Initiation wasn't a ceremony. It was a sacrifice.
Veil dragged Kael into the Ash Chamber—a ritual crucible of burning scripts and codewire. A floating altar made of obsidian light awaited.
"You want to ascend?" Veil asked.
Kael nodded.
Veil stabbed him.
Not with a sword—but with a codeblade. It tore through his chest, writing pain in his nerves, unraveling him.
[ASH MARK INITIATED – Internal Fracture Forming]
Kael screamed as corrupted memories erupted:
—His mother, screaming as blackout sirens howled.
—A car—spinning. A brother. Dead? Erased.
—Someone screaming his name. Not him.
—Red eyes in a white room.
Silence.
[Ash Mark: Complete]
[Guild Link: Ashveil – Loyalty: 0%]
He collapsed.
Ayla helped him up. "That was insane."
Kael coughed blood. "I'm already dead."
Then Echo tilted her head.
"He passed. But… I can't access his core memory threads. Something's fractured. Possibly overwritten."
Veil grinned.
"Then maybe your system's glitching too."