I thought it was over.
The Memory Guardian was dead, the slabs had gone still, and the System buzzed with rewards and updates like it always did after a fight.
But something lingered.
Not a presence.
A pull.
---
> [System Node Restored: Archive Core Layer]
[Warning: Unregistered Signal Detected]
[Authority Level: Unknown]
[Opening Interface…]
The slabs began to retract into the floor, vanishing one by one.
At the chamber's center, something rose in their place.
A floating crystal—no, a shard. Smaller than my fist.
Dark. Pulseless.
But I couldn't look away from it.
Lena stiffened. "That's not System-regulated."
"What is it?"
She stepped back. "Not what. When. That's First Code."
---
> [Object Identified: SYSTEM FRAGMENT – "ROOT SHARD"]
[Status: Dormant]
[Activation Possible via Arsenal Sync Signature]
[Warning: Exposure May Alter Class Foundation]
The Arsenal at my side hummed—softly, like it was answering a question I hadn't asked.
I should've walked away. Should've left it untouched.
But the System was silent now.
And the silence invited me.
I reached out.
---
The shard flared with impossible light, but it didn't blind me. It rewrote my vision.
The Archive vanished.
I stood in a white field of still air and echoing static. Before me: a symbol suspended in the void.
A circle, broken at three points, with smaller rings orbiting in patterns that hurt to follow.
> [INTERFACE OVERRIDE COMPLETE]
[FIRST CODE INITIATED – ROOT LAYER BREACHED]
A voice echoed—not System. Not human.
"You walk the path of Archive, but you carry more than memory."
"You carry breach."
---
> [New Evolution Path Detected: CODEBLOODED]
[Would you like to Bind to Root Layer?]
[Perks: Arsenal Trait Adaptation | Echo Memory Access | System Trace Immunity]
[Drawback: Identity Drift – Risk Level: LOW]
> [Y/N]
I hesitated.
Everything I knew said this was wrong. This wasn't a part of the official System.
This was a leak. A relic. A flaw.
But flaws tell the truth.
And if the System didn't want me here… maybe this was exactly where I needed to be.
> [Y]
---
Pain, but not pain. Like burning through memory.
A thousand weapons—names, traits, histories—flooded my mind and vanished just as fast.
My blade shifted. So did my body.
Not visibly.
Fundamentally.
> [CLASS AUGMENTED: WARDEN OF THE VEIL → WARDEN – CODEBLOODED PROTOCOL]
[Arsenal Trait: Adaptive Resonance – You gain temporary access to the physical traits of slain enemies.]
[System Note: Your Arsenal is now partially self-aware.]
---
I gasped and stumbled back into the real world.
Lena caught me, barely. "Kai?! What the hell did you do?"
"I… linked to the shard."
Her pupils constricted. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Those things—they're not dead. They're dormant. Interfaces like that, they watch you."
"Who's watching?"
She didn't answer. Or maybe she couldn't.
---
> [NEW QUEST RECEIVED: OBSERVER TRACE]
[Unknown Entity Detected – Following Your Arsenal Signature]
[Objective: Remain Undetected for 72 Hours]
[Reward: Lockpoint Access]
[Failure Penalty: Observer Contact]
I didn't ask what an Observer was.
Because somewhere beyond the school walls,
something just turned its attention toward me.
And smiled.