Jace crouched low in the remnants of a half-destroyed railcar, the metal groaning softly under his weight. Moisture clung to every surface, and the thick fog draped over the ruins like a shroud, swallowing sound and sight. The deeper he went into Zone 6N, the less reality seemed to follow familiar rules.
His eyes flicked to the system's map, the pulsing glyph of the Vault behind him now dim. But another anomaly had appeared—this one faint, blinking like a heartbeat on the edge of detection.
> [New Signature Detected: Unstable Core Fragment]
[Location: Unknown – Estimated 400 meters northeast]
[Estimated Hostile Proximity: Moderate]
He let out a slow breath and advanced, stepping lightly over debris, his senses sharpened by the lingering aftershock of the last Vault trial. His limbs still ached. His HP hadn't fully recovered. But each battle carved something new into him.
He could feel the system changing him.
Thirty meters ahead, the wreckage opened into a cracked plaza surrounded by crumbling office towers. A collapsed mech unit lay across one corner, its armor rusted and split. Vines and creeping moss claimed its frame.
But it wasn't the scenery that made Jace stop.
It was the noise.
A low, wet slurping sound.
He froze, then activated Echo Sight.
> [Echo Sight Active: 5 Seconds Remaining]
[Target Detected: Mawsplitter – Tier D – Level 28]
[Behavioral Pattern: Stationary Consumption Mode]
[Weak Point: Cerebral node at rear base. Defense: Medium]
The fog peeled back in his vision like curtains, revealing the beast.
It was grotesque.
A mass of swollen flesh with three oversized jaws that split vertically and horizontally across its head. Its body was slug-like, armored with twitching spikes that glistened with fluid. Dozens of finger-thin tongues snaked outward from its center as it devoured a corpse—some unlucky scavenger, partially armored and half-dissolved.
Jace's stomach clenched.
But the system chimed again.
> [Side Objective Triggered: Rare Core Hunter – 1/5]
[Eliminate 5 Rare Core Beasts for Tier I Reward Access]
He slowly unsheathed the Crimson Boneblade, still stained from his last fight. The weapon pulsed faintly with residual energy. He crept to the side, circling the beast at a wide arc.
Step by step.
Until he was behind it.
Then he moved.
His foot scraped concrete.
The Mawsplitter shrieked, tongues flailing.
Jace lunged forward, activating Blood Instinct. Time stretched. Every movement slowed. He ducked under a lashing tendril and drove his blade upward into the creature's slick rear.
The blade bit deep, grinding against bone. The Mawsplitter bucked violently, spitting bile. Jace rolled away, narrowly avoiding a crushing slam from its tail-like appendage.
It turned toward him, all three jaws widening.
He activated Shadow Blink.
Eight meters vanished in an instant, and he reappeared beside the mech wreckage. Dust plumed as he skidded behind cover.
> [Health: 72%]
[Stamina: 48%]
The creature gave a gurgling roar and began pulsing, the flesh along its side quivering like boiling water.
Jace narrowed his eyes. "Charging something."
He ran.
Debris exploded behind him as the creature vomited a high-pressure jet of acidic fluid. The acid sizzled against concrete and metal alike, melting everything it touched.
Jace sprinted along a bent support beam, leapt onto the mech's back, then launched himself through the air—blade first.
He plunged the Boneblade down into the exposed node behind the creature's upper jaw.
> [Critical Hit – Weak Point Struck]
[+420 XP Gained]
[Rare Core Retrieved: Mawsplitter – Grade D – Bio-Assimilation Type]
[Side Objective Progress: 2/5]
The beast convulsed, then slumped, oozing bile and twitching before falling still.
Jace dropped to one knee, panting, blade buried in the corpse. He pulled it free with effort, bile splashing across his boots.
His system chimed once more.
> [Passive Ability Unlocked: Digestive Resistance Lv.1 – Reduces acid and toxin damage by 12%]
He let out a bitter chuckle. "Not the power I hoped for, but sure… I'll take it."
Behind him, the fog shifted again.
Another signature pulsed.
And this one was moving.
The new signal flared brighter on Jace's system HUD.
> [Signature Approaching – 180 meters and closing]
[Tier Unknown – Estimated Level: 30+]
[Caution: Energy fluctuations exceed expected parameters]
Jace's brows furrowed. "Another beast? No... this feels different."
He wiped bile off his blade and slid into the shadows of a partially collapsed bus. The lingering mist bent unnaturally around the plaza now, coiling tighter as though being drawn inward.
The footsteps weren't like the thuds of a beast—no guttural snorts or clawed skittering. Just deliberate, armored movement crunching over rubble.
Then he saw her.
A figure emerged through the fog—humanoid, tall, clad in sleek, black-gray armor veined with glowing blue filaments. Her eyes shimmered beneath a semi-transparent visor, glowing like plasma. A crest rested on her shoulder—one Jace didn't recognize.
She wasn't from the Federation.
And she wasn't vampiric.
She was something else.
> [New Entity Detected: ?? Class – Rank: ??? – Affiliation: Unknown]
She stepped forward, boots crunching over the Mawsplitter's corpse. With a calm, analytical glance, she scanned the remains.
"Third one," she murmured aloud. "Same incision style. Same residual fluctuation. He's adapting faster than projected."
Jace held his breath.
She turned her head toward his hiding place and raised a hand.
A thin drone, no larger than a fist, shot from her back and hovered above the corpse. Blue lights pulsed.
> [Warning: Active Scanning Field Detected – Camouflage Inadequate]
Jace swore silently and activated Echo Sight for a split second—her outline flared in crimson, her power signature dense, coiled like a spring.
"Can't fight that," he whispered. "Can't run in a straight line either."
Shadow Blink was still on cooldown.
So he did the only thing he could—improvised.
He grabbed a rusted rebar rod and hurled it into the opposite alleyway. It clanged loudly, echoing through the ruins.
The woman's eyes shifted toward the noise.
That was all he needed.
He bolted into the subway tunnel behind the plaza, feet silent against the dust. The moment he crossed the threshold, the system flickered.
> [You are entering: Subsurface Corridor – Restricted Zone]
[Environmental Hazard Rating: Low]
[Vault Residue Detected – Compatible Pathway Found]
He didn't stop.
The tunnel twisted downward, deeper into forgotten infrastructure. Vines crept along the walls, and faint light came from moss that pulsed with bioluminescence. Jace's breath caught—this place felt old.
And alive.
The system buzzed in his ear.
> [Path to Vault Beta – Signature Match: 23%]
[Trial Conditions: Locked – Further Access Requires Blood Offering]
Jace slowed, checking his surroundings. The walls bore carvings—unfamiliar runes etched by something that wasn't human.
"This… isn't from the Federation."
He knelt near one of the markings and placed his hand against it.
It pulsed back.
> [Resonance Confirmed – Legacy Fragment Imprint Initiated]
[Uploading Memory Echo…]
Suddenly, his vision blurred. A new world unfolded around him—one of soaring towers carved from obsidian, under twin suns. Beasts walked beside armored sentinels. And at the center of a grand vault, a throne.
A figure sat on it, draped in red bone-like armor, a staff of symbols spinning at his side.
"Blood," the voice echoed. "Not just of the body—but of purpose."
Jace reeled backward, gasping.
The vision faded.
He looked down at his hands—trembling slightly. The air around him grew heavier. Something down here had awakened. Something ancient… and watching.
And it wasn't just the woman on the surface anymore.
Jace continued deeper, the tunnel walls growing narrower, roots threading through the stone like veins. Every few steps, he passed symbols—strange etchings that seemed to shift subtly when he looked away.
> [Vault Residue Amplifying]
[Trace Match Increasing: 29% → 34%]
The air turned warmer, like breath against his skin.
He paused at a small archway. It was old—so old the stone around it had fused with crystallized bone. A plaque rested above it, chipped but legible:
> "Here waits the Echo of Will. Only those who bleed truth may step forward."
Jace drew in a breath, then exhaled slowly. "Figures it's never easy."
He pressed his palm against the threshold.
> [Blood Offering Required – Intent-Based Initiation]
[Offer Accepted: 1.1 mL]
[Processing…]
A sharp prick. A drop of blood flowed into the arch. The walls trembled.
Then… silence.
Jace waited.
A whisper brushed his mind: "Why do you walk this path, Jace?"
It wasn't the system. This voice was softer, older. Personal.
He hesitated—then, aloud: "To survive. To protect the people I care about."
Nothing happened.
Then the voice returned: "Survival is instinct. Protection is duty. But what is your will?"
Jace's jaw tightened. Images rushed through him—his mother working herself to exhaustion, his academy tutor who gave him free meals, the bullies laughing during his first failed trial, and the broken, dead city beyond the walls.
"I want to change the order," he whispered. "I want to tear down the walls that keep us weak. I want to become someone… who can't be ignored."
The arch flared red.
> [Intent Accepted]
[Vault Entry Authorized: Bone Sigil Antechamber]
[Legacy Interface Unlocked]
The door ground open.
Inside was a chamber unlike any he'd seen—lined with bone-like structures, suspended crystal prisms, and in the center… a dormant sarcophagus of crimson stone.
> [Legacy Signature: Ancient Bloodborn – Classification: Null Tier]
[Warning: Power Signature Non-Reproducible – Observation Protocols Enabled]
A pedestal beside the sarcophagus flickered to life.
> [Choose One:
A) Legacy Fragment – Bone Claw Seed
B) Passive Skill – Resilience of the Dead Lv.1
C) Weapon Core – Bonefused Shiv]
Jace stared, jaw slack.
"This… is it," he murmured. "This is where it begins."
His hand hovered over the first choice.
> [A) Legacy Fragment – Bone Claw Seed: A living remnant of an ancient protector. Evolves with user. Will imprint with user soul. Warning: Permanent Binding.]
Jace didn't hesitate.
He chose A.
---
> [Legacy Fragment Acquired – Bone Claw Seed]
[Establishing Bond…]
Pain shot through his chest.
He screamed—something tore into his consciousness like fangs through flesh. His vision blacked out for a split second.
Then a second heartbeat echoed in his ears.
> [Connection Complete: Bone Claw Dormant]
[Future Evolution: Unknown]
[Status: Watching.]
He staggered, gasping, clutching the side of the sarcophagus. His body felt heavier—but more complete, somehow.
Then something moved.
A whisper, not from the system, not from the vault—but from within.
"Grow, or be consumed. The path is written in bone."