Ashen Vale opened his eyes to silence.
The sky above him was not blue, but cracked — like shattered glass, frozen mid-fall. Faint rays of light leaked through the broken heavens, casting eerie patterns over the ruined village around him. Smoke rose from collapsed homes. Trees stood burnt and twisted. No birds. No voices. Only wind brushing over ash.
He sat up slowly, his body aching like it had been torn apart and stitched back together.
His mind was blank. No name came to him. No memories. Just pain… and a voice.
> "You are awake."
Ashen flinched and looked around. No one.
> "Not out there, fool. Look at your hand."
He raised his right hand. A simple black ring sat on his middle finger — dull, cracked, and cold. But somehow, it pulsed. Like it was alive.
> "Do not scream. You can hear me because we are linked. I am the Remnant Ring. And you… are the last Ascendant."
Ashen stared. "The… what?"
> "The last hope of this dying world. If you fall, all of this burns."
He stood up, staggering as dizziness hit him. The village around him looked like it had been destroyed long ago — stone walls half-melted, wooden beams blackened, corpses turned to dust. But something about it felt familiar.
His feet moved on their own. Past a well filled with shadows. Past a broken sign that once bore letters, now unreadable. He stopped before a scorched statue — a figure holding a blade to the sky.
He knew that pose.
He didn't know why.
> "Your body remembers. Your mind has not caught up. It will. In time."
Ashen touched the statue. His fingers brushed stone… then something burned.
[Echo Absorbed: Forgotten Flame]
His ring pulsed. Heat flooded his chest, like a dying fire sparked back to life. His fingertips glowed red for a moment — then faded.
Ashen fell to his knees, gasping. "What… was that?"
> "The beginning. You can absorb what others leave behind. Flames, echoes, pain… even death. That is your curse. And your weapon."
Ashen's hands trembled. "I don't want this. I don't even know who I am."
> "You are Ashen Vale. The last Ascendant. The world knows you… even if you do not know yourself."
A screech tore through the sky. Ashen looked up — a massive winged creature was circling the village. Its body was made of bone and smoke. Its eyes burned like dying suns.
> "It found you. The Hollow Beast."
> "Run or fight. Either way… you begin here."
Ashen stood up, fists clenched, heart pounding like a war drum. His body was weak. His memory empty. But something inside him — something ancient — refused to kneel.
"I'll fight."
And the ring whispered again, this time, with a faint hint of pride.
> "Good."