The moment I opened my eyes, the world I knew was gone.
A grey void stretched around me, like someone had paused existence mid-breath. Nothing moved. Nothing remained.
Above the still, glasslike water, a single black card hovered. Cold. Spotless. Waiting. I lay beneath it—soaked, trembling, alive only because my body didn't yet know how to stop.
Then the Hex echoed. Like it had been waiting.
> [Condition required to unseal the Shadow Key has been fulfilled.]
[You have obtained the Shadow Key.]
The words didn't pierce. They sank. Final. Irrevocable.
I had always wondered what the Hex would sound like. Now that I heard it, the tone was strangely familiar. I just couldn't remember whose voice it belonged to.
The card floated above me, silent and still. Like a coffin lid waiting to close.
My chest tightened—not from the cold water clinging to my skin, but from truth. She had been right. Not just her, but everyone who ever tried to reach me. I never moved on. I had stopped living, locked in the belief that I could do nothing.
That day—her words—the truth I refused to believe.
I had always known.
She was alive. Somewhere, somehow, she survived the chaos. Believing it meant hoping, and hope was pain.
I clenched my fists until my nails broke skin. My teeth bit hard enough for blood to rise. A bitter laugh scraped out of me, cracked and hollow. It wasn't funny. It was just unfair.
No scream. No fight. Only a whisper:
"Rune."
The air stirred. Symbols bloomed in silver light, twisting alive like ink in water. They clustered over my chest, where my heart should have been. The world pressed tight. The water froze. Even the void held still.
And then—
---
Name – Night
Title – [None]
Rank – Seeker
Aspect – Shadow's Blessings
Shadows are not born. Not made. They exist where even light dares not linger. They are echoes of what was, of truths forgotten, of steps never taken. They cannot be held. They cannot be bent. Shadows do not obey. They watch.
Aspect Rank – Divine
Soul – Dormant
Traits –
[Lost] – You are forgotten. And have forgotten something that once defined you.
[Sealed] – A power lies chained in the deepest part of your soul.
[Night Pierce] – Nothing can blind your sight.
[Shadow's Blessings] – ???
Chronicles –
[Shadow Key] – Not found, but forged. In the dusk before memory. It is a truth waiting to open, not a place. A part of you that wishes to remain hidden.
---
Divine. The highest rank. Untouched. Untouchable.
And yet—I had no ability, no path, no answers. Only silence.
Why give me this?
The ones who brought me here—they knew I had no chance in the Trial. Was this pity? Or cruelty?
The black card pulsed faintly, as if breathing. For a moment, I felt something I hadn't in years. Peace.
I reached for it. It vanished.
The world shattered sideways. Gravity tore me down.
I fell.
Wind screamed in my ears, vision a blur. My chest locked—I was plummeting. If I landed wrong, I would die.
But the ground caught me. Black sand cushioned the fall.
I staggered to my feet. Above, there was no sky—only absence. No sun. No stars. No horizon. Yet I could see clearly.
The island was small. Surrounded by nothing. I walked to the edge and jumped. Heavier than before, I fell—and was thrown back onto the island. The void refused to let me leave.
I stood, smiling despite myself. I was weak. I couldn't survive the Trial. But I had to try. Trials weren't only death traps—they were chances.
The Hex stirred.
> [A task has appeared.]
[Objective: Find the secret hidden in the Forgotten Spire.]
[Reward: Lost Memory.]
A memory.
The word stabbed deep.
Most feared losing their past. I had already lost mine. Everything before seven was gone, blurred into phantom warmth. My parents were dead—or so I was told. But I didn't know how. I didn't know why. And I hated that.
The silence pressed on me. And something whispered: Call it.
"Shadow Key."
It appeared. Darker than shadow. Heavy. Cold.
The Hex whispered:
> [Shadow Key is responding to the owner's wish.]
[Temporal Release: Unseal one trait.]
The Key pulsed. My chest tightened.
> [Will you use it?]
Trick or not—I nodded. "…Yes."
Wisps of black light seeped into me. The pain was instant. Like chains torn out from the marrow of my chest. I gasped, teeth grinding.
Then it ended.
The runes flared:
[Trait Unlocked: Shadow Devour.]
My chest still burned, but I breathed again. One step closer. Maybe one memory could change everything. Please let it be combat type.
I summoned the runes.
Traits: [Lost], [Sealed], [Night Pierce], [Shadow's Blessings], [Shadow Devour]
[Shadow Devour] – You may devour the shadows of non-living beings. Shadows devoured can be released at will, regaining their origin.
Not combat. Of course not. My curse remained.
Then the howl came.
Broken. Twisted. Inhuman.
Trees bent away from it. Something clawed its way out of shadow.
Charred skin. Hollow eyes bleeding smoke.
It sprinted.
My body locked. Then moved.
I ran. Branches tore my arms. Sand split beneath my feet. I stumbled hard, ribs aching, but forced myself up. It was behind me. Close. Too close.
Then—I saw the lake.
Black. Still. Wrong.
And at its center, half-buried, a rusted blade. Symbols faint. Forgotten.
I ran for it.
The creature slammed into me. I crashed into the water. Cold swallowed me. I forced myself forward. The blade was all I saw.
Fingers closed on the hilt. It crumbled.
Light burst outward. Darkness recoiled. The creature shrieked and fell back.
The Hex returned:
[You have received a Chronicle.]
The weapon reformed in my grip. A slick black katana. Heavy. Alive.
It pulsed—not with justice, not with purity, but with truth.
The creature lunged again. This time, its eyes showed fear.
I didn't run.
I cut.
Steel ripped through flesh. An arm fell to the sand.
It kept coming.
I stepped in low, blade wide. We collided—blood spraying.
The Hex echoed one last time:
[You have slain: Twilight Spawn – Blackened Soul.]