"Merit?" Caelus questioned the notification with confusion.
He looked around and tried to make sense of his surroundings.
He seemed to be in space.
Stars glittered across the infinite darkness above him, countless celestial bodies scattered across the void like diamonds on black velvet.
Then he heard the noises.
The noise of screaming and shouting.
The sound of a player echoed from somewhere nearby, their voices filled with fear and desperation.
Caelus turned toward Sylvia who had already noticed the commotion.
She nodded at him without a word.
They moved toward the source of the sounds.
What they found made Sylvia's blood boil.
A group of five players surrounded a small figure on the ground.
The figure was a boy who couldn't have been older than fifteen.
He was thin and frail, his clothes torn and his body covered in bruises.
Tears streamed down his face as he looked up at his tormentors.
