When Arel opened his eyes, he was back — sprawled across the cold floor of the forge. The soft crackle of embers whispered in the corner, casting faint orange glows on the stone walls.
But he wasn't alone.
Kael stood beside him, motionless.
A figure clad in worn-down knight's armor, his body solid yet ethereal — like a ghost clinging to reality. He radiated calm resolve, his blue eyes dim and quiet. In life, he had been a protector. In death, something had anchored him here — and now, that something was Arel.
[Minion Linked: Kael - C-Rank Fallen Knight][Mental Load: 3% → 18%][Soulbind Status: Stable][System Upgrade Progress: 1%]
Arel slowly sat up, his body sore, head spinning.
"Are you… really here?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
Kael bowed. "By bond, I stand. You called. I answered."
It didn't feel real.
Arel had expected bones. Rotten limbs. Empty husks.
But Kael… he remembered things. He was someone.
"Do you remember your name?"
Kael nodded slowly. "Kael of House Avenhart. I served the Moonlight Principality... many centuries ago."
Arel blinked. "That's… not even in our modern maps."
Kael's expression turned grim. "Then much has changed. My world may be gone."
Arel's stomach twisted. He wasn't just raising corpses. He was tethering souls — people with stories, emotions, regrets.
He looked down at his hands. This class… it wasn't just frowned upon because it was creepy. It was dangerous.
And yet — the System had chosen him.
A sudden knock echoed through the forge door.
"Arel?" came a soft voice.
Elia.
Arel rushed to open it, quickly hiding Kael behind the worn drapes of the forge's backroom.
His little sister looked up, her small hands clutching a book to her chest. Her breath came in short bursts — she'd run here.
"I saw it," she whispered. "In my dream. You were glowing. And the man in armor… he had blue eyes."
Arel stiffened. "What did you—?"
Elia held up the book. "I found this. In the attic. It's old… dusty… but there's a page on Soulbinding."
She wasn't supposed to know. She shouldn't have seen that.
But Elia always saw more than others.
He took the book, flipping through brittle pages until he reached it — an illustration of a sigil. It matched the one that had burned into his palm.
Soulbinding: A Forbidden Art of the Lost Age.Users connect with the souls of the dead, not as puppets, but as partners. Memories retained. Emotions shared.Danger Level: Unmeasurable.Banned in Human Territories. Practice punishable by death.
Arel's throat went dry.
"I shouldn't have this…"
Elia tilted her head. "But it chose you."
He didn't have an answer.
A moment passed. Then — a flicker at the edge of his vision.
[New Dungeon Coordinates Detected — Training Tier][Level Requirement: F][Team Entry: Allowed][Solo Entry: Recommended][Reward: ???]
A trial. One he could attempt.
Arel's fingers curled.
If the world had already branded him a pariah, he had nothing more to lose.
He looked at Elia. "I'll be back before sundown. Stay inside."
She nodded, but not before slipping something into his hand — a charm, crudely made from string and a shard of colored glass.
"For luck," she whispered. "Even if you don't believe in it."
He smiled weakly. "Thanks."
—
The Training Dungeon sat in the hollow remains of an abandoned subway line — twisted with moss and cracked metal. The gate shimmered like oil across broken glass.
Kael appeared beside him, silent as the grave.
"You sure about this?" Arel asked.
"I was a knight once," Kael said. "I protected kings. I fell for a cause. Now, I rise for yours."
Arel took a deep breath.
Then stepped through the gate.
[Entering Dungeon: Veins of the Forgotten][Trial Commencing…]
And so began his first journey into the dark.