The morning air in Blackridge had a sour bite like the city was always on the edge of vomiting its own filth. I didn't blame it. After the Rift incident, I was the one who should've been puking.
The Guild's message was waiting on my phone like a death sentence "Report to HQ immediately. Failure to comply will result in suspension and investigation."
I knew better than to ignore it.
At HQ, the sterile walls pressed in. The Guild's brass didn't waste time. The examiner from the Rift mission was waiting, arms crossed, eyes sharp enough to cut glass.
"You've drawn unwanted attention, David," she said without preamble.
"Unwanted's kinda my thing," I replied, voice flat.
She smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"We scanned your signature after the Gate. Nothing registered on official systems. You're an anomaly."
"Guess I'm special."
"More like a threat."
The interrogation blurred, words spilling, threats thinly veiled, but I kept my cool. No one knew about the Echo Core inside me. Not yet.
But the whispers... they didn't stop
That night, shadows moved without light. The echo inside me stirred louder, no longer silent. It spoke.
"Find the truth. The Core remembers."
I clenched my fists, knowing the hunt was just beginning.
Days crawled like broken clocks. The Guild's scrutiny felt like a cage tightening around my throat. Every step I took was shadowed by silent eyes and whispered doubts.
Arlen kept close, his steady presence the only thing keeping me tethered to whatever humanity I had left.
One night, when the city was drowned in rain, I sat on the rooftop, staring at the glowing neon below.
"You think the System's fucking with us?" Arlen asked, lighting a cigarette.
"Already doing it. The Echo... it's not just a power. It's a curse." I exhaled sharply. "It's alive."
He nodded. "We'll figure it out. Together."
The next mission was worse.
A D-class Gate had opened in the industrial sector — a maze of rust and rot. They wanted me in the lead.
Inside, the air tasted of iron and old smoke. Monsters lurked in the shadows, but it wasn't them that made my skin crawl.
It was the feeling — like the Gate itself was breathing, watching.
Then came the whispers again.
This time, clearer.
"You carry the past... and the future."
I clenched my teeth, readying the Echo.
The shadows around me shifted, twisting into shapes that moved on their own.
Suddenly, a figure stepped forward — an old Hunter, scarred and wary.
"You're the kid with the cursed core, right?" he spat.
"Depends who's asking."
He grinned, teeth chipped. "Name's Garrick. I've seen what that thing does. It kills."
The standoff broke into chaos as monsters swarmed.
Echo and steel clashed, but this time, the shadows weren't just following me.
They were fighting for me.
The fight was brutal.
Monsters lunged with claws sharper than broken glass, teeth gnashing like grinders. But the Shadow Echo moved faster, weaving between attacks like smoke made flesh. I could feel it syncing with me more — every strike, every dodge, every breath.
Garrick fought beside me, his grizzled blade flashing through the gloom. Despite his harsh words earlier, he was a solid ally, moving like he'd survived more than a dozen gates — which, honestly, was probably true.
The Echo flared again, this time manifesting twin blades of black fire that burned but left no ash. I slashed through a snarling beast's skull, the Echo mirroring every movement with perfect grace.
But then — the ground trembled.
From the shadows emerged something bigger. Older. Wiser.
A twisted mass of limbs, eyes, and teeth, all fused into a grotesque, pulsating core.
[False Core Identified: Primary Threat]
The chamber went silent except for the pulsing of its core — a rhythmic beat like a dark heart.
Garrick cursed. "This one's different. You ready for this, kid?"
I nodded, gripping my weapons tighter.
The battle was a nightmare.
Every strike against the core was absorbed, every hit echoed back with crushing force. The creature lashed out with tendrils that could crush bone and rip flesh.
The Echo responded by splitting, creating multiple shadow clones that harried the beast, distracting it just enough for me to strike.
But the core's eyes locked onto me, burning with malice.
It spoke without moving its twisted mouth:
"You cannot hide from what you are."
I felt the Echo pulse violently, almost like it was warning me.
Suddenly, a wave of memory hit — flashes of a long-lost battle, a ruined city, and a voice whispering:
"The first echo never dies."
I staggered, the words sinking deep.
This was more than a fight.
It was a reckoning.