They crossed into Elarith by nightfall, snow whispering underfoot as the mountain pass narrowed. The air shimmered with quiet tension—thinner, colder, and steeped in aura. Every breath tasted like iron.
Kael moved at the front, cloak fluttering behind him. The Ember Veil responded to the mountain's pulse, subtly coating his body in flickers of ash that drifted upward rather than fall. Drayke and Lyra flanked him, silent but alert.
No one cracked a joke. No one broke the silence.
The map Zera left behind was nothing more than three cryptic symbols etched onto a shard of obsidian—coordinates only someone with memory-borne aura could read.
Kael held it now, and the shard pulsed in his hand, drawing him to the exact ridge.
They stopped before a cliff wall. To the untrained eye, it was just jagged rock. But Kael raised his hand, and ash slithered from his skin into the stone.
Lines of ember bloomed across the cliff, carving a perfect circle.
A door of aura.
Without a word, Kael placed his palm in the center.
A sound followed—deep and hollow, like a locked coffin unsealing after centuries.
Then the mountain opened.
[System Alert: Aura Vault Detected]
> Location: Vault of the Echoes (Forbidden Tier)
Recommended Rank: SSS or Above
Warning: Incomplete Tuning may result in permanent soul fragmentation.
Proceed?
Kael stared at the message. "It knows me."
Drayke chuckled lowly. "Of course it does. This thing probably remembers you."
Lyra's voice trembled. "There's no going back after this."
Kael stepped forward.
"I never planned to."
The Vault was unlike any dungeon they'd seen.
No monsters greeted them. No traps sprung.
Instead, the path sloped downward into a massive chamber of obsidian pillars. Murals lined the walls—ancient scenes of war between beings of impossible scale. One figure stood prominent across all of them: a warrior cloaked in ash, wielding blades that bled starlight.
Kael's heartbeat quickened.
He knew this place.
He had bled in this place.
They reached the center chamber. At its heart was a pedestal. Floating above it—a fragment of something metallic, humming with dormant aura.
Kael stepped close.
It wasn't a weapon.
It was a memory.
His hand hovered over it—and the room screamed.
Ash erupted from the walls. Echoes, phantoms, memories not yet faded surged like a flood of ghosts. One figure stepped from them—a mirror of Kael, older, darker, eyes hollowed by war.
The memory spoke.
"You are not ready."
Kael didn't flinch. "Then why show yourself?"
The memory lunged.
[Boss Encounter: Ashborne Echo – "The Other Kael"]
> Aura Type: Ashen Prime
Rank: SSS+ (Memory Projection)
Skill: Soul Severance – Cuts the bond between body and aura, nullifying abilities for 3 seconds.
Kael blocked the first strike, but his arm screamed under the weight. This echo moved like instinct and struck like memory—it knew every move he might try.
"You are a shadow," it snarled. "A flicker of what was. You don't deserve the title."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"You're wrong."
He ducked the next strike, ember igniting in his wake. His foot slammed into the echo's chest, driving it back—but the echo smiled.
Kael gritted his teeth. "You were the one who gave up. I'm not you."
The echo's face twitched.
Then—another voice echoed behind him.
"I believe him."
Drayke charged in, aura flaring like wildfire. "Time to see which Kael hits harder!"
Lyra followed, wings of golden light spreading as she unleashed a healing burst that shattered one of the ash-phantoms in the room.
Together, they fought.
Kael's ember veil clashed with the echo's corrupted flame.
Ash met ash.
And finally—
"Haaah… what a strong aura."
Kael roared and drove his blade through the echo's heart.
It didn't scream.
It smiled.
And disintegrated into ash.
[System Alert: Echo Defeated]
> You have claimed a Lost Memory.
Skill Gained: Soul Scorch – Channel latent aura memories to amplify attacks. Damage scales with emotional resonance. 45-second cooldown.
Unlocking Fragment: Ashen Core (Tier: Mythic)
The chamber pulsed.
The fragment above the pedestal descended, embedding itself into Kael's chest.
It didn't burn.
It fit.
Kael gasped, falling to one knee, as floods of voices surged into his mind.
Warriors. Fallen gods. The first Revenants.
All memories.
All his.
Drayke caught his shoulder. "You still with us, ash boy?"
Kael looked up, eyes smoldering like dying stars.
"I remember now… what they made us forget."
Lyra stood by, tense. "What did you see?"
Kael slowly rose.
"They weren't trying to create weapons. They were trying to erase them."
[Unknown Realm – Sable Deep]
The Priest opened his eyes.
"The Ashen has touched the Core."
A low hiss echoed in the shadows.
"Then we must move."
A clawed hand opened a gate of abyssal flame.
"Summon the Veilborn. No more testing."