Ethan stood in the boundless white scape of his mind. The ground beneath him looked like
marble soaked in a silver sheen, stretching infinitely in every direction. Light pulsed overhead from
an unseen sky, casting sharp reflections across the smooth floor.
A breeze that wasn't really there whispered over his skin, cool as ice. He shivered slightly, every
hair on his body prickling in anticipation.
"System," Ethan murmured, voice echoing through the silent expanse, "who's my opponent?"
A shimmer of blue data spiraled into existence before him. And then—
CLANG.
The sound of armored boots striking stone. A ripple of power coursed outward like a shockwave,
rattling Ethan's bones.
A towering figure strode from the swirling light, his crimson cloak billowing behind him as if caught
in a storm. Gleaming silver armor covered him from throat to toe, etched with runes and scarred
with countless battle marks. A lion's-head crest was emblazoned upon his chestplate, and a black
