Aether is it?

He never saw it coming.

Vale staggered as the last of the adrenaline drained from his body. Lyra's worried voice became muffled, like she was shouting underwater.

"Vale? Vale!"

He felt heat flash in his chest. Then cold. Then something like knives, dozens of them, carving lines of liquid fire through his ribs.

He fell.

He didn't remember hitting the ground.

System Overlay: FragmentedThe world went black, and a familiar click filled his head.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

…

…

—Error.

WARNING: USER CORE DESTABILIZING.

Applying Emergency Inscription…

…

…

He screamed.

He wasn't sure if it was real.

Or just in his mind.

But he felt it.

He felt something writing itself onto him. Not skin. Not muscle. Deeper.

Like a blade scratching words into the very marrow of his soul.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

New Ability Acquired: SHADOWSHIFT—PHASE.

Description: User may shift partially or wholly through physical matter. Safe Phase Time = 5 minutes cumulative use. Overuse will result in catastrophic Core Degradation.

Ability anchored via Emergency Inscription to preserve user's identity.

Note: Inscription will grow stronger as user synchronises.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't even think.

Images and symbols poured into him, searing themselves into the space behind his eyes.

A ring of symbols.

Φ λ ρ δ θ

They circled an empty space.

A void.

He felt the symbols bind it.

Felt them pull the howling emptiness back from devouring him entirely.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

User was within 5% of Total Core Dissolution.

Without Inscription, user would have been irreversibly lost.

He heard himself whimper, deep in the dark.

Lost?

What does that mean?

Lost…as in dead?

Or…not dead?

The system didn't answer.

Instead it repeated one line, over and over:

ANCHORING INSCRIPTION COMPLETE.

ANCHORING INSCRIPTION COMPLETE.

ANCHORING INSCRIPTION COMPLETE.

A Conversation with the SystemSomewhere in the dark, he heard his own voice.

Or maybe it was the system's voice.

It was hard to tell.

"What did you do to me?"

Silence.

Then, a click.

[SYSTEM]: Saved you.

"Saved me? You burned this into me!"

[SYSTEM]: Yes. Otherwise you would have ceased to exist.

He felt tears in the blackness.

He wasn't crying.

Or maybe he was.

"I don't want this. I don't want to lose myself."

[SYSTEM]: Then don't.

[SYSTEM]: The Inscription anchors you. It binds your Self to your Core. Use it, and you remain you.

"What if I can't?"

[SYSTEM]: Then you will fade.

He shuddered.

The symbols burned into him seemed to glow, pulsing with his heartbeat.

They weren't words he understood.

But he knew them.

They were his.

Now, forever.

[SYSTEM]: Your potential exceeds that of normal users. Your Core is anomalous. Synchronisation amplifies that anomaly.

"Meaning what?"

[SYSTEM]: Meaning you are capable of things no one else is. But your body and soul must align to contain them.

"Or else?"

[SYSTEM]: Or you cease to be.

He was quiet for a long time.

Somewhere in the blackness, Lyra's voice drifted to him.

"Vale? Come on…Wake up. Please…"

He clung to it.

[SYSTEM]: Shadowshift—Phase is now bound to your Core. Use it wisely.

Initial Safe Phase Time: 5 minutes.

Continuous Phase beyond this time will degrade Core Integrity.

Further Synchronisation will strengthen the Anchor and increase Safe Phase Time.

"So if I get stronger…"

[SYSTEM]: You can hold on longer. You will be more stable. Safer.

"And if I don't?"

[SYSTEM]: Then the Void will take you.

He squeezed his eyes shut in the dark.

He saw the symbols circling the emptiness in his Core.

They pulsed.

Alive.

[SYSTEM]: You have a choice, Vale Lumire. Control it. Or be consumed by it.

He swallowed.

"…Fine."

"I'll control it."

"I'll make it mine."

Waking UpHe gasped awake like someone had punched him in the chest.

His vision swam.

White ceiling.

Clean sheets.

Hospital wing.

Lyra's face inches from his, eyes red from crying.

"Vale!" She slapped his shoulder. "You stupid, reckless, incredible idiot."

He winced. "Nice to see you too."

She threw her arms around him.

He felt her shaking.

He wanted to say something reassuring.

But all he could see, behind her worried eyes, were the symbols burned into him.

AftermathHours later, he lay in the infirmary bed, staring at the ceiling while Lyra slept in the chair beside him.

He opened his status window, hands trembling.

His stats flickered into view.

They hadn't changed much since the last time, except for one addition:

Ability: Shadowshift—Phase

Phase through physical matter for up to 5 minutes total. Overuse risks Core Degradation.

And another stat, beneath Synchronisation (now at 28%):

Inscription Integrity: 100%

He touched the words on the glassy surface.

It felt real.

Unchangeable.

"I almost lost myself."

He remembered the howling void.

The symbols chaining it shut.

He closed his eyes.

He felt it there still.

Waiting.

But under control.

For now.

System Message[SYSTEM]: You survived. Congratulations.

Next quest will appear soon.

Grow stronger.

Synchronise further.

Learn to anchor your Self.

Vale let the message fade.

Outside the window, the academy bell tolled in the night.

He reached out and gently brushed a stray lock of hair from Lyra's sleeping face.

"I'll do it," he whispered.

"For you."

"For both of us."

He closed his eyes.

And dreamed of symbols circling emptiness.