The vault lay beneath Blackthorn Keep, hidden behind layers of stone, glyphs, and enchantments.
No ordinary key could open it. No ordinary cultivator could slip past its wards.
And yet, I had a plan.
[Shop: Echo-Key of Dust Sigils – 6 AP]
I stared at the prompt. A single-use item, seemingly mundane, yet potent. Six Abyss Points. A bargain for what it promised: the ability to clone one sigil for a fleeting moment.
I spent the points without hesitation.
[AP Balance: 2 → −6][Echo-Key Acquired.]
The vault's entrance shimmered with layers of overlapping runes, each one a trap, each one a heartbeat away from alerting the clan's wards. My eyes flickered.
[Abyssal Insight: Glyph Weak Point Analysis]
Numbers, angles, flow patterns—I saw the cracks where energy pulses were weakest. A single layer misaligned by a hair, a glyph overextended, a vibration in the ley lines barely perceptible.
I placed the Echo-Key on the glyph, whispered the command, and it forged a mirror—perfectly mimicking the sigil's pulse.
Time slowed. My fingers traced the air, each movement surgical. I stepped through the layers like a phantom, every heartbeat measured, every breath calculated.
Then, the core.
There it sat: a jagged crystal, black as night, vibrating faintly. Crumbling Obsidian Core. A Foundation catalyst—but unstable, fragile, and screaming with potential.
I wrapped it carefully in shadow cloth, letting the System hum through my veins.
[Acquisition Complete: Crumbling Obsidian Core secured.]
As I retraced my steps, the final glyph shimmered—flickering ever so slightly. A hairline crack in the vault's fate ward.
I didn't notice it, but someone did.
Far above, Elder Rowan Veyra's fingers brushed a golden thread, sensing disturbance. The vault's defense had sensed deviation—and the master of the deviation had passed undetected.
I exhaled slowly, returning to the shadows.
The world outside was oblivious. The clan believed the vault untouched. My cousin Alden was still stationed nearby, unaware that the heirloom of our ancestors was no longer theirs to guard.
And I, Damien Veyra, held the first tangible step toward power beyond their comprehension.
The Abyss whispered in satisfaction.
We begin.