The air reeked of mildew and dried blood. The very sky itself had a reddish hue to it.
Revyn stood on trembling legs at the edge of the crumbling courtyard. The world around him groaned, not with wind, but with something deeper. The sky above was dim and colorless, a faded bruise of gray and crimson smog. In the distance, jagged cliffs reached for the heavens like broken teeth, and nestled between them stood a tall, leaning tower of black stone.
It suddenly pulsed.
It shouldn't have — but it did. As if it was alive, Like a heartbeat.
He didn't remember walking toward it, but his feet moved anyway as if they had a mind of its own.
{Ding!}
[NEW OBJECTIVE SET – INVESTIGATE THE TOWER.]
Revyn flinched. The words appeared again, on a screen, but were also etched into his vision — the words on the screen were glowing faintly, he waved his hand and the screen dissolved like . His heart thudded in rhythm with the tower's pulse. It wasn't fear. It was... hunger. Something old and aching within him stirred.
Each step forward was met with resistance. Not physical — no, the ground itself seemed to whisper: Turn back.
But he didn't, he couldn't even if he wanted to.
The courtyard gave way to a withered path of cobbled stones, shattered statues lining either side. Their faces were melted, or perhaps torn away. One clutched a bell in its skeletal grip.
It rang.
Just once. But so suddenly.
DONG.
The sound of a giant bell being rang, slammed into his chest like a punch. Revyn staggered as the sound felt like it was shattering his very mind, he then grabbed his ears. No one had been around to touch the bell. No wind moved it.
He wasn't alone.
A wet scraping echoed from behind the statues. Revyn spun around to try and see where it came from. Nothing. Only the windless silence remained.
"Gulp"
He swallowed dryly as his saliva was lumped at the back of his throat, Revyn pressed forward.
The tower loomed closer now — vast and rotting. Standing close to the tower, he could see that its stones were not carved, but grown. Bone and stone interwoven like a cancer. The massive arched door stood half open, revealing the vast void like darkness within.
He hesitated and then entered.
Then entered.
The tower's interior was colder. Silent. The air was thick with spores that shimmered faintly, as if the dust itself remembered light. A grand staircase spiraled upward around a hollow shaft, where bloodless ropes hung from the ceiling like nooses.
Something shifted above.
Revyn flinched into fear, his heart racing. A figure dangled from one of the ropes — a corpse in rusted armor that had a sword on its hip. It suddenly twitched.
Revyn backed away immediately after seeing the corpse twitch.
{Ding!}
[PROXIMITY TRIGGERED — CURSED REMENANT: TOWERSHADE SOLIDER.]
The corpse groaned, turning toward him though its neck didn't move. Then it moved its hand to the sword on its hip and it slashed at the rope that was holding it up and it dropped.
It hit the stone with a sickening crack that resounded from its bones but it moved immediately, limbs bending at wrong angles as if it had no bones at all, dragging its blade behind it. Its face was a hollow visor — empty. Revyn backed away, looking for a weapon.
There — a broken katana was stuck in a corpse's ribcage right beside him.
He ripped it free, ignoring the squelch of ancient rot. The weapon was chipped and rusty, but it was all he had.
The soldier lunged with a screech.
"RAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!"
Revyn rolled to the side, just barely dodging the downward swing. Sparks scattered as steel met stone. His body moved on instinct — swing, parry, retreat. Repeat, Every breath burned. The sword scraped across the soldier's armor, leaving deep black gashes that bled fog.
{DING!}
[SYSTEM NOTICE: SHADOW WEAKNESS HAS BEEN DETECTED.]
Revyn didn't noticed a small change in his vision, a small red area had appeared on his enemy's exposed neck and without even thinking, Revyn immediately adjusted his stance, aiming for the exposed neck joints. The sword struck true, it had severed the cursed thing's head from its body. The torso convulsed once, then stilled.
A thin wisp of black mist rose from the corpse.
{DING!}
[CURSED ECHO AVAILABLE: DEVOUR?][Y/N]
"Huh, What?"
He didn't understand — but he stepped closer, reaching out and he pressed yes. The mist slithered into his palm like smoke. It felt cold, ancient, hungry — and then it sank into his skin.
{Ding!}{Ding!}
[CURSED ECHO CONSUMED.]
[PASSIVE SKILL GAINED — TOWERSHADE REFLEX] [Lv. 1].
Revyn gasped. His muscles tingled. His vision sharpened.
Something that was sewn inside him seemed to whisper: "More".
The tower creaked above, as if acknowledging his hunger.
For the first time since awakening in this nightmare, Revyn smiled.
He wasn't just trapped.
He was evolving.
But he wasn't just evolving, he was adapting.