Frosthold's air felt colder than usual when Kael returned.
Not outside.
Inside.
Every guild member he passed turned to look. Some with awe. Some with fear. Some… with calculation.
He had left as a nameless recruit.
Now?
He returned with the title Breaker of Echoes — the only person to destroy a soulbound Reaper in a generation.
Kael pushed open the infirmary doors, his cloak singed and sword half-cracked.
"Report submitted," he said calmly, dropping a scroll on the desk.
The medic behind the counter blinked. "You're… not even limping?"
Kael didn't answer.
He wasn't trying to be rude.
But something inside him wasn't quiet anymore.
[System Notification]
Sync Level: 63%
Internal Warning: Memory Drift detected
Emotion State: Calm → Flickering (Instability Possible)
Passive Skill Activated: "Battle Architect Lv.1"
He made it halfway down the corridor before his vision blurred.
Flash.
He was somewhere else.
The battlefield.
A ruined city.
A girl screaming.
He reached out—only for his hand to pass through her like mist.
He staggered into the wall, breathing hard.
"Kael?"
Lyra's voice.
Soft.
Worried.
He turned.
She stood in the hallway — hair damp from training, frostblade at her hip.
"You're… shaking," she said.
"I'm fine."
"You're lying."
"Better than I used to."
A pause.
Then she walked up and handed him a small cloth. "Wipe your face. You're bleeding."
He hadn't noticed.
His nose. Bleeding again.
Memory drift. It's getting worse.
They walked in silence through the east wing.
Down a spiral staircase.
Into a stone chamber few in the guild even knew existed.
Chain Division HQ.
Dark banners lined the walls. Magical lights floated in the air, casting eerie blue hues.
Commander Joran waited inside, standing before a massive map of the realm.
He didn't turn as they entered.
"I read your report," he said. "And I read what you didn't write."
Kael stayed silent.
Joran pointed at a glowing red marker near Vel Hollow.
"That Reaper… it was built using old blood rites. The kind we haven't seen in decades."
He turned to Kael.
"You said its energy felt familiar."
Kael nodded.
"Because it was," Joran said. "We've seen it before. On you."
[System Alert]
Warning: Soul Fragment Identified
Contamination Risk: Active
Internal Response Suggested: Purification or Assimilation
Kael frowned. "What are you saying?"
Joran crossed the room and pulled out a glass case.
Inside: a piece of Kael's broken sword.
The edge shimmered with faint black mist.
"The Reaper didn't just attack you," Joran said. "It was drawn to you. Fed off something inside."
Kael's heartbeat slowed.
"Your resurrection," Joran continued, "may have left a hole. And something slipped through with you."
Silence.
Then Kael finally said:
"So what do we do?"
Joran studied him.
"Nothing yet."
Kael blinked.
"Power always has a price," Joran said. "But until it collects, you use it."
He tossed Kael a new guild sigil — black and gold.
Elite Chain Operative.
"Your next mission begins in two days. Rest. But keep your sword close."
Later that night, Kael stood alone on the training deck.
The sky above was violet, stars scattered like cold sparks.
He stared at the new badge in his hand.
Elite.
Already?
He hadn't even wanted rank.
He wanted control.
Of himself. Of his path. Of his past.
Behind him, footsteps.
Drev.
Holding two wooden practice swords.
"Can't sleep either?" Drev asked.
Kael shook his head.
Drev tossed him a blade.
"Then fight me. I wanna see what an Echo Breaker looks like."
They clashed in the moonlight.
Sweat.
Bruises.
No system boosts. No life-or-death panic.
Just steel and grit.
Kael fought like a man on the edge — balanced between something brilliant and something broken.
And Drev saw it.
After thirty minutes, they collapsed side by side.
"I'd follow you into war," Drev said suddenly.
Kael blinked.
"I mean it," Drev continued. "I don't trust most people. But you?"
He grinned. "You're too haunted to lie."
Kael looked up at the stars.
He didn't answer.
But he didn't walk away either.
[System Notification]
Trait Update: "Battle Architect Lv.1"
➤ Passive Strategy Retention: You now learn enemy patterns permanently after 3 encounters
➤ Field Instinct: Grants minor buff when fighting alongside bonded allies
➤ Bond Status: Drev Malric — [Warbound] ➤ [Trusted Shield]
Sync Level: 65%
Soul Fragment Status: Dormant
Trait Response Imminent (Unknown)
Meanwhile…
Far below Frosthold, beneath the guild dungeons, someone knelt before a sealed door.
Seven chains bound it.
From behind it, something whispered.
A voice older than the mountains.
"The Time-Touched awakens."
Another voice answered — calm, human.
"You promised me power."
"You will have it," the thing hissed. "But bring me… his soul."
Back in Kael's quarters, his mirror fogged over without reason.
A word appeared in the condensation.
One he didn't write.
"Soon."
He stared at it.
Then drew his blade.
The reflection stared back.
But the eyes looking through it…
Weren't his.
Next Chapter: "The Mirrorblade Pact"