The wind howled through the broken spires of the Tower of Final Rites, its song a requiem for the forgotten. Rain fell in rhythmic sheets, baptizing a circle of cracked marble etched with forbidden runes. Seven figures stood around the circle, cloaked in obsidian robes, their hoods heavy with rain and secrecy.
At the center lay a boy—gaunt, pale, bound by arcane chains that shimmered with crimson light. Blood trickled from his lips, mingling with the glyphs carved into the stone.
His name was Arthur Valen.
And he was about to die.
Not for the first time.
Not for the last...
▣▣▣
Elsewhere, in a world not yet lost to decay…
Arthur Caelum coughed up blood.
He slumped against the stone walls of the Arcane Ascendancy Tower, his robes soaked in the sickly light of collapsing wards. Screams echoed through the ancient halls, cut short one by one as the Chimera of Solitude ripped through the mage order like parchment.
He pressed his hand to his chest. His heart raced, but he could feel it slowing. The poison they'd used was perfect—slow, irreversible. It was a mercy, perhaps, compared to what the monsters outside would do.
Arthur looked at the shattered remnants of his research. The scrolls, the runes, the decades of study… all ash now. Lost to history.
But that wasn't what brought tears to his eyes.
It was the faces of the ones who had trusted him. The students. The children.
The silence where their laughter used to be.
"Not like this…" he rasped.
And then the world twisted.
Like pages tearing out of a book.
▣▣▣
System Initializing…
[Dimensional Crosslink Detected.]
[Terminal Host: Arthur Caelum — Status: Deceased]
[Secondary Vessel Found: Arthur Valen — Status: Dying]
[Initiating Soul Transfer Protocol…]
[ERROR: Fragmented Soul Detected.]
[Proceeding with Merge.]
[Welcome, Echo.]
▣▣▣
He awoke in darkness.
Pain bloomed in every limb, every breath dragging fire through his lungs.
His eyes opened to the dim glow of ritual candles. A chill wind whispered through the chamber—deep underground, perhaps. The air smelled of stone and old blood.
He tried to move.
Chains bit into his wrists.
And then—laughter.
Not cruel, not loud. Just tired. Bitter.
"…You again."
His voice. Not quite his. A younger echo. Fragile.
Memories clashed—two lives, layered over each other like glass panes cracked in different ways.
The system pinged softly.
[You have inherited a Broken Soul.]
[New Trait Acquired: Dual Resonance]
You carry two sets of memories. Occasionally, they will conflict.
[Warning: Soul Stability — 42%]
[Recommendation: Anchor yourself soon.]
"Where am I?" Arthur whispered.
The answer came not in words, but in sensation—a flash of light, a sharp pain in his gut, the sound of steel on bone.
Then blackness again.
▣▣▣
Hours Later — Dormitory Room 7C, University of Mana Arts
Arthur jolted awake.
He gasped, lungs pulling air with such desperation it felt like drowning in reverse. Sweat soaked his shirt, and the sheets clung to him like grave wrappings.
He stumbled to the mirror.
The boy staring back at him wasn't the Arthur Caelum who had perished with honor and bitterness in the world beyond.
This was Arthur Valen.
Gaunt. Sickly. The kind of boy who teachers forgot and students mocked.
The kind of boy who could disappear—and no one would ask why.
[New Objective: Identity Reconstruction]
Piece together the memories of Arthur Valen. Understand what led to his death.
Arthur touched the mirror's surface, then his face.
"This body… isn't mine," he muttered. "But this pain is."
...
Ths reflection in the mirror belonged to a boy seventeen to eighteen years of age... raven black hair, from within starnds of white could be seen... 'Uncommon'.
Eyes that seem as if they have gazed deep into the abyss... Madness.
This body- this echo... it reeked of madness.
▣▣▣
The Next Day – University Campus Grounds
Nebelholt, the floating continent where the University resided, drifted under grey skies. The city below slumbered beneath eternal mist, and above it the towers of the University pierced the clouds like broken fingers grasping at the stars.
Arthur wandered through the campus like a ghost.
Students in elaborate robes and enchanted uniforms bustled past, their chatter laced with gossip and glamor. No one greeted him. No one paused.
They walked around him like he was a smudge on their perfect illusion.
"That's the Valen boy, right?"
"Ugh, the 'Deadweight'?"
"Hear he failed another binding ritual last week. Useless."
He turned corners, trying to ignore them.
'This language... I understand everything they say yet... it's uncomfortable... it's as if my whole world perception isn't correct...'
[World View Updating:17%]
...
Changing back his focus, he thought about what he truly needed to do right now. And one thing was at the top most priority:
He wanted to find out why Arthur Valen had died.
And who had killed him.
▣▣▣
Lecture Hall 4B – Basic Alchemic Formulas
The chalkboard was half-erased. The instructor, a bored man in his sixties, spoke with zero inflection.
Arthur sat near the rear. He remembered this lecture. Not as Valen—but as Caelum. The formula being discussed was flawed. Too basic. Incomplete.
His fingers moved of their own accord. He corrected the formula in the margins of his notebook, adding compensatory runes to balance the heat channeling.
It felt… natural.
And yet—eyes burned into him.
Not admiration. Not curiosity.
But hate.
From the far side of the room, a silver-haired boy watched him, smirking.
To his left, a girl with eyes like polished amethysts whispered behind her hand.
And behind Arthur, a mountain of a student chuckled under his breath.
[Update: Suspicion Targeted – 3 Individuals Marked]
[Warning: Proximity to Hostile Elements Detected.]
The ones who mocked him in life…
The ones who watched him die?
His grip on the quill tightened.
[New Trait Unlocked: Cold Recall]
When emotionally triggered, past fragments may surface. WARNING: Traumatic side effects possible.
[Passive Trigger Detected.]
The world blurred.
Stone. Screaming. Rituals.
And pain. So much pain.
He blinked.
His hands were trembling. Blood on the page. The nib had snapped. His heart raced.
He stood up, knocking the chair over, and walked out without a word.
No one stopped him.
Not even the teacher.
Just like last time.
▣▣▣
Later – Tower Garden, Beneath the Moon Lilies
The flowers glowed faintly in the mist. Their petals responded to mana, blooming wider in his presence. Arthur sat with his back against the stone basin of the moonwell.
Footsteps approached.
A girl stood above him, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Copper hair. Cold green eyes.
Sarah Elowen.
She was beautiful. Brilliant. And distant.
Arthur knew her only by reputation—before. But Valen had…
Yes.
A flash. A moment. A memory.
He had once asked her for help with a ritual.
She'd brushed him off. He'd looked crushed.
And yet—she was here now.
"You vanished last night," she said. Her tone was neutral. But her eyes—searching. Uncertain.
Arthur said nothing.
"I saw you," she continued. "Three students dragging you out of the dorms. At first I thought it was a prank. Then I realized you weren't moving."
She bit her lip. Looked away.
"I told the wardens. No one listened."
He turned toward her.
"You remember."
"A little. Enough."
She knelt.
"I'm sorry I didn't do more."
For a moment, silence stretched between them.
Then a system ping.
[Bond Progress Initiated – Sarah Elowen: 4%]
There is light, even in the dark.
Arthur reached out.
"Why me?" he asked. "Why speak to me now?"
"Because no one else will," she replied. "And because I want to know the truth."
He smiled. It was small. Faint.
But real.
▣▣▣
That Night – Dormitory Room 7C
The candles burned low. Arthur stood before the window, staring at the city lights below, veiled in fog.
The System reappeared, hovering beside him like a second moon.
[Main Quest Activated: Vengeance of the Forsaken]
[Discover the identities of your murderers (0/3)]
Reclaim your stolen memories
Survive long enough to claim justice
[Side Quest: Echo's Path]
Investigate the sealed chamber beneath the Tower of Final Rites
Reward: Skill Unlock + ???
Arthur closed his eyes.
"This time," he whispered, "I won't die forgotten."
This time…
They will.
▣▣▣
Elsewhere — The Hidden Circle
In a chamber lit only by the glow of soulcrystal, the cloaked ones gathered again.
"He walks."
"It cannot be."
"The soulbinding failed!"
"No…" the leader said. "It merged. Caelum walks in Valen's shell."
A pause.
"Then the Plan—"
"—is at risk."
Eyes turned toward the darkest alcove. The stone pulsed, deep and red, like the heartbeat of something ancient.
"We burn the Echo," the leader said. "Again."
And this time…
"We make sure he does not come back."