The world returned in pieces.
Not all at once—just fragments. A hiss of wind. A flicker of dying firelight. The faint pressure of ground beneath my back.
My eyes opened.
Still alive.
Still me.
But something had changed.
The shrine had vanished. The spectral being—the masked Watcher—gone as if it had never existed. Only the spiral remained, burned faintly into the stone beneath me, no longer glowing.
[Skill Gained – Fragment Memory Lv. 1 (Rank B)]You may now glimpse scattered memories from devoured or echoed entities.Memory chance: 10%Higher level memories may offer secret abilities, hidden language fragments, or passives.
'So that's what I got.'
I didn't feel stronger.
Not like the burst of power from absorbing corpses. Not like when my agility spiked after killing the Wretch.
This was… subtle.
But it wasn't nothing.
As I stood, I felt it: the weight of another thought in my mind. Something not mine. A flickering image—dusty roads, a crumbled tower, a metal pendant engraved with stars. I didn't recognize the place or the symbol, but the emotions were unmistakable.
Shame. Failure. Regret.
'Is this... the memory of someone I absorbed?'
It pulsed again—brighter this time. I stumbled, catching myself on the edge of a cracked statue.
[Memory Fragment Detected – Low Clarity]Source: Lesser Graveborn (Echo absorbed)– Memory Status: Incomplete.
The memory vanished before I could anchor it.
Just a taste.
But it was enough to unsettle me.
If this was what Fragment Memory could do at level one… what would happen when I saw a complete memory? What if I absorbed something I couldn't unsee?
I stepped out of the ruined shrine.
The forest greeted me like a corpse—quiet, suffocating, and still watching.
Roots had reclaimed the path. Statues crumbled into moss. The sky above looked heavier than before, its clouded gray pressing down like an omen.
I turned back once.
The shrine was already gone, swallowed by shadow and vines.
'No going back.'
I tightened my fingers into a fist and walked on.
It was near dusk—if this world even had normal days. The sky had darkened to a deeper ash, and the air tasted faintly of rust. The path split three ways: one toward a cliff lined with spears of stone, another down a slope into bramble-choked woods, and a third...
To ruins.
Half-buried, sagging pillars and shattered walls poked from the earth like broken teeth. Whatever once stood there had been torn down long ago.
[System Notice: Ruins of Viir Tal – Lost Temple District]Echoes of power still linger.Risk: ModerateOpportunity: Unknown
'Unknown is better than nothing.'
I moved toward the ruins.
The wind was sharper here, slicing through my bones like knives. My undead-linked body didn't feel cold—but it remembered cold. The difference chilled me worse.
As I crept beneath a fallen arch, the ground crunched underfoot.
Bones.
Cracked, scattered, gnawed.
'Lovely.'
I pressed forward, eyes sharp.
There was a doorway. A proper one. Still standing, barely.
I ducked inside—
And froze.
A figure stood at the far end of the chamber, hunched beside an ancient altar. Cloaked. Not rotting, but still. Silent.
I took a step.
Its head snapped toward me.
Eyes like coals. Burning not with fire—but with awareness.
It wasn't mindless.
[New Entity Detected – Grave Watcher (Unbound)]Rank: RareThreat Level: UnknownWarning: This entity possesses memory. It may recognize your kind.
"Who are you?" I said aloud.
It didn't answer with words.
Instead, it whispered—not into my ears, but into my soul.
"You carry echoes."
I stepped back instinctively. "So?"
"You are not the first. But you might be the last."
My heart—or whatever counted as one now—beat harder.
It reached toward me.
Not in attack.
In offering.
A silver coin hovered from its palm. Old. Marked with the same spiral sigil.
[System Notice: Unique Memory Token Detected – "Watcher's Remnant"]Contains an intact memory.Requires [Fragment Memory Lv. 1+] to unlock.
I hesitated.
This wasn't a fight.
This was a test.
'Take it.'
I stepped forward and touched the coin.
The world blurred.
MEMORY IMPRINT – "THE FIRE THAT FAILED"
I stood on a tower that no longer existed.
Wind lashed across my face. My hands were smaller. Thinner. And trembling.
Ahead, fire climbed the hills—dozens of torches. Soldiers. Hunters. Faces twisted by fear.
And behind me… the city I had sworn to protect. Crumbling. Burning. A cathedral collapsing into smoke.
A woman screamed my name.
But I turned away.
And leapt into the dark.
I snapped back.
Gasping.
The Watcher was gone. So was the altar. Even the chamber seemed different—hollow, stripped of presence.
[Memory Imprint Absorbed: The Fire That Failed]Passive Gained: [Trace of Resolve] – 5% resistance to fear effects.Language Fragment Gained: Old Viiran script (Partially Decipherable)[Fragment Memory Lv. 1] Progress: 23%
I exhaled slowly.
The past wasn't just a story here. It was currency. Power. Danger.
And I had just tapped into it.
"I don't know what this world is trying to turn me into," I whispered, "but I'm starting to feel it."
Not just power.
Purpose.
And whatever that spiral symbol was—it wasn't done with me yet.