Ethan's breath hitched. He hadn't taken a single step, yet the silver glow ate up the distance between them, swallowing the void like a tide rushing in. There was nowhere to run. No ground to push off from. Just blackness and the light, closing in like a predator.
With each pulse, the space around him warped, bending toward that cold radiance. The air, if it could be called that, thinned, pressing against his chest in a suffocating embrace.
A whisper slithered into his skull, so close it might have been his own thought.
Name yourself.
He tried to spin, searching for the source, but there was nothing. Only the light, brighter now, almost reaching him.
"Who's there?" His voice trembled more than he liked.
Name yourself… or be erased.
His mind blanked. For a terrifying moment, he couldn't remember his name at all. His life felt distant, blurred, Jasper's face, the cat, and the word all dissolving under the weight of that voice.
And then it came back to him in a rush. "Ethan—"
The light slammed into him. The void shuddered.
That is not your name.
Cold exploded through his body, ripping away the last traces of sensation. The darkness cracked like glass and then collapsed inward.
He was falling.
———
Ethan woke up covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily.
He was in an unfamiliar place. There was little to no light, and yet he could see everything with shocking clarity.
The place was vast yet enclosed, like standing inside a cathedral built for giants. Towering pillars of dark stone stretched upward into a ceiling lost in shadow, their surfaces veined with faintly glowing purple lines that pulsed like a heartbeat.
At the chamber's center stood an anvil unlike any he had ever seen — a slab of black metal, its surface fractured by glowing cracks that bled pale-blue light. Beside it, a forge burned with a cold, black flame, casting ghostly illumination across the room.
The walls were made of black glass, but when Ethan looked closely, they weren't just walls, they were mirrors holding fragments of his memories, each flickering like scenes on an old film. Laughter at a dinner table. A cat leaping onto his lap. He cursing at his brother.
Violet crystals jutted from the floor like frozen lightning, their sharp edges glimmering faintly in the forge's light. Some were dim, some pulsed softly, and others remained completely black, as if sleeping.
Far at the back stood a massive door, sealed shut with an intricate design of interlocked symbols. They shimmered faintly, like they were alive, whispering promises he couldn't quite hear.
Despite the cold fire and the silent walls, the place thrummed with life, not just a room, but something breathing, waiting, watching.
He instinctively knew he was inside his body . . . no, not his body, his soul.
Looking at the black memory mirrors brought tears to Ethan's face, he tried to hold it in, but knowing that no one could look he let it all out.
The frustration of not knowing where in hell he was, what that light meant when it said that he was not Ethan, but most importantly, knowing that he would never be able to see his family again.
Even though Ethan didn't know what was going on, he was by no means stupid. He had read enough novels to know that he was transmigrated, but the real question was where?
As he was thinking about it, a blackish-purple window popped up in front of him, and that window told him more than enough about where he was.
[Status Window]
Name: Zane Blessborne
Rank: F (Novice)(0%)
Soul Integrity: 97%
Oath Capacity: 0 / 2 Lesser Oaths
Active Oaths: None
Soul Forge Access: [Unlocked]
Attributes
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Endurance: 8
Perception: 10
Willpower: 13
Luck: changes from time to time
—
Unique Skill:Oathsmith's Authority
Allows the user to enter their Soul Forge, reforge and evolve existing Oaths, and combine them into new, unique variants. May bypass certain capacity limits at the risk of Soul Integrity.
Title: None
—
Skill: Heaven's Accord
Type: One-Time Skill
Description: Once in a lifetime, the wielder may forge and bind an Oath of any level, without regard to their current rank, physical limitations, or soul integrity. This Oath will be permanently bound to their soul and cannot be removed, traded, or broken — even by the wielder.
Cost: Instantly consumes 30% of maximum Soul Integrity upon activation. May cause unpredictable side effects if used recklessly.
Note: Once used, the skill will vanish forever.
---
Ethan stared at the blackish-purple screen, the words burning into his mind. His name was no longer Ethan; it was Zane Blessborne.
He tried to say it quietly, and a strange heat surged in his chest, as if the name had always existed, just waiting to be spoken.
Before he could think further, the black-flamed forge roared to life. The cold fire shot higher, pulling him toward it with unseen hands. The violet crystals around him trembled, their light pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The anvil brightened. Cracks widened, spilling threads of pale-blue light that not only lit up the room but also illuminated him.
A voice filled the chamber; it was different from the one in the void but deeper and heavier, like a mountain speaking.
"Soul Forge access confirmed. Unique skill detected. Authority granted."
The cold fire roared, and the air thickened with symbols—shapes he didn't recognize but somehow understood. A thousand different promises, each sharp enough to cut.
In that moment, Ethan realized he could create an Oath there. Any Oath. Even one that no one else had ever dared to forge.
Just thinking about it made him forget all his problems. After all, if he could forge any Oath, then he could make one that would be able to take him home. Back to his family. Back to his old life.
The black flame in the forge surged higher, casting jagged shadows across the memory-mirrors. Ethan stepped toward the anvil, the words already forming in his mind.
"I swear… upon my soul… to return home."
The forge's light wrapped around him, sinking into his bones. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as glowing runes began to etch themselves into the air, each one pulling at his essence. The Oath was taking shape—he could feel it, real and absolute.
And then—
Everything froze.
The flames turned an unnatural shade of white. The runes fractured, splintering into ink-black shards that hovered in the air before vanishing entirely.
A sound followed, a low, guttural hum, like the grinding of colossal stones, so deep it rattled his bones.
"Not yours to forge."
The voice was layered, wrong, like multiple beings speaking in perfect unison.
Pain shot through him, sharp and cold, as the skill's power was wrenched from his grasp. The anvil's glow dimmed, and the black flame guttered into embers.
[Oath Creation Failed]Cause: Interference from Unknown Entity
Ethan staggered back, clutching his chest, his breathing ragged. His one chance to return home… stolen.
———
Ethan, still shaken by the shock of being denied his only chance to go home, began to pace in front of the anvil. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from a deep, simmering frustration. Whoever or whatever had just interfered had not only blocked an Oath but had also taken away his choice.
He wanted to scream and throw the forge's black flame at the unseen presence, but he could still sense it—watching, waiting, as if challenging him to try again.
The notification window lingered in the air, its final words seared into his mind: Interference from Unknown Entity.
Ethan clenched his teeth. "Fine. If I can't go home now, I will find a way to survive long enough to get there."
He turned back to the forge. This time, his mindset changed. If this was his only chance to forge something, he needed to create something that would help him survive—something that would make him ready for anything this world threw at him.
Slowly, deliberately, he spoke:
"I swear, upon my soul, to balance my strength, speed, endurance, and mind, so that no weakness shall be my undoing."
The runes flared again, this time without the blinding white interference. The forge's black flame roared, sending a cold wind swirling through the chamber. The anvil rang once—deep and resonant—and a wave of force slammed into Ethan's chest.
He gasped as something inside him began to twist. His muscles tightened, stretching, while his bones seemed to lengthen and compact in an unnatural way. A pressure built in his skull, as if invisible hands were rearranging his thoughts, sharpening them into clear, lethal focus. His heartbeat throbbed in perfect rhythm—too perfect—like a metronome guiding every movement his body would ever make.
The pain was sharp but brief, replaced by a strange, foreign sense of rightness. Every part of him felt balanced.
[Oath Forged – Equilibrium Eternal]
Effect: All attributes will automatically balance to the highest stat available, ensuring perfectly balanced growth.
Ethan staggered back from the anvil, panting. It wasn't the Oath he wanted, but it was the one he would rely on to survive.