Snow drifted like dust over the ruins—soft, quiet, and oblivious to the fact that something ancient had awakened beneath its cover.
Aren stood in the heart of the abandoned shrine, his shadow beast Fang crouched silently beside him. The wolf's form pulsed faintly with dark essence, not alive, not dead—willed into being by a spiritless outcast with a crown-shaped glitch in his soul.
His hand trembled, not from fear, but from clarity.
[System Notification]Current Status: Domain Anchor DetectedLocation: Forgotten Shrine – King's FallCorruption Level: 83%Authority Level: 1Domain Expansion: Locked
Would you like to claim this ruin as your Null Domain?
Aren didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
The glyphs along the stone walls flared black, then inverted into deep violet. The snow above the shrine's radius evaporated into shadowy mist, revealing the ruin's full size.
And with it, a presence washed over the land. Silent. Cold. Sovereign.
[Null Domain Claimed: The Hollow Throne]Domain Level: 0Territory Bonus: +5% Shadow AffinityConstruct Options Unlocked: [Shadow Warding], [Essence Pillar], [Sovereign Mark]Warning: Domain vulnerable to intrusions.
Aren felt it in his veins—the difference. This place knew him. It didn't reject his lack of a spirit. It welcomed it.
Here, he wasn't broken.
He was the core.
He spent the next few hours moving through the shrine with Fang, exploring what remained of the architecture. The temple walls were cracked, overgrown with frostvine and faded murals. He found shattered stone thrones, worn by time, and fragments of masks half-buried in snow.
In the deepest part of the shrine, under a collapsed archway, he found a throne—not full-sized, but symbolic. Carved from obsidian, with no crown above it—only chains that reached toward the sky and ended in nothing.
[Relic Discovered: Throne of the Crownless]Bind to Sovereign Class?Binding Cost: 10 Soul Essence
Aren had no idea what Soul Essence truly was.
But something inside told him—it was his.
"My will is enough," he whispered.
He pressed his palm to the black throne.
The shrine pulsed. His body shivered as the system flared.
[Essence Consumed: 10][Sovereign Seat: Bound]New Passive Skill Unlocked:➤ Thronekeeper (Passive): Regenerate 0.5 Soul Essence per hour while in your domain. Domain stability +15%.
At last, he had a center.
Night fell again. Aren sat upon the throne—not for power, but out of instinct. His back ached. His limbs screamed. His soul still trembled from yesterday's soulburn.
Fang lay curled near the base of the steps, silent but watchful.
The moonlight bathed the ruins in silver.
Aren whispered into the quiet:
"They threw me out. Exiled me. Because I didn't fit their system. Because I didn't have a spirit."
He clenched the arms of the throne.
"But I don't need theirs. I'll build my own. Not a kingdom of light. Not of praise."
He looked toward the sky.
"I'll build a kingdom for the forgotten. For the broken. For the spiritless."
The system responded as if it heard his oath.
[Title Unlocked: One Who Builds Alone]Domain Morale: +5Trait Progression – Sovereign's Will: +1%
Somewhere far beyond the forest, in a high tower of crystal and flame, a priestess stirred.
A black sigil had appeared in her spirit mirror—unknown, cold, invasive.
A ripple in the Spiritbound Code.
"Something… unnatural has claimed a root," she whispered.
The Inquisition would be dispatched before dawn.