Aden's breath came in sharp bursts. His muscles ached, his legs burned, but he didn't stop running.
The temple was alive.
The walls shifted when he wasn't looking, passages he had walked through moments ago were now sealed, and the torches flickered with an unnatural blue flame. He had barely survived the first trial—a collapsing floor designed to swallow him whole.
Now, he faced something worse.
A guardian.
It had risen from the shadows, a towering figure clad in blackened armor, its face obscured beneath a cracked helmet. In its hands, a jagged blade pulsed with the same eerie glow as the symbols on the walls.
Aden had no business fighting something like this.
He sprinted down the corridor, his boots slamming against stone. His mind raced for options. He didn't have a system to guide him, no convenient stats or skills. Just his instincts, his training, and the knife at his waist.
The air grew heavy. A deep, guttural growl echoed behind him.
Aden gritted his teeth and threw himself around a corner—only to skid to a halt.
Dead end.
"Shit."
He turned just as the guardian stepped into view, its massive frame casting a long shadow. The blue flames reflected off its armor, making it look like something from a nightmare.
Aden's grip tightened around his knife. He could try to fight, but—
The guardian moved.
Not with the slow, heavy steps of a mindless construct. No, it was fast—inhumanly fast.
Aden barely had time to react before the blade swung.
He threw himself to the ground, the sword missing his head by inches. Sparks erupted as the blade carved into the stone wall.
No hesitation. Aden rolled to his feet and lunged, slashing at the guardian's exposed side.
The knife bounced off.
Aden's stomach dropped.
The guardian responded instantly, its gauntleted fist slamming into his chest like a battering ram.
The air was knocked from his lungs.
Aden crashed against the wall, pain exploding through his ribs. He gasped for breath, barely keeping himself upright.
The guardian advanced.
No way out. No system. No second chances.
Aden clenched his jaw. If he was going to die, he'd at least go down fighting.
The guardian raised its blade.
Then—
Something changed.
The symbols on the walls flared, the same eerie glow pulsing beneath Aden's skin.
A voice whispered in his mind. Not a system. Not a skill.
Something older.
Something forgotten.
Aden's vision blurred. The temple around him shifted—just for a second, just long enough for him to see…
A world before the Collapse.
A battle waged in shadows.
And a name he shouldn't know.
Arthur.
The moment passed, but the knowledge remained.
The guardian hesitated, its blade trembling slightly. For the first time, Aden saw something behind that cracked helmet.
Recognition.
Then, the temple's magic surged.
And everything went dark.