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Chapter 10: Shard and Shadow
Kaelen – Old District Ruins
The Eclipse Shard pulsed with unnatural rhythm—like a heart beating outside time.
Kaelen sat in the hollow of a fallen cathedral, ribs still wrapped in salvaged bandages, breath slow but steady. The Ashwalkers stood watch, unmoving. Their shadows curled unnaturally toward the shard, like moths drawn to a black flame.
>
Origin: Trial of the Eclipseborn
Status: Dormant, Incomplete
Potential: Unlocks Hidden Ladder Nodes, Enhances Bound Souls, Opens Sovereign Gateways
WARNING: Incompatible with low-tier vessels. Attempting activation risks cognitive collapse.
Kaelen stared at the shard. It was smooth, almost warm, and shimmered with colors that didn't exist. It whispered things in a voice that sounded like himself—older, bitter, victorious.
He clutched it tighter.
"I'm not afraid," he said, though part of him still was.
>
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Meanwhile – Near Litharion's Outer Reach
The wind stilled. Animals stopped breathing. The world bent around a single presence.
A figure walked barefoot along the silver sands of the forgotten coast—draped in a cloak woven from mourning threads. Its face was hidden beneath a porcelain mask marked only with a single red dot at the center of the forehead.
The Archivist's Envoy had arrived.
But it was not here to fight.
It was here to study.
A small scroll floated behind it, unwinding with every step. The scroll etched Kaelen's movements in real-time—his decisions, thoughts, even his hesitations.
"He has accepted the shard," the envoy whispered.
Its voice was layered. Male. Female. Neither.
"He will begin to mutate soon. If he loses control…"
The mask tilted ever so slightly.
"…I'll bury his name in ink."
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Kaelen – Eclipse Vision
His mind burned.
The shard surged into his core like liquid gravity. Kaelen collapsed, writhing, as violet light poured from his eyes and mouth.
He was falling.
No—
He was ascending.
Visions cracked open in his mind like eggshells:
A massive throne bound in chains, submerged beneath a sea of stars.
Himself, older, crowned, alone.
The sky, whole again—and then shattered anew.
And then…
He saw her.
A woman in a tattered gray cloak, standing within a golden storm, watching him with eyes like burning paper.
"Climb faster," she said, voice echoing from the end of time.
"Or everything you are will become everything you feared."
Kaelen screamed—
—and awoke.
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>
New Ability Unlocked: "Sovereign Pulse"
Void Resistance Increased. Shadow Bind Extended Range +200%.
But as the power settled, Kaelen felt it.
A presence.
Watching him.
Far too close.
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