Ethan's breath hitched. He hadn't taken a single step, yet the silver glow ate up the distance between them, swallowing the void like a tide rushing in. There was nowhere to run. No ground to push off from. Just blackness and the light, closing in like a predator.
With each pulse, the space around him warped, bending toward that cold radiance. The air, if it could even be called air, thinned, pressing against his chest in a suffocating embrace.
A whisper slithered into his skull, so close it might have been his own thought.
Name yourself.
He spun, searching for the source, but there was nothing. Only the light, brighter now, was almost reaching him.
"Who's there?" His voice trembled more than he liked.
Name yourself… or be erased.
His mind blanked. For a terrifying moment, he couldn't remember his name at all. His life blurred: Jasper's face, the cat, the dinner table - all dissolving under the weight of that voice.
And then it rushed back. "Ethan—"
The light slammed into him. The void shuddered.
That is not your name.
Cold exploded through his body, ripping away the last traces of sensation. The darkness cracked like glass, then collapsed inward.
He was falling.
Ethan woke drenched in cold sweat, gasping for breath.
He was no longer in the void. He was in an unfamiliar place, vast, enclosed, and humming with power.
It looked like a cathedral built for giants. Towering pillars of dark stone stretched upward, veined with glowing silver lines that pulsed like a heartbeat. At the chamber's center stood an anvil unlike anything he had ever seen: a fractured slab of black metal bleeding pale-blue light through glowing cracks. Beside it, a forge burned with cold black fire.
The walls were black glass. But when Ethan looked closer, they weren't just walls; they were mirrors, and within each shimmered fragments of memory. His brother's laughter. His cat curled in his lap. Arguments around the dinner table. All flickering like broken film reels.
Violet crystals jutted from the floor like frozen lightning, some glowing faintly, others dim, others pitch black as if asleep. At the chamber's far end stood a massive door, sealed with interlocking symbols that shimmered faintly, whispering promises he couldn't hear.
Despite the cold fire and the silent walls, the place thrummed with life, not just a room, but something breathing, waiting, watching.
He instinctively knew: he was inside his body… no, not his body. His soul.
The black memory mirrors drew tears to his eyes. He tried to hold it in, but with no one watching, he let it all out. The frustration of not knowing where he was, what that light had meant when it told him he was not Ethan, and—worst of all knowing he might never see his family again.
Even though Ethan didn't understand, he wasn't stupid. He had read enough novels to know the word for it: transmigration. But the real question was where?
As he wrestled with it, a blackish-purple window bloomed before him.
[Status Window]
Name: Zane Blessborne
Rank: F (Novice)(0%)
Soul Integrity: 97%
Oath Capacity: 2 Lesser Oaths
Active Oaths: None
Passive Oaths: None
Soul Forge Access: [Unlocked]
Attributes
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Endurance: 8
Perception: 10
Willpower: 13
Luck: unpredictable
—
Unique Skill: Oathsmith's Authority
Allows the user to enter their Soul Forge, forge and evolve existing Oaths, and combine them into new, unique variants. May bypass certain capacity limits at the risk of Soul Integrity.
Title: None
—
Skill: Heaven's Accord
Type: One-Time Skill
Description: Once in a lifetime, the wielder may forge and bind an Oath of any level without having to bear a burden, without regard to their current rank, physical limitations, or soul integrity. This Oath will be permanently bound to their soul and cannot be removed, traded, or broken, even by the wielder.
Cost: Instantly consumes 30% of maximum Soul Integrity upon activation. May cause unpredictable side effects if used recklessly.
Note: Once used, the skill will vanish forever.
Ethan stared at the words. His name was no longer Ethan; it was Zane Blessborne.
He whispered it under his breath. Heat surged through his chest, as if the name had always been waiting to be spoken.
Before he could think further, the black-flamed forge roared to life. The cold fire shot higher, pulling him toward it with unseen hands. The violet crystals trembled, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The anvil brightened, cracks spilling pale-blue light that illuminated everything, even him.
A voice filled the chamber. Deeper than the void's whisper. Heavy. Like a mountain speaking.
"Soul Forge access confirmed. Unique skill detected. Authority granted."
The cold fire roared again. Symbols filled the air, shifting and sharp, their edges carrying a thousand different promises.
And then—
A new window opened. Its text felt heavier, final, as though it carved itself into his soul.
Oathsmith's Authority:
The Oath must be spoken aloud. Example: "I swear on my soul to watch everything around me."
The Oath Ledger "hears" the vow and forges a Trial. Complete it, and the Oath is made. Fail, and the soul is erased.
Every Oath has two parts:
Blessing → the magical ability or advantage granted.
Burden → the condition, cost, or limit that sustains it.
A Blessing only works when the Burden is honored.
Breaking an Oath: Instantly triggers an Oathbrand (curse mark). Blessing is stripped. Curse mirrors the Oath's power but twisted into harm.
Example: Healing Oath becomes constant bleeding.
Curses can only be removed through a Vow Trial - a dangerous quest set by the Oath Ledger.
Oath Ranks:→ Lesser→ Greater→ Prime→ Mythic→ Eternal
Example of an Oath
Oath of the Iron Shield
Rank: Lesser
Blessing: Your skin hardens into living steel when defending another.
Burden: You cannot betray someone who fully trusts you.
Curse: Your body becomes as brittle as glass.
Note: The Oathsmith's Authority can reforge, merge, or evolve existing Oaths into higher forms. This carries extreme risk to the soul.
The words seared into him. Chains and keys at the same time. If Oaths were the law of this world, then his Authority wasn't just about swearing them; it was about reshaping them. Making them into something no one else could. At a cost.
In that moment, Ethan realized he could create an Oath there. Any Oath. Just thinking about it made him forget all his problems. After all, if he could forge any Oath, then he could make one that would be able to take him home. Back to his family. Back to his old life.
The black flame in the forge surged higher, casting jagged shadows across the memory-mirrors. Ethan stepped toward the anvil, the words already forming in his mind. "I swear… upon my soul… to return home." The forge's light wrapped around him, sinking into his bones. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as glowing runes began to etch themselves into the air, each one pulling at his essence.
The Oath was taking shape; he could feel it, real and absolute. And then— Everything froze. The flames turned an unnatural shade of white. The runes fractured, splintering into ink-black shards that hovered in the air before vanishing entirely.
A sound followed, a low, guttural hum, like the grinding of colossal stones, so deep it rattled his bones.
"Not yours to forge."
The voice was layered, wrong, like multiple beings speaking in perfect unison. Pain shot through him, sharp and cold, as the skill's power was wrenched from his grasp. The anvil's glow dimmed, and the black flame guttered into embers.
Oath Creation Failed
Cause: Interference from Unknown Entity
Ethan staggered back, clutching his chest, his breathing ragged. His one chance to return home… stolen. Ethan, still shaken by the shock of being denied his only chance to go home, began to pace in front of the anvil.
His hands trembled, not from fear, but from a deep, simmering frustration. Whoever or whatever had just interfered had not only blocked an Oath but had also taken away his choice.
He wanted to scream and throw the forge's black flame at the unseen presence, but he could still sense it, watching, waiting, as if challenging him to try again.
The notification window lingered in the air, its final words seared into his mind: Interference from Unknown Entity.
He stood trembling before the forge. For a moment, the weight of it all nearly broke him.
But then the memory hit Jasper.
"The best Oath you can make is the balanced one," Jasper had bragged at dinner once, waving his fork like a knight's sword. "No weak spots. No wasted stats. Perfection. If I ever get a Soul Forge, that's the first thing I'm doing." Ethan had laughed it off back then, called him an idiot. But standing here now, in a cathedral of his own soul, Jasper's words didn't feel stupid anymore. They felt right. They felt like survival.
Zane swallowed hard. Slowly, deliberately, he stepped to the anvil.
"I swear, upon my soul, to balance my strength, speed, endurance, and mind, so that no weakness shall be my undoing."
The runes flared, this time without interference. The forge's black flame roared, cold wind swirling through the chamber. The anvil rang once, deep and resonant. A wave of force slammed into his chest.
He gasped as something inside twisted. Muscles tightened, bones compacted, thoughts sharpened like a blade. His heartbeat throbbed too perfectly, like a metronome guiding every future movement.
Pain surged, then melted into a foreign rightness. Every part of him felt balanced.
Oath Forged – Equilibrium Eternal
Effect: All attributes will automatically balance to the highest stat available, ensuring perfectly balanced growth.
Zane staggered back, panting. It wasn't the Oath he wanted. But it was the one that would keep him alive.