The moment Kyle stepped into the Rift of Ashes, nothing was the same.
Not only the sight—it was reality.
The world warped.
Colors bled together abnormally. Skies churned with stars and clouds of ash that moved like thinking smoke. The ground beneath him crunched like glass, but did not leave marks. Light existed, but did not have a source. Sound echoed before he even made any.
This was not correct.
System Message:
"You have entered an Unregistered Gate: [The Rift of Ashes]."
"Warning: Normal rules suspended. Logic compression active. System interference detected."
"Survive."
Kyle pulled his cloak tighter about him. His instincts screamed in his mind that something ancient—something observing—hid in this broken dimension.
There was too much quiet. No creatures. No wind. Only… quiet.
He still unsheathed his blade.
Twenty wary steps later, he stood before the first landmark—a temple in ruins suspended in midair, anchored to the earth by chains of light. Symbols he couldn't understand floated on its surface like flakes of snow dropping from the heavens.
He leaped.
The moment his boots touched the stairs, time faltered. He blinked—and found himself already at the top.
"What the."
Afore him stood a colossal stone door covered in runes composed of smoke.
The moment he laid his palm on the surface, a voice spoke to him—not on the wind, but in his bones.
"What is your purpose?"
Kyle said nothing immediately. He closed his eyes.
Not revenge.
Not power.
Not even survival.
"I must know why," he told it.
The door clicked—and groaned open.
Inside, the world bled.
Shattered remembrances drifted on fog—some his own, some not. He saw flashes of war, of shrieking skies, of a man who wielded light as a weapon and another whose shadow was deadly.
Then—a mirror.
He gazed into it.
No, not just himself.
Ten of himself.
Each… different.
One a crown. One carrying a corpse. One alone, in shackles.
And the last…
Had no face.
The room jolted for a moment. A presence stirred.
Something old… and hungry.
System Message:
"Boss Encounter Triggered: [Echo of the Forgotten]"
The mirror exploded into shards.
From the shards came a beast sculpted from Kyle's face—twisted, hollow, and burnt. Eyes like dying stars stared back.
"You carry what was lost," it stated.
Kyle's fingers tightened.
The air thickened. The thing twitched like broken film—bucking forward in impossible frames. Kyle acted on reflex, but pain lanced through his shoulder—despite the blade missing its mark.
Illusions?
Or something worse?
He activated his Fragment:
System Message:
"[Third Fragment: Gate Dominance] engaged."
The room twisted.
Kyle warped the environment, slowing the Echo to creep. He attacked once more, but the blade passed through.
"Not real?" he cursed.
"Not enough," the Echo panted.
Then it screamed.
Dozens of hands erupted out of the ground, each a shard of Kyle's failures. Friends he couldn't save. People he hadn't even met but already lost.
He let out a deafening roar and let it all out.
All his power. All his fear.
And in that moment—
A second Fragment within him awakened.
System Message:
"Fragment Compatibility Detected."
"New Trait Unlocked: [Soul Sync - Echobind]."
"Effect: You may temporarily bind echoes of yourself to amplify physical abilities by 300%."
Kyle's aura shattered. Silhouettes of himself formed behind him—mirror alternate Kyles. The king. The prisoner. Even the faceless one.
They charged as a group.
The Echo screamed as it burst into voiddust.
System Message:
"Boss Defeated."
"Quest Progress: 33%."
"System Fragment Resonance Level Increased."
Kyle collapsed onto his knee, wheezing.
This wasn't an ordinary Gate.
This was a test of identity.
He looked at his own hand, still shaking.
"If this is just the first layer…"
He stood up.
"Then I'm not ready."
But he walked forward anyway.