Ruins Don’t Mean Safety
The new ruins they were sent into looked a lot older than they seemed from a distance.
That was the first thing I realized once we stepped inside the ruins.
From a large distance away, they just looked like broken stone with collapsed walls, not much to look at or consider. But up close, the architecture was incredible and intricate. The stones fit together perfectly. But the carvings weren’t decorative… Instead they were warnings to whoever wanted to enter inside.
Mira slowed down beside me, eyes flicking from shadow to shadow.
“This place feels… dangerous, you know maybe we don't have to go inside,” she muttered.
I didn’t answer immediately. I was watching the system.
Not the messages, those were quiet now, but rather the subtle little things. The way my perception became aware when we crossed certain areas. The way the pressure in the area shifted in places where nothing visible changed.
This wasn’t a dungeon.
It was a record of what went down.
We moved slowly through a narrow street surrounded by broken buildings, the broken balconies formed a jagged ceiling where light barely entered. Every footstep echoed too clearly, every single little sound felt louder than it should’ve been.
Behind us, the entrance faded into darkness.
Not gone.
Just… less.
Their perception told them that the entrance was still there, it was just harder to tell unless they concentrated.
Mira felt the change too. “Did the way back just…”
“Yeah, it’s going to be fine,” I said. “Don’t look at the way back too hard.”
She exhaled. “Great. Let's keep moving, we can't slow down.”
We reached an open clearing. The cracked stone tiles were spread out in a circle, and at its center stood a statue.
Or what was left of one.
A knight, kneeling, sword snapped in half, face worn down to nothing. The base of the statue was covered in names. There were hundreds of them… no thousands of names etched into the base of the statue.
Some names were scratched. Others were carved with a weapon. Some were even burned in.
He saw it, the names… They were from other Players.
I crouched and traced one with my fingers. The letters shimmered faintly.
“Do you think…” Mira hesitated. “Do you think these are from people before us?”
“Not just before,” I said. “Most likely a long time ago….”
The system chimed softly.
LOCATION DISCOVERED: FALLEN CITY OF KNIGHT THREN
STATUS: FAILED STAGE
Mira stiffened. “Failed?”
Another message followed.
STAGE FAILURE RESULT:
• WORLD RESET
• SURVIVORS RECYCLED
Recycled.
I stood slowly.
“So if we fail…” Mira said quietly.
“We don’t just die,” I finished. “We get...”
Neither of us liked the sound of that. Not that much mattered after death.
Movement flickered across at the edge of the clearing.
I slowly raised a hand, signaling Mira to stop moving.
Out of a collapsed archway three people stepped out.
They were players.
Not monsters.
They looked rough, real rough. One was limping. Another had dried blood down on one side of his face. But their eyes were sharp.
The man in the front raised his hands slightly. “Easy man. We’re not hostile. We’re injured too, so calm down.”
Mira didn’t lower her blade.
I didn’t lower my weapon either.
“Then why are you here if you’re injured?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Same reason you two did, not much of a choice either of us had.”
That wasn’t comforting.
“We got injured from some monsters in the entrance,” he continued. “ We lost one, and had to bury him with sand. Well why don't we team up? If you dont...”
Mira snorted. “Is that a threat? I bet we can kill at least two of you.”
“No, it's an offer,” he said. “We’re forming a bigger group. Think of it as a temporary alliance. You know… Strength in numbers.”
I glanced at Mira.
She didn’t look convinced.
The system answered for us.
PLAYER GROUP FORMATION AVAILABLE
WARNING: BETRAYAL IS ALLOWED
The man winced. “Yeah. I guess that too.”
I met his gaze. “What happened to your group in stage 1?”
He didn’t answer.
That was enough to answer his doubts.
“We’ll think about it,” I said.
They nodded and backed away, like they had time…
Once they were gone, Mira whispered, “Everyone’s changing.”
“Yeah,” I said. “You need to change unless… you want to die.”
She frowned. “We didn’t change… right?”
I looked at the ruined city, at the names carved into stone.
“Not really,” I said.
We made a quick camp inside a broken watch tower.
Not because it was safe, not like anything was safe, but because it gave us vision, we could see monsters or… people approaching us. There were two entrances, one that had a collapsed staircase. Another with some broken buildings that blocked it.
Mira insisted on the first watch.
I didn’t argue much, I needed some rest anyways.
Instead, I sat with my back against the cold stone and stared at my status window.
STATUS: UNASSIGNED
AVAILABLE STAT POINTS: 4
Four points, not sure what he should do with them…
Everyone else we’d seen had already spent theirs.
On Strength, Agility, Mana, Vitality.
It was without information, all that they could amount to were just some… Simple numbers. They all fell into temptation spending it all without much thought.
And yet…
The system hadn’t pushed me to assign them.
Not once. It never asked me to allocate my points.
That bothered me.
The sky darkened unnaturally fast. The clouds rolled overhead, making the sky dark. Somewhere in the ruins, something howled, it was not a monster call, but rather a signal.
Then the system spoke to him.
STAGE 2 COMMENCING
The ground started shaking.
The ruins didn’t disappear this time. Instead they expanded.
The streets stretched outward. New structures rose from beneath the stone, coming into place as if they’d always been there.
The world wasn’t resetting… no it was unlocking.
GLOBAL SURVIVORS FOR STAGE 2: 1,142
Mira swore under her breath. “Thats how many made it?”
“Thats still 1,142 people more we might have to fight against,” I said.
The new messages stacked rapidly.
FACTIONS ARE UNLOCKED
OATH SYSTEM IS AVAILABLE
Mira’s eyes reflected the system light. “It’s encouraging conflict and growth.”
“Yeah,” I said. “This stage wants us to… kill each other.”
As if on cue, a symbol was burned into the sky.
It was an eye, split by a vertical line.
Then another.
Then five more.
TEN PRIMARY FACTIONS ARE ACTIVE
Mira clenched her jaw. “So if you don’t join one…”
“You become their prey,” I finished.
A new presence pressed against my senses. It was not hostile, instead it was watching him…
NOTICE:
FACTION SCOUTS ARE DEPLOYED
Footsteps started echoing below.
They heard some voices.
The voices were organized.
“Someone’s coming to us,” Mira whispered.
A group emerged into the open plaza, they were six players, heavily armored, marked with the eye insignia.
The leader stepped forward confidently.
“Survivors come on out,” he called. “You’re unclaimed.”
Mira muttered, “We’re people, not… items.”
He smiled like he’d heard that before.
“We’re the Watchers of the Veil,” he said. “Join us, and you just might live longer.”
“And if we don’t?” I asked.
He tilted his head. “Then you remain independent.”
A pause.
“Which means we might have to… kill you."
Mira looked at me.
I shook my head.
“No, we don't know enough about them,” I said.
The Watcher studied me for a long moment.
“Then maybe just something to remember,” he said calmly. “All loot drops on death.”
They left without drawing weapons.
That was worse than a threat.
The two left immediately, they could not stay in the area for much longer
If the group changed their minds… they would kill them
Soon they stumbled upon a shrine.
The shrine didn’t glow.
That was the problem.
It wasn’t flashy or amazing. No pillars of light coming from it. It was just a circular slab of black stone sitting in the middle of the ruins.
It looked unnatural… like the world had grown around it instead of the other way around.
I felt it before the system said anything. A pressure behind my eyes. The same sensation I got when danger was close, except this wasn’t trying to kill him.
It was watching him, no it was more expectant.
Mira slowed down beside me.
“…That thing’s dangerous,” she muttered.
I nodded.
The system chimed anyway.
OATH SHRINE DISCOVERED
Three figures stood around it.
Not monsters. Not players.
NPCs.
But these “NPCs” were not hollow, they were alive. They breathed, shifting their weight. One of them scratched their arm absently, like they were bored of waiting. They felt and looked like real people, not just some… NPCs.
That alone sent a chill through me.
Most NPCs from games weren’t supposed to get bored.
These ones were… different.
The one in the center stepped forward. It was a woman with silver hair pulled into a loose braid, her eyes glowing faintly.
“You may approach us, we mean no harm,” she said.
More players arrived, they did not fight, they were too wary of each other.
Her voice wasn’t loud. Instead it was calm. The air carried her words straight into my head.
Mira stopped at the edge of the platform.
“Those are those oath contracts,” she whispered. “Right?”
“Yeah probably,” I said. “They are most likely permanent ones.”
A translucent window opened before us, far larger than the usual system messages.
OATH SYSTEM: CORE MECHANICS
• OATHS ARE IRREVERSIBLE
• OATHS ALTER GROWTH TRAJECTORIES
• OATHS REQUIRE CONTINUOUS COMPENSATION
• FAILURE TO PAY RESULTS IN PENALTY
Below it, a list.
AVAILABLE OATHS:
BLADE
FLAME
WARDEN
SEER
BLOOD
Mira’s eyes lingered on Blade.
She was wondering which one to choose.
In the end if you use the blade, the blade will one day use you back.
The silver-haired woman noticed.
“If you swear to the Blade,” she said calmly, “and your body will learn faster than you thought was possible. Your strikes will refine themselves. Your balance will correct instinctively.”
Mira swallowed. “And the price?”
The woman didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Its your vitality,” she said. “Every damage taken will linger longer, your armor will become less useful. And all healing will be less efficient.”
Meaning every mistake and wound would stack.
Meaning every mistake she made could kill her.
Mira clenched her jaw.
“That’s not really balanced,” she muttered. “That’s more like a tax.”
The woman smiled faintly. “All power is.”
Another player stepped forward before either of us could speak.
A man, in his mid-twenties maybe. His hands shook. Someone’s blood stained his sleeves, already dry.
“I’ll take the Flame,” he said quickly. “I don’t care. I just want to survive.”
The shrine responded instantly.
Runes around him flared.
The system chimed.
OATH ACCEPTED: FLAME
COMPENSATION REQUIRED: MANA (CONTINUOUS)
Fire licked up his arms, they did not burn him, not quite. His flames surged so hard I felt the heat from three steps away.
He laughed. With joy.
“I feel it,” he said, eyes wide. “I really feel the power”
He then stumbled.
His laughter cut off as his knees hit the stone.
A new message appeared.
WARNING:
MANA DEFICIT DETECTED
The fire didn’t stop burning.
Instead it turned inward.
He screamed.
The flames didn’t last long…
When it ended, he collapsed, breathing shallowly, skin gray and cracked with ash.
The woman didn’t react.
“Compensation must be managed,” she said. “The oath does not care about such ignorance like yours.”
No one moved.
Another player approached. It was a girl younger than Mira, clutching a staff like she would die if she let it go...
“I, I choose the Seer,” she said softly.
Her eyes went white.
She gasped, stumbling back.
“Its all too much,” she whispered. “I can see too much…”
Blood leaked from her nose.
The system chimed again.
OATH ACCEPTED — SEER
COMPENSATION REQUIRED: SANITY (VARIABLE)
She started to sob.
No one helped her.
Because no one knew how.
Mira’s hands were shaking now.
“Is this what they meant by balance?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, probably,” I said. “The world… its going to kill you if you’re not careful.”
The silver-haired woman turned to me.
“You have not stepped forward yet,” she said. “Why?”
I met her gaze.
“Because it’s too early, give me some time,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“Refusing commitment can kill you.”
I felt it then.
A faint pressure. Like something… powerful had taken note of me specifically.
It was not anger. Rather it was interesting.
Mira looked at me. “If I take Blade…”
“You’ll live longer in fights,” I said. “And die faster if you mess up.”
She closed her eyes.
Then she stepped back.
“No,” she said. “Not yet. It’s still too early to decide.”
The shrine went quiet.
Disappointed.
We turned away.
Behind us, more players arrived. Some were desperate. Some calculating. Some were already broken.
The screams of people who failed, echoed as we left the plaza.
Mira didn’t speak until the shrine was out of sight.
“Everyone’s going to take one eventually,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“And you?” she asked.
I looked at my still-unassigned stat points.
I remembered the way the system hadn’t rushed me.
The way the shrine had noticed my refusal.
“I think,” I said slowly,
“Whatever… I'll think about it later.”
Mira didn’t argue.
The ruins all seemed darker than before.
End of Chapter 4.
