Secrets Beneath the Ruins

Kyle sheathed his sword, his breathing slowing as the last remnants of the Ashborn Revenants dissolved into dust. The silence that followed was thick, pressing against him in a way that felt almost unnatural. The battle had been short, brutal, and too revealing—this place wasn't just a ruin. It was a graveyard.

Rin stepped out from behind the pillar, their small hands clenched into fists. Their wide green eyes flicked between the fading remains of the creatures and Kyle, uncertainty written across their face. "They weren't normal."

Kyle nodded, rubbing his sore arm. "No, they weren't."

The Revenants had been different from anything he had fought before. Not mindless like the goblins, not ghostly like the specters. They had form, strength, and something worse—awareness. They had reacted to his presence, had attacked with coordination. That meant they weren't just leftovers of whatever had destroyed this city.

Something was still controlling them.

A notification appeared in his vision.

---

New Quest Unlocked: Buried Truths

You have entered the City of Ash and survived the first encounter. But the past lingers, waiting to be unearthed. What lies beneath the ruins?

Objective: Discover the source of the Ashborn Revenants.

Reward: ???

---

Kyle exhaled through his nose. So, the system wants me to dig deeper. Great.

He turned toward the center of the ruined city. The buildings here were larger, more intact, though their charred exteriors told of whatever had destroyed this place. Some structures still had standing walls, others were little more than crumbled stone and shattered archways.

Kyle moved carefully, stepping over fallen beams and broken cobblestone. Rin followed close, their sharp gaze flicking between the ruins, their small frame tense.

As they pushed deeper into the city, Kyle spotted a large stone structure ahead, one of the few that still stood. Its massive doors were cracked but unbroken, its once-grand entrance marked by intricate carvings long since scorched away.

It wasn't just a building. It was a fortress.

A notification pulsed in his vision.

---

Location Discovered: Ashen Citadel

The last bastion of a fallen kingdom. Beneath its ruins, the truth sleeps.

---

Kyle took another step forward, then stopped.

A gust of wind kicked up a fresh wave of ash, swirling it around his boots. The air grew colder.

Something was here.

He turned sharply, eyes scanning the darkened archways. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then—a flicker of movement.

Kyle's grip tightened on his sword. "Rin," he murmured, keeping his voice low. "Stay close."

Rin didn't argue.

The wind shifted again, and this time, the shadows moved.

A tall figure stepped from the ruins, its form obscured by tattered black robes, its skeletal frame wrapped in chains that dragged against the stone with every step. Its face was hidden beneath a hood, but two burning blue lights stared from the darkness beneath it.

Kyle's vision flashed red with a warning.

---

Enemy Identified: Keeper of the Forgotten

Level: ???

Threat Level: Mortal Danger

---

Kyle's pulse spiked. Mortal Danger. He had never seen that before.

The Keeper didn't move further, just stood there, watching. The air around it crackled with ancient power, the kind that made Kyle's muscles coil with instinctual dread.

Then, it spoke.

"You should not be here."

The voice wasn't normal. It was layered, like a thousand echoes stacked atop each other.

Kyle forced himself to stand firm. "Yeah, well. I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter."

The Keeper tilted its head, as if considering him. "Another Marked. Another who does not understand."

Kyle tensed. It knows about the Mark.

He took a slow breath. "Then explain it to me."

The Keeper lifted one of its chained hands. The metal links rattled, and a deep pulse of energy surged through the air. The ground beneath them shuddered, a tremor rolling through the ruins.

Kyle took a step back, his instincts screaming at him.

"You are not ready."

The air imploded.

A force slammed into Kyle, sending him flying backward. His body hit the stone ground hard, pain exploding through his ribs. Rin shouted his name, but the sound was distant, drowned by the roar of magic surging around them.

Kyle gritted his teeth, pushing himself up just in time to see the Keeper raising its chained hand again.

He didn't get time to react.

The second blast of energy struck him square in the chest.

Everything went dark.

---

Kyle's mind felt like it was floating.

The world around him shifted, the ruins dissolving into a black abyss, endless and suffocating. For a brief, terrifying moment, he thought he had died.

Then—whispers.

"Another Marked. Another bound to the cycle."

Kyle's fingers curled against the emptiness beneath him. "I don't care about your damn cycle," he growled.

"And yet, you follow its path."

Something shifted in the darkness. Kyle couldn't see it, but he could feel it—a presence, vast and ancient, watching him from the void.

A new notification appeared.

---

Path of the Forgotten Progression: Trial of the Marked Initiated.

Survive.

---

Kyle didn't get a chance to think before the darkness erupted.

Figures emerged from the abyss, their bodies wreathed in shadow, their eyes burning with blue fire.

Revenants.

Dozens of them.

Kyle moved before he could think. His sword flashed, carving through the first, its form shattering into mist. Another lunged—Kyle dodged, his body reacting faster than his mind, every nerve heightened.

This wasn't just another fight.

This was a test.

He fought.

His blade cut through the darkness, each strike searing through the Revenants. Every kill sent a surge of power through his veins, Blood Reclamation working overtime.

But they didn't stop.

More came.

The darkness pulsed, the air growing heavier, the whispers rising into a chorus of voices.

"You are not enough."

Kyle gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his wounds. "Then I'll just have to keep getting stronger."

Another Revenant lunged. Kyle met it head-on.