging veins that had made his life a living hell.
"Ha... haha... hahahaha!" He burst into joyous laughter, tears streamed down his face, and he mumbled, "Finally... I can finally become an irregular..."
Gratified at finally being able to walk on a path to ascension and thus becoming one of the irregulars.
He placed his hands over his face, his fingers covered his eyes, and from the gaps within, his fury seeped out as he growled, "And I can finally make those bastards pay!!"
Grinning from ear to ear, he stood up, and as he did so, he noticed, "I can move my leg."
He threw a kick with his left leg and mumbled with a beautiful smile, "This is amazing..." his face suddenly turned grim, and he mumbled, "Only if I hadn't been injected with that stupid shit, I would have been able to enter any of the trials... but this is fine as well..."
"No, this is the best. I would be the first person to take the trial of the blood god, after all."
On the day of the fall around five hundred years ago, reality was torn open and numerous gates began to appear all over the world.
These gates, however, weren't trial gates but instead they were terror gates — black tears in the reality from which came the dreadborns and raid gates — bluish green tears by which any person could enter the old realm, get their trait and abilities that came with it.
For the next century after the fall, the paths to ascension remained closed and humans entered the old realm to run and hide from the dreadborns, that was until one of them found the key to the path of the sun.
Once they had the key, they found the location of the closed trial gate and by using the key, they opened the path and the trial gates related to it began to appear all over the world.
Humans then began to challenge the trials because by completing them they gained stronger abilities, a path, and the Final Will's assistance.
Over time more keys were found and now, five centuries after the fall, the trial gates of seven out of ten dead gods had already been opened.
The number which Rudy had just increased to eight.
Looking up, his gaze fell on the numerous stars that filled the dark sky of the soulstar lake.
These stars were of the irregulars, each had a varied colour that represented the dead god whose path they were walking on.
After taking in the brilliant sky, he finally focused on the runes before him.
[Warrior Rudric, you hold divine blood.]
[Your trial has been decided.]
[May you pass your trial and ascend to the throne of blood!]
[We wish you a great fortune.]
Rudy blinked a few times and mumbled with a dumbfounded expression, "I hold what...?"
Those were the last words he said before his vision turned dark and he vanished from the soulstar lake.