Vierd could feel it in his bones, in the air, in the unnatural stillness around him. The giant beast that had lunged for his throat was suspended in midair, frozen in the instant before its fangs would have torn him apart. The massive trees around him stood unmoving, their leaves frozen in a nonexistent breeze. Even the faint glow of sunlight filtering through the canopy seemed to flicker, as if struggling to remain within this fractured reality.

  Yet, he could move.

  His breath came ragged, shallow. His fingers twitched against the hilt of his sword, but his body remained still. Something else was here.

  Then, the voice came.

  A voice that did not belong to this world.

  "AWAKEN, CHILD OF THE FORGOTTEN LINEAGE."

  It was neither male nor female, neither soft nor loud. It simply was—a presence that spoke not to his ears, but directly to his soul.

  Vierd’s muscles tensed. His golden eyes narrowed as he slowly straightened himself, gaze scanning the frozen landscape. Nothing moved. No one was there. And yet, he felt the weight of something watching him.

  "WHO ARE YOU?" His voice was steady, but edged with caution.

  The voice did not answer immediately. Instead, the space around him seemed to shift. The trees, the ground, the sky—all of it bent and twisted, warping into something else.

  And then, suddenly—

  He was no longer in the forest.

  The Realm Between Worlds

  Vierd found himself standing in a space that should not exist.

  The ground beneath him was black stone, cracked with golden veins of pulsating energy. Above, there was no sky—only an endless void stretching into infinity, scattered with floating fragments of shattered landscapes. Mountains, ruins, oceans—remnants of worlds long gone.

  And before him stood a figure.

  It was tall, draped in robes of shifting darkness, its form flickering between something human and something not. Its face was obscured beneath a hood, but two golden eyes burned through the shadow, the same unnatural glow as his own.

  Vierd’s grip on his sword tightened. "YOU."

  The figure inclined its head slightly, as if pleased.

  "YOU CARRY THE BLOOD OF A DYING LEGACY, AND YET YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE."

  Vierd’s heart pounded in his chest, though his expression remained unreadable. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

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  The voice hummed, as if considering his words. "NOTHING. IT IS YOU WHO HAVE COME TO ME."

  Vierd’s jaw tightened. "I DIDN’T CHOOSE TO BE HERE."

  The figure took a slow step forward, the air around it distorting with each movement. "DIDN’T YOU?"

  "ENOUGH RIDDLES." Vierd’s voice sharpened. "WHAT ARE YOU?"

  For a moment, there was silence. Then, the figure spoke—its voice carrying something deeper than time itself.

  "I AM A MEMORY OF WHAT WAS."

  "I AM A SHADOW OF WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN."

  "I AM THE LAST WHISPER OF A NAME THAT NO LONGER EXISTS."

  The words echoed around him, reverberating inside him.

  A cold sensation crawled up Vierd’s spine. "YOU'RE SAYING YOU’RE A GOD?"

  The figure did not move. "PERHAPS ONCE. BUT WHAT IS A GOD WITHOUT A WORLD TO RULE?"

  Vierd exhaled through his nose, forcing his mind to remain clear. This entity—whatever it was—was tied to him, that much was certain. But it was not simply here to talk.

  There was something it wanted him to understand.

  The Truth Behind the Stones

  The golden cracks in the stone beneath him pulsed, and suddenly—Vierd saw.

  Visions flashed through his mind.

  A world crumbling into the void.

  A civilization older than memory itself, collapsing under an unseen force.

  A throne, once grand, left to decay in a ruined palace.

  And then—a child, standing alone in the ashes.

  His own face stared back at him.

  Vierd staggered back, his breath caught in his throat.

  "WHAT—"

  The figure raised a hand, and the visions ceased.

  "YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO SURVIVE, CHILD OF THE LOST KINGDOM."

  The weight of those words settled deep within his bones.

  Vierd clenched his fists. "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"

  The golden eyes in the darkness burned brighter.

  "YOU ARE A REMNANT OF A FALLEN WORLD—A WORLD ERASED FROM HISTORY, JUST LIKE THE STONES YOU CARRY."

  Vierd’s pulse thundered in his ears. "ERASED? BY WHO?"

  A pause. Then—

  "BY THE SAME FORCE THAT WILL ERASE THIS ONE."

  His breath caught. "WHAT?"

  The figure lifted its hand again, and the golden veins in the ground flared, illuminating the void around them.

  "THESE STONES ARE NOT SIMPLY POWER. THEY ARE PIECES OF THE WORLDS THAT WERE DESTROYED. EACH ONE HOLDS THE ESSENCE OF COUNTLESS LIVES LOST TO OBLIVION."

  Vierd’s fingers instinctively curled against his palm.

  "AND EVERY TIME YOU ABSORB ONE… YOU ARE NOT SIMPLY GAINING STRENGTH."

  The golden eyes locked onto him.

  "YOU ARE TAKING BACK WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM YOU."

  His mind reeled. "YOU'RE SAYING—"

  "EVERY STONE YOU CONSUME RESTORES WHAT YOU HAVE LOST. YOUR LIFE, YOUR POWER—THE YEARS STOLEN FROM YOU WHEN YOUR WORLD WAS ERASED."

  The revelation crashed into him like a tidal wave.

  The reason he was able to survive…

  The reason his body still endured despite the toll of his powers…

  Every time he absorbed a stone, he wasn’t just getting stronger.

  He was reclaiming himself.

  Vierd’s breathing slowed. His entire existence—everything he had believed—had just shifted.

  A slow, eerie chuckle came from the figure.

  "NOW YOU UNDERSTAND."

  Vierd’s jaw clenched. He exhaled through his nose. His heartbeat steadied. His grip on his sword loosened.

  Then, he spoke.

  "AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE ARE NO MORE STONES LEFT TO TAKE?"

  The figure paused.

  Then, for the first time…

  It smiled.

  "THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO DECIDE."

  The Awakening

  The void collapsed around him.

  Light erupted, golden energy surging through his veins like liquid fire. The stone in his hand burned white-hot, and suddenly—

  Time resumed.

  The beast lunged forward.

  But this time—Vierd was faster.

  His body moved before he could think. His sword slashed through the air, and with one perfect strike, he severed the beast’s head from its body.

  The creature collapsed, its massive form crashing into the earth, sending shockwaves through the forest.

  Vierd exhaled, his breath coming in slow, steady beats. The energy coursing through him had changed.

  He felt it.

  The years he had lost.

  They were returning.

  And this was only the beginning.

  End of Chapter 16.