2025-04-13 16:00:57Chapter 4.
Ethan frowned, his eyes moved between three paths.
"Choose, Ethan," said Lucille. "But you know one thing - Codex will test your choice. There is no way back."
Ethan closed his eyes for a moment. His breathing slowly, he recalled everything - his mother, night when he almost died in the city hallway, whispering fragments that live in his chest. He did not want to just be strong. He wants to understand ... control ... and change.
"I chose the blue path," he said firmly.
Lucille smiled faintly. "Wise."
Instantly, the blue symbol brought brightly and penetrated Ethan's body like a fog. He gasped, his body trembled violently. Suddenly everything felt heavy and light at the same time. The voices of the surroundings were heard clearer-the wind, the vibration of the ground, even Lucille's calm heartbeat.
"Welcome to the second world, Ethan," murmured Dante. "From now on, you not only read the world ... The world also starts reading back to you."
---
The first training session began.
Lucille calls enemy illusions from the training system. Three shadow leading figures emerged from the end of the room. They are not real creatures, but move with a battle algorithm based on the data of the previous codex opening.
"You have no weapons?" Dante asked.
Ethan turned around. "No."
"Good. It's better to learn with your hands empty. Learn the rhythm of the fight."
The first enemy advances. Quick, quiet, and stab straight towards Ethan's chest. He was almost late - but the blue symbol in his hand was burning. Instinctively, he shifted the body to the side, and the shadow missed.
The symbol in his hand turned on a new pattern. Data visualization of enemies - speed, position, even previous attack patterns - faintly in the air. Codex is guarding him.
The second enemy followed with a circular kick. Ethan looked down, then touched the floor. Cold energy propagated in the palm of his hand, and for a moment ... he saw the path of the enemy's feet, like a trace of the future shadow.
He moved faster, dodged, and hit back. The shadow disappeared with light cracks.
Lucille smiled faintly. "Quickly blend with fragments. You have the talent to read the rhythm of the world."
"Don't be too proud," Dante interrupted. "That's only the initial phase. The next training is a second level adaptation. Fragments will start accessing your subconscious. If your mentality is weak, you can disappear in Codex."
Ethan nodded. His face was no longer hesitant. Now, there is a kind of belief that grows in the look in his eyes - he began to understand that Codex is not just about strength. But about understanding his own soul, and maybe, the soul of this world.
---
Night falls. Ethan sat alone on the observation balcony staring at the sky.
The light of the city lights is far below looking like a star. Behind the screen of the sky, the normal world continues. People work, joke, and fall asleep, without knowing what is growing in this underground center.
Lucille came with two cups of tea.
"Can you still sleep?" he asked.
Ethan smiled a little. "Maybe not tonight."
Lucille sat next to him. "Soon, you will meet those who are also eyeing Codex. They will not let you learn slowly."
Ethan looked at the symbol in his hand. "I am ready."
Lucille looked at him for a moment, then said softly, "Ethan ... Your first fragment is part of the 'core fragment'. There are seven pieces. You hold the first."
Ethan turned quickly. "And the rest?"
Lucille sighed. "Not yet found. But we are sure, other parties are also looking for it."
"If they get it first?" Ethan curious.
Again Lucille's face stiffened, "Codex will open. And those that have been sealed for thousands of years will be free."
Ethan puffed up his cheeks, "Huff."
The night breeze blew gently. But the air they feel is not peace.
But the beginning of the large war that will start soon.
____
The morning atmosphere in the city of Neo-Valen has changed since the Codex incident was spread through a dark network. Although the majority of residents are not aware, the atmosphere behind the skyscraper and the metro lane feels different - more tense, more quiet than usual.
Ethan stood on the roof of the third division headquarters, his eyes staring at a thin fog that floated between the buildings. Besides him, Lucille opened a transparent digital screen that displays a series of data: Anomaly energy reports, faint fragment signals, and a throbbing red point on the city map.
"Zone 17. The bottom district. There is a fragment reaction appearing for three full minutes, then disappearing," Lucille said. "There's no way coincidence. It's a kind of signal."
Dante emerged from the roof elevator, wearing a long black jacket with a codex symbol hanging on the chest. "That's an invitation," he murmured. "Outside factions we want to know they are here."
Ethan turned around. "They?"
Lucille answered softly. "We call them: Obscura. A collection of wild fragments users who reject the Codex system. They believe Codex is not a protection tool, but a weapon."
"They want to open all fragments without control," Dante added. "And destroy the boundary between reality and the dimensions of energy. They believe, with that, humans can become new entities."
Ethan was silent for a moment, then asked, "And if they succeed?"
Lucille looked at him sharply. "Not only Codex is open. But also the original gate. And no one knows what has been sealed there for thousands of years."
---
An hour later, Ethan was in the subway to zone 17 with Dante.
The district was abandoned since the big fire five years ago. Now, only technology thieves, illegal refugees, and the remnants of the underworld that inhabit their ruins.
The train stopped suddenly. The electricity went out for three seconds, enough to make the whole alley vibrate.
"Entering the resonance area," Dante whispered. He fell first, activating the Codex -based protector which gave rise to a thin layer of energy on his skin.
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