Renny stared at the wall of the Cube in front of him.
It shimmered, blue and white.
Spotless white tiles with blue energy running between them.
He'd been staring at this damn wall for ages, how long he didn't know.
The chains were still lodged in his skin , coiling around him.
Strangely, there was no blood and no pain.
He'd thought about what happened, how they died.
He wondered if the 2 Regulators returned to the surface safely.
Then the Cube expanded again.
Renny could move now.
As it phased through the surroundings outside, Renny could barely make them out.
Brightly lit, pitch black walls.
A room.
As the Cube finished expanding, 2 figures had appeared.
One was tall, hulking, in shimmering blue and white armour matching the Cube walls.
Warden.
The other was smaller, but still considerably tall.
He wore a black flat-topped fedora, a black trenchcoat and long pants.
Piercing eyes gazed through the white mask, which only had eye holes.
Matt black gloves on both hands.
The same red eye mark he'd seen on Warden's shoulder earlier was on this individual's glove and fedora.
He'd seen it before.
During the Academy Slaughter Incident, the Coffin he saw going into the Door before he passed out had the same mark.
In a low, dry voice, the man spoke, "So this is the one."
He moved closer.
Walking was the wrong word for it.
Each step pressed into the room, into Renny’s chest.
He stopped directly in front of him.
Red sparks gathered, folding into the shape of a chair.
The man sat.
Another chair materialised behind Renny.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Sit,” he said.
Renny remained standing.
Nothing about the mask changed. Somehow, Renny knew he was smiling.
“Fine.”
Silence stretched.
“You’re wondering about the others,” he continued. “That habit will get you killed.”
He leaned back.
“Whether they lived or died has no bearing on what happens next.”
He stared right back at Renny, eyes boring into his soul.
"You're quiet."
Renny could only stare at the ground.
"That's fine. The quiet ones learn faster."
“Nine dead,” he continued.
Renny remained silent.
“That’s unusual.”
The man tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair.
“Do you know why 12 enter?”
Renny swallowed, “Because a Door can only fit 12 Coffins.”
“Wrong.”
The word landed flat.
“12 is optimal. Fewer, and you’re inefficient. More, and failure becomes expensive.”
The man tilted his head.
“6 fight. 6 exist so the 6 can fight.”
Renny hesitated, “Combatants… and Regulators.”
“Good.”
A brief silence.
“Now tell me why your 6 couldn’t.”
Renny clenched his fists, “We were ambushed.”
“Ambushed? Or unprepared.”
Renny was quiet again.
"The Regulators failed to do their jobs. The Combatants walked in blind."
The words were calm. Final.
“That isn’t bad luck.”
Renny finally met his gaze, “So what’s your point? That my team was trash?”
The man chuckled softly.
“No.”
“Your team was average.”
The word was a death sentence.
“Average teams die to named Voidspawn. Every time.”
The man drummed his fingers on the arm rest.
“The system produces inconsistency. One mistake kills 12.”
“Sometimes the mistake is incompetence.”
“Sometimes it’s arrogance.”
His voice lowered, just slightly.
“Sometimes it’s Divers who don't follow the rules.”
Renny shifted his weight.
The man gestured vaguely.
“That’s where we come in.” he continued.
“Hunters.”
“We don’t need 12.”
“One is enough.”
Renny's eyes widened in realisation.
That Coffin he saw 2 years ago was a Hunter entering the Void.
But why?
Renny spoke, "So what do you want, and who are you?"
A small object materialised from the red sparks.
A coin?
It sat unmoving in the palm of the man's hand.
"You can call me Devil. Im the leader and handler of the Hunters"
Devil flicked the coin up.
"What I want, is you"
Renny looked at him, confused.
"Or rather what we wanted, were those chains. But they seen to have taken a liking to you."
A flick.
The coin danced in the air again.
"Interesting, no?"
“Those chains weren’t ready for human testing.”
The coin landed in his palm again.
“They were never meant to bind a human at all.”
His gaze lingered on Renny.
"Yet here we are."
Renny glanced at the chains.
They pulsed, weaker this time, with an energy he'd never felt before.
Devil noticed.
"I'd wager thats Void energy you're feeling. The exact opposite of the Heartlight normal people use."
He gathered a clump of red sparks in his right hand, "Heartlight."
"They teach you that it's energy that comes from your heart, that you can invest it and use it at the same time."
"That it resets every day. That everyone gets the same amount."
Devil held the coin between two fingers.
"All true."
He leaned forward slightly.
“And all meaningless on its own.”
The coin rolled along his knuckles.
“Heartlight is an allowance.”
“Every day, you’re given a fixed amount of permission to be more than you were yesterday.”
“Most people spend it immediately.”
His head tilted.
“Temporary solutions.”
He tapped a gloved finger against his head.
“The clever ones invest it.”
“Capacity. Efficiency. Control.”
“They compound.”
His gaze sharpened.
“That’s why some Divers grow slowly…”
“…and others stop being comparable at all.”
A pause.
“Everyone starts equal.”
“That’s the lie they cling to.”
“Equality exists only on the first day.”
He leaned back.
“After that, Heartlight becomes a mirror.”
“It reflects how afraid you are of tomorrow.”
Silence stretched.
“That’s Heartlight.”
“Not power.”
He stopped rolling the coin.
He flicked it up and caught it between his thumb and index, and continued to roll it along his knuckles.
“A record of your choices.”
Renny, finding his voice after a while, "Get to the point."
Devil smiled wryly.
"You have 2 choices now. Join the Hunters, and we'll help you develop your use of the chains."
Renny stared at the coin:" What's the second choice."
The coin stopped rolling.
Warden started dragging his sledgehammer across the ground towards Renny.
Devil looked at Renny with a piercing gaze.
"You die."
