The sky above the Trial Realm had
changed.
Ashland Vale stood on the edge of a
ledge overlooking a canyon of spiraled, crystalline stone. The stars above—if
they could be called that—had begun to drift. Slowly, gently, like petals on a
dark current. It was subtle, almost beautiful.
But beauty in this world had always
come with a price.
"It's starting," Iriis said quietly
behind him.
Ash didn't turn. "What is?"
"The Realm is reacting. You passed
Phase One. You touched the Binding. Now it begins to shape itself to challenge
you properly."
He nodded slowly.
"Five days."
"Five days until your Class
stabilizes… or fails."
[SYSTEM ALERT – ASCENSION THRESHOLD
TIMER INITIATED]
Remaining Time: 4 Days, 23 Hours, 8
Minutes
Warning: Incomplete Class Ascension
will result in total Bond failure. Soul damage may be irreversible.
Ash took a breath and stepped away
from the edge. His limbs still ached. His body hadn't fully recovered from the
early Trials. But something inside him felt different.
More alive.
More present.
And more… hungry.
They moved quickly.
The system had marked the next Trial
Zone on his inner map, a glowing violet arc deep within the Hollow Spires, a
maze of broken monuments and ancient gravity wells suspended midair—somehow
both ruin and constellation.
As they walked, Iriis taught him in
fragments.
"Every Binder is shaped by what they
summon," she explained. "The Pact doesn't just give you power. It reflects you.
The deeper our Bond, the more your Path will be defined."
Ash rubbed the mark on his palm. "So
what's my Path?"
She glanced at him.
"That depends. What do you want?"
That question stopped him.
He thought of Emberhold. The Ashzone.
The hunger. The silence. The broken hopes.
He thought of his brother. Of watching
him vanish into a Gate, never to return.
He clenched his fist.
"I want to know the truth. About the
Gates. The System. About what happened to Cael."
Iriis didn't smile, but he felt
something through the Bond.
Approval.
"Then you're not like the others," she
said. "They wanted power. Or vengeance. Or control."
"You want to understand."
They reached the Spires at dusk—that
was the only way to describe it. The Realm didn't have suns or moons. But
somehow, the light changed.
The Hollow Spires were suspended
midair—hundreds of them, like islands of jagged stone floating in place. Each
was connected by glowing strands of force that pulsed with faint gravity.
Ash stared upward.
"We're… supposed to climb that?"
Iriis stepped beside him, placing a
hand on the first gravity ribbon.
"No," she said calmly. "We walk."
And then she stepped forward.
The ribbon bent, shimmered—and held
her weight.
Ash exhaled slowly, reached out, and
followed.
As they ascended, the system
whispered.
[SYSTEM UPDATE – ASCENSION TRIAL:
STAGE I]
Domain: The Hollow Spires
Challenge: Face the Warden of Memory
Trial Type: Memory Extraction | Combat
Sync
Requirement: Synchronize with Iriis at
30%
Optional Bonus: Uncover a sealed
memory from the Forgotten Court
Penalty for Failure: Neural
Desynchronization – Bond Instability Imminent
"I don't like the sound of that," Ash
muttered.
"You shouldn't," Iriis replied.
At the top of the highest spire stood
a single door.
It wasn't carved or arcane. Just plain
black wood, in a frame of ivory.
"That's it?"
Iriis said nothing. Her posture
changed—tension rolling off her like cold wind.
"What is it?"
She answered with only one word.
"Memory."
Ash stepped forward—and the door opened
on its own.
Inside, he didn't find another
battlefield.
He found a library.
Or what was left of one.
Bookshelves lined the circular walls,
but most were broken, burned, or rotted away. The ceiling stretched impossibly
high, and suspended in the air were dozens of floating memory-crystals—pale
blue orbs pulsing with flickering light.
In the center stood a man.
Or what had once been a man.
His skin was made of etched marble,
and his robes shimmered with flickering ink. His head was faceless, but crowned
with a ring of broken feathers. In his hand was a scepter—an artifact of old.
"Ashland Vale," the figure intoned.
Ash stiffened. "You know my name?"
"I know all Binders who touch the
Forgotten Path. I am the Warden of Memory."
"You have summoned one who should not
be remembered. And now, you must pay the cost."
The air thickened.
Ash could feel it—pressure. Unlike
anything before.
Iriis stepped forward.
"Ash. He's not a foe we fight with
force."
"We fight with truth."
[TRIAL BEGINS: SYNCHRONIZATION IN
PROGRESS – 6%]
The Warden raised his scepter—and the
room fractured.
Reality split like glass. Ash screamed
as images flooded his vision. Not memories of his own—
Memories of Iriis.
A throne of bone.
A trial by oath.
A king in chains.
A betrayal that shattered the sky.
Ash dropped to his knees.
"What—what is this?"
Iriis stepped beside him, kneeling.
"I told you. We ruled over secrets.
And some were never meant to be seen."
The Warden's voice boomed.
"To claim the Forgotten Pact, you must
carry its weight. Bind not only power—but history."
Ash gritted his teeth.
"Then show me all of it."
The room darkened.
Another wave hit. This time, Ash
didn't fall.
Instead, he stood, and Iriis stood
with him.
Their minds aligned for a flickering
moment—and the flame in her eyes pulsed in his.
[SYNCHRONIZATION: 31% – THRESHOLD
REACHED]
The Warden hesitated.
"Impossible. He's not ready—"
Ash raised a hand.
Violet chains erupted from the floor—his
chains, formed of memory and will. They coiled around the Warden's limbs.
"This isn't about being ready," Ash
said.
"It's about choosing."
He stepped forward.
"I choose to Bind the Forgotten."
The chains pulled.
And the Warden shattered into crystal
dust.
The room was quiet again.
The door opened behind them, revealing
the stars.
[ASCENSION TRIAL STAGE I COMPLETE]
Summon Sync: 31%
Trait Gained: [Dual Conscious – Lv. 1]
You may now share instinct and
reaction timing with Iriis in combat. Short-term fusion possible in high-threat
scenarios.
Memory Unlocked: Fragment 1 – "The
Betrayal of the Court"
Time Remaining: 4 Days, 11 Hours
Ash breathed out slowly.
He looked at Iriis.
"I saw you. Before all of this."
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me what they did
to you?"
Her voice was quiet.
"Because I needed to know if you could
survive knowing."
He nodded once.
"I can."