The moment his fingers touched the book, the world blinked.
Not darkness.
Not light.
Just a sensation, like falling through the idea of space.
His body froze. His breath stopped. But his mind… it sharpened.
And then, the voice returned.
Not spoken.
Not heard.
Felt.
[System Interface Syncing…]
Error.
No Fate Thread detected.
No Epoch Identifier.
Warning: You do not belong to this World Line.
Arther's heartbeat slowed.
He felt his veins chill.
But he didn't panic.
Instead, he watched. Listened. Recorded.
This… this was what he had always suspected.
That something ruled the world from behind the curtain.
And that curtain? He had just stepped through it.
The book pulsed. Slowly. Like it was breathing in rhythm with his thoughts.
[Status: Unrecorded]
Name: Unknown
Age: Unstamped
Thread Access: None
Welcome, anomaly.
Words floated in the air before his eyes, visible but not material. Like light shaped by intent.
Select Inheritance Path:
— [I] Hollow Vow
You are unbound. Immune to contracts, curses, and control. All oaths made to you become debt. All bindings cast upon you unravel.
— [II] Pale Memory
Access the forgotten. Remember what was erased. Uncover knowledge sealed by divine law. But beware: memory has weight.
— [III] Epochless(Locked)
Insufficient Data. Threadless soul requires evolution.
He studied each one.
Fast readers would panic. Greedy ones would pick at random.
Arther… observed.
His eyes moved slowly. Lips barely parted. His mind ran patterns.
Pale Memory offered access to things the world had lost. Dangerous. Valuable.
Hollow Vow — immunity. That was power. Pure, reliable power. Especially in a world ruled by systems and contracts.
He looked at the third.
Epochless.
Still locked.
It didn't matter. It would open eventually.
He would make it open.
He raised his hand and chose Hollow Vow.
The moment he did, pain flared through his chest.
A sudden burn — like something was being carved inside him, not on flesh, but deeper.
On existence itself.
He gasped, but didn't fall.
The book released a final pulse of silver light.
Then vanished.
Not closed. Not destroyed.
Just… absorbed.
Arther looked down.
His hand was empty.
But on the back of his wrist — a small mark now pulsed with faint light.
A broken circle, surrounded by thorns. The Mark of the Vowless.
It faded quickly. Leaving nothing but cold skin.
And silence.
No treasure.
No explosion.
No hidden weapon.
Just this feeling.
Heavy. Silent. Permanent.
Like something ancient had just noticed him for the first time.
He turned and left the chamber without hesitation.
He didn't look back.
Not because he wasn't curious.
But because he had already seen enough.
That night, Arther didn't sleep.
He sat in the corner of a collapsed tower, staring out at the city.
The rain returned.
He didn't move.
The world below ticked on — machines turning, lights glowing, prayers rising.
People still believed they were free.
But they were all tied to a string. Dragged through time. Each one born, judged, weighed, and burned by threads they couldn't see.
He wasn't tied anymore.
He was Epochless.
And now?
He was going to find out exactly what that meant.
⚙️ [Hollow Vow — Rank 1 Acquired]
Immune to all binding contracts
Spells, curses, marks, and divine pacts will fail against you
Can absorb 1 contract or curse cast upon you
Debt-based magic now recognized as fuel
💭 End of Chapter 2 Preview:
Arther will soon learn that the Church of Time tracks every change in the fate system.
And someone, somewhere… has noticed a disruption.