The air was still—too still.
Kael stood atop the crumbling spire of the ancient ruins, both his bodies pulsing with faint mana currents. The connection between them was raw, unrefined. Two cores, two minds, tethered by the same soul. He could feel the strain—like two rivers colliding beneath a single bridge.
Then it began.
A distant hum.
It wasn't the tower. Not the wind. Not the Watcher.
It was something else—something alive, but not living.
Kael narrowed his eyes. The humming grew louder, becoming layered with faint whispers. A strange light flickered in the air, faint like starlight but carrying weight—presence. It came from beneath the stone floor of the spire. The old sigils etched into the ground began to glow, as if reawakening after a long slumber.
And then it rose
A shard. Metallic, angular, hovering upright in the air like a dagger with no handle. It pulsed in rhythm with Kael's breath, as if it recognized him.
Kael took a step back, his second body instinctively stepping forward to shield him. But the shard didn't attack. It hovered before the second body, circling it slowly, scanning.
And then it spoke—not in words, but in impressions, like thoughts etched directly onto his mind
"Two bodies… one soul… Alignment confirmed."
"Designated resonance detected. Initiating contact protocol."
"You are not the Master."
"Yet… you carry his mark."
Kael's breath hitched.
The shard floated closer, its hum now synchronizing with the rhythm of his mana core. As it aligned itself, Kael felt something strange—a warmth, like ancient sunlight touching his spine. The relic wasn't a weapon. It was a beacon.
A fragment of memory burst into his mind—not his own.
A figure stood in a place of stars and silence, surrounded by swirling cosmic winds. Nine bodies orbiting him like planets, merging into one final form—Tier 10.
And then… darkness. Silence. Something broken.
Kael staggered backward, clutching his head.
"Stop—what was that?!"
The shard halted in place. Its voice now took shape—distorted, yet calm. Almost… reverent.
"I am Fragment 017, last remnant of the Ascended Lord's will. I was tasked with finding the next resonance—the successor. The one who will inherit what was once… divine."
Kael stared. "What do you mean 'Ascended Lord'? You mean a Tier 10?"
"Correct. My Master achieved convergence. Body, mind, soul—unified. He became one with existence. Then… he vanished."
"But the echoes remain."
Kael's thoughts reeled. Tier 10… he barely understood Tier 2. And yet, this relic acted like he was chosen for something beyond mortal comprehension.
"Why me?"
The relic pulsed once.
"That is not for me to know. Only to recognize. You carry resonance. You walk the path. You are… not complete."
Then it floated toward him, embedding itself into the second body's chest. Not piercing—melding. A symbol flared: a circle of nine stars surrounding a single eye.
Kael dropped to one knee, gasping as a surge of unknown memories clawed at the edges of his mind.
Somewhere, in the ruins of the past, a plan had been set into motion.
And Kael had just stepped into it.