The creature lunged, claws slicing air.
Leo didn't think. He ducked—barely—and rolled through the slick mud. His broken branch clattered behind him, useless.
"Too fast—"
A second swipe came from the side. He staggered, felt the wind of claws graze his shoulder. The beast was silent, but its breath came in hot bursts. Closer. Closer.
No system window.
No tutorial.
No help.
Just the sound of his pulse slamming in his ears, and the sharp sting of wet leaves across his face as he scrambled backward into the underbrush.
Leo gritted his teeth and grabbed a jagged stone from the ground. It was no sword, no magic blade, just a rock. But it was real. It was heavy. And it could break things.
The creature snarled and pounced again.
Leo swung the stone blindly—and connected.
A crunch. The beast shrieked as the stone cracked into its jaw. It didn't go down, but it reeled, golden eyes flickering wildly.
Leo's legs moved before his brain caught up. He shoved forward and slammed the rock again. Once. Twice. The creature hissed and slashed wildly, tearing his tunic open across the ribs. Fire burned down his side.
He stumbled back, gasping.
Then suddenly—
a pulse.
A vibration not of the earth, but within him.
Like a bell tolling underwater.
And then came a voice—not external, not internal, but somewhere deeper.
Emotional Echo triggered.
Leo's knees buckled. A wave crashed into his chest—not pain, but emotion. Hunger. Desperation. Rage wrapped in fear. The beast's thoughts weren't words—but instincts, burned deep into its bones.
He saw flashes:
A cave, cold and wet.
A mother's corpse.
Isolation.
Hunted by its own kind.
It wasn't a monster. Not really. It was starving. Abandoned.
Just like me.
The realization hit harder than its claws.
Leo steadied himself, heart pounding. His hands trembled—but his fear was slowly replaced by something else. Focus. Not from courage. But understanding.
The beast circled again. Weaker now. Stumbling from the head wound, breath ragged. But still alive. Still dangerous.
Leo tightened his grip on the bloodied stone. "I don't want to kill you."
The creature snarled.
"But I will."
He waited for the lunge this time. Watched its shoulders. Its stance. Its hesitation.
Then it moved.
So did he.
He ducked low, stepped in—not away—and jammed the stone straight into its eye.
A burst of warmth sprayed his arm. The beast shrieked. Thrashed. Then collapsed, twitching.
And just like that, the forest fell quiet.
Leo stood there in the aftermath, drenched in rain, mud, blood, and something colder than any of them: silence.
His hand slowly dropped the stone.
Breath shuddered out of him.
Then, like someone pulling a curtain back inside his skull—
ding!
A soft, bell-like chime echoed in his head. A faint glow bloomed before his eyes, edged in soft gold and pale blue.
> [ System Awakening... ] EchoCore initializing...
Lines of light formed into text, hovering midair in front of him like a glass panel only he could see.
> Skill recognized: Emotional Echo – [Active] Echo resonance confirmed.
> Integrating core signature... Integration: 3%... 17%... 31%...
Leo stared, stunned. "It's real…"
The window flickered again. More text scrolled across.
> Skill locked: Echo Link Skill locked: Soulmark Assimilation
> System integration incomplete. Status access: [Limited] Physical fatigue detected. Initiating stasis buffer…
Before he could read more, his legs finally gave out. He slumped to his knees, then onto his side in the mud.
And then he laughed.
A quiet, breathless, ragged laugh that barely sounded human.
"I'm not dead," he whispered. "I'm not dead."
The system faded from sight, leaving only its soft imprint burned into his mind. But something else lingered.
A feeling.
The beast's final emotions still whispered under Leo's skin. Not words. Just a sense of… peace. As if something wild had finally gone quiet inside him.
⟐
Far away, high on the cliffs of the Iridyn Expanse, an old woman stirred from meditation.
Her crystal bowl cracked in her lap.
She gasped and looked to the horizon, eyes glowing faint blue.
"A soul just rang the first bell," she muttered.
The disciple beside her knelt. "Master?"
The woman didn't answer. Just stared toward the eastern woods where storm clouds churned like boiling ink.
"Another Echo has arrived."
⟐
Elsewhere—within the marble halls of the Knights of Verdant Flame—a young squire jolted upright in bed, heart pounding. A pendant on her neck vibrated faintly, glowing white.
She clutched it.
"No way… he's here?"
Across the room, an older knight frowned. "Nightmare?"
She didn't answer.
She just reached under her cot and pulled out a leather-bound notebook. Inside it, sketches of visions—symbols, people, places. At the center, a face she didn't recognize. But somehow knew she'd meet.
⟐
And far above all of them, beyond the clouds, the god known as Aeorin floated in the void between worlds.
His gaze followed the soul that had just carved its first scar into the surface of Nimrune.
He chuckled.
"Well done, Leo."
He drifted slowly through the stars, swirling his finger through a ribbon of memory as if stirring paint.
"I've watched a hundred arrivals. All of them bursting with power, ego, purpose."
His eyes narrowed.
"But this one… crawled in on hands and knees. And still drew blood."
He tapped his chin.
"I wonder what you'll become when you stop surviving and start choosing."
Aeorin let the thought hang.
Then turned away as other lights shimmered in the darkness—dozens, hundreds, some old, some newborn.
And one of them began to stir.
The game had begun.
⟐
Leo woke some hours later.
The rain had passed, leaving fog curling low over the forest floor. Birds cried in the distance, and somewhere nearby, water dripped steadily from a rockface.
His ribs ached. His shoulder burned.
But he was alive.
And not just alive.
Awake.
The system didn't reappear, but something in him had changed. A subtle hum under his skin. Like the beat of a second heart.
He stood slowly, every limb aching, and looked down at the beast's body.
He knelt beside it. Not out of guilt—but respect.
"I'll carry you," he murmured. "Even if I don't know your name."
Then he rose, turned toward the deeper forest, and took his first true step as someone reborn.
Not chosen. Not gifted. Just one soul among many.
But now… he had echoes.
And they had voices.