When the Song of Ashes first touched the Sky, Echo Shadows fell out of it - souls without bodies, memory without time. They became neither alive nor dead, forever repeating their last pain."
— From the manuscript "Legends of the Lopar District", volume II, page 193 —
Lukar had no hands. He didn't have a sword. But he had fire. He rushed forward, bursting into dozens of flashes, splitting and merging again. He beat at her with the memories he had consumed—the fear of a warrior, the cry of trees, the ashes of the world.
But the Shadow did not retreat. Her arms turned into chains of pain, and her punches tore through the air. Every time she touched Lukar, he felt a part of him disappear—go into her, into her cycle.
[Infection: Unstable fragments are embedded.]
[Counteraction: activation of "Residue Absorption".]
[Synchronization: partial.]
Echo Shadow's body trembled.
He began to absorb it.
And at that moment, when their essences almost merged, he saw her:
Woman. Once alive. The Northerner. Mother. Warrior. She died protecting something, someone. And in the last seconds of her soul, her blood evaporated into ashes. But the Raven came. He took her pain. And her rage. And turned it into a weapon.
"He gave me a name that I've forgotten. He said: You will become anger. And I became a shadow. But now I see you. And I'll give you what I couldn't carry..."
The Echo Shadow froze. And crumbled. Not to dust, not to death. And into the light and the ashes, which slowly dragged into Lukar.
[Absorbed: Echo Shadow (Class B).]
[Memory Essence obtained: Flash of Sorrow.]
[Path to Evolution Branch opened: Ghost Ashes.]
[Evolution Progress Indicator: 97.4%.]
He was shaking. Not out of fear. From completeness. From the weight of the memories. From responsibility.
[You're following the Raven's trail] —the System said.
[Are you ready to accept the Sign?]
The flame did not respond. It flared up, turning into an outline for a second, as if it had a shadow. And this shadow has wings.
The flames flared up, quivering in the icy air.
Lukar—or what he was becoming—knew that this moment was not just a victory in a fight. It was a sacred touch. He did not destroy the Echo Shadow, he heard it, allowed it to dissolve into itself without resisting. And now he carried her pain, her fragments of memory, her knowledge.
And with that, an echo of the Raven.
[You're following the Raven's trail], the System whispered. [Are you ready to accept the Sign?]
He didn't know what that question meant. But I felt that there was something huge behind him, more than just choosing a skill or path. It was an initiation.
[The internal interface is activated...]
An image appeared before Lukar's inner eye—not a screen, but a vision.
A stone circle in the middle of a snowy plateau. In the center is a black pedestal covered with runes. There's a feather on it. It was huge, ashen, like a gigantic bird, and scorching with its blackness. The air around him was ragged, distorted, as if space refused to acknowledge his reality.
And at that moment... a voice.
"I am the Darkness that calls the dead."
"I am the Cry of the last warrior."
"I am the Raven carrying the Flame through oblivion."
"You are not a flame."
"You are a Spark."
"Do you want to become a Wing?"
The system faltered. Lukar felt the pressure—not physical, but metaphysical. Was he standing (or floating?) facing a choice that changed not only his body, but also his essence.
[System Suggestion: Accept the Raven Flame Name and Badge]
🔸 Rewards:
Unlocking the Evolution Branch: Shadow of Ashes
Unique Permanent Skill: "Herald Of The Extinct"
Naming Protocol Initiation
Entering the Ancient Lore: Heir to the Crow Circle
"Take A Name."
"Become The One Who Carries The Song."
Lukar was trembling. He wasn't human. But he felt the pain and the call as vividly as any warrior standing on the edge of legend would feel.
He made a choice.
[Name received: Lukar Crown — "The Dust-Bearing Spark"]
[The Raven Sign is activated.]
[Flame changed: +Ephemerality effect. + Resistance To Mental Inversion. + Hidden Aura.]
The flame flared up and fell. It became deeper, heavier. Its light was the same, but images were now gliding through it: wings, shadows, a scream.
Lukar realized that he had become something more than an echo.
He became the Answer.
And as soon as he accepted it, everything changed.
The mound around him began to vibrate. Signs floated out from under the snow and moss, ancient runes that were lit with icy light. The song of the dead filled the air. Not a cry, not a cry, but a hymn.
Low and heavy, like the sound of horns under a mountain. He didn't know the language, but he understood every line:
"When the Sun falls, Dust will remain."
"When Dust dies, a Wing will rise.
"And the Wing will ignite a Flame that will destroy the Ice."
"And the Ice will not give up without blood."
Lukar trembled, seized by a meaning he could not explain.
And then there's a shadow.
Not that he won. Not what he's become.
Another. It's huge. Lively.
A silhouette mass rose from behind a snow-covered ridge, several meters tall, with a bird's skull and a body made of sounds. He had no eyes, but his gaze burned.
[An Unknown Creature Has Spotted You.]
[Threat Category: ???]
[The system cannot analyze.]
And yet the creature did not attack.
It tilted its head... and it wheezed.
With a single movement, a black feather fell from the sky. It slowly descended in front of Lucar and caught fire, dissolving into his flames.
[Next step to the north]
The system whispered.
[You have to get to the Bloody Ice Tower. The First threshold awaits you there.]
***
"Seven towers stood in the ice of the World. The sixth fell from the wrath of the Serpent. The third one burned down without being built. The first one is alive."
— From The Song of the Ash Circles by an unknown author. —
The North was not a destination, but a sentence.
Lukar moved, absorbing every bit of the strange energy that hovered in this abandoned land. The forest gradually gave way to icy plains, where even shadows were rare. The space became flat and at the same time infinitely deep. The snow didn't creak, it sang. Quietly, almost imperceptibly, as if the earth itself remembered the footsteps of the dead.
The system was silent.
Her voice, previously emotionless and mechanical, now sounded... carefully. It seemed that she, or whatever was behind her, was watching him intently.
[Path: The Bloody North]
[Distance to the Tower: 32.1 km]
[Abnormal zone: high magical activity]
[Warning: proximity to the border of the Frozen Fjord. The threat is unknown.]
The path turned out to be more difficult than Lukar expected. The energy around them became viscous. He felt it, as if his flame was "flowing" slower, resisting every meter. There was nothing alive around. But there were many dead.
Ghostly silhouettes, partially dissolved, sometimes flashed on the horizon. They didn't attack. They were watching. And every time he approached, there was the same, already familiar cry — a croak. Sometimes one, sometimes many.
"You're following the Raven's trail."
"The raven guides those who cannot die."
Those words popped into my head on their own. As if it wasn't from him. Or not only from him.
On the seventh day of the trip, he saw her.
Tower.
She towered like a fang breaking through ice. Its base went underground, as if it grew out of the world itself. The surface was covered with thousands of cracks, in which a crimson light shone.
The ice around them was soaked with blood—not fresh, not real, but palpable. She was in the very air, in the memories of these places.
[Object detected: Blood Ice Tower]
[Identification: Artifact of the First Epoch. Owner: unknown.]
[Clearance level: By Sign only.]
He approached slowly. The ground shook with every step. Ice fragments hung in the air. The sounds had completely disappeared—even his own flames no longer made a crackle or a rustle.
The entrance was as narrow as a wound.
And there's an eye in it.
Black, without a pupil, like a drop of the frozen universe.
[Raven Sign Recognition...]
[Access is allowed.]
The ice cracked. The tower let him in.
There were no walls inside. Just a spiral staircase going up, and the light piercing the air with blue highlights. He was climbing, and each turn brought with it... a memory.
Someone else's. But it's familiar.
—I was the first Guardian."…
— I was holding the Ice Seal...
— I couldn't stand it. And betrayed…
Every word was accompanied by an echo, a distorted scream.
—The Flame is a traitor to Chaos.
— But if it learns to sing…
There was no dome at the top. There was an altar there.
Made of ice. Made of blood. From the shadows.
And the figure.
High. Wearing a mask that blended into his face, without moving. She wasn't breathing. But she was alive.
—You are the Spark: —She said. —You shouldn't have come so early. But the Raven has already called your name.You have to choose: will you become the one who will sing, or the one who will be silent.
[Evolution Threshold I: Reached]
[Branch Selection Required: Ghost Ashes / ]
[This choice will change the structure of your existence.
Lukar was trembling.
He had to choose not a skill, but a path.