The cold enveloped him. An unnatural, deep chill that seemed to devour everything. It was not the cold of death, but that of total absence. The void. Oblivion.
Eidan opened his eyes.
Before him stretched the Abyss, a world devoid of color and sound. Fragments of destroyed structures floated in the void: broken towers, rusted swords, pages of faded books. Pieces of forgotten stories. Fragments of those who had been erased from history.
Once, he too belonged to the real world. Once, he had been a fighter in the Tower of Babel, the immense interdimensional labyrinth that swallowed humans and forced them to climb its levels to survive. Those with talent became heroes. The weak were abandoned.
And him?
He was born without an ability. No blessing, no magic, no possibilities. Just flesh and blood, cast into a world where power determined who lived and who died. He had climbed the Tower with pure determination, making allies, fighting bloodily. But in the end…
They had betrayed him.
His own companions had cast him into the Black Labyrinth, the cursed level of the Tower. No one had ever emerged alive. He had been devoured by the darkness, his body dissolved, his existence erased.
But death had not come.
He had ended up here.
In the forgotten world.
Eidan struggled to his feet, staring at the void around him. Then, a glow caught his eye.
A book floated before him.
Its cover was black as dried ink, and engraved upon it shone a golden script in an unknown language.
[ARCHIVE OF ASHES]
It was open, and upon its pages were engraved thousands of names. Warriors, wizards, assassins, kings. All those who had been forgotten, whose power had been swept away by history.
And among them, one name shone brightest.
[EIDAN VALEST]
A chill ran through him. His name was engraved among those of the dead. And before he could react, ethereal words appeared in the air.
— Do you want to reclaim what was lost? —
His mind screamed to refuse. But his heart… his heart burned with rage. He had lost everything. He had been betrayed, cast away like garbage. No one would remember him.
No. It will not end like this.
Without hesitation, he reached out and touched his name in the book.
The air exploded around him.
The Archive dissolved into fragments of black light, enveloping him in a vortex of energy. Voices whispered in his mind, forgotten memories flowed through his veins. And a new system window appeared before his eyes.
[New Skill Acquired: BEYOND DEATH]
Description: You can assimilate the fragments of skills forgotten by the dead. Their experiences, their power… they now belong to you.
Eidan fell to his knees, his breath ragged. A wave of knowledge washed over him. Sword techniques, spells, forbidden arts. He didn't possess a single power.
He possessed hundreds.
But before he could fully comprehend the change, the Nothing around him distorted.
Before him, a door of shadow opened.
A way back.
Eidan clenched his fists, his heart pounding.
He had been forgotten by the world. But now, the world would remember him.
He stood up and walked through the door.