The rain fell in silver sheets as Harvey stood before the entrance to the forbidden sector of Zenith.
No teachers. No students. Only silence.
The iron gate before him bore no lock, but it radiated pressure—ancient, unrelenting. The kind that weighed down on the soul, not the body.
[System Alert: Classified Area Accessed – Authorization Denied]
[Override Triggered: Codebreaker Privilege Recognized]
The gate creaked open on its own.
And so, without hesitation, he stepped inside.
---
The Forgotten Depths
What lay beneath Zenith Academy was not a basement.
It was a burial ground.
Tunnels carved through black stone. Walls inscribed with failed incantations. Forgotten weapons, shattered cores, and fragments of magic long erased from the known system.
Every step deeper felt like walking through discarded timelines.
As Harvey walked, glyphs lit under his feet, reading his mana signature.
But they didn't react with hostility.
They welcomed him.
Almost like they were expecting him.
---
The First Lock – Guardian of the Seal
At the end of the path stood a vault door taller than any classroom—etched with twelve rings, each one marked with a language Harvey didn't recognize.
But as he reached forward, something stirred.
A hand—skeletal, draped in robes older than memory—emerged from the shadows.
The figure stepped forward.
A construct. No longer human.
Its mouth moved without breath.
> "Codebreaker detected. Initiating Trial One: Will of the Predecessor."
The lights died.
And Harvey was pulled into a dream-like space—an arena filled with broken stars and frozen time.
---
A Duel of Erased Histories
Across from him stood a boy who looked exactly like him—but younger. Gentler. His eyes didn't hold the weight Harvey carried.
> "I'm the first," the boy said. "The first who tried to change fate."
> "And I failed."
He raised a hand. A blade made of runes and sorrow formed in his grasp.
"You'll have to kill the version of yourself that hesitates. That doubts. Or the seal won't open."
Harvey didn't hesitate.
Their battle was swift, brutal.
Time ruptured with every blow.
The younger version used defensive barriers, illusions of hope, and spells rooted in belief.
Harvey countered them with efficiency, cruelty, and evolved logic.
In the end, it wasn't power that won.
It was resolve.
He cut through the younger version's chest—and the illusion shattered.
---
The Vault Opens
The twelve rings spun violently before clicking into place.
The vault opened slowly.
Inside was a chamber filled with relics, journals, and something pulsing at its center—
> A core made of crystalized code, beating like a heart.
[You have acquired: Key of the Codebreaker – Fragment 1]
And above it all, written in blood:
> "To rewrite the world, you must first destroy its memory."
---
End Scene
As Harvey left the chamber, a figure watched him from the shadows.
She wore white armor, and a sword shaped like judgment hung at her side.
One of the Heavenly Executors.
She whispered softly:
> "The anomaly walks the path of the Fallen One."
> "It's time the divine returned to the mortal realm."
And then, she vanished.
---