Ashes of Another World
The fall through the Echo Gate didn't feel like travel.
It felt like death.
Jace couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Violet's hand was in his—tight, trembling—but the chainblade was gone. The Codex was silent. Not asleep.
Absent.
When they landed, it was in silence. No wind. No light. Just the dull crunch of blackened soil beneath their boots.
A new world—if it could be called that.
Ruins surrounded them. Crumbling archways. Hollow towers. Ash swirling in a sky that looked more like oil than clouds. The only sound was a distant, pulsing hum. Like a heartbeat buried beneath the world.
Kailen groaned, holding her shoulder. "This isn't a Vault… or the real world."
"No," Violet whispered. "It's what's left between."
Jace said nothing.
Because the Codex was back.
But it felt… different.
Like it was watching him.
---
> Codex Sync: 88% → 89%
– Environment Detected: Echo World – Collapsing Remnant
– Vault Anchor Severed
Warning: This realm will destabilize in 24 hours.
Survival Probability: 3%
– Unique Event Detected: Final Echo Pathway
– Activation Requires: Bloodbound Sacrifice
---
The words etched into the air before only him.
Not Violet.
Not Kailen.
Only Jace.
> Option: Trigger Final Echo Protocol?
– Cost: Unspecified
– Effect: Unknown
– Chance of Survival: ???
Trigger Condition: Acceptance of Fate
Jace felt his throat tighten.
The Codex wanted him to choose.
Violet knelt beside him, brushing ash from his cheek. "Whatever you're seeing… it's serious."
"Too serious," he said softly.
---
They didn't speak for a long while.
The three of them found shelter in a half-collapsed temple—a skeleton of stone twisted with ancient glyphs and melted obsidian. There was no food. No warmth. But Jace sat down beside Violet anyway, and she didn't move away.
"Why does it feel like we're at the end of something?" she asked.
Jace looked up at the sky.
"…Because we are."
---
As they rested, the world grew louder. A distant scream—not from a person, but from the fabric of reality itself.
> Warning: Realm Collapse Now Inevitable
– Time Remaining: 11 Hours
Final Echo Trigger Optional
Violet stirred. "Jace?"
He showed her the prompt.
Her eyes didn't waver. "It wants you to sacrifice something. Probably everything."
He didn't answer right away.
Then: "What if it's you?"
"I'm already yours," she said. "If I go, I go with you."
Her fingers laced with his.
"I'd rather burn at your side than survive alone."
---
Suddenly—
A rumble cracked the ground.
Kailen screamed from outside. "Something's coming!"
A shape was moving in the ash.
Massive. Hollow.
Not alive.
Not dead.
Something ancient.
> Entity Detected: The Forgotten One
– Tier: Unknown
– Level: ???
– Status: Guardian of the Final Choice
Jace stood, heart racing.
The Codex flared.
> Choice Must Be Made: Stand and Face… or Trigger Escape
He turned to Violet.
Her eyes said yes before she even spoke.
He looked to Kailen.
She nodded once. "You saved me. Go. Just… don't forget this world."
Jace opened the Codex.
And hit ACCEPT.
---
The world fractured.
Light bled from his chest.
Violet screamed—not in pain, but in resonance. Their bond surged, hearts slamming together as the Codex wrapped around them like a second skin.
He wasn't sure what they gave up.
But as the Forgotten One roared—
They vanished.
Pain wasn't the first thing Jace felt.
Breath was.
Air, crisp and clean, rushed into his lungs like he'd been drowning for hours. Then the pain hit—dull and distant, like it belonged to someone else.
He opened his eyes.
Above him, a twilight sky shimmered in hues of purple and blue—not like the ashen hell they'd escaped, but still unfamiliar. Twin moons hung low on the horizon.
He was lying on grass.
Real, living grass.
And Violet… was beside him.
Her eyes fluttered open just as his hand found hers.
They both froze.
Then smiled.
They were alive.
---
> Bloodbound Codex Reinitializing…
– Host: Jace Vey
– Sync Rate: 62%
– Status: World Shift Detected
– Dimensional Anchor Established
Welcome to: Planet Nevrin-9
– Local Race: Drakarin (Tiered Evolutionary Beasts)
– Threat Classification: Alpha Level Colonized
– Current Status: Stable Conflict Zone
Codex Version: Eclipse Frame 1.0
– System: Vampire Lineage Variant
– Core Functions: Locked
– Awakening Protocol In Progress…
---
Jace sat up quickly, gripping his chest.
The Codex—his Codex—wasn't gone.
It was rebuilding itself.
"Violet," he said, voice rough. "We made it."
She groaned and rolled over, brushing leaves from her hair. "Wherever 'it' is, it's not hell. That's enough for me."
They looked around.
They were in a small clearing. Strange trees with spiral leaves surrounded them. In the distance, strange glowing birds floated between branches.
But no ruins. No Vaults. No Circle.
Clean slate.
---
> Codex Update – Personal Data Retained
– Bonded Partner Detected: Violet Shale
– Soul Link: Active
– Stat Share: Enabled
Codex Reawakening in Progress…
[Basic Functions Available]
– Stat Panel
– Crystal Conversion
– Inventory: Empty
– Store: Locked
Note: Collect Beast Crystals to unlock advanced system functions.
Jace exhaled.
It was like starting over… but not.
He had the knowledge. The experience. The bond.
This wasn't just survival anymore.
This was a second chance.
---
He opened the stat panel.
> [BLOODBOUND CODEX – STATS]
Name: Jace Vey
Level: 1
Race: Human (Unknown Variant)
Bloodline: Bloodbound Echo (Suppressed)
Stats:
– Strength: 10
– Agility: 9
– Endurance: 8
– Intelligence: 12
– Willpower: 11
– Charm: 7
Free Stat Points: 0
System Sync Bonus (Violet): +0.2 per bonded stat
"Still pretty average," he muttered.
But average was fine.
Average meant invisible.
And invisible meant safe.
---
They walked for hours before finding signs of civilization.
Or at least—conflict.
In a broken ravine on the forest's edge, they heard it:
Screams.
Crashes.
Beast roars.
Violet was the first to move. "If there are beasts—"
"Then there are crystals," Jace finished.
---
At the ridge's edge, they found a small skirmish.
A lone human boy—maybe sixteen—was running for his life, chased by a creature that looked like a winged tiger made of obsidian and light. Its scales gleamed with embedded crystals.
Tier 1. Low-level.
But deadly to an untrained student.
"Help him?" Violet asked.
Jace hesitated.
He didn't want to get involved.
But…
If the boy died, the beast would move on to the next target.
He sighed.
"Yeah."
---
Jace stepped forward, heart steady.
> Codex Alert: Combat Engaged
– Target: Obsidian Striker (Tier 1, Level 6)
– Threat: Moderate
– Crystal Type: Enhancement
– Recommended Strategy: Joint Assault, Exploit Rear Flank
Jace didn't need to be told twice.
He dashed forward as Violet curved wide—no words, just movement. Her bond surged to life, and he felt the slight stat boost wash over him.
She was the dagger.
He was the anchor.
Together, they moved.
---
The beast turned too late.
Violet's dagger sank between its ribs—just deep enough to stagger.
Jace's punch followed—directed at the joint of its leg.
A crack echoed.
The beast screamed and lashed out.
Jace ducked.
Rolled.
Then stabbed its eye with a sharp stone—not elegant, but effective.
It fell.
Breathing hard, Jace looked down at the corpse.
---
> Beast Defeated – Obsidian Striker
– Crystal Dropped: Enhancement Crystal (L1)
Do you wish to absorb this crystal?
– Yes / No
He selected Yes without hesitation.
> Enhancement Crystal Absorbed
– Random Stat Boost: +1 Strength
– Codex Sync: 62% → 63%
---
The boy they saved stared at them in awe.
"You—how did you do that?!"
Jace offered a tired grin.
"Teamwork."
---
As night fell, the three of them—Jace, Violet, and their accidental companion—made camp just outside the treeline.
Jace stared into the fire.
So much had changed.
But for the first time in a long time… he felt free.
The Codex purred quietly in the back of his mind.
The journey had truly begun.