The chamber was still.
Not quiet. Still. Like something had drained the very motion from the air.
Dust floated like ash through the cracked ribs of the Hollow Shrine's walls. Every sound I made—each breath, each step—echoed like it didn't belong here. Like I didn't belong here.
The stone altar loomed in the back of the room, a crooked slab split down the middle like it had once been cleaved by lightning. And at its base, etched directly into the floor, pulsed a shape I'd seen before.
The spiral sigil.
Same form—curving, sharp, bone-like lines that coiled toward the center like a hungry eye. Only now it was cracked and ancient. Still glowing, though barely.
And beneath it, chiseled deep into the stone:
"CHOOSE."
The word stared up at me like a command.
I stepped toward it, unsure why my legs kept moving.
And then—
[System Notice: Shrine of Binding Reacted to Host's Soulmark]Soulmark: "The Watched One" recognized.
Trial of Recollection may be accessed.
Do you wish to begin the trial?
[Y/N]
'The Watched One? What the hell does that mean?'
The system wasn't giving me a fight. Not yet. But it wasn't harmless either. Nothing in this world had been so far.
I reached toward the sigil.
"Yes," I whispered.
I was no longer in the shrine.
Instead, I stood beneath a dying sky.
Above me: a crimson sun that never moved. Beneath me: sand like powdered bone, rolling endlessly into a silent horizon.
No wind. No breath. Just stillness again—heavier this time.
The sky cracked.
And from it descended a figure, gliding like mist that had forgotten how to fall.
Robes of black starlight trailed behind it, never quite touching the ground. Its face was hidden behind a porcelain mask split down the center—half expressionless, half screaming. Its arms were wrong. Too long. Too thin. Too smooth.
It radiated something I couldn't describe.
Not malice. Not power.
Purpose.
"You are the last dead thing to rise," it said—but not aloud. The words etched themselves into my thoughts, like a memory I hadn't lived."And the first in a thousand cycles to be given a choice."
"Choice of what?" I said, voice hollow.
"What you carry from those who came before."
Sand swirled at its feet.
Three forms rose from the dunes.
A shattered mirror with glints of reflected screams.A rusted blade, humming with dull fury.And a black seed, pulsing like a dying star.
[Trial of Recollection – Selection Required]Choose one relic of memory. Each grants a bound skill, starting at Level 1 and carrying a defined Rank.
Mirror of Lost Echoes
Skill Gained: [Fragment Memory Lv. 1]
Type: Passive
Rank: B (Enhanced Insight)
Effect: 10% chance to glimpse the memories of defeated enemies via [Soul Echo] or [Devourer's Core]. Can unlock secrets, knowledge, or minor passive abilities. Memory clarity improves with level.
Blade of Ashen Truth
Skill Gained: [Executioner's Path Lv. 1]
Type: Active
Rank: A (Elite Slayer Art)
Effect: Boosts next melee strike against undead/cursed enemies by +40% damage. Cooldown: 12 seconds. Higher levels may inflict bleed, bypass defenses, or instantly execute.
Seed of the Hollow Flame
Skill Gained: [Vestige Flame Lv. 1]
Type: Passive
Rank: A (Elite Flamebound Resilience)
Effect: Cleanses 1 negative status every 60s. Grants +20% fire/corruption resistance and +15% healing from fire-based effects. Higher levels unlock flame synergy and regeneration.
I stood there, staring at them.
Each one whispered to me.
The mirror showed a life not mine—a knight kneeling before a ruined city, his sword buried in his own chest.
The blade echoed with the roar of battle, hundreds of voices screaming as one as curses burned the sky.
The seed pulsed with warmth, and I saw a girl cloaked in flame, walking calmly through a sea of rot.
I clenched my fists.
They weren't just skills. They were memories. Traces. Legacies.
What I chose now wouldn't just change what I could do.
It might change what I become.
My breath slowed.
I reached forward—