Ezra had twelve hours to prepare.
The notification hovered in front of him like a silent executioner.
[Rank Evaluation Triggered – Trial of the Forgotten]
Location: Zone-73, Sub-Level 9
Estimated Difficulty: Extreme
Objective: Survive the Trial and Eliminate the Final Remnant
Time Limit: 2 Hours (Once Entered)
Note: Resurrection inside the trial is disabled.
Rewards: F-Rank Certification, +3 Stat Points, +1 Trait Selection
No re-dos.
No summons from the outside world.
No resurrection.
Only him and the dead.
Zone-73, Sub-Level 9
Eleven hours later
Ezra stood before an industrial elevator coated in rust and reinforced with glowing glyphs. It sat in the ruins of an old subway station, long since decommissioned after The Surge. Crumbling mosaic tiles lined the walls, some depicting faded religious symbols, others overwritten with scrawled warnings:
"They whisper beneath the tracks.""We were the first. We are still here."
Ezra pulled his hood up. "Creepy."
Gloom, Skulk, and Ash stood behind him.
Trial rules enforced: only three undead may accompany you.
A moment later, the system let out a soft chime.
[Entering Trial of the Forgotten...]
With a hiss and a shudder, the elevator dropped.
And kept dropping.
The descent felt endless.
Metal groaned around them. Darkness pressed in from all sides. No lights. No music. Just the rhythmic clunk of passing support beams and the distant echo of... whispers.
Ezra glanced down. The soles of his boots were caked in dust. He felt the tension in his undead—Gloom's fingers twitching, Skulk lowering its center of gravity like a predator, Ash unmoving but alert.
Then, silence.The elevator stopped.
[Trial Begins]
Objective: Survive.
Terminate the Final Remnant.
Timer: 2:00:00
The doors opened into pitch black.
Ezra stepped out, hand gripping the bone dagger at his hip. Shadows moved unnaturally across the walls, like something was breathing through them.
The space ahead resembled an abandoned government bunker—long hallways, metal grates, shattered lights flickering occasionally. But everything felt wrong. Bent. Melted. Twisted by time and corruption.
Then came the voices.
Dozens of them. Whispering. Chanting. Begging.
"Why did you leave us..."
"It's so cold down here."
"We served. We died. Why weren't we chosen?"
Ezra flinched. "What the hell is this place?"
You have entered the Hollow Archives – Memory Vaults of Failed Awakenings.
Failed awakenings?
He rounded a corner, and the hallway opened into a vast chamber. Cryopods—hundreds of them—lined the walls, many cracked open or shattered. Inside each was a desiccated corpse, still strapped in with tubes and wires.
Every single one had a number stamped into their chests.
These are the remnants of Generation Zero.The first attempts to awaken humans after The Surge.They failed... but they remember.
Ash stepped forward and pointed toward the far end of the chamber. A massive steel door stood sealed shut with glowing runes, warping around its frame. Black liquid oozed from beneath it.
The whispers turned to screams.
Trial Phase One: Memory Echoes – Engage
The cryopods began to shatter.
One by one.
Ezra barely had time to think.
Bone and metal fused as the corpses climbed out—hunched figures with hollow sockets for eyes, their mouths locked in silent screams. They weren't fast. But there were dozens.
"Skulk—left flank!""Gloom—buy time!""Ash—center hold!"
They moved.
Gloom barreled forward, swinging with reckless force. Skulk darted to the side, slashing low and fast. Ash stood firm, raising both hands, sending a ripple of necrotic energy through the ground that stunned three Echoes mid-charge.
Ezra threw his hand forward.
[Necromancer Skill Unlocked: Soul Lash (I)]
Unleashes a burst of necrotic force dealing minor magic damage and staggering non-boss undead.
Cost: 5 MP
He cast.
A pulse of grey-black light burst from his palm, slamming into the nearest Echo and tearing half its face off. The creature collapsed—but kept crawling.
"They don't die easy…"
He moved. Ducking. Weaving. Letting his summons tank the front lines while he aimed for weak spots—spines, joints, exposed skulls.
Minutes passed like hours.
Ezra breathed heavily, blood smeared across his face—not his own, not fully. He looked around.
Thirty Echoes down.
Ten still advancing.
But Ash was slowing. Gloom's arm had been shattered. Skulk limped, a bone sticking out of one leg.
Ezra reached into his system menu.
Summon limit reached.
Resummoning not allowed inside trial.
Item usage limited to one per summon.
He cursed.
This wasn't just a trial of strength.
It was a trial of attrition.
He pulled out one of the few bones infused with stored mana—a resource Riven had gifted him just before the trial. Bone Core Fragment (Lesser).
He tossed it to Gloom. "Eat."
The undead gnawed it down in seconds. Its arm re-knitted, glowing faintly.
Ezra grinned. "Good boy."
Then the room shook.
Phase One Complete.Warning: Final Remnant Awakening Imminent
The steel door cracked.
Then exploded inward.
A thing stepped out.
It was... massive.At least eight feet tall, humanoid in shape but stitched from dozens of bodies. Its torso was fused metal and bone, with runes carved directly into its ribcage. One arm ended in a rotating saw. The other... a cannon?
But its head—
Ezra froze.
Its face was a mirror.
A perfect replica of his own.
[Final Remnant – The Mirrorbound]
Level 12 – Corrupted Echo
Traits: Adaptive Memory, Bone Forgeskin, Hollow Link
Warning: This entity has copied fragments of your personality and fighting style.
It let out a roar.
Ash stepped forward without hesitation, leaping at the creature—
—and was backhanded so hard it splintered against the far wall.
Ezra's heart stuttered. "ASH!"
The creature turned.
"Weak," it said, with his voice. "Just like you."
It charged.
Ezra dove aside, scraping against metal. Sparks flew.
Gloom intercepted—only to be grabbed by the saw arm and torn in two.
Ezra screamed, launching Soul Lash again, followed by a bone dagger hurled straight into the Mirrorbound's eye.
It caught the dagger.
"Predictable."
Ezra grit his teeth. Skulk was limping toward the thing, trying to flank, but the creature was too smart. It knew how he thought. How he fought.
It was him.
But it didn't know everything.
Ezra ran—straight at it.
The Mirrorbound smirked. Its saw revved.
But Ezra didn't aim to strike. He slid between its legs, pivoted, and shouted: "Skulk—now!"
The moment of distraction was enough.
Skulk leapt onto its back, jamming bone claws into the runes across its spine.
The creature howled in pain—its first real reaction.
Ezra turned, eyes glowing faintly.
[Necromancer Ability: Bind Essence – Initiate Drain]
He reached out—not to control it, but to steal from it.
Mana. Fragments of memory. Rage.
The creature buckled, roaring in pain.
Then Ezra shoved his dagger into its chest—twisting.
Skulk detonated a bone spike through its spine.
The Mirrorbound spasmed.
Then collapsed.
Dead.
For real.
[Trial Complete]F-Rank Certification Earned
+3 Stat Points Awarded
New Trait Unlocked: Mirrorwalker (I)
You gain a temporary stat boost against enemies that resemble or mimic you.
Summons Lost: Gloom (Severed), Ash (Shattered)
Summon Remaining: Skulk (Wounded)
Ezra dropped to his knees.
The light from the collapsing trial faded. The cryopods vanished. The steel walls began to flake into mist.
And then… silence.
No applause.
No celebration.
Just the taste of iron in his mouth and grief in his chest.
He looked at where Gloom had fallen.
At Ash's shattered bones.
He'd summoned them. They weren't human.
But they were his.
And they'd died for him.
Outside the Trial Gate
When Ezra emerged, the techs monitoring the trial scrambled to record his data. Commander Harlan was already waiting.
Ezra ignored them all.
He walked past them, bloody, limping, dragging Skulk behind him.
His eyes were distant.
His jaw tight.
He said nothing.
Harlan watched him go. "Get me everything we have on Hollowborn Class awakenings."
"But sir, we don't even know if it's real—"
"It's real now," Harlan said, voice cold. "And it's evolving."