Ash sat in silence.
The battlefield had gone still. The
broken shards of obsidian terrain shimmered with fading runes. His blood still
stained the ground, but it no longer dripped. Even pain seemed reluctant to
return. He was too stunned. Too… changed.
Before him, Iriis knelt in stillness.
Her head was bowed, her armored hands resting on her knees, motionless as a
statue. But Ash could feel it—a living awareness behind the silence. She wasn't
asleep. She was listening.
To what, he didn't know.
"You're real," he whispered.
Her head tilted. The silver-blue
flames in her eye sockets flickered with faint amusement.
"That is a foolish thing to say to one
standing in front of you."
Ash tried to laugh, but his throat was
too dry.
"I mean… I thought the System was just
a guide. I didn't know we'd be…" He gestured between them. "…this."
Iriis's head tilted again.
"You do not yet understand the Primordial
Pact," she said. "But you will. One day."
Ash's brow furrowed. "What are you?"
She rose slowly to her feet. Her
movements were graceful but controlled—like a swordswoman who had long ago
mastered the blade, and now walked like one.
"I was once a guardian," she said
quietly. "Of a court that ruled not over lands or laws… but secrets. We were
forgotten when the stars turned. Buried when the Gates opened."
Ash stood too, wincing.
"And now?"
"Now I am yours."
There was no hesitation. No
bitterness.
Only a quiet, terrifying certainty.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Summon Profile: Iriis – Bound Sentinel
of the Forgotten Court
Bond Status: [Initiated]
Rank: ??? (Suppressed)
Origin: Obscured | Access Denied
Current Level: 1
Abilities:
• Silent Edge [Passive] – All attacks
generate no audible sound.
• Soulveil Step – Short-range
teleport. Can be chained with weapon strikes.
• Echo Memory [Locked] – Unlocks
portions of Iriis's past with each Bond Level.
Bond Feature Unlocked: [Memory Share –
Fragmented Sync Initiated]
You may now sense faint emotions,
instincts, and memories of your Summon.
Caution: Early stages of sync may
cause mental instability.
The moment the notification ended, Ash
swayed slightly.
A pressure unfurled in his skull—like
opening a door he didn't know existed. And through it, a sensation. Not
thoughts, not words.
Loneliness.
Silence so deep it hurt.
A song without sound.
A throne without a ruler.
He staggered.
"What the hell—?"
Iriis stepped forward and placed a
hand on his shoulder.
"You opened the channel. It cannot be
closed now. You feel me, as I feel you."
Ash tried to steady his breath.
"That's going to take getting used to."
"It will take discipline," she
corrected. "Without it, the Bond will devour you."
Somewhere above… the Gatekeeper
watched.
Not from a throne, not from a tower.
Just from the shadows themselves.
"So. She woke."
The skeletal being's eyes flared.
"And he did not break."
"Good."
Then it turned and walked back into
the void, vanishing as if it had never been there at all.
Back in the Trial Realm…
Ash and Iriis walked side by side. The
terrain was changing again—slowly transitioning from dark cracked plains to
what looked like the skeletal remains of a forgotten fortress. Pillars of
blackstone jutted from the ground, half-sunken, as if once a grand palace had
sunk into the earth.
"This place," Ash said slowly, "feels
like it remembers something."
Iriis didn't respond immediately.
When she did, her voice was softer
than usual.
"It remembers us."
Ash glanced at her. "You've been here
before?"
"This domain was once part of our
world," she said. "Before it shattered and was chained to the Gate system.
Before it became a 'Trial Realm.' You walk through what was once the outer wall
of the Court."
Ash blinked. "The Court you served?"
She nodded once.
"My kin ruled not through armies, but
through oaths. We bound truths, Ashland Vale. We sealed gods. Contained
memories that could rewrite existence."
Ash's throat went dry.
"Why would anyone forget a place like
this?"
She stopped walking.
"Because forgetting was the only way
to survive it."
They entered a circular chamber of
broken pillars and collapsed statues. The dust here felt ancient. The air was
still, reverent.
Ash brushed away moss from a fallen
stone—and saw an insignia carved deep into it.
A ring of twelve stars, encircling a
chained eye.
"This was your emblem?"
"The Sigil of Binding. Each star was a
Sentinel. Each eye, a vow."
Ash stared at the stone for a long
time.
Then he looked at Iriis. "How many of
you are left?"
"In this form? Just me."
"But others exist?"
Her voice turned colder.
"If they survived… they were not
unscathed."
Suddenly, the runes in the room pulsed
once.
Ash and Iriis both turned sharply.
A faint shimmer emerged in the air. It
flickered, stabilized, and then glowed into a floating window of light.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE – PHASE TWO ACCESS
GRANTED]
Congratulations, Initiate. You have
completed Phase One of the Primordial Binder Trial.
Phase Two: Ascension Threshold
Objective: Unlock your True Class
Time Limit: 5 days
WARNING: If Class is not stabilized
within this time frame, soul and summon will destabilize permanently.
Ash exhaled through clenched teeth.
"Five days. That's generous."
"That's merciful," Iriis corrected.
"Most of your predecessors died in two."
Elsewhere…
The woman who summoned the Shadewarden
stood at the edge of a high ledge, gazing into the swirling void beyond the
realm's border. Her eyes glowed faintly as she touched her summon's head.
"It's begun."
The Shadewarden growled softly.
"He is awakening," she whispered. "And
if he reaches the Ascension Threshold…"
She didn't finish the thought.
Instead, she stepped forward—and
vanished into the dark.