They emerged from the labyrinth pale and shaken. Echo-Ward's gates took them in without question. None spoke as the lift retracted and sealed behind them.
Kian sat for a long time in the systems room, watching the three lights pulse on his interface. Codex, Predation, Memory. Together but not whole.
Kess joined him after a while.
"You shouldn't have touched that sphere."
"I had to," he said. "It recognized me."
"Because you're building something again?"
"No." He looked at her. "Because I'm the only one who remembers how."
The following days were spent in silence and work.
Kian slept little. Instead, he carved glyphs. Drew maps. Constructed internal stabilizers for the memory system fragment using both systems as base. It wasn't enough.
Then, in the early morning, Echo-Ward stopped.
The machine halted of its own accord, mid-step, in a valley of broken obsidian pillars.
"Why did we stop?" Gellon asked.
"I didn't tell it to halt," Kian said.
"Neither did I," Kess confirmed, scanning the deck.
[Codex Signal Blocked]
System Override Active
They disembarked.
And saw a man waiting in the center of the valley.
He wore no armor. No glyphs. Only a deep black robe and a single eye of blue flame in his forehead.
He looked at Kian and smiled. "I remember you."
The team spread into formation, but the man didn't move.
"I've been watching since you touched the Dreamshard," he said. "The systems are stirring. So are their keepers."
"Who are you?" Kian asked.
"Someone who used to build cities." The man's smile faltered. "And broke one, once."
"You're an architect."
"I was. Long before you. Before Codex, even. Before order." His third eye glowed. "You're stitching three systems together. That's never been done."
"I don't care about records."
"No. You care about purpose. That's rarer."
The man turned, and the air rippled.
A memory doorway opened—a vision of a city being raised, not destroyed. A city built with intention, every brick resonating with thought.
"You can do this again," the man said. "But you'll need more than systems. You'll need belief."
Kian didn't answer.
He stepped through the vision.
And felt something ignite.
[Codex Update – Skill Gained: Foundation Pulse]
Effect: When stationary, create a 30m field where allies' system resistances increase by 20%
[Trait: Architect's Will (1/5)] Unlocked
The man was gone when he turned back.
Only a single rune was left behind, burned into the black stone:
"Memory is not past. It is blueprint."
The chapter ends with Kian standing alone at the valley's heart, his systems glowing faintly around him — no longer just tools for war.
But the beginnings of creation.
End of Chapter 27