---
The silence was unnatural.
Lorian stood in the void—barely more than a silhouette. His body pulsed with faint, flickering shadows, as if he were stitched together from the darkness itself. His heart didn't beat, yet he felt alive. More alive than he had ever been.
---
[System Update: Shadowbound Protocol Active]
[Initializing Host Synchronization… 14% Complete]
[Warning: Host Soul Integrity Unstable]
---
"Figures," Lorian muttered. "Die once and everything's broken."
His voice echoed strangely in the emptiness, as if the void itself were listening.
He took a step forward—and the ground materialized beneath his foot. Obsidian tiles, cracked and floating in midair, assembled a path with every movement. Behind him, the world unraveled into mist. Ahead, a shattered temple loomed, half-sunken into the black fog.
Then a sound. Faint. Hollow. Almost… breathing.
Lorian turned sharply, conjuring instinctively a wisp of energy in his hand. It flickered with faint violet glow. Not fire. Not arcana. Something new. Something voidborn.
A figure emerged from the mist.
It looked human—cloaked and still.
Then it lifted its head.
No face. Just a darkness deeper than the void, with glowing white eyes that flickered like dying stars.
---
[New Entity Detected: Void Echo — Rank F]
[Scan Complete: Fragmented Soul. Hostile. Absorbable]
---
The shadow lunged.
Lorian moved without thinking. He ducked under the clawed swipe and thrust his hand forward. The violet energy leapt from his palm and struck the Echo square in the chest.
The creature shattered, cracks spreading across its form like glass. A moment later, it exploded into swirling black particles.
---
[Echo Absorbed]
[Shadow Core +3%]
[Skill Imprint: "Voidstep" (Unstable) Acquired]
---
"I just… stole its movement?" Lorian whispered.
A transparent menu flickered before his eyes.
---
Skill: Voidstep (Unstable)
Allows short-range teleportation through shadows. Unstable version risks soul backlash.
---
He gave a low, bitter laugh.
> "I was a Grand Arcanist. Now I'm a soul-sucking shadow thief."
He turned toward the broken temple.
Its ancient gates stood crooked, one shattered, the other half-open. Strange runes pulsed on the archway—half familiar, half maddening.
Then—another voice.
Soft. Feminine. Echoing through the void.
> "Lorian… You're not the only one who remembers."
He froze.
"Who's there?" he called out, scanning the darkness.
No answer.
Only silence.
Only the whisper of shadows.
He looked down at his new form—this husk of smoke and vengeance—and clenched his fists.
> "You tried to destroy me," he growled. "Now I'll rebuild myself from your lies."
And with that, he walked through the ancient gates.
Into the temple.
Into the dark.
---
To be continued...