Ashen stood, half-exhausted, flame flickering along his skin. The cloaked figure before him didn't move. He seemed untouched by the wind, the silence, even reality itself.
"Who are you?" Ashen demanded, his voice hoarse. "You keep watching me. Speaking through smoke. Now show yourself."
The man stepped forward, and with that simple movement, the air bent around him.
Gears spun in a slow orbit behind his back. His cloak was stitched from threads of starlight and shadows. His face was half-covered by a mask shaped like a broken clock—one side missing entirely.
> "Names are funny things," the man said. "Some are given. Others are chosen. I'm not interested in either."
Ashen narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll give you one. 'The Annoying Bastard Who Won't Leave Me Alone.'"
The man actually laughed. A warm, amused sound that didn't match the eerie weight he carried.
> "You can call me Inventor."
Ashen froze.
> "I come from a place not unlike this one," Inventor said, glancing at the sky. "A world that believed it was the only one. A world that collapsed under its own pride. So I left. I stepped between the cracks in the firmament... and I found yours."
Ashen's flame died down. He didn't feel threatened—but he did feel seen.
> "You're not from this world," Ashen muttered.
Inventor nodded. "Correct. And neither, perhaps… are you. At least not fully. Your soul is more layered than you think."
Ashen clenched his fists. "What do you want from me?"
Inventor tilted his head. "To help."
Ashen laughed bitterly. "You've got a strange way of showing it. I nearly died in that chamber."
> "And yet, you didn't."
"You adapted. You invented something new. Something not taught. Not inherited. That is what makes you… promising."
There was silence.
Then Inventor stepped closer and raised a finger. A spark flickered between them—not fire, not light, but concept. It twisted into a floating sigil.
> "A seed," he said, pressing it to Ashen's chest. "Use it when you're ready. Not before."
Ashen felt it sink into him—an idea, a skill, a blueprint waiting to be built.
[Skill Blueprint Acquired: Prototype – Concept Forge]
Allows the wielder to shape raw energy into temporary weapons, armor, or tools based on imagined structures. Requires immense focus and clarity of thought.
Ashen gasped. "This… this isn't from the Flame. It's different."
> "It's mine," Inventor said. "A gift. Or a test."
He turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Ashen called after him. "Why me?"
Inventor stopped.
> "Because your story doesn't end in fire," he said. "It begins there."
And with that, he vanished—fading like smoke in wind.
Ashen was left alone once more.
But he no longer felt like the same person.
And neither did the flame inside him.