The path north was less traveled, the cobblestone road giving way to dirt and gravel as Kael pressed onward. Most players stayed close to the capital or followed guides posted on the forums, grinding the safer fields and dungeons where loot was predictable and parties were easy to form. Kael, however, had never been one to walk the beaten track.
The fields soon turned to sparse woodlands, the setting sun casting elongated shadows between the trees. Every so often, Kael paused to check his surroundings. Wolves prowled these areas, stronger than the ones near the capital, but not beyond his ability to handle. When one lunged from the underbrush, he sidestepped instinctively, steel flashing as his blade cut across its flank. The creature yelped and vanished in a puff of dark mist, leaving behind a few copper coins and a tuft of fur.
The fight was routine, yet something about the silence afterward felt wrong. No birdsong. No rustle of wind. Just… stillness.
He opened his quest log again, reading the cryptic words. Seek the place where shadows whisper and fate is forged.
"Shadows whisper, huh?" he murmured. His voice sounded too loud, too intrusive in the hushed forest.
After another half hour of walking, he spotted it.
The ruins were almost swallowed by nature, half-buried under moss and ivy, their stone walls crumbling as if they'd been abandoned for centuries. Arched doorways gaped like hollow eyes, and faint glyphs were carved into the stone—symbols he didn't recognize, glowing faintly in the twilight.
As he approached, the system chimed.
[Quest Updated]Objective Complete: Locate the Whispering RuinsNew Objective: Enter the ruins.
Kael hesitated at the threshold. His fingers brushed the hilt of his sword, the familiar weight grounding him. He had cleared dungeons before—caves filled with goblins, a bandit hideout—but none had felt like this. There was a gravity to the air, a sense of being watched.
He stepped inside.
The temperature dropped immediately. His breath came out in pale wisps, the faint echo of dripping water reverberating through the stone corridors. The light dimmed, forcing him to conjure a basic torch from his inventory. The flickering flame pushed the darkness back, but only barely.
Deeper he went, each footstep careful, deliberate. The walls were lined with carvings, some depicting battles between men and colossal beings of fire and shadow, others showing a great seal etched into the sky itself.
He stopped before one mural. It showed a man standing alone, facing twelve towering fragments of light. The inscription below was in runes he couldn't read, yet somehow, in the pit of his stomach, Kael understood.
One will bear the fragments. One will break the chains.
A shiver ran down his spine.
The tunnel opened into a vast chamber, circular in design, with a cracked dais at its center. Stone pillars leaned precariously, some shattered completely, while a faint, otherworldly hum filled the air. Kael's torchlight flickered against something at the heart of the dais.
A bracelet.
At first glance, it looked unremarkable—tarnished silver, etched with intricate patterns, half-buried in dust. Yet as Kael drew closer, the symbols on its surface flared to life, casting the chamber in cold, radiant light.
[System Notification]Unique Quest Branch Discovered!"The Seal of Worlds"Warning: This path is irreversible.Do you wish to bind yourself to the artifact?[Yes] [No]
Kael's heart hammered. He stared at the floating prompt, the weight of choice pressing heavily on him.
This was it. This was what the dream had pointed toward.
He clenched his fists. If I walk away, I stay ordinary. If I accept…
There was no question.
"Yes."
The moment the word left his lips, the ruins came alive. The bracelet lifted into the air, spinning rapidly as beams of light shot outward, striking the pillars. The hum grew into a deafening roar, the ground trembling beneath his boots. Kael staggered back, shielding his eyes as the bracelet slammed against his wrist, searing pain lancing through him like molten fire.
He cried out, collapsing to his knees. The world around him seemed to vanish.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the ruins.
He stood in the same cosmic temple from his dream, stars wheeling across an endless void. The broken seal burned beneath his feet, its twelve fractured sigils glowing faintly.
A voice boomed, resonant and ancient.
Bearer of the Seal. You have been chosen.
Kael swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Chosen for what?"
To carry the fragments of power. To stand against the chains that bind worlds. Twelve fragments, scattered across the realms. Each piece will awaken a truth, a burden, and a weapon. But beware… others will seek them. Some to wield, some to destroy. Your path is now bound to theirs.
The sigils pulsed, and one flared brighter than the rest. Time itself seemed to still, stars freezing mid-motion.
The First Fragment awakens.
Light engulfed Kael, flooding into his chest, his veins, his very soul. Images flashed before his eyes—sands running backward through an hourglass, blades freezing mid-swing, rivers flowing in reverse.
When the light dimmed, he found himself back in the ruins, the bracelet cool against his wrist. His torch had gone out, but he could see perfectly in the dark now, as if time itself bent around him.
[System Update]You have obtained the First Fragment of the Seal: Chronos Shard.Ability Unlocked: Temporal Shift (Lv.1) – Briefly manipulate the flow of time around yourself.
Warning: This ability consumes a large portion of MP.
Kael exhaled shakily, staring at the glowing notification. A real ability, unique, something no one else in the game could possibly have. The power to control time itself.
But before he could savor the moment, a sound echoed through the chamber.
Footsteps.
Kael froze, turning toward the entrance. Shadows danced across the walls, and a group of figures emerged—players, their names glowing faintly above their heads.
Rowan stood at the front, axe resting casually on his shoulder, though his eyes were sharp, calculating.
"Well, well," Rowan said, smirking. "Looks like you found something interesting without us."
Kael's blood ran cold.
He had a feeling his journey had just become far more complicated.