The sun had not yet risen, but the ruined sky above Zone 5W bled crimson along the edges, casting a deep rust-colored light across the jagged skeletons of old buildings. Fog clung to the fractured streets like it had roots of its own, swirling unnaturally where no wind stirred.
Jace stood beneath a slanted overpass, leaning against a shattered girder. His breath came slow but controlled, steam rising with each exhale.
It had been only a few hours since the Vault Trial—the one that nearly killed him.
And yet, something inside him felt... different.
Not just the Bone Claw dormant in his chest like a second heartbeat, or the low hum of the Shadow Blink skill always ready to burst. There was something else. Something watching.
> [Status Update: Bone Claw Dormant – Synchronization: 8%]
[Passives: Crystal Hide Lv.1 | Vampiric Regeneration Lv.1]
[Actives: Shadow Blink Lv.1 | Blood Instinct Lv.1]
[System Vault: Tier 1 Access Unlocked – 2 Keys in Possession]
The system interface dimmed at his thought, fading away like mist. But it wasn't the only presence lingering around him.
Jace's hand brushed the edge of the stone archway behind him—one of several entrances into deeper vault corridors. He hadn't gone further, not yet. His instincts screamed caution.
Instead, he had moved higher.
To get a better view. To feel the air. To breathe and think.
Yet no matter where he looked…
He felt watched.
---
He crouched behind a rusted railing on the sixth floor of an old parking tower, staring across at the building opposite—a crumbling residential complex, half of its floors exposed to the open air.
And there, just for a split second, he saw it.
A flicker.
A shape, dark against darker stone, moving too fast and too quiet to be random.
He narrowed his eyes. "Not a beast."
The system responded instantly.
> [Observation Detected: Humanoid – Unknown Alignment]
[Signature: Unlinked to Federation, Vampiric, or System Traces]
[Distance: 137 meters – Visual Confirmed for 0.2 seconds]
A new tag appeared on his interface—one he hadn't seen before.
> [Tag Created: Ghost Watcher]
Jace remained perfectly still.
He didn't know what a Ghost Watcher was, or if it was even real, but the system had marked it. That meant something had noticed him. And hadn't attacked.
Yet.
---
Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen. The streets remained empty. His heartbeat slowed.
Until—
> [Energy Spike Detected: Tier D – Lv. 18 – Class: Acidspike Ravager]
[Proximity: 43 meters – Below Street Level]
[Status: Hostile | Movement: Upward Trajectory – Hunting]
His eyes shot down.
There, slithering up the base of the tower, was a twisted serpent-like creature. Ten feet long, plated in chitin and pulsing green sacs. Its head bore three curved fangs and a crown of black bone spikes. Acid dripped from its mouth, melting through stone as it climbed.
"Shit."
Jace activated Shadow Blink.
In a flash, he appeared across the structure—behind an old vending machine on the far ledge. He dropped into a roll and knelt low.
The beast reached the sixth floor seconds later. It hissed, tongue whipping out like a spear, piercing the metal beam where he had stood.
> [Target: Acidspike Ravager – Tier D – Lv. 18]
[Recommended Action: Precision strike to vent sac beneath neck – ruptures core integrity]
Jace drew the broken hilt of his Bonefused Shiv. It shimmered faintly, the blade half-regenerated from the system's passive repair function.
He darted from behind the machine and ran, drawing the beast's attention. The Ravager turned and lunged—fangs wide.
Jace ducked under the attack, rolled, and slammed his blade upward beneath the pulsing green sac under its throat.
The creature shrieked.
Acid sprayed upward, searing through its own face.
It spasmed violently and slammed into a support beam, bringing part of the ceiling down as it thrashed.
Jace dove for cover, shielding his face.
The beast gave one last gurgling scream—then fell still.
> [Acidspike Ravager Defeated – Core Acquired – Grade D]
[+220 XP]
[Passive Available: Caustic Sheen Lv.1]
[Core stored in Vault Inventory]
Jace stood slowly, breathing hard, burned but alive.
He turned to check the upper structure—and froze.
On the building opposite, the shape had returned.
This time… it didn't move.
It stood at the edge of the rooftop, cloaked in black, long silver hair dancing in the morning breeze. A mask covered its face—white, angular, shaped like a twisted bird's beak.
Female silhouette. Tall. Unmoving.
Jace's system pulsed once.
> [Alert: High-Level Resonance Detected – Compatibility: 72%]
[Warning: Blood Archive is reacting]
[Potential Bonded Candidate Identified – Status: Unknown Intent]
Jace blinked. "What?"
The masked woman raised a hand.
Then vanished.
Not blinked. Not ran.
Vanished.
Jace felt a chill in his bones.
> [Resonance Echo Lingering… Matching Signal – Sync Threshold 5% Achieved]
[System Alert: An unbound candidate has initiated passive bond imprinting. Awaiting acceptance.]
He swallowed hard.
What the hell was that?
And why did it feel… like the Bone Claw was interested?
Jace descended from the tower's upper level, careful to avoid the acid-slick remains of the Ravager. The beast's core pulsed faintly within the system's vault, still warm with harvested energy. But Jace's thoughts were elsewhere.
That woman.
Or whatever she was.
The system didn't lie—if she had resonance with the Archive, then she wasn't ordinary. She had to have survived a trial. But… how?
He moved quickly across the skeletal walkway that once connected the parking structure to a transit station. Each step echoed like metal groaning beneath his weight, but he kept his pace steady. The fog was thinning, allowing fragments of morning light to bleed into the fractured skyline.
> [Objective Updated: Investigate Passive Resonance]
[Suggested Path: Trace residual energy via Blood Archive – Echo Calibration Active]
[Warning: Exposure beyond 15 minutes without confirmation may cause emotional link instability]
Jace grimaced. "Emotional link instability? What the hell kind of system mechanic is that?"
Still, a part of him was curious. Deeply.
The Archive was reacting on its own—responding to something in her presence. If this was part of the soul-bond function the system hinted at earlier, then it meant she had been marked.
And worse…
He was now marked in return.
---
The trail led across the upper ridges of the ruin, where old monorail tracks crisscrossed the city like dead arteries. Jace followed them, trusting the Archive's internal pulses that nudged his direction forward every hundred meters. After nearly twenty minutes of silent travel, he slowed near the remains of a collapsed statue—a humanoid figure of rusted bronze split in half.
The system chimed.
> [Resonance Trail Fragment Detected – Matching Signature: 72% – Holding Steady]
[Emotional Impression: Caution. Curiosity. Hunger.]
[Trace Duration: 3 minutes remaining.]
He scanned the horizon.
Something stirred beyond the statue's ruins. He ducked behind the base and peeked carefully around its edge.
The masked woman was there again.
Standing in the center of what used to be a rooftop garden—now little more than vines, dirt, and shattered glass. She wasn't hiding this time. Her back was turned, arms lowered, body perfectly still.
Jace took a step forward.
She didn't move.
He stepped again.
Nothing.
> [Synchronization: 9%]
[Bond Interface Available – Do you wish to initiate contact? Y/N]
His finger hovered in the air.
The system pulsed.
> [Warning: Unknown side effects from premature bonding attempt.]
"Of course," Jace muttered. "You give me the option, then warn me not to press it."
He looked up again—only to find her gone.
"Dammit—!"
He spun around, activating Echo Sight on instinct.
Energy trails ignited behind him.
She was right there.
No blade. No voice. Just… watching him.
Face still masked. Breath steady.
Up close, she was taller than expected—only a few inches shorter than him, lithe but strong. Her aura wasn't like the beasts. It was quiet. Controlled. Ancient, almost.
He didn't move.
Neither did she.
> [Connection Pulse Received – Resonance Echo Stable]
[Name: Unbound Candidate #01 – "Nyra"]
[System Alert: Soul Bond Compatibility Confirmed – Preliminary Acceptance Detected]
Jace's breath caught.
So… she was like him.
Before he could speak, her hand rose.
She pressed two fingers to her mask—then pointed to her chest.
Then to him.
Then vanished again, leaving only a single line of text from the system.
> [Bond Seed Initiated.]
Jace stood frozen, heart thudding in the silence Nyra left behind. She hadn't spoken. She hadn't attacked. But the message was unmistakable.
We're connected now.
And somehow, she'd chosen to acknowledge it.
> [Bond Seed: Stable – Latent Connection Established]
[Soul Archive: First Link Registered – "Nyra"]
[Passive Sync Bonus (Locked) – Requires Full Bond Awakening]
The system wasn't being coy anymore. It was evolving—adapting to the bond as if this was always part of the design. A part Jace hadn't known existed until now.
He stared at the last place she'd stood, the vines still swaying faintly where her boots had shifted. Then his eyes caught something small—half-buried in the dust.
A token. Circular. Metallic.
He picked it up.
On one side: a stylized red emblem—an inverted crescent over a circle of thorns.
On the other: a number, faintly etched: "Sector 13: Sub-Delta"
> [System Alert: Vault Key Fragment Detected – Encoded Location Map Available]
[Optional Objective Unlocked: Seek Out the Subterranean Vault]
[Warning: High-Risk Area – Beast Concentration Unknown – Federation Proximity Likely]
Jace's pulse quickened.
She'd left him a trail. Or a challenge.
Possibly both.
He slid the token into his belt pouch and turned his gaze south. The ruins of Sector 13 were barely visible through the fog, but the Archive pulsed with growing awareness.
Something waited below. Something even the system hadn't yet mapped.
He moved quickly.
---
The lower levels of Zone 5W were a different world. Gone were the open skies and skeletal towers. Here, it was all concrete, steel, and rot. Subway lines became rivers of dripping oil. Flickering lights cast shadows too long to belong to any natural creature.
> [Current Coordinates: 13S-Delta Entrance]
[Vault Fragment Resonance: 92%]
[Beast Signature Detected – Tier: Unknown | Level: 35+]
[Recommended Action: Stealth Entry]
Jace crouched beneath a collapsed support beam and crept through the access tunnel. Echo Sight pulsed softly, but even it struggled to penetrate the dense layers of interference. Something about this place wasn't right.
Even the fog here moved… wrong.
He reached a bulkhead door, rusted but half-open. Slipping through it, he emerged into a cavernous chamber—possibly an old train station repurposed by whatever the vault had once been.
That's when he heard it.
Breathing.
Not his.
Not human.
Deep. Wet. Gurgling.
A low growl echoed through the dark, followed by the squelch of wet flesh shifting against stone. Then… silence.
Jace didn't move.
> [New Monster Identified: Abyss Broodspawn – Tier B+ | Level 37]
[Warning: Mutation Detected – Core Instability High]
[Recommendation: DO NOT ENGAGE WITHOUT BACKUP]
He peeked over a fallen bench and saw it—a massive, pale monstrosity hunched over a broken terminal. Its body was bloated, slick with mucus, and covered in black fungal growths. One of its limbs dragged a melted metal pole like a club.
Its head—if it had one—was a mass of slitted eyes and twitching tendrils.
> [Battle Rating Differential: Severe Disadvantage]
[Estimated Survival Duration: 11 Seconds]
Jace gritted his teeth. "Yeah, no thanks."
He backed away slowly, careful not to step on broken glass.
The beast stirred—but didn't turn.
He slipped out through a maintenance hatch, heart pounding, and let out a breath only once he was three corridors away.
> [Resonance Lock Updated: Vault Entrance Nearby – Less than 100 meters]
Jace pressed forward.
---
Finally, at the end of a twisted metal corridor, he found it: a heavy, reinforced door embedded in the wall like a bank vault. A familiar symbol pulsed red above the center—an inverted crescent surrounded by thorns.
Same as the token.
He pressed it into the slot.
The vault hissed open.
Inside was a small, circular room. Lights flickered on as he entered, revealing a stone pedestal in the center and old murals carved into the walls.
One showed a figure with wings of fire standing atop a world of ash. Another depicted a group of armored warriors kneeling before a robed man holding a crimson staff.
> [System Alert: Vault Key Recognized – Secondary Archive Unlocked]
[Soul Bond Trigger Point Located – Full Bond Possible if Conditions Met]
Jace approached the pedestal. A shard of red crystal hovered above it, spinning slowly.
> [Do you wish to unlock the Bond Path for Candidate: Nyra?]
[Warning: This may permanently link Archive Functions between bonded individuals.]
Jace hesitated.
He didn't know who—or what—Nyra truly was. But his gut told him this wasn't just another choice.
This was the beginning of something much, much bigger.
He reached out.
Touched the shard.
And the system screamed.
> [Emergency Override Initiated – Bond Path: OPENED]
[Warning: Unknown interference detected…]
[Synaptic Bridge Activated…]
The world turned white.