The System didn't speak.
It never had to.
The space around Aiden pulsed with meaning, not sound—each shimmering panel of fractured glass humming with timelines, with scars, with names that had almost been his.
He stood before three doors.
Three versions of himself, waiting to be chosen.
And none of them felt safe.
---
> [Class Evolution – Shardbinder Branch Selection Initiated]
Current Sync: 30%
Warning: This choice cannot be undone.
---
Each door shimmered as he looked at it.
The Sovereign pulsed with elegance—battle clarity, echo control, power over phantom selves. But behind its mastery lurked a hunger for dominance, for decision as law.
The Exile shimmered like a tear in reality itself—freedom, evasion, defiance of the Weave. Yet even now, it whispered isolation.
The Hollow… it didn't shimmer. It pulsed.
Alive.
Imperfect.
Unkillable.
It was made of all the versions that failed, and still stood.
---
"I am not clean," Aiden murmured. "I am not simple. I am not whole."
"But I am still here."
And he stepped toward the third door.
---
> [Class Evolution Confirmed: Shardbinder → The Hollow Unbroken]
You have chosen recursion over power.
Failure as fuel.
You will never wield a perfect form.
But you will survive when no one else can.
---
Class Evolution Bonuses Unlocked
> Skill Evolved:
– Echoforge → Shard Adaptation (T3)
> Creates unstable artifacts based on current threat archetype. May misfire or overperform.
> New Passive:
– Echo Feedback Loop
> Damage taken in the present builds resistance to similar effects across time. Stackable.
> Trait Gained:
– Recursion Drive
> When reduced to 0 HP once per day, reassemble from alternate thread with partial stat memory.
---
Aiden opened his eyes.
He was back in the warbeast hollow. Cold stone beneath his boots. Torran sleeping beneath the arc of ribbone overhead.
But everything felt sharper.
Not stronger.
Not cleaner.
Just... more real.
Like he'd finally stopped running from who he was becoming.
---
That night, he dreamt of falling.
Over and over.
Into fire.
Into silence.
Into the arms of friends he'd never met, and enemies who looked just like him.
And every time—
He climbed back up.