The power settled slowly.
Like dust after an avalanche.
Aiden could still feel the echo of the Threadcore embedded in his bones—its memories, its weight, the crackling hum of potential coiled just beneath the surface.
He was different now.
And the world would start to feel it.
---
> [Class: Shardbinder – Active]
Skills:
– Flashburn Spark (T0)
– Flame Pulse (T1)
– Frostburn Conflux (T1+)
– Glass Requiem (T2)
– Echoforge (T2)
Passives:
– Battle Instinct (F)
– Fracture Memory (NEW)
Trait: Timeline Drift Immunity I
Sync: 24%
HP: 96/96 | Mana: 172/172
---
They set camp inland, away from Vel'Serin's coastal edge. The ruins still pulsed with silent waves of instability, and Aiden wasn't sure if more Echo threats would stir.
Torran kept the fire low.
"What's it like?" he asked after a long silence. "Having all those… versions of yourself. In your head."
Aiden stared into the flames.
"They're not in my head," he said. "They're in the cracks. The places I almost went. The people I almost became."
He paused.
"And sometimes… they whisper."
---
> [Fracture Memory Activated – Thread #048-C]
Optional Dialogue Unlocked – Torran
Choice: Tell him how he died in another life?
Y/N
Aiden hesitated.
Then chose: Y.
---
He told Torran about the knife.
About the ambush.
About how he had died trying to defend a shrine that, in that version, was already lost.
The boy didn't speak for a long time.
Then: "I'm not afraid of that version of me."
"Good," Aiden said quietly. "Neither am I."
---
Elsewhere – Capital Spire
The Inner Eye convened in shadowed silence.
Seven mirrors.
Seven cloaked figures.
Each with a different fateprint etched across their mask.
"The fracture expands," said the one with the spider-thread etching.
"The boy has diverged too far," said another.
A third turned toward the cracked silver scrying glass. "Then the next pawn must be moved."
A gloved hand gestured.
In another part of the city, a sealed scroll was placed in a courier's hands.
Its seal: A broken shard over a closed eye.
---
Unknown Location – Between Threads
The Observer stood at the edge of a ruined timeline.
No stars.
No sound.
Just echo.
And in the center of the void, a figure sat on a throne made of memories.
His eyes opened.
Aiden's eyes.
But not.
"Soon," he said. "Soon, I'll burn my way back in."