The sky above Chainspire Tier 2 fractured.
Not physically. Not visibly. But Zane Kael felt it—like the code of Velaryn itself had paused, hesitated, then rewritten a line it wasn't supposed to touch.
His HUD blinked.
[SYSTEM INTERVENTION]
Coinmaster anomaly detected
Directive: Isolate and evaluate
Before Zane could react, the ground beneath him dissolved into a stream of golden data. He was lifted—no lift, no platform, just raw system force—into a chamber he hadn't unlocked, hadn't discovered, hadn't earned.
It was silent.
No trials. No enemies.
Just a single coin hovering in the center of the room.
[COIN TYPE: System Coin]
Tier: Undefined
Status: Locked / Observational
Function: Evaluation
Zane approached.
The coin didn't pulse. Didn't glow. It simply… watched.
Then the voice returned.
"You fused what should not be fused."
"You touched what should not be touched."
"Velaryn is not ready."
Zane clenched his fists. "Then why give me the Genesis?"
Silence.
Then
"The Genesis was not given. It was found. And now… it must be tested."
The System Coin shimmered.
A trial interface unfolded.
Trial: Protocol Echo
Objective: Replay the Genesis Activation
Restriction: No Genesis Coin access
Zane's inventory locked. The Genesis vanished. His skills dimmed. He was back to Level 1—no powers, no coins, no fragments.
Just memory.
The trial began.
He relived the moment he first touched the Genesis.
The vault. The pulse. The voice.
But this time, the system resisted. The coin fought back. The chamber collapsed. And Zane had to survive without it.
He dodged collapsing code, rewrote fragments using WhisperSight, and stabilized the trial using EchoOverride.
The Genesis reappeared—dim, flickering, uncertain.
Zane reached out.
Trial Complete. System Coin synced.
The chamber pulsed.
The coin vanished.
And Zane's HUD updated.
[PLAYER STATUS: ZANE KAEL]
Level: 8
New Coin: System Coin (Passive)
New Trait: Protocol Resilience
Coin Balance: Genesis, Whisper, Echo, Glitch, Echoglitch, System
Inventory: Null Dagger, Coin Fragment ×18
System Note: Genesis Coin stability: 87%
Zane was returned to Chainspire Tier 2.
But something had changed.
The Genesis Coin pulsed erratically.
And above him, in Tier 3, a new trial had unlocked.
Trial: The Architect's Gate
Status: Hidden
Requirement: Coinmaster Level 10
Zane looked up.
Two levels to go.
And the system was watching.