The Ironspine Ranges faded behind him as Rayden journeyed southward into lands once known as the Kingdom of Kareth, now reduced to ruins and broken roads. With every step, the landscape grew quieter — unnaturally so. No birds, no wind, not even the whisper of leaves. Just silence.
It was here that the Berserk System grew… excited.
[Proximity Alert: Whispersteel Forge – Forbidden Territory]
[System Memory Locked: Ancestral Berserker Weapon Detected]
Rayden paused. "Weapon?"
He hadn't thought about weapons much. The system made his fists deadly. His rage empowered every movement. But now… it wanted him to claim something.
Curiosity won.
He followed a broken trail of blackened stone deeper into a canyon, eventually arriving at an enormous, half-collapsed forge built into the cliffside. Tall chimneys jutted toward the sky like broken spears, and the air tasted of old fire and ash.
Inside, shattered tools littered the ground. Rusted hammers. Melted anvils. Empty scabbards.
And then he saw it.
A pedestal in the center of the forge. Upon it, a blade unlike any other.
It was long — nearly his height — with a jagged edge that shimmered red and black. The handle was wrapped in scorched leather, and the blade's surface was covered in inscriptions only the system could read.
[Artifact Identified: Whispersteel]
► One of the seven Berserker Relics
► Weapon Type: Adaptive Greatsword
► Bound to Soul Signature: Rayden Kael
► Warning: Unstable. Awakens based on emotional state.
As he reached out, he felt resistance.
Not from the weapon — but from himself. A part of him whispered: Once you lift this, there's no turning back.
He gritted his teeth and gripped the hilt.
Pain. White-hot. It coursed through his veins like lightning.
The ground split.
The forge shook.
The sword accepted him.
[Relic Acquired: Whispersteel]
[Passive Unlocked: Rage Echo]
► Each blow stores fury. Stored fury can be unleashed in a shockwave of damage.
He staggered back, the sword now slung across his back, lighter than it looked but thrumming with raw energy. It wasn't just a tool.
It was alive.
And it remembered war.
As he stepped out of the forge, Whispersteel let out a low hum, as if eager to drink blood again.
Rayden looked to the horizon.
He didn't know where the other relics were.
But the first was his.
And it wouldn't be the last.