---
It was already a new day,
Kai closed the door to his quarters without a sound.
It was already a minute past three in the morning, so the corridors were somewhat empty.
The air in the corridor felt different—less heavy, less suffocating during this time—but the clinging sense of unease remained. His body reacted strangely every time he walked through the lonely corridors, as though a phantom hand pressed down on his chest, whispering fear into his blood. But the feeling comes and goes quickly...
He walked on, eyes low, footsteps measured.
"Forest of Echoes..." he muttered under his breath.
He almost laughed. Of course, the system would lead him there. Not the safe ritual rooms of the tower, not the forges overseen by neutral artificers. No—straight into one of Nefaria's forbidden zones.
"It wants me to risk my neck..." His lips curved faintly, humorless. "Or maybe that's what it means to follow the Witch King path. No shortcuts."
He made his way down the spiraling staircases, past apprentices whispering in corners, past the murals that told half-truths about the Academy's glory. His body moved automatically, but his mind kept comparing the two sets of instructions—the notes he had stolen with his eyes, and the system's guidance.
Soon he exited the Lobby.
---
The checkpoint to the outer grounds was quiet this early. The elevator doors opened, revealing a small outpost of the Academy's 3rd-level apprentices stationed at the edge of the barrier. A faint shimmer marked where the wards of Essacasta ended and the outside world began.
Two lamps hung from iron poles, glowing with steady mana light. Beyond them, only the abyssal tree line of the Forest of Echoes.
As Kai approached, one of the guards glanced up. He appeared to be the leader of the group, he was a 3rd level Bronze-ranked, though the dull haze in his aura showed his stagnant progress. His companion elbowed him and muttered, "Another one going in, eh?"
The lead guard snorted. "They never learn. Fresh Bronze and already think the forest's their playground. Don't even last a day before the Lost get them."
Kai's boots clicked against the stone floor. The guards finally registered his aura and his rank badge gleamed faintly on his robes. Their posture changed—less mocking, more neutral.
"he's probably closer to Bronze second-level," the leader whispered faintly to the taller one before greeting flatly. "Heading out?"
Kai inclined his head. "I won't take long."
The guard waved him through without checking. "Your life, your problem. Just don't drag trouble back with you. We're not babysitters."
Behind him, he heard the shorter guard chuckle. "he looks exactly like that Pedrov's assistant we heard about. But he doesn't seem to be a new bronze as they say."
Kai didn't respond. He stepped past the barrier and felt it wash over him like ice water. The warmth of the Academy's protections vanished instantly. What remained was the weight of the forest ahead—black trunks, twisted branches, and the kind of silence that gnawed at the edges of sanity.
He stopped just beyond the barrier and unpacked two items from his pouch: a silver lamp, and a thin slip of parchment covered in simple runes.
The lamp flickered to life when he fed it mana. A pale blue flame bloomed inside the glass, steady but unnaturally dim. Even so, the moment it ignited, the darkness recoiled a step, as though unwilling to touch it.
"Silence spell," Kai murmured, pressing the parchment to his chest. His mental power surged briefly. A hush fell over him, deeper than the forest itself. No breath, no footsteps, not even the rustle of his robes made a sound now.
Only the lamp's faint hum.
He adjusted his grip and entered the Forest of Echoes.
---
The first layer of the forest was deceptively calm. The trees here were tall black pines, their bark slick with mist. The ground was damp but solid, a faint carpet of purple moss glowing faintly beneath the lamp's aura. Every so often, Kai saw claw marks gouged into the trunks—evidence of beasts marking their territory.
He walked slowly, counting his steps. The silence barrier held, keeping his movements from echoing into the woods. Still, his chest felt tight. He knew the rules. Every word spoken here echoes until the speaker dies. If his barrier slipped even for a second, every whisper of his thoughts would ring through these trees, inviting the Lost.
His lamp grew heavier after only ten minutes. Not unbearably so, but noticeable—a subtle drag on his arm. He shifted it, adjusted his grip, pressed on.
A pale shape darted between the trees. He froze, eyes narrowing. It wasn't solid—more like a smear of light in the mist. A Lost one, perhaps drawn by the faint leak of mana from his lamp.
It didn't approach. Yet.
Kai exhaled silently through his nose and continued deeper.
The deeper he went, the more twisted the forest became. Black pines gave way to sprawling purple maples, their leaves like dripping ink in the faint glow of his lamp. Roots curled like serpents across the ground, making each step treacherous. Insects the size of his hand crawled across the bark, glowing faintly with sickly green light.
Somewhere ahead, water gurgled—too steady, too rhythmic. A swamp, maybe. Or something imitating one.
Kai pressed onward, following the system's tug in his mind.
And then he saw it.
---
The clearing was wrong.
The trees parted in a rough circle, and at its center lay a skeleton so vast his breath caught. The ribcage alone arched higher than three men. Blackened, petrified bone jutted from the ground like pillars. The skull had long since crumbled, but the spine stretched into the mist, vanishing toward the horizon.
A serpent. But no natural serpent. The sheer thickness of the bones—thirty, maybe forty meters across—defied any creature of this world. He had never heard or seen anything so fantastical in the memories of this body...
Kai tightened his grip on the lamp. "Imaginary realm remnant..." His silence spell devoured the words before they could echo, but his heart pounded all the same.
This was it. The vessel. The perfect bone.
The system's voice chimed faintly in his mind:
[Qualified Vessel Detected: Dream Serpent Bone]
[Proceed with Ritual? Y/N]
He set the lamp carefully on a rock, feeding it more mana to brighten its flame. Then he unrolled a strip of blank parchment and drew a quick circle with ash chalk, inscribing runes he remembered from Randell's notes according to the system's alterations. They would stabilize the ritual, prevent backlash.
But he didn't stop there. His fingers moved on to drawing the runes he had gotten with the quest, guided by something deeper—the Witch Heart, perhaps, or the system itself. New runes, older runes, spilled across the parchment in a jagged spiral. They pulsed faintly with black light, threads of his own essence woven into the circle.
He bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the base of the serpent bone he had chosen, one of its ribs. It sizzled.
The forest reacted instantly. A strange wind circled around the space where he stood.
A low hum filled the air, rising from the ground, the trees, the mist itself. The silence barrier strained under the weight of it. Kai gritted his teeth and pressed his palm against the bone, pouring mental power into the runes.
[Witch Artifact Ritual Initiated.]
[Warning: External entities approaching.]
---
Something moved in the fog.
The Lost had heard. They felt the magic.
The serpent bone thrummed beneath his palm, drinking in his blood and mental power. Black light seeped from its marrow, webbing out through the ritual circle like cracks in glass.
Kai's lamp sputtered. Its flame bent sharply toward the mist, as if pulled by an unseen breath.
And then the forest answered.
A whisper slid between the trees. Not his voice—he hadn't spoken—but something echoing all the same. It was low at first, like murmurs caught in a dream. Then it sharpened. Words, fragmented, tumbling over one another.
Stay. Stay. Stay with us.
The Lost.
Shapes emerged from the fog. Human silhouettes, twisted wrong. Some crawled on all fours, their limbs too long. Others shuffled upright, their faces blurred like smeared ink. Their mouths opened and closed soundlessly, yet their words echoed all around him.
Stay... you spoke... you live... You will not leave...
The lamp grew heavier. His silence barrier trembled under the weight of their voices.
"Not now." His teeth clenched. He poured more mental power into the circle, but the serpent bone seemed to resist, hungry and wild.
'Such Will! That only makes me want to keep you more!'
[Warning: Ritual Interrupted.]
"What?"
[External Hostiles Approaching: 6 low-level Lost Entities]
The nearest shade lunged, mist trailing behind its limbs. Its hands were claws of dripping shadow, aimed at his throat.
Kai flung his free hand up, mental power coiling like a whip. "Ignition!"
A burst of flame roared forth, raw and unfocused. Without a wand, the spell scattered like shrapnel—fire splashing against two trees, one Lost shrieking as its form burned away. But the rest only grew faster, drawn by the soundless force of his casting.
Another closed in. He thrust his palm forward. "Frost Needle!"
Three spears of ice snapped into being, whistling through the air. One struck true, impaling a Lost through the chest into the ground. It dissolved into smoke. The other two shattered against trees, their aim too wild.
Mana drained faster than he wanted. His control was off—every spell cost him double without a conduit.
The serpent bone pulsed beneath his other hand, dragging more of his power into itself. The ritual wasn't going to wait for him.
"Damn it..."
The Lost circled, whispering louder, louder. The silence barrier splintered, threads of sound leaking out. His own voice echoed faintly through the trees now, feeding them.
Ignition... Frost Needle... stay... stay with us...Damn... It... It...
They lunged in unison.
Kai dropped low, lamp swinging wildly in his grip. He slammed his palm against the ground. "Echo Shield!"
A rippling barrier of translucent light burst outward, scattering the first wave. They hit it like flies against glass, shrieking soundlessly as cracks spiderwebbed across the shield. And then the Shield's echo came like a second wave, tossing them backwards.
His head throbbed from the effort—maintaining shields without a wand was like holding up a collapsing roof with bare hands.
Still, it bought him three heartbeats. Enough.
"Shadow bind," he hissed.
The world slowed as shadows of the trees moved to bind the fallen lost ones in place. This time he had enough time to aim properly, Two to his left, one from behind, the three of them were struggling to break free.
He moved before thought caught up. hand raised—"Pain Infliction!"
Silence.
Nothing happened...
'Right, they aren't living entities...'
With no other choice, he decided to use another first-order spell...
He placed his palm on the ground quickly, "Chilled Touch!"
The Earth began to freeze under his touch, it quickly expanded in the directions of the bound lost ones.
The nearest Lost convulsed as it struggled to break free, but it was soon covered in Ice, before dissolving into mist. The other narrowly rolled but still froze into brittle ice.
The ritual circle blazed under his right palm. The serpent bone lifted, rising off the ground, black runes etching themselves across its surface. A grimoire-shaped shadow flickered above it, pages forming of pure darkness before fading. This drew his attention...
[Artifact Resonance: 43%]
[Warning: Ritual Instability Rising]
The final Lost didn't care. It broke free, pressed harder, drawn both to the sound of his casting and the power of the ritual.
Kai forced his breathing steady. He could feel the strain—the reckless mana expenditure, the raw casting without focus. It was like bleeding from a dozen cuts while running uphill. But retreat wasn't an option. If he abandoned the ritual now, he'd lose not just the artifact, but maybe his life.
The Lost dove at him. he twisted aside, subconsciously slamming his elbow into its half-formed face. It lost its balance and fell to the other side due to inertia. Without wasting a beat, Kai used ignition on it, and it dissolved into smoke.
Suddenly three more closed in from the clearing. Probably drawn in by the escaped sounds.
His lamp dimmed. He needed to feed it mana. If it goes off, he becomes a Lost.
'If the light dies... I die with it.'
He snarled, gathering everything left in his core. "Frost Needle—Chain Cast!"
Dozens of icy spears erupted, wild and jagged. They tore through the Lost, shredding mist into nothing. Half missed, stabbing trees or dissipating mid-air, but enough struck true.
Silence. Just for a moment.
The serpent bone dropped suddenly into his hands, still burning with runes. It had reshaped into a sleek wand, black as night, etched with pale silver lines. Yet at the same time, he felt the weight of a book against his chest—a grimoire that wasn't there, pages whispering inside his mind.
[Witch Artifact Crafted: Pseudo-Gold Wand/Grimoire]
[Artifact Spirit Bonding...]
Kai staggered, lamp nearly slipping from his grip. His mana reserves felt like they'd been hollowed out, yet the artifact pulsed with fresh strength, feeding back into him.
The Lost were gone. For now. But the forest pressed close, whispering with voices not his own.
He exhaled silently, gripping the new wand tight.
"Worth it."
The witch artifact thrummed in his grip, a pulse that resonated with his heartbeat. Black runes faded into its surface, settling like scars that would never heal. It no longer pulled at his blood or mind—it obeyed.
Kai inhaled deeply, drawing back his silence spell. The echoes rushed in at once—his own earlier words still tangled with the whispers of the forest.
Ignition... Frost Needle... stay with us...
He tightened his hold on the wand. A subtle hum answered, and for the first time, the echoes dimmed. Not gone—but muffled, as though the artifact itself suppressed them.
"So it's true." He studied the bone wand, its length the span of his forearm. It felt... natural. Not like a tool, but an extension of thought. And yet, beneath its sleek exterior, he felt the shape of a second form—the weight of a grimoire waiting to unfold.
He touched his chest. The phantom sensation of pages brushed his mind.
"Dual-form... wand and book."
Exactly as the system had promised—but not quite. Where the Tower's method bound power into rigid wands and Grimoires, the system's path gave birth to something alive.
Alive... and listening.
The forest whispered again, this time not in many voices, but one. His own. His own voice, echoing back: Worth it.
He snorted. "Mock me all you want." He slipped the wand into his sleeve, adjusted the lamp in his other hand as he fed it mana, and began the trek back.
---
The return was easier than the entry. The lamp still grew heavier the deeper he walked, the longer you stayed in the forest, the heavier any light source would become, but with the artifact in hand, the Lost did not try to come close. They lingered in the fog, watching, but none crossed his path.
Perhaps they sensed the bone's origin. Or perhaps they simply feared it.
The silence spell flickered once more, and he let it drop to save mana. His voice would echo, but the wand whispered reassurance through his palm. If the Lost dared to test him now, he'd answer with precision—not the clumsy spell-flinging from earlier.
As expected, they made no move to hinder him.
His steps quickened. The mists thinned. The oppressive weight lifted as the barrier of Essacasta's domain loomed ahead.
---
The academy's barrier swallowed him whole, its pressure washing the forest's weight from his shoulders. He exhaled, rolling his shoulders back. For the first time in hours, he felt clean air fill his lungs.
The checkpoint was quiet, save for the glow of warding lamps and the lazy voices of apprentices posted on duty.
"Did you hear about the latest batch?" one muttered, slouched against a post. "Half of them still think this place is some noble academy. Give it two weeks after they get sorted to their respective towers —once they start fetching corpses for potion classes, they'll learn quick."
The other snorted. "Two weeks? You're generous. I saw one crying just from watching a dissection. I give them three days before they run off crying for mommy."
"It would be better if they could run, they'd just turn into corpses themselves."
They laughed, but their words carried no cruelty. Just resignation.
Kai stepped into the lamplight. Both guards stiffened. Different from the previous ones on duty two hours ago, Recognition flickered—his bronze-rank badge glinted faintly on his cloak.
"Sir Kai." They dipped their heads respectfully, but neither moved to stop him. The checkpoint wasn't a prison gate. If a ranked wizard wanted to throw himself into the Forest of Echoes, that was his problem.
"Back in one piece, I see," the guard leader said as he walked out of the small office, half a smile tugging his lips as he looked over Kai's frame. "Better than most."
Kai returned a nod, saying nothing. He passed through without pause, leaving the apprentices to resume their idle conversation.
---
Inside the Tower, the silence felt wrong. Too ordinary after the whispers of the forest. He made his way up the long staircases, ignoring the curious looks of apprentices still awake at this hour.
In his quarters, he set the lamp aside and sat heavily on the edge of the bed.
Only then did he truly look at the wand. Black bone. Silver lines. Runes etched deep. He turned it in his hands. When he willed it, the wand unraveled like smoke, reforming into a black-bound grimoire that hovered just above his palm. Its cover bore no title, only the faint impression of an eye that blinked once before fading.
The air shifted. The grimoire's pages fluttered, though no wind stirred.
Words bled across the parchment. Not written ink—system text.
[Artifact Created: Dual-Form Relic of the Witch King Path]
[Current Rank: Pseudo-Gold]
[Special Property: Adaptive Resonance – Adjusts accuracy, mana consumption, casting efficiency based on the user's growth, and grows based on devoured artifacts and relics.]
[Grimoire Function: Stores spell models, records modifications, and allows direct simulation within user's mental domain.]
Kai's lips curved into a rare smile.
"Adaptive... huh. So I don't need to burn myself out just to cast anymore."
He flipped the pages. Nothing.
Closing the grimoire, he let it fold back into wand form. The room grew darker without its presence.
He leaned back against the wall, exhaustion settling deep in his bones.
The notes had given him the theory. The system had given him the path. The Forest of Echoes had given him the means.
Now he had something no one else in the Tower possessed.
Something dangerous.
He glanced at his Status page on the system.
[Name: Malachi Meolyn
Alias: Kai
Title: None
【Extraordinary Sequence】
Wizard: 2nd level Bronze
Mental Power: 2451.5
Meditation Method: Galactic Zone Method
...
Talent Aptitude: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
...
【Extraordinary Talent】
Witch Heart (Mythic): Presently Sealed at Legendary rank.
...
【Specialized attributes】
•Ice(45%)
•Darkness(43%)
•Illusions(41%)
•Void(44%)
...
【Supernatural Spells & Abilities】
Abilities:
Eidetic Memory (passive ability — permanent boost to learning & spell model retention)
Zero-Order Spells:
Ignition (Lv Max) — conjure small controlled flames.
Pain Infliction (Lv Max) — minor curse inducing localized pain.
Minor Levitation (Lv Max) — levitate light objects.
Windrun Sprint (Lv Max) — short bursts of speed/lightness.
【Click to Expand...】
First-Order Spells:
Frost Needle (Lv 3) — condensed shard of ice, armor-piercing potential.
Echo Shield (Lv 2) — shimmering illusionary defense, partial absorption.
Chilled Touch (Lv 2) — necrotic-cold damage through physical contact.
【Click to Expand...】
...
【Core Path's Knowledge】:Witchcraft
Morphweaving and Witchcraft Studies: Intermediate (12%.)
【Click to Expand...】
...
【Supernatural Knowledge】
Alchemic Concoctions(Basic): 52%
Anatomy(Advanced): 1.2%
Cantrips(Basic): 63%
Hexcraft(Intermediate): 2%
Wards & Seals (Basic): 34%
Mindweaving(Basic): 69%
【Click to Expand...】
...
【Accumulated Study & Research Experience】: 3224 exp]
A smile etched itself onto his lips as he drifted into uneasy rest, one thought burned above all others:
If this was only the beginning... what kind of monster would he become later?
[Reward Granted: 3 Witch Spell Blueprints uploaded to Grimoire]
[Subquest Complete: Witch Knowledge Fragment Obtained → Pathfolding: Scatter Form]
---
2025-10-25 23:48:36
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