I lingered in the hollow ruins long after the Watcher disappeared.
The coin—the Watcher's Remnant—still pulsed faintly in my hand, but the voice tied to it was silent now. Whatever message it held, I'd received it. And yet… the air still thrummed with meaning, like the walls remembered what had happened here.
'There's more to this place.'
The memory I'd absorbed from the coin was still unraveling in my head. I could feel pieces of it nudging at my thoughts—names I didn't know, flames I'd never seen, pain I hadn't lived through.
And fear. So much fear.
I took a slow breath and pressed on.
Beyond the altar room, a narrow corridor twisted down into the earth. It hadn't been visible before. A hidden passage, revealed only after the Watcher's memory ended. The spiral mark appeared again, carved faintly into the wall beside it.
[System Notice: Spiral-Linked Path Unlocked]This descent has not been touched in centuries. Proceed with caution.Memory Saturation: 72%
Memory… saturation?
That was new. I didn't have time to think it over. My legs moved.
The staircase was steep, carved into rough stone and swallowed by blackness. My fingers trailed along the wall to guide me. Down and down I went, until even the silence began to press like a weight on my chest.
When I reached the bottom, I found myself in a circular chamber.
And at the center—
A well.
Not filled with water. Just darkness. Thick and tangible, like a living shadow.
And hovering above it—
Another sigil. Not carved. Not painted.
Floating.
It spun slowly, edges glowing faintly. It was the same spiral—but this time, inverted.
[System Notice: Spiral Memory Node Detected – Tier I]Host Soul Signature matches alignment pattern.Connection may be established.WARNING: Soul strain possible. Proceed?
I stared at the hovering mark. My fingers trembled. This wasn't like the others. This wasn't passive.
This thing was active.
'It's a keyhole. And I'm the key.'
I reached toward it.
Pain exploded in my head the moment I touched it.
[Fragment Memory Activated – Depth Alignment Initiated]Attempting deeper link...Success: Partial.Extracting memory...
I was standing in a different body.
Taller. Stronger. Clad in black robes etched with gold. My skin was pale—tattooed with curling symbols that itched and burned with magic. Around me were dozens of others—robed, kneeling, chanting.
In the center: a young woman. Bound in glowing chains. Her eyes wept silver tears. She wasn't afraid.
She was angry.
I raised a blade—not of steel, but of bone and flame—and drove it into her heart.
She didn't scream.
She whispered:
"You've tied yourself to rot. You'll never rise again."
And then the world shattered.
I came back to my body vomiting black bile.
The pain was unbearable. My limbs shook, my ears rang, and blood trickled from my nose.
But something else had changed.
[Deeper Memory Fragment Absorbed]Residual Skill Unlocked: [Sigil Brand Lv. 1 – Rank C]Marks a target with a soul-burn sigil. Causes 5% bonus damage from all sources for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
[Fragment Memory Lv. 1 → Lv. 2 – Rank B]Memory clarity increased. Passive skill chance raised to 15%. Greater access to hostile echoes and deeper secrets unlocked.
[Willpower +1]
Updated StatusHP: 42 / 110MP: 14 / 55Strength: 8Agility: 4Endurance: 5Intelligence: 6Willpower: 6 (+1)Charisma: 1Luck: ???
Recent Gains:+1 Willpower (Memory Strain)Skill Gained: [Sigil Brand Lv. 1 – Rank C][Fragment Memory] → Lv. 2 (Passive Bonus: +5%)
I wiped my mouth and stared at the spiral.
It wasn't glowing anymore. Just floating, gently, above the pit of darkness. And as I looked down into that well… I felt it.
Eyes. Not metaphorical ones.
Real ones.
Watching.
Waiting.
Hungry.
I stepped back.
"I'm not ready for whatever's down there," I whispered.
And the spiral spun once, slowly.
Not in anger. Not in warning.
In agreement.