The wind howled through the jagged ruins of the mountain path as Ronan, Lyra, and Kael made their way back from the smoldering wreckage of the Circle's hidden lab. The terrain beneath their feet was unstable, littered with debris and the charred remnants of machinery that once powered forbidden experiments.
Ronan walked at the front, his hood up, eyes locked ahead. His system interface flickered subtly over his vision, displaying energy readings that hadn't stopped shifting since they left the explosion behind.
"You're quiet," Lyra said, matching his pace. "More than usual."
Ronan exhaled. "The system… it's changing again. Reacting to everything we've uncovered. It's not just feeding me data anymore—it's... preparing something."
Kael, bringing up the rear with his twin daggers sheathed across his back, chimed in. "It's not just your system that's changing. We all felt it back there. That facility wasn't just a lab—it was an amplifier. They were trying to mass-produce systems."
"And they failed," Lyra added darkly. "But not before creating monsters."
Ronan nodded. His mind drifted back to the largest chamber—the one marked "Prototype Host." The creature inside had shown signs of intelligence. It had even spoken before it died, uttering a chilling phrase:
*"The Circle watches. The Circle judges."*
The phrase repeated in his mind like an echo.
When they returned to the hidden archive wing beneath the university's ancient observatory, they were greeted by the soft hum of the data stream and the faint glow of floating scripts still decrypting Circle records.
Lyra activated the holotable. "I uploaded the recovered files. There's a secure partition—deeply encrypted—something even the system hesitated to crack."
"Let me try," Ronan said.
He placed his hand on the console, and his system interfaced directly with the archive. Streams of code twisted and broke apart. Layers peeled away one after another until a final lock pulsed on the screen: *Legacy Protocol: Authorized Personnel Only.*
Ronan's system pulsed in response, emitting a faint tone. Then, the lock clicked open.
"What the..." Kael leaned in. "Legacy Protocol?"
The room darkened. A massive holographic sphere appeared above them, surrounded by floating nodes representing known and unknown locations across the continent. At the center of it all was a symbol—a ring of fire encircling a single eye.
"The Circle's original emblem," Lyra whispered. "Not the one we know today."
From the sphere, a voice emerged—distorted, ancient.
*"To those who have found this, you stand on the edge of truth and oblivion. This knowledge must not be misused. The Circle began with vision. But vision turned to vanity… and vanity to conquest."*
Images unfolded—flashbacks of war, systems being injected into unwilling hosts, entire cities falling to experiments gone wrong. Then came the revelation that Ronan's system, the "Blast Core," was a fragment of a much larger construct called the *Echelon Drive*—an incomplete god-tier system meant only for the Circle's innermost council.
"This… this isn't just a power-up system," Ronan murmured. "It's a fragment of a core designed to rewrite anchor laws."
"It explains why they're hunting you," Kael said. "You have a piece of something they lost control of."
"And something they desperately want back," Lyra added. "Which means they'll come harder than before."
But Ronan wasn't shaken. Instead, he took a step back and sat, eyes closed, as the system continued adapting. More skill paths opened. More restrictions broke.
**System Update: Unlocking Blast Core Layer II – Precision Surge.
New Skill Unlocked: Implosive Step (Short-range instant movement with explosive discharge).
Warning: Usage may cause structural instability.**
He took a deep breath.
"I can feel it. The system is starting to synchronize with my intent. It's no longer just data—it's beginning to understand me."
"You're evolving with it," Kael said. "But be careful. The more advanced it gets, the more it might try to control you instead of the other way around."
Ronan opened his eyes. "Then I'll stay ahead of it."
Just as he said that, the archive shook.
A quake.
No—an impact.
Kael drew his blades immediately. "Not natural."
Lyra checked the monitors. "Something's descending—fast. It's piercing the sky."
Ronan rushed to the surface, his system already tracking a fiery object breaking through the clouds, heading straight for their location.
A projectile? A person?
The object slammed into the mountainside just outside the observatory grounds, causing the earth to tremble. Ronan didn't wait.
"Stay behind me," he said, breaking into a sprint.
Lyra and Kael followed close behind. When they reached the crash site, the smoke was thick, but through the haze stood a figure—charred, cracked armor, glowing eyes.
It was human—mostly.
It stepped forward, its voice mechanical and haunting.
*"System anomaly detected: Blast Core. Reclamation in progress."*
Ronan's system flared.
*Warning: Hostile system detected. Classification: Reaper-Class Enforcer. Engage or evade immediately.*
Ronan didn't flinch.
The figure took another step forward. Its body was partly scorched, revealing glowing blue circuits woven into its flesh. On its chest pulsed the same insignia that had appeared in the archive—the flaming circle with the eye.
*"Designation: Vanguard Zero-One. Authorization: Full system override of rogue core."*
The Reaper-Class Enforcer raised its hand. The air around it bent inward, a gravitational force tugging at the very fabric of the terrain. Trees creaked. Stones lifted. The system was manipulating anchor reality directly.
*System Alert: Enemy is equipped with partial Echelon Control. Combat capabilities far exceed host level. Suggest: Fallback or diversion tactics.*
But Ronan didn't back down. His fingers flexed, and his system pulsed harder.
**Blast Core: Precision Surge – Active.
Implosive Step – Ready.**
In a blink, he vanished.
The enforcer's head turned sharply, but Ronan reappeared midair behind it, fist charged with blue kinetic force. He struck the enforcer square in the back.
The blast sent shockwaves across the valley, kicking up clouds of earth and fractured debris. But the enforcer staggered only slightly before it spun, grabbing Ronan by the throat.
It lifted him into the air.
"Power not authorized. Core will be extracted."
Before it could act, a bolt of condensed flame struck its side.
Lyra.
She unleashed a flurry of flame darts, targeting its limbs. At the same time, Kael appeared behind it, blades glowing with null-energy—a rare material that resisted system augmentation.
His first strike nicked the enforcer's arm. The second went deeper.
The enforcer dropped Ronan.
"Ronan!" Lyra called, tossing him a restorative crystal.
He caught it mid-roll and crushed it in his palm. A surge of healing energy flooded his system.
Kael darted around the enforcer, moving in a chaotic pattern to confuse its targeting algorithms. Lyra focused her fire attacks on its sensors.
Ronan steadied himself. His system spoke again.
**New ability unlocked: Pulse Disruption Field.
Generates a temporary sphere that disrupts hostile systems within a 10-meter radius. Duration: 6 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.**
"That might give us an opening!" he shouted. "I'll draw it in—get ready to hit it hard when the field activates!"
He dashed forward, taunting the enforcer, drawing its focus. Its limbs morphed into serrated weapons, slashing in complex patterns. But Ronan danced between the strikes, every step powered by Implosive Step bursts.
When the enforcer lunged for him, Ronan slammed his palm into the ground.
*Pulse Disruption Field – Activate.*
A translucent dome exploded outward, enveloping the enforcer. It froze, mid-motion, its systems sputtering. Sparks flew from its limbs.
"Now!" Ronan roared.
Kael dashed in first, sliding beneath the enforcer and slicing both legs at the joints.
Lyra leapt from a boulder, flame surging around her in a phoenix shape, and drove a burning spear of energy straight into the enforcer's core.
The machine let out a distorted scream before collapsing backward, smoke pouring from its chest.
Ronan stood over it, panting. "Is it… down?"
The system replied:
*Core signature unstable. Enemy unit deactivated. Caution: Reinforcements likely.*
Kael glanced at the sky. "We can't stay here."
Ronan nodded. "We need to move to one of the other Circle sites from the archive map."
Lyra frowned. "But we've only cracked part of the database. We still don't know the full extent of what they're planning."
"We know enough," Ronan said. "They're deploying these Reaper units to track me. That means they think I've activated something they're afraid of."
Kael added, "And if they're afraid, we can use that."
As they made their way back toward the observatory's hidden tunnels, Ronan's thoughts churned.
The battle had made something clear: the Blast Core wasn't just evolving. It was reacting to the Circle's movements.
Adapting faster than it should.
Too fast.
Later that night, under the cold blue glow of the moon, Ronan sat alone on the observatory rooftop. The system interface hovered in front of him.
**Would you like to proceed with synchronization deeper into Layer II?
Warning: This may lead to irreversible system fusion.**
He hesitated.
Was he ready to cross that line?
He thought of Lyra. Kael. His mother.
He thought of all the people the Circle had ruined, all the experiments, the lies, the legacy they tried to bury.
No more hiding.
He tapped "Proceed."
His entire body lit with energy as the system connected with his very soul.
And far away—at the heart of the Circle—an alarm triggered.
One of the council members turned toward the central flame.
*"He's awakened the next layer. We must act before he reaches Layer III. Prepare the Executors."*
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