The world inside the Heart Shrine went silent.
No fog.
No forest.
No Apex predator creeping at the edges.
Just Kael…
Riven…
Mr. Han unconscious near the altar…
and the three glowing symbols hovering before him like living choices.
Pulse of Shards
Fracture Step
Predator's Instinct
Each one pulsed with a different rhythm, a different promise.
A different future.
Riven wiped the blood off her jaw and stepped beside him, voice low, almost reverent.
"This is it, Kael. Your first Trait. The thing that turns you from someone reacting… into someone shaping the labyrinth around you."
Kael stared at the symbols.
They hummed.
They strained toward him like hungry spirits.
A faint voice whispered behind them—
not the Residual Monarch Echo
but something else
older
quieter
deeper
Choose.
And be chosen.
Riven pointed to the first sigil—
blue, fractured, beating like a second heart.
Pulse of Shards
"This one amplifies your Dominion affinity," Riven said.
"More power in your shards. Wider reach. Stronger domain.
It's raw force."
Kael felt the shard-light in his veins react immediately—
hungry
eager
violent
The second sigil drifted like a floating crack in reality, zigzagging across air.
Fracture Step
"Movement ability," Riven explained.
"Short-range teleportation. Through cracks.
Only Monarchs or late-stage Hunters ever unlock this."
Kael thought of how large the labyrinth was—
immense
endless
shifting
Teleportation could save his life hundreds of times.
The third sigil glowed faint red, shaped like a predator's eye.
Predator's Instinct
"This one sharpens everything," Riven said.
"Reflexes, senses, danger perception.
You'll feel killing intent before you're even in danger."
Kael felt it tugging at him—
like instinct made physical
alive
waiting to be ignited
Mr. Han groaned weakly behind them.
Riven frowned.
"Kael, decide. The floor is stabilizing, but only because of your Echo. That blessing won't last."
Kael stared at the choices.
Each one changed him.
Defined him.
The Residual Monarch Echo's whisper curled through his mind.
Power.
Movement.
Instinct.
Which will you carve into your Dominion?
Kael breathed slowly.
The forest outside trembled, waiting to crash in the moment the ritual ended.
He lifted his hand.
Riven tensed, watching him like the fate of the floor depended on his choice.
Kael reached toward—
Pulse of Shards
The moment his fingertip touched the glowing sigil, everything shattered.
Light exploded from the altar like a shockwave—
not like his earlier Domain eruption
but cleaner
colder
sharper
The shards drifting around his skin burst into a storm of brilliant blue fragments.
They circled him like orbiting blades.
They hummed in harmony with his heartbeat.
Riven shielded her eyes.
Mr. Han flinched, half-conscious.
The system voice chimed:
Trait Acquired
Pulse of Shards (Rank 1)
Effects:
• Shattercall damage increased
• Shard stability increased
• Domain density strengthened
• Monarch resonance amplification unlocked
More text appeared—
new
impossible
dangerous
Secondary Effect Unlocked (Echo Influence):
Shardstorm (Incomplete)
Riven stared at him, eyes wide.
"That's impossible."
Kael flexed his hand.
A dozen shards flickered into existence instantly—
perfectly stable
sharp enough to cut sound itself
waiting for command
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Riven pointed at his pulses of light.
"No Monarch should get a secondary ability this early.
Especially not one with an Apex-level signature."
Kael exhaled.
The light poured off him like blue mist, forming crack-like patterns across the ground.
The Heart Shrine dimmed.
The clearing around them returned—
trees
fog
shadows
the faint echo of predators hiding just out of sight.
The ritual had ended.
Riven gripped her blade.
"We need to leave before the forest realizes you're done."
But before Kael could respond—
The floor trembled.
Not like a beast walking.
Not like the forest crawling.
This was different.
Deep.
Resonant.
A massive system prompt appeared in the sky above them like a burning omen.
NOTICE
A new Monarch has completed an E-Floor Trial
Echo Distortion Detected
Labyrinth Pathway Altering
Riven's face drained of color.
"No… this is too soon… this shouldn't—"
The next message froze her mid-sentence.
WARNING
A Monarch Convergence Event has been triggered
Kael's pulse stopped for a second.
"What does that mean?"
Riven whispered, voice trembling—
the first time she showed real fear.
"It means other Monarchs…
felt you awaken."
The ground split.
Blue light spilled from the cracks.
Fog twisted violently.
The sky above the floor began to peel open like torn cloth.
And faint silhouettes—
humanoid
massive
radiant
or monstrous—
appeared through the tears.
Riven grabbed Kael's arm.
Her voice was pure urgency.
"KAEL—
WE HAVE TO RUN—
NOW!"
Kael turned toward the sky.
Toward the silhouettes.
Toward the Monarchs.
One of them, a towering figure made of brass and fire, spoke first.
Its voice shook the floor.
"A new shard-born Monarch…
How entertaining."
Another, wrapped in black feathers and screaming wind, laughed.
"Child of the Echo…
You should not exist."
A third, a shape like a twisted tree with screaming mouths in its bark, simply whispered—
"Mine."
The Heart Shrine exploded into light—
throwing Kael
Riven
and Mr. Han
into a spiraling vortex.
Kael reached for anything—
ground
light
Riven's hand—
But the floor fractured beneath them.
Reality twisted.
And they fell—
straight into the Convergence.
The Monarchs were waiting.