The wind that had once whispered songs of the ancient now fell silent.

  Arjun and his companions walked through a dry basin where even the birds refused to sing. The grasses thinned, giving way to a cracked, brittle earth. The sky above remained heavy with unspoken warnings, painted in dull hues of bronze and gray. A presence lingered—an invisible weight pressing down on their shoulders with each step forward.

  In the distance stood ruins.

  Not the kind nature reclaims with vines and moss, but the kind that time itself forgot. Crumbled towers, shattered arches, walls half-buried in the dust—silent witnesses of something terrible. The place had no name on the maps, no mention in scrolls or bardic tales. And yet, as they approached, a single word surfaced unbidden in Arjun’s mind:

  Valdahar.

  He didn’t know how he knew it. But it felt right.

  “This place reeks of memories,” Ayra muttered, her hand brushing the hilt of her dagger. “Old ones. Twisted ones.”

  Raaka grunted, “Or maybe ghosts. Let’s find whatever we’re here for, grab the shard, and run.”

  Arjun remained silent. Something in the pit of his soul stirred—a sense of déjà vu. As if he had walked these broken streets in another life.

  They entered Valdahar.

  The air changed instantly.

  It was colder, but not from temperature. It was as if the emotions that once filled this city had frozen in time. Grief, terror, betrayal—all layered invisibly in the stone.

  Elaran paused beside a statue.

  It was nearly eroded beyond recognition, but the posture was unmistakable—a figure clutching its own head in agony.

  “This… wasn’t just destruction,” he said. “This was a collapse of the spirit.”

  “I can feel it too,” Arjun said quietly.

  > [Karmic System Activated – Emotional Residue Detected]

  [Warning: This Zone Contains Karmic Corruption – Proceed with Caution]

  As they pressed deeper into the city, the buildings became less ruined and more… distorted. Architecture twisted into impossible shapes—walls that curved inward like inhaling lungs, staircases leading nowhere, doorways opening into nothing.

  And then they saw it.

  At the heart of Valdahar stood a cathedral made entirely of black stone, untouched by decay. Vines refused to grow on it. Dust avoided it. Its spires rose into the sky like jagged teeth. The closer they came, the more Arjun felt something coiling inside him—a tightness in his chest, like grief without a source.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  A voice echoed.

  Not aloud.

  Inside them.

  “Welcome home, Karmic Bearer.”

  They stopped in their tracks.

  “Who said that?” Raaka barked.

  Arjun stepped forward. “No one. And everyone.”

  Ayra’s eyes narrowed. “You know what this is, don’t you?”

  “I think… this is where the Forgotten were born.”

  They entered the cathedral.

  Inside, time ceased to matter.

  The walls were lined with obsidian mirrors. In each reflection, they didn’t see themselves—but distorted versions of who they could’ve been. Arjun’s mirror showed him wearing a crown of bone, standing over a burning empire. Ayra’s reflection held bloodied chains. Raaka’s bore monstrous armor.

  Elaran refused to look.

  In the center of the hall stood a dais, and on it, a throne.

  Not golden.

  Not adorned.

  But carved of gray stone, cracked and crumbling. A man sat upon it—or what was left of one.

  A skeletal figure wrapped in silk robes, unmoving. His eyes—two hollow sockets—began to glow as Arjun stepped closer.

  > [Karmic Remnant Detected – Entity Classification: Forgotten King]

  [Caution: Unknown Hostile Potential]

  The throne began to speak—not in voice, but through the stones themselves.

  “You are late.”

  Arjun drew in a breath. “Who are you?”

  “I was you. A long time ago.”

  The throne cracked louder. Dust fell like snow.

  “I bore the Karmic Throne. I sought to fix the world. But the world did not want to be fixed.”

  The voice deepened, saturated with despair.

  “And so I tore it down.”

  With a sudden crack, the figure rose.

  Bones clicked. The silk rotted away.

  A gray flame erupted around the Forgotten King. He stepped down from the throne—tall, regal, tragic. And furious.

  “Prove that you are worthy to rise where I fell.”

  He raised his hand.

  And the cathedral collapsed into shadow.

  Arjun found himself alone, separated from the others, in a void where the air pulsed with forgotten screams. The King floated above him.

  > [Challenge Initiated – Trial of the Nameless One]

  The King attacked.

  Flames of sorrow lashed out, striking Arjun’s spirit directly. He felt memories unravel—his name slipping, his purpose blurring.

  “No,” he gasped. “I know who I am.”

  He activated Whisperstep, dodging a spear of anguish.

  Then he countered with Shiva’s Ember, flame meeting flame.

  The Forgotten King laughed.

  “Your fire burns too clean. Mine carries pain.”

  Chains erupted from the shadows, wrapping around Arjun’s limbs. The King approached, touching Arjun’s forehead with a skeletal finger.

  And in that moment—Arjun saw.

  He saw the Forgotten King’s past.

  A world that refused peace. A people that betrayed him. A war that shattered mountains. A final moment where the King, broken by choices and fate, gave in to despair.

  But in those visions, Arjun saw something else.

  The King had hesitated.

  At the edge of ruin, he waited for someone to stop him. No one came.

  Arjun’s fire reignited.

  “I’m not you,” he growled.

  He broke the chains. Flame surged through his veins.

  “I won’t wait to be saved. I’ll save them first.”

  > [Karmic Resonance Achieved – Empowerment Unlocked]

  [New Skill: Karma’s Aegis – Reflect one moral wound per battle]

  He charged.

  Their flames clashed.

  And when the light cleared, the King knelt—his skeletal form crumbling, his voice now a whisper of wind.

  “Then… rise. And remember me. Not as a tyrant. But as a warning.”

  He vanished.

  And the throne crumbled.

  In its ashes lay a glowing shard.

  Arjun reached out.

  > [Third Karmic Fragment Acquired – Grief of the Forgotten]

  [Mandala Level Increased – You are now a Tier-2 Karmic Bearer]

  The world returned.

  He stood once more inside the cathedral with his companions—who had been frozen in time.

  Ayra blinked. “What… just happened?”

  “I spoke to a ghost,” Arjun replied. “A ghost of what I could become.”

  They left the city that had no name.

  But behind them, something had awakened.

  A ripple in fate.

  And far away, on a blood-soaked plain, a figure cloaked in black smiled.

  “The Bearer gathers the shards. Let the game begin.”