Ascendancy: The Fractured Throne

Imperius Exile Wastelands, Uncharted System 

Year 9783 C.C. – Hours After the Trial 

*****

Pain was the first thing he felt.

A deep, gnawing ache in his ribs, the sting of dried blood across his face. His mind swam in confusion before reality settled in, heavy and cold. He was still alive.

Kael forced his eyes open, and the world greeted him with nothing but darkness and silence.

He lay on his back, half-buried in the fine, glass-like dust that covered the barren wasteland around him. Above, the sky stretched in endless black, punctuated by distant stars. No sun. No moon. No familiar constellations.

This wasn't a known Dominion world.

They had truly left him to die.

*****

His muscles screamed in protest as he sat up. The air was thin, cold, carrying the metallic tang of a dead planet. Every breath tasted like dust and old ruins.

A sharp, pulsing pain ran through his shoulder—the wound from his duel with Darius Valkaarn. He remembered the moment clearly. The blade, the betrayal, the coliseum roaring as his fate was sealed.

The Ascendancy Trials had never been about proving strength. Not for me.

They weren't testing my power. They were ensuring I never had the chance to rise.

Kael exhaled slowly, pressing a hand against his wound. The Dominion had planned this from the start. The trial, the audience, the rigged opponent—all of it had been a performance, a sentence dressed as tradition.

The last heir of House Veyrin was meant to disappear.

And yet… he was still breathing.

*****

A soft chime echoed in his mind, startling him.

A holographic interface flickered to life before his eyes, lines of glowing blue data scrolling in the air. The Celestial System—his personal status window.

[Celestial Archive – Restricted Access] 

► Name: [Kael Veyrin] 

► Ascendancy: Tier-3 (Suppressed) 

► Core Power: [ERROR: Data Corrupted] 

► Physique: Tier-5 (Condition Unstable) 

► Psyche: Tier-6 (Enhanced Perception) 

► Abilities: [Unknown] 

► Hidden Traits: [Access Restricted] 

Kael's breath caught.

Why is my Ascendancy ranking still active?

Under normal circumstances, a noble stripped of status would have their Celestial System erased. All traces of their lineage wiped clean.

Yet here it was, still functional—but broken.

Core Power: [ERROR: Data Corrupted]

Kael frowned. A corrupted core power? That shouldn't be possible.

The system was the foundation of noble hierarchy, determining everything from combat ability to political authority. Yet his was… incomplete. Restricted.

Did the Dominion suppress my abilities? Or is something interfering with the system itself?

A whisper of unease crept through him.

*****

The wind stirred. A low, distant hum vibrated in the air, deep and unnatural, as if the planet itself was exhaling.

Then—a voice.

"It has always been broken."

Kael froze.

The words were faint, layered, almost… distorted. They did not come from the system. They did not come from his mind.

He turned sharply, scanning the shadows. Nothing. Only the ruined wasteland stretching endlessly in all directions.

Did I imagine that?

But no. He could still feel it, like an echo left behind in his bones.

And for the first time since opening his system, a new notification appeared.

►[WARNING: Unauthorized Signal Detected] 

►Source: [Unknown] 

►Attempting to Establish a Link… 

►ERROR: External Interference Detected… 

►Restricting Access… 

Kael's heartbeat quickened.

Something had just tried to access his system.

*****

The cold of the wasteland was almost numbing now, but Kael forced himself to move, scanning his surroundings. He needed to find shelter. A supply crate. Anything.

His boots crunched over brittle ground as he walked. The terrain was uneven, fractured by time and neglect. In the distance, jagged ruins jutted from the ground like broken ribs—the remnants of a city long lost to history.

Then, he saw it.

Half-buried in the dust, a black fragment of metal glowed faintly in the darkness.

Kael hesitated. Something about it felt wrong. Ancient. Familiar.

He knelt, brushing away the dust. The metal was smooth, cold to the touch, but as soon as his fingers made contact—

A pulse.

The world lurched. His vision split.

Images flooded his mind—stars collapsing, voices screaming, a system shattering.

His breath hitched as a new notification flared across his interface.

[Obsidian Shard – System Interface Detected] 

► Status : [Dormant] 

► Function : [Decryption Protocol – Incomplete] 

► Sync Rate : [12%] 

► WARNING :  [System Access Restricted]  

The artifact was interfacing with his system.

Kael clenched his jaw, staring at the unreadable data flickering across the screen. He had never seen anything like this before.

What the hell is this thing?

And why did it feel like… it was waiting for him?

*****

Kael's fingers curled around the shard. The cold weight of it settled into his palm, familiar and foreign all at once.

Something deep within him whispered that this was the beginning of something greater. That his exile was never meant to be the end.

The Dominion had cast him aside, believing him broken. But they had made a mistake.

They had left him alive.

And now, he had something they did not.

The Obsidian Shard pulsed faintly in his grip, and for the first time since his fall, Kael felt the stirrings of power—however incomplete, however unknown.

He exhaled, gaze lifting toward the ruined horizon.

This was not over.

This was only the beginning.

*****